Rodrigo y Gabriela : Diablo Rojo

I really like Rodrigo y Gabriela.  First of all, I really dig acoustic guitar, especially in twos and threes.  I like the fact that they are taking the acoustic guitar and are expanding its capabilities, bringing both their native Mexican and metal influences to their duo. They strum and thump with the energy of a metal band, but groove and sway with latin soul.  I like them because in interviews they seem to be honest folk who really really just love to play music and want to share that love with the world.  That is awesome.

Rodrigo Sánchez and Gabriela Quintero met in a thrash band in Mexico City and decided to make their fame and fortune by ... moving to Ireland.  On one of their live discs, Gabriela tells this fantastic story about their move, the unforeseen complete frigidness of Ireland in the winter, their inability to speak nearly any English when they moved, and trying to convince their landlord to show them how to get their fireplace working.  The way she tells it, down to mimicking her own accent when she first got there, is absolutely touching.

"Diablo Rojo" (which my rudimentary Spanish translates as "Red Devil") is a very upbeat latin-rhythmed rocker.  It starts with furious drumming on the guitar body, along with some severely muted strumming.  This develops into a finger-picked version of the theme, which opens into a nicely strummed version.  The rest of the song consists of variations on the theme, plus a mid-song percussive breakdown.  In all, a fun tune and a great listen.

"Diablo Rojo" is from their self-titled 2006 LP, Rodrigo y Gabriela.  It also contains their cover of Metallica's Orion, which is superb and is what first turned me on to them.  It also houses their cover of Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven, which is also excellent and is not cheesy at all, despite the over-saturation of the original.  Great album, just bought mine with my Christmas money.  Go get one.

Hey, I just realized it's St. Patty's Day and this album has a vague Irish connection.  Yay me for staying topical!  Almost!

[You can listen to Rodrigo y Gabriela's "Diablo Rojo" by navigating to the post "Song053" and clicking or right-clicking on the title or the link.]

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