LA MÁQUINA DE HACER PÁJAROS

Charly Garcia is a known name in the Argentine prog, I stumbled upon his name when I got a few albums from Sui Generis to review for a Dutch progrock magazine. I highly recommend their CD Pequenas Anecdotes Sobre Las Instituciones from 1973, unique, very varied prog with a typical Latin-American touch and loaded with strong ideas and shifting moods: the one moment the atmosphere is mellow with twanging acoustic guitars, flute, violin or Grand piano, the other moment it is blues with mouth organ or sumptuous symphonic rock with Moog synthesizer flights or beautiful strings. After Sui Generis disbanded Charly Garcia founded La Maquina De Hacer Pajaros, with this band he released two albums, La Maquina De Hacer Pajaros (1976) and Peliculas (1977). This review is about their eponymous debut album, more symphonic rock than the second effort (with the emphasis more on latin and soul).

The cover of their first album contains funny cartoons, far away from the Roger Dean, Hipgnosis and Mark Wilkinson album covers! Charly Garcia is not only the prime mover and composer but also a multi-instrumentalist: he plays piano, synthesizers, Fender piano, clavinet, acoustic guitar and he does the lead vocals. A nice element is the presence of a second keyboard player, Carlos Cutaia on organ, Mellotron, piano and an array of vintage synthesizers. The music is very melodic, harmonic and varied with lots of different atmospheres and shifting moods. The one moment it is Sixties inspired or rock, the other moment classical, jazzrock or symphonic rock. The songs are embellished with outstanding soli (from fiery guitar to spectacular synthesizer) but without the infamous 'self-indulgence tendency'. And the interplay is amazing, this is excellent latin-American progressive rock, alternating between a wide range of styles, and featuring that unsurpassed distinctive cheerful Latin-American climate.

This is very interesting prog to discover for the adventurous proghead.