The Thousands

Recent outbreaks of Internet-slaves playing bongos, all hyphy “like Fela” reeks of moneyed putrefaction – at best reminding of C. Thomas Howell’s character in SOUL MAN, who overdoses on tanning pills in an effort to ‘get down’ with his college basketball team. It’s imperative ALEGRANZA- the debut record from Barcelona’s Pablo Diaz-Reix, aka El Guincho -is not confused with this vapid trend.**Newly released in Australia by Mistletone, it’s a genuinely breezy party record that transcends so many re-upped, hackneyed remakes of Tropicalia and Afro-beat’s rhythmic glee.

Every track is a basket of cheers packed with steel drums, sunny instrumental samples and Pablo’s ecstatic chanting inSpanish. Openers ‘Palmitos Park’ and ‘Antillas’ have the jungle-fun feel of THE LION KING minus the naff (miraculously), and when, in ‘Fata Morgana’ a rare sample in English declares, “All of the joy of young people in love is conveyed in this delightful and simple melody”, it’s entirely justified. The issue isn’t authenticity – all of ALEGRANZA is sampled anyway – it’s integrity and unforced fun, and El Guincho has it as much as Deelite did, or Kid Creole and the Coconuts.