Cafe Tacuba - Cuarto Caminos

Café Tacuba is explicated by several magazines as the Kid A style-forward-thinking music for the “Rock En Espanol” genre; I’m an admirer of “experimental” style music, so I had a confident predisposition to expect something out of the ordinary. I’m not familiar enough with Latin music to compare its home-country revolutionary eminence, but let me tell you not to expect any of the classic filter heavy, structurally repetitive, machine-like Kid A-isms or anything else exceptionally novel. Café Tabuca isn’t at all the Beatles, Radiohead, or whatever American bands thoughtless critics have fastened them with; I think that Cuarto Caminos is best described as upbeat ska-pop-rock with energetic vocals, lackadaisical lyrics (from what I’ve been able to translate), and wildly diverse melodies/instrumentation with a hint of digital effects. If it has any influence over contemporary music, it will be in the variety of its components rather than the overall sound. Initial disappointment aside, this album is pretty good. With the production credits being split between various producers and mixers, the three tracks that really stand out for me are the three produced by Andrew Weiss; they most demonstrate the progressive elements that have propelled Café Tacuba into such an overwhelmingly positive media reaction. Showing off wide-ranging vocal styles and well-placed effects, the album certainly possesses a lot of energetic and passionate moments. Even though it's in Spanish, I find my self singing along slurring words that I don't really understand or even know how to pronounce correctly. That has to be a good sign. If you have extra change and you happen to be in the mood for some unusual, expressive music, you might want to check this out. [www.cafetacuba.com.mx]