Flamenco recordings traditionally sound very brittle to the non aficionado - the guitar sounds bright even in the low register due to use of thinly carved cypress pine in its construction, palmas (clapping), cajón and taconeo (dancers’ footwork) all sound very trebly and there is generally no bass of any kind. On top of that the singing is brittle and microtonal. The world of flamenco is cult-like and insular, and flamenco artists often don't care too much about what those outside their scene think of their art. This arrogance has its downsides, but it does mean flamenco has kept its own vibe as it evolves rather than simply becoming diluted.
For me Bola does an excellent job here, taking great liberties but staying very true to the forms. The more stripped back numbers are outstanding, out of the ensemble numbers for me the farruca ('Galicia') works the best showcasing Bernardo Parrilla on violin. The siguiriya with Enrique Morente on vocals is maybe my favorite track of the album. I can't quite give this album full marks as it doesn't quite match the compositional vision of Paco de Lucia's Siroco or Vicente Amigo's De mi Corazón al Aire, but I chose this album as it's much less well-known. For me it's a solid
9/10
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