Chamame is a bright, lyrical dance music with Spanish, Guarani, and African roots from the northeastern provinces of Argentina, and for brothers
Rudi and
Nini Flores -- who were born in Corrientes in the heart of chamame country -- the music has been both a calling and a mission statement, and their releases on
Ocora Radio France (this is the duo's third) have served as charming introductions to the form. Chamame music is deceptively casual, and like the opener here, the shifting, soothing
"Kilometro," it can seem to unwind at its own time and pace, but underneath that unassuming structure is a rhythmically solid dance music. The name of the music itself is drawn from a local Guarani word that denotes something that is amusingly disorganized, and that same refreshing lack of pretension gives the material here a kind of curious mix of both elegance and relaxed goofiness, particularly on cuts like
"La Topada," which depicts a brawl with character parts taken by musical instruments, in this case
Rudi's guitar and
Nini's bandoneon (
"La Topada" was actually written by
Rudi and
Nini's father,
Avelino Flores). Chamame pieces can also be remarkably poetic, as one of the loveliest cuts here,
"Romance del Rio y la Paloma," illustrates. The story of a love affair between a dove and a river, the song lyrics are both strikingly pretty and just slightly surreal, with lines like "For the bed of that river/The arrival of the dove/Was the illusion of a meeting" giving off the mysterious conciseness of a haiku. Other highlights on this delightful album include a solo guitar piece,
"Linea 7," from
Rudi Flores and the impossibly bright and bubbling
"El Paisanito." ~ Steve Leggett
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