RESPLANDOR

38 years later, and seemingly out of nowhere, Bubu is back.

"Anabelas" composer Daniel Andreoli has assembled a new team of young Buenos Aires musicians to carry on the musical tradition of the original 70's Bubu line-up, aiming to create complex, mood-shifting music, sometimes abrasive, sometimes ethereal. The music on "Resplandor" is very similar in feel and timbre to that on "Anabelas"; indeed, if you liked the first one, you'll like this one too. For those who are unaware of what Bubu sounds like, I'd recommend going with "Anabelas" first, but just know that the band can most easily be compared to King Crimson (Lizard or Larks' Tongues era) for its chaotic, often jazz-tinged soundscapes, or, for a more modern equivalent, Birds and Buildings, who shares a very similar compositional style.

"Resplandor" is very short, clocking in at less than the length of "El Cortejo De Un Dia Amarillo" and works best when listened to as a single suite. I won't get too detailed with a track-by-track but I do have to say that the second track "Omer" is currently my favourite, though all 3 have something unique to offer. The reason why I don't give "Resplandor" 5 stars, because the playing and compositional quality are certainly there, is just because the short length leaves you wanting for more. Though, to paraphrase a comment I read on Bubu's facebook page: "That's the point of an EP". All things considered, I'll give this new release 4 stars for containing some excellent prog that will hopefully hold us all over until Andreoli and the boys get around to making a full length album.

I was shocked like every one else I'm sure when it was announced that BUBU had released some new material in 2016. The last we heard from them was with their 1978 masterpiece called "Anabelas" which is a top ten album for me for that year. Now this is just a 15 1/2 minute EP but I'm hoping it's just a teaser for a new full length album. The crazy thing is that there's not one member playing on this new EP called "Resplandor" that was on "Anabelas". The connection though is one Daniel Andreoli who composed and arranged all the music on "Anabelas" he just didn't play on it. Here he again is the composer but he also plays bass and he's gathered some young musicians from Argentina of course to play his music. We get two guests adding keyboards and flute while the main band features violin and sax along with the usual instruments.

"Resplandor" is my favourite track even though it's the shortest. I was a little excited the first time I heard the start of this song with the energy and the flute over top. So good! A calm follows with solo slicing violin just before a minute then the sax joins in. Another calm follows with flute, sax and a beat. Love the laid back guitar 1 1/2 minutes in then they hit us hard again at 2 minutes. Another calm with violin then it kicks in again before solo slicing violin returns late. Great track.

"Omer" is relaxed with laid back guitar to start. It does start to build a minute in including some fine bass then the violin comes in over top before 2 minutes. Sax and flute then comes to the fore then the guitar starts to solo over top. It's laid back 4 minutes in with violin and it stays mellow as the sax replaces the violin then both play over top. "(Se Ponga El) Cielo Negro" has this cool sounding intro with some excellent bass lines and flute along with a determined rhythm section. Some aggressive guitar before 1 1/2 minutes and check out the organ before 2 minutes. A calm with violin follows then a minute later it turns darker with flute, so good. A driving rhythm section takes over 4 minutes in with flute, then sax takes over quickly. It ends with angular guitar, flute and that darker sound.

That adventerous spirit is certainly still here and while this doesn't compare to "Anabelas" for a number of reasons, it still makes a great companion to that album and it will sit next to it on my shelf. Check out this band!

As the 21st century elapses ever closer to its third decade and grows further away from the 70s when the progressive rock world was at its golden age, it has seen many of the older bands trying to make a comeback. While certain bands managed to survive the initial demise in popularity, certain bands like Argentina's BUBU released their sole album "Anabelas" as late as 1978 and although had little impact on the world at the time has become revered as one of the great classics of the Americas. While the trend of past masters picking it up where they left off decades later to revive these long forgotten projects has been more en vogue as of late, it's always a complete surprise when a band that dropped one musical bomb upon the world and has been attracting listeners to ride in its wake ever since suddenly emerges from the musical abyss and releases new material after so very, very long. More often than not such antics only remind you of why the golden era of prog was so wonderful and that the bands trying to relive those glory days should in fact have checked into a nursing home since all creative mojo had shriveled up like sagging granny boobs.

BUBU on the other hand have never been the "typical" prototype of a progressive rock band. The band was in fact created by someone who didn't even play in it. Daniel Andreoli began the band as a project in 1975 and acted solely as the composer as he rounded up talent to fulfill his eclectic mix of symphonic classical music mixed with progressive rock and kept BUBU active for only four years having disbanded in 1979 after the release of "Anabelas" the prior year. Fast forward 38 years into the future and Andreoli decides to dust off the BUBU moniker and give it another go with RESPLANDOR which emerges as a strictly digital EP that clocks in at a mere 15 and a half minutes, roughly a third the length of the 1978 classic. Andreoli is in fact the only connection between the two renditions of the band since the modern day version of BUBU doesn't have a single member of the past reprising their performances. Andreoli on the other hand DOES play on RESPLANDOR where he serves as the band's sole bassist.

While the differences between "Anabelas" and RESPLANDOR are great. For example the 70s classic had a huge lineup of eight official band members with an extra six vocalists and an extra pianist, RESPLANDOR is more of a stripped down affair with only five official musicians and two guests. However, what's more striking is how much RESPLANDOR sounds like it has traveled through time from that very era only to land in the years 2016. My hunch is that this was indeed leftover material from that era as everything about RESPLANDOR could easily have existed as a followup to the 1978 full length album. Once again the music is an eclectic mix of Western classical music that nurses a Tchaikovsky type of bombast and complexity interlaced with the guitar workouts of King Crimson, the pastoral drifting passages of early Genesis and the plethora of Italian prog bands from the 70s as well as some extra touches that were heard from bands such as Nektor, Focus (especially in the flute department) and others only with a unique flair that sounds like classic BUBU. Also included are some stellar jazz-fusion stellar sax workouts by newbie Juan Ignacio Varela.

I'm quite taken back by how great this short but sweet little EP is and i'm hoping that it is only a teaser that was designed to feel out the marketplace to see if there is any demand for a new BUBU release. Personally i find this little slice of heaven that only feels like it's getting started before it fizzles out leaving me wanting more to be one of the best comebacks of modern prog history. Andreoli has lost none of his magnificent musical mojo over the ensuing decades and effortlessly conducts a new cast of characters to fulfill the continuation of one of Argentina's greatest musical exports. If you have listened to many older prog bands release modern day albums and have been nothing but disappointed, i'm happy to say that this is one that should be very high on your list to check out if you were a fan of the 1978 album because this one, while not quite as dramatic and demanding still retains the spirit of that era with some excellent prog performances.