Roy Valentín – Crónica

Crónica, Roy Valentín
Entorno Doméstico, Venezuela
Rating: 72
by Souad Martin-Saoudi 

Three years after the premature death of Elaine, IL Gimón hasn't ceased developing his sound. As a matter of fact, the musician from Caracas now going by Roy Valentín released his first solo album (the anticipated follow up to his intriguing EP “Música/Corazón”) last month on Venezuelan label, Entorno Doméstico. Crónica, which was produced, mixed and mastered by Heberto Áñez Novoa (musician for Tlx/Presidente and founder of Entorno Doméstico), is the result of eight months of studio work dotted by collaborations with Luis Ángel Martínez (Piyama Party/Los Mundos), Xavier Nadal (Grushenka/Creamy Creature), Andrés Morillo (Tlx), and our own Cheky Bertho (Algodón Egipcio/Jóvenes y Sexys). There is something so complex and dense in this collection of nine gritty songs, a mixture of raw music and vocal performances that are just as raw, but integrated with rather sophisticated arrangements where every detail is important.

With its metronome-like percussion, “Intro” shrewdly stresses that a crónica is primarily the writing of time. The opener, all in gradation, shades into “Uno,” a potent lo-fi track that announces that guitars shall not be the only ones in the forefront. In fact, Añez Novoa, who serves as the drummer on all of the songs, bears such ardor, it gives the impression that percussion acts as the central thread to Roy Valentín’s tale of ordinary life. Yet we soon realize each beating is the countercoup of sharp riffs. Gimón’s voice feels lost in a mass of sound generated by the ongoing dialogue between strings and drums. Then on “No Sé,” an acidulated rock track that manages to conserve a very intimate atmosphere through the vortexes of distortion, Valentín becomes both prosaic and ethereal. The instrumental “El Sol” transforms the intimate into something far more tenebrous, allowing for “GmFm” to arise. This free adaptation of Bauhaus’ “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” released back in July as part of a two-track EP, is the dramatic drop this LP needed.

Clocking in at 31 minutes, Crónica breezes through without knowing, which is a testament to how the compositions, all tightly stitched together, hold up well, making repeated listens more than likely, but also to the presence of some linearity. Whether it's a punk inflicted garage track (“Esta Vez”), a ballad-like tune loaded with layered guitars (“Ya No Importa”), or a rock revivalist lament (“No Se Parece A Mí”), Gimón’s smooth/raspy vocals rarely fluctuate from a nonchalant sigh, indicating that the temporal complexities of everyday experiences are better recounted by notes than by words. Such is the case with the mystifying instrumental “HCTWJ.” The eight and a half-minute percussion-less psych rock trip reveals how Roy Valentín can crystallize the fragments of everyday life and social complexity of the city in reverb and layers. The Caraqueño has found a sonic niche that’s as much comfortable for him as it is enjoyable for the listener. You just wish the same sense of narrative found in his instrumentals was reflected in his vocals.

♫♫♫ "No Se" / Download EP

Video: Mujercitas Terror - "Excavaciones"

Punk hits often turn into anthems but are rarely part of the zeitgeist. This doesn’t seem to be the case for “Excavaciones,” the title track from Mujercitas Terror’s terrific 2011 album. This flesh-carving hit broke through just a little too late for best-of-the-year consideration but has turned into one of the few rock hits blooming across Iberoamerica this year. Not that they’re anywhere near the success of Napoléon Solo or Hello Seahorse!, but it sure is a favorite among music curators and tastemakers. The Argentine band keeps the momentum going with a seemingly minimalistic black & white clip that is anything but a minimal effort. Director Peko Docimo employed Hitchcockian cinematic elements (crane shots, swish pans, and low-key lighting) to track down the three subjects and their instruments–everything as part of a deeply pronounced diegetic sound that is pointing toward the transcendental.

Yokozuna II, Yokozuna

YOKOZUNA II, YOKOZUNA
Discos Intolerancia, Mexico **1/2
Rating: 57
By Carlos Reyes

Yokozuna may not sound very familiar to you if you’re outside Mexico City, it’s one of the city’s most respected contemporary rock bands, because well, they got the attitude and they rock harder than the average rock band. I’ve always had a blockage with their songs, and that’s really uncomfortable, I feel like the leftside fresa who raises an eyebrow instead of joining the wild jamming crowds. I guess everybody has a number of bands we learn to respect and recognize as valuable participants of the arts, Yokozuna II will not convert me into a fan, but I’ve found this to be their best hour yet. Excuse the self-centralism comment, now let’s get to the actual album.

