|
|
 |
CD Review
|
| Click Here to go back. |
Sing Out!, CD Review >>
On Backspin, a Six Degrees Records compilation of artists redefining and electronicizing classics by The Police and the Cure, there is one exceptionally surprising track: New Delhi-based duo MIDIval PunditZ remaking Led Zeppelin's "Four Sticks." As unique as that digitalized version is, it can't even touch the Mexicana injected into the same Zep smash by the Chicago ensemble, who, for this outing, goes by Sones de Mexico. The jarana, requinto and mandolina lead the string attack above maracas and drums, while an ocarina (oval-shaped flute) drifts into the distance. A conch shell, sounding like a great call to war always present in big budget movie about "primitive" battles, closes this inventive take on 1970s rock. Not that everything sounds great-- the drums and strings are hearty and driving, but the ocarina sends it dangerously close to tourist subway music. For the most part, the ensemble stays away from that turf, though on occasion play that thin line between street-side folk music--the heart of the corrido-- and street side "hey, drop a dollar in the guitar case." Not tha earning your keep isn't relevant, and for the majority of this seventeen-song album Sones hold their own. Their intent was to memorialize, as well as evolve, the Mexican folk song. Their cover of Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" (the album title is a Spanish translation of this) features a bouncing accordion and uplifiting bass line, though the vocals lack the push to really make you believe the statement. The band is best when the production strays away from catchy choruses, and focuses on the instruments; "La Rabia," an excellent mariachi featuring the viluela and guitarron, is a case in point. And you have ti admire a Mexican folk collection that includes an interpretation, and pretty good one at that, of Bach's "Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major." In good moments, and bad, no one can claim this ensemble lacks invention.
--DB 01/01/08 >> go there
|
| Click Here to go back. |
|
 |
|
|
|
