8th Apr 08

What:
Alegranza

Who:
El Guincho

On:
Mistletone

Where:
Mistletone Shop/ TITLE / Missing Link

MySpace:
here

Links:
El Guincho's blog / mp3s at Off the Record

Win:
We have two copies if Alegranza to give away. To enter email win@threethousad.com.au with subject "internet-slaves playing bongos"

Recent outbreaks of Internet-slaves playing bongos, all hyphy "like Fela" reeks of moneyed putrefaction - at best reminding of C. Thomas Howell's character in Soul Man, who overdoses on tanning pills in an effort to 'get down' with his college basketball team. It's imperative Alegranza - the debut record from Barcelona's Pablo Diaz-Reix, aka El Guincho -is not confused with this vapid trend. Newly released in Australia by Mistletone, it's a genuinely breezy party record that transcends so many re-upped, hackneyed remakes of Tropicalia and Afro-beat's rhythmic glee.

Every track is a basket of cheers packed with steel drums, sunny instrumental samples and Pablo's ecstatic chanting in Spanish. Openers 'Palmitos Park' and 'Antillas' have the jungle-fun feel of The Lion King minus the naff (miraculously), and when, in 'Fata Morgana' a rare sample in English declares, "All of the joy of young people in love is conveyed in this delightful and simple melody", it's entirely justified. The issue isn't authenticity - all of Alegranza is sampled anyway - it's integrity and unforced fun, and El Guincho has it as much as Deelite did, or Kid Creole and the Coconuts.

By Mark Gomes

Release: Album

To Cure: An empty dancefloor

Keywords: Mistletone Records