Yokozuna (Los Hermanos Tranquilino) deliver highly suspended songs for an audience that would probably listen to them on the dark. Ok, not really, but while listening to this it feels like the clouds fill with despair and just might catch on fire (I suspect hardcore fans enjoy that). The music successfully brings all the elements of its cold metalllic prime, when you combine that with such boring lyrics about love as those in “Drogame” and “Ya no queda nada de mi amor”, it’s hard not to feel dissapointed, you can’t just margin a rough storm, make it rain hard enough to threaten people’s safety. It’s not that love lyricism and hard rock can’t coexist, it’s about not falling into middling gray areas where hardly anything trascends.

When it comes to vocal execution and its distance from everything else, this reminds me of Omar Rodriguez Lopez (all of them), except there’s more swagging here than actual riffs. When they get it right, they really get it right; “Zatopec” is bold and explosive, “Slam y Minifaldas” achieves the desired sense of dislocation narrated by the lyrics, “grita mas fuerte, ven y grita para mi.” The rest of the songs are either too monotone to stand out or too ragged that they can only add up to a dense production. Some of my friends say I’ll change my mind once I see them perform live, meanwhile I’ll just tag myself as Yokozuna intolerant.

Video: "Nosotros Los Rockers", Piyama Party

Here is the charmingly explicit new video by Piyama Party, who recently released one of the year’s best rock albums (review + download here). “Nosotros Los Rockers” is the opening track from Mas Mejor, and I guess this video would make it the third single from it following the very awesome “Solo te veo en bodas” and bestoftheyear contender “Fan de Carcass.” The two cute cats and the dog wearing pajamas on the album cover are injected some stop motion in this animated short. Loving the modularity of the video, the cardboard look and the Sonic Youth poster, oh those naughty rockers. Not to repeat myself, this is an excerpt from my album review regarding this song. “Nosotros Los Rockers” is a bittersweet manifesto to anyone who has been on a band; it really puts the audience at the same level by telling us about their bootleg disc by The Strokes and their need for guitars and a new amplifier. It really establishes an eye-level agreement that is respected all throughout the album.

♫♫♫ "Nosotros Los Rockers"

Fuerza Natural, Gustavo Cerati

FUERZA NATURAL,
GUSTAVO CERATI
Sony, Argentina
Rating: 74
By Carlos Reyes

Gustavo Cerati goes from rangy to mellow in Fuerza Natural, the follow up to his terrific and career-best Ahi Vamos (2006). First, I must mention that I’m one of those people out there that admire Cerati as a solo institution far more than with his work with Soda Estereo. His transition as a one-man act polished his authorship; not only is his music more individualized, his composition finally strikes for inner expression. Ahi Vamos is wonderfully unstable and scattered across rock’s most precious legs, exploration and raw aesthetics. Fuerza Natural doesn’t lack effort, but it does lack charm and attitude; it has nothing to do with it being a softer down-tuned record, it’s just that while the sound reaches a zone of mature stability, the songs are pleading to move elsewhere. Cerati is skillfully still in command, hearing “Magia” solves much of my concerns with the album, “todo me sirve, nada se pierde, yo lo transformo… el universo esta a mi favor.”

Some have mistakenly found Fuerza Natural to be Cerati’s first pop album when it isn’t; it’s just unbalanced, that accessibility many have praised it’s more of an uneven gap waiting to be patched. Let’s not confuse ourselves thinking of it as Cerati’s Magic (Bruce Springsteen), it is a proper set for a stadium-scale audience but put it on mainstream radio and more than a few will cry. While the music doesn’t travel much, Cerati does expands his topics; he steps away from superstition and devotee forgo, instead, he devotes more earthly words, perhaps too hipsy for him. In this way, the title makes sense, musically, the album is a bit too flat to brag about force; that is unless Cerati’s search for a more electronic sound is seen as a pure strength. Listen to “Déjà vu” and it clearly substitutes the grasp guitars for hearty electro sequences.

The leading track is uninspired as a single, but is well founded in the album. “Amor Sin Rodeos” is a road trip chant, at the same time, a national piece on defiance, despite its upbeat spirit is one of the album’s most obscure pieces. “Traccion a Sangre” is one of those great songs where Cerati reaffirms his mastery as a lyricist; this is a precious mid-life insight, specifically for musicians, those that live following a melody. Part of the album is too gray to function, the songs aren’t particularly boring, they just feel awkwardly programmable; especially those tricky Beatlesque tunes (“He Visto a Lucy”), I have better things to say about the folky side of the album (“Cactus”, “Convoy”). As with any Gustavo Cerati album, repeated spins are a must, not a problem when you’re introduced to this trip with the wonderful opener “Fuerza Natural”, now that’s magic. Fuerza Natural is uneven, but the great songs are GREAT songs, keep galloping mysterious man!

