By José Gandue @spinning zone
I've said it in different ways over the past few years, but I'll say it again: Peru has one of the most interesting scenes in the continent in terms of contemporary music talent, but in terms of its local dissemination, it is one of the most sadly underdeveloped. And please, let's not resort to explanations that seem to justify racist and classist labels, which are completely inappropriate, to explain the phenomenon. Perhaps there's an extremely limited view that assumes those who can access pop, rock, and other new musical trends in that country live only in the most privileged and bohemian neighborhoods of Lima, period. If I tell you, for example, that one of the most interesting producers and DJs in the international electronic music scene, Sofia Kourtesis, who plays a lot of shows a year in Europe and Asia and the United States, She is barely known except by a very small circle of specialists in her own country, I'm sure more than one of you would be surprised. Have you noticed that it's becoming increasingly common for some of the most striking indie pop artists there to move to Mexico, Spain, and other places to build their careers, because their music barely gets any attention from a few hundred people back home? I'm not going to tell you that things are first-world in Colombia, where I live, not by a long shot, but being neighboring countries, it's clear that here, between fairs, festivals, independent radio stations (both state-run and university-run), websites, and venues to play in, there are greater opportunities to shine, obviously. I'm sure that here, playing as hosts, names like Dafne Castañeda, Lorena Blume, Aura Blum, Naia Valdez, Micaela Salverry, Nuria Saba, and Gala Brie would have more opportunities., And, of course, The Fox Zapata.
Nuria "la Zorra" Zapata, while touring Ecuador, Mexico and the United States, presents her new video The Invention. The song, produced by her and Jorge Alayo, and released by the independent label A Tutiplén Records, confirms the artist's happily experimental path, making his music a kind of happy «"trip pop"» (we damned commentators inventing labels to explain what we hear), a recording based on a loop that resonates all the time and contains a dazzling hypnotic effect that captivates. Based on that sound impression, the clip's structure is created, which repeats the shot over and over, barely changing the actions that occur in the frame. The result is beautiful, boasting exquisite photography, precise editing, and, of course, Zapata's delightful charisma. This is a work that not only speaks highly of this music and the people who surround it (by the way, Elias Mujica Checa (He is the director of this audiovisual production). It also gives a small but effective sample of all the capacity to offer from Peru an artistic panorama that cannot be ignored, especially among its own people.
I don't know if it's a matter of a total lack of support from the public sector, from the virtually nonexistent support and interest of the Lima media, I say this from a distance, and perhaps in a terribly irresponsible way, because of the silly prejudices about who should or shouldn't listen to what this new generation of performers is doing, or because of that famous divide between the capital and the highlands. Peruvians, do not waste that wealth of rough diamonds that you possess and are unaware of, a generation of creators, who, through their own unknown efforts, want and can (and should) be heard anywhere in the world, even a few blocks from his house.
