PROG FOLK

Malabriega, the progressive flamenco band from Seville, presents 'Frippada Andaluza', an album that stands out among the most interesting of the year. Although it inevitably brings to mind Triana due to its blend of flamenco and rock, the truth is that Malabriega doesn't remain in the shadow of its predecessors. This album feels fresh, without nostalgia or attempts to recreate what has already been done, but rather with a common root that connects them to the tradition of the genre. The result is an album that has its own voice, modern and relevant to these times.

One of the album's strengths is its fluidity. Each song unfolds naturally, as if everything was designed to flow as coherently as possible. There are no awkward moments or abrupt changes that break the rhythm. The instrumental passages are perfectly balanced with the vocal sections, creating a harmonious and well-connected whole. The music moves freely between different moods, from the most introspective to the most intense, without ever losing its pulse.

The production is another indisputable success. 'Frippada Andaluza' is characterized by a raw yet warm sound, without excessive polish that mars the authenticity of the ensemble. Each instrument has its space and is heard clearly, but at the same time there is a sense of closeness and humanity, as if the band were playing directly to the listener. This direct approach is part of the album's charm and gives it an emotional dimension that captivates from the first moment.

The voice, meanwhile, is one of the album's highlights. There's no need to boast or show off grand artifice to stand out. The performance is precise, without falling into excess, and conveys each word with the necessary intensity. This ability to say a lot with few vocal resources reinforces the album's honesty and allows the music to take center stage without detracting from the lyrics.

Overall, 'Frippada Andaluza' is one of the most solid and original offerings of this year. Malabriega has achieved something truly remarkable: an album that breathes on its own, that explores and takes risks without losing its essence. It's undoubtedly an album that will make more than one person stop and listen.

Music: 4 stars

Lyrics: 4 stars

Execution: 4 stars

Emotion: 5 stars

Production: 4 stars

Artwork: 4 stars

Average: 4.16

I'm not sure where Dave Cousins dug up this great sounding live artifact that was recorded at the same time as the Just Collection Of Antiques And Curios live album from 1970. This single CD is twice its length for starters and really shows off new boy Rick Wakeman much better than the Antiques And Curios album. Standout tracks include "The Man Who Called Himself Jesus", "The Battle", another excellent take on "The Antique Suite", and a stunning 9 minute version of "Where Is This Dream Of Your Youth". The last song featuring a 5 minute organ tour de force by Wakeman.

The band at this time was Cousins on acoustic guitar, electric guitar and lead vocals, Tony Hooper on acoustic guitar and co-lead vocals, Richard Hudson on percussion and sitar, John Ford on bass and vocals, and Wakeman on organ, grand piano, harpsichord and celeste.

Wakeman is, of course, stellar on organ and piano. Something that faded into the background with his future synth and mellotron workouts with Yes, whom he joined shorty after recording with the Strawbs on the From The Witchwood album, which followed the aforementioned Antiques And Curios album. 4 stars.

From all three recent additions to the discography of Jethro Tull, this 2025 offering might as well be the most consistent and successful one, speaking of the overall impression left off by the album, the flow and the architecture of the work as well as the quality of the music and the engagement of the listener with the compositions. Beautifully complex and quirky, at times really folklore-ish and playful, this album has some truly solid numbers, which shall be a fine treat for dedicated fans, like the title track, 'Stygian Hand', 'Over Jerusalem', and the 17-minute-long epic 'Drink from the Same Well' (a piece necessarily evoking the grandiose 'Baker St. Muse' from 1975), containing some delightful instrumental sections in its first half. Yet going back to the age-old dispute of what is progressive nowadays, 'Curious Ruminant' probably hardly qualifies as such, since this album barely diverges from the musical musings already established on the two preceding releases. Nevertheless, this album will make Tull fans happy and while it is nothing groundbreaking, it is a good, well-curated and well-performed recording by a legendary classic band.

Structured as a classic album, with its twelve track-tracklist, 'RökFlöte' presents an interesting resurgence of those traditional J-Tull antics and sounds, much beloved by fans of the band's late 60s/early 70s period, with leading flutes, swiveling all over the place, around which the other members virtually play the music of Ian Anderson, supporting him in the crafting of the various pieces. Stylistically, this album certainly qualifies as folk-rock with progressive tendencies, and quite frankly, there are plenty of joyous, marvelous and exquisitely well-written instrumental passages, eventually supporting the idea that this might have been a gorgeous instrumental Tull release. Songs like 'Ginnungagap', 'Hammer on Hammer', 'Wolf Unchained', 'Trickster', 'The Navigators' and 'Ithavoll' all offer a daring amalgamation of the heavy and acoustic guitar riffs, the lovely mandolin, and Anderson's spiky, warm flutes, generally reminiscent of albums like 'Heavy Horses', 'Aqualung', and even 1969's 'Stand Up'. But while the music is excellent all throughout, the vocals hardly impress as it had been noticed on 'The Zealot Gene', somehow collapsing the overall experience of this album, which is good, coherent and enjoyable at large.

