The Monitor from McAllen, Texas • 50

Friday. Julv 31. 199ft TUP MflNITrtB MrAIInn Tnva (tePiaoiGS 1Mb? ot 000110 gupcdipdog 0 I I Am. VSJ r- OA In'i By VILMA MALDONADO The Monitor For decades the Latin music market has offered many surprises with the fusion of various genres in an effort to maintain its popularity. Obviously, the musical blends have worked because Latin music continues to be as popular as ever.

The latest sorpresas (surprises) are by Los Guardianes del Amor (Guardians of Love), who recently recorded the English ballad "My Heart Will Go On" in Spanish. The song was originally done by Celine Dion for the blockbuster film Titanic. The six-member band came from their previous CD which featured a mix of Vallenato miliNorteno to classic oldies with a modern twist. "We wanted to offer something special to our fans," Guardianes' vocalist and accordionist Arturo Rodriguez said recently during a promotional tour through McAllen. "We wanted to reintroduce the romanticgrupero sounds with modern tunes because a good song can last a lifetime." "Mi Alma Te Seguira (Titanic Theme)" is found on Guradianes' recently recorded compact disc titled Los Mas Romdnticos de Ayer Con Los Mas Romdnticos de Hoy (The Most Romantic of Yesterday with the Most Romantic of Today) for the BMG record label of San Antonio.

The fifth BMG CD also features another much welcomed surprise with the collection of oldies from acclaimed baladistas of the '70s, including Los Angeles Negros, Los Terricolas, Yonics, Indio, Los Bukis, Bronco, and Impacto de Montemorelos. "At first, I was scared to record these classic songs," Rodriguez admitted. "1 finally had to think that I was going to sing them the best way I could, a tone higher than my own, but without losing Guardianes' style," Rodriguez said. The first single from the new CD is Palabras Tristes and is already getting some significant radio fl I It I i.U I a OVcFViJiV A Special To The Monitor LOS GUARDIANES DEL AMOR yielded the songs "El Perro, El Gato Yo," and "Jardin De Rosas." Rodriguez said the new CD also includes two songs with mariachi. "We did 'Esclavo Amo' originally done by Los Pasteles Verdes, and 'Dame Un Beso Dime Adios' which is an English song by The Manhatans, but we used the English music with some mariachi influence," Rodriguez said.

BMG Latin Promotions Representative, Ildefonso "Poncho" Ludvano, said the label is happy with the new product by "We are so proud of this record that we think Guardianes may finally get their hit they've been waiting for from this new CD," Luevano said. "This is a concept album filled with exitos gruperos (hits) of those times," Rodriguez said. "These are the songs we played when we started, six years ago, to attract the youth who did not know Guardianes. We want to give old songs a new push, and I think we did the songs with the respect the bands deserve." Some of the classic song are VolvereV' "Serenata Sin Luna," "Debut Despedida," "Dame," "Dame Un Beso Dime Adios," "A Que Le Tiramos," and "Me Siento Solo." "All these songs I can identify with because I grew up listening to them," Rodriguez said. "'Lagrimas Amargas' is a song I love by Impacto de Montemorelos, and Felipe de Jesus, singer of Impacto, is happy with my version of the song.

We had hoped to record this CD with some of the artists but it did not work out because we are all with different labels." Previous Guardianes' hits include "El Hechizo," and the duet "No Somos Nada" with Bronco's lead vocalist Guadalupe Esparza. The band's three previous CDs sold more than 500,000 copies. The first CD named Cuatro Palabras (Four Words) produced the hits "Amor Se Escribe Con Llanto," and the title cut. The second CD, Camino Al Cielo, generated "Corazon Romantico," and "Para Que Quiero Corazon." The third production titled Por Siempre Para Siempre "7 partly adapted from Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, partly a creation of her own nonmusical passions. That puzzle-fitting is the crux of Yearlings and it lingers in every corner in the lascivious anguish of The Devil Had a Hold of Me," the sadness of.

"My Morphine" or "Whiskey Girl," or the uplift of "Rock of Ages." It's so good, in fact, that it puts most doubt about her sincerity out of mind. Welch's act is an obviously calculated it's a strong and surprisingly honest one. She is clearly a major talent What will develop as she further discards her influences and trusts her instincts may be remarkable. Rpn VJenpr songwriter who tips her shiny, no-frills hat to the past" and who possesses a simple but elegant voice that creates what seems like the next logical step in Appalachian melodies. Yet her work nonetheless leaves a discernibly retro aftertaste.

It's hardly as obvious and sugar-coated as, say, LeAnn Rimes, but its lineage is just as easy to spot. That was partly the beauty of (and definitely the trouble with) Welch's ear-grabbing 1996 debut, Revival. It seemed as much posed as it was genuinely influenced. Maybe it had something to do with location: Coming from Nashville, Welch's post-modern Patsy-isms would have felt both progressive and somewhat tributary. Coming as it does from Los Angeles, well, it was hard not to cast a skeptical eye.

Welch's sophomore effort, Hell Among the Yearlings, however, puts some of this poseur question to rest. Here, accompanied by little more than guitar and an occasional banjo and piano, the singer-songwriter emerges as her own artist, connect ed to her forebears but not overtly indebted to them anymore. In the process, she has crafted a smart, bleak, perfectly paced and frequently rewarding work. The leadoff track, a spooky murder ballad called "Caleb Meyer," is the most immediate example of Welch's newly tightened focus. It's not so much in the dark storytelling, though she sustains a difficult sin-and-salvation theme throughout the album.

Rather, it's in the sound, partly stolen from Ralph Stanley and a dozen forgotten fiddle tunes, ,4 Artist: Gillian Welch ASmiik Hell Among The Yearlings Label: Almo Sounds It's hard to know what to make of Gillian Welchr She's a top-notch The Orange County Register.