 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
=
February 2025 = |
|
|
Teonanacatl |
Nora
Orlani, Franco Tonani
|
Doka
|
James Waudby
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TEONANÁCATL
– TEONANÁCATL EP
(Smolder
Brains Records)
There
sure
is some great new rock music coming out of Latin
America these days.
Last month we looked at Las Fuerzas
Extrañas from Argentina, and now we turn our
ears to Mexico and Teonanácatl.
Named after magic mushrooms (just look at
the cover), here’s a young band who uses their
supreme musical chops to proffer a blend of
rock, prog, space and psychedelia sure to please
many around these parts.
It may be a four-song 27-minute EP, but
many of the tracks have songs within songs.
They’re chock full of variety in many
ways.
The
band
always keeps you guessing with time signatures.
Each track starts with a unique rhythm,
some of them pretty complex such as opener
“Caronte.” But
they also frequently shift to new tempos
mid-track, just when your ears are nicely
settled into the groove.
The variety of instruments on display is
also impressive.
Whether it’s Baruch Hernandez’s sprightly
organ solos, Carlos Chavez’s smoking guitar
workouts, or the incandescent violin playing of
Raul Calva, the instrumental breaks are always
by nature captivating and different.
So are the moods.
“Caronte” is somewhere in the middle of
the rock-prog spectrum, while “El Teatro de las
Ilusiones” is a riff-heavy blues boogie.
“Mi Ego y Yo” begins in a spacy mood
courtesy of Hernandez’s keys and Calva’s soaring
violin, before a long and winding tour of
styles, tempos and instrumentation, occasionally
venturing into Santana and Allman Brothers Band
territory. “La
Creatura” has some fine early Crimson touches in
another imaginative multiple section journey.
Even
the choice of languages doesn’t sit still.
“Caronte” and closer “La Creatura” are in
English, while middle two tracks “El Teatro de
las Ilusiones” and “Mi Ego y Yo” are in Spanish.
Whatever the tongue, singer Roy Cabrera
displays extraordinary vocal strength and range,
once in a while hitting some notes I could last
reach before puberty.
Their
sound
reminded me a little of another excellent
Mexican band I’d enjoyed and written about a few
years ago, Rostro Del Sol.
A little bit of checking revealed sure
enough, several members are in both bands.
I wanted to especially call out Raul
Calva, whose violin playing is full of range and
emotion, and reminded me somewhat of another
Terrascope favorite, Vespero, and their
brilliant violinist Vitaly Borodin.
Teonanácatl
is
working on their first full length LP, which
they say won’t include any of these tracks.
That’ll be high on our wish list this
year. Also
of note, their debut single “Lights of the
Universe,” which predated this EP, is in a
similar combobulation of proggy/rocky/psych
styles and is well worth your time as well.
(Mark
Feingold)
|
|
|
|
NORA
ORLANDI, FRANCO
TONANI – SFERE LUMINOSE
(LP
on Sonor
Music
Editions, Holy
Basil Records)
This
is a perfect time capsule of classic Italian
Library music from 1970, newly reissued on vinyl.
Produced by the maestros Giancarlo Gazzani
and Roby Poitevin, the lead artist credits are
given to vocalist Nora Orlandi and jazz drummer
Franco Tonani. Originally
released on the cult Record – TV Firmamento label,
it’s a wonderful mélange of Hammond and Wurlitzer
grooves, wordless Da-Da-Da-Di vocals by Orlandi,
funky piano, groovy flutes, pseudo-Brazilian bossa
nova hip shakers, psychedelic takes, ultra-cool
jazz, lounge sounds and much more.
As
with all Italian and British Library music, the
musicians behind the scenes are seasoned experts
who deserve far more credit than they received, in
this case including the incomparable I Marc 4
outfit who was everywhere in legacy Italian
Library music, and excellent uncredited trumpet
and flute players.
My
favorite types of library tracks are all
represented here.
When I listen to a library album, I imagine
in my mind’s eye the kinds of film and TV scenes
the tracks would have soundtracked from the era.
My favored styles are the scenes of people
and things in motion (“Orme di James,” “E Bene
Persistere,” “Corro da te”); a beautiful woman
being, er, beautiful (“Le belle 7,” “L’ombra di
noi,”); and last but certainly not least, the hip
Euro party scene (“Pan de Azucar”).
It's
all so entertaining, a well-rounded collection
sure to bring a smile and lighten up your day in
these insane times.
