"Our music is possible because we are possible" - Silvia Calado Olivo of Ojos de Brujo, Madrid, November 2002

Ojos de Brujo. ODB. (insert fanatic scream lasting about ten whole seconds here)

I don’t have any of their albums (yet), but I was an instant fan. I think this group is absolutely brilliant!

Translated as “Eyes of the Warlock,” Ojos de Brujo is a collective of young (and radical) Spanish musicians based in Barcelona. They use flamenco as a foundation for their cross-genre experimentation - infusing elements of hip-hop, funk, salsa, and reggae. Then throw in some electronica and Barcelona street sounds too. Sound impossible? Listen here and tell me that it doesn’t work. Because it DOES work, and surprisingly well.

They’re called noveau flamenco by some. But ODB calls their brand of music "Jip Jop Flamenkillo" which they claim is “a sound that catapults flamenco into the 21st century without losing any of the power or passion of the music's roots.”

Oh so true. There is a dynamism there – the intricate guitarwork, the percussions, the impassioned vocals - so infectious that you want to jump up and dance! Or at the least, sing along! When I first downloaded Tiempo de Solea, I couldn’t get enough of it and played it for at least five times straight. In our iPOD, it got its major long play treatment in the car when we were stuck in horrendous traffic to watch New Year fireworks. It’s pretty difficult to remain crabby for 3 hours when you hear ODB!

I’ve been semi-singing-humming the song Tiempo de Solea for a few days, and Dui has been going “tio-tio VAN, tio-tio VAN VAN VAN” during her morning showers too that its becoming silly!

As in all my dabblings in world music, I got my first taste of Ojos de Brujo from Putumayo. Vacileo (“A Good Time”) is a danceable song that has strong Latin flavors and declares that: “Oh, I am cured by rumba / That’s how I have a good time …”

Tesoro (“Treasure”), meanwhile, is slower and quite subdued in comparison. It has romantic introductory guitarwork. The lyrics are quite bizarre (“Your face is a fish when you have fun” – err, romantic?) and incorporates local slang (“Donderei donerara”). These aside, you could fall in love to this song. Hubby and I dance this sometimes during our “feeling Latin dancers” moods.

As a sidebar, Ojos de Brujo has a grassroots and anti-corporate philosophy. While the music is in the forefront, ODB is not merely about music. They are a loose collective of various artists - graffiti, multimedia, designers, filmers, among others. "I don't want to say we belong to a political party," says Xavi, the group’s percussionist. "We don't like those kind of associations. We do believe in doing things for ourselves, in controlling our own productions, in being free and having a social commitment, trying to do something to make this a better world… and in this sense we maybe also a little political, since politics are also social." In fact, they released their album overseas through their own production company, La Fábrica de Colores (now Diquela Records).

So it’s no wonder then that in my quest to own my own ODB record, I have come up dry. I have found nada in all the music bars here in the Philippines. So I have had to settle for the smattering of songs in the Putumayo albums.

It seems that ODB is making waves in the UK market, generating an almost fanatical bunch of groupies. Makes me wonder if I may be a lone fan in the Philippines. I hope not, because if you have a full ODB album, I would probably scratch your eyes out to at least borrow it!

My next project is to learn some more Spanish so I can at least sing along to them and not feel like an oaf.

Mini-research from:
Ojos de Brujo website
Calabash Music
Liner notes of Putumayo Presents Rumba Flamenco

“Is it rhythm, merely rhythm, that moves my heart? Is it merely the rhythm of the words, the cadence of falling notes that floods me with longing, calling to me?

Does rhythm have memory, can it travel through time and make the old forever new? Can it tell us of other nights, caress us? Does it have a feeling, to make us dance alive in our skin?” – Susana Baca, in her introduction to her self-titled album

I immediately fell in love with her voice – a beguiling voice with a plaintiveness, expressiveness, soulfulness that comes only with a deep attachment to what she is singing.

Heard two of her songs on two separate Putumayo albums, I didn’t immediately recognize that the same voice sang two of my favorites – Maria Lando and Valentin – until I sat down to read the liner notes.  

Maria Lando got Susana noticed. She appeared in the 1955 Luaka Bop album “The Black Soul of Peru” produced by David Byrne. The song is a lando, a mournful Afro-Peruvian rhythm that’s a cross between the samba and cha cha. Susana’s voice aptly captures the “sufferation” of a working woman in the big city.

Valentin, meanwhile, is an Afro-Peruvian classic. Sung from the point of view of a man about to fight Valentin, he complains because his foe is armed with a stick.

These two songs led me to search for her albums and I finally decided upon her self-titled album. (Well, there were only two albums available, wasn’t really a tough choice! And I have put the other in my “must buys.”)

The album is a beautiful selection of traditional (Molino Molero, Zamba Malato, Enciendete Candela), ballads (Negra Presuntuosa, Heces, Tu Mirada y Mi Voz), and even the pasyon-like song Señor de los Milagros. The themes are varied yet are very Filipino! Quite a few deal with love – a hidden love, unrequited love! You can’t get bored, wondering what’s next in her line-up.

But behind the voice is an activist at heart. Recognized as one of the greatest divas in South America, Susana is a dedicated researcher, working tirelessly to revive many forms of Afro-Peruvian folklore (song and dance). She and her husband have set up a cultural center and school dedicated to preserving Afro-Peruvian traditions.

“Our greatest challenge is to find the one true rhythm of freedom – something like the wind that allows a bird to fly, or a new language more powerful than speech, that holds you.”

         
Valentin
Maria Lando

Go buy Susana Baca's album's online!

[to Del.icio.us]

With a growing obsession for the un-mainstream, I’ve graduated from simply selecting from the Putumayo section, to scouring the shelves for specific artists. Favorites among the favorites, the creme dela creme.