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CD Review
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Cleveland Free Times, CD Review >>
This nine-piece out of Richmond, Virginia, takes standard salsa grooves and slathers all kinds of retro-futuristic blips, bloops and wacky drum and keyboard textures over them. The whole thing is a joyous, irreverent dance party that could have rocked the house in the '70s, if the '70s were transported into the 25th century. The horns, percussion and keys are rock solid - de rigueur for any respectable salsa band, but the overall mood is loose-limbed and cheeky. "Bionic Boogalo," the CD's signature track, quotes the theme from the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man, complete with its sh-t-t-t-t-t-t sound effects and electronic swooshes and whoops. "A La Cha" opens with the quintessential '70s sound effect, the wah-wah. It moves into a Middle Eastern belly dance on keys, percussion and hand-claps in the middle, but snaps back into salsa before the end. Bio Ritmo gets earthy and organic on "Dime Vida," with mbiras and soft shakers, but this one cooks on as high a heat as anything else on Bi—nico. If I had to place a bet on who's having the most fun here, my money would be on keyboardist Marlysse Rose Simmons. The classically trained pianist plays like a kid in a space-age toy shop, throwing around funky tone colors like she was in some giant sonic ball pit. The goofy, faux-schmaltzy hidden track sounds like it was recorded at the end of a long, long session. It's further proof this is a band that knows how to have a good time, no matter what the circumstances.
- by Peggy Latkovich 10/10/08 >> go there
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