SUI GENERIS

And it is with the protagonist incorporation of synthesizers (a primordial element in the sound structures of the genre) added to its mixture of acoustic folk and urban rock, when "Pequeñas Anécdotas Sobre las Instituciones" is nourished by an enormous palette of colours and textures exploited with mastery by the band. A proposal that is socially committed throughout its development, as with the scathing criticism of the rulers in "Instituciones", or with the sarcastic diatribe against censorship in "Las Increíbles Aventuras del Señor Tijeras', full of progressive swings marked by García's synthesizers and Mestre's acoustic intonations, or with the ironic representation of the happy marriage in the rock power of "Pequeña Delicias de la Vida Conyugal" with Juan Rodriguez's entrenched drumming, or with the stark contrast of classes in the tortuous and psychedelic intensity of "Música de Fondo para Cualquier Fiesta Animada" with García and Mestre singing a duet with superlative energy in one of the best tracks on the album.

And after the excellent instrumental "Tema de Natalio" with Jorge Pinchevsky's violins and Carlos Cutaia's hammond (both guests), Sui Generis recalls their most folksy sonorities with the acoustic nudity of the guitars and pianos of the melancholic "Para Quien Canto yo Entonces", a beautiful melody that brings the album to a close.

"Pequeñas Anécdotas sobre de las Instituciones" is, from a progressive point of view, Sui Generis' best work, and despite the critical acclaim, it received a cold reception from the public, who were probably expecting a work similar to those previously released. The frayed relationship within the band due to differences in the future musical approach, caused its dissolution, but not before giving a couple of legendary farewell concerts in Buenos Aires in 1975, which led to the release of the film "Adiós Sui Generis" and its respective LP.

Very good.

4/4.5 stars

Something vibrates under its aural charm. The beating of an inner heart, like the songwritten shape given to some primal human need neglected for long time. So, though the leading concept is the violently repressive nature of institutions, pay attention to the initial utterance of human voice, presenting us with hope, as arised from the contemplation of dawn. Soon after, it results that, sadly, hope may be in vain. Yet, in the meantime, we felt the vibration climbing and escaping the horizontal synth lines, and the chilling piano. And, maybe because the so good drums and guitar fills, we think our hero made summit, but it turns to be just a mid-high plateau, a brief opportunity to catch a breath, when rich high-pitched vocal harmonies come, crowning the keyboard bridge, and unleashing the weight of institutions over the head of our poor individual. We feel it so intensely, because we first bought the hope, the urge of a human heart infusing meaning in the big mess, otherwise this wouldn't hit us the way it does.

Track 2, Tango En Segunda, is an impromptu on the Rhodes, underpinning cool vocals delivering surrealistic lyrics, and seguing into a soaring jazz-fusion jam with Moog, electric guitar and bass absolutely on fire. Track 3, El Show De Los Muertos, transports us to the set of a cheap old horror movie, where you can see the cardboard and the strings, yet cannot escape the tetric feel. Track 4, Las Increíbles Aventuras Del Sr. Tijeras, continues the cinema show, portraying the paradoxically erotic obsession of a censor, very reminiscent of Anita Ekberg teasing that other censor created by Fellini.

We are back in subjective camera by Tracks 6 and 9, taking now the perspective of an artist. El Tuerto Y Los Ciegos construes the figure of mythical seer Cassandra as a symbol of lucidity, eventually contemplated by one-eyed people (like artists), yet never heard by the blind. Para Quién Canto Yo Entonces interrogates the "for whom?" art is made, with more straightforward and poignant poetry.

The lightest spot arrives in Track 5, Pequeñas Delicias De La Vida Conyugal, a second wind of hope presented now with acid humor, and the heaviest in Track 7, Música De Fondo Para Cualquier Fiesta Animada, where Justice herself stands accused, and the band rocks hard after a circumspect acoustic intro and lots of tension cumulated in the rousing vocals.

Guests announce the shape of things to come. Lebon and Moro make, along with García, three fourths of Seru Giran. Cutaia and Pinchevsky anticipate the main instrumental meat of LMDHP, as heard on Track 8, Tema De Natalio. Also, Rafanelli with Rodríguez and Lebon formed Polifemo, while Gieco joined Yorio, Mestre, García and Porchetto in Porsuigieco.

During the subsequent tour, the Moog was stolen, and never recovered.

