Customer Reviews

Nuevo

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Ranging from folkloric to post-modern, "Nuevo" displays Kronos Quartet's pure love of Mexico's wide spectrum of musical history. From jarabes and sones ("El Sinaloense" and "El Llorar") to reinterpretations of work from some of Mexico's most beloved composers (torch song legend Agustin Lara and space age bachelor Esquivel) and collaborations with contemporary mexican artists (punk-folk-ambient pioneers Cafe Tacuba and Plankton Man of hybrid electronica outfit Nortec Collective) this cd has it all. There's even a tribute to mexican comic Roberto Gomez Bolanos' variety show "Chespirito" ("Chavosuite") with the theme music to two of his most popular characters: El Chavo and El Chapulin Colorado. with Mr. Gomez Bolanos himself and his wife Florinda Meza (two of Mexico's most beloved comic actors) chanting the lines from the long-running show. Which proved to me that the Kronos Quartet trully did their homework for this album. An absolute treasure!

Describe this is not easy but it is impecceble produced and played, give a nice touch of Mexican folkmusic and has both classical and surrealistic moments.

Perfect listen carefully too AND use as a background music with more or less sober guest :-).

This Kronos Quartet give us a lot of stuff... modern, contemporary classic, moviemusic, older stuff and this more folkmusic style. I had bought at least 100 records so far this year and this one is one of the most innovative.

If you like classic music, folkmusic, humour, style, bittersweet emotions, viola, violin, cello, marimbas, excellent sound and production, good performers this is for you. Classical purists should go somewhere else.

Highly recommended

This is the Kronos Quartet, but it is NOT the difficult, arty-experimental-edge music that they often do. The reviewer below who said this is a jarring CD was absolutely without a doubt mistaken about which CD he was reviewing. This is by far the most accesible Kronos CD yet, with every track sweet to the ears. It is a fanciful record of music from and inspired by Mexico. And the composers do a great job of evoking the spirit of Mexico, with traditional rhythms, instruments, harmonies, and so on. Some of these tracks toy with the stereotypical elements of mariachi or chickenscratch. Most of the songs are built on festive melodies, but a few tracks are more abstract and free form, one of which is a beautiful pastiche of recordings from around a Mexican cafe. I put "String" in quotes because there is never a point where it sounds like just a bare string quartet; their instruments are always amplified, sometimes pedal distorted, and often joined by other instrumentalists, vocalists, and samples. You can tell they just had a ton of fun making this recording - there's a buoyant feeling throughout. This is a deligtful album with broad appeal and easily one of the best of 2002.

I had to listen to it !

Well, first I must say that it is very rewarding to find such a talented international ensemble to interpret our music. Some of the tracks are really outstanding. Particularly 12/12 and the Chavosuite.

But, in the other hand, the purposely out of tune interpretation of El Sinaloense is deceiving (do our Mariachis sound so terrible ?) and the solo wistle in "Perfida" really destroyed the sesibility and charm of this melody. I mean, why on earth did't they play it with a violin instead ?

For the rest, it is a very original album, and it shurely reflects the impression that causes our culture. The inclusion of live sounds in a marketplace and of the "carretonero" buying old shoes and clothes, makes a specially beautiful ambiance.

It is also an album with a very humorous approach. (Some of the tracks sound like if they had been arranged by P.D.Q. Bach !) Get it if you are looking for something original and different, but please buy something else if you really want to know what mexican music is.

Nuevo, or New in Spanish, is definitely one of the Kronos Quartet's most inspiring and exotic works to date. The CD consists of and includes everything from marachi bands to traditional corridos to space age bachelor pad sounds from a range of Mexican composers. Using many familiar instruments as well as unique sounds from the very streets of Mexico itself, this CD is filled with many exciting and exhilirating arrangements most notably from the brillant and highly imaginative Argentine Jewish composer and Kronos arranger, Osvaldo Golijov. Definitely worth every centavo.

