Product Description:
This includes a bonus DVD disc.
Las Ketchup: Pilar, Lucia, Lola (vocals).
Additional personnel includes: Ludovico Vagnone (acoustic & electric guitars); Carlos Vera (keyboards, programming); Antonio Ramos (bass); Tino Di Geraldo (drums).
Recorded at Filigrana Studios, Cordoba, Spain.
Las Ketchup: Pilar, Lola, Lucia (vocals).
Additional personnel: Ludovico Vagnone (acoustic & electric guitars); Manuel Ruiz "Queco", Luis Cortes "Lin" (Flamenco guitar, background vocals); Pedro Sierra (Flamenco guitar); Carlos Vera, Jose Gil (keyboards, programming); Antonio Ramos (bass); Tino Di Geraldo (drums).
Personnel: Ludovico Vagnone (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Luis "Lin" Cort?s, Manuel "Queco" Ruiz (flamenco guitar, background vocals); Pedro Sierra (flamenco guitar); Carlos Vera, Jose Luis Gil (keyboards, programming); Tino Di Geraldo (drums).
Audio Mixers: Jos? Pe¤a; Boris Alarcon.
Recording information: Filigrana Studios, Cordoba, Spain.
Director: Manuel "Queco" Ruiz.
Photographer: C?sar Lucadamo.
Those with short memories will draw no parallel between the intercontinental smash "Asereje" and that of the infamous "Macarena" from about six years prior. Like the latter, "Asereje" is an insanely catchy dance/pop/Latin tune with dance craze written all over it. The perpetrators, the colorfully named Las Ketchup, are a trio of fetching young lasses whose father is Antonio "El Tomate" Fernandez, a noted guitarist. The music itself is somewhere between Maca-you-know-what and Ricky Martin, with plenty of synthesized zip. Oh yeah, LAS HIJAS DEL TOMATE also contains some other songs, but we defy you to get past the flagship single.
One might think that, with both a band name and record title so whimsical, Las Ketchup's 2002 release, Hijas del Tomate, is not to be taken seriously. But after hitting number one in several of Billboard's Latin categories, and with a Latin Grammy nomination that year, critics and audiences alike began to reconsider this misleading impression. However, the fact that the industry now takes the Mu¤oz sisters seriously doesn't mean that the sisters themselves do. The emotional tone of the material on Hijas is playful, rollicking, and intelligent. The first cut, "The Ketchup Song," is a rapid-fire Spanglish reggae club-inflected dance party that equally rewards carefree head-bobbing listeners and those dedicated enough to catch and decipher the song's wry lyricism. Unlike many Latin pop acts, the instrumentals are both harmonically complex and inherently Latino. The prevalent flamenco influence pays homage not only to the sisters' guitarista father, but also to their Andalusian heritage. Their melodic sense is far too engaging to be dismissed by a "pop" categorization. Las Ketchup have done a fine job keeping a lighthearted, accessible aesthetic while offering insider humor to those paying close enough attention. [Sbme Special MKTS released the CD in 2008.] ~ Evan C. Gutierrez