El Guincho – Alegranza
8/10

Bursting to life with a live version of the much-loved Palmitos Park, notably and greatly covered by The Ruby Suns, El Guincho, aka Pablo Díaz-Reixa has had a fair amount of internet hype to live up to. With Alegranza he largely delivers on his promise of Spanish flair, with the live drums and rampant shrieks of Palmitos Park cascading perfectly into Antillas’ crisp, sun-toasted tortilla filled with peppery Cajun spices, bubbling beans, spicey African rhythmic chants and repetitive bell sounds. Life’s a party for El Guincho, and fortunately he brings this party on his long awaited debut. It can ring with repetition, but such is the combative blessing and curse of digitised culture, which more than presents itself on the cover art of Alegranza, with old school Spanish houses backlit by technicolour hexagonal spikes protruding into the sky. El Guincho’s old school background has him weaving Afrobeat, dub, Tropicália and indie tendencies into what he calls “space-age exotica”. With these whimsical futuristic tendencies in tow he has gently swept himself skyward, just as his technicolour hexagons have, to his current fame. Let’s see how it lasts! With brilliantly layered and intoxicatingly beautiful songs like Kalise and Fata Morgana taking us on a heady, exotic and chaotic journey, with El Guincho’s magnitude of drama, life-loving exoticism and cultural flair, this artist has a knack for transporting you out of your “meh”-inducing mid-afternoon slump and into a kind of hazy whirlwind of carnival fun in your head.
Sarah

 

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Album, Reviews