Gig Alerts: Chicha Libre

Chicha Libre
"Six Pieds Sous Terre"
Playing at: Barbès (376 9th St., Park Slope)
Get: Tickets ($10 at door) | Directions

While visiting Peru in 2005, Chicha Libre band member Olivier Conan was struck by a style of music called chicha, a mixture of Columbian cumbias and American surf music and psychedelic rock. Two years later, Conan, who's also co-owner of the Barbès nightclub and record label, formed Chicha Libre. The band kicks it old school with classic chicha songs, but they also perform a number of original compositions like "Six Pieds Sous Terre," which adds a French chorus and a sitar-like guitar line to the already diverse music style. The result is a hot pot of trippy, transnational swing.