1999, Love of Lesbian

1999, LOVE OF LESBIAN
Warner Music, Spain
Rating: 51
By Jean-Stephane Beriot

We had declared 1999 as one of our most awaited albums of the year; it’s so disappointing that it has been sitting at our pending list for more months than your average transnacional rock album, and you know Love of Lesbian is anything but average. The band is one of Spain’s most beloved and respected institutions of rock, their last installment Cuentos Chinos Para Niños del Japon was a magnificent record, to many of us even better than La Leyenda del Espacio by Los Planetas. Popular blogs around including RateYourMusic (similar to IMDB but for music) have enlisted 1999 as the year’s best Latin rock album and it’s such an incorrect tag considering how weak and unexpectedly boring this turns out to be.

Perhaps I’m being overexposed and trapped in the new wave of lo-fi circulating around, so much that I simply have the hardest time being receptive to something as generic as Love of Lesbian. Thing is, the band had never shown this amount of tedious spare time, they haven gone U2 (at lower speed) and of course that’s not a desirable quality nowadays. Ok, now that I bawled my disappointment let me reaffirm this is not a horrible album whatsoever, the first single “Club de Fans de John Boy” along with other tracks show signs of signature-technique that will hardly go away. It’s great to see that their pessimistic allure is kept along with those vocal-heights vocalist Santi Belmes is known for.

Half of the album sounds like Niños Mutantes (“Te favorece tanto estar callada”), but even less interesting considering the raging cabaret- vibe Love of Lesbian is trying to wear, even adding English-language phrasing without much luck. “Miau” and “Algunas Plantas” almost step in ridicule territory, there’s just too much going around to pick up anything from songs that are lyrically standard but once put through a tropical burst they just sound too easy and too empty to work. Any highlights? Yes, the album’s subtitle is pretty great: 1999 o como generar incendios de nieve con una lupa enfocando a la luna. I still like Zoe’s Memo Rex….. better.

Más Mejor, Piyama Party

MAS MEJOR, PIYAMA PARTY
Independiente, Mexico ****
Rating: 85
By Carlos Reyes

Piyama Party’s second LP comes in at full force to claim a spot as one of the year’s rock albums. In fact, I think this is my second favorite album ever included on the Delhotel Records catalog, after Los Gandharvas of course. It’s not as unexpected as one would think; their self-titled debut was a standout but it’s clear they have been polishing their craft capturing the scene around them, they’re also the first Mexican band to sound like Spain’s indie rock virtuosos, from Sr. Chinarro, AMA and very much the entire catalog from Gramaciones Grabofonicas and Producciones Doradas, with that said, this is an album mostly about stories, which requires lyrical efficiency and a ‘pure’ human touch that is able to keep these anecdotes (whether true or not) at bay. This is ultimately Piyama Party’s most attractive virtue; their songs are reachable without sounding less complex than the progressive-wall-of-sound acts around.

Someone not familiarized with the Mexican culture will not contemplate Mas Mejor at its fullest; it’s a lot more than a generalized survey, even the album’s title would be hard o swallow. Let’s not tag these songs as part of a subculture, they are part of the big picture outsiders hardly visualize and I get a feeling much of Mexico’s population would neglect too. Being part of the culture is the last thing on their mind, becoming part of a cult however is a consequence of their genuine pop and rock songs. So let’s get to it already. The opener “Nosotros Los Rockers” is a bittersweet manifesto to anyone who has been on a band; it really puts the audience at the same level by telling us about their bootleg disc by The Strokes and their need for guitars and a new amplifier. It really establishes an eye-level agreement that is respected all throughout the album. In the next track “Jesus en Las Vegas” they claim Jesus is at a box match, with Maria Magdalena toasting for world peace, love and rocanrol. First single “Solo te veo en bodas” handles its romance with prolific care, plus “quedate al menudo” (common dish the morning after a wedding) has to be one of the best lines of the year.

