Trovaores

Antonio Placer is a Galician singer, poet and songwriter who describes himself as ‘exiled’ in France. Trovaores, his latest release in a long career, is a live recording as a sextet that includes the flamenco cantaor Antonio Campos as a guest. Placer's songs can be broadly described as romantic chanson, in the French style, but his Galician roots add a tango-ish flavour, possibly related to the reciprocal waves of political exile between Galicia and Argentina over the last century. The piano and guitar backing is adorned with clarinet and cello, although little use is made of the latter.

The album shows both the good and bad points of live recordings: there is a frisson of spontaneity to the songs, but the sound balance is poor and most tracks overstay their welcome. The biggest problem though, is that the parts don't quite fit together. Campos' sensuous voice soars beautifully above the accompaniment, but Placer's singing is distinctly earth-bound and his forced, over-thetop delivery can sound like a comic opera villain. Unfortunately, these performance problems get in the way of some committed songwriting.