Don Alirio — Picó Sounds: Piconema – East African Hits

For this listening session at Atemporal, Colombian picotero, selector, collector and musical researcher Don Alirio explores the musical world of the picó — the powerful, vividly decorated sound systems that emerged on Colombia’s Caribbean coast in the 1950s. Rooted in the popular music cultures of Barranquilla and Cartagena, picó culture developed an unusually open approach to music. Records arriving on the Colombian coast from Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and beyond became part of a constantly evolving musical language, unrestricted by genre or geography. Don Alirio describes himself not as a DJ, but as a picotero. His selections pay homage to neighbourhoods, popular dances and sound-system culture, while tracing the stories of records that have travelled to Colombia’s Caribbean coast since the 1950s This session focuses on Piconema – East African Hits, exploring East African sounds and their connection to Colombian picó culture. Through records and storytelling, Don Alirio traces the movement of music across continents and the unexpected connections between East Africa and the Colombian Caribbean.