El Cantante

When Cantante was released nobody was expecting that kind of move from Andres Calamaro. Considering that his previous effort was El Salmon, a quintuple-disc with 105 songs, and that after that he gave away a similar amount of songs on the Internet; a covers album was not expected at all. The repertoire contains many Latin American classics, like "Voy a Perder la Cabeza por Tu Amor," "Volver," "El Cantante," "Algo Contigo" y "La Distancia." It was recorded with the same personnel that played in Bebo & Cigala's Lagrimas Negras, and it also shares the same producer: Javier Limon. So there's a flamenco flavor through the album in songs that came from different genres and styles like tango, bolero, ballads, salsa and folklore. So musically, it also varies from Calamaro's previous albums worked from a more typical rock-band orientation. There are only three of Calamaro's own songs here: the superb "Estadio Azteca," the simple but delicately engaging "La Libertad" and "Las Oportunidades." All of them were previously available as lo-fi demos on the artist's website, but here they shed a new light due to Limon's production. With this album Calamaro proves that he's not only one of the most talented songwriters from the Latin rock scene but also a great interpreter. ~ Ivan Adaime