Ëda Diaz
The result is deeply processed rather than acoustic - lots of aural collage and pulling and bending sounds. It has pleasing moments of Eda singing with her bass- and building from spare to layered with electronic pyrotechnics. Diaz, a French Columbian living in Paris, draws on multiple musical traditions and is by turns frenetic, bouncy, soulful, lyrical and always playful. Suave Bruta is rhythmically a lot of fun, with dance inducing, syncopated body-shaking tunes. Columbia is of course a crucible of rich and sophisticated electronic musical culture, with many prominent festivals, events, labels, djs and producers in the metropolises. The “Latin American Berlin” as it has been dubbed, is really an international site of sonic cross-pollinating and Eda Diaz’s music reflects this pluralistic mélange. She collaborates here with producer Anthony Winzenrieth for a result that is complex, impressive and joyful to listen to. Suave Bruta invokes Colombian singer Joe Arroyo’s classic song and indeed the whole album is peppered with collaged riffs and references for those inclined down that rabbit-hole. Diaz and Winzenrieth speed things up and down, distort and sample sly references. Fun games for the musically educated, but if this makes it all sound ponderous or contrived, it’s not. It is often soap-bubble light, airy in the best possible ways, an introduction to various sound traditions perhaps, but never a didactic lecture.
Suave Bruta is sometimes introspective, even pensive. The relatively pared down piano and vocal tune "Lo Dudo” (I doubt it) is in big contrast to drum and rhythm swayer “Nenita” (little girl), which manages to be both somber and danceable; a dirge, a funeral march, a nostalgic elegy? This album is personal and autobiographical. It feels very much by and of Diaz, literary and wry. I recommend good headphones or a well- set up speaker system to get the full effect of vocal harmonies, clicking knocks, shimmers and insect noises moving across the soundscape. "Tiemblas” (you tremble) tells the story of a journey to the Amazon, where the singer befriends a local guide with a wooden leg. The liner notes invoke her favorite authors: Octavio Paz, Pablo Neruda and Gabriel García Márquez, literary influences that do indeed appear, as strands of magic realism, intellectual games, narrative invention and structural collage sonically collide. It is heady stuff, but never stodgy.
It might also be important to note that Diaz is classically trained in the European tradition: a student of piano performance at the Conservatoire de Boulogne-Billancourt in France. This comes through in the clarity of her structures, even if the sounds and rhythms defy easy boundaries. But so do the Columbian Tumbaos on her stand-up bass. Dembow, Afro-Colombian influences such as currulao, cumbia, nature noises and what is said to be the sounds of a hair salon, all weave and wend through this album. Favorite tracks include "Brisas” (Breezes): a dreamy odd track that is followed the rapped, buzzing, popping tracks of "Al Pelo” (of the hair). "Por Si Las Moscas” (in case the flies) charmingly features a buzzing fly accompaniment. "Déjà vu” features birdsong, piano, snapping fingers, bass and French lyrics. It is a giddy mix. The double bass is the backbone of the record. As Diaz says in the press release “I feel like when I discovered the double bass at 24, I also discovered the joy of playing an instrument and blending with it with my vocals. I never had this feeling with the piano. And it’s a foundation instrument in Latin styles of bolero, danzon, salsa, the rhythms that accompany me every day.” This blending is evident throughout the album and stops it from ever being fragmented. He label, Airfono describe themselves as “dedicated to original, spectacular, and virtuoso projects with the ambition to record a mix of live energy, futuristic grooves, and festive spirit. From jazz to techno, Airfono is a home for experimentation and musical freedom.” They are not messing around and Ëda Diaz personifies this ambitious manifesto. Suave Bruta is great listening, something fresh, knowing and sonically complex. It is a treat for the ears.
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