Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: Buika || ||
Album Title: Niña De Fuego
Year: 2008

More than just a pretty picture..

How I Got Into This Music
I just didn’t have any choice. LadyTO kept nagging me about this artist, and I kept ignoring it. Then she gave me this CD and continued nagging me into submission. After a month or so, I decided to cave in in a manly way and listen to the album.

Reviews:
Videos: ||
Have a listen on:

Tracks that got my attention:
La Falsa Moneda
Thirty seconds into the track and you get a clear idea of what you’re gonna get with this album: soft tones, lazy summer breeze and an incredible voice. Believe you me, I do not like the whole Spanish guitar hero & gitano traditional crap, but as usual, there are a few exceptions..

Culpa Mia
It’s that voice.. the intro of this song is beautiful and when the guitars join in, it’s also sweet!

Mienteme Bien
Some parts remind me of stuff my parents use to play when I was a kid, and I didn’t like it that much then and I still don’t..

Arboles De Agua
H O L Y S H I T ! !
The intro, when her vocals get in on the song, the whole track: wow, goose bumps!
Break both my legs and play me this song, you have a great chance I won’t be pissed at you.
This is such a great feel good track, there’s no way you can be sad or angry after listening to it.
(Still break your limbs later on, but that’s a small detail..)

La Niebla
Ohman, that voice.. Mellow work on the piano too.

Volver Volver
More of the ranchera stuff I don’t really like. The mixup with the almost jazzy trumpet is a nice touch.
By the way, don’t know if ranchera’s the right category to use.. It’s that cry-cry type of music from Mexico that this song’s reminding me of.

Mentirosa
Hmm, a nice and unexpected change of style: a bit of easy latin with some brass on the side. Works for the European crowd, I guess.

Conclusion
I saw five minutes of her show at this year’s North Sea Jazz Festival and it’s a shame I didn’t see more of her (in more ways than one, yep..). And, as I said before, I’m officially in love with that face
Macho bull aside: I really enjoy listening to this album and this artist. The way she uses her voice on this record is fantastic, the musicians are solid and the production is nice and subtle. Some tracks are just a bit too cheesy for my snobby tastes, but I can recommend the whole product.

Oh, LadyTO? You were right.

Rating:

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Well, I attended two days of the North Sea Jazz Festival and it was quite a mixed bag of candy.
Location: Ahoy Event Halls, Rotterdam
When: 11 and 12 July 2008
Last.fm:
Tag: northseajazzfestival

Day 1

Eliane Elias “A Tribute to Bill Evans”
A very calm and relaxed performance by Eliane Elias, accompanied by bass and drums. Have to school myself about mister Bill Evans, but the songs were sweet and highly enjoyable.

Jazzdiggers
Nothing to do with Jazz, just an excellent DJ playing groovy Classics like Prince, Zapp, Latin stuff and other Original Prime Cuts.

Concha Buika
I’m officially In Love With An Artist. Again. Wow..
Her music is very nice too
A musically Talented lady giving a passionate performance.

Angie Stone
An absolute riddle: a talented vocalist and a performance that just couldn’t get me excited. It’s me, I know, I know..

Abdullah Ibrahim Trio
Way too serious stuff for me: it’s like attending your first class in maths and the teacher starting off with Nobel Prize winning theories. Intricately beautiful, but boggled the mind.

Jill Scott
We went to see Abdullah Ibrahim, so we just caught the final three songs by JillyFromPhilly. HieronymusFox lamented choosing Ibrahim over Jilly. And boy, was he right!
The lady should ‘ve gotten the biggest venue in stead of the smaller Maas location. The festival director should use his brains next time and share the Greatness Of Scott on the biggest stage possible!

Bootsy Collins
Meh, we left just when he got on stage, tired after a very weird and crowded festival day.

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