Polibio Mayorga – MuddUnknown (unlabeled cd-r from cab driver)

The sweet recklessness of a nationally famous composer/accordionist who has learned to rejoice in the fact that he can make his music on a synthesizer keyboard, all by himself, playing every part on his own. No, it’s not that simple…

But something about his melodic sensibilities I find extremely compelling, plus the weird keyboard settings, the way the guitary-string chords swoop in like a proletarian harp, the gnawa-esque hi-hats on certain songs, the lyrics which enter fragmentary like dub, the organ schmaltz, the confidence, and so on.

“Como se llama este tipo de musica?”
“I guess you would have to call it… musica nacional de Ecuador” he said, our conversation in Spanish a bit difficult for me to understand – in every new world the language that comes to it forks.