Santana
Ceremony Remixes and Rarities
Arista
For nearly 30 years guitar maharishi, Carlos Santana sat on the peripheries of the music world. While tuned in and, some might say, genuine music fans were fully aware of the Latin-tinged rock guitarist's prowess the majority of the record-buying public were swallowing the plastic music company manufactured kitsch hook, line and sinker and remained blissfully ignorant of the guitarist.
All this changed in 2000 after sales of his Supernatural exploded, taking it past the 10 million mark and garnering Santana 11 Grammy nominations, of which he won eight. Since then the guitarist has teamed up with just about everybody who's anybody in the music business and become a household name.
For his latest release, Arista has lumped together a selection of tunes that, while highly entertaining, offer genuine hardcore Santana fans very little to cheer about. Sure the remixes are not without charm, but the record buying public -- regardless of Santana smarts -- would be better off listening to the originals.
Some of the album's better moments are the Latin-loaded, thumping-brass infused cover version of Femi Kuti's Truth Don't Die, a moody lounge version of Victory is Won and a wonderful icy-cool reworking of his 1999, Primavera.
The bottom line here is that, as one of the world's greatest guitar virtuosos, it is a real shame that Santana and his music have become so synonymous with commercialism.
NYLAS
Where Are You My Dear Uncle K
FNAC
This year's winners of Fnac's "Attention Talent" contest, NYLAS -- comprising Arny and La Pen -- has recently seen the fruits of its labor released by the French department store's record label.
The resulting mini-album, Where Are You My Dear Uncle K, is not a bad first effort. While the band's two members quote trip-hop gurus Radiohead and psychedelic post-punksters Mazzy Star as their main influences, the material on the album actually leans more heavily toward downbeat.
NYLAS only resorts to flashes of trip-hop and other such basics as a last resort. Where Are You My Dear Uncle K is a predominantly soundtrack-music based album that has all the trappings of Portishead with slices of pseudo-cabaret for good measure.
Starting with a slow wind-up and somewhat claustrophobic downbeat tune, Blow Away the Shadow from the Sky I, the pace on the mini-album picks up on track two, Stop Shining, which is a terrific mild dance tune that sees the duo blending trip-hop beats with child-like vocals.
As a mini-album, the CD only really gives listeners a taster of NYLAS. The nibble, however, is good enough to leave those with a passion for morose and ambient downbeat-inspired vibes itching for more.
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