KATY, MR. RACOON
Delhotel, Mexico ****
Rating: 80
By Carlos Reyes
As usual, the first worthy releases of any new year are made by net labels whose free albums don’t have to suffer from competition or the economic outlet of last December. Recently, I’ve been paying attention to the releases by Delhotel Records thanks to one of my new favorite music blogs: Noche Pasta. Delhotel is another Mexican label offering free hostage for independent bands, it’s not as selective as The Poni Republic, but has offered some great stuff like En Ventura’s LP Los Gandharvas and Album’s Cancer Baby. It’s extremely early to call, but Mr. Racoon's Katy might just be the best record of this month, it brings out the very best of alternative pop, if that musical field exists at all. While listening to the album I had no idea Mr. Racoon was part of En Ventura, but it sure felt like it had been influenced by the band. Part of En Ventura is gone, with projects like 60 Tigres (awesome too) and Mr. Racoon; to an extent, this new project offers much of what En Ventura had to offer. Mr. Racoon opens with “Asi de simple” which is not plain at all; it’s a great introduction that opts for some noisy attachment to illustrate and lift up its journey. The next self-titled track “Katy” is hardly ignorable, its consoling charm works wonders on a track about an otherwise sad song about a guy leaving his girl behind with a bit more. The albums moves on fluently, in a revelatory phase that unfolds itself with much sympathy, “Pussygrama” is a surprise among great tracks, its multilayered loops hold up to a song of deep round movements. “Mision Desesperada” works with a great base and the sound edits evoke emotional depth and texture. I’m not a big fan of the distorted/robotic samplings featured on “Puerta Colosal” or the rhythm attempt on “Por que a todos nos gusta”, but they don’t hurt the album much as there is emotional tissue surrounding the entire project, while “Ferry 3” is one of the high points of one of the first high-quality albums of this year.