Del Castillo

Infinitas Rapsodias (Smilin’ Castle)

Guitar-slinging siblings Mark and Rick del Castillo have built a career grounded in flamenco instead of blues, and Infinitas Rapsodias celebrates a dozen years of Del Castillo with new tunes, re-recordings, videos, and special guests. The locals blaze impressively through “Lumbres de Babylon,” keeping the intensity going for seven minutes, and get the requisite guitar orgy out of the way with “Fuego Egipcio,” guest-starring Monte Montgomery, who returns on the DVD for the inevitable “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” After that, the CD jumps around like a bee-stung rabbit, bouncing from a needless dance remix of “Rios Misticos” and an Italian version of “Maria” to the soggy “Para Mi Sobrina” with keyboardist Carl Thiel and a strained “Brotherhood” with Malford Milligan and Leann Atherton. It doesn’t help that Del Castillo’s ballads drown in their own syrup (“Perdoname”), and too many songs sound like Gipsy Kings outtakes.

**

This article appears in July 13 • 2012.

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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.