There’s humor in every song, fortunately they are no clowns but practitioners of self-destructive criticism and sarcasm, from “No Mas Pasteles” about an overweight issue, to the phenomenon of la “Frontera” which warns that the bridge is falling and ends up telling us the prices of meat at Ruteria La Hacienda. But there’s nothing like “Fan de Carcass”, I wouldn’t be scared to call it an immediate classic and one of the most alluring songs of the year. It’s the fable on how a guy became a hardcore fan of Carcass after listening to one of their cassettes, this encounter redefines him completely, and he goes dark! “dicen que son cosas del Diablo, por eso me gustan, por eso yo las prefiero.” They decide to skip purgatory in “Atajo al Infierno”, taking a shortcut by having more fun and less time for Church.

“Edecan” sounds quite dusty with its circular strings, it’s like a criminal poignant romance with some narco references hidden in there (or not). But the established practice doesn’t always work, “Olimpiadas Alveolares” and “Tocayo” drown around memorable songs and are even obstructive to the overall adventure. I was scared to hear how they would close this, the culminating “21 horas no son suficientes” is the most hormonal and effortlessly moving piece on the album. Mas Mejor needs some vocal dexterity here and there, perhaps fewer songs, but this is a material to hold on to. Piyama Party has found a way to keep a pedestrian sensitivity while sounding like rock stars; it comes in a folder with 17 tracks inside, a beautiful booklet (on PDF) and one of the most generous musical offerings 2009 keeps for us.

♫♫♫ "Fan de Carcass"
Download LP
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Oro, Bengala

ORO, BENGALA
Universal Music, México
Rating: 67
By Carlos Reyes

Oro is the sophomore album by Bengala, the band that could be Mexico’s answer to Kings of Leon, which entitles many things: unexpected shifts in their dialogue & target, moments of brilliance, moments of exhausted archetype and especially the itchy feeling to be seen as the next great band. Media and critics have been graceful commenting this is one of the few notable bands that actually sounds like a rock band; that’s marginally true, we can’t call them alternative although they’re taking steps to sound a bit experimental. Bengala is heading to massive audiences with every intention to get it right; they’re keeping their fans happy and acquiring new ones, the sound is certainly there but the songs fall short, there’s something blocking them from melody, too much moist and stiffness this time around.

The first single “Carcel” quickly establishes the soaring fest for which one must be prepared, vocalist Diego Suarez sings as aggressive as Saul Hernandez (in Jaguares). The single does make him shine in all glory, commanding a breakup song to its most revolting sides; sorry females, we can expose our feelings graphically too, and this is the perfect song to finally replace the disgusting and so-called classic “La Planta” by Caos, which guys have on a pedestal but it’s one of the most annoying songs ever. I prefer Bengala in melancholic songs like “Cosas Infinitas” (from the Bajo la Sal soundtrack), “Corto Cartucho” or “A Veces”, even if they sound like they belong to Zoe’s galaxy. The most interesting track here is “Fuiste”, which unpredictably features Madam Daniela Romo, a very pleasant surprise because I’m a fan of hers, she fully embraces the 80s popstar, except that people never took her seriously, luckily fresh faces like Javiera Mena and Maria Daniela y Su Sonido Lasser are not letting her songs dissolve anytime soon. I can’t picture Romo knowing about the band beforehand, but accepting to collaborate is a blast, just like her hair.

I can’t say they’re stepping backwards because it’s obvious they were searching for this level of severity in their music, but I am missing the non-conceiving personality from their first album Bengala, it might be that Emmanuel del Real is only supervising the album and not being part of its production, this time the guy on the job was left on the hands of Tito from Molotov. But Meme isn’t entirely absent from this project as he provides the very best song on the album, “Oro” is a bighearted moment with similar riffs to Café Tacvba’s “Volver a Comenzar”, the heart of the album and a track that could’ve made their debut album even harder to surpass, you know, along with “Mal Incurable” or “Carretera.” There’s nothing as good as “Sex on Fire”, but Oro is better than Only by the Night and a continuation of a band that has fully integrated to Mexico’s music industry, that is along with the Zoes, Bunkers, and Tacvbos.

♫♫♫ "Vamos Otra Vez"
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Gustavo Cerati - "Déjà vu"

The world I carry myself around stops whenever he releases a song. Today is the big release of "Déjà vu", the brand new single by legend Gustavo Cerati from his upcoming album Fuerza Natural. Both, the song's title and the album's title are boring as hell, been there done that, but this is Cerati and he even jokes about this in the song. I was never a hardcore fan of Soda Stereo I might confess, but I am a huge fan of Cerati as a solo act. "Deja Vu" is not near as good as "Crimen", my friend already whined about it being too much of a 'pop' song, which it isn't? I was going to stream the song in here, but believe me, Sony would strangle us, so I'll just wait for it to show up on YouTube. Update... yeah ready!

