MERIDIAN BROTHERS 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: Over the course of six inspired albums, the Meridian Brothers have carved out their own unique niche, somewhere between South American pscyh-folk, Brazilian Tropicana, lo-fi electronica and acid-fired early morning psychedelia. The Colombian band is at it again on this seventh full-length. While there are a few notable instrumental additions to their intoxicating sound soup - plucked and bowed cello motifs make an appearance for the first time, for example - for the most part the set is a kaleidoscopic, hard-to-pigeonhole romp in their usual superb style. Even so, the addition of strings is a bit of a step forward, adding another fine musical element to twist and bend to their will. That it works so well is not a surprise; after all, these guys haven't put a foot wrong over the course of their career.

Review: Last seen presenting a retrospective of the past six years of recordings for the Staubgold label, Bogota's finest composer Eblis Alvarez returns to the Soundway label with Salvadora Robot, a rather fine fourth studio album as Meridian Brothers. Very much in line with the oddball nature of previous Meridian Brothers albums, Salvadora Robot is perhaps Alvarez's most ambitious set to date with each of the ten tracks delving deeper into the tropical rhythms of South America and twisting different Latin music styles into wild new shapes. Everything from Bossa Nova to Dominican Republic merengue via reggaeton is treated with dizzying skill by Alvarez for a most interesting album.

Review: Colombian troubadours Meridian Brothers are a slippery bunch caught somewhere between traditional Latin folk music, jazz and electronics, winding up sounding like a raw and psychedelic adventure through a dizzying array of ideas. That's certainly the result across this collection of archive tracks released appropriately enough on equally wayward proposition Staubgold. "Los Falsos Reyes Magos" sports a krautrock tone in amidst its wobbly guitars and insistent vocals, while "El Enamorado" lilts and sways with strings and brushed drums over sub-testing synth. Elsewhere "Sostengan Al Angel Entusiastia" rolls on a dubby rhythm, and that's just a small snapshot of the styles and ideas traversed across this captivating album.