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Xosé Manuel Budiño - Musician and Producer from Galicia.

Spanish Xosé Manuel Budiño is always a musician to watch out for, continually pushing the envelope of his native Galician music further, often in more than one direction at once. Home shows his experimental journey continuing with top musicians as invited guests. The accordion of Basque trikitixa maestro Kepa Junkera opens the rumbustious Ollin Kaní while the jazz saxophone of Jorge Pardo (key member of Paco de Lucías pioneering flamenco group) is there for Ollos de Sal. And, naturally, the album features his close friend, the cutting-edge Galician singer and piper Mercedes Peón, who duets with herself to quite wondrous effect on the beautiful Inmaterial. Xosé Manuel Budiño loves to play around in his own recording studio and on his Mac laptop with found sounds and samples. This works blissfully with the ancient voices (from Aires da Terraí) sampled for the mesmerising Sempre Alalá. The way his pipes take up the haunting vocal melody makes the piece totally thrilling. Other times this work takes more getting used to, as with the introduction to Pedra de Abalar, which then develops brilliantly with gorgeous violin from Jacky Molard and piano from Paulo Borges.Hints of various Cuban riffs for the mysterious Vía Sacra 3 with its marimba and techno touches create a tantalising effect. Straight-up stuff such as Ortegal, with its dense banks of voices, and the closing solo, Imos Dj, are terrific stuff, as is the fluid and filmic Nacín Na Espuma. There are always touches of genius in any Xosé Manuel Budiño disc, but Home is full of them.