JOSÉ LUIS FERNÁNDEZ LEDESMA & MARGARITA BOTELLO: LA PACIENCIA DE JOB

I regard this album as one tremendous JLFL masterpiece: "La Paciencia de Job" is a catalogue of spectral textures and ethereal ambiences, all of them craftily delivered through splendid instrumental settings. The album's overall vibe stands somewhere between the mysterious elaborations of "Al Filo" and the colorful weirdness of "Sol Central", but clearly leaning more toward the former. The use of Precolombine, North African and Eastern percussions and woodwinds helps to build up nameless sonorities through the keyboard layers, guitar adornments and console adjustments helps to build up exotic sonorities - this repertoire stand on the boundaries of wake and sleep, like something partially surreal that makes its way into the grey margins of reality. The subtle, absorbing colors displayed in 'Leyenda' seem to announce the arrival of dawn for our conscience: this piece portrays a strange mixture of somber and candid atmospheres. A very good entry whose spirit is perpetuated and enhanced by 'Naufragio' during its first 5 minutes and its last 2: in between these sections, a piano interlude brings a moment of sheer serenity. 'Jardín de los Senderos' and 'Palabras como Astros' still go on exploring the spirit of limbo that had been so effectively introduced by the first 2 tracks. The latter includes the beautiful chanting by Botello, singing a poem by Vicente Huidobro - in this way, the track acquires an extra touch of solemnity. 'No Te Pude Contestar' sees the first appearance of the drum kit, which bring a pulsational drive to the overall scheme based on exotic cadences - this is not too far away from the implacable standard set by classic Can ("Ege Bamyasi" and "Future Days"). 'Los Jueces del Mundo', the album's first epic, also includes drum kit, but this time things become more explicit, more pompous if you will. This track clearly bears a sinister aura, with the guest violin and soprano sax taking center stage at the track's dramatic peaks. Botello also delivers pertinent vocal lines through the viscerally articulated instrumentation, very much in the vein of Dagmar-era Henry Cow and Art bears. The apocalyptical lyrics are inspired by the Irak war, so it's no wonder that the track's spirit is so full of doom. The dual track 'Vidas Atrás / Noche' is the other epic. It gets started with a series of layer set on tribal mood, with soliloquy sounds and guitar adornments bizarrely processed in a lunatic climate. When the climax arrives, things get really oppressive, and when the aforesaid climax is over, an air of mysterious solemnity arrives incarnated by the combination of keyboard layers, guitar soundscapes and cello washes. The piano emerges to create a special dialogue with the cello, in this way making the solemnity more appalling. 'Donde Nadie' is the shortest track, with a noticeable Arabic inspiration. The dueling violin, sax and female chanting is a main feature in this track. Ultimately, 'Paciencia Infinita' retakes the aura of crepuscular, dreamy ambiences that had been so prominent in the first four tracks. The piano takes center stage at times, occasionally joined by the bassoon, guitar and Botellas' singing. This is not an easy listening album, this is a musical work firmly loyal to the ideals of experimentalism, yet it remains captivating as a creation of magic touch. "La Paciencia de Job" is a jewel ready to be appreciated by true avant-garde music lovers.