duggup

Artist: Rodrigo y Gabriela
Website: http://www.myspace.com/rodrigoygabriela or www.rodgab.com/index.html
Track Name: Orion (or Tamacun or just about anything really)
Playback: flash
Download?: No

Sometimes it takes awhile but eventually the gods (and Google) smile on you. About 18 months back I heard an amazing guitar tune coming from the radio one morning and by the time I woke up enough to recognise actual words, I didn’t quite catch the band name just that they were from Ireland.

Now for the good bit. I was scanning Decibel Magazine (it’s a heavy metal mag) and there they were. The one line description was enough, I just knew that the band they were writing about matched up with the music in my head that I had heard that sleepy morning the year before.

Rodrigo (Sanchez) and Gabriela (Quintero) are two awesomely talented Mexicans now based in Dublin and are playing some of the most exciting music I have heard for ages. Two people, two acoustic guitars (made by Dublin luthier Frank Tate, we will talk about him another day), and a combination of lightning speed, dynamic range and really interesting rhythms.

Rodrigo is a very cool finger-picker who has the same knack as Al DiMeola of moving from blinding fast clusters of notes to a perfect single note in the space of a fret, while Gabriela uses fast, rhythmic techniques. Playing her guitar a like a percussionist, thrashing of strings and drumming of the instrument’s body. They blend and blur the definitions of genre as they continue to refine their craft.

The duo had released three records – Foc, Live in Manchester and Dublin, and re-Foc – before recording their self-titled album Rodrigo y Gabriela which was produced by John Leckie. It entered the Irish Albums Chart at #1 beating The Arctic Monkeys and Johnny Cash to the top spot.[1] It was released internationally on March 13th 2006, having been given an earlier Irish release. Rodrigo y Gabriela includes covers of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and Metallica’s “Orion”. The duo list Metallica as being among their key influences, alongside other heavy metal bands such as Megadeth, Slayer, Testament and Overkill. The other tracks are original works inspired by the places they have been and the people they have met.

The couple first met in the mid ’90s playing electric guitar together in the Mexico City-based thrash metal act Tierra Acida, becoming disenchanted with what they perceived as a stagnating Mexican rock scene. They left the band and picking up acoustic guitars, busked across Europe playing a raucous blend of Flamenco-inspired harmonies and rhythms combined with blazing rock riffs, jazz shadings, and a touch of funk. They ended up in Dublin following a tip off that it was a good town for visiting musicians. Early gigs in bars and restaurants were supplemented by busking, as they honed their skills on Grafton Street and Temple Bar.

From YouTube here is Tamacun… LIVE (it’s from their latest album)

Oh well, looks like I may have found my Christmas present, time to ring Basement Records.

If they show up in your are do not miss the chance to see them. If it’s in Melbourne look for me down the front.

There is a great interview at Music Player from January this year, they take about the nuts and bolts of how they work and write.