Search - Federico Aubele :: Panamericana (Dig)

The name of Federico Aubele's new record references the Pan-American highway, a road that stretches--except for a 54-mile gap in the Columbian rainforest--from northern Alaska all the way to the southernmost tip of Latin America. Built as a supply chain during World War II, long stretches of it are more dirt than concrete, and less than obvious signage could leave you hopelessly lost. It's more of an idea than a road really, a metaphor for the complicated connections between these two continents. For Aubele, it's a way to summarize the fused cultural mismatch at the heart of his sound. As on his 2004 debut Gran Hotel Buenos Aires, Panamericana is grounded in Latin guitar, tango, and Argentine flavor, but it's also steeped in a more modern brew of trip-hop, dub, and ambient textures. The combination works, of course; released on Thievery Corp's ESL label, it fits nicely with the subgenre of ethnic-infused acid jazz that's also sprung up around artists like Gotan Project and Fila Brazilia over the last decade or so. Still, one wonders what Aubele's music would be like without the velvety bass hooks and electronic sheen. His guitar work here, though not as prominently featured as it was on Gran Hotel, beams through the production rumble like filtered sunshine as it wraps around a mix of male and female voices (all singing in Spanish). He could probably ditch the whole fusion approach and release straight world music (à la Seu Jorge, say) that matches or exceeds the material here. But though it can get weighed down by its reverb-laden haze, Panamericana's airy melodies and sensual tunes will still set you adrift in a warm sea of daydreamy armchair travel. --Matthew Cooke