Andres Cabas

Andres Cábas
Contacto
EMI Latin

Any singer who whispers sexily, "My head is telling me/'She's a serpent/Grab her by the ass!'" over a sumptuous rock-cumbia backbeat warrants attention, but "La Caderona" is actually one of the more mundane highlights on Andrés Cabas' second release, Contacto. A handsome mop-top versed in the quivering musical vernacular of his native Colombia and familiar with American tastes, Cabas has put out an album that pushes Latin alternative toward eclectically grooving boundaries not seen since the boiling point of Café Tacuba. Cabas meshes native rhythms and 21st-century musical sensibilities with ease, imposing the pounding aesthetic of his home country's Afro-Colombian percussive tradition onto each song. He varies wildly with this approach, whether shearing off some bro-rawk riffs for "Adentro"; allowing lush, Barry White-style strings to dominate the title track; or smacking the keyboard around until it nearly collapses during the aforementioned jiggler "La Caderona." But it's when Cabas combines Colombia with North America that Contactotransforms into an orgy of movement—and thankfully, that's the majority of the album. Typical is "Golpe Negro": it starts with deep drum thuds that are soon joined by bongo slaps, which give way to castanet-like hand claps; all of this is surging relentlessly when doomsday wacka-wacka guitars swoop in. Contactosweats with confidence and fury, functioning as an electric prod to the hips, chest and soul. Listen to Contactofor too long, you're liable to get pregnant.