I
Ojos de Brujo

About:

Ojos de Brujo ('The eyes of the wizard' in English) is a band from Barcelona and was founded in 1996 when gitarist Ramon Giménez began to play with singer Marina Abad and percussionist Xavi Turull. The jipjop flamenkillo style (as Ramon puts it) was born. After numerous jam session in the upcoming Mestiza scene Ojos tried to get their music released in an album. Demanding artistic freedom it turned out harder then they thought to get signed. In the end they started their own label La Fábrica de Colores and released Vengue in 1999. Although getting attention from the press it took until 2002 to break though. This happened with the album Barí which sold 100.000 copies. It also meant the international breakthrough when Ojos started playing the European festivals. Their high energy music and flamboyant act turned out to be a hit.

The band not only has a good live reputation but also pays much attention to their videoclips. This turned them into Spanish MTV darlings. For the clips they up with exeprimental artsist and animation artists like Samuel Restucci & Emilio Romero (for Silencio) and  Juan Guasch (for Corre Lola Corre). With the follow up album Techari Ojos de Brujo again toured Europe extensively. The Barcelona show of the tour was filmed for the Techari-live album. iN 2009 their Acoana album confirmed their status as one of Spain's international best-selling acts. In 2010 the band announced their retirement closing off with a compilation album and an extensive international tour.

On the web:

- Ojos' website: http://www.ojosdebrujo.com

If you like this, you probably like... / european counterparts:

Mitsou (Hungary)

What do we think:

DB: Percusionist Xavi Turull says: "...we don't pretend to do flamenco. What we are doing is using the richness of flamenco and the richness of other music to build up something different." And maybe that is the best way to explain the flamboyant act Ojos is. Temperamentfull like flamenco and Spain itself, yet a true original in their approach of their musical heritage.

PR: Great band with flamboyant personalities. They create a new sound, using the traditional flamenco as inspriration. I am very curious how their career will develop and what new material they will be releasing in the (hopefully near) future. Their live performace in Paradiso, Amsterdam (2009) - with flamenco dancing and all -was impressive and very festive.

Recommended albums:

♪♪ - Vengue - 1999

♪♪♪ - Barí - 2002

♪♪♪♪ - Techarí - 2006

♪♪♪ - Techarí Live - 2007

♪♪♪ - Acoana - 2009

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♪♪♪♪♪= outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided