Siembra

Not my stuff but it’s fine.

My name is Dexter... Dexter Morgan.

A joyous and carefree listening experience that would work for pretty much any social gathering (maybe not a funeral?) It feels like music put together with express purpose of spreading joy and being shared with live audiences. I do not dance but this album really makes me wish I could!

I've heard of Willie Colon, but never sat down to listen to his music. I suspect I'll enjoy this.

This is great. It makes me feel like I'm getting things _done_. I'll add this to my list of albums to listen to again.

I will not include the additional versions of tracks on the special edition in this review.

For those who don't know, Willie Colón was an American trombonist, producer, arranger, and musical director, while Rubén Blades is a Panamanian singer, musician, and composer. Both artists are considered integral to salsa music, a staple of Hispanic American culture. Both artists also collaborated over multiple records, with Siembra being their second outing together, and nearly every song becoming a hit across Latin American communities. As someone who is admittedly not very familiar with salsa, I dug this record.

There is a quite danceable polyrhythmic groove to these songs, as the chorus ensemble harmonized well under Rubén's delightfully jovial vocal delivery alongside the booming trombones. It's a formula that works its magic, with a few swerves like that commanding bassline that opens "Plástico" and the ominous march that leads into "María Lionza". I wouldn't say it's the most enticing dance music to me personally, but that doesn't stop the lower half of my body from moving to those clave rhythms.

As for the lyrical content, I certainly commend Rubén for bookending this record with some genuinely charged political commentary. "Plástico" serves as a backhanded compliment to those who take advantage in a capitalist society, and the title track as a rally call for Latin American identity, in particular shouting out Ramón Emeterio Betances, who strove for Puerto Rico's independence and greater political integration in the Caribbean and Latin America. I also appreciated the cautionary tale of "Pedro Navaja," which certainly took inspiration from the classic "Mack the Knife". Otherwise, the rest of the album can be chalked up to songs of romantic affection and yearning with a distinct Latin flavor. They're not bad, but I wouldn't say they stand out compared to the songs I've already highlighted.

Overall, I enjoyed Siembra for what it is, a collaborative album between two artists that helped bring salsa music to greater global significance.

Often, when I get an album in a style I'm not well-versed in, or in a language I don't speak, I don't feel like I can rate it fairly. But I thought this was great! So much energy, and excellent work from the brass section. Funky and fun salsa!

Very cool, enjoyable listen. However, not nearly as memorable as what I have heard listening to Tito Puente. Furthermore, I would just like to add that I hate this silly label 'salsa', reminds me of 'world' music, why don't we call irish folk music 'potato' music, how idiotic is that. Probably 3 stars

But you see it’s too late- I’ve already listened to the Chad Ruben “Vibe Master” Blades while you’re still listening to the Virgin Bad Bunny

The first 2 minutes were amazing and then I got bored. It's interesting. I don't dislike the genre at all. This just doesn't stay very interesting.

This was great. Gonna be my jumping off point whenever I want to hear some salsa in the future.

Really great. I know nothing about Salsa but found this very enjoyable. Bass lines were so good I looked up who played on it. RIP Sal Cuevas.

Very iconic album in latin music. Most of the songs are hits that permeate through culture. This is the sort of album that I expected to watch in this list.

8/10 [KEEP]

En 1978, alors que le monde entier succombait aux fièvres du samedi soir et que le punk commençait déjà à se mordre la queue, Willie Colón et Rubén Blades sortaient Siembra.

Siembra, c’est le disque qui a tout changé pour le label Fania. C’est l’album de salsa le plus vendu de l’histoire, rien que ça. Rubén Blades, le cerveau littéraire, et Willie Colón, le tromboniste prodige et producteur visionnaire, ont décidé d'injecter du cerveau dans les hanches. Ils ont transformé la musique de danse en une tribune sociale, politique et poétique. Sur le papier, c’est fascinant, c’est la « salsa consciente ». Mais dans mes enceintes, c’est une autre paire de manches.

J'ai commencé l'écoute avec une réelle curiosité. On ne peut pas avoir travaillé en radio indépendante et dans un shop de disques pendant l'âge d'or des années 90 sans avoir une certaine ouverture d'esprit. Mais voilà, il y a une limite physiologique à mon endurance au trombone et aux percussions ensoleillées.

Les trois premiers titres passent plutôt bien. On sent la maîtrise, le groove est impeccable, et la voix de Blades a cette élégance naturelle qui impose le respect. On est loin de la soupe commerciale ; il y a une vraie profondeur, une orchestration riche, presque cinématographique par moments. C'est l'album qui contient "Pedro Navaja", une épopée de sept minutes qui revisite l'histoire de "Mack the Knife" dans les rues de New York. C'est du grand art narratif.

Mais arrivé au quatrième morceau, le syndrome de la saturation commence à pointer son nez. Trop de salsa tue la salsa. C’est une musique qui demande une énergie constante, une sorte d’euphorie rythmique qui finit par m’épuiser.

L’album est brillant, techniquement irréprochable et historiquement capital. Colón et Blades ont réussi à faire de la salsa une musique de réflexion sans perdre le rythme. Mais pour mes oreilles de post-punk désabusé, c’est un marathon dans une fête foraine. C’est très bon, mais trois titres, c’est ma dose maximale. Au-delà, je cherche désespérément le bouton « stop » pour retourner à mes ambiances industrielles et à mes guitares saturées.

Note : 3 sur 5. Un chef-d'œuvre du genre, sans aucun doute, mais un genre qui, à haute dose, finit par me donner des envies de silence monacal.

The Good: We get to be farmers!
The Bad: We will reap what we sow…
The Ugly: The damn album cover… so sorry, but that’s ugly!

My very first thought, upon seeing the artist name and album cover, was “SHIT, not more post 2000 EDM shit…”
Pleasantly surprised with the sounds that came out.

This is what the list is for; listening to albums which, most likely, I never would have listened to in my life.
I am not a fan of salsa music, probably because I have 2 left feet and am able to hold a rhythm about as good as a epileptic going through an episode.
This album showed me that this does’t matter, as long as you just kinda try and sway to the music, while appreciating the fact that the musicians seem to be having a good time.

Not much more to say about this album, except that I will want to listen to this again in the future some time, so 4* it is!!!

Reuben Blades? Ah good reeeeeeeeeeeal good.

I'd totally missed WC died 10 days ago. RIP. Thanks for this and the rest.

I want to knock this down to a 4 for its godawful album art, but the music is too damn good!

Next.

Love the vibe

Not super familiar with the genre beyond it being a stable at a local kebab van (very culturally confusing place) but as an introduction this was nice. I like how the vocals swim over the instruments, which are very good too. The first track was too long for what it did in my opinion and I was worried the rest of the album would follow that structure but it didn’t.