---

Radio Tarifa

Tarifa is the city in Spain from which ferries to Morocco leave. Radio Tarifa is this group's delicious conceit; if there were such a station, it couldn't possibly sound this good.

The group has two albums: their first, self-titled and the second Temporal. Both are great. On the first, my favorite is "Oye China" (track 2). A slow, seductive guitar eases you into the song, then Benjamin Escorioza's dry, sandy voice complains of the misery to which his love condemns him, belied by the lush accordion phrases and cheerful beat.

True to their title conceit, songs fade into each other with the scratches and bleeps one gets tuning a balky old radio. Especially delicious is the old woman intoning a Hail Mary before fading into the hypnotic percussion of "El baile de la Bola" (track 6).

Radio Tarifa is another group that mixes North African instruments such as the darbuka and ney with traditional flamenco or gypsy instruments such as guitar and accordion, as well as modern ones such as bass or saxophone. They use their wide-ranging instrumentation with creativity and daring; at times they sound almost Celtic, such as at the end of "Cancion Sefardi" (track 3 of Temporal). Hammond organ might not seem like the obvious instrument to introduce this Sephardic Jewish lament of old age and death, but from the first note it weaves the spell.

A bonus of Temporal is the richly colored album cover, which calls the sun out on a cloudy day.