De Momento

Ventilador has become a platform for mestizo music, a distinctive Spanish melange of flamenco strains, Latin American rhythms, jazz tropes, Indian instruments and funky grooves also sometimes called rumba (not to be confused with Afro-Cuban rumba). Lolaimon, a youthful seven-piece band from Ciudad Real in Castilla-La Mancha (the land of the windmill-tilting Don) brings an urban edge to the melting pot of rumba, with rap refrains and a rock’n’roll untidiness. All the musicians are great technicians, but trumpeter Enrique Gonzalez Paredes stands out, lubricating and sweetening the songs with tuneful trills, and the two Spanish guitars provide a firm rhythmic pulse. If you’ve exposed your ears to Ojos de Brujo and such like over the years, the songs may sound familiar, but there are strong, characterful tracks here, including ‘El Mundo al Revés, with its raw vocals and catchy riff, and the Moorish, modulating ‘Titiriteros. Miguel Acosta’s voice is not exactly mellifluous, but it works here. It sounds tobacco-damaged, straining slightly, but he holds a note and offsets his wails and choral chants with artful Arabesques and fast raps, as on the fifth track ‘Anda Ya. Mestizo music, by blending southern Spanish emoting with Latin American rhythms, sometimes lacks space for a more pensive mode or a good old bit of breathing space, and De Momento is a pretty frantic 40-odd minutes. But if you’re a fan of the contemporary Spanish sound, this is a worthy new album for your collection.