Sudoplatov - Rumbafolia # 1

Hear The Track Here

Amazing how much you can learn when on the internet, isn't it? One of the more pleasanter side effects of writing a public blog like mine is that I get all too easily sidetracked. Take, for example, the Texas based classical musician (Facetious Ed: Oooh, does that mean he wears a tux AND a stetson meh meh meh) Sudoplatov. While I was downloading the track I noticed a comment about the bandname, which then led me on to the life story of one Lieutenant General Pavel Anatolyevich Sudoplatov which then led on to a book he wrote called Special Tasks: The Memoirs of an Unwanted Witness, which then ordered from my local library and started reading it. Right now I'm a little way into it and I can already see why it created such a furore when it first came out. I'm a HUGE history buff, as you can tell, and this kind of thing is just why I personally prize the internet so much simply because I would never have heard of this without Sudaplatov (the musician) asking for a review. That, my friends, is serendipity at work in all its glory.

So Sudoplatov. who he? Besides what we've already discussed of course. Well first up, he's a new name to me from Soundclick and has a page full of polkas, tango's and waltzes. Why are you looking blankly at me? This is not, as you may think, a foreign language, merely some beautifully elegant dances. Tango, in particular being one of my all times favourites and don't whatever you do get me started on tango music or we'll be here forever. Our Sudoplatov is starting us off with a nice easy one, a rumba. Not exactly one of my favourite choices in this particular field, but having fortified myself with a couple of the tango tunes on his page, prepared me for a more favourable frame of mind. (hint: have a listen to toccatango brrrr).

Hand on heart, I don't really like a lot of Latin music, it's either too strident or too sickly sweet although I am as partial to its underlying rhythms as the next man. Mariachi bands, for example, I have a very limited attention span for whereas acoustic musicians like Sergio Lara, Gypsy Kings or even my fave of the month Rodrigo y Gabriela. Unfortunately, Rumbafolia # 1 is more Mariachi than any of the artists I've just mentioned but its surprisingly restrained for all that. There again, it is a rumba, and they are generally less brash than many of its dance brothers and sisters, at least in the Latin world. What makes it stand out, at least for me, is the dedication to audio fidelity, an excellent job because all the instruments sound exactly as they should and that's a rare treat.

Highly Recommended for those who can afford the ballroom.