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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Vocal Tour de Force, November 29, 2008
This is my first encounter with Ms. Molina and I must say, this recording just blew me away. It's hard to know how to classify it. Is it electronica? Pop? World music? Jazz? It has elements of all of these, but Ms. Molina has created a totally distinctive sound that is listenable, danceable and still complex enough to grow with each hearing.
She uses simple, pentatonic melodies that make the tunes quite accessible, almost folk-like. Then she adds shifting, hypnotic rhythms, and the sort of variations in sound and dynamics that typically drive electronic/trance music.
But what is astonishing is her voice. She uses legato tone sequences, percussive chanting, shouts, howls and a huge range of other non-lexical singing techniques - often looped over each over - to create a fabulously rich texture of vocal sound. It's like nothing I've ever heard before.
Despite the sophistication of this music, it has the drive and appeal of pop. You don't need to steel yourself to listen to this, as you do with some avant garde artists. Quite the opposite. It sounds great out of the box; and it sounds great after listening a couple of dozen times, too.
I'm awfully glad I found this record. If you like music that has some depth and you appreciate innovation, this should definitely be part of your collection.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Truly Groundbreaking : Five Times in a Row, October 16, 2008
For Juana Molina, creating world music that sounds 'different' is by now something she is used to. On what I consider her best album, "Son", she took the tempo down even further and created a set of slow, intimate groove numbers that also worked as spacial, orchestral masterworks. The artist is indeed an experimentalist, but its quite something that she manages to remain mainstream while doing so, with enough 'pop' elements in her records so as to not be classified 'aloof'.
Things should change with "Una Dia" though, as this is by far her least accessible record. For long term fans such as myself, the album is yet another departure, as it is definitely 'faster paced' than her last two languid, almost breathtakingly slow albums. But for listeners who come trying to discover a new world artist, this might not be the best place to start. I highly recommend her far more intimate debut album for that. On "Una Dia", some of the set pieces are almost like intricately designed soundtrack-vignettes from some lost Spanish arthouse film. All of her 'nature' elements are still present, but there is a darker, more elusive quality to the music, almost bordering on trip-hop but without the beats (think a stripped down Tricky, or Martina Topley-Bird).
Personally I found the album too short, and the last three tracks a tad meandering, but its still essential if you are at all interested in Molina's musical output. She is the Frida Kahlo of the Spanish music world - underappreciated, yet eccentrically talented. Give this a spin, and check out that gorgeous cover art (all of Molina's album artwork are masterpieces in their own right - I have the artwork for her third album as a poster print, framed)
Four Stars.
Tracklisting:
1. Un Dia
2. Vive Solo
3. Lo Dejamos
4. Los Hongos De Marosa
5. żQuien? (Suite)
6. El Vestido
7. No Llama
8. Dar (Que Dificil)
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Compelling and hypnotic rhythms and layers, November 12, 2008
The first track, Un Dia, begins without hesitation and catalyzes the listener into a rhythmic soundscape of multi-layered vocals that reminds me of no one so much as Philip Glass, though the comparison with Glass pretty much ends there. The songs, fast and slow, are kaleidescopes of beats, sounds, melodies and words. A woodsy, psychedelic feel permeates the album from the artwork to the music, and it makes me think of some forested fantasy world full of lush vegetation and bizzare creatures juxtaposed with a slow Sunday morning. This is the first Juana Molina album I have listened to, and it has given me a wonderful impression of the artist and compels me to want to hear more from her.
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