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Aurelio
Laru Beyo (Sub Pop)
By Ben Schulman
Published: January 20th, 2011 | 12:00am
It’s hard not to hear strains of Manu Chao’s Clandestino in the hazy opening chords of the track “Lubara Wanwa” off of Honduran/Garifuna guitarist/songwriter Aurelio’s Laru Beya. There are subtle, staccato guitar arpeggios overlaid by an assortment of laid-back cumbia style rhythms and a reverb-heavy vocal styling that builds block upon block of sound. The aesthetic is at once both foreign and familiar, traits that run throughout Aurelio’s debut for the Sub Pop world music imprint, Next Ambiance.
Garifuna is a term used to be describe the descendants of people also known as Black Caribs, who settled mainly in Central American nations such as Belize, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua after their expulsion from the Caribbean. The former slaves brought with them West African, French, Spanish, and Central American influences into a distinct cultural palette. Laru Beyo is Aurelio’s love letter to his culture, with assists from far away admirers such as Senegalese Afro-pop legend Youssou N’Dour and inimitable Orchestra Baobab all contributing to the album. With so many influences, it’s easy to pick out why records like the aforementioned Clandestino seem related to Aurelio’s effort in some aesthetic way, with such a cross section of cultural and musical exchange happening within the Garifuna context.
The resulting work though is an album though, that with a few exceptions, never quite finds its own voice in which to express its own meaning or interpretation in its songs. Too often, Laru Beyo sounds like textbook examples of previously perfected genres- Afro-pop balladry as in the mellow, plaintive “Mayahuab,” breezy party-anthem in the bass and hand-clap heavy title track “Laru Beyo,” or even mild elements of Peruvian chicha music in tracks like “Nuwaruguma.” On the few tracks that flex some truly original muscle, such as “Wibayuwa,” which has competing bass and guitar lines snaking around one another with an assortment of different rhythmic phrasing, Aurelio shows his promise as a unique artist. On the whole, Laru Beyo works as a pleasant background record, but doesn’t differentiate itself much from the sum of all its parts.
Sub Pop Records
01/25/11 >> go there
