Alegría Rampante’s 14-minute DIY-style video includes a spectacular array of handmade costumes and props.
We named Alegría Rampante’s sophomore effort, “Poblado”, Puerto Rico’s Best Album of 2022 on beehype’s end of the year retrospective. A worthy contender any other year, the record achieves a timeless quality thanks in part to the spirit of community and collaboration that guided its production, with members of the Puerto Rican music scene featured in every track.
That same collaborative spirit is well alive and felt on “Doble Tanda”, a music video “double feature” structured around “Un soldado” and “Camp Soldat” off “Poblado”.
Co-directed by lead singer-songwriter Eduardo Alegría and multidisciplinary artist Uziel Orlandi, the film’s DIY aesthetics include a spectacular array of handmade costumes and props designed by the two artists (Orlandi was also responsible for the visual design and photography produced for “Poblado”).
Alegría, who got some of the inspiration for the clip from the “Disco Sucks” movement spearheaded by Steven Dahl during the late 70s, crafts his revenge here in honor of all disco fans around the world.
During the segment titled “Disco Panique Satanique”, a “Dahl-esque” character (played by musician José Ciénaga, also credited on the track “Camp Soldat”) is taken deep into the woods in a dark procession and ceremony that ends with him “converted” into a dancing creature – a triumph of musical genre over stupid prejudices.
Although “Doble Tanda” brings the “Poblado” album cycle to a close, Alegría Rampante is hard at work on their next record, expected in the coming months ––so this might not be the last time you read about them here this year!
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