Vicente Gayo, Vicente Gayo

VICENTE GAYO, VICENTE GAYO
Independiente, México ***
Rating: 66
By Carlos Reyes

Several blogs and bands among them Austin TV told us that Vicente Gayo was the one Mexican band to watch for in 2009. On a first impression I was in total lost in to what’s so interesting about them to justify the anticipation; maybe their name in response to the American multifaceted artist that is Vincent Gallo, the entirely blue colored album cover (in its digital release) or maybe their presence in a lack of dance fuel in Mexico’s current rock scene. But letting the overstated expectancy aside, these guys are able to hold a first album and especially their influences aboard. The band does distance itself from its fellow teenage-oriented punk/rock bloody-wannabe bands (Panda, Insite and Finde), instead the band gets closer to the more pleasant sound of The Rapture and Bloc Party, embracing the electro-sheen and stirring beats to round up what they call punk, quite similar to Division Minuscula, Los Implantes and 60 Tigres.

The self-titled album never reaches uncharted musical grounds, but it is the owner of absurd raw energy that is nicely engineered and goes on parallel with its glossy lyrics. I’m a bigger fan of its outlying participants than the front hip stuff, like in “Rec Play Stop" where a clumsy song about a recording device doesn’t allure me much but the background accompaniment and response do, giving the song a sense of return and arrival (like in Bloc Party’s amazing debut). “Vas Bien” is a memorable piece, although clearly an interlude, it’s one of the album’s soaring moments as it is part of the process getting back into the process of learning, it’s such a gratifying moment whenever a friend says “you’re doing well.”

There are some songs in English that are fundamentally interesting in trying to understand the band’s influences and aspirations. “Conversion” is ultimately the only one that gets it right even if it sounds like Panic at the Disco, you just can’t go wrong with precise and sophisticated rhythms. It is however “G-A-Y-O” that becomes the heart of the album; it’s a headrush of all sorts, finding glory in sonic moderation rather than in musical exploration, a song that should serve them plenty of confidence on their shows and that sustains its capital letters with all merit. There’s a need for better sequencing, a lack of ingenuity with lyrics, and the lack of a strong theme to uphold these songs. But there’s clearly something special about them and it’s not a hidden quality like I thought, Vicente Gayo elevates its form due to its endless force within each song and its poignant, almost heroic objective to keep the sound moving.

♫♫♫ "G-A-Y-O"

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El Bosque En Llamas, Pumuky

EL BOSQUE EN LLAMAS, PUMUKY
Jabalina, Spain ****
Rating: 85
By Carlos Reyes

El Bosque En Llamas is a musical storm with all the mystery to hold its name to any altitude. Somewhere in between Bigott, Nacho Vegas, Sr. Chinarro and Zurdok, Pumuky’s second album holds its melody with a terrific merge of obscure strings, powerful distressing lyrics and the night’s scary and heart-trenching roar, these are the signs and souls of loneliness and despair in search of salvation. The album opens with the dreamy and hard folky “El Innombrable”, our third encounter with purgatory this year after Veracruz’s “Odetta Satan’s Rum” and Hello Seahorse’s “Bestia.” This is not only about a forest in flames; it’s about ‘the man in the forest in flames’, I might not want to visit this bloodcurdling place myself but it sounds like a great place to get rid of fears or to get lost in from time to time. This is how Pumuky first introduces this place for escapism, “si desaparezco es porque ya no tiemblas cuando voy y te abrazo, y te beso por el cuello”; indifference does hurts like few things in life and it’s reason enough to dissapear and hide with the wolves and the wild horses as the album’s cover suggests.

It finds in nature an unwelcoming environment, but it’s obscure and isolated enough to cry in it, sometimes that’s the only way to find the precious peace. “Tu Marca” is painfully depressing and its deafening burst can alienate more than a few, but it plays as a key piece in the album because it complies into broader efforts than just giving continuation to a ‘lament’ album, it distorts and creates images that manage to filter any obtrusive dramatic echo for our advantage. “El Electrico Romance de Lev Termen y La Diva del Eter” it’s a moon-like sublimal trip that tries to reconcile the distorted idea of Russian inventor Leon Theremin, whose invention –Theremin- managed to “control electronic frequency and volume without contact from the player.” (Wikipedia) Like many avant-garde bands Pumuky utilizes it to polish its sound, but also extracts poetry from it as it believes in co-participation if either construction or reconciliation wants to be achieved.

