Short Reviews [Cristiano Varisco - 2013 - "Aline"]

This album was independently released in Brazil in 2013, and Cristiano has recently sent it through to me for review. This is an album which covers a multitude of styles, always with his guitar at the forefront. It is light-hearted, moving sweetly through folk, psychedelic, classic, prog rock, and blues yet always with a Latin beat at its heart. There are times when other instruments take the lead, yet his guitar is always there driving the music along. Often classical or acoustic there are times when it is picked very heard indeed to provide a real edge, which is then placed against an electric or South American percussion. In many ways this is an album which screams that continent as there are so many musical styles and influences, and while some of these may seem more Spanish, I do not think it is hard to pick where this album is from even if it was not known. It is an easy to listen to album without ever turning into easy listening and seems right for warm balmy evenings. We are well into Spring here, and the humidity of Auckland makes this album the perfect sonic backdrop to the world around me. Not purely instrumental, there are also some vocals, but they are often wordless, adding just another layer of complexity and style. The sixteen songs are some 44 minutes in length, with some songs being quite short indeed, but it does not feel too fragmented. It may not be an essential album but is still enjoyable and worth discovering.