DJ /RUPTURE - Uproot

Uproot is a new mix from turntablist DJ /Rupture, who after spending seven years in Spain, returned to Brooklyn and released this, his first 2004's critically acclaimed Special Gunpowder. The first video is for the track "Reef" and it is definitely one of the best clips of the year. Check it out...

Review EL GUINCHO - Alegranza! 91%

El Guincho is the one-man project of Spanish musician Pablo Díaz-Reixa, a man deeply ensconced in a variety of influences ranging from sun-splashed 60’s harmonies and Afrobeat to Tropicália, dub, exotica and Bhangra, just to name a few. What’s fascinating about Alegranza! though, is how these varying influences are shaken and stirred into a drink of its own unique flavor.

The album kicks off perfectly with the celebratory island anthem “Palmitos Park”. A refreshing burst of tropical delight, the track utilizes a very Martin Denny-esque sample of “oohs” to great effect, creating the most inviting prelude in recent memory. The jubilant “Antillas” quickly follows, keeping the tempo up high in order to reel you in for the far more interesting core of the album; one that many critics have compared to last year’s brilliant Person Pitch LP by Panda Bear. And the similarities indeed exist, particularly the dramatic use of repetition throughout.

Alegranza! is a wildly colorful collage of sample loops, tribal chants, and tropical percussion that plays out like a mind-jangling dream that, at times, numbs the brain into a whimsical trance, but in fleeting moments successfully harnesses a sense of profoundness. The nine-track, 40-minute album is hugely infectious, which is impressive considering how truly bizarre it is. The disc slips further and further into a carnival of sounds and sonic chaos, but somehow remains utterly rhythmic and gorgeous.

On “Kalise”, a steel drum loop queues off a deep tribal beat and an array of repetitious Spanish chants, which ultimately builds up into a constellation of infectious grooves. “Buenos Matrimonios Ahi Fuera” begins with children chanting an innocent lament before sidling up to a jangly mix of percussion. A couple minutes in, the track seamlessly diverts into a strange, but hypnotizing sort of downtempo dub jam. And on tracks like “Costa Paraiso” and “Prez Legarto” the heart of this circus comes a little closer, as Díaz-Reixa reveals a voice that excels in live-looping, a contribution that could easily be overlooked in the barrage of sounds that are at work here.

In all its colorful beauty, Alegranza! is El Guincho’s unmistakable love letter to his birth-land of the Canary Islands. In fact, the title literally refers to a location in the Spanish territory. Though now based in Barcelona, Díaz-Reixa is clearly a romantic for the beautiful locale of his youth, as this is the explosive expression of one man’s unique upbringing in “paradise”.
-Scot Bowman

Originally published at kevchino.com.

EL GUINCHO - 'Palmitos Park'

Taken from the album Alegranaza!, El Guincho's "Palmitos Park" is the most refreshing end of summer track I've heard this year. And the new video suits the song so perfectly, I have fallen in love.

The album is slated to be re-issued by XL Recordings later this year, but for now I'll just keep streaming the assorted tracks now playing at El Guincho's Myspace page.

SAVATH & SAVALAS - "Golden Pollen"

Guillermo Scott Herren is a man of many musical styles, moods, and monikers. Most widely known as the man behind PREFUSE 73 and the excellent 2003 album "One Word Extinguisher", Herren now returns with the 3rd LP from SAVATH & SAVALAS titled "Golden Pollen".

Herren originally started out as a DJ in Atlanta, but is now based in Barcelona...and listening to a Savath & Savalas album makes you sort of feel like you've been swept off to an Almodovar-colored bungalow on an unpopulated hillside overlooking the Mediterranean Sea from the Spanish coast...no stress or troubles in sight, just endlessly easy beauty. At least that's what a Savath & Savalas experience does for me. Try it out for yourself (imagination required for full effect).

STREAM - Savath & Savalas - Various Tracks