Mañaneros - El Sonido de lo Inevitable

El Sonido de lo Inevitable, Mañaneros
Empresaurio, Chile
Rating: 87
by Enrique Coyotzi

It’s been a while since a release title had resounded so strikingly accurate to the music it holds. El Sonido de lo Inevitable, Mañaneros’ astonishingly constructed EP, easily works like the sound of a new era–one that couldn’t be avoided, where tribal transcends demographics. Psych rock and krautrock, among other unforeseen genres, subtly merge with global bass and sharp electronica through mind-numbing progressions, resulting in irresistible dance numbers and meditative brain-drillers. The Chilean innovators have crafted a collection of five songs that feel both logical and completely different from any recent fusion you’ve heard lately. It’s the kind of mixture you would’ve imagined after all the tribal boom exploded, but Mañaneros have been part of the game way before that happened and, as proven in highlights “El Volcán” and “Baby Tropical,” have perfected it in their own peculiar style.

Led by extravagant fashion and blasting delirium, the Chilean ensemble has created a set of environmental pieces enhanced by well-chosen exotic elements: the flavorful samples of digitally resonant yeahs in “Baby Tropical,” ferocious feline roars in “El Volcán,” the spaciously trippy vocals and entrancing wavelengths of “Cisco Router,” cutesy sounds of chirping birds in “Playita,” dolphins crying and overall Caribbean acid-mood. And, no shit, Don Francisco even makes an appearance in the murky “Lévantate y Come,” transforming it into an even scarier swallow. Each of these monstrous songs possess the quality of drawing an individual atmosphere, never repeating themselves, therefore transmitting a grandiloquent amount of sensations, along the enviable attribute of new sound discoveries caused by repeated listens, reached thanks to the sensible and detailed craftsmanship in these expansive productions.

Despite being familiar with three of these tracks already (including “Baby Tropical,” #1 in our 2012 Midyear Report) and only the inclusion of two new compositions, El Sonido de lo Inevitable functions as something special, a collection of propulsive songs that sound like nothing else, whose perplexing, outlandish delight should strike any electronic music admirer. The EP commences with those tracks that had hit before our radar and establishes a wild build-up that grows from the most danceable numbers to the most explorative ones. Newest offerings, “Playita” and “Levántate y Come,” find Mañaneros stepping into an experimental realm. Enticing beats and agitated architecture color “Playita,” portraying a sunny landscape that relies on vivid instrumentals. Closer “Levántate y Come” reaches the spooky levels accomplished in Scott Walker’s The Drift, as a krautish downtempo prayer where the devil commands and shows up in the vertiginous ending (“Levántate, hijo/Soy el diablo”).

Considering they came out of nowhere, Mañaneros have expertly made a name of their own in the blogosphere. And this should come as no surprise. Ever since “El Volcán” was included in our Fonogramáticos Vol.13, we knew they were a one-of-a-kind, spectacular act. Pioneers of their own grand movement, Mañaneros demonstrate with El Sonido de lo Inevitable the intelligence of fusion within fresh development, smart genre-inclusion, and boundless talent for achieving it.

Levántate y Come by mañaneros

Video: Capullo - "Testigos del fin del mundo"


If there’s a word that properly applies to the Hidrocálidos synth pop idols’ Testigos del fin del mundo, it would be “grower.” Ever since we reviewed the record, it truly has become a favorite, and some of those songs I previously dismissed as fillers have started to make more sense. Now the group has unveiled the video for the title track, their own psychotic take on Elmer Bernstein’s The Magnificent Seven theme. The clip, with its WordArt-like opening credits, features everything you would’ve expected from Capullo (fauna, food, vortexes that bring to mind Nobuhiko Ohbayashi’s House) and splashes it into a freaky, colorful collage. And we get a glimpse of every band member, including my favorite: Cris, happily painting her eyebrow with her red lipstick. Adorably absurd.