Chicha is originally the name of an alcoholic drink, made of fermented maize, which the Incas were especially fond of. In the past thirty years, however, the word has taken on a pejorative connotation. Peruvian cumbia started being called chicha in the late '70s, around the same time that the music came to be viewed as the expression of the slums, the pueblos jovenes. Little by little, the word became an adjective, and people now talk of chicha culture, chicha press, chicha architecture, even of a chicha president, and none if it, you guessed right, is meant as a compliment.

After 2009's release on Crammed of the superb CHICHA LIBRE album Sonido Amazonico (wherein the Brooklyn band performed originals and covers inspired by chicha, the brand of psychedelic surf cumbia which emerged in Peru in the late '60s, and was  named after a corn liquor drink favoured by the Incas), it's time to go back to the source with this excellent collection of vintage chicha.