Enchilao

Album review

After three discs roaming around the nooks and crannies of the Mediterranean mix sound, Enchilao sounds like a consolidation record for Amparanoia -- at first. The Spanish singer and band seem to be settling into the more acoustic, Cuban-to-Balkan panorama blend she found with Somos Viento, but that initial impression fades away since there aren't many overtly Balkan or Cuban touches. Enchilao is at heart a reflective, late-night album that's more muted than party-hearty celebratory. The biggest new thrusts are reggae rhythms (done with a lighter acoustic touch than on Feria Furiosa) and modern dub electronica. The title track opens with chill keyboards, and "Iluminando" uses spacy dub trumpet and voice effects over a high-speed rhythm romp to salute the courage and friendship of deported clandestinos. Jamaican rhythms again surface on the English-language "Don't Leave Me Now" and the sympathy-for-the-sufferers-on-the-street "Ragga2Mil3." "Camaleon II" starts from the reggae base of "Camaleon" to add electronica touches, good muted trumpet, and rasty fuzzed-out guitar mixed with pleasant acoustic melodies and a few toaster raps. "Dolor, Dolor" is moody but Amparanoia's big, warm voice is still wonderfully inviting, and "No Voglio" brings Italian to her broad language mix. "Dile" is an immigrant cultivator lament with busy bass and drums set against spare vocals and acoustic guitar. "Pueblo Joven" is one of the livelier tracks, wishing and hoping for a new world with nicely subliminal violin and more dub/chill touches riding over a busy rhythm section base. But the material is just as often diffuse (rather than diverse) and not well-realized. "Pregonando: War Is Not the Solution" starts with sitar and an antiwar rap that sorta resolves weirdly into dancefloor-friendly disco with a jazzy guitar solo and megaphoned-in English vocals. The concluding "Balkan Postal" is exactly that -- kind of an afterthought, postcard nod in that direction with a ska rhythm supporting violin and accordion melodies. Amparanoia is still heavily indebted to the general musical direction and sound collage principles Manu Chao has laid down -- "Si Fuera" has traces of Clandestino but they're only traces now. She's found her own way within that broad outline, but Enchilao also may be the group's least focused, memorable disc to date. After four discs of exploring, the question arises as to when she's going to consolidate and mold the multiple directions that interest her into a cohesive style and sound. It's time, you know.

© Don Snowden /TiVo