Kiko [20th Anniversary Edition]

Kiko [20th Anniversary Edition]

by Los LobosLos Lobos

Overview

Los Lobos earned a reputation as one of the most intelligent and creative roots rock acts in America with the albums By the Light of the Moon and The Neighborhood, but it was with 1992's Kiko that they demonstrated the full breadth of their sonic ambitions. Produced in collaboration with Mitchell Froom, Kiko exchanged the more straightforward approach of Los Lobos' previous sessions for a uniquely textured sound, with the group's guitars thrown into sharp relief against Froom's collection of vintage tape-loop keyboards and drum boxes, and the arrangements are often unusually spare, most powerfully in the ghostly spaciousness of "Kiko and the Lavender Moon" and "Wake Up Delores." Even the more full-bodied cuts, such as the rollicking "That Train Don't Stop Here" and the hard-rocking "Whiskey Trail," boast a different aural personality than in Los Lobos' previous work, with the guitars sounding clean but cutting like a switchblade and the drums snapping hard. And the more contemplative selections drip with a mysterious, otherworldly ambience that's matched by the impressionistic imagery of David Hildalgo and Louie Perez's superb, evocative songs. At its best, Kiko sounds like the musical equivalent of a Luis Buñuel dream sequence, balancing beauty and menace with intelligence and a skill that's little short of dazzling; it's a brilliant achievement, and the most rewarding album in the group's catalog. [In 2012, Los Lobos reissued Kiko in an expanded and remastered edition that included five bonus tracks. Two of the bonus numbers are early demos that present "Whiskey Trail" and "Rio de Tenampa" in simpler, more stripped-down form (the latter also features an additional English-language verse), while the other three were taken from a live-in-the-studio session recorded for National Public Radio in December 1992. While these additional cuts capture the band in fine form, they don't add that much to Kiko as a listening experience, though the new edition sounds splendid, and Luis Torres' thoughtful liner notes offer a welcome perspective on how Los Lobos and Mitchell Froom turned this set of songs into the band's masterpiece.]

Product Details

Release Date: 08/21/2012
Label: Shout Factory
UPC: 0826663133875
catalogNumber: 13387
Rank: 27117

Tracks

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Lobos   Primary Artist
Alex Acuña   Percussion
Steve Berlin   Organ,Synthesizer,Flute,Harmonica,Percussion,Piano,Baritone Saxophone,Soprano Saxophone,Tenor Saxophone,Melodica,Group Member
Victor Bisetti   Percussion,Drums
Fermin Herrera   Veracruz
David Hidalgo   Banjo,Guitar,Percussion,Piano,Violin,Accordion,Vocals,Group Member
Conrad Lozano   Bass,Background Vocals,Guitarron,Fretless Bass Guitar,5-string Bass,Group Member
Cesar Rosas   Acoustic Guitar,Electric Guitar,Vocals,Group Member
Pete Thomas   Drums
Gary Mallaber   Drums
Louie Pérez   Guitar,Percussion,Drums,Vocals,Group Member

Technical Credits

Tchad Blake   Engineer
Paul DuGre   Engineer
Mitchell Froom   Producer
David Hidalgo   Composer
Kevin Killen   Engineer
Lobos   Producer,Reissue Producer
Leroy Preston   Composer
Cesar Rosas   Composer
Luis Torres   Liner Notes
Tom Recchion   Art Direction
Kelly Ray   Set Construction
Louie Pérez   Composer,Art Direction
Brian Hunt   Guitar Techician
Derek Dressler   Reissue Producer
Kassondra Monroe   Art Direction,Reissue Design
Melissa McMahon   Art Direction,Reissue Design

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