Originally born in Spain’ Canary Islands, Barcelona-based multi-instrumentalist / producer Pablo Diax-Reixa first emerged as one of duo Coconot alongside his guitarist cousin, the fruits of this collaboration culminating in 2006′ tropicalia and krautrock-centred “Novo Tropicalismo Errado’ album. After spending a year touring with Coconot, Diax-Reixa found himself keen to explore a fresh new direction apart from the band, a move resulting in the release of this debut album as El Guincho “Alegranza’, which apparently had its original Spanish pressing sell out completely in less than a month. Geared around a fusion of calypso, tropicalia, afro-beat and world music sounds, “Alegranza’ sees Diax-Reixa incorporating those elements into a repetitively trance-like framework that takes equal cues from both spiraling, hypnotic krautrock and club-centred house rhythms (indeed, his sound has already been tagged in some media quarters as “amazonic rave’).
Opening track “Palmitos Park’ gives good indication as to the sorts of influences Diax-Reixa’ building his lush, free-flowing palette from, kicking things off with a bright, vivid collision of rattling samba rhythms, sampled children’ applause and surf-rock tinged Espanol vocals that sits somewhere between Senor Coconut and The Beach Boys, before the spectacular “Antillas’ hints at this album’ real psychedelic bent, sending chanted Spanish vocals ringing out joyously over a ramshackle backdrop of looped melodic elements and rattling afro-beat percussion that proves mesmerising by the track’ end. “Fata Morgana’ meanwhile even manages to call to mind one of Animal Collective’ more psychedelically free-flowing outings as barely coherent vocals roll lazily out over a backdrop of off-centre melodic loops that recalls a fairground ride slowing down, before the ominous closing strains of “Polca Mazurca’ prove that there’ some darkness lurking behind the luau. While there’ the sense that these tracks are best heard live when Diaz-Reixa’ in full flight, armed only with his voice, samplers and a floor tom, “Alegranza’ certainly shows the Spanish producer following no-one’ muse so much as his own.
