Fax: Yo Recuerdo
Static Discos

Ruben Tamayo's sixth Fax opus doesn't depart radically from the style of his previous releases but is a generally decent outing nonetheless. Essentially Yo Recuerdo (“I Remember”) offers fifty solidly-crafted minutes of downtempo electronic music with a couple of guest vocal appearances adding variety to the mix. More often than not, the material could be described as dub-techno augmented by electric guitar themes and occasionally awash in shoegaze atmosphere (e.g., “Cielo Rojo,” “Millas”).

“Cuarto Para Tres” offers a crisply swinging slice of techno-funk which Fax nicely boosts with acoustic guitar patterns and some electric guitar twang too (the song re-appears in a slightly punchier dance mix at album's end) while the passionate vocal by Argentinean songstress Florencia Ruiz (whose fine Cuerpo appeared on the Static Discos sub-label Verdigris in 2006) enlivens “Tormenta De Arena.” Yo Recuerdo impresses most during its more aggressive moments, cases in point “Rota” and “Millas” which both surge determinedly; the album impresses less when it's dragged down by weaker material such as the title track, a sleepy exercise in trip-hop-techno that's not helped by an unremarkable vocal by Uriel Villalobos (of Mexican band Perdutto), and “Bosque,” which is admittedly atmospheric but also static and overlong. Ultimately, Yo Recuerdo won't disappoint Fax diehards but listeners already possessing a recording or two of his won't be severely disadvantaged if they stick with the ones they've already got.

May 2008