The work unfolds in a context of profound human experiences that have to do, among other things, with the concern of those who visualise a lonely old age in "Cuando ya me Empiece a Quedar Solo", dominated by the melancholy of the bandoneón (a musical instrument fully identified with Argentine Tango), or with the frustration of the love that could not be in "Un Hada, un Cisne", or with the dramatic and orchestrated beauty of the love gone in "Rasguña las Piedras", or with the painful and deprived passing through life (jail and asylum included.... ) in the folk nudity that the acoustic guitar arpeggios propose in "Confesiones de Invierno", or with the serene rebelliousness of someone who resists to accept the educational and social conventions in "Aprendizaje" (also in a folk key), configuring a disenchanted scenario that perhaps was motivated by the complex political and social situation of Argentina at that time.

And while the springtime glow of the jovial, bluesy "Bienvenidos al Tren" and the bizarre description of a deranged family in the witty, rocking "Mr. Jones, o Pequeña Semblanza de una Familia tipo Americana" give the album a brief colourful tinge, the sense of gloom persists towards the end with García's dense and solid piano-led structure in "Tribulaciones, Lamento y Ocaso de un Tonto Rey Imaginario, o no", a track of intense social content in which a selfish king disconnected from reality is insensitive to the hardships of his people.

"Confesiones de Invierno" represented the highest media point in the career of Sui Generis, becoming one of the flagship albums in the history of Argentine rock, and immortalising the García-Mestre duo as an inescapable reference for the popular music of their country.

Very good

3.5/4 stars

The proposal of the two very young musicians (they were barely over twenty years old...) reflects the concerns and interests of those who are beginning their adult life, full of doubts and challenges, in a context marked also by the civil-military dictatorship of that time, which adds a shadowy exogenous ingredient to the feel of the album.

Predominated by acoustic guitars, piano and flute, "Vida" is a work of brief and frugal themes with a certain folk air, which, after García's mortuary sensations in the opening "Canción para mi muerte", transmits the emotions that the musicians experienced just out of adolescence: such as the affective urgencies in the lively "Necesito", the youthful summer love in the agile "Estación", the innocence lost in the nostalgic "Dime quien me lo robo", or the doubts that García whispers in the intimate "Quizás, porque".

And that also, on the other hand, recreates mundane characters and attitudes, such as the so human envy in the hilarious and tragic "Mariel y el Capitán", the conservatism and paralysing formality of "Natalio Ruiz, el hombrecito del sombrero gris" adorned by Mestre's beautiful flute and, despite not being related to the general mood of the album, the bluesy and interesting "Toma dos blues". Finally, the instrumental "Posludio" lasts as long as a breath and brings the album to a close.

Despite the rudimentary production, "Vida" managed to shine with its own light due to the beautiful simplicity and harmony of its compositions, and started the band's fleeting but very influential trajectory.

Very good

3.5 stars

However, without this album, and the next two albums by Sui Generis, the career of García could be different. This band went into a more progressive style with their next records, and later Charly created La Maquina de Hacer Pajaros and Serú Girán, two of the pillars in Argentinian prog history.

So, if you're into Argentinian rock and prog rock, this is something you must hear to understand its evolution.

¿Cuántas veces tendré que morir para ser siempre yo?

The influence of Simon & Garfunkel marked the early days of Sui Generis, but that acoustic and almost adolescent stage transformed into a band loaded with synthesizers and very aware of the abrupt changes of reality.

Pequeñas anécdotas sobre las instituciones, Sui's third album (1974), is a brilliant concept work to know how censorship and state terrorism operated, and also a record about the meaning of art in violent times.

Charly García, in search of innovations, traveled to the United States and bought a series of innovative keyboards for the time. The lyrics of the songs have a strong political content and make direct reference to repressive social institutions (family, censorship, military, education, police repression), at a time when political violence and especially the terrorist action of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance Triple A was raging against artists and intellectuals. To moderate its content, the original title, Instituciones, had to be changed; several songs were modified, such as "Instituciones", "Las increíbles aventuras del Señor Tijeras", "Música de fondo para cualquier fiesta animada" and "Para quién canto yo entonces", and two of them, "Botas Locas" and "Juan Represión", had to be deleted and replaced by others.

