FACTOR BURZACO II

FACTOR BURZACO are from Argentina and there is a rather large number of people in this band which I found surprising. It just doesn't sound like many are involved that's all. They are an Avant-garde band who employ male and female vocals along with horns, flute, bassoon, accordion, vibes, percussions and the usual guitar, bass and drums.This is defintely an album for the adventerous and I rather enjoy it. It's a very interesting listen and I like those dark passages and the female singer who reminds me of Deborah Perry of THINKING PLAGUE. Killer stuff.

"Beginnin" opens with a scream. This short intro track really has no music but the focus is on the outbursts of male and female vocals. An alarming intro. "Progressions" is catchy with female vocals. Guitar before 2 1/2 minutes and we get some dissonance late. Cool song.

"What" has vocal melodies and a spacey atmosphere but it also has this urgent vibe.Lots of tension. "Inmemorian" has these female vocals that build.This reminds me of Zeuhl. It all stops abruptly as sparse horns arrive.Whispered vocals after 1 1/2 minutes as we get a calm. It kicks back in with vocals but this continues to change moods and tempo the rest of the way.

"Guantanabu 1" has spoken male words that get threatrical. Female singing before 3 minutes comes and goes as the male words continue.This is different with sparse music in the background throughout. "Guantanabu 2" is a short haunting piece that blends into "Guantanabu 3". A beat comes in with bass,guitar and flute as it builds. Incredible ! Female vocals after 3 minutes.

"Straviko" opens with female vocals, guitar, bass and drums as the horns and flute also join in in this laid back start. It turns haunting around 2 minutes and it's dark until the vocals return. A nice solid sound 4 minutes in then it turns loud 5 1/2 minutes in to the end. "Before The End" is a short chamber music piece that blends into "Mereditika".Vocals before a minute and they are reserved. Some tension before 2 1/2 minutes.Vocals return but she's more passionate this time before 4 1/2 minutes.It settles late.

I really enjoyed this and I think avant fans will too.

Another discovery at Altrock.it. This one is actually not a real band, but a project of a gifted Argentinean avant-garde composer from Buenos-Aires, Abel Gilbert. The result of the second gathering together has received the most logical name: "II", and is a piece of absolutely genius and original work, speaking both of composing and performing.

Just like in the first Factor Burzaco album, Carolina Restuccia sings the stars off the heaven. Her unprecedentedly extravagant vocals and voice arrangements are the trade mark of the project. Sometimes her vocals remind me of the legendary avant-garde vocalist Dagmar Krause, when she was singing together with Henry Cow in the fabulous "In Praise of Learning" back in the seventies, or with Fred Frith and Chris Cutler in Art Bears. Sometimes, she sings like Bjork can sing, when she is at her weirdest. Pol Gonzales is another wonderful vocalist on board of the project, also with a huge vocal range, who can also sing really weird, I assure you. Speaking of range, I should mention the compositions themselves, ranging from experimental jazz to hard rock, all of that in one piece.

The band's music can be compared to Thinking Plague. However, it is much less hectic, a little less electric and more spacious, or if you like, less industrial. I would even dare to declare, that one can even relax and enjoy while listening to Factor Burzaco , which I personally could never achieve listening to Thinking Plague.

Another references could be their brother projects at Altrock.it, Yugen and Rational Diet. If you didn't discover those yet, there is a great possibility to do that now. Check Yugen's "Iridule" and Rational Diet's "On Phenomena and Existence", two alternative rock masterpieces from 2010.

Factor Burzaco, brainchild of Argentinean musician and composer Abel Gilbert, released its second album in 2011, simply entitled II, through the marvelous Italian label, AltrOck.

While having heard their first album some time ago, I confess to not remembering much from it. And so I approached this new album with fresh ears. This album initially left me wordless and baffled. How and what could I write about it? In a way it reminds me of the experiences I had with Italian avant-garde group Nichelodeon's two albums that I reviewed. The same struggling for words and inability to coherently convey the weird and fascinating listening experience I was having with these albums. Indeed, I think most listeners will arrive at the end of this release scratching their heads, trying to understand what it is they just heard.

Still, what can I expect, you ask? Well, some of what you will hear is: Amorphous dark pieces that roll into propulsive hard edged rock and back again. Abstract female vocals paint eerie sonic images as the variety of instruments gently float around and delicately smear smudges of sounds. Creepy sounds evoked by various instruments lurking about the songs, peering out and quickly crawling back to their roots. Abrupt changes that may scare you on first listen. An animated narration by a male voice about music that gets more and more distressing and poignant as it proceeds, accompanied by vibraphone and percussion playing a hypnotic pattern. Do I need to go on?

Would it shock you, then, if I said that Factor Burzaco II is a disturbing album. But please don't take this to mean this is a bad album. Au contraire! It is good, because it is disturbing; it is an unsettling listen, a provocative and strange experience. Moreover, it does a good job of balancing its abstract and nebulous side with the tangible ones, where melody takes the reins. When I say melody, you shouldn't expect it in the usual sense of the word, as it is harsh, angular and non-harmonic melody, which I found to be lovely and appealing (maybe that's just me). Indeed, this album offers one hell of a ride, fronted by Restuccia Carolina sweet, insane and diabolical vocals. A wide range of musicians here backs her up, though the music sounds surprisingly minimalistic and thin layered for that big a lineup.

This is not an easy listen. I can't just pop this cd in and give at a listen at a whim. The proper mood must strike and take over for me to put it on. But when that happens, I know I'm in for an experience. Try this album on headphones, late at night, while doing nothing apart from devoting your full attention to it and allow it to take hold of you. Scary, isn't it? But in a good way!

A surprising and sometimes unsettling listening experience from an avant group that definitely pushes boundaries in its employment of odd, theatric vocals over fairly simple, almost minimalistic folk/tango musical constructs. Experimental music at its oddest. Think of UNIVERS ZÉRO writing and performing a Allan Ginsberg or other Beat poet's work on a small, smoky stage, black and white the only colors under stage light. Female vocalist, Restuccia Carolina, most often sounds like BJÖRK singing in a Japanese Noh.

Interesting but not a familiar or comfortable style (at least to these untrained, Western, ears). Fascinating, mesmerizing music that needs many listens to truly come to terms with. Do I like it? I'm still not sure. Ask me after another 20 listens. I would, however, recommend this album for the brave and open-hearted listener--one who likes to explore new, unfamiliar, and unusual musics. Like UneXpect, I very much respect and am in awe of these composers and performers.