Argentine
Federico Aubele
is first and foremost a guitar player. But inspired by artists as diverse as avant-garde
tango
composer
Astor Piazzolla
,
Wes Montgomery
, and
Thievery Corporation
, he set out to create a solo record that crossed
electronica
dub
, and Latin guitar music while capturing the sound and feeling of Buenos Aires. The resulting album,
Gran Hotel Buenos Aires
-- actually produced by
and released on their label,
ESL
-- is like the reverse image of
trip-hop
.
Aubele
's songs are atmospheric, driven by sampled beats, and even employ scratching in some cases, but unlike
is sunny, free-spirited, and celebratory. Always at the center of tracks like
"Ante Tus Ojos"
and
"Despertar"
is
's hypnotic guitar. Around that he collages an entire band worth of instruments and samples and, finally, sultry female vocals sung in Spanish -- provided by friends of
from Buenos Aires. The format seems ultimately liberating, allowing
the ability to masterfully apply solid
hip-hop
beats to jazzy
Latin
numbers (
"Esta Noche"
for example) and to allow what could be Argentine
folk
songs to drift into the realm of electronic ambience and
(the beautiful
"Diario de Viaje"
).
is a wholly brilliant album and
may be to Argentina what
Sigur Ros
is to Iceland: the most forward-thinking and experimental artist to capture the sound of his homeland's cultural, symbolic, and physical geography. ~ Charles Spano