eMusic Review 0
It's no surprise that Mexican expats Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero rage on acoustic guitars, strumming and picking like greased lightning, and drum with uncaged bongo fury. On their latest album, however, fans will discover that the duo's musical infatuations extend beyond the oeuvres of Metallica and Led Zeppelin and into the realms of jazz, tango, new age, Middle Eastern and the classical music of Europe and the Americas — but always with a rocking Latin tinge.
Indeed, nearly every track on 11:11, with only a couple of exceptions, was inspired by a different guitar hero — from the fiery Santana-influenced opener, "Hanuman," to the decidedly chillier title-track closer, which pays homage to Pink Floyd. In addition to tracks that evoke —either stylistically or through outright quoting — rock idols Jimi Hendrix ("Buster Voodoo") and Pantera's Dimebag Darrell ("Ataman"), R&G wax jazzy in the Al Di Meola-informed "Triveni" and manage to emulate tablas in "Savitri" while under the sway of Shakti's John McLaughlan and Zakir Hussain.
But no matter the source, make no mistake: Everything on 11:11's eleven tracks sounds very much like Rodrigo and Gabriela, who never diverge far from their trademarked locomotive-like flamenco-rock. On a per-note basis, their music's a… read more »
