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Rating: Free from the prejudice that Andean music is solely and exclusively boring and from the politicized intellectualism of those who chant "viva el Che," one can finally listen to this Inti Illimani album: an excellent record.
But, obviously, brutally decontextualizing is always a risk, and one ends up missing the spirit of a work or only grasping its superficial character.
The Inti Illimani are a group that, certainly more than others, cannot be commented on just for their music (as good as it is), without considering the recent history of the people they represent and their stance on certain historical events. Simply put: 1973 is the year of the coup d'état in Chile. The year the army commander, Pinochet, helped by the American secret services, established his authoritarian regime, suppressing the various pockets of revolt that had consequently emerged. Period.
This "small" album, lasting just half an hour, was released in 1974. The sorrow is captivatingly linked to hope, and in support of these two feelings—which serve as the leitmotif of the entire album—comes the great quantity of Chilean traditional instruments: especially the winds. The Chilean flute, often desolate (Corazón Maldito), often courageous and pressing (Calamito Temucano) and accompanied by delicate guitar arpeggios (or charango or tiple) that try to console; the percussion, in the background, entrusted to maracas, the bombo, and the pandero; and then the voices, peremptory, that let the strength of mounting discontent peek through captivating or in choruses that urge singing.
And yet alas, this record is especially remembered for a fortunate last track that says: "el pueblo unido… " and so on. In short, despite the commodification that occurred during the totalitarian 70s, this is truly a great album; despite the Inti Illimani having become the banner of certain pseudo-intellectual-leftists with patched-up velvet jackets and fat bank accounts (those who, at Valle Giulia, pissed off Pasolini, if you know what I mean…), here there is real music.
Indeed, certain things should be (re)heard despite the useless torrents of words written to comment on them.
Tracklist and Lyrics
04 Lo Que Mas Quiero (00:00)
La mujer que yo m�s quiero
en la sangre tiene hiel,
me deja sin su plumaje
sabiendo que va a llover,
sabiendo que va a llover.
El �rbol que yo m�s quiero
tiene dura la raz�n,
me priva su fina sombra
bajo los rayos del sol,
bajo los rayos del sol.
El r�o que yo m�s quiero
no se quiere detener,
con el ruido de sus aguas
no escucha que tengo sed,
no escucha que tengo sed.
El cielo que yo m�s quiero
se ha comenzado a nublar,
mis ojos de nada sirven,
los mata la oscuridad,
los mata la oscuridad.
Sin abrigo, sin la sombra,
sin el agua, sin la luz,
s�lo falta que un cuchillo
me prive de la salud,
me prive de la salud.
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