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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
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Alegranza
by El Guincho
The first album released in the US for the Barcelona, Spain-based artist.
| LABEL: |
Young Turks/XL |
| RELEASE DATE: |
07 October 2008 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Rock, Experimental |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
91
MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)
It's Buenos Aires' Gaby Kerpel without irony, maybe even Barcelona's Manu Chao without hooks -- ecstatic yes, escapist no.
90
Lost At Sea
It's fun and light, and even though for all I know he could be singing about the destruction of mankind, it is bursting with joy and happiness.
90
musicOMH.com
Whatever El Guincho's debt to Panda Bear, the decision to keep Alegranza! in the mama tongue lends it a genuine other-wordliness unlikely to be found in the well-traversed topography of American music.
83
Pitchfork
Most of all, it's Díaz-Reixa's intuitive feel for rhythm that marks out Alegranza! as such an unusual and enticing listening experience.
83
Almost Cool
It's the sort of release that will drive some listeners completely nuts simply because of the construction techniques, but it also powers forward with such a giddy energy that it's hard not to get wrapped up in it.
80
Blender
El Guincho has only himself to get along with, but you'd never know it just listening to his album. [Dec 08/Jan 09, p.78]
80
The New York Times
The repetition of the loops turns from mechanical to hypnotic to hallucinatory to ecstatic as the songs barrel along.
80
Under The Radar
Alegranza! is full of those bewildering moments, and they never seem jarring, thanks to Diaz-Rieixa's deft sense of timing and rhythm. [Fall 2008, p.80]
80
Spin
The joyous problem: All the repitition, all the sunshine, all the sound can get tiring. But the same goes for anything that releases endorphins this ecstatically. [Oct 2008, p.122]
80
Observer Music Monthly
The 24-year-old's debut is a tropical soundclash of spiralling steel drums, looped, gnarled local songs and untrammelled joy.
80
All Music Guide
El Guincho's debut album Alegranza is as bright as the feathers of the parrot, as sparkly as the fireworks, and as warm as the palm trees that adorn the cover.
80
Drowned In Sound
Pieced together from bits of wreckage, this is music created in glorious isolation, drawing on its own influences to create something just as fresh and just as joyous; drifting out into the ocean on its own shonky raft.
75
cokemachineglow
As an amalgam of mind-warping melodies and high-minded concepts, Alegranza! is more than deserving of our praise. Then again, El Guincho could have avoided the album’s key missteps by cutting down on the obvious Afrobeat tropes and experimenting more with traditional song-oriented vocals.
70
Dusted Magazine
It’s hard to know what to make of such attention to individual moments in an album so devoted to the overall spectacle; it’s harder because those privileged moments are spread so sparsely throughout.
70
PopMatters
It’s more than just clever sampling. If not for El Guincho’s command of unconventional rhythm, the record could be accused of copping the style of the aformentioned freak-folkers.
70
Sputnikmusic
With Alegranza!, El Guincho takes what could have been a disaster and forms one of the most peculiar, inimitable records of the year.
70
Tiny Mix Tapes
It’s no mistake that the title of this superbly fun album ends with an exclamation point; El Guincho has created an album that’s relentless in its ferocious rhythms and beats until the very last track.
60
Q Magazine
Akin to Manu Chao backed by The Go Team!, fortunately it's no one-off. [Nov 2008, p.117]
60
The Guardian
It may lack choruses and convention but the repetition and other-worldliness are mesmerising, and may leave you a little pie-eyed.
The average user rating for this album is 9.6 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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