BLOPS [AKA: DEL VOLAR DE LAS PALOMAS]

The second Los Blops album is a bit more polished than their debut and not quite as angry as their third and final release seemed to be.

The Blops were probably the lesser known of the big three progressive folk bands to come out of Chile in the early seventies, along with El Congreso and Los Jaivas. Overall I’d say their music ranks just ever so slightly below both of those bands in terms of its dynamic appeal, but each of these bands has their strengths and weaknesses. Los Jaivas was probably the most commercially successful of the three having scored major label contracts with EMI and later Columbia, and with a few albums released even in North America. For me, Congreso is the more authentic Chilean folk band, with both instrumentation and arrangements that both remain true to their native roots, and expand on the sonic qualities of the music to take it quite a bit beyond mere folk songs.

Blops are not quite either, with pretty authentic-sounding compositions but little serious experimentation on their first albums, and their records today were nearly impossible to find in Chile or anywhere else until Shadoks Music reissued them all on a 3-CD boxed- set last year.

This second album is rather like the first, and both are comparable to Los Jaivas debut (which is also impossible to find today). All three suffer a bit from spotty production and what sounds like four-track mixing. All are quite staid compared to the bands’ later works. And none really reach too far beyond a rather traditional folk sound. Don’t get me wrong, traditional Chilean folk music is quite elaborated and expressive, but we’re talking about progressive music here and these three albums don’t quite rise to that level.

Like the other Chilean folk bands Los Blops employ native instruments like the charango, tarka, hand drums and acoustic percussion. There are also some strings I can’t quite place but which seem to be coming from a cello. Those are quite nice. But these songs for the most part come off as rather dated and not unlike the stuff your mother would have listened to on the radio back in the day, assuming your mother is South American.

The two tracks that stand out a bit are the post-Mersey/psych-sounding “la Rodandera” and the acoustic guitar/flute heavy “Pisándose la Cola”, which also features some well-coordinated male vocal harmonies. But that’s about it; the rest of the album is decent folk, but not really progressive and not really all that memorable.

I wouldn’t recommend trying to find an original release of this album unless you just like to spend way too much for average music. If you really want to get into the Blops, pick up the much more reasonably-priced reissue of all the studio albums in the 3- box set if you can find it. Somewhat recommended to fans of bands like Los Jaivas and Congreso, but unfortunately I have to say this is a two star album.

peace

The second eponymously titled BLOPS album (out of three) was released a year after the debut in 1971 when the band was living in a communal house known as Manchufela. Released on the Peña de la Familia Parra label during its first pressing, subsequent reissues on various other labels gave the album the secondary title DEL VOLAR DE LAS PALOMAS (From The Flight Of The Doves) and featured a concept of a day in the life of an average person. The LP was divided into two sides: "Mañana" and "Tarde" and the album which featured an idyllic pastoral setting in some utopian setting was much more based in traditional folk sounds than the debut album from the previous year.

While the same five band members were playing their classical guitar based folk music with the addition of flutes, piano, accordion, bass and drums, album #2 also featured a few guest musicians that add cello and violin. Producer Ángel Parra also steps in and collaborates on guitar and lead vocals. The album offered a wider spectrum of sound than the debut and also delivered more moments of electric guitar as well as a stronger orchestral backing although overall the album seems a lot mellower than its predecessor with only the occasional more upbeat track such as "La Rodandera."

The songs are very melodic and more or less are considered psychedelic folk which was quite en vogue during the early 1970s. The atmosphere is a bit on the melancholic side and the vocals are a bit more diverse than the rather straight forward debut. What's missing on this second BLOPS album though are any of the progressive twists and turns that the debut offered. The music takes on a much richer Baroque flavor sounding a bit like traditional Spanish classical guitar classics with vocals for much of the albums run with its acoustic guitar arpeggios and classical guitar influences. The presence of the violin and cello though add a completely lugubrious element to the otherwise upbeat folk songs.

While considered one of the top three of 70s Chilean prog folk bands along with Los Jaivas and Congreso, the first two albums of BLOPS are unfortunately the weakest of the three bands lacking any creative stamp and simply adhering to traditional folk paradigms. While a few progressive touches are interwoven into the mix, BLOPS' first two albums are more standard and less experimental than other bands of the era even in Chile. It would take the coup d'etat of 1973 to inspire BLOPS to return with a more ambitious and passionately delivered album with its third eponymously titled album also known as "Locomotora" which is also known as the band's best album and legacy. As for this one, it's pleasant and all but unless you are moved by the lyrics presented in the Spanish language unfortunately musically it doesn't rise above average.