|
SPECIAL FEATURES: ELBICHO
Street heterodoxy bugs
Martín Guijarro, July 2003
Translation: Gary Cook
Photos: Daniel Muñoz
After more than 150 gigs on street corners and cramped venues scattered
around Spain, Elbicho -'TheBug'- finally release their début album featuring
their peculiar brand of flamenco fusion. A couple of years of buildup, with a
production team comprising Tino di Geraldo and Guillermo Quero, and an elite band
of guest artists -Jorge
Pardo, Diego Carrasco, Tomasito, Eva Durán, Ara Malikian- and here
it is, the first crystallization of the band's polychromatic sound. A cheesy flamenco
souvenir doll framed inside a washing machine door (the interpretation left up
to you) graces the front cover of the 13 track album.
A flamenco chassis - rumbas, tangos, bulerías - and eclectic bodywork
- afro, copla, jazz, pop, latin styles, arrabal - can all be found on this "Andalusian-free"
group's recording début. The feel created by the line-up of instruments,
with an outstanding percussion and brass section, adorns the framework built on
the solid foundations of the charisma and credibility of the vocals. Chief bug
Miguel Campello's repertoire of streetwise philosophical lyrics - a sing-along
affair from beginning to end - provides the icing on the cake.
"No point telling people our live sets are the real thing". It's
become something of a catchphrase for the band, and there's certainly no denying
it. Elbicho are worth seeing on stage, even if it's only for their originality.
It might be less musically polished than on the recording, but the repertoire
comes to life with the crazed live performance. The vocalist, playing with a sexual
and artistic ambiguity which provokes the curiosity of a wide range of spectators,
is the center of attention. And he not only sings, he dances hitching up his skirt,
leaps around, strips off, performs pirouettes, works the audience into a frenzy,
marks time with metal castanets, litters the stage with showroom dummies... It
has to be seen to be believed.
There's no point trying to deny it. Triana has exerted a heavy influence here,
though you could say it's been given a whirl in the spin dryer. And a few other
influences creep in too, including curious references like traditional Andalusian
canción española or the brash trumpet of a street musician. The
arrangements, in general, are deeply reminiscent of episodes of pop-rock from
the seventies onward, no added instrumental complexity here. And the result is
a full-bodied sound that feels great. Even if you ignore the presence of the (already
plentiful) fans, Elbicho's live act flows naturally and never tires the audience.
The time they've spent 'out there' playing together is evident, not just in the
pace of the performance, but also in the following they've built up already. Lines
to get into the concert which try the patience, venues full to overflowing, audiences
singing along to the lyrics from the first line, screams, handclaps, cheers of
encouragement... And then there's the four thousand copies sold in a couple of
weeks before the launch campaign was even under way - no mean feat considering
the state of the industry in Spain. These guys have been out there, and it shows.
 |
 |
magazine@flamenco-world.com
|
