FRIPPADA ANDALUZA

1. "Frippada Andaluza (La mar limpia)" (10:04) awesome start with picked acoustic guitars, electric guitar swoons, and cymbal play from drummer Raúl Gómez. Gorgeous prog soundscape; who cares that it's just a two-chord progression! After 90 seconds of being bathed in this salve guitarist Joaquín Sainz steps forward to start soloing on his piercingly clear axe. His tone and style remind me of both Paul Speer and Mirek Gil. At 2:50 there is a reset bridge which leads into a return to acoustic guitar: Manuel Soto "Noly" multi-tracking his Spanish guitar for a few bars before the rest of the band rejoins to back Juan Castro's slightly-thinner Nicolas Reyes (GIPSY KINGS) singing voice to take the lead. The background music proceeds to take the same routes as they did when Joaquín was soloing. Such nice melodies and chords--and solid whole-band integration! It's almost as if the instruments surround and buoy Juan's voice. At the six-minute mark the band moves into a brief instrumental section for some delicate Mark Knopfler-like electric guitar play from Joaquín soon joined by more of Juan's excellent singing. Then the musicians move into a more-serious (and awesome) ALLMAN BROTHERS-like instrumental section. This guitarist (Joaquín) is really talented! Heck! They all are! Great song! So engaging! The 75 seconds of the song revert to Noly's gorgeous multi-track Spanish guitar weave with Joaquín and Juan trading bursts of melody-making with guitar and voice, respectively. It doesn't get much better than this, folks! (19.5/20)

2. "Tu pelo" (4:29) more great melodies sung with such passion over another great sound palette of song construction. I just love the warm, embracing mix of the instruments! The chorus isn't quite as great as the verses--and the instrumental passage in the last minute is more akin to some of the heavier classic rock stuff that came out of the late 1970s, but there's no arguing with the beauty and emotion put into 80% of this song. (9.25/10)

3. "El duelo" (4:19) a song that is founded in much more of a Spanish tradition--not unlike the music of the GIPSY KINGS, only a little more electrified (a lot more once we get to the chorus with its "gentle" power chords coming from Joaquín's electric guitar). Noly really gets to shine with his Spanish guitar talent and Juan's voice sounds more like Gipsy Kings' Nicolas Reyes here than before! I need to throw some shouts out to drummer Raúl Gómez and bass player Sergio Carmona: they are so solid (and mixed so nicely into the forefront of the soundscape). (9/10)

4. "¿Qué será?" (5:30) the gentle, beautiful Spanish guitar layers with bass and drums support in the beginning of this sound like a modern interpretation of Glen Campbell's big hit of Jimmy Webb's "Wichita Lineman." But, the vocal and core of the rest of the song are far different. I love the spaciousness of the music behind Juan's vocal (another outstanding vocal that reminds me a lot of Gipsy Kings' Nicolas Reyes). The rock motif that starts at 3:17 does nothing to change Juan's vocal approach or melodies, but it does give the song quite a different "personality." Joaquín turns this quite a wild and aggressive lead guitar performance in the fifth minute--again, more rock-oriented than prog or jazz. (8.875/10)

5. "Reencuentro" (1:35) a little instrumental that reminds one of many of the great American Southern Rock bands from the 1970s. Nice! (4.375/5)

6. "La levedad del ser" (4:09) an opening that is pretentious in displaying a cinematic tension like the musics given to who-dunnit films turns into something more ambiguous as the music switches from major and minor chords (and everything in between) over a very insidiously driven rhythm track while Juan sings in a style that feels more akin to Robert Plant or some Mexican story-teller. Noly has to conform his Spanish guitar strumming to the song's rock orientation while Joaquín has to remain quite disciplined himself to lead the song's rhythm structure. (8.75/10)

7. "La libertad" (4:18) another beautiful palette, soundscape and construct, however, the mix of the instruments and vocal track are a little bit off on this one. I think they're trying to give Noly a little more prominence but this ends up diminishing the effectiveness of Joaquín's guitars and, more, Juan's vocal. At the same time, this is really a great, solid song--one that would've/could've been a top three for me had the sound mix been better. (9/10)

8. "Reflejo vacío" (7:04) a very nicely-constructed song with some really great performances from Raúl and Joaquín. Having Juan's voice volume down (mixed almost into the back of the sonic field) makes it too obvious that this song is meant to be a display of power and instrument--much like a song from a technically-advanced "metal" band from the 1980s. While Noly and Sergio hold down the foundation, Raúl and Joaquín really get to show off--and they both do a GREAT job--Joaquín in multiple tracks. (13.75/15)

9. "Calamidad" (5:16) 20-seconds of solo Noly in full Flamenco mode. Then the rest of the band joins in, presenting the bare bones of a motif that is very rooted in Spanish traditions but that is built into something rock musicians of the 1980s and 1990s synthesized and cajoled into what we call "prog metal" or even "Tech/Extreme Metal." (8.875/10)

Total time: 46:44

Son of Gypsy Kings: as if the Gypsy Kings went electric and rock. Also a lot of influence/imitation of the great American Southern Rock bands of the 1970s and even some of the metal and early tech metal bands of the 1980s.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of eclectic prog rock that is fully-rooted in Spanish traditions. Very refreshing--and eminently enjoyable--stuff. Highly recommended.

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