The finesse of atypical and daring marriages
The pairing of Maria de la Paz and Ignacio Lamas forms the core of this variable-geometry project, performing both as a duo and accompanied by additional instrumentalists.
Maria de la Paz and Ignacio Lamas, one from Argentina and the other from Spain: two personalities with many points in common, including the language and traditional musical culture, not to say folklore, of their Spanish-speaking roots... but not only.
Barrio Oscuro, the "dark quarter", seems to have been the musical home of Lhasa and Thom Yorke, under the benevolent eye of Arno or Tom Waits. Far removed from the clichés of a "world variety" that might have been implied by the use of Spanish lyrics, this is a very contemporary album that creates astonishment through its choice of chiselled rock that is more profound than obscure, even if it delves a lot into nocturnal or subdued ambiences.
With its charismatic potential and melodic power, Barrio Oscuro is a project of atypical and daring marriages, daring to combine acoustics/machines and tradition/modernity with great finesse.
While it's regrettable to hear their influences too clearly at times, so that certain sonic ambiences seem to be copied from tracks by Lhasa or Radiohead in particular, each track as a whole succeeds in delivering a tripal sound that moves, even in the gentlest pieces. This is one of the album's undeniable assets: the Barrio Oscuro sound!
"Barrio Oscuro" by Barrio Oscuro, Harmonia Mundi/Musicora BO 44844> http://barriooscuro.bandcamp.com/
