The Witzard

View Original

"Space-Age Exotica" Producer Pablo Diaz-Reixa Re-emerges After Six-year Sabbatical with Wearable El Guincho Album, Hiperasia & Mala Rodriguez-featuring "Comix" (Nacional Records)




Barcelona-based Latin Alternative producer Pablo Diaz-Reixa's 2010 Young Turks/XL album under his El Guincho guise is easily a shimmering David Bowie & Michael Jackson-influenced Spanish-language Psych-Pop masterpiece. I've been (im)patiently awaiting Diaz-Reixa's proper follow-up to his nearly flawless Pop Negro for a solid year or so and now, it seems like he's finally readied his fourth album, Hiperasia for a digital release February 12th and a physical release a mere month later on March 11th. For those not exactly familiar with El Guincho's frenzied sample-laden output, it sounds like something similar to Vampire Weekend's Paul Simon Graceland-influenced "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" era material, which has additionally been described as Tropicália, Psych-Pop, and "Space-Age Exotica" stylized rhythms. Formerly the drummer for seemingly defunct Experimental-Batucada group Coconot, Pablo Diaz-Reixa has released three albums and an EP since forming one-man band El Guincho back in 2007; having released CD-R only Folías, critically-acclaimed Alegranza!, Piratas de Sudamerica, Vol. I EP, and the aforementioned Pop Negro. " Hiperasia is Madrid in macro. Las Tablas, China City, The M-30, Dalian Wanda Group, The Edificio España. It means me adapting to a new and exotic way of life. Experiencing more [of] the city, spending more time in its streets, an experience much less private than Barcelona," El Guincho enthusiastically described within a Nacional Records-sanctioned press release.


"I was blown away and entirely fascinated by the place. After visiting, I discarded almost all the material I had composed and started from scratch with the premise: how would that place sound if it were music?" Diaz-Reixa continued, concerning a string of Chinese bazaars in Madrid that helped indirectly inspire the creation of Hiperasia. El Guincho has re-emerged from his nearly six-year hiatus, aside from some drum programming on Björk's Biophilia, with a brand new Hiperasia single simply titled "Comix," which features an assist from Spanish rapper Mala Rodriguez. Since releasing Pop Negro on Young Turks, El Guincho has migrated to North Hollywood-based Nacional Records to unleash Hiperasia, who have teamed up with Wellness to create wearable wristbands and sweatshirts containing exclusive album content; "with [this NFC wristband], you are granted access to El Guincho's new album Hiperasia and the feature film directed by Manson, Hiperasia: The Animated Lyric Adventure (embedded above). Even more so this bracelet is your subscription to a world of ever-mutating content made available, until its demise, on streaming directly to you." Although I'm not entirely sure if they'll ultimately end up re-appearing within Hiperasia, I recently discovered two apparent album tracks, titled "Mis Hits" and "(Con un) Rotu Seco," which were quietly uploaded to YouTube by Everlasting Records-Otoño back on July 10th.