PYNANDI: LOS DESCALZOS
CHANGO SPASIUK
World Village, Argentina ****
Rating: 82
By Carlos Reyes
Accordionist folk virtuoso Chango Spasiuk releases his latest, most complex album yet. Among the Latin Alternative scene he is most known for his instrumented contributions with fellow Argentinean band Divididos. But it was his multi-awarded 2006 album Tarefero de mis Pagos that brought light to a guy possessing colossal craftsmanship on his pastoral intimate music. Pynandi embraces every little moment by transmitting its emotional depth through a commanding instrumental sophistication, enough to request a visual contemplation to match the sounds. While listening to this, I couldn’t stop visualizing cinematic images from today’s most thrilling Latin-American film directors: Carlos Reygadas, Lucrecia Martel, Lisandro Alonso and Claudia Llosa. All four directors are known for their limited or absence utilization of music, and I’m not suggesting Spasiuk’s music for their films, it’s just that their approach to common life and beauty pumps from the exact same vein. First track “Tierra Colorada” embraces his origin bursts through it with a fascinating travel; there is some diffusion of instruments and the accordion struggling to explode, but most than anything there is no moderation limiting how Chango wants to depict his scenery. “El Camino” remotes those feeling of leaving or coming back, definitely one of folk’s most prominent themes, perfectly accentuates chords and boxsets to give a sense of an individual walking through a path, rediscovering his surroundings and re-coloring memories. “Infancia” is, as the title indicates, the most playful piece here; it’s imaginative and carries the speed and affection of childhood itself. Probably the most illuminating moment arrives with “Viejo Caballo Alazan” is a rich poem to the horses, peaceful mountains, food and odors of rural life. “Alvear Orilla / Estancia Santa Maria” unifies different styles of traditional Latin music; it touches Colombia and scratches the Southern Mexico. Pynandi departures with “La Ponzonosa”, a blissful musical festivity rounding up an enchanting album.