BANDA ELASTICA 2

A MUST-HAVE NOT ONLY FOR FANS OF AVANT-PROG BUT FOR ANY LOVER OF EXCELLENT AND UNIQUE MUSIC!

I'm admittedly no fan of, let alone an expert for RIO or Avant-Prog but this album here contains exactly the right food for my ears which are used to a wide range of sounds I can say despite all humility. The spare sources in the net with informations about this exceptional Mexican band and their biography here are saying that their music has similarities to the one of HENRY COW. I tried to enjoy already as well H.C. some time ago but found them quite hard to digest compared to B.E. I've to say. They might have been used as a reference since they were one of the few bands that were using wind instruments in such kind of jazz-fusion/RIO blend. Anyway in a sub-genre like RIO/Avant-Prog gathering bands whose main features are uniqueness and polarisation it's supposed to be quite difficult to draw any comparisons. Of course enjoyment of music and taste preference always has to be a very personal thing and thus perception of a certain kind of music can differ a lot between people. So if anyone would ask me how B.E. sounds alike and which band they could be compared with I frankly could not tell any. I just can speak for myself in saying that usually I'm not a great fan of extreme oddity and dissonance but I recently started to enjoy more and more unique and adventurous artists like FRENCH TV, TAAL or HÖYRY-KONE. This doesn't mean that B.E. is sounding similar to any of them but all of those bands might have in common that their music was able to appeal to me right from the very first listen which is not really a typical feature for that sub-genre.

So let me try to describe how B.E.'s music sounds here on this masterly record. In some way it's a perfect blend of jazz fusion, chamber rock and ethnic influences with some odd RIO/Avant elements added in a good measure. This album is able to hold my attention right from the first note until its very end without becoming enervating or indigestive at any moment which doesn't happen very often to me actually. This fact alone is already a very good reason for me to rate it with the full score. Second striking evidence is the incredible broad range of instruments they are using, starting from typical folk-type ones like acoustic guitar, percussion, marimbas or flute, over jazz-type ones like sax, clarinet, contrabass up to synthesizer sounds adding sometimes even a kind of alien and out-of-space atmosphere with strange tunes that resemble tortured cats or something like that. Strangest but still fully enjoyable track might be "Cine Negro" revealing lots of experimental sounds but as well wonderful flute play. Most of the others could be described as some adventurous Spanish/Latin American flavoured jazz-fusion. "Alto a la Caceria" shows the highest proportion of synthesizer keyboards and might be the least experimental one apart from the last one, which is plain Latin Jazz.

For sure B.E.'s second album is an exceptional and highly versatile one that should appeal to anyone preferring music that is different from anything else and fully enjoyable at the same time. Highly recommended and fully deserved 5 stars!

The second album of the Mexicans would see them welcome the digital/CD period.Simply entitled ''2'', Banda Elastica's sophomore effort was co-released by Discos Tiradero (propably the band's own label) and Disco Pueblo in 1989.Among the tracks of the album there are few that date back from the band's debut sessions with Lucio Sanchez on bass, who by 1989 had left the group.His replacement was Zozimo Hernandez along with flutist/sax player Guillermo Portillo.

Forget about the instant jazzy Prog Rock of the band's debut, ''2'' is a much more experimental album with Banda Elastica exploring the pre-hispanic Folk fundamentals and the Chamber Music surroundings, coming up with a very complex album full of bizzare textures, which still maintain some great charm.Acoustic guitars, flutes and percussion have become leading instruments and are blended with contemporary instruments like bass, contrabass and saxes.The more archaic style of the band is quite attractive but very hard sounding, the more jazzy tunes come quite easier with some smooth interplays, which range from folky instrumentals to delicate and more proggy attempts with saxes, synths and a competent rhythm section in the forefront.The last part of the album sees Banda Elastica somewhat returning to a more Prog Rock style.Bass and drums have become solid entries in the music and the sound is enriched by some tremedous work on acoustic and electric guitars, very dreamy saxes and flutes, while the role of Rosino Seranno is more prominent with strong synthesizer runs along the way in a very Fusion-esque enviroment.

