Ojos de Brujo releases ‘Techarí’, their third bet
on experimentation with flamenco

Pepe Habichuela, Martirio and Asian Dub Foundation collaborate on the album

Flamenco-world.com, February 2006

Ojos de Brujo. 2006 Techarí Tour

Flamenco goes back to Ojos de Brujo's laboratory. And there it has run into music from all over the world: funky, rumba, hindu, trash metal, reggae, hip hop, Cuban sound... Following a year of experimentation, the result sees the light of day: ‘Techarí’. Moreover, the Catalan band's third album has fed on guests both from flamenco and other musical trends. On the one hand, Pepe Habichuela, Martirio and Son de la Frontera take part. On the other hand, musicians from other wavelengths such as Nitin Sawhney and Asian Dub Foundation have added their bit. The record is to be released on February 27th in a standard format and in record-book format, accompanied by a free CD-ROM which includes the contributions by the creators of the image, graffiti, audiovisual and photography who have let themselves be inspired by ‘Techarí’.

Ojos de Brujo (Photo: Julia Montilla)

Ojos de Brujo's third album travels a wide range of flamenco styles. It has bulerías like ‘Color’, ‘No somos máquinas’ and ‘Feedback’, each of which is differentiated from the others by nuances such as the influence of funk, hindu, latin jazz or hip hop. The tangos like ‘Todo tiende’ and ‘Runalí’ take a glance at Indian and latin tradition. Of course, they have played the Catalan rumba in several tracks like ‘Sultanas de merkaíllo’, ‘Bailaores’ and ‘Piedras vs. Tanques’, sprinkled with latin, trash metal or drum and bass overtones.

They also tackle tanguillos such as ‘Tanguillos marineros’, over which Martirio sings Huelva fandangos; and ‘Corre Lola’ with reggae airs. The mix also attacks more sober styles such as seguiriyas, which in the case of ‘Respira’ approach Jamaican beats. And all of it is completed with nondescript pieces like ‘El confort no reconforta’, subtitled as “hip-hop al tres por medio con scratch flamenco”.

Marina la Canillas, Ramón Jiménez, Xavi Turull, Panko, Sergio Ramos, Maxwell Wright, Paco Lomeña and Javi Martín have opened up their work to more collaborators. Besides Martirio, taking part is Raúl Rodríguez - member of the group Son de la Frontera - and guitarist Pepe Habichuela. But there is a lot more music besides flamenco, as can be clearly seen in the collaborations by Nitin Sawhney and Asian Dub Foundation.

The album, which slowly simmered during the intense ‘Barí’ tour, is going to be presented in two different formats: a standard album and a record-book with sixty pages with all the songs illustrated by several artists. Both come with a free CD-ROM including the related work of photographers, graffiti artists, illustrators, programmers and directors.

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