Un Dia
Juana Molina
Amoeba Review
John Schacht 09/23/2010
Argentina’s Juana Molina remains an over-looked artist on the post-folk scene, though there are few better at rearranging the music’s building blocks into compelling new shapes. Part of that unfortunate development is due to language barriers; she sings in Spanish. But armed with acoustic guitar and an intimidating bank of synths, keys and her vital looping machine, Molina picks out high- and low-end patterns on guitar and synths, then creates boundless layers from those and her own voice, harmonizing the latter – singing jazz scat and repetitive phrases – and creating intricate webs while cross-thatching the former into drone-like foundations. The closest thing to it might be some of Bjork’s experimental forays, or Andrew Bird’s solo loops run through Four Tet’s beats chop-shop. On Un Dia, the audio architect brings her percussive elements all the way to the front of the mix, stretching beats (made via guitar, synths and voice) into rubbery surfaces upon which her other vocals float, alone or in waves of cross-harmonies, like seagulls buffeted by gale winds. It’s so dizzying at first your ear yearns for more familiar footholds – an old fashioned chorus, horn-blast or hook to land on. But their absence doesn’t linger, because taking Molina on her own terms eventually becomes reward enough.
Track Listing
Disc 1 Titles |
Artist |
Length |
---|---|---|
1.
Un Día
|
Juana Molina | 05:35 |
2.
Vive Solo
|
Juana Molina | 05:58 |
3.
Lo Dejamos
|
Juana Molina | 07:31 |
4.
Los Hongos de Marosa
|
Juana Molina | 07:27 |
5.
¿Quién? (Suite)
|
Juana Molina | 07:22 |
6.
El Vestido
|
Juana Molina | 04:31 |
7.
No Llama
|
Juana Molina | 05:20 |
8.
Dar (Qué Difícil)
|
Juana Molina | 06:41 |