Buika: A La Noche Mas Larga (Warners)

 |   |  <1 min read

Buika: Throw It Away
Buika: A La Noche Mas Larga (Warners)

In the first announcement of next year's Womad acts a fortnight ago, this Mallorca-born singer stood out against Kiwi pop princess Kimbra and Americana retro-roots musician Pokey LaFarge as the most recognisably “world music”.

But hold hard, because although she currently works a dramatic flamenco-fusion or sultry soul style, the Miami-based singer (who also has a flat in Brighton) was once a Tina Turner impersonator in Las Vegas.

So she's come to her current styles through a circuitous path.

But it seems to have worked because she's picked up a Latin Grammy and has been likened – wrongly – to Nina Simone.

Here on her eighth album she includes an ill-advised, overly emotional treatment of Bille Holiday's Don't Explain and a thoughtlessly flamenco/piano-funk treatment of Jacques Brel's Ne Me Quitte Pas which suggest she may still be finding her musical compass.

But when she gets things right – the rippling flamenco-blues of Siboney and moving In Her Family – or dials things down her smoky and emotional vocals really connect.

However on the 13 songs here, jazz guitarist Pat Metheny featuring on the air-filled No lo se, she still sounds an artist on her way somewhere.

For Elsewhere's complete list of Womad artists with links to video clips see here.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   World Music from Elsewhere articles index

Simon Thacker's Svara-Kanti: Trikala (Slap the Moon)

Simon Thacker's Svara-Kanti: Trikala (Slap the Moon)

Strange how a chance hearing of something can put you on a different path. When I was about 12 I joined the World Record Club which, if you didn't send a form back every month declining their... > Read more

BEST OF ELSEWHERE 2008 Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu: Gurrumul (Southbound)

BEST OF ELSEWHERE 2008 Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu: Gurrumul (Southbound)

Funny how music can pounce on you, isn't it? A couple of weeks ago I would have said I had never heard of this blind-from-birth Aboriginal singer from Arnhemland. Then a week ago I mentioned... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Nina Simone: Alone Again, Naturally (1982)

Nina Simone: Alone Again, Naturally (1982)

Lord knows, Gilbert O'Sullivan's 1972 hit Alone Again, Naturally was one of the more depressing songs ever to top the charts around the world. Although the tune sounded almost jaunty the opening... > Read more

ROTOR PLUS INTERVIEWED (2014): The slow music movement

ROTOR PLUS INTERVIEWED (2014): The slow music movement

One of the most interesting albums/projects Elsewhere heard last year came from a New Zealand artist who goes under the name Rotor Plus (variously rotor plus, rotor +). With the release of the... > Read more