If you by chance still don't know what Kronos`s is about remember that there are two types of chamber music ensembles: Kronos and the rest. So if you have in your mind the traditional sound, aesthetic of a string quartet, go for the rest (Alban Berg, Ittaliano, Melos, Emerson...) and forget Kronos. For if I had only one chance to apply the title- word "avant-garde", I would do it concerning Kronos. They are irreverent. Forget traditional repertoire (and Bartok is traditional for them). As far as I know they play modern music (Glass, Reich, Scnittke) or new repertoire like World Music. They play with amazing virtuosism and richness of textures. If you try to explore Kronos world, open your mind to a new, non conventional type of sounds.
So what is "Nuevo"? A diverse, impressive, multilayered (that is, there are several strata, several kind od compositions) portrait of Mexican music. A comprehensive landscape of Mexican music. But ... not exactly mexican music is what you hear in most of the tracks, but the Kronos' POINT OF VIEW, that is, Mexico through Kronos' glasses. For I don`t find a truly traditional Mexican track (perhaps only "Son Huasteca" and that before 12/12 are those which most resemble to a truly traditional "Mexican" sound). Almost everything in this rich album is a new way of listening to mexican music.
Why? Arrangements are varied and colourfull. Every track shows novelty and spontaneity, even in well known pieces like "Perfidia" or "Sensemaya". All in this CD is "Nuevo (New)": music that you have not listened before, no matter your knowledge on Mexican music!!
The type of music is quite diverse: classical (Sensemaya), TV music (Chavosuite), bolero (Perfidia), local music (Sinaloense), processional music (12/12), even dance music!!
The sound is also quite strange sometimes: the editor distorts some tracks in order to show the quartet as if they were listened through an old radio player. This is quite amazing!!! or listen to 12/12: quartet strings combined with recording of a traditional "ritual" music and fireworks. Also there are includede street noises between the tracks, thus creating a kind of "leitmotive", like a "Concept Album".
Let me say this: I don't care of mexican music. I don't know too much of it. Nor it is something I love. What I like of this CD is not Mexican music legacy but WHAT KRONOS DOES WITH IT. I think they could do the same with every (rich) music culture in the world. The reason why Mexico is chosen perhaps is a personal experience of Kronos' members (as I have red in an interview).
Booklet contains track details, a lot of credits but not a single word of commentary about the music (a pity).
More than great Mexican music, this is a great Kronos show. If you like Kronos or want to investigate what Kronos truly is and /or If you like mexican music, buy it!
If you don't like mexican music, buy it too!! You will think, as I do, that this Kronos release is essential.

this is a great album to listen to on a hot summer day at the beach,or any sunny activity in general.I must admit that I do enjoy the darker side of kronos' music more,but one truly can't help but grin when on the third or fourth track the music pauses for a sudden "yelp"!yes,it may sound a bit goofy and the more stern folks are certain to frown upon such playfulness in the "sophistocated"world of classical music,but this is a good thing.as another reviewer stated,the music really isn't very complex but that should be no obstacle for any kronos-loving individual.oh,yes-if you have children be prepared for them to go absolutly BONKERS when you play this!(finally veggietales can be given a rest!)

this cd feels good. i find it very cerebral and very emotional. It feels child like at times, or thats what it does for me. all of those warm and expectant sensations. it really takes me on a trip into my higher self, and it fills me with new dreams. i do not know enough about anything to critique this cd, i do know how it makes me feel, and that is both nestled and receptive. truely inspiring.

This is a remarkable job, I highly recommend all the people to listen this CD. for me the very best songs in this cd are: El sinaloense, cuatro milpas (a song from the mexican revolution era),el llorar and sensemaya (a masterpiece by Silvestre Revueltas). but the rest songs of the CD are very good too.

This is the first Kronos I've listened to in a long time which has the excitement one expects from them. It's not an academic exercise; it's pure, delicious music.

It's also the most free-spirited evocation of Mexico I've heard in years -- nostalgic, respectful, humorous, joyful and independent.