EL POETA DEL RUIDO

Arguably the king band of Mexico's avant-rock, Decibel stated their radically challenging musical vision from the very first seconds of their very first release "El Poeta del Ruido". All members of the basic quartet formed by drummer Castañeda, violinist Sánchez, bassist Schmidt and keyboardist Robledo double and alternate in several other instruments (reeds, woodwind, synths, percussion, etc.), and are not precisely shy on the use of console and magnetic tape effects in order to enhance and/or focus the massive weirdness encapsulated in their collective ideas. The presence of guests on string and woodwind instruments also helps to make this inscrutable repertoire a bit more colorful than your usual RIO album. Solid and bold, Decibel's RIO offering is evidently open to influences from Henry Cow, Faust (their concrete-friendly side), Univers Zero (their "1313" debut album had already been released), plus the mandatory references to Cage, Stockhausen and the Fluxus movement's Dadaist approach. The namesake opener begins with mocking sounds of birds before the instrumental tour-de- force brings a delicious set of mischievous dissonances and playful tensions based on piano, clarinet and violin over a superhumanly busy rhythm section. This is UZ on speed mixed with Magma on crack! And that climax,... just unbelieveable! While this delirious sonic travel was heavily rooted on instrumental interaction, the next few pieces are decidedly focused on digital manipulation. The two sections of 'Orgon Patasísico' state an atmospheric approach to sonic mystery in a hermetic framework of noise and minimalism. This deconstructive paradigm is continued in 'Fakma' and 'El Fin de los Dodos': the former is a chaotic, creepy exercise on impending doom; the latter states a more cosmic stance, still bearing dark doom in its nuances. 'Terapia de Farikato' starts with a languid piano prelude that occupies the first 80 seconds; then, the full ensemble displays an exquisite musical travel set under a controlled, somber dynamics. 'Manati' returns to the random, ethereal deconstruction of tracks 2-5: its own peculiarity is that it evolves into a series of ethnic ambiences somewhere along the road. In moments like this is when you discover that RIO can also be a refreshing kind of music. 'El Titosco' completes the official repertoire with a brief retake on the band's extroverted side. The CD edition includes an important number of bonus tracks. 'Notas sin Dueño' finds the band exploring zheul terrain quite enthusiastically, while 'Mucilago Binomial' elaborates a fusionesque stance for the band's robust RIO trend. 'Mensaje desde Fomalhault' is a weird soundscape of whirlwinds that eventually lands on a Faust-like madness of piano, percussion and vocal extravaganza, all of them recycled through the heavy use of tap manipulations. 'Fragmento del Poeta del Ruido' is just what the title implies, a new arrangement, less frantic, of one of the motifs inserted in the original 'El Poeta del Ruido'. The diminished speed allows the band to work on the track's potential density more thoroughly: the featured synthesizer adds a mesmeric nuance to the whole ambience. 'Algo!' is pure minimalistic noise, while '¿Acaso Estoy en un Lecho de Rosas?' states a powerful free-form display of drums and synthesizer effects. 'Improvisación en Blanco y Negro' establishes a sort of homage to "In Praise of Learning"-era HC, while 'Falso Jericó' reinstates the sense of radical chaos Decibel-style. Attention all members of the RIO federation: Decibel's "El Poeta del Ruido" is a must.

This has been an absolute pleasure to listen to over this past week or so. I must admit that Rio bands are often hit or miss with me, but when they hit like DECIBEL's debut, it will be played and enjoyed often. DECIBEL are a Chamber / Rock band from Mexico who got started in 1974. What I love about this album is not only the Chamber music but the experimental, dark and spacey songs they've composed. Apparently they really liked to improvise and many of these guys are multi-instrumentalists.

"El Poeta Del Ruido" is the title track and the longest song on here. It opens with funny noises almost like something out of a cartoon before it kicks into gear. The tempo shifts wildly on this one though,so hang on. A good rhythm with clarinet and percussion when it does speed up, while violin is prominant each time it settles. That is until a calm with piano 2 minutes in,this is rather haunting. It kicks in again. This is good. I like the piano / drum section before 5 minutes. It's heavier 7 minutes in. "Orgon Patafisico-Part I" is a short 1 1/2 minute track that sounds like a music box almost. "Orgon Patafisico-Part II" opens with acoustic guitar and spacey synths.Vocal sounds come in as well. It's very avant-garde around 1 1/2 minutes as acoustic guitar, strings, synths and vocal sounds come and go. Experimental to say the least. It sounds like spacey winds late with vocal sounds. Very haunting.

