Review Summary: When I read the official review on Sputnikmusic I knew that great injustice has been done.
Pablo DĂ*az-Reixa, also known as El Guincho is a Spanish musician, who is not only a musician, but is absolutely dominant in the genre he performs, namely "space-age exotica". There is almost no other artist who is as good or even better than El Guincho in this particular genre.
Pop Negro is El Guincho's 4th album. I know what most of the people think right about now: "did he used the N-word in the title of his album? Is he not of sane mind?". Wellst obviously, we need to get something straight, gang. Negro is INDEED a term for an African-American gentlemen, but in Spain, negro has several meanings, such as but limited to:
"However, in Spanish-speaking countries such as Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay where there are few people of African origin and appearance, negro (negra for females) is commonly used to refer to partners, close friends or people in general independent of skin color. In Venezuela the word negro is similarly used, despite its large African descent population."
Now that we addressed the elephant in the room, we can calmly and un-racist-ly continue our journey in the wonderful world of sampling and incorporating elements of Afrobeat, dub, Tropicália and rock and roll. What Pablo does best.
Pop Negro is not "just another pop / experimental / space-age exotica album" as some of you would like to think or even labeled it as such. No, it brings something new, something fresh and something exotic. What truly stands out is Pablo's way of singing, the way he carries his words out of his mouth and the way that affects the listener. You know he's having fun, you know he truly believes that he's bringing us closer to space (actual outer space) with his music. Which he, if I can be honest, does. I'm always a bit off not-here when I listened to the 'Negro.
The music itself is experimental to say the least. Some wild beats that Radiohead probably ripped off, sampling that totally serves it purpose and delivers sounds that you could never ever imagine hearing before. There are several times when the songs itself force you to press "Pause" and ask thyself "what is this for an instrument, I've never heard this before in my life". But it becomes very fast, very clear that music is just a background for Pablo to wallow in. And he does so with passion. He loves every bit of the music and he conveys it with his singing, bringing everything together as one huge wave of instant musical climax, divided into 9 songs which make up the 'Negro. Yes, it is that good.
Soca Del Eclipse is easily the highlight of the album. There have been numerous times in my car when I ran across this particular song and I swear I started dancing, though limited to the confined space of a car. I should however point out that I am not a dance person per se, only rare songs such as this particular one can awake the dancing beast that I carry within my body. At the end of the song when he repeats the chorus around 15 times he goes a bit higher, which totally destroys the monotony and awakens the yearning to hear this song again, from the beginning. However, the language barrier is evident here. I've caught myself singing the chorus (pronounced as follows: "ere stura ro enja rita so, oooh, ooow!") yet I am not fully familiar with the meaning. I hope I'm not singing something that would go totally against my religious, political or sexual beliefs.
Lycra Mistral might not have that catching hook that Soca Del Eclipse, but the word pronouncing totally makes up for the lack of musical background. When he sings "valiente" I get goosebumps, and are repeated at the "soneto querto, I quiero". I think people should respect the vocal magic that Pablo DĂ*az-Reixa delivers. I mean, let's pour each other some clear wine and confess: we're all obsessed with Lady Gaga's gagagging, such as "wra wra uu lala la la gaga oo ma ma" (Bad Romance). It awakens that tribal, primitive part in us, the humans. We need that, that's why Lady Gaga is successful, she's totally a primate, not yet human, musically speaking of course. Pablo brings us this primitive feeling again, but he's not just jabbering, but actually saying words. Now, I'm not saying that Spanish speaking people are primitive and not human yet, but the way he plays with certain words is magical.
We are once again confronted with what's written above in (Chica-Oh) Drims, where he chorus goes something of the likes of "chicka-ro, santa-ro" totally rhymes, yet I'm not able to confirm the validity of the words. But the way Pablo sings "chicka-ro" is really breath taking and heart softening. The mentioned song is also kind of the ballad of the album, not so fast-paced, not so experimental, not so sampled. I think it could be played at some romantic dinner or slow sex.
When the album finished, roughly 33 minutes and 57 seconds in length, you get the feeling like everything else you'll listen to after that will just remind you of Pablo's Negro. I personally have to listen to this album at least 2 or 3 times repeatedly otherwise I cannot enjoy any further music, because I have that "valiente" and "chicka-ro" echoing in my head and ears.
I just can't find anything bad about this album, except that it's totally addictive and lasts only for about half a hour. But I can live with that and so can you.
