Brinca, Brinca II
The Singalong Versions

A review of Tatiana's collections Pistas Para Cantar
by Godspeede

Usually when the lead vocals are removed from the instrumental tracks of popular songs the result are pretty tepid. Even the most famous examples of this practice, e.g. the Beach Boys' Stack O' Tracks, and parts of their much more recent Pet Sounds box set, are technically interesting, but fall short of the original production in entertainment value. Consequently, my expectations upon purchasing the singalong versions of Tatiana's Brinca and Brinca II, were not too high. However, as so often happens with everything associated with Tatiana, I was very pleasantly surprised.

In the first place, the packaging is marvelous and is completely different from the original CDs. Both albums feature a booklet of complete lyrics, and include divers pictures of the ever- lovely Tatiana. Moreover, it is equally clear that the music itself was carefully re-prepared for release. The songs are listed in a different order, presumably to make a more entertaining sequence for the music without lead singing, and they sound remixed to be more brilliant. Impressive too is the fact that there is no distant echo at all of the original leads, which is usually the case in such projects (see the above mentioned Stack O' Tracks for instance).

The results are appealing. It becomes quickly apparent that Tatiana's arranger, Don Pepe Luis Soto, is an extremely talented and creative musician. It is not just that he is able to bring diverse and enveloping sounds that always featuring a powerful beat to what are, after all, usually traditional melodies, but these albums reveal also his uncanny thematic variations and his creativity in the small things like the little sounds between verses.

Even more interesting are the backing vocals (that are included), which show yet another side to Tatiana's many talents. On both albums she is, of course, always present in the backup singing, but standing out is her ability to do voices. As she explained recently:

"Since I was a little girl I liked to imitate people or cartoon characters, so when I became a professional singer, I liked doing my own background vocals, and trying to do different kinds of voices . . . I have so much fun doing noises, voices, or the animal noises in the songs, like in LINDO PESCADITO I do the voice of the fish, or do the bunny voice in EL CONEJO, or in EL GATO VIUDO, do the cat's meows [all on Brinca], in EN BOSQUE DE LA CHINA I do the voice of the Chinese girl, in SUSANITA TIENE UN RATON ,I do the mouse, in UN PATO I do the duck, [all from Superfantastico] in EL GATO LOCOI do the cat, also in EL PERRO LANUDO, I do the dog, but they distorted my voice, because I sounded like a Chihuahua . . . and we wanted an English Shepard, in MANHA-MANHA [all from Acapulco Rock], which is a 'moppets' song from the 70's I did almost all the voices, that was very fun! "

Lastly, these albums reveal a simple truth: that for all of their real value the most important element of Tatiana's appeal is Tatiana herself. Without her lead vocals the magic, it must be admitted, is diminished. Nonetheless, these CDs are good entertainment in their own right as well as revelations of the high level of artistic craftsmanship associated with Tatiana and those around her. Any musician could benefit from listening. In addition, they would be highly useful for niños learning to read, or for those seeking to learn Spanish. Lastly, they are perfect for the purpose for which they were intended, to allow children to sing Tatiana songs themselves.

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© 2001 by Richard A. Morton

 

This page was first created 12 May 2001, and last modified 13 Jul 2002.
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