Review Summary: Modern day flamenco meets acoustic rock wanderings.
Rodrigo Y Gabriela has always had a penchant for sitting outside the normal realms of my listening. Often, I look for the comfort of warm nylon strings, natural melody, percussive guitar slapping and basically anything that reminds me of warm breads, pizza and deep spiced red wines. The duo’s newest EP,
Echoes melds everything that makes them a viable, return listen. Incorporating their flair for faux flamenco into a sprawling, twenty (plus) minute affair of Pink Floyd psychedelia only forty eight years after the original was released.
Largely, Rodrigo Y Gabriela’s latest cover falls into the realms of ambitious and blasphemous, but the yield makes up for the lack of vocals as Rod’s notes pick out even Syd Barrett’s occasional vocal nuance. But as much as this seeps pure rock history, it’s the flourishing guitar playing that accentuates the utmost modern integrity, neither robbing or adding to the original version to which Rodrigo Y Gabriela play, instead they define the cover in individuality whilst making it respectfully their own.
When taken away from the context that
Echoes is a cover, the track itself caters to more than the typical Pink Floyd fan. Due mostly to the duo’s style of play,
Echoes brings back direct impressions from the guitarists earlier releases, namely in the self-titled and
11:11. The effect is subtle, before growing with repeated listens. The unintentional double meaning for the EP’s namesake suggests this duo are much smarter than credited. Largely, Rodrigo Y Gabriela’s newest release in almost five years is just a lead in to the record that follows later in the year. It’s not perfect by any means, but it’s a more than welcome addition.
