CRIOLLO ELECTRIK by Roberto López
It’s not up there in the head. It’s down there, in the heart, or lower in the gut, or lower still, that’s it, now you’re getting the idea. If music is a language, forget Rock en Español, Lopez has conjured up his own Esperanto — a deconstruction of influence to create something absolutely new. He’s not interested in tumbling down any statues, he’s building a new one right next to them.
Cause this isn’t fusion, nothing so vainglorious as that. This is sunlight filtering through Colombian palms making patterns on some sticky Canadian sugar shack where the wolves are at the door and you gotta run like hell. Roberto Lopez is a bell-ringing dream of tomorrow, but still with the stains of Bogotà bus floors on his Doc Martens, and some heavy metal leather vested hands-up sweaty mess screaming his way to being a hero. You want to mix it up more? Get a Brazilian to play your Colombian rhythms, an African to be your rock drummer. And just when you think you’ve pinned down that image, here comes some long-limbed Nigerian princess shaking her disco booty at you and wagging her finger cause you’ve been naughty, you’ve been using that fusion word, you been keeping it all in your head like some marble statue when the universe is contained down there, and we don’t have any more time for that bullshit. Clik play now!
Tracklist
| 1. | María La Baja | 3:02 |
| 2. | Oye Candelaria | 3:37 |
| 3. | Cumbiero | 3:35 |
| 4. | Calentao | 3:26 |
| 5. | Las Aguas | 3:25 |
| 6. | Agüé | 2:39 |
| 7. | Libertad | 3:14 |
| 8. | Chambacú | 3:11 |
| 9. | Hay Pescao? | 3:09 |
| 10. | Baila | 3:27 |
| 11. | Guayabita | 3:22 |
| 12. | Quiebra-Canto | 3:37 |
Credits
Roberto López - Guitars, bass, keys, tambora and llamador
Momo Soro - Drums
Vovô Saramanda - Percussions
Vocals by Adan de Dios, Emelina Reyes Salgado “la Burgos” and Teresa Reyes Salgado “la Mella”
Produced by Ivan Duran
Co-produced and recorded by Roberto López at Curura Musique Studios
Additional recording at Casa de la Cultura Graciela Salgado, San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia
Mixed by Ivan Duran at Stonetree Studios
Mastered by Ryan Morey at Ryan Morey Mastering
Art Direction Roberto López and Ivan Duran
Graphic Design MID51
Cover Painting by Javier Almirón -Atrapasueños Relato Urbano
Album photography by David Covo Camacho
Additional photography by Kaveh Nabatian
All songs written and arranged by Roberto López
Additional arrangements by Ivan Duran
All songs published by Stonetree Music, all rights reserved
This project is funded in part by FACTOR, the Government of Canada and Canada’s private radio broadcasters.
This recording was made possible through the assistance of the Music Section of the Canada Council for the Arts.
License
All rights reserved.Recommendations
Picture a tussle-haired kid in a hidden record store in Bogota, seeking the roots of punk, reggae, metal, anything with the magic dream instrument: the electric guitar.
Now Roberto López speaks Colombian Spanish and Quebecois French and Montreal English and the guy’s so mixed up he can’t spell in any language—which is how we got Criollo Electrik, the new soundtrack for your trans-national world.