BBC Review
One of the most appealing compilation soundtracks of the last few years.
Michael Quinn2009
Take two American women, one Spanish city and, hey presto: Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Which also happens to be the latest rom-com from Woody Allen, one that comes with a suitably sourced soundtrack full of sun-soaked, flamenco-tinged romance and wit.
The light-as-air, tongue-in-cheek title track by Barcelona indie band, Giula y los Tellarini, all jangly guitars, twanging saws and breathy vocals, sounds like Pink Martini after a good night out at the local tapas bar. There's plenty of knowing Catalonian nods and winks elsewhere on an album that succeeds on its own sparkling merits away from the easy-on-the-eye attractions of Allen's glamorous co-stars, Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem.
No prizes for suspecting that Spanish guitar features prominently, not least when the quality of the featured performances is its own considerable reward. Where veteran flamenco virtuoso Juan Serrano delivers faultless masterclasses in digital dexterity on the darkly dazzling Gorrión and in the liquescent ebb and flow of Entre Olas, the no less mighty Paco de Lucia makes a strong case for modern flamenco with the slow-burning Entre Dos Aguas.
Two standard guitar works from the classical repertoire, both by Albeniz, prompt attractive playing from Emilio de Benito, in an agreeably plaintive take on Granada, and Juan Quesada, who dispatches Asturias from the Suite española with elegant ease.
A couple of Gypsy King-like extras – the Biel Ballester Trio's frothy and immensely likable When I Was a Boy and the Stephane Wrembel Trio's Big Brother, sounding like a summer shower of jewelled rain – complete one of the most appealing compilation soundtracks of the last few years.
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