Descemer – Siete Rayo (Universal)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 4/6/06
Cuban afro-salsa-cumbia-hip hop with touches of reggae and flamenco, etc., from an original member of Yerba Buena. Great beats, cool horns, vocals mostly male solo singing/rapping and female chorus or male/female duet. Almost all in Spanish.
No FCCs discerned. Track 1 is GREAT, most of the others are good to excellent, but 7 really sucks and 11 isn’t much better.
1. *** long guitar flourish, then big drums and chanting – Afro-Cuban hip hop with a bit of flamenco. Gnarly!
2. **Midtempo Cuban salsa with lots of syncopation, horns, vocals. Eminently dance-worthy – aaaah, beep beep!
3. **Uptempo salsa hip hop with a touch of reggaeton (about who should be on top during sex – it doesn’t sound too naughty in English, though..)
4. *Uptempo but relaxed, appears to be a love song with a bit of a Bob Marley touch (but some hyperspeed rapping). A bit of offputting effects on some of the vocals.
5. *Starts with random noises, then a chugging beat, sung in English and Spanish. Switches styles throughout song. Slice of Cuban-American experience…
6. **Starts with a nod to Yerba Buena – “Bla bla” – then nice midtempo cumbia. Sweet vocals and synchopation. Some probable double-entendre in lyrics.
7. Slow pop – too much strings. Avoid!
8. **Better! Just what it says it is – cumbia reggae. Cool downtempo riddim.
9. **Midtempo hip hop lament for Habana, with Orishas member Yotuel. In Spanish and English. Nice bass and relaxed groove.
10. **Starts with phone ringing and conversation, then into midtempo party/dance groove with lots of percussion.
11. Midtempo electronic salsa – a bit over heavy on the orchestration. Latin smooth jazz…
12. **Slightly downtempo salsa dance with hip hop and some kind of electric march in the background.
13. **Laid-back remake of track 9, all in Spanish this time. Repeated cries of “Free!”