So that Instituciones could be published, without risking the very serious consequences that the musicians and their producers could suffer in the midst of the escalation of violence during the constitutional government of María Estela Martínez de Perón, which anticipated the dictatorship that would take power a little more than a year later, in addition to changing the title itself to Pequeñas anécdotas sobre las instituciones, Charly García had to modify several texts of the songs, mainly affected "Música para cualquier fiesta animada" and "Instituciones".

"Instituciones" (5/5) The album begins with a celestial atmosphere and a synthesizer that gradually indicates the fall of Nito's voice as the guitar appears. This song was a theme that showed the remarkable progress García had made in the instrumental and in the composition of more adult lyrics, not so adolescent. Lyrics that, on the contrary, already began to "put the finger where it hurts..." as Rafanelli once said. The theme reflected the oppression that the institutions put on the youth: "Los magos, los acróbatas, los clowns... Oye niño las cosas están de este modo... tenés sábados, hembras y televisores...no preguntes más!!!".

"Tango en Segunda" (4/5), as the name says, is a melodic tango, mostly composed of Garcia's synthesizers, half instrumental, half lyrical. This song is defined in; Charly sticking his head into city music and its fusion with progressive rock (booming at the time). The song included the duo's right to complain against their manager Jorge Álvarez: "A mí no me gusta tu cara, ni me gusta tu olor..." (I don't like your face, nor do I like your smell...). At the end, the song presents, for the first time, a melodic leitmotif that would be used again by García in later productions (in the album Películas, by Máquina de Hacer Pájaros and in La Grasa de las Capitales, by Serú Girán).

"El Show de los Muertos" (5/5). My favorite track on the album is, at the same time, one of the most unique, with its metaphorical lyrics and music that is both spooky and enchanting. This track includes a synthesized saxophone solo, which generates an almost "Floydian" atmosphere totally unprecedented in the duo's music.

Immediately afterwards, we hear the rapid scissors of Señor Tijeras, the central character of a brilliant fable based on the story of a famous censor of the time: Miguel Paulino Tato, an obscure official in charge of the Ente de Calificación Cinematográfica, a true inquisitor who decided what viewers could or could not see in the cinema.

"Las increíbles Aventuras del Sr. Tijeras" (5/5) (The Incredible Adventures of Mr. Scissors) contains changing climaxes as well as a quite interesting melodic structure, which includes an imposing and disturbing crescendo, when Mr. Scissors' madness leads him to confuse reality with fiction, murdering his wife, in the same way he "murdered" freedom of expression, with a clean scissors. Musically, top quality progressive rock, in the vein of Italian symphonic rock, like that of PFM or Banco; and lyrically, with verses as comic as they were brutally in tune with the times. They were the first touches of García as a composer of songs that reflected like no one else in rock, and with humor, the difficult reality of Argentine society. As in that part of the lyrics that says: "I'll see you in 20 years on television... cut and boring, in full color...", something that happened in reality with several of the films banned at the time.

"Pequeñas delicias de la vida conyugal" (4/5) opened the old Lado 2 of the vinyl edition of this work. This song was another typical Sui Generis teenage page, but, unlike the previous albums, its sound is very progressive. I find their sound quite friendly and full of good vibes, considering how somber and explosive the whole album can be. As I said moments before, another incisive moment in Sui's classic and youthful style, ending with an incredible and brief drum solo.

"El tuerto y los ciegos" (5/5) is, on the other hand, a little "folk" page, with a great performance by Pinchevsky on violin, and a very beautiful lyric by Charly. The harmonic combination of the violin with the flute, joining and complementing the splendorous bass that sounds behind Charly's voice, is a very powerful and very well achieved combination.

"Música de Fondo para Cualquier Fiesta Animada" (5/5). We come to a pretty interesting moment in the album. This song is a great metaphor for the Argentine reality of the time. A song with unfortunately timeless messages that would be prophetic, very soon after. The whole lyric was replaced by a completely different one, due to the problems faced in those years in Argentina, related to the government and the military.

"Tema de Natalio" (4/5). The only instrumental song on the album. Composed by García and Rafanelli. Supposedly inspired by the "music that Natalio Ruiz, the little man with the gray hat, would listen to".

"Para Quién Canto yo Entonces?" (4/5) A beautiful and melodic closer for this wonderful album, which, without a doubt, is the band's best, speaking of prog and speaking outside of it. At the beginning of the song, I noticed a great resemblance in the guitar riff "Que Ves el Cielo (El Jardín de los Presentes - Invisible, 1976)", and I wanted to comment on it. All in all, a great closing and perhaps Charly García's first public self-reflection on his status as an artist in such a controversial society as Argentina.

