The new album by Sotomayor is Orígenes (“Origins”) and captures Latin American stylings, fusing them with contemporary electronic sounds. The Mexican’s third studio album (following Salvaje in 2015 and Conquistador in 2017) is produced by multiple Grammy award-winning producer Eduardo Cabra (Calle 13). Sotomayor’s electronic Latin music has a strong sense of roots and tradition, […]
Listening to what I would assume is microtonal guitar work (if my friends would be so kind as to correct me, I would be much obliged) proved to be a very rewarding expeience. HJ Ayala, a friend of this blog, collaborates with cellist Stéphane Clor in this release clocking in at just under 40 minutes. This is a quiet release, but the interplay between guitar and cello seems to intricate that it managed to hold my attention throughout. I’m already a fan of Ayala’s guitar playing, so I’m not surprised he continues to release improvisational music of such great quality, but it’s nice to see him collaborate with Clor, whose work I had never heard until today. A recommended disc.
Remedios Varo was the queen of Spanish surrealist painters. She is depicted in her studio in the year 1957. The photographer was Duncan Mitchell.
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In honor of Cinco de Mayo, which, of course, isn’t a national holiday in Mexico, but a commemoration of the city of Puebla inflicting a defeat against the mighty French army, one of the world’s best at the time, we are happy to share with you a video by Rafael Méndez, the Mexican virtuoso solo trumpeter who was known as the “Heifetz of the Trumpet.”
Enjoy the day, but please try not to turn it into Cinco de Drinko.
H. J. Ayala has been featured here before, providing some mightily atmospheric guitar playing. His current release has to be his darkest yet, however. The entrance to the album (appropriately titled “Entrada“) feels like the beginning of a horror movie with a proper budget. The tension is palpable.
It gets deeper in feel from then on. The whole of this album was made on guitars only, with effects being added after the recording. In fact, all the sounds come from the guitar in it self and the place where the microphone was settled.
Eerie listening, but very rewarding.
Amazing. The Mariachi Mexteca collaborate with The Stranglers’ singer Hugh Cornwell on what is my favorite Stranglers song, Golden Brown. Punk and Mariachi seem to blend together beautifully in this example.
This must be a great week for Bandcamp. This release features a young Mexican composer called Roberto Romero Molina, whose work falls somewhere between electroacoustic music and something reminiscent of a sci-fi movie. A short, but brilliant, release.
Miguel Alzerreka is a vibraphonist from Mexico. I came across him thanks to a newsletter from Museo Tamayo, one of Mexico’s best centers for art, music and culture.
Miguel also has a Soundcloud page worth exploring.
Mexico is known for great garage rock bands, avant-prog, and neo-prog bands. But my favorite is the symphonic prog band, Iconoclasta. This piece comes from their crowning achievement of an album, Soliloquio, long out of print, unfortunately.
Much respect to my friend, Domenico D’Alessandro, for reminding me of how good an album this truly was, and what a crime it is to know that it’s still out of print.
This comes as a pleasant shock. Decibel were one of the great legendary RIO bands to come out of Mexico. Apparently, they’re playing music again!
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