Pistolera – En Este Camino
Reviewed by Sadie O., 8/6/08
Political Latin pop based firmly in traditional music forms. Plenty of bounce and funk, but also plenty of ranchero accordion and cumbia. Unpretentious alto female singer, and biting commentary. Me gusta!
No FCCs detected, but I’m not a native Spanish speaker.
All tracks are really good – I like 6, 8, 11, and esp. 9 best.
1. 3:31 **funky, bouncy midtempo percussion, sparse instrumentation, female vocals. Sort of a lopsided cumbia, groovy.
2. 4:18 **galloping midtempo dance with solo female vocals.
3. 0:40 slow, melodramatic accordion intro, lead in to next track.
4. 4:04 *mellow and a bit downtempo, builds considerably in energy.
5. 4:55 **oomp-pah and oboe, sweet vocals, sweet and relaxed but feels rather like you’re privy to something secret, somehow.
6. 3:02 ***uptempo and upbeat and wonderfully skewed mariachi music, clearly taking the piss out of the police.
7. 4:17 **solo acoustic guitar and voice, has a rather Peruvian feel (ranchera?). Builds a lot - I guess it’s the inquietude…
8. 4:09 ***syncopated accordion-based dance – strong feel.
9. 3:06 ****mariachi oomp-pah with… Disney soundtrack bits? Odd, and really fun.
10. 2:46 **lovely, relaxed tango, sexy piano and sweet alto vocals.
11. 3:17 ***downtempo reggae – cover of the Bob Marley/Haile Selassie hit, with lots of intensity. This reggae fan approves.
12. 4:13 *ever so pretty solo vocals and guitar, subtle hand percussion, turns into swingy minimalist cumbia. Fades out about 45 seconds from end, and fades back in after about 15 seconds, which isn’t terribly good radio, alas…