I am probably not the only one who never heard of Spanish progressive jazz rock band Planeta Imaginario before, and those few who might have are probably familiar with their two albums from 2008 and 2011 which were released internationally on Cuneiform Records. And yet the also released a debut album in 2004, but apparently only in their native Spain. Last copies have turned up and are now available for the rest of the world too.

The first thing that will strike you is how big a part the wind instruments are playing. There are saxophones, a trumpet and a trombone, next to the rock instruments of guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. Especially the brass instruments add a flair of big band music, but in a charming way making me thing of Brassed Off, a mid-nineties comedy about smalltown brass bands. The guitar on the other hand comes with a very Latin feel at times, not unlike some of the stuff Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin did together in the early seventies. The keyboards offer a wide range of sounds, from psychedelic organ to warm electric piano. All of this is being held together by the rhythm section.

The songs are entirely instrumental, often running longer than six minutes, giving us a seamless three quarter of an hour of lush music. The overall impression is of later Canterbury bands, like Gilgamesh and maybe also Nucleus. Like those bands, Planeta Imaginario are sometimes wild and unpredictable, but even more often laid back and contemplative. Considering that this is a nearly twenty-year-old recording, and a debut album at that, the production values, while not on par with today’s standards, are still fine and come with a certain lo-fi charm that gives even more authenticity to the music. Fans of Canterbury prog who don’t mind the strong use of wind instruments should be delighted by ¿Qué me dices?.

9 songs

42:45 minutes

***** ***

Genre: instr. progressive jazz rock

Label: áMARXE

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