Nuestras Vivencias

Echoes of Spain are an Anglo-Spanish flamenco guitar duo who have just self-produced their first album. They are both more than competent guitarists but, in a genre characterised by virtuosity, performers really have to offer something more than just proficiency on six strings.

On this album they demonstrate a certain distinctive, refreshing melodic élan, as evidenced on the first track ‘Bulería de la Calle’. In the end, however, the combination of two guitars working closely together becomes a problem, with a lack of separation between the two instruments. This may be partly due to the way they have been recorded, with both guitars right up front.

However, much of the blame must lie with the arrangements, which do not differentiate the parts with any great flair. The two guitars end up jostling for space and, worse still, occasionally tripping over each other and fumbling the rhythms. The four tracks of solo guitar show how good these two are as musicians and with a bit more experience they could be producing some great albums – but they are not quite there yet.