CD Review: Juaneco y su Combo's 'The Birth Of Jungle Cumbia'

Juaneco y su Combo
The Birth Of Jungle Cumbia
The Vital Record

Juaneco y su Combo is the first band to produce a new type of music - jungle cumbia. Peruvian-born, Juaneco y su Combo create psych-funk brilliance with the eighteen tracks on the album. The swishy percussion, bubbling guitar licks, and scintillating sounds are mostly instrumental. The vocals are mostly in the background, but some come to the forefront. The rhythmic psych-funk concoctions are what will make this band famous now throughout the world. The melodies are memorable, repetitive, and dance-worthy. Taken from the ultra-rare original recordings, The Birth Of Jungle Cumbia does exactly what it says and more. Anyone familiar with cumbia, which is a type of Latin-beat music, will find it all very worthwhile. Discover what the jungle has to offer with Juaneco y su Combo today! ~ Matthew Forss

CD Review: Sean Tyrrell's 'Walker Of The Snow'

Sean Tyrrell
Walker Of The Snow
The Vital Record

Irish folk music is alive and well with the voice and fingertips of Sean Tyrrell. Sean's poetic interplay between folk, pop, country, and soul on the mandocello, mandola, banjo, and tenor guitar, awakens the spirit with a contemplative, timeless, and enigmatic work. The anthemic songs contain a host of instrumental accompaniment on keyboards, piano, whistles, bodhran, Hammond organ, fiddle, slide guitar, and others. This is Irish roots music at its finest. There are eighteen songs in all with nearly one-hour-and-ten-minute running length. This is not jig music. This is rather intimate, pensive, emotive, and mournful music with a strong story backbone. Anyone with an interest in Irish folk music without dance or jig music will love Sean's latest release. ~ Matthew Forss