Like most European countries, Spain is a land of many contrasting cultures whose veneer of unity was carefully applied by the nation-state to serve its political ends. This tension between unity and diversity has played itself out in everything from sports rivalries to open warfare, and it's not easy to say whether more harm or more good has come of the mix. But what we can say is that today, as the excesses of both nationalist and regionalist demagogues give way to the hope embodied by the new, semi-unified Europe, Spain is filled with a multitude of voices singing in many tongues. Let's look at some releases from multicultural Spain.

Representing mainstream Castillian culture, Aljibe's album El Motín de Aranjuez [Several Records SRD-214 (1998)] tells the story of a pivotal moment in Spanish political history: the 1808 revolt against the Bourbon King Charles IV and his repressive prime minister, Manuel Godoy. By that time, Spain was already practically a puppet state of the Napo leonic French government, and the revolt was not successful in restoring a patriot to the throne for long; the abortive rule of Joseph Bonaparte ensued. But this was followed by the Spanish/British alliance in the Peninsular war, the very progressive Constitution, and ultimately today's constitutional monarchy. For this reason, the revolt of Aranjuez is seen as a historical flashpoint for Spain, a moment that had long-reaching consequences for the country's future course. The CD is made up of songs composed for the huge festive drama held in September to commemorate the revolt. The members of Aljibe have a great grasp of Spanish traditional music, and even though the songs are really new, they sound like hoary traditional texts set to equally venerable folk tunes. The music is played on a wide variety of instruments, including guitar, mandolin, whistle, flute, ocarina, clarinet, violin, cello, bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, piano, bass, and an assortment of drums from the deep tamboril to the small darrabouka to the square, shallow pandero. In sound, this is less influenced by flamenco than the band's previous work, and approaches the level of texture and sophistication that La Musgaña achieved in central Spanish music during their days as a five-piece band. The historical background aside, this is a very good album of Spanish folk music, one that announces Aljibe as major interpreters of Spanish traditional music.