Amazonia

Come join Spaniard Juan Alberto Arteche Guel and his musical co-adventurers on their good ship Finis Africae on an imagined musical journey along the Amazon. This is a CD and vinyl LP reissue of their 1990 album, a rare and highly sought-after Balearic classic, Guel's masterpiece. Finis Africae was part of the musical flourishing that emerged at the end of the Franco regime, and this album, guided by the visionary Guel, captures the mature results of that era of new-found openness and freedom. Capturing Guel's production skills at their peak, "Amazonia" is informed by Jon Hassell and Brian Eno and their idea of a "fourth world" music. Arrangements which are spacious and fittingly aquatic feature electronic and acoustic instruments in thematic pieces which at times free-flowing and at others ripplingly percussive. Vividly imagined and beautifully recorded, this is a pleasant and memorable journey.