Detailed Reviews [Musicas Geometricas - 2003 - "Musicas Electroacustica y Camara"]

Musicas Geometricas (Mexico) - 2003 - "Musicas Electroacustica y Camara"
(59 min, Luna Negra)

Prolusion. Musicas Geometricas is a project where varied musicians perform the works of Mexico's contemporary composers.

Synopsis. In my view, this project should've been named "Musicas Geometricas de Lobatchevsky", though the title of its first output: "Musica Electroacustica y de Camara" ("Electro-Acoustic & Chamber Music", I suppose) not fully corresponds to reality as well. Almost all of the instruments used on the album are acoustic; Classicism and, proper, chamber music, are presented only on two tracks here, while all of the others are entities of Avant-gardism, Post-modernism, and Abstractionism. (I don't know what a "cinta" is: perhaps this is an electric instrument, as the music on each of the three tracks that feature it (1, 4, & 7) is mostly accompanied by synth-like effects, all of which, though, apart from the noise of the wind, are indescribable.) To be more precise, the pieces, in the basis of which are solos of various, mallet and metallic, percussion instruments: Apeiron and La Primavera (2 & 4), represent a percussion-based Post-Modernism. Wala-tu (1) is in many ways close to these two, but is more structured and is much richer in sound than them. In addition, there are melodic lines provided by the parts of glockenspiel and, perhaps, xylophone, though maybe it is still the same "cinta". This is an unusual, yet, excellent composition and is among the best tracks on the album. The music on Isomorfismo and Abdustion (5 & 7), the first of which consists of the parts of bass clarinet, and the second of those of flute and "cinta", can hardly be defined differently than just Avant-garde. I was listening to these three times running, yet, could not get into them. On Consecuencia Bruja (6), there is nothing but chaotic noises that some DJ elicits while crawling a traditional DJ 'equipment' (disc!) with his fingers. This pure Abstractionism or, rather, absurdity is just unlistenable, and I really wonder what it has to do with Art and, thus, why it has been included in the album. From the classic progressive standpoint, the absolute winners are Cuarfeto and Duo (3 & 8). The first of them is just brilliant and represents a Classical Music concerto for a violin quartet. Another is probably the most original composition on the album and consists of constantly developing interplay between 'classical' solos of oboe and those of a wide variety of mallet and metallic percussion instruments.

Conclusion. The hero of this review is a very unusual and in many ways unique album, though most of the contents of it, being progressive only in their own way, hardly concern progressive music as such. Nevertheless, it can be recommended to the most adventurous of our 'brothers in genre', and also those who're always happy to hear something boundlessly extraordinary.

VM: November 20, 2003