A Tiempo Real

Poetry ripples through this album of traditional Spanish songs from Toledo-based ensemble Vigüela. It's in the song titles – ‘The Demon Coppersmith’, ‘They Come to My Door in Fandangos’ – and can even be found in the instruments and humble kitchen implements they play – a friction drum called a zambomba, the bowed one-string rebec, frying pans, the Spanish guitarro manchego. The heartfelt choruses and soaring solos make it plain that here we are close to the origin of something ancient. Sounds evoke images of cowbells swinging, workers milling, smiths hammering anvils or insects scuttling.

A cow conjured up from one of the exotic instruments blows through most of the first CD, giving it a field recording quality. While indisputably musical, it would be hard to dance to. Opening the second disc, ‘Que si Quieres, Moreno’ sets up a livelier mood, and in the tunes that follow we wander through the more familiar world of strumming guitar and flamenco compás (clapping). But it's the voices that shimmer. I defy anyone not to be moved, even thrilled, by the plangent strains of María del Rosario Nieto Palomo. This combination of raw roots, more evolved musical explorations and soulful singing makes this 25-track double CD a real delight.