Avalon - Beltaine cdRoots Home Page More music from Spain

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Ávalon
Beltaine
$16.99

For those who have been following the music of Mercedes Peon, Leilia and Faltriqueira, this 5 woman band is another one to listen to. These Galicians have a decidedly modern edge in their approach to the tradition,always solidly rooted but wide-ranging in both geographic interest and genre. (Fans of Vartinna will find some real affinity to the group vocals, as well!)

Listen:
Xira o mundo
Velo de maya
Espello
Combo Quieres
Ávalon

Also by the ensemble: Lua meiga (2001)

Push on past the warning signals of the new-age-sounding band name and album title, and the lamely posed cover shot of them in a rainbow of dress fashions and photo-session makeup, and start listening in the middle of the album rather than the beginning. The key to this young, female Galician five-piece is perhaps to be found in track 8, a traditional muiñeira delivered in the spirited group-vocal-over-percussion style of a pandeiretera group. Listening from there to the end, and then returning to pick up the first half, what emerges seems to be a group moving outward from the strength-in-numbers of the traditional-style vocal group, to writing their own material and embracing the musical ideas and influences of their age. The line-up is lead singer and main writer Patricia Hermida on guitar with Xela Conde, Macarena Montesinos, Belén Leis and Marta Barrecheguren singing and playing pito, cello, percussion, violin and keyboards. The list of five session musicians casts light; it includes, as producer and keyboard player, Mercedes Peón's co-producer Nacho Muñoz, and percussionist Leandro Deltell of Budiño's band and of Laio. The fast vocals and conspiratorial whispers of Muiñeira De Fermin over churning keyboard bass, while working well in its own right, certainly has echoes of the opening track of Peón's album Isué, and the more one compares, the more it appears that Ávalon are inspired down a Peón-blazed path. It's a great path, though, and it would be a waste if no-one used it to get where they need to go. This, the second Ávalon album, grows with repeated listens, and indicates that they're likely to dive into the undergrowth to hack some clearings of their own. - Andrew Cronshaw, fRoots

Press release:
¿Debemos hablar de madurez cuando nos referimos a la obra de un grupo tan joven como este quinteto de gallegas? Sin duda, siempre y cuando entendamos madurez como sinónimo de encontrar el camino que conduce a la culminación de las pretensiones artísticas ya presentes en el nacimiento de la banda. Con “Lúa Meiga”, Ávalon revitalizaron el panorama del folk gallego gracias su mezcla de instrumentaciones y ritmos tradicionales con inequívocos aires de contemporaneidad pop. Aquel mismo espíritu presente en su exitoso debut podemos encontralo ahora en “Beltaine”, aunque en esta ocasión ampliado y enriquecido.

Las Ávalon siguen mirando respetuosamente la tradición musical de su tierra, pero ahora acometen su tarea de revisión con mayor audacia, dando entrada en su sonido a influencias árabes y elementos electrónicos. De no ser por lo maltratado del término, no deberíamos dudar a la hora de hablar de “Beltaine” como un álbum de fusión y encuentro entre culturas y formas de entender la música. Un auténtico puentre entre pasado, presente y futuro.