Just in 1994, the two self-censored tracks would be added as Bonus Tracks (according to Charly, again by Álvarez's idea): "Juan Represión" (dedicated to López Rega y Cía.) and "Botas Locas".

Conclusion:

Despite the meritorious sonic and lyrical search of this new Sui Géneris, the band could not retrace their steps in the dead end they were going through. The ballads were losing weight before the overwhelming advance of progressive rock, and, at the same time, the themes of Institutions had little to do with the adolescent spirit that gave the duo popularity and success at the beginning. Tired of struggling to impose their new songs, and faced with the prospect of reaching new musical horizons, Charly, in agreement with Nito, decided to put an end to this story. For that reason, in the middle of 75 both announced that Sui Generis was dissolving.

I will always remember how beautiful it was to see this part of Sui so progressive and innovative in the history of rock.

From whatever point of view we look at it, we can't deny how transcendental this stage of the band was for Charly, and indeed of his life, taking into account all he had to go through.

10/10, 5 stars. Definitely one of my favorite concept albums of all time, and a great teaching about the importance of things that come and go, but most of all, that you have to know how to make them come. And a great adventure to know the background of all the bad things that the dictatorship and the government had during those 70's in Argentina.

Dios es empleado en un mostrador, da para recibir.

Undoubtedly, no matter what you ask an Argentinean, he will always tell you that one of the most important pillars in the history of national rock is "Confesiones de Invierno".

Confesiones de Invierno, second album by Sui Generis (duo formed by Nito Mestre & Charly García), is an album full of adventure and magic, mixing from folklore to tango, always in a very adolescent and emotional aspect to captivate everyone who listens to their work. Definitely, as I said in my previous review, towards "Vida" (Sui's debut album), Charly is one of the most prolific musicians in all of rock, not only nationally, but also in history, taking into account bands led by him like "La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros" or "Serú Girán", but that's for another time :)

This album has a great musical accompaniment by many of the figures of the national scene at that time, such as:

Francisco Prati: Drums

David Lebón: Electric guitar, bass guitar

Rodolfo Mederos: Bandoneón

León Gieco: Harmonica in Welcome to the Train

Juan Rodríguez: Drums

Alejandro "Pipi" Correa: Bass

Alejandro Medina: Bass

"Cuando ya me Empiece Quedar Solo" (5/5) is a melancholic and emotional rock tango with a beastly lyric, that can reach anyone. By far, the best song on the whole album, and I would dare to say one of the best introductions to an album in all of national rock.

"Bienvenidos al Tren" (4/5) is an upbeat campfire song, which, as far as I can make out, tells of a young man's planned escape because he is fed up with society, its mediocrity and its taking advantage of poor and innocent people. And so he invites his beloved and a couple of friends and acquaintances to join him on this adventurous journey.

"Un Hada, Un Cisne" (5/5) This lyric could be based on mythological tales, which I will try to summarise in the best possible way: Leda, wife of Tindareus of Sparta, was another of Zeus' human lovers. When she was walking by the Aryan Eurotas, she was raped by Zeus, disguised as a swan. As a result, she laid two eggs from which four children were born: Jelena, Clytemestra, Castor and Pollux, although only Helen and Pollux are considered children of Zeus. Leda is later deified by Nemesis, the goddess of just punishment. In older versions, Leda simply finds an egg containing the germ of Helen, daughter of Zeus and Nemesis. In that story, Nemesis tries to escape from Zeus by metamorphosis, turning herself into different animals in order to escape from the god. But Zeus does exactly the same and compensates for each change with his own, until finally she turns into a goose and he rapes her in the form of a swan. He then lays the egg in a swamp where Leda finds it. In other versions, Zeus, transformed into a swan and pretending to be in danger, takes refuge in the womb of Nemesis and then rapes her. Hermes puts the egg on Leda's thighs so that she will be the one to "light" it ("Ella quería amar a un cisne de agua y sal. Y para ella, el sol nunca volvió a brillar").

