PILAR DIAZ, PILAR DIAZ
Independiente, Chile ***1/2
Rating: 79
By Jean-Stephane Beriot
As if being a legit independent artist wasn’t enough, Pilar Diaz’s first solo album was released in the worst time of the year, during the winter when very few people like to spend money on music, and the critics are too busy building up their top 10 charts; the commentary on the album is almost inexistent, and it’s a shame considering what a pleasant album it turns out to be. With that said, I think this album should be reconsidered for an extended release, or like our main editor mentioned in his Adrianigual post, it should leak properly, hey, it’s another very useful tool that even record labels know about but hate to recognize. Los Abandoned were always seen as the one U.S. Latino band that was able to breathe the culture of a very Hispanic California, and who doesn’t recognize their anthem “Van Nuys (Es very nice)” as a key song for Latin alternative? Her self-titled album is shorter than your actual LP, but there is plenty of material here to suggest Pilar’s loner walk will arrive with success. “Piñata” and its video is like a very mean shout that once broken apart, is more like a defensive stance. The sound renounce of this song is very epic, making it one of the best singles of the year without a doubt; it’s the magic of orchestration resizing itself to fit perfectly among these tracks. “llegal en Estyle” is insanely humoristic, touches a folk for a while and the rise of the vocalization comes at the right place, rasping as any sympathetic socially-conscious song should. The album stands somewhere in between the great works of Ceci Bastida and Ely Guerra, that should be to rush to get her record. “Novia de Soldado” and “Perdido” are nice soft songs circulating around hope and deep fears. “Tu y yo” although well instrumented, is overtaken an excess of vocal energy, the only truly flaw here. There’s a lack of roundness and extra skin here and there, but what a gratifying album overall, one that deserves a lot more prints out there.
