El Guincho
El Guincho creates masterful melodies and afrobeat’s on his latest release “Alegranza”. This is the most interesting CD I’ve had to review in a while, this isn’t my kind of thing usually but I find myself captivated by the hypnotic beats and mesmerising vocal harmonies. There are so many flavours in the mix, 24 year old Pablo Diaz-Reixa aka El Guincho, is a musician of monumental talents.
Within this 9-track rollercoaster CD, you will be treated to a rich and varied spectrum of melodies and beats. But I fear that it does get a tad repetitive after a while, which is a shame cause there are some really nice ideas within each song, they just need a little more then constant repetition of the beats.
Opening track “Palmitos Park” belongs in the 60’s, combining beach boys and African tribalism with samples. “Antillas” Kicks of like a track from Paul Simons “Graceland” and could easily feature Lady smith black mambazo backing up El Guincho. “Fata Morgana” enters like a dream sequence that turns into a massive street carnival. “Kalise” is also tropical and conjures images of girls in grass skirts shaking their booty.
“Cuando Maavilla Fui” is the first track on the CD to introduce a bhangra beat, like a soundtrack from bollywood. “Buenos Matrimonios Ahi Fuera” feels more like filler, lacking any real substance. “Costa Paraiso” reminds me of DJ Krush in the way that he uses samples. At this point, “Preaz Largarto” could be any of the first few tracks and you may wonder if your CD player is on repeat. “Polca Marzurca” enters and leaves you wondering where El Guincho gets his gear?
After such a promising start, I found that the repetition within each track started to get to me. I would recommend a full listen to the CD before you even think about purchasing, or possibly, like me you will be left with a bit of a headache.