Djilia Phralengo – Oracle

This act with the difficult name is mainly a solo project of Ernesto Villarreal, a multi-instrumentalist based in the USA. He handles a number of guitar varieties, from classical to flamenco to electric guitars. On his album Oracle, Villareal plays an original mixture of gypsy and renaissance music.

Most tracks are completely instrumental, with two exceptions. Apart from the guitar playing there are also guest musicians performing charango, mandolin and percussion. Villarreal seems to be inspired by celtic and medieval music, gypsy and flamenco, progressive rock and various other styles.

Not all tracks are my taste, but Villarreal is a skilfull player and the compositions are quite lively. I have the most problems with the progrock electric guitar parts on a few songs, I’d rather wish that he kept to the acoustic styles. Oracle, which comes in a nicely designed digipack, will certainly appeal to people who appreciate intricate guitar work and a wide variety of musical styles.

artist: Djilia Phralengo
label:
details: cd, 14 tracks, 2005