Amparanoia – Rebeldia con Alegria, best of (independent, 2004)
Another sure-fire star of the world music scene finally gets a proper airing outside of her native Spain. The fabulous Amparo Sánchez fronts a rattling good band of (mostly) acoustic musicians with clear leanings towards flamenco, Latin and Cuban influences. Sánchez pulls off lyrical switches from Spanish into English with some style and the lively rhythmic performances, imbued with salsa power and Iberian subtlety, push the music into an irresistibly danceable format. With 5 albums and sundry other
appearances to choose from this selection features 3 tracks from the ’97 debut, El Poder de Machin, 1 from ’99 release Feria furiosa, nothing from the 2000 (turkey?) Los Bebesones, 4 from Somos viento (2002) and a further four from the latest, Enchilao.A lovely collaboration with US-Mexican band Calexico, ‘Don’t leave me now’, opens like a Gotan Project tune and drifts along beautifully in a jazzy eurolounge style.
The punchy Dolor dolor’, from ‘Enchilao’, also came out as a single and tracks from that release – ‘Alerta’ and ‘Trabajar’ – also feature here. With a total of 16 tracks from a guaranteed Summer 2004 sensation (they’re covering Europe on tour) it’s hard to go wrong…
Author: Dave Atkin
