Aleks Syntek: Mexico's Mr. Eclectic
Plotting his move: You never
know what Syntek might do next.
AP Photo
by John Oseid
A few years ago I had a Latin pop duet about love and heartbreak rattling around my head for weeks--couldn't shake it. Spanish singer Ana Torroja's helium-balloon vocals on the chart-topping "Duele el Amor" were dangerously saccharine. And I loved it. I found out that "Duele" was off Aleks Syntek's 2004 album Mundo Lite and I rushed out and bought it; the video shows off his catchy guitar work.
The Mexican pop-rock phenomenon puts on a thrilling live show I discovered the other night at the Highline Ballroom, downtown Manhattan's newest music space. Syntek wears nerdy-cool glasses as an homage to his idol Elvis Costello, while his cerebral and ironic stage persona suggests David Byrne. One minute the musical chameleon was wearing a cowboy hat and strumming a banjo, the next he was tweaking out electronica beats on a keyboard. He even made like a lounge singer under a twirling disco ball.
He plucked an upright bass on the Cuban-inflected down tempo song "Historias de Danzón y de Arrabal" (Joss Stone appears in the lush video) and he later took a spin on timbales and shook some maracas for good measure. After a few quick raps, he was back to straight up guitar rock anthems. New York's popular Afro-Cuban fusion group Yerba Buena joined him on stage for a few tunes, as well. The crowd filmed on their cell phones and sang along to the entire catalog.
Syntek comes from the artsy Yucatán city of Mérida. Details on his fifteen-year career can be found on Rockero.com, a Web site devoted to Rock en Español. He's written jingles, scored films, and produces and composes for many top Latin stars. When Kylie Minogue wanted to break into the Latin market, she called on him. His brand new Latin-ized version of her syntho-pop song "In My Arms" is on his official YouTube channel.
On his English-language MySpace page, Syntek writes that he's working on his English to expand into the Anglo market. Indeed, the contents of that page and its downloads differ considerably from his Spanish-language one--as befits a musical chameleon.
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