Cobre

When Paco de Lucía made the groundbreaking Almoraima, he was just 28 years old. Already established as a prodigious talent, he used to opportunity to expand the possibilities of the flamenco music he loved so much. It wasn't so much the addition of bass and congas (he'd employed them before) as his entire rethinking of what constituted flamenco. The title cut, which opened the album, emphasized the Moorish influence, not only in the presence of the lute-like oud, but in its melody, which borrows from Arab maqams, or modes. "Rio Ancho" transports the rhumba rhythm to Brazil, melding it to a feel taken from bossa nova, which makes it all the more sinuous and sensual.

6th studio album by this great Japanese prog/symph/fusion band.
Though Midas were formed in Japan in the early eighties, the band persisted primarily on infrequent live appearances and with a more traditional Japanese rock sound their first fourteen years. The band released only a single vinyl album in 1988 (since reissued on CD), before reforming with a more modern, aggressive sound, often with Japanese folklore leanings in their lyrical compositions, in 1992. The band also added the electric violin around this time, with the inevitable result of them finding themselves often labeled as a progressive symphonic band…