Chicha Libre

Recently an anthology was released in the United States of chicha, the mildly psychedelic music of 1960s Peru. Perhaps it’s no surprise that one of the world’s leading contemporary chicha groups is working out of multicultural Brooklyn, N.Y. Chicha Libre draws from old songs in the genre and original material, pulling the vocal and instrumental repertoire together into a playfully rhythmic yet often melodically melancholy sound. Their teasing arrangements for organ and electric guitar suggest soundtracks to long-lost ’60s movies set in exotic locales.