Amarok - Mujer luna - 2002
intro
Levántate, muchacha
que ya sonaron las trompetas de Jericó
y han de caer tus muros, sordamente, levantando
polvaredas de recuerdos,
para que se libere tu recóndita ciudad
y haya ruido de domingo otra vez
y fiesta en tu corazón…
Giaconda Belli
Saludo al Eclipse en Tiempo de Guerra
review
I think there´s no need to introduce this spanish band that, after working lot of years, has built a big name in the international scene. Leaded by the veteran multiinstrumentist Robert Santamaría; who composes all the tracks and plays a wide list of instruments (keyboards, 12 strings guitar, kanun, dulcimer, charango, autoharp, acoustic bass, accordion, glockenspiel, marimba, derboukas, pandero, talking drum, pandereta, krabs, kalimba, vibraslap, greek spoons, chiquitsi, crotals, rainstick, claps), and accompanied by Víctor Estrada (spanish guitars, bass and vocals), Manel Mayol (flute, didgeridoo), Marieia Sisquela (sax), Carlos Gallego (electric guitars and vocals), Pau Zañartu (drums), Marta Segura (lead vocals), Robert Abella (violin), José Valero (tabla), Candela Casas (child´s voice in 2), Miguel Ángel Ortiz (tenor sax and clarinet) and Eva Zapata & Cristina Morales (backing vocals in 1 & 8).
This new project´s tracklist is as follows:
Mujer Luna (4:09)
En el Parque (6:49)
Arabesca en 4 mov. (9:09)
Sueño Sueños ((:42)
Dúo Para Tabla y Saz n.1 (1:58)
Nana Para el Hijo de la Tierra (2:15)
Dónde Estás Mi Amor (3:57)
Tierra Austral (9:41)
i) Sobre las dunas de lava
ii) Laguna arcoiris
iii) Patagonia infinita
iv) Selva de araucarias
v) La nutria y el mar
Dónde Estás Mi Amor (conclusión)
(2:33)
Bonus:
Dúo Para Tabla y Saz n.2 (2:34)
After having a look at the band´s evolution it seems like they´ve chosen the hard, but also grateful, path of cultural diversity, including lots of different instrumentation in the music. If we have already seen this interest in previous albums, in this one the music is drenched in ethnic music and it´s a wonderful journey across southern lands, the mediterranean sea and America.
So we find compositions that remind of Andalusian rock (Medina Azahara, Triana) like “En el Parque” or “Sueño Sueños”. Some pop music in “Mujer Luna” that reminds of Mecano´s “Cruz de navajas” or the nice ballad “Nana Para el Hijo de la Tierra”. Ethic influences can be found in “Dúos para tabla y saz”, “Arabesca en 4 mov.” and “Donde Estás Mi Amor”, where Loreena McKennitt comes to my mind.
I have to mention separately “Tierra Austral”, the most progressive track with a structure a la “Tarkus” and where the band develop millions of melodies and changing rhythms over serene unsteady structures and sometimes peaceful and beautiful paths. Certainly a good move.
conclusion
A real delight that should be enjoyed listening to each instrument separately. It wouldn´t have been a bad idea to add a list of the instruments played in each song in order to enrich our musical culture.