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Avg: 3.5 (36 ratings)
- Date Released: October 21, 2008
- Genre: International
- Style: Latin
- Label: Nacional Records
Colombian band's seventh album a fluid meditation on nature, motherhood, freedom, life, love, and laughter
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We Say...
The soothing gurgle of a running river punctuates the seventh album by Colombia's Aterciopelados ("the velvety ones"). No surprise there. Rio (River) is ritual-rock response to the forces of power and ignorance that have reduced the band's hometown Rio Bogotá to a trickle in recent years. With powerful Spanish lyrics by singer Andrea Echeverri and music by bassist Hector Buitrago that perfectly balances pop and paganism, Rio is an appropriately fluid meditation on nature, motherhood, freedom, life, love, and laughter in an increasingly fucked-up world.
Fortunately, Echeverri has a knack for juggling the yin and the yang of it all. Pitched perfectly between righteous indignation and the psychedelic celebration of heaven on earth, Echeverri's songs revel in the maternal life force — as in "28," a ripe reggae account of her second pregnancy, and "Madre" (Mother), which celebrates a "blue galactic traveler" — while also acknowledging humanity's natural belligerence in songs like "Hijos de Tigre" (Tiger Children). Buitranga's subtle music blends driving rock, lilting Caribbeana, Colombian folk rhythms, Indian chants and a subliminal undergrowth of whispering voices, chattering insects and alien electronics into a lush, green sonic tapestry. -
They Say...
Following a five-year sabbatical, Aterciopelados staged an acclaimed comeback in 2006 with Oye, a Latin Grammy-winning album on which they returned to the Caribbean folklore-inflected rock of their mid- to late-'90s prime. Río, the follow-up album to Oye, is similarly styled, more reminiscent of La Pipa de la Paz (1997), the album that firmly established Aterciopelados as one of the leading alternative rock bands in Latin America, than subsequent efforts such as Caribe Atómico (1998) or Gozo Poderoso (2001) on which the band more freely experimented with different styles, particularly electronica. While Oye and Río are generally similar in style, they differ in a couple ways. For one, Río is lyrically thematic, often concerned with environmental awareness. It's not a full-fledged concept album, but from one song to the next, vocalist/lyricist Andrea Echeverri rarely strays far from environmental issues -- in fact, the sound of rushing water fills the gap between songs, reinforcing the concept of environmental awareness -- and when she does touch upon non-environmental issues, she remains politically engaged and socially conscious. Secondly, though Río isn't as stylistically freewheeling as Caribe Atómico or Gozo Poderoso -- to their detriment, some believe -- never veering too close to what one might even casually describe as electronica, it's more adventurous musically than Oye. Much of the musical adventurousness can be credited to producer/multi-instrumentalist Héctor Buitrago, who crafts different shades of a uniform musical style that mixes together aspects of rock en español and Latin alternative, plus Caribbean rhythms, folk instrumentation, and drum programming. Adding to the adventurousness, one of the album highlights, "28," features a song-closing rap by Gloria "Goya" Martínez of up-and-coming fellow Columbians Choc Quib Town. Given the broad stylistic and thematic differences between Aterciopelados albums, it's difficult to measure one against another, yet Río is undoubtedly one of the band's better efforts. Like La Pipa de la Paz and Oye, the album is engaging from beginning to end. Not only are each of the songs on Río unique; they're all impressive, adding up to a complete full-length album experience filled with highlights.
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| 01. |  |
Rio |
4:09 |
|
| 02. | |
Treboles |
3:16 |
|
| 03. | |
28 |
3:34 |
|
| 04. | |
Dia Paranormal |
4:01 |
|
| 05. | |
Gratis |
4:27 |
|
| 06. | |
Vals |
4:27 |
|
| 07. | |
Madre |
5:25 |
|
| 08. | |
Bandera |
2:37 |
|
| 09. | |
Ataque de Risa |
3:21 |
|
| 10. | |
Hijos de Tigre |
3:32 |
|
| 11. | |
No Llores |
4:20 |
|
| 12. | |
Tomate |
3:41 |
|
| 13. | |
Agüita |
3:44 |
|
13 Total Tracks, 50:34 Total Length
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Credits
- Mike Marsh - Mastering // Héctor Buitrago - Guitar // Héctor Buitrago - Programming // Héctor Buitrago - Producer // Héctor Buitrago - Bajo Sexto // Héctor Buitrago - Coros // Héctor Buitrago - Palmas // Héctor Buitrago - Group Member // Mauricio Montenegro - Bateria // Ricardo Fernandez - Guitar // Ricardo Fernandez - Guest Appearance // Andrea Echeverri - Vocals // Andrea Echeverri - Group Member // Héctor Castillo - Mixing // Urian Sarmiento - Tabla // Urian Sarmiento - Tamboura // Urian Sarmiento - Darbouka // Urian Sarmiento - Bateria // Urian Sarmiento - Gaita // Urian Sarmiento - Maracones // Urian Sarmiento - Llamador
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