LAS OREJAS Y LA LENGUA — La Eminencia Inobjetable

This was the album that put Las Orejas y la Lengua on the map, catching the attention of all avant-rock fans worldwide and scaring away all prog-fans who only love their music a bit adventurous - definitely, LOYLL's music is one that selects its own audience as it exposes to the ears of the world. Definitely, Las Orejas y la Lengua has to be the most impressive Argenitnian ensemble nowadays. The band's offer is essentially experimental, but including enough colorfulness and musicality as to sound genuinely refreshing and versatile - the combination of avantgarde jazz, RIO, fusion and electronic experimentation sets the style's core, ornamenting it with elements of funk, tango and artsy pop-rock, all slight but noticeable. This strategy makes LOYLL's mucis fit the avant-prog shceme, although it is mostly desgined to challenge chategorization. This whole catalogue (except for the bonus track) had been recorded back in 1996, but after failed negociations with Cuneiform and a long critical period after the departure of Leiras and Corte that almost resulted in the band's demise, it finally could be released and distributed in the early 2000's. The albums kicks off with 'Así Suena Tus Ojos', based on evocative, subtle moods provided by the duet of guitar and processed flute, combined with a powerful interlude with a stronger RIO orientation, delivered with controlled delicacy and led by the interaction between guitar, bass and drum kit. Track 2 ‘Las Mil y Una Formas de Acabar con la Tragedia de Occidente’ exhibits a jeering attitude, properly conveyed by the cheerful chorale that sings the urge to overcome the Enlightenment's delusions of grandeur. The playfulness of this Nietszchean manifesto (which doesn't take itself too serioudly, indeed) is enhanced by the funky colors tha tappear in teh mid section. 'Guaresimia' displays a well-adjusted set of successive motifs, alternating the influences from Canterbury and Henry Cow, until the closing section delivers a hint to 20th Century chamber, showing off its deceiful simplicity. It's such a great thing tha tthe albums gets started with such three highlights, but I personally wonder if these tracks couldn¡t have been a bit longer (especially, track 1 and 3...). Later on, ‘Saltar y Brincar’ and ‘Gastando las Vacaciones Limpiando Casas’ will carry on prolonging the overall spirit of tracks 1-2, solidly reinforcing the contrasts between the varipus motifs and having the lead guitar sound a bit rougher. Once again, it is a pity that track 5 isn't longer so its sonic power would be more thoroughly exploited. ‘Fugaz en la Ciudad Antigua’ is an excercise on mystery and contemplation: a nocturne tha texpands itself upon the noise of thundering rain, with the mandolin and bandora filling the echoes of raindrops, the flute and flugelhorn adding tenuous colors, and the synth layers bringing a cloud of minimalistic serenity. ‘Teletito’ is the most cheerful track in the album: actually a cover of a Rodolfo Alchourrón track (a legendary fusion guitarst from Argentina), LOYLL keeps the original mood itact while adding some special dissonant ornaments in a very careful manner. Tracks 5 and 8 are brief electronic instrumentals, probably executed by one member only (either Diab or Kazmierski): they serve as interludes of computerized minimalism. 'Tratado' is a simple jam based ona pop-oriented sequence of rhythm acoutic and electric guitars: its low-profile development makes it keep an eerie tone. The highest levels of compelxity and bizarre attitude are comprised in ‘Ignacio’ and ‘Irremediable Muerte del Sr. Sandoval y Su Chica la Sodomita’. The former shows us LOYLL at their densest, while the latter is focused on mixing candid Latin-fusion cheerfulness and somber neurosis (almost Crimsonian) in a paradoxical, yet effective musical contiunuum. One year later, for their second album, the band will do a sequel of this track, also using the Sandoval name in its title. The closer 'Igual que Ayer o Peo'r is a brief epilogue that would have made Henry Cow or Art Bears very proud, with its bizarre management of the dialogues between instruments whose lines apparently feel mutually disjointed. A great closer, with an abrupt ending (much too soon!) that adds some more tension to the fold. “La Eminencia Inobjetable” is a faithful testimony of what LOYLL was during its first era, and given the talent and deep intelligence contained in these musicians, no wonder that it turned out to be such an amazing avant-rock gem for the new millennium - 4 to 4.5 stars for this one. Las Orejas y la Lengua is a real progressive hero of our times.

Posted Sunday, October 28, 2007, 12:36 EST | Permanent link