POGO Y 4 HISTORIAS DE HORROR

Mexican quartet 1870 was formed back in 2006, all members experienced musicians with a past and present history as members of symphonic and chamber music orchestras. They made their debut in 2008 with "Mitos de una Resurrección", and "Pogo Y 4 Historias De Horror" is their sophomore effort, released on the Mexican Luna Negra label, and distributed by Musea/Gazul Records, Azafran Media and ReR Megacorp for their respective territories.

Mexican quartet 1870 has produced a highly innovative album with their second CD "Pogo Y 4 Historias De Horror", an uncompromising and unpredictable blend of classical music and electronic effects, exploring a musical landscape fairly dark and brooding but with occasional bursts of jubilant and energetic inserts. Fans of bands like Univers Zero and Art Zoyd have been described as a core audience by others; personally I'd estimate that those with a dedicated interest in experimental classical music might be just as good or an even better target crowd for this particular disc, as well as anyone with a dedicated interest in music that merits the description innovative.

Review originally written for www.therocktologist.com

In Mexico we really have talented musicians creating original music. 1870 is a clear example of it, their four members are trained guys who have been involved in the musical realm for several years, some of them have played with avant-garde ensembles or even orchestras, so definitely the music shared by 1870 has to be well qualified. Ok, they started as a band some years ago and so far have released two albums, being "Pogo y 4 historias de horror" the second one. It features six compositions, some inspired by Lautreamont's Les Chants du Maldoror (actually the name of the band is the year Lautreamond died), and Guy de Maupassant's The Horla, making a total time of 47 minutes.

Avant-prog, chamber rock, RIO, experimental music, may be some of the adjectives to describe the music this band offer, and though I like it and love to spread the word, I have to warn you that this is not music for everyone, it is not easy to dig at all. The album opens with "Canto Tercero", with almost ten minutes of a feast of French horns blended with electronic elements, giving as a result a good classical-modern-electronic-RIO, pardon my description. We can appreciate also the voice of Gustavo Albarrán, leader of the band who in moments represents parts of the literature of those two authors. The music is great, creating several passages, images and oniric landscapes.

"Romance de la muerte de agua" is a wonderful track that lead us to obscure passages, tense atmospheres that may scare you if you are a sensitive person. However, at the same time you can find the gates to a inner-peace in your inner unknown world, hope you get me. Though they play with three horns and an oboe, it is amazing the quantity of nuances they produce with those instruments, the sound is never repetitive nor boring, it is actually hypnotizing, very interesting if you are a person who wants to explore yourself in-depth. "Líquido" has an inherent liquid sound, the sensation of that element is persistent in the whole song, though most of the time it seems someone is drowning, or making odd experiments with it, there is also tension and nervousness here, some chaotic landscapes produced by the horns and complemented by the electronics.

"Pogo" is the longest track, and maybe the most difficult to listen to. It produces a sound that may touch your nerves and, its repetitiveness in some moments might make you despair and feel it as an unbearable track, honestly, it happened to me the first time I listened to it, I had to give it 4 or 5 spins before I got used to it, actually. The electronix work here is fabulous, though once again, not for everyone. The two last songs are held under The Horla's name. First part "2 de junio" has much calmer mood, with the winds playing far, while a tambourine appears constantly and some electronic effects produce that permanent tension. "La danza de Maupassant" is the shortest track of the album, four minutes of a brief example of what 1870's music is about.

Great album, another example that music and literature go together, and a slice of this peculiar Mexican group. Final grade, 4 stars.

Enjoy it!