PELICULAS

La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros achieved an excellent second album, that was to become their musical "last will". Such a pity... since it is obvious that the band members managed to compenetrate with each other more fluidly, and the overall sound became tighter, daring to input a larger degree of sophistication in the compositions and arrangements. In fact, the band manages to work more solidly as such, since the individual members feel freer to show their own abilities, and the writing is not exclusively managed by García anymore. As a whole album, you can clearly notice that 'Películas' enhances the jazzy aspect, even with some notable latin-jazz touches, which helps to build a special flavour in addition to their symphonic leaning. It is obvious since the laid-back instrumental opening number, and it gets even more intense in tracks 4, 5 ('Hipercandombe' is a stunning, hard rocking piece written on a African-Brazilian rhythmic basis), 6 (a cynical sexual satyre 'El Vendedor...' that sounds like something played in a piano bar in a comedy movie scene), and the explosive 'En las Calles de Costa Rica', a Bazterrica penned number very much influenced by the best Di Meola-era Return to Forever, that ends the album with pure fire. The emotional 'Ruta Perdedora', one of the most beautiful pieces in Argentinian prog history, meets the best of both worlds: symphonic keyboard layers and conterpoints, and a melancholy twist in the jazzy rhtyhm section during the instrumental closure. For the listener who understands Spanish, the lyrics will resound as an overwhelming testimony of self-pity and extremely emotional confusion: a letter from the darkest side of García's mind. The symphonic thing is more prominent in tracks 2 and 3, which alternately explore the most somber and the most playful side of García's own persona, respectively: the former, loosely inspired by Marilyn Monroe's tragic figure, features some sinister Moog lines over the disturbing guitar-and-bass riff that comes near the closing climax, while the latter includes some stylish string arrangements that properly enhance the optimistic candour conveyed in the lyrics (an "always look at the bright side of life" kind of thing). Like many other connoseurs of Latin America prog, LMDHP is not one of my top 3 fav Argentinian bands, yet there's no doubt in my mind that 'Películas' is a very good album - sure it doesn't have a 8+ or 10+ minute suite in it, but it certainly contains plenty of good and well performed musical ideas.