"Old men discussing politics, chicken truck horns, generations-old and dusty salsa and jazz records, and the ubiquitous AM radio (the only frequency available in the rural area) .... He set about gathering field recordings and crucial rhythmic and percussive samples (of these) ... which he played over with his guitar, a bassist, and a drummer."

And the result is something special. Don't stay away from it just because you're not fluent in Spanish - it's mostly instrumental, and the bits of spoken Spanish in the background, taken from recordings of radio shows, probably would be unintelligible to most Spanish-speaking natives, anyway.

Most all of the music is original, with the exception of the song "Caracol" (Snail) that "embodies portions of 'Autumn in Washington Square' by Dave Brubeck." Interestingly, the second or third time I listened to this CD, I took particular notice of "Caracol" as being exceptionally tuneful and haunting - then I noticed that Barrios didn't write it.... No matter, he does a great arrangement of it, whereas Brubeck's music would always put me to sleep, at least until I learned to avoid it.

This collection of songs create a palpable mood that actually lasts long after the music stops. Having travelled extensively in Latin America myself, I am amazed at the way this music vividly reminds me of the oppressive heat, humidity, poverty, closeness, dirt, and exhaust fumes, balanced only by the people's indominitable will to laugh at it all.