Out now on the great Sonor Music Editions
as well as Italy’s Holy Basil records, grab one
now or check one out of La Biblioteca.
(Mark
Feingold)
|
|
|
|
DOKA
– CYCLI
LIMITED
LP (100 copies)/ CASSETTE/ DL www.twindimensionrecords.bigcartel.com
Doka
is the vehicle for Dutch musician Marijn Filius.
This, I believe, is his first release and it is
quite firmley in the space rock/krautrock genre.
Purely instrumental, these 5 tracks may well
constitute more of an EP than an LP, running to
just 28 minutes in duration. It is released on
Twin Dimension Records, the same Dutch label
that Joost Dijkema releases his records on.
The
opening song and also the album’s title track
‘Cycli’ starts with a motorik drum pattern, over
which synths squelch and a loping electric
guitar noodles into view, and that is pretty
much the sound of the entire record. I’m
reminded of Ripley Johnson’s Moon Duo/Rose City
Band or perhaps Träd,
Gras och Stenar, it motors along quite nicely,
not outstaying its welcome and fading out to
synth. ’Super 8’, hoves into view and follows a
similar trajectory, the guitar has a bit more
bite as it progresses, in no hurry over a bed of
chugging rhythms, perfect for a long moon light
drive as it twists and turns, it also fades out
to a howling synth squall.
A
change of pace for ‘Jardim De Mar’, a slower
song, lazily spun, it develops as it progresses
towards its climax, again the guitar is to the
fore and like all the tracks the guitar provides
the melody and tune, gradually building but
fairly sparse. The next track ‘Meander’ does
indeed meander all over the place, the motorik
beat is back, it has more synth which drives the
song along nicely, fading out to a drone. The
final track is ‘Howl/Mexican Dog’, a two-parter
that is a touch more aggressive, but follows a
similar trajectory as it reaches for the stars.
(Andrew
Young)
|
|
|
|
JAMES
WAUDBY – IN THE SMALLEST
THIRD
LP/CD/DL
East Riding Acoustic
www.jameswaudby.bandcamp.com
We
very much enjoyed the previous album by James
here at Terrascope, it announced the arrival of
a major talent, although some of us were already
aware of James through his work as guitarist in
psychedelically inclined Hull band Salako, who
put out a few albums and singles on the Jeepster
record label in the latter part of the nineties,
home to Belle And Sebastian, Looper etc. That
debut album ‘On The Ballast Miles’, was notable
for its unadorned, unaffected songs, performed
(as is this album) by James on acoustic guitar
and vocals.
This
album continues as before, with ten songs
written and performed by James, recorded, mixed
and mastered by fellow Salako band mate Luke
Barwell. The album was recorded in a barn, deep
in the East Riding countryside. Things begin
with ‘The Potter’s Strain’, a beautiful sounding
tale of forbidden love between a serf and a
noblewoman, James acoustic guitar playing is a
thing of quiet beauty, indeed this album is
intended to be listened to as a whole in one
sitting and it certainly works very well in that
regard. ‘Beverley Gate’, unfurls gently on
ringing strings, belying its bloody history
throughout the years.
You
can hear James’s acoustic guitar creaking under
the pressure of taught strings on ‘A Portable
Fiction’, which tells of a returning fortune
seeker. The songs have a medieval setting none
more so than ‘The Stare Beyond The Wolds’, a
pretty song which tells of blood on the cellar
door and a body cold on the floor. This first
side ends with an intimate ‘Robert Adams’, a
timeless plangent tale sung over more of that
lovely finger-picked, warm acoustic guitar.
Side
two opens with ‘The Fall Of Ravenser Odd’, a
tale of a medieval city lost to the sea, a
lovely acoustic guitar figure accompanies this
tale of a crumbling chapel throughout the years,
much like Dunwich in Suffolk. This is followed
by the bruised beauty of ‘Saxston’s Hand’,
informed as it is by the fading blooms of summer
roses; James’s acoustic playing is so good, this
is followed by ‘The Queen Of Holderness’, a
topographical song concerning this particular
marshy area of Hull, between the river Humber
and the North Sea. ‘From The Boulder Clay’, is
deftly sung and played, elemental; of gravity
and soil. The album ends with a public execution
in the short, sombre tale that is ‘The Hanging’.
This is
another fine album from James and one which I
can heartily recommend; it is due to be released
on February 24th.
(Andrew
Young)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|