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AKRANANIA

Akinetón Retard

RIO/Avant-Prog


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Akinetón Retard Akranania album cover
4.08 | 48 ratings | 4 reviews | 46% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Studio Album, released in 2002

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Morricoleman (3:28)
2. Recurrencias (8:37)
3. Fana Papal y el Monseñor Smegma Nazzi (0:41)
4. Survector (9:06)
5. Nimboestrato (3:13)
6. Soula (10:15)
7. Dementia Absorbant (12:07)

Total Time: 47:27

Line-up / Musicians

- Vicente García-Huidobro / guitar
- Leonardo Arias / alto & soprano saxophones, bass clarinet
- Rodrigo de Petris / tenor saxophone
- Rolando Jeldres / acoustic & electric basses
- Cristián Bidart / drums

Releases information

CD Mylodon Records ‎- MYL004 (2001, Chile)

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
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AKINETÓN RETARD Akranania ratings distribution


4.08
(48 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(46%)
46%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(31%)
31%
Good, but non-essential (21%)
21%
Collectors/fans only (2%)
2%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

AKINETÓN RETARD Akranania reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Cesar Inca
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
5 stars The boldly peculiar band Akinetón Retard manage to surpass their splendid debut album with a more splendid follow-up: "Akranania". This album builds on the avant-rock trend initiated by its predecessor, but it takes it to a rougher and denser level; at times, the new material gets to more ambitious places in terms of progressive art. Besides, the addition of a collaborator on percussion helps to solidify the rhythm section with a wider fruition. As usual, it is the dual saxophones that take center stage most of the time, even when they are not soloing: occasionally, the lead guitar assumes the leading role enthusiastically, in this way, enhancing the rocking power inherent to the band's sound. The increased roughness I mentioned a few lines above appears boldly and unabashedly in the opener 'Morricoleman': this one comprises an explosive combination of experimental jazz rock and music for a Western movie's dramatic scene. The solid interaction between the dual saxes and the rhythm section is powerfully enriched by the energetic guitar interventions that constantly create a space of their own in the middle. The same thing works in the following number, 'Recurrencias', which is longer, and therefore, allows the saxophonists and the guitarist to take advantage of their shared more expanded room. With such a shocking title as 'Fana Papal y el Monseñor Smegma Nazzi' can only fear for your soul's condemnation just by reading it, let alone listening to what it may say (Nazi ideology matched with the Vatican? - oh, my God!, this kind of insinuations could make Henry Cow's left-handed diatribes look like retellings of 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'). But it doesn't say anything, fortunately for our mental health: it is a brief 'big band'-era Zappa-like interlude between the previous neurotic number and the next one, even more neurotic: that is 'Survector', an incendiary marriage of aggressive hard rock and avant-garde jazz that eventually leads to the triumph of the latter. Just when you cherish the notion that the music could not get more bizarre than on tracks 2 & 4, you will have to face the coming of two new surprises in store. The first one is the RIO-based 'Nimboestrato', which kind of recycles the usual obscure ambiences of Univers Zero through a Latin-jazz filter: the presence of a brief sinister choral arrangement helps the track to get really creepy. After the more conventionally jazzy 'Soula' (a moment of serene beauty that allows bassist Lectra Celcrec show off his contrabass playing skills and the listener to find some relaxation amidst this exhibition of musical paranoia), here comes the second disturbing surprise, which is also the most oppressive. Designed to lead the listener to a most terrifying experience in the context of art, the 12-minute closure track 'Dementia Absorbant' is a voyage of absorbing dementia in which AR pays an exciting homage to Magma and offers a new challenge to the listener, a cruel yet captivating challenge. After 4 minutes of Coltrane-meets-Zappa jazz stuff, a gathering of madmen creates a tortured 7-minute chorale that expands itself through time and space, filling the Universe with insanity and turning it into a Dadaistic puppet show. Sometimes, when I listen to it, I feel tempted to think that the musicians became victims of the musical trap they had designed and wanted to urge whoever was listening to take part of their delirium. Oh, how proud would Christian Vander had been to come up with this idea. but no, this is Akinetón Retard. The track's final section reprises one of the initial motifs, closing the door on the preceding chant. IMHO, this is Akinetón Retard's best recording so far - "Akranania" is a masterpiece of current avant-garde rock, and as such it deserves the maximum ProgArchives rating.
Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars I have been fortunate enough to have listened to a lot of great music from Chile, so when I decided to check out some Rio from this great country I had big expectations. I can say my expectations were met and then some. Man can these guys play ! The drummer, the bass player, the lead guitarist, and the two sax players not only play at an extremely high level, but the complex arrangements, and the instrumental songs they compose match their playing abilities.

