Eskorzo fusing particular musical vision styles with diverse as Latin music, Afrobeat, rock, punk, crossover, gypsy, reggae-ska, funk or jazz. The latest album “Historias de Amor y otras Mierdas” is no exception.
Eskorzo is a Spanish eight-piece Latin ska band formed in 1996. Their first recording is a demo called Rock de Libertad. An album called Si Las Cabras Pueden, Nosotros Tambien followed. Eskorzo perform a fusion of reggae, ska, Latin rock, and punk, and their lyrics are often based on controversial social issues such as racism and war. Their debut album, called Bullanga was released in 1999 on Crysalis EMI. The band played along with King Changó, as well as opened for Mexican Molotov around Spain.
In May of 2001, Barcelona-based Tralla Records released Eskorzo’s La Sopa Boba, featuring a reggae version of Triana’s “Hijos del Agobio,” participating in a compilation based on the Esparrago Rock festival with a song called “El Roto.” Subsequent releases followed on Acostao records with Al Compas de los Vinagres in 2003, El Arbol de La Duda in 2004, and Paraisos Artificiales in 2009.
Musical inspirations
Influenced by artists like Fishbone, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Talking Heads, Mano Negra or Fabulosos Cadillacs, Eskorzo today has become one of the reference bands of a musical fusion at the highest level.
Ironic love songs
Eskorzo presents its 8th studio album “Historias de Amor y otras Mierdas” (English: “Love songs and other shit”) in which the band sings about love in all its possible forms: romantic love, family love, love between friends, the “love one another”, heartbreak, toxic love and self-love, love that makes grow and love that makes shrink… all the faces and meanings of this powerful feeling.
This album contains 13 songs which move skillfully between Latin, Mediterranean and Jamaican sounds such as Cumbia, Merengue, Flamenco, Ska and Reggae, and features collaborations from well-known Spanish and Latin artists like Rozalén, La Pegatina, Francisco el Hombre and Nidia Góngora.
Symbolic design
Graphic designer Asis Percales has given the album a markedly “Granada character”. On the album cover, two hands stab a heart, framed by an Andalusian arch with the Sierra Nevada looking down on it. The illustrator explains: “It is an image inspired by Lorca’s romancero gitano. In the foreground of the work there is a heart that has blossomed in love; these blossoming flowers represent love as a feeling. The hands represent the problems of a relationship and the circumstances surrounding that love, which stab or damage the ‘beautiful’ thing that has been created. “ Asis Percales has captured the soul of this album in images and each of the 13 songs is represented with a beautiful postcard.
At the forefront of everything is the music, which is extremely energetic and interesting. We will present it to you in more detail in our online broadcast on the Mixcloud platform in the “Album of the Week” section.
NMR (foto: press Eskorzo)
