TRAMUNTANA

Well this was a surprise after their amazing debut, and not in a good way. The electric piano is pretty much non-existent and the sax sounds very different. It's so annoying almost like a gazoo, anyway it ruins much of this for me.That MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA flavour is completely gone.

"Titu-Tiru-Ritu (Marxa)" is the short intro track. Drums to open as guitar and bass join in then sax (yikes). It blends into "Focs De Sant Joan" as the sax continues. It's much better 1 1/2 minutes in when the guitar and drums lead. A Spanish flavour follows. Some organ and more sax later. "Moixeranga Del Diable" has that sax again after a minute.The guitar is laid back with intricate drumming after 2 minutes. The sax is back as contrasts continue. "La Mediterrania Se'ns Mor..." opens with wind chimes followed by acoustic guitar. Vocal melodies 3 1/2 minutes in as spoken Spanish words join in.

"Tramuntana" opens with the wind blowing as drums, horns then guitar take over. Guitar and horns trade off. This is catchy. A calm after 3 minutes. That sax is back. It picks up 6 minutes in. Some organ follows. Guitar 9 1/2 minutes in.It blends into "Les Bruixes Del Maresme". The wind is blowing as flute joins in. It kicks in at 2 minutes. Much better. It settles late and blends into "Festejada (De Timbals)". It opens with that annoying sax but it kicks in quickly.

A real disappointment for me after being blown away by their debut. I'm curious about the second album if it's more like this one or the debut.