Seduction
Guitarist Oscar Lopez's second album is a delight, rife with energetic music that alternates between laid-back and frenetic. The more up-tempo material is eminently danceable; one could tango to "Rosa Rose." Strong percussion backs up Lopez's guitar on "Baila, Baila," "Cerca de Ti," "Mulata," and "Loco por Ti," which also features a piano part that handily explains why the piano is technically a percussion instrument. (As an added bonus, there's a second version of "Loco por Ti" with vocals.) This kind of music is hardly subtle, but Lopez is capable of that as well, as he shows with "Corrientes" and "Loving You," both of which exemplify the expressive power of the acoustic guitar.  And then there's "Aires de Otros Mundos," which wouldn't sound out of place in a road movie that featured lonely mountains and arroyos as part of the landscape. --Genevieve Williams