UN SEGUNDO

I won't be as laudatory about this second album from "Cabezas De Cera" as my fellow countrymen (OK, I'm only half Mexican?).

It is indeed quite experimental music the one featured here. Quite (too) jazzy as well. As I have said about their debut one: I only got interested in the band because they were Mexican. But if you are willing to listen to some more conventional prog music, I can recommend you "Cast". Because with "Cabezas", it might turn to a "rompe cabezas" for sure.

I can't really fancy their style with is quite complex, at the very edge of the eclectic genre and the full experimental one. At times, a little breeze of fresh air appears ("In Statu"). It is the occasion to listen to some fine flute and good ethnic music as well.

"En Camino" is of another vein: the acoustic guitar intro is quite pleasant, very much Spanish oriented. It is combined with some heavier and wild passages which are quite impressive. One of my fave here. Together with the following "Elementos" which is another folkish/ethnic song with lots of rhythm and fluting. Very pleasant.

"Escalapista" is more jazz oriented: symphonic at first it turns into free jazz later on. No need to tell you that this is not frankly my cup of tea. The loose and experimental "Balun Canan" is not the type of track which is going change my mind about this album: very eclectic indeed but totally lacking in harmonious passages.

This album is truly difficult to get into and in my books, it only deserves two stars. Even if the closing "Retorno" is one of the most pleasant song available.

Cabezas De Cera had come really close with their sound engineer Edgar Arrelin.In fact they considered him to be the fourth ''hidden'' member of the group, the man who took their sound to another level.An example of his stunning work can be heard on the band's second album ''Un segundo'', released independently in 2002.This was yet another work by the Mexicans with a wide instrumental armour.

Imagine if KING CRIMSON were actually a Latin-American group, influenced by Mexican Folk Music to get the picture of this high-octane trio from Mexico City.''Un segundo'' is an innovative and deeply challenging album, where short but extremely rich instrumental pieces are carefully split by the interruption of themes, mostly based on sound effects, narrations, samplers and electronics.Music is complex but always charming, led by scratching electric guitars and pounding drums, surrounded by a vast palette of traditional instruments like the violin, the clarinet, the saxophone and the archaic flutes.The compositions start from powerful, groovy parts to go through folky enviroments with a Latin-spiced atmosphere and get back into loose, almost improvised performances with a jazzy background.Of course. it's not always about dominant, complicated music in here, some displayed acoustic textures sound more down-to-earth and less emphatic but not uninteresting at all, surrounded by the sax or flutes.An amalgam of Folk, Jazz, Fusion, Rock and Electronic Music, delivered with an experimental attitude, producing atonal moments, passionate solos, punchy rhythms and atmospheric innovations.

A winner by all means.Not the main priority of lovers of more melodic offerings, but a must-have for anyone searching for dense and intricate contemporary Prog Rock.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.