Electronic: Acida - The Greatest Hits
It's been a long time since I was so pleasantly surprised by a band I didn't know. Acida was the musical partnership of two of Argentina's most talented latin pop artists, singer-songwriter Alina Gandini and her producer husband Tweety Gonzales (yes, from the superstar rock band Soda Stereo that's making its comeback now). I seriously regret that a digital-only Greatest Hits compilation is my first contact. You get it: I like Acida a lot :)
Their music can best be described as dreamy electronics for an indian summer in the city. "Música para fumar y olvidar", sings Alina on the emblematic "Nadie Como Vos", and I can vividly imagine her sitting lonely at the bar, on a gloomy night in Buenos Aires. Acida's songs are drenched in the kind of cosmopolitan atmosphere you can only evoke with impeccable sampling and crystal-clear production like Tweety's. Think Groove Armada and Massive Attack.
He couldn't have found a more suiting voice than Alina's, sultry and girly at the same time. She makes "La Vida Real" and most of all "Burbank" sexy, smooth and soothing. But on the funky "Presente Permanente" is she's playful, just like on "Destino" with its cheery 90's synth piano.
And melancholy... the emotion that seemes to drive Acida, and undoubtedly created their most beautiful songs. "Yo Nunca Te Doy Paz" starts off with a moving piano solo by Alina's father, Gerardo Gandini, musical director for the Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra. And is it a coincidence that Gustavo Cerati, the master of gloomy guitars, plays bass and sings backings on several tracks?
As a treat for those who already know and love Acida, the album comes with a collection of five remixes. The Federico Aubele mix of "Nadie Como Vos" highlights a nice little guitar loop, but the rest is totally obsolete. Another small minus: the jazzy drum 'n bass and repetitive vocals of "Las Palabras" don't mix with the sensitivity of the other tracks. The same for the crazy psychidelics of "Perdida" - think sitar, bass synth and lots of echoes. But overall, this is a must-have for any latin music fan who thought he knew all about electronica in the Americas. The old fans, well, they're just lucky bastards they have the original CDs :)
Acida - Nadie Como Vos mp3
Acida - Burbank mp3
Album: The Greatest Hits (Sonic 360)
buy@iTunes myspace
with tags:
album,
alternative,
argentina,
electronic
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2 comments:
A great album indeed, this was also my first experience with Acida. According to Juan Data, a fellow blogger @ The Hard Data, Acida doesn't exist anymore. Oh well, at least they gave us one las recollection of their music.
True, Acida doesn't exist and they never had a hit, it's pure irony that they named their album Greatest Hits. This album was supposed t come out in 2003 but it got delay for so long, then Tweety and Alina went back to Buenos Aires (they were living in LA when they recorded it) and the couple split. He went back to play keyboards for Soda Stereo during their reunion tour. She formed a band called Hotelera which whom she recorded a great album of jazzy covers a couple of years ago.
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