"Confessions of Winter" (17/20). Theme of the same name. This song is a guitar, which accompanies Charly. The lyrics talk at first sight, about a relationship that ends, because he has no profession and is left in the street (Me echó de su cuarto gritándome "no tienes profesión"). This character, apparently, is left in the street desolate, cold (It's cold and I lack a coat, and I'm hungry from waiting). After wandering the streets, he gets drunk in a bar and is taken away by the police who end up beating him (I got liquor and got drunk, in the bathroom of a bar..., ...And although I had never drunk, I had to end up in jail, the bail was paid by a friend, the wounds are the officer's). This last phrase was applauded by the audience at the band's farewell concert. The song ends with him saying that he found a good place to stay, a madhouse, and is finally at peace, albeit melancholic.

"Rasguña Las Piedras" (4/5). This song has raised a lot of theories and stories invented by García fans, mainly because of its lyrics. There are several versions about the origin. One version says that it talks about a girlfriend Charly had who was "dead" (catalepsy) and they buried her. Some time later they had to exhume the body and when they opened the coffin they found that it was all scratched up. In other words, she was buried alive. Another version says that it is a hymn to the military coup of 1976 in Argentina. The story of the dead, disappeared and detained in clandestine centres, where they were locked up in isolation cells, with their hands tied and blindfolded, listening hour after hour to how the others were tortured. However, this song was composed a couple of years before the coup. Another is the love story between a boy and a girl, in which the girl was crushed by a wall, and the protagonist narrates what happens and his helplessness at not being able to save her. She scratches at the stones to get out, he listens and tries to do something, but cannot. All these versions were denied by Charly García himself in an interview. He says that the lyrics came to him one day while his ex-partner Maria Rosa Yorio was going to buy something. When she came back, the song was done.

"Lunes Otra Vez" (4/5) The lyrics are as simple as it gets, the stress of work during the week, and the arrival of the weekend break, which you have to take advantage of while it lasts ("Lunes es el día triste y gris de soledad").

"Aprendizaje" (4/5) is a poem made into a song that talks about the important, the necessary, the just education. It speaks of an education that teaches how to be formal and polite, putting into practice the rules of protocol, the norm, the "moral". Of the teachers that the song talks about, it rescues the acquired knowledge, the science, the duty, but it also talks about that nobody who dared to tell the truth. Out of fear, and that fear is foolish.

"Mr. Jones o Pequeña Semblanza de una Familia Tipo Americana" (3.5/5) is a short song that tells, at first glance, of a murderous family that one day the police arrive and arrest them. They excuse themselves by saying that they are "a very normal family".

"Tribulaciones, Lamento y Ocaso de un Tonto Rey Imaginario o No" (5/5). This song, along with the one that opens the album, are 2 of the most heartbreaking and powerful songs in the history of national rock. And at the same time, it was also a song that gave a lot to talk about. "Desde el palacio se veía el mar", at that time the palace was perhaps a multi-room flat on an avenue. Today perhaps it is neither the luxury floor of the building, nor the house in the suburbs... perhaps it is the earphone we put on to listen to music so as not to feel anyone else; or perhaps it is the gossip programme so as not to listen to the political one; or it is the dancing and skating programme so as not to watch the research one; or it is something soft to avoid the harshness of reality.

10/10, 5 stars. Very close to perfection, it is a jewel that seems to have fallen from the sky and given to García's marvellous absolute ear, to make us thrill with his excellent works.

"Sabemos que pronto va a llover fuerte... mejor estemos juntos esta vez"

Charly García is my main influence and my favorite artist ever. To this day I still have the same thoughts about his powerful, important and innovative figure in the Argentine rock scene over the years.

But anyway, that's a topic for another day. Let's go where it all begins...

Vida, Sui Generis' debut album (and in itself, Charly García's as a composer), is an album released in 1972, with an atmosphere and always keeping the "hippie" and adolescent style that was going around Buenos Aires in those years.

This album was very important in García's career, since to this day, "Canción para mi Muerte" would become one of the most successful songs of his, and indeed, of the whole country.

Well, I'll stop talking and start with the songs:

The album begins with "Canción para mi Muerte" (4/5), a harmonic and soothing entry to the album with a very catchy emblematic and charming melody. Something to highlight, which is the strong combination that the voices of the 2 of them achieve, we notice it since the beginning of the album. This is very important when analyzing the whole album, they start with everything!

"Necesito" (2.5/5) is a short song with funny lyrics accompanied mostly by the piano that is present throughout the song. It doesn't really have anything prog per se, but at least it's catchy and concise for what it's trying to convey.

