Bilinda Butcher
Ten Favourite Flamenco CDs
Flamenco is far more than the picture postcard tourist music of Spain.
It’s the emotionally fired and sometimes sexually charged and deeply erotic music and dance form from Andalusia in Southern Spain.First mentioned in literature in 1774, the genre grew out of Andalusian folk mixed with the retereating Arab cultures with a dash of the gypsy culture mixed in.
The Flamenco dancers, known as bailaores and bailaoras, are serious and passionate and is made up of cant (singing), toque (guitar playing), baile (dance) and palmas (handclaps).Typical of flamenco dance, a dancer will often stand motionless and free of expression for the first few moments of a song. As he or she begins to feel the music, the dancer might begin a steady beat of loud hand clapping. Then, as emotion builds, the dancer will begin a passionate dance. The dancing often involves fierce stomping, sometimes made louder with percussion attachments on the shoes, and graceful arm movements. Castanets are sometimes held in the hands for clicking, and folding fans are occasionally used for visual impact
Bilinda has become a big champion of Flamenco and in her down time from My Bloody Valentine has become deeply immersed in the form going as far as becoming a teacher in her own right.
‘I’ve been dancing Flamenco and Spanish dance since 1995, mostly with The Spanish Dance Society with my lovely teacher Conchita del Campo, but also with La Escuela de Baile and visiting artists. As my bloody valentine have become busier I’ve danced less, and given up teaching for now. I have mostly used music from The Spanish Dance Society’s syllabus, which ranges from Flamenco to regional and classical, but these are my personal choices which I’ve used for teaching and just listening to.
(Bilinda’s top 10 is below- I’ve tried to match the youtube clips but there are recommended albums and it was tricky matching the youtube clips!)
1. Sabicas – Guitarra Flamenca
2. Camarón de la Isla – Alma Y Corazón Flamencos
3. Guitarra Paco De Lucía – Selección Antológica del Cante Flamenco
4. Maria Esther Guzmán – Rincones de España
5. Olé! – Festival Flamenco Gitano
6. Various Artists – Flamenco For Beginners (with Paco de Lucía, Carmen Linares, Fosforito and others)
7. El Arte Inolvidable De Fernanda Romero
8. Todos Los Compases – ritmos flamencos con palmas y cajón
9. Soleá – Solo Compás (with Manuel Salado, Javier Barón, Arcangel and J M Roldán)
10. Nuevo Flamenco – 18 Hot New Sounds From The Streets Of Spain
:-) Love to all my Flamenco and Spanish Dance friends. Keep the faith. Bilinda
The post My Bloody Valentine’s Bilinda Butcher’s top 10 Flamenco albums appeared first on Louder Than War.