"Fakma" is eerie with piano, synths and percussion. Dark too. What a great soundscape this is. "El Fin De Los Dodos" is dark and spacey with lots of violin and synths. It's really eerie after 2 1/2 minutes. So impressive. "Terapia De Fakirato" is my favourite. Piano to open before it kicks in at 1 1/2 minutes with drums leading the way. Great sound after 2 minutes as synths come in. I could listen to this for an hour. "Manati" opens with a haunting mood as spoken words come in. The vocals stop but it continues to be dark and creepy. Interesting collage of sounds here with marimba, clarinet, flute, percussion and synths. Some vocal expressions late. "El Titosco" is the short closing track which is led by drums, synths, bass, violin and piano. Some vocals sounds late.

Inventive, experimental and perfectly executed. I can't ever see myself getting bored with this amazing disc.

Another excellent Mexican record!

Decibel were one of the best bands that came from my country, sadly as many of them, they no longer exist. Their music is oriented to the avant-garde / RIO side of prog, influenced clearly by Henry Cow among others (and said by Carlos Alvarado, who I spoke to some years ago) and trying to make a stronger progressive rock front in Mexico, along with some other bands such as Nazca or Iconoclasta which were very representative in the 80s.

The band featured excellent musicians who had previous musical experience, all of them trained and very talented, which is why this album sounds so good. Decibel released back in 1978 this album entitled "El Poeta del Ruido" which I dare say was their most successful record, containing more than 36 minutes of excellent, well crafted and intelligent music.

The album kicks off with the title track, which starts with some strange noises for 30 seconds, and later changes into a challenging and outstanding sound very reminiscent to Henry Cow (as I stated above), provoking a nervous feeling, which will later be calmed with a nice transition into a soft mood, the use of wind instruments such as clarinet, along with excellent piano and a precise synth playing, the music becomes totally lovable and in moments hypnotizing, the instrumentation is really good and the pauses they create on purpose complement this extraordinary opener song.

"Orgon Patafisico (parts I and II)", the first part is very short and works as the prelude to the second one, the first, I don't really know, but may have been made just by the synth effects, on maybe they were real percussion instruments. The second part is a longer composition that starts with a spacey mood made by the synth, evoking to some laser rays or a sci-fi movie, along with those effects there are other noises here and there, like a dissonant acoustic guitar sound. This is one of those kind of songs, where you can close your eyes, and let the music transport you to another dimension, awesome.

"Fakma" continues with some spacey sounds, and some weird noises, the soundscapes created are great and the use of some other instruments give this song a dark atmosphere.

"El Fin de los Dodos" is another nervous song, with a dark atmosphere and creating a sound which maintains that spacey mood, but also the RIO avant-gardish theme that shows what this band is capable of.

"Terapia de Fakirato" is a significant change to the music, starting with piano and evoking some contemporary artists such as John Cage, after a minute and a half, the melody changes again into a nervous one, but this time it really is addictive, this is an extraordinary composition that goes from that exquisite piano beginning, to this nervous and addictive moment, the drums are excellent, the use of synth and the effects created give this song a remarkable passage. The structure is the same to the finish but what it is great is the interplay between the instruments and minor changes when a round is finished, excellent song.

The only song that contains some kind of vocals is "Manati", starting with some folkish instruments and spoken word telling a story, the combination of those traditional and folk elements with the synthesizer is delicious. Then the vocals disappear and the noises continue, this is a weird and excellent song.

The album finishes with "El Titosco" which is a short composition that returns to that RIO sound, not the spacey anymore, the chamber rock moments are well placed here in a short but excellent song, a great one to finish this wonderful album.

Overall, an splendid record, one of the best prog album ever released in Mexico (of course, in my opinion) and highly recommendable to anyone who loves the RIO realm. 4 stars.

Enjoy it!

Well! This is going to be tough!

Understanding and considering beforehand that this was a "low-budget", "independent production" and the worst part, for a project like this, "studio-time rushed"... "El Poeta del Ruido" turned out fine.

I will never have thought of listing so many external justifications.... Anyway, setting those things aside, song-writing and performances are weak in general. I always thought of Carlos Robledo (keyboards) as the one Decibel who was more versed music-wise, than his friends/music-colleagues. You can sense it easily in his piano composition and other participations. BUT being RiO, there was no room for personal leadership and "main" characters (he himself, is a low-profile, visionary, Dada artist).

" El Poeta Del Ruido" is based almost entirely in random compositions.And of course this kind of styling can turn out magnificent but not as rule. Sometimes not at first-hand and sometimes it does not happen at all. I will not mention the use of pre-hispanic instruments as if discovering "fire", as their use is quiet rudimental and cliched.

I mean, I can not forgive this or that because of technological or economical conditions. Mainly because at the time of release (1978), "world-wide" lots of people "high and low budget" were already producing "no excuses needed" masterworks.

Perhaps a bit of more musicianship in its songwriting or rehearsal time, less relying on "random" structures or maybe more recorded material or more recording, time to pick the best sessions....maybe?

***3 "I know it is a proto-RiO mexican effort, but there are just to many "BUTS", PA stars.

PD; It of course will not offend your ears and it is emblematic, geographically speaking.