“Los Enamorados” is a sweet tune that challenges the album’s biggest strengths and it turns victorious as it is the most memorable piece, it’s affectionate and holds a happy momentum, the album never goes back to this paradise and gets even darker, not losing a bit of magic even in the crying yells of “El Exilio de los Invisibles.” If Juan Son submerged himself in water in Mermaid Sashimi, Pumuky does that in El Bosque en Llamas. The band gets acquainted to the wild, uncompassionate and cold-hearted place, witnessing a fight in “Lobo Estepario Contra Caballos Desbocados”, a moment in the mirror in “El Hombre Bosque En Llamas”, and a metamorphosis in “La Metamorphosis”, pay close attention to the background layering and the narrative, it’s not an easy album whatsoever, I slept over it for many weeks not knowing what to do with it, it’s totally fine if it makes you sleepy or alienates the heck out of you, who says a forest on fire is a comfy place to witness? It’s hell.

"Matemos esas hormigas de la cocina, quitemos lo podrido del frutero, limpiemos la nevera, llenemosla, hagamos algo para enamorarnos ... otra vez. Gastemos el dinero que nos queda, en fuegos de articifia y chucherias, hagamos algo absurdo, amemonos, hagamos algo para enamorarnos ... otra vez."

♫♫♫ "Los Enamorados"
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Bestia, Hello Seahorse!

BESTIA, HELLO SEAHORSE!
MUN, México ****1/2
Rating: 90
By Carlos Reyes

Through the enigmatic summit of ghostly beauty, the third album by Hello Seahorse! discharges some of the most precious moments music will give us this year, Bestia is the consolidation of the trio as a major enforcement in Mexico’s indie. A significant step forward to their previous works; their charmingly twee first album …And the Jellyfish Parade and the magical sleeper-hit Hoy a las Ocho EP sound captivatingly conflicted to the much darker and bolder Bestia. The animalistic and monstrous introduction of the leading single “Bestia” serve as the connecting loop as we enter a space of shadows that is both enchanting and destructive, and best of all, it’s furiously dualistic and fully aware of its skill.

Although their single “Bestia” is this year’s indie hit and they’re breaking into a larger range of followers, this is their least immediate and accessible moment yet. It’s a full investment on their art, and to our surprise, all the songs are in Spanish. The single is a marvelous piece; I’m almost convinced my interpretation of the song is far away from the original idea, but I like my romanticized view on “Bestia” as a song about the desire for salvation and the fear to confront light, like a man taking the easy route walking with the beast and now comes back in redemption, facing the lion’s roar and finding out shame has taken his voice as punishment. Later on the album “El Segundo” picks up the defeatist scar, through sublime instrumentation and angelical vocals, the trio duels a demon and triumphs with the help of visionary producer Yamil Rezc.

The second single “Despues” is a piece on the ambiguous attractiveness of the unknown and the clumsy outcomes that result when trying to make sense of it. Also already familiar “Universo 2”, which was included in the U.S. edition of Hoy a las Ocho released by Magic Maker last year, a piece about the mystical escape of two lovers in search of the details that make up a predestinate universe in which their love would flourish. Hello Seahorse! isn’t necessarily a more mature band, we still want to see the uplifting sprit of “Won’t say anything”, but they’re showing another dimension that feels more personal. In a song like “Criminal” they’re no longer talking about communal secrets, it’s about the measure of sacrifice. Other highlights include “Miercoles” and “Siberia”, in collaboration with Chetes.

Bestia remains brilliant all throughout; it really is an imaginative voyage although once you get to “Oso Polar” it’s hard to continue before replaying the song over and over, certainly the album’s best piece and it might just be their best song yet period. A vulnerable polar bear walking through the streets looking for his home becomes part of a hide and seek afternoon; it incorporates the child game as the music alternates firm predatory drums and warmer delicate passages of a targeted pray. It’s a complex narrative that even advices those playing the game to beware of power and sizes, “no seas idiota, te crees mas grande que el, mira sus garras, te pueden matar tambien.” Certainly one of the year’s most precious albums, we’re hoping for a U.S. release to come our way very soon.