1. "Frippada Andaluza (La mar limpia)" (10:04) awesome start with picked acoustic guitars, electric guitar swoons, and cymbal play from drummer Raúl Gómez. Gorgeous prog soundscape; who cares that it's just a two-chord progression! After 90 seconds of being bathed in this salve guitarist Joaquín Sainz steps forward to start soloing on his piercingly clear axe. His tone and style remind me of both Paul Speer and Mirek Gil. At 2:50 there is a reset bridge which leads into a return to acoustic guitar: Manuel Soto "Noly" multi-tracking his Spanish guitar for a few bars before the rest of the band rejoins to back Juan Castro's slightly-thinner Nicolas Reyes (GIPSY KINGS) singing voice to take the lead. The background music proceeds to take the same routes as they did when Joaquín was soloing. Such nice melodies and chords--and solid whole-band integration! It's almost as if the instruments surround and buoy Juan's voice. At the six-minute mark the band moves into a brief instrumental section for some delicate Mark Knopfler-like electric guitar play from Joaquín soon joined by more of Juan's excellent singing. Then the musicians move into a more-serious (and awesome) ALLMAN BROTHERS-like instrumental section. This guitarist (Joaquín) is really talented! Heck! They all are! Great song! So engaging! The 75 seconds of the song revert to Noly's gorgeous multi-track Spanish guitar weave with Joaquín and Juan trading bursts of melody-making with guitar and voice, respectively. It doesn't get much better than this, folks! (19.5/20)

2. "Tu pelo" (4:29) more great melodies sung with such passion over another great sound palette of song construction. I just love the warm, embracing mix of the instruments! The chorus isn't quite as great as the verses--and the instrumental passage in the last minute is more akin to some of the heavier classic rock stuff that came out of the late 1970s, but there's no arguing with the beauty and emotion put into 80% of this song. (9.25/10)

3. "El duelo" (4:19) a song that is founded in much more of a Spanish tradition--not unlike the music of the GIPSY KINGS, only a little more electrified (a lot more once we get to the chorus with its "gentle" power chords coming from Joaquín's electric guitar). Noly really gets to shine with his Spanish guitar talent and Juan's voice sounds more like Gipsy Kings' Nicolas Reyes here than before! I need to throw some shouts out to drummer Raúl Gómez and bass player Sergio Carmona: they are so solid (and mixed so nicely into the forefront of the soundscape). (9/10)

4. "¿Qué será?" (5:30) the gentle, beautiful Spanish guitar layers with bass and drums support in the beginning of this sound like a modern interpretation of Glen Campbell's big hit of Jimmy Webb's "Wichita Lineman." But, the vocal and core of the rest of the song are far different. I love the spaciousness of the music behind Juan's vocal (another outstanding vocal that reminds me a lot of Gipsy Kings' Nicolas Reyes). The rock motif that starts at 3:17 does nothing to change Juan's vocal approach or melodies, but it does give the song quite a different "personality." Joaquín turns this quite a wild and aggressive lead guitar performance in the fifth minute--again, more rock-oriented than prog or jazz. (8.875/10)

5. "Reencuentro" (1:35) a little instrumental that reminds one of many of the great American Southern Rock bands from the 1970s. Nice! (4.375/5)

6. "La levedad del ser" (4:09) an opening that is pretentious in displaying a cinematic tension like the musics given to who-dunnit films turns into something more ambiguous as the music switches from major and minor chords (and everything in between) over a very insidiously driven rhythm track while Juan sings in a style that feels more akin to Robert Plant or some Mexican story-teller. Noly has to conform his Spanish guitar strumming to the song's rock orientation while Joaquín has to remain quite disciplined himself to lead the song's rhythm structure. (8.75/10)

7. "La libertad" (4:18) another beautiful palette, soundscape and construct, however, the mix of the instruments and vocal track are a little bit off on this one. I think they're trying to give Noly a little more prominence but this ends up diminishing the effectiveness of Joaquín's guitars and, more, Juan's vocal. At the same time, this is really a great, solid song--one that would've/could've been a top three for me had the sound mix been better. (9/10)

8. "Reflejo vacío" (7:04) a very nicely-constructed song with some really great performances from Raúl and Joaquín. Having Juan's voice volume down (mixed almost into the back of the sonic field) makes it too obvious that this song is meant to be a display of power and instrument--much like a song from a technically-advanced "metal" band from the 1980s. While Noly and Sergio hold down the foundation, Raúl and Joaquín really get to show off--and they both do a GREAT job--Joaquín in multiple tracks. (13.75/15)

9. "Calamidad" (5:16) 20-seconds of solo Noly in full Flamenco mode. Then the rest of the band joins in, presenting the bare bones of a motif that is very rooted in Spanish traditions but that is built into something rock musicians of the 1980s and 1990s synthesized and cajoled into what we call "prog metal" or even "Tech/Extreme Metal." (8.875/10)

Total time: 46:44

Son of Gypsy Kings: as if the Gypsy Kings went electric and rock. Also a lot of influence/imitation of the great American Southern Rock bands of the 1970s and even some of the metal and early tech metal bands of the 1980s.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of eclectic prog rock that is fully-rooted in Spanish traditions. Very refreshing--and eminently enjoyable--stuff. Highly recommended.

It's unfortunate that the 18 minute centerpiece, while radiant in parts, seems to meander and I have trouble connecting with it emotionally, unlike the vivacious prog folk of the opener and the methodical buildup and metamorphosis of "Perhonen" (butterfly) with perhaps Risto Pahlama's best vocal and Mikko Uusi-Oukari's consummate guitar solo. But then we have come to expect searing melodic leads from VIIMA. The finale which translates to "Mountain Peace" channels a Buddha or two, culminating in a lengthy organ coda that is already provoking in me ecstatic waves of frisson. If it doesn't for you, try headphones; if it still doesn't, I am sorry.

If there weren't already an abundance of stellar prog folk, particularly Nordic style, in the last 15 years, I might have missed VIIMA more, but that's all changed now. They are on the radar again. I hope this latest is not just an every decade and a half presentation, or even worse, a nightcap on a sparkling if unprolific run.