''La Pipa de la Paz'' is the third studio album by Colombian band

Aterciopelados Aterciopelados ( en, The Velvet Ones), also known as Los Aterciopelados, is a rock band from Colombia, led by Andrea Echeverri and Héctor Buitrago. Their music fuses rock with a variety of Colombian and Latin American musical traditions. Aterci ...

. Produced by

Phil Manzanera Phillip Geoffrey Targett-Adams (born 31 January 1951), known professionally as Phil Manzanera, is an English guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music, and was the lead guitarist with 801, and Quiet Sun. ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with this project they became the first Colombian artist to be nominated for a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

in the Best Latin Rock/Alternative Performance category. This album spawned some of their most well-known songs and greatest hits like ''Cosita Seria'', ''Baracunatana'', ''No Necesito'', ''La Culpable'', ''Expreso Amazonia'', ''La Voz de la Patria'', ''Te Juro Que No'' (featuring

Enrique Bunbury Enrique Ortiz de Landázuri Izarduy (born 11 August 1967), best known as Enrique Bunbury, is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He has been described as "by far the most international star of Spanish rock." He was propelled to fame as lead singer ...

) and the title track ''La Pipa de la Paz''.

Recording and production

The album was produced by

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...

and recorded at his Gallery Studios based in London with an estimated budget of $150,000. Initially, there had been proposals to work with Daniel Melero and

Draco Rosa Draco Cornelius Rosa Suárez (; born Robert Edward Rosa Suárez, June 27, 1969), also known as Draco Rosa, Robi Draco Rosa or simply Robi or Draco, is a Puerto Rican singer, musician, songwriter and entrepreneur. Rosa originally garnered fame ...

which were ultimately unsuccessful. The recording sessions began in September and ended in October 1996, and the album was released in November. The first single, ''Baracunatana'' was released earlier in March.

Album

''La Pipa de la Paz'' preserves some of the punk influence of its preceding albums but achieves a more streamlined and harmonized rock sound with musical genres from different regions of Colombia such as

Andean music Andean music is a group of styles of music from the Andes region in South America. Original chants and melodies come from the general area inhabited by Quechuas (originally from Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile), Aymaras (originally from Bolivia), a ...

Joropo The joropo is a musical style resembling the fandango, and an accompanying dance. It originated in Venezuela and is also present in the eastern Colombian plains. It has African, Native South American, and European influences. There are differe ...

Latin percussion {{for, the company, Latin Percussion Latin percussion is a family of percussion, membranophone, lamellophone and idiophone instruments used in Latin music. Instruments Afro-Cuban and Puerto Rican styles Folkloric and Santeria * Trap drums * Abakua ...

and

Vallenato Vallenato () or "Szlager" in Wayuu language (from the German "Schlager"), is a popular folk music genre from Colombia. It primarily comes from its Caribbean region. ''Vallenato'' literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing th ...

. The lyrics that make up this project can be considered as the first conceptual work made by Aterciopelados, as Andrea positioned as an unconventional icon of Latin American women representing currents as anti-

Machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...

and

neofeminism Neofeminism describes an emerging view of women as becoming empowered through the celebration of attributes perceived to be conventionally feminine, that is, it glorifies a womanly essence over claims to equality with men. It is a term that has c ...

. Culturally, the contribution is also very significant, representing the defense of the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

, recognition and appreciation of indigenous roots and criticism of the specific situations in Colombia afflicted by armed conflict and drug trafficking. ''La Pipa de la Paz'' has become one of the most well-known albums from

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

; It restates its main feature of unique and smooth blends with occasional acoustic guitars, airy vocals from

Andrea Echeverri Andrea Echeverri Arias (born September 13, 1965) is a Colombian rock/ pop singer and guitarist. She holds a degree in Fine Arts from University of Los Andes and was a ceramist before becoming a musician. She is the lead singer in Aterciopelados ...

, a hard background bassist Hector Buitrago and drummer Alejandro Duque. The most prominent and played songs in Spanish America were ''Cosita Seria'', ''No Necesito'' and ''Baracunatana'' which are still to this day are considered classics and in whose easily appreciated lyrics share the position of vindication of women in Latin society. An issue that is strong and scattered on songs throughout the album such as ''La Culpable'' (song performed entirely with

instruments), ''The Juro Que No'', ''Nada Que Ver'' and ''Chica Dificíl''. The title track greatly enhances

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

culture while ''Expreso Amazonia'' exposes the natural and cultural wealth of the

Colombian Amazon Amazonía region in southern Colombia comprises the departments of Amazonas, Caquetá, Guainía, Guaviare, Putumayo and Vaupés, and covers an area of 483,000 km², 35% of Colombia's total territory. The region is mostly covered by ...

with a catchy rhythm while promoting it as an exotic tourist entertainment. As in their previous project, this album also has tracks that seek to raise awareness of the then reality of Colombian. ''Quemarropa'' is an open criticism of the armed conflict and calls for peaceful coexistence between brothers, ''La Voz de la Patria'' is a parody of a radio station of the time inviting freedom of expression and popular liberation of the

third world The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

. ''Música'', ''Buena Estrella'' and ''Platónico'' are demonstrations of love and spirituality. The sound involves Colombian bassist Chucho Merchan,

on guitar on some tracks and backing vocals by

. Additionally it incorporates Alejandro Gomez-Caceres as multi instrumentalist, giving the band a sound identity by use of non-traditional instruments such as the

balalaika The balalaika (russian: link=no, балала́йка, ) is a Russian stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck and three strings. Two strings are usually tuned to the same note and the thir ...

in ''Platónico'' and

Accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

in ''Expreso Amazonia'', maintained the familiar feature of innovation and experimentation Aterciopelado is known for.

Track listing

Accolades

Album

Singles

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pipa de la Paz, La 1996 albums Albums produced by Phil Manzanera Aterciopelados albums