Aterciopelados
(Nacional)
After 2006's dark yet sprightly Oye you'd be hard pressed to guess how much farther out Aterciopelados could take Colombia's answer to the Talking Heads meets Sergio Mendes' Brasil 66 conundrum. Yet singer/lyricist Andrea Echeverri, multi-instrumentalist bassist Héctor Buitrago and the rest of this rock en español ensemble fuel their mix of sunshine harmonies kinky rhythmic interplay and experimental electronic twists with environmental tomes that refrain from being preachy.
Closer to their folkloric enterprise of 1997 La Pipa de la Paz, Rio is cool and dreamy with spins of whooshing winds and slips of flowing water cascading between each song. From there the crash of acoustic guitars and beeping electronics filter through the sieve of "Tréboles" and "Día Paranormal" - with those sound effects in the back of your mind, it makes for a Latin American alterna-pop take on, say, Stevie Wonder's Secret Life of Plants.
Like that Wonder record, there're equal amounts of soul and impressionistic pop throughout Aterciopelados' magic mushroom epic. Yet, it's still a completely earthen album filled with sappy, spacey joy.
Standout Tracks: "Gratis," "28" A.D. AMOROSI
