Alegranza serves a sonic blend of pastiche, endless loops and samples swirling over multilayered soundboards and pinned together with magnetic tape. The Spanish El Guincho updates Brazilian tropicalia music and borrows liberally from bands like Animal Collective, specifically from Panda Bear's Person Pitch, but with far more Latin flare. The album opens with a three-minute pop ditty that sounds like the Beach Boys singing the theme to a Spanish game show, and then winds its way through the seven-minute "Buenos Matrimonios Ahi Fuera," which features clapping children, Moorish singing and church bells. The polyrhythmic, carnivalesque "Costa Paraiso" follows, closing with the playful "Polca Mazurca" and its classical allusions. Like spinning plates, El Guincho manages to maintain a captivating balance even in the midst of this kinetic frenzy.
El Guincho - Alegranza
XL/Young TurksPublished December 11, 2008 by Sean Marchetto in Record Reviews
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