Rio en Medio - The Bride of Dynamite

MOGstars out of Ten: The Perfect 10There aren’t many records today that feature the sound of a gently plucked ukulele, let alone base they entire sound around it, but Brooklyn’s Rio en Medio (also known as Danielle Stech-Homsy) are more than a few steps away from the mainstream. With a gay Syrian painter and a Ukrainian flamenco dancer for parents, not to mention Devendra Banhart as a close friend, it is hardly surprising that she has produced such a brilliantly quirky albumm, full of imagery and imagination. From the opening strains of a finger going round a wine glass _The Bride of Dynamite_ strikes you for it’s peculiarity above all else, but the dreamlike quality of Stech-Homsy’s voice draws you into some of the most beautiful soundscapes I’ve ever heard committed to record. The tracks meander aimlessly, with a sense of patience and trepidation. Percussive details sweep and swerve like electronic flies through the acoustic meadow, while Stech-Holmsy’s voice draws you through the glen like and ever-present path. The result is an unhurried album that feels more organic than musical; it reminds you of a place you’ve never visited and memories that aren’t even yours. The result is a dream like quality that fills your mind with images you can almost touch, but seem so fragile that you don’t even try. But not all the album is wistful imagery, _Everyone is Someone’s_ creates a doleful folk tale, while _Europe a Prophecy_ is truly haunting with it’s distant sounding vocals and stripped back melody. These darker elements are brilliantly juxtaposed with the light to shake the dream, increasing its fragility and providing a break…perhaps to sit and think…in the melodic, mystic meadowland that the rest of the album carries you through. _The Bride of Dynamite_ is not an album to dance to, nor is it one to play in the background, as a body of work it demands your attention as it embroils you in a playful wander though fens and glades. This album is more than a collection of songs, it is a piece of art that demands your conjecture and your reflection, it is an LP for connoisseurs who wish to dwell on every pluck of the string, very wheeze of the accordion and every background beep. This album will demand a lot from you, indeed Danielle herself claims she wishes to make “music that wants to listen as much as be heard,” moving and engaging this may not be an album for everyone or everytime, but as a piece of musical art it is second to none._Dislaimer: Listening to one song on its own does not come anywhere near to doing this album justice_