Boleros Psicodelicos II＜Yellow Vinyl＞

Guitarist and producer Adrian Quesada made a big splash with his 2022 album Boleros Psicodelicos. On it he explored the lush and romantic baladas of his youth with the help of a stellar guest list made up of singers from across the spectrum of contemporary Latin music. The record was brimming with brilliant performances, wonderfully loose and occasionally funky arrangements, and enough moments of thrilling drama to give chills to anyone whether they are fans of romantic baladas or not. It all went so perfectly that Quesada figured hed take another crack at it, and 2025s Boleros Psicodelicos II turns out to be another triumph. He sticks to the same basic idea of pairing vintage sounds with exciting vocalists on a batch of dramatic songs, and its another brilliant album. This time, the guest list is mostly different, though iLe shows up again on "Bravo," a woozy track overflowing with big-band horns, vibraphone, organ swoops, and a nasty drum beat. As on the first album, Quesada underpins many of the tracks with rhythm tracks that wouldnt sound out of place on golden-age hip-hop cuts, and spices things up with echo gone wild, reverb as deep as the ocean, and the occasional synth drum bloop or record scratch. Its a lovely backdrop for the vocalists, and each of them makes the absolute most of it, wrenching all the emotion they can out of the words and melodies. Their rawness and power only sound more monumental when contrasted with the swaggering coolness of Quesadas music. Check "No Juego" for a good example of this effect as Angelica Garcia digs deep into her soul to rip out some strong passion while Quesadas laid-back waves of twangy guitar and ballpark organ try to keep the flames under control. The result is a draw; the winner is the listener. This happens throughout the album and brings some goose-bump moments like Trish Toledo swanning through "Hoy Que Llueve" like a desolate 1930s movie starlet or Catalina Garcia (of the group Monsieur Perine) dropping vocal bombs on the impressively powerful "Agonia." The formula works just as well when the singers are calmly dramatic, as on "Ojos Secos," where the soft waves of sound conjured up by Quesada match the relaxed delivery of Cuco, or on "Primos," where the guitar-wielding Hermanos Gutierrez ply their mellow trade over one of Quesadas trademark downtempo drum breaks. Boleros Psicodelicos was a truly special record; it combined the past and present in a way that felt magical and important. Boleros Psicodelicos II is just as magical musically and feels even more important given the time in which it was released. ~ Tim Sendra

テキサスのサイケ・ソウル・バンド、ブラック・プーマズのギタリストによるソロ作品で、バラダ・ミュージック(ラテン・バラッドの一種)にインスパイアされたシリーズの第2弾。前作に続き、60年代後半のサイケなバラダの世界観を再現しつつ、彼のフィルターを通じて見事にレトロかつ最先端のサウンドとしてアウトプットされる様子は、まさに圧巻。第1弾と共に聴いてほしい。
bounce (C)赤瀧洋二