"Morricoleman" opens fast and hard before some dissonant sax melodies arrive. This song has extreme tempo changes and lots of them. The rhythm section is fantastic. The sax solos run rampant. "Recurrencias" is a powerful sounding song with pounding drums, aggressive guitar, and the ever-present sax melodies of course. There is a killer section 3 1/2 minutes in with some good bass. "Fana Papal Y Monsenor Smegma Nazzi" is a short tune that is so impressive because of the interplay between these musicians.

"Survector" is my favourite track next to "Recurrencias". It opens with some ripping guitar as sax joins in this uptempo tune. The sax stops as drums, bass and guitar lead the way before the sax returns. The song changes direction with some dissonant sax as the drums and bass lay down some great lines. The guitar grinds it out for a while as the sax takes a break. The sax is back ! Nice bass solo before 6 minutes followed by a brief drum solo. Dissonant sax melodies return as the drums pound away. "Nimboestrato" features deep vocal melodies and some incredible guitar. "Soula" features double bass lines before we get a "Big Band" sound (with the sax playing together) that turns jazzy. More great bass 6 1/2 minutes in as the sax screams. "Dementa Absorbant" seems to start and stop but it still sounds good. There is an amazing melody after 2 minutes. For 7 minutes we get this music that is straight out of a horror movie. Very spooky and creepy stuff.

This was close to a five star album for me, but the last two songs knocked it down a notch. I still highly recommend this incredible album.

Review by Sean Trane
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog Folk
4 stars Acquired in a trade, this second album from the killer Chilean AR group (now a sextet with the addition of a percussionist) is the confirmation that their debut was no fluke. Indeed AR insist on black artwork (this time with a touch of red), as if they made an gothic obsessions, but the important thing is the music, which is darker, rougher and more dense at times

The Crimsonoïd spectrum of the first album is respected, but there is a harder more Avant aesthetics that is explored. Musically you might even draw up a comparison to a very serious X-Legged Sally, this due to the dual sax attack, but the Belgian absurd and Zappa-esque goofiness are completely absent. When the twin barrel sax-attack are not firing from all cylinders, than the guitar is certainly anchoring the group's sound in a powerful rock realm that can't be denied. The opening track seems to mix Morricone with Ornette Coleman as would the aptly -titled follow-up (recurrences), as it embraces the same musical realm.

Although AR is an (almost) instrumental group, it manages to deliver some messages loud and clear, beit musically or by naming their tracks. I won't go into politics, but it seems quite clear that the band's stance on religion is soundly left wing. Followed by a short hard-driving demented track, Survector, the track oscillates between pure hard rock and almost pure jazz and settling on a jazz-rock. In the same direction Soula is cvlose to standard traditional jazz with the full works, including rhythmic electric guitar, stand-up bass and very j Adderley-esque saxes. This leaves Nimboestrato (I guess they refer to the cloud types here) and the 12-mins finale Dementia Asorbante, which seems to be the centrepiece of the album despite being placed at the back of it. If the first boasts some UZ chamber rock influences, you'll find that the same can be said for the finale's first section, but in its middle section, you'd choose either Magma's Kobaian chants or Gong's cosmic whispers. If I kept these two tracks for last, it's because the former also has a macabre choir passage,, much like the closing track, when the rest of the album is without any other vocals.

Taking on an unexpected RIO turn after their mostly Crimsonoïd debut album, AR certainly made tAkranania an outstanding sophomore album, when many others experience a jinx, and despite the group's closing temporarily the gates in the ultimate seconds of the album, I'll be curious to see whether the doors they opened for themselves will lead them

Review by ProgShine
COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Following my series of reviews where I go through my CD collection today I have Akinetón Retard, band from Chile. I own Akranania (2001) since 2007 but for me is hard to get into Akinetón Retard's music. The Chilean band plays what we call 'Avant-Garde' or 'Avant-Prog' (there's even the RIO going on for some), which is a mix between the Jazz-Rock-Fusion style with more Prog Rock colors.

I would say that in Akranania (2001) Akinetón Retard has a big influence from Frank Zappa. But who hasn't in this area of Prog? This influence is heard most in track 2 'Recurrencias'.

The music in Akranania (2001) is very dynamic most of the time with drums and their 2 saxophones players playing a big role. Guitars are most of the time soloing away, but from time to time they appear more, like in the Rock N Roll track 'Survector'. One of my favorites.

Akranania (2001) was recorded in Chile and originally released by Mylodon Records. My version is the Brazilian one released by Rock Symphony, though.

In general is a good album, and certainly will please Avant Prog and Jazz Fusion lovers. But it's not really my cup of tea.

Key track: Survector

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