Product description AUBELE FEDERICO PANAMERICANA .com The name of Federico Aubele's new record references the Pan-American highway, a road that stretches--except for a 54-mile gap in the Columbian rainforest--from northern Alaska all the way to the southernmost tip of Latin America. Built as a supply chain during World War II, long stretches of it are more dirt than concrete, and less than obvious signage could leave you hopelessly lost. It's more of an idea than a road really, a metaphor for the complicated connections between these two continents. For Aubele, it's a way to summarize the fused cultural mismatch at the heart of his sound. As on his 2004 debut Gran Hotel Buenos Aires, Panamericana is grounded in Latin guitar, tango, and Argentine flavor, but it's also steeped in a more modern brew of trip-hop, dub, and ambient textures. The combination works, of course; released on Thievery Corp's ESL label, it fits nicely with the subgenre of ethnic-infused acid jazz that's also sprung up around artists like Gotan Project and Fila Brazilia over the last decade or so. Still, one wonders what Aubele's music would be like without the velvety bass hooks and electronic sheen. His guitar work here, though not as prominently featured as it was on Gran Hotel, beams through the production rumble like filtered sunshine as it wraps around a mix of male and female voices (all singing in Spanish). He could probably ditch the whole fusion approach and release straight world music (à la Seu Jorge, say) that matches or exceeds the material here. But though it can get weighed down by its reverb-laden haze, Panamericana's airy melodies and sensual tunes will still set you adrift in a warm sea of daydreamy armchair travel. --Matthew Cooke
M**J
cocktail/dinner Latin lounge
His first CD was very good, and this one is great. Same style as the first, but less of the street-sounds sampling and the music is better integrated and flows well throughout the course of the CD. If you like euro lounge, like Hotel Costes, you'll probably like this. It has a more Latin feel and it's smoother, but it still has an "xm chill" energy.
J**S
Dazzling
Federico's music is incredible, it was worth the wait! Buy this album people, you won't regret it. Both music and lyrics have matured into a more complex, content rich, simply enjoyable! My favorite tracks are Maria Jose and La Esquina. This type of music is not for everyone, if you're into commercial pop, stay away, this is not for you. :)
M**K
Perfect Follow Up
Loved his first cd and love this second one. The whole cd has a great vibe and a beautful flow. For some reason I get a 70's vibe off of some of the tracks.I Love it. Just get it and let it play.
B**P
Not very friendly
I could only play this in my car. When I put it in my Mac and tried to download it to iTunes it caused iTunes to crash. It took me a couple of hours to fix my iTunes. All I wanted to do was load it on my iPod so I could take it with me. I don't know what caused it but I am not happy.
J**
Side B of the First CD
Overall this is not a bad CD. I consider it rather a "side B" of his first CD. The songs have the same dreamy melody as in the first release, but that does not mean they are bad to listed to. I like the voice of the lady who sings in most of the songs; her voice is charged with melancholy and lends itself pretty well to FA's guitar playing style.
M**A
FANTASTICO
Gracias y gracias Federico y Natalia por habernos dado un vuelo a la fantasia, lejos del caos del diario moderno!
T**U
Beautiful
This cd is so beautiful. It has a relaxing feel and the music and lyrics are very romantic. So, if you like jazz, electronics, Spanish guitars and Argentinan music you will like this cd. Federico Aubele has such a beautiul voice.
C**E
Each to its own
This music was too boring for me. I like all kind of latin music, from tango to flamenco. this one didn't do it.
S**S
Old and New
'Gran Hotel Buenos Aires', has to be one of the best world music albums of OO's, imo. As a fusion album it kept things refreshingly simple by refusing to exaggerate either the western electronics or the latin rhythms and instrumentation, and as a result, the diverse elements met somewhere in the middle.This album sees Federico often relaxing the delayed and reverbed production techniques in favour of more up front rhythms, or emphasising delicate songwriting structures. There's definitely more snap in the snare in this album than on GHBA, definitely a few danceworthy tracks, although, as you'd expect, the music remains very emotional, deep and soothing. In terms of appreciating the album, the biggest obstacle is perhaps Federico's murmurred vocals - despite having a great appreciation for melody, feel and texture, he's technically quite limited and often backed up by the excellent Natalie Clavier.The latter really makes her mark on this album, and one of the most fascintating things about 'Panamericana' is the way her playful, intelligent lyrics and melodies dovetail with Federico's deep and moody song structures. There's genuine chemistry between the two artists and a sense of each influencing the other. Towards the end of the album, when the mood returns to Gran Hotel, Federico's vocals sound a lot better.Opener 'La Esquina' is really strong. It also establishes the main ideas and moods of the album. As the title suggests, it's about a meeting, a public space in the centre of the town, which has the effect of differentiating it from the fleeting relationships and passerby perspectives that dominates popular songs like 'Postales' and 'En Lugar'. It's more confrontational, influenced by the tango, and the vocals and beats reflect this.The album is largely mid-tempo, and can get a bit one paced. 'La Orilla' is the one song that really ticks along. It has a few bars of solo bass before the full band comes in with plenty of punch. During the middle eight the percussion really pushes through and is excellently recorded. This song is definitely an album highlight and also features much more aggressive (and fast) guitar playing from Federico at the close.From an instrumentation side one of the most notable aspects of this album is the brass sections. They're really well recorded (often with delay) and, on 'Maria Jose', create a carnival feel alongside the chorused backing vocals. 'Corazon', another song with a horn section, is quite descarga and has a passionate singalong chorus. The positioning of the horns in the mix is somewhere in the middle and as a result has a slightly disorientating, melancholy feel.There's a few tracks that are more clearly centred around dub, particularly towards the end of the album - closing track 'La Mar' has a languid feel and has lots of echoey vocals and keys, while 'En El Desierto' has a fantastic, deep bass and distant funk guitar and emotion to match. 'Su Melodia' is the best of them, though, with its propulsive dub reggae guitar and sensual female vocals.All in all, this album shows Federico branching out a bit more, whilst returning some of the flavours of his previous album. It's more song-based, more eclectic and for much of the first half of the album the emphasis is on lyrics, song structures and middle eights. As the album progresses, the electronica background becomes more evident and the songs become deeper. It's the work of an artist growing and continuing to make a fusion of styles look easy.
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