Customer Reviews

Segundo

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We first heard a cut from this album on the car radio, seemingly caught between stations. After spending a full minute trying to tune it in (and possibly causing some vehicular damage along the way), it dawned on us that it already was. The music on 'Segundo' is atmospheric, seductive, captivating and strange. Juana Molina is, oddly, an Argentian comedian/musician with a beguiling whisper of a voice. But it is her talent as a producer which dominates this cd and makes it a unique and pleasant listening experience. Complex and compelling rhythms and melodies, a dream-like wash of acoustic and electric instruments, and a torrent of Hollywood sound effects from barking dogs to crying babies. The fact that we don't understand the language (except for an occasional jarring sprinkle of English) allows the spell to be cast that much deeper.

A mother who leaves her daughter.
A dog that never stops barking.
A preacher who plays with people's illusions.

Little stories and brief moments constitute the lyrical core of Segundo. The musical arragements (which compliments acoustic sounds with electronic/industrial/organ chords) all serve to further illustrate the stories portrayed.

At once fragile and strong, slow-paced but energetic, melancholic but hilarious, intimate but distant, Segundo has Juana Molina singing songs that will stay in your head like the most commercial 3 minute pop song ever, but by doing the exact oposite.

PD. I strongly suggest you try to find her latest album, 3 Cosas, which deals with the post modern world (in the lyrics) from a Yoga point of view (in the music).

All Music Guide
America doesn't have a lock on all the off-kilter singer-songwriters. Take a listen to the very individual Argentinean Juana Molina. On her second album, she explores electronic and acoustic textures, treading through them like rooms in an empty house while inspecting details and corners. She's equally comfortable with detuned synths (as on "Medlong") or acoustic guitar ("El Zorzal,") but, whatever she uses, her music keeps taking the path less traveled. Her unusual, minimal touches transport lovely melodies into different dimensions. Molina is like a Latin Lisa Germano; both make small, intimate albums and think outside the box. But originality should be treasured, especially when it's wrapped in glistening little melodies. Molina can have an almost childlike simplicity at times in the way her voice glides between the blips and bloops, although her sensuality comes to the surface in other moments. She utilizes minimal arrangements and the production might sound more like work from home than the big recording studio, but this naïveté suits the songs. There's an irresistible charm about both this disc and Molina's approach. Even if you don't speak Spanish, you'll still be smiling.
- Chris Nickson

Out here in LA, KCRW has been playing Juana Molina for a while but it was impossible to find her album, but it's finally been released. Although she is from Argentina, Segundo not really a "world" album. It's more in line with Mum, Bjork, a little Beth Orton, and Lali Puna. There is the sound of quiet electronic beats meshed with acoustic guitar and her voice, which is really delicate and airy. She just happens to sing in Spanish, so I have no idea what her lyrics are like. But it doesn't really matter when it's this pretty.

Juana Molina sings in a quiet, pleasant, soft but strong whisper, catchy melodies that are instantly your own and a joy to hum along. (She doesn't sing in English, and oddly that doesn't matter). Add industrial noises - ever so quietly moaning in the far background, like a lovesick ghost, and sometimes bubbling to the surface - a great complement (and contradiction) to her gentle voice. Lots of uptempo rhythms smoothly blended in (never stealing the show) keep this quiet mood energized. This is headphone music. Her album bears repeated listenings. The liner notes tell us Juana Molina does all (or nearly all) the sounds, and the production. Her album definitely bears repeated listenings. Take it from a Simon and Garfunkle / Nine Inch Nails fan. (P.S. It seems to me the samples here cut too short, before you get the full taste.)

I heard a review of this album on NPR's All Things Considered
and it sounded amazing. Because Juana sings in Spanish,
I don't understand what she is saying - but it doesn't even matter.
I don't know Icelandic, so I have no idea what Mum or Sigur Ros are singing either, and half
the time Cat Power makes no sense. But with
a voice as beautiful as Juana's, the language barrier
makes no difference. Musically, the production reminds me
of mellow Stereolab crossed with the folkier side of Beth Orton.

This is an album that I can't stop listening. It brought back to my memory my childhood playgruond with the song "Que lluvia" which makes reference to a popular song in Latin America. I think Juana Molina mixed the sounds and subjects of the songs in a way so strange but effective that the whole album is like a single song with multiple faces. The lyrics remembered me those short japanese poems that reveal to you a big reflection with just a few words.

Having grown up in Argentina where Juana was well known as a brilliant TV comedienne back in the 90s (something she's put behind her a few years ago for good) I didn't know much what to expect. What I found was a sweet record, made of descriptions of small moments and characters. I think this is what Banana Yoshimoto would sound like if she made music: intimate and revealing of the small touches of bliss and loss in the ordinary motions of everyday life. Whether describing a small auditory revenge on the owner of a dog that never ceases to bark ("El perro"), recounting the anticipation of a mother's visit ("La visita"), sending an egotistic lover packing ("Quiero") or wondering who is going to mother her child when she's gone ("Quien"), the small moments in this CD (greatly realized in her small, mellow voice and the looping beats and bare instruments that provide her background) add to a beautiful recount of daily existence.

After hearing El Perro on a local college radio station, I fell in live with Juana Molina's sound. Her melodies sound like memories. Touching, distant, yet with groove. She is a sublime sensation.

If you only listen for 10 seconds or so, Juana's Segundo would seem to be songs from yet another whispery waif, this time in Spanish.
Well, I listened for longer than 10 seconds.
I think the first couple minutes resulted in me making comparisons between her and Stereolab. Nice approachable songs with good rhythmic tunes and a nice backdrop of analog sound effects [which I'm a sucker for whether it's found in Stereolab, Pere Ubu, Einstuerzende Neubauten, etc.]. Then I found myself replaying certain songs digging up background sounds and seeing how her voice emulated or played with them.
At that point, I guess I'm not listening for just a couple minutes anymore. It's more like an hour, or two, or more. And I'm listening to a bunch of songs over and over again, as well as listening to the whole disc.

Well, I guess I do like the album enough to spend that much time with it. And then I found myself playing guitar along with a few of the songs. More hours of listening.

So yeah. I like and recommend the album. My Spanish isn't good at all, but it doesn't matter. The songs are intriguing, memorable and great to listen to in a variety of occasions or moods.