Inti-Illimani - Andadas (CD)

All Music Guide

The very fact that Inti-Illimani was able to record Andadas in Santiago, Chile is encouraging. When the Augusto Pinochet regime was executing numerous people in the 1970s, the exiled members of Inti-Illimani would have been risking their lives by even setting foot anywhere in Chile. Andadas is indeed the work of a very distinctive band. When soulful offerings like "Cueca De la Ausencia," "Angelo" and "Tata San Juan" are playing, one is reminded just how recognizable Inti-Illimani's music is. Both the music of South American Indians (Chilean as well as Peruvian and Bolivian) and the Spanish have had a major impact on the outfit's enriching sound. South American and Afro-Cuban elements are a potent mixture on "Mulata," while the ballad "Ella" (a real tear-jerker) looks to Mexican mariachi music for inspiration. Included in the CD booklet are English-language translations of Inti's lyrics.

- Alex Henderson, All Music Guide