Y Seguimos Con Duranguense

Album review

Duranguense, like Sinaloa-style banda, is a very male-dominated area of regional Mexican music. Of course, Mexican music on the whole is not male-dominated -- mariachi and ranchera have given listeners a long list of great female vocalists. But the vast majority of duranguense bands have had all-male lineups. So when the long-running Los Horóscopos de Durango were revamped and founder Armando Terrazas' daughters Vicky and Marisol -- two sisters with a fondness for micro-miniskirts and cowboy boots -- were placed right up front, the group really stood out. But the Vicky/Marisol lineup of Los Horóscopos isn't gimmicky or contrived; in fact, they have been responsible for some of the most creative, fresh-sounding duranguense of the 2000s -- and their creative winning streak continues with Y Seguimos con Duranguense. Los Horóscopos haven't been afraid to take chances on previous albums; their willingness to combine duranguense with Dominican bachata on their hit version of Monchy y Alexandra's "Dos Locos" in 2004 showed a very risk-taking spirit. And the Terrazas sisters aren't any less ambitious this time; during the course of the album, they apply the duranguense sound to everything from corridos ("La Araña" and "El Media Noche") to cumbia ("Y Yo Sigo Aqui") to the late Tejano star Selena's "Si la Quieres." There is plenty of ranchera-influenced material on this album, but Los Horóscopos' use of ranchera elements can vary from one song to the next; while "Anoche Estuve Llorando" favors the stereotypically melancholy ranchera ballad style, "Obsesion" manages to draw on ranchera and bachata simultaneously. But for all its diversity, Y Seguimos con Duranguense is always a duranguense album first and foremost -- and it will easily go down in history as one of the most interesting duranguense releases of 2005.

© Alex Henderson /TiVo