♫♫♫ "Universo 2"
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New Single: "Vive", Jumbo

We love the shift bands and record companies are taking in regard of front singles, labels of all sizes finally realized that giving away a track from an upcoming release can be their greatest force in promoting their product. It just became a whole lot more comprehensible, now Jumbo joins Natalia Lafroucade, Mexican Institute of Sound, Hello Seahorse! and a bunch of artists practicing this form of marketing, and also a kind approach to their followers. Jumbo always has that question mark on them, they’re a middling band with a colossally brilliant track (Fotografia) and fortunate singles, but the albums as a whole have never gotten me too excited. “Vive” is an unconvincing but interesting track, appealing mostly because of Phil Vinal’s sharp scope as a producer, and it’s one of Jumbo’s most firm moments but unfortunately a piece of stiffness too.

To download "Vive", go to this website, click on "descargas", and you'll need to type your email address and confirm it, it will send you a link to your email inbox.

MP3: "Bigote", Turbopotamos

The new single by Libido leaked last month and I must say I’m profoundly disappointed, the kind of song you can almost tell they sharpen a bit too much to get it into radio. While I can’t deny they will continue to be Peru’s most valuable asset (you can’t ignore history or “tres”), it’s time to shift our way to the next big thing, they are already big in Peru, but los Turbopotamos are taking way too long to internationalize. We talk plenty about them only because they ought to have some love from these grounds. They have a new song and are glad to share it with us; “Bigote” will bring out the insecurities of all the guys who, unlike me, couldn’t grow a mustache in their teenage years and somehow got offended by it. It’s a song about lament, masculinity and first impressions.

♫♫♫ "Bigote"
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Veracruz, Veracruz

VERACRUZ, VERACRUZ
Yo-Yo Industrias, Spain ****
Rating: 82
By Carlos Reyes

The disoriented rock stacks of smoky rock & roll come into a course in the self-titled second LP by Barcelona’s wicked kids Veracruz. The band has no regret sounding plainly rude with their ambient rock, they’re pleasantly vulnerable to get rushed by the urgency of its core, and yet delicate while constructing the noisy patterns that make this sophomore production a success and one of the year’s best rock albums (the best so far). Two things to consider, all the tracks here in English, something very common in Spain’s rock where bands release an all-Spanish album and then one fully in English.

Veracruz walks around the vein of the radical European indie, which includes the likes of El Guincho, Extraperlo, Joe Crepusculo, Triangulo de Amor Bizarro and others. But in terms of actual discovery, the band is closer to Mexico’s Nos Llamamos; both bands keep melody at a distance, but contemplate the element as a precious musical stance to admire and guard. The clashing and dusty opener “Odetta Satan’s Rum” might scare off our popish costumed friends, but it’s nothing to worry about, in fact, the actual execution is like a luminous awakening of the devil himself or the mysterious guy from the album’s cover.

It gets a whole lot happier with the potent and exotic “Port of Havana”, it’s a persecution of sounds and a hunt of love. “Mao-de-Pilao” makes the listener an accomplice, its arousing intimacy is discomforting and along with the next song track, “The Breaking Knots”, set up a bridge of bleakness and flair for a second set of songs that are in their own way, profoundly blissful. It’s as if Veracruz assumes that an eternal bonding has been created between these songs and the listener, and from that affiliation is that tracks like “Ex-Boxer” or “Them Black Bones” not only overcome their desiccated mood but be the backbones of this subtle enchantment. The album has a very limited vinyl run, but don’t worry, Yoyo Industrias is offering it for free download, you shouldn’t mind rapidshare’s limitations.

♫♫♫ "Ex-Boxer"
Download LP [Free on Rapidshare, Via Veracruz Blog]
MySpace

Vetusta Morla, Lori Meyers and Los Punsetes

The blog is back to my hands everyone! , thanks Andrew for the great SXSW coverage, to the artists for welcoming our approach to interview them etc. You would assume I would have a lot of stuff ready for you, but I took a break from this thing, and indeed, I missed it. During spring break I got a handful of CDs from Spain, thanks to all the labels for sending them, seriously, beautiful packaging and the music is exciting to say the least. So expect a lot of Spaniard acts getting reviews/posts in the upcoming days.

While Russian Red and Joe Crepusculo were the most successful breakthroughs in Spain's pop last year, let me introduce you to the three rock acts everyone had their eyes on (although for me, the best rock album from Spain is still Margarita's Parque Magico). I'm in love with the Morla's front single "Un dia en el mundo", I don't know, I can't stop singing it and I'm sure you won't either. There's four videos included in the player, first a live-action take of Vetusta a la blogotheque, and if you click on next, it will take you to the album's version and official video. Also find Lori Meyers's "Alta Fidelidad" and Los Punsetes's latest video "Fondo de Armario."

