Artist: Guti and Various
Album: Rompecorazones
Label: Defected
Release date: 15/02/15
Anyone who has seen Guti's live sets will know him for his up-tempo, energetic music choices. This is ultimately why it came as a surprise to me, and many others, when he released a breathtaking, creative and deeply emotional album in 'Rompecorazones' - comprised mainly of piano, trumpets and percussion with a classical jazz feel to it. This of course should not have been a surprise at all; Guti after all started his musical journey as a jazz musician in Argentina and only later found electronic music.
The remixed album of this certainly had a job on its hands then, in keeping up with the creative and powerful original work, and it does start strongly with the energetic Andrea Olivia remix of Bed Time Stories. After that the quality seems to decrease a little bit, with some of the individual tracks doing little to stand out from or creatively better the originals. One thing is for sure though: they are all certainly more club ready, bringing the passion and the emotion into a wavelength that perhaps fans of the electronic scene will be able to better comprehend.
The two songs I feel do exceed the creativity of the originals are Guti's own rework of La Salida and Charles Webster's rework of Rompe Corazones. La Salida's success may lie in Guti's deeper understanding of how his own music works; he fuses well a club-ready beat alongside the soulful piano lingering in the background of this stand out track. For different reasons entirely Charles Webster's remix is successful - it is by far the most interesting track on the LP with its gradual, light notes combining with the introduction of a synth later on in the track to give it an almost cosmic feel.
'Rompecorazones Remixed' does a wonderful job of bringing a project which is entirely out of the electronic sphere, into it. It would really surprise me if I did not hear a lot of these tracks played at some point over the coming weeks and months, and rightly so. Whether it exceeds the original is a difficult question and one that lies down to personal preference, but for me both are works of creativity that deserve merit, but one must always remember that some tracks are just too special to remix.
WORDS | Jacob Fritz
Tracklist:
01. Guti ‘El Solitario' (Carl Craig Remix)
02. Guti ‘Hurt' (Yoruba Soul Mix)
03. Guti ‘We Love You' (Reboot's Unicorn Remake)
04. Guti ‘Desidia' (Nic Fanciulli Remix)
05. Guti ‘Rompe Corazones' (Charles Webster's Club Mix)
06. Guti ‘Magia' (Damian Schwartz Worship Mix)
07. Guti ‘Bed Time Stories' (Andrea Oliva Remix)
08. Guti ‘La Salida' (Guti Club Remix)
09. Guti ‘Desesperado' (Livio & Roby's dcnstrct Remix)
10. Guti ‘Desidia' (Reboot Remix)
