Diaz
sings and plays accordion on a mixture of
traditional
songs and original compositions on this lively
merengue
album, accompanied by the sort of rhythm section found in the
style of perico ripiao: guiro (a scraped metallophone) and tambora. Although this music has some resemblance to
Tex-Mex
conjunto
music in the instrumentation (particularly the accordion and vocals), to North Americans who might be wearying of the wealth of similar-sounding
combos, this is considerably more interesting. The tempos are so fast that it can initially be disorienting, as if these are
records playing at the wrong speed. But it's not just speed for speed's sake: The rhythms are cleverly syncopated and varied, and there's a cheerful urgency to the vocals and playing not always in found in other, similar forms of Latin American
folk
-based music. The original Spanish lyrics and their English translations are printed for about half the songs, and these are much in keeping with the energy of the record: exhortations to dance and celebrate and expressions of regional pride. ~ Richie Unterberger