"Club de fans de John Boy" - Love of Lesbian

I think I like Love of Lesbian ever more than Los Planetas, or at least their Cuentos Chinos Para Niños del Japon was better than any of los planetas albums.  They’re coming back with 1999, and they got a single for it already. “Club de Fans de John Boy” is great, who has not been to a concert for simple compromise? What’ if it's a date and you really hate the performing band? It certainly is an alienating experience, to stand in the middle of hundreds of fans cheering and screaming, seriously, it’s one of the most gentile expressions of affection/interest one can give on a date. Thing is, if the date goes well, your musical taste will reverse itself all suddenly, soon enough you’ll find yourself to be a fan or a different person.   

Turbo Raros, Turbopotamos

Turbopotamos is one of our most beloved bands here, and we’re always wining about the lack of excitement for this project outside Peru. Their double feature “Terrorize You / Disco Flor” was one of our first features and I even went on a limb naming them the band to watch this year. While we wait for their third album to show up, I found this rarities album among my library, it contains two tracks from their sophomore album No Love, and other unrecorded stuff. I’m also including what’s probably their anthem song, “No Love” … “they say I make cocaine, but girl I’m not like them, just freaking lies." This short set was uploaded by the band itself, so enjoy it. 

♫♫♫ “No Love”

Download Turbo Raros

Gabriela

Adicto

Bad Blues

Right string but the wrong yo yo

Overdose

No me meto (Acustica)

Club Fonograma Features: Adrianigual

The frist LP from Chilean band Adrianigual has been out for a while, to be exact this was released during the second half of September 2007 and has slowly transcended locally. It’s 2009 and we finally get to hear Baila Baila Canta! as it never got a proper extended release, not even in Chile, nor did it ever leaked properly (lol). Thing is, we love their happy rock and expect big things from an upcoming production. “La Mistica Espiral” has to be one of the key generational songs I’ve heard lately, at least for any Hispanic kid out there with a television set at their home. They argue that if Don Francisco (Sabado Gigante, Don Francisco Presenta) is seen as god, the world is at lost: “se olvidaron de tu y yo.” I don’t know about you, but I’ve always felt like our entertainment giants have forgotten about me, definitely a punch to Univision/Televisa and a priceless view that’s rarely put into music with this much rebellious allure.

Club Fonograma Features:
ADRIANIGUAL.
Track: "La Mistica Espiral"
Album: Baila Baila Canta!
Country: Chile
Label: Unsigned
>>>MP3
MySpace

Nada Se Pierde, Andres Calamaro

NADA SE PIERDE, ANDRES CALAMARO
EFE EME, Argentina **1/2
Rating: 51
By Carlos Reyes

Efe Eme is a well known web magazine in Spain; they are celebrating their 10th anniversary with some huge surprises. Several artists embraced the publication by presenting unreleased material in the form of either LP or EP entirely free to the readers. Among them are the Spanish duet Amaral, the always forgotten Ariel Rot and the big dish, master lyricist Andres Calamaro. It would be wrong to refer to Nada Se Pierde as a new Calamaro album considering it’s made up of poor recordings and covers put together, but I guess rockers don’t embrace the mixtape format as much as they should. Latin radio has put Calamaro’s previous production La Lengua Popular (2007) aside, which has to be his most mainstream album yet, but also his best in a while. It only takes to play the first tracks to know this is even worse than a ‘rarities’ compilation, a track like “Mejor no hablar” is so pathetic it should have never seen the light, it’s kind of a painful gift. Here is the thing, in some other time this set of songs would have been welcomed with much warmth considering he is a high profile artist, but as the rise of the netlabel continues artists must realize the audience is looking up for actual quality, and unless you’re a hardcore Calamaro fan, this free release will come as a loopy and sloppy album that doesn’t even sound good on the iPod. What it does offer is a Calamaro recording in the English language covering some of his big influences, decomposing himself almost entirely to the point it reaches the garage-sound only to square the precocious sound even more. Nada Se Pierde works best in tracks like “Los Mareados” or “Una noche sin ti” because the acoustics don’t hurt as much or feel like forced rapid tracks. The big highlight and leading track is his take on “Bajan”, a classic by Luis Alberto Spinetta that had been previously covered by Gustavo Cerati. So yeah, wait for the next real album and don’t conform to leftovers. 

♫♫♫ "Bajan"
Download "Nada Se Pierde"