Skillful musicians, tight bandmates and great music explorers.''2'' is still a very complicated album for the average listener, but it certainly deserves some listening attempts by anyone who want to be characterized as a fan of adventurous music.Recommended.

BANDA ELASTICA are a challenging 7 piece band out of Mexico and this is their highly regarded second album released in 1986. I'd rate this as my fifth favourite from that year although maybe that's not saying a lot considering the year. Very much an Avant album with Chamber-like music at times and quite a few guests helping out as well. Many rate this as the best from this year for the compositions and performance but for my tastes a very solid 4 star album that is difficult to digest at times. Besides the usual rock instruments we get flute, sax, bass clarinet, synths, marimbas along with guest violin, viola, cello, oboe, congas and more.

"Cine Negro" is the 10 minute opener and it's quite faint and distant to start out with bass, some drum outbursts and other sounds that come and go. It finally kicks in some before 3 minutes to a fuller sound and this sounds really good as we get a rhythm and strange vocal expressions. A beat and flute too. A calm before 6 minutes as the drums and flute stop and horns and more start to come and go. Very sparse again, almost Chamber-like here. I like how it builds to the end with those intricate sounds.

"Como Esquizoides" opens with marimba and oboe before horns and drums kick in along with other sounds. Spanish sounding guitar follows. A change 2 minutes in as flute, drums, bass more take over. Marimbas too as it sort of starts and stops. "Recomenzando" opens with drums, horns and more creating a fuller sound here. Catchy as well as flute joins in. I like this one. This is the first of three great tracks in row.

"Infantos Terribles" opens with guitar and some depth. Sounds like rain sticks that come and go. Flute to the fore with lots of intricate sounds. The guitar and flute will trade off before the keyboards lead then back to the flute and guitar trade offs. Horns come and go. Lots of marimba here too. "Perverses Polmerfos" is mellow with picked guitar as flute, bass, drums and more join in. The guitar turns aggressive, a rare thing but it's brief. Marimba joins in then it settles back as contrasts continue. Dissonant horns 1 1/2 minutes in, bass clarinet too. It settles again then drums only before the bass joins in. Intricate sounds follow as it stays sparse. Love the electric piano starting around 5 minutes. So good, my favourite part. It ends after 6 1/2 minutes. Spanish sounding guitar follows then flute as it plays out.

"Espejismo" has these dissonant sounding pulses with atmosphere and more until around 3 minutes in, but it's still sparse with guitar over top. Horns before 4 minutes with rain sticks, percussion ad a beat. Exotic sounds follow as this plays out. Bass clarinet as well. "Alto A La Caceria" has the guitar and drums trading off at first before a steady sound follows. An avant sounding piece with prominent bass. Themes are repeated. Synths before 2 1/2 minutes.

"Pavor Real" has some nice aggressive guitar to start before marimba, bass, a beat and more take over. Horns too along with synths then the tempo picks up briefly. It will continue to shift though. Blasting horns after 1/2 minutes then another calm with bass only this time. Then it builds with synths, drums and more, guitar too. I like this. "Pesadila" has spacey synths to begin with before drums, bass and guitar join in. There's more then the horns trade off with the guitar. Marimba helps out then bass clarinet takes the lead after 1 1/2 minutes for a while. Spacey synths after 3 minutes along with marimba and drums.

"Derrumbes En Almibar" starts with guitar and drums. Pleasant is the word as flute and much more join in just before a minute. Horns come and go. A calm after 1 1/2 minutes with guitar and drums. Nice. Horns are back around 2 1/2 minutes. Some rare piano before 3 minutes. "Mambop" is traditional sounding with guest trumpet and percussion as horns honk. Vocals follow and this is so Spanish sounding as horns blast. A lot of start and stopping here. Piano leads for a while, lots of percussion too. Prominent bass too which is jazzy. Big finish.

Avant fans will love this especially if you like that Spanish flavour.