"Dime Quien me lo Robó" (5/5). In my opinion, the best song on the album. The guitar, the rhythm changes, the harmony, and the out of tune parts that end up fitting better, the lyrics, it has it all. The emotion with which Nito manages to interpret the song is truly admirable. I would like not to sound monotonous, but it is very strong how they transmit incomparable emotions every moment of the song. And taking into account the nostalgia that it produces in me is very important, because in my opinion, it is a song made for teenagers.

"Estación" (3.5/5) is the shortest of the whole work. Something simple, surely made with the purpose of being played at campfires, camps, etc... you know what I mean ;)

"Toma Dos Blues" (2.5/5) It's classic blues, above all Argentinian, at its best. To be honest, I was never very interested in the blues, but I have to admit that the concept of the song is very well achieved, or I don't know how to explain it, but it doesn't transmit me as much as the other songs, heh. I think it is the song that would sound in the typical western movie, when the protagonist arrives tired and thirsty from his journey through the desert, seeing in the distance a station where he can rest, urinate, and eat.

"Natalio Ruiz, el Hombrecito de Sombrero Gris" (5/5). I would like to leave a reflection on what this song dictates, but I think Charly made it pretty clear. In this song Charly gives an existential message to all his fellow men: if not look at what happened to this guy. "He was a man of dignity and respectability, who took care of his manners, cared about what people would say, dressed in gray, made love every bishop's death, took care of his cough, took only what the doctor ordered, did not dare to propose to the girl he loved for fear of her family... (and what good did it do him? ), to deny himself so many pleasures and deprive himself of so many satisfactions he longed for, if he occupies today one more place in the cemetery, just as we all will occupy it when our time comes. But yes: this man of gray, correct and educated is in the Recoleta Cemetery, as befits his stately Porteño lineage".

"Mariel y el Capitán" (5/5) This song tells a tragic but beautiful story, of course of love. Mariel y el capitán, is a description of the routine of encounters between a girl and the captain of the frigate. To reach her beloved, Mariel must take the elevator every day to the fifth floor, where her love awaits her for tea or coffee. Every day, when the consortium meets, the ladies, noticing the absence of the captain, indignantly fill with prejudice his relationship with Mariel, they simply can not understand a love on such a large scale and therefore disapprove at all costs (Mariel does not belong to their social circle), however, despite the criticism, the captain prefers to rejoice his heart with the girl Mariel to attend a meeting with heavy ladies. The story ends when on one of Mariel's trips in the elevator to see the captain, someone cuts the rope of the metal box and she panics and falls to the floor and dies. The sad and desolate captain decides to take his own life; the consortium believes they have triumphed and in their delirium they celebrate the fact that the relationship is over, but they do not realize that the captain leaves this life to meet again with his love, Mariel.

"Amigo Vuelve a Casa Pronto" (5/5). A dreamy melody, heartbreakingly beautiful lyrics, and a strong presence of Charly and Nito's voices that thrill all our ears. I still remember this beautiful song as the first time I heard it. This song grabbed me at a very strong moment in my life, and the lyrics at the exact moment. But anyway, I'd rather torment you with my problems another day, haha. Let's sum it up, a beautiful song about friendship and how important it is to make the right decisions without thinking twice.

"Quizás, Porqué" (3.5/5) is a short love guitarreada. I don't have much to talk about, that's it.

"Cuando Comenzamos a Nacer" (3/5) kicks off with an embracing and stormy atmosphere, congenial with Charly's voice accompanied by a strong bass and flute. Already in this part, despite being more of the same from the album, it is a very nice and concise song.

"Pos Ludio" (2/5) presents an ending with a flute and a simple piano. Apparently, they didn't want to give a common ending, so to speak, to the album. And, surely they came up with that to give it a more proper conclusion.

8.5/10, 4 stars. I guess the score also depended on nostalgia, but it really is a great album and you should give it a chance because it is full of very beautiful stuff, as little prog as it is.

Some really nice Argentinian prog folk that probably deserves more attention, both from myself and the greater progressive scene. It has that same pastoral ambience that bands like Harmonium are known for, but if I'm honest I prefer this. There's still a bit of a language barrier, not just in the lyrics but in the slightly abstract melodies and structures that crop up, but it's pleasant and quite charming and I think will grow on me in time.

6.3 (2nd listen)

Part of my listening diary from my facebook music blog - www.facebook.com/TheExoskeletalJunction