Flamenco: Ojos de Brujo (+ contest!)

As you might remember from other posts, we like Ojos de Brujo! On February 20, their album Techarí will finally be released in the US. Let’s celebrate that with two more songs! Ojos de Brujo caught our attention with their sunny flamenco tunes, but also with their socially engaged lyrics: on Techarí, Ojos de Brujo express their worries about today’s society. “El Confort No Reconforta” is a fierce indictment against capitalism and consumerism, against a society where money is more important than human lives:

“Derechos humanos mueren día a día calladamente
Personas sin papeles no ven salida a su vida legalmente
Inmigrantes encerrados en las iglesias en huelga de hambre
"¿¿Dios no existe o por impago le han cortao el cable??"”

This song is typically Ojos de Brujo: an exciting blend of cante flamenco, hip hop beats, and rattling rhymes by percussionist Maxwell Wright. Very impressive! Another song with a message is “Piedras vs. Tanques”: aggressive guitars (that reminded me of Rodrigo y Gabriela) open this song full of rage, but stand aside for the beautiful rumbita burden (hand clapping, guitars, a beautiful voice…). It’s an authentic protest song with a hopeful message, inciting a popular revolution:

“Señores presidentes el pueblo no quiere batallar más
al frente mande a sus hijos si con armas quiere ganar
aquí piedras contra tanques no más cadenas ni un paso atrás.
Escucha este silencio
será tu pesadilla son las voces de mi gente echando el resto
sanando, revolucionan, luchando el presente...”

As you see, this is quality music. No beats or big pimpin’ here, but a unique mix of genres and meaningful lyrics.

And you can win this fabulous album right now: just drop a mail with your address at laondatropical {at} telenet {dot} be. There is however one limitation: you must have a mailing address in the USA this time. (Don't worry, there will be plenty of contests for the rest of the world in the future!).

Ojos de Brujo - Piedras vs Tanques mp3 buy@iTunes (Europe only) buy@Amazon
Ojos de Brujo - El Confort No Reconforta mp3 buy@iTunes (Europe only) buy@Amazon