ARCO IRIS

I've been enjoying this cd this past week and decided to listen to it on my way into work today on this beautiful sunny Saturday. And it was a pleasure listening to this romantic, innocent and almost naive recording from 1969.This band is from Argentina and this is their debut which is very much a Pyche / Folk flavoured album that reminded me constantly of the RPI genre. It's not all laid back but that is the predominant feature of this album. Some nice flute, guitar and sax excursions as well, and I like the Spanish vocals.

"Quiero Llegar" has a relaxing mood to it with reserved vocals.The flute replaces the vocals briefly and I really like the instrumental section that starts before 2 minutes. Lots of bass, percussion and drums.The guitar comes in a minute later sounding quite raw. How cool is this ! "Hoy Te Mire" features fragile vocals in a pastoral setting. It does pick up some before a minute but not for long. "Camino" is a top four track for me. It opens with guitar, flute, vocals and a light beat. Beautiful stuff. It kicks in briefly and the contrasts will continue. I love both the mellow and more aggressive sections.

"Coral" is a short piece with vocal harmonies. "Te Quiero,Te Espero" is mellow with tender vocals.Gorgeous. Piano after 1 1/2 minutes to the end. "Luli" is a short (thankfully) male and female vocal piece totalling 39 seconds. "Cancion De Cuna Para El Nino Astronauta" is another top four track.This is laid back and melancholic with vocals and strummed guitar. Flute joins in too and i'm reminded of LANDBERK especially the acid guitar. Check it out 2 1/2 minutes in. A definite psychedelic flavour to this one. "Y Una Flor (El Pastito)" is mellow with vocals and flute. A strong Folk flavour here.

"Tiempo" opens with sax and drums. I like the beat here with guitar.The vocals here are the most aggressive on the album. It settles back as the sax leads and we get some nice bass too before 3 minutes. Now it's the guitar's turn as they jam. This is great ! A calm with piano and flute ends it. A top four. "Y Ahora Soy" is my final top four and the longest track at almost 12 minutes.This is surprisingly dark with sax to start.That changes when the tempo picks up. It settles back again with sax but it's brighter than the intro. Flute and acoustic guitar come in before vocals and a fuller sound takes over. A change before 7 1/2 minutes then we get this cool sounding beat with sax and guitar before 10 minutes.

A special album that hits that emotional cord.