New Yorkers have made Buenos Aires a major travel destination and on March 18, Argentina came to the West Village to return the favor. The cumbia-clash deejays of Buenos Aires’ weekly party, Zizek, graced Manhattan’s own SOB’s. Zizek brought its “urban beats club” to the village on the way home from Austin’s SXSW. Deejays, live percussion, vocals and the signature synth sounds of cumbia filled SOB’s and got a party savvy crowd dancing in uncharted sonic territory.

Zizek is a weekly event in Buenos Aires’ Palermo Hollywood, where travelers and locals alike show off their urban hip and deejays mash up everything from baile funk to reggaeton, hip hop, and 80’s classics smothered in cumbia sauce. A joint Argentine and American venture, the party has universal hipster appeal, but sticks to a unique soundscape. With a broad musical palate to choose from, resident deejays Remelon, Oro11, and Villa Diamante combine Argentine street culture and mainstream club jams.

For the US tour, Tremor and Alex Krieger came along to play live to rhythm-infused backing tracks. Vocalist Mariana performed for the crowd with all the charm of a beautiful Argentina. Remelon mashed up familiar hits with unfamiliar beats.

In Buenos Aires, the recipe is a nice break from the musical monotony that rules the city clubs. Much of what gets played is American or European in origin and deejays largely ignore homegrown musical treats like cuarteto, pachanga, or even rock nacional. Argentine cumbia is not generally played for a club crowd in the capital, but it’s heard wafting out of parked cars throughout the capital. In NYC, the music was a completely new development even for those in the know.

Thanks to Zizek, NYC gets its local entertainment delivered – from a great underground club across the equator.