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Review
Argentinean singer/songwriter Juana Molina has long been dubiously pigeonholed as a 'world music' artist, and this fifth album provides even more proof of how inadequate that label is for her work. It's true that on previous albums she has dabbled in Argentinean folk styles such as the zamba, but there's nothing among these eight hypnotically drifting pieces that could really be said to have its roots in local folklore. Un Dia is a pulsating, warm-sounding piece of relatively lo-fi indie electronica.
Although the title track finds her setting up a counterpoint to her own keening lead vocal in clear Spanish, for much of the rest of the album, she uses her voice more as an non-verbal instrument, constructing slight melodies from loops of her cooing, humming, chanting and scatting. Comparison could easily be drawn with French vocal gymnast Camille, especially on Lo Dejamos, with its ruminating keyboards and layered vocal textures, as well as on El Vistado, which soon descends into abstract murmurings buried under a swamp of sound. Since Molina has never had more than a modest half-spoken/half-whispered vocal manner, this new approach might very well be considered an improvement. Another thing that distinguishes Un Dia from previous efforts is the emphasis on hypnotic rhythms, which give the whole album a momentum previously lacking. It's good music to do the dishes to!
By Los Hongos de Marosa ('Marosa's mushrooms') Molina gets seriously wiggy, playfully embroidering the sound with layers of guitar (by Gareth Dickson) digital rhythms and otherworldly synths sounds. Quien takes the vocals to their most abstract, with electronic treatments stretching them into strange new shapes, much as a child might play with toffee or chewing gum.
Even though after several listens I can't really call myself a rabid fan, it's always encouraging to hear an artist taking a new and more interesting direction - after all, this is the first Juana Molina album I've given a second thought to. Dreary, muffled, repetitive witterings or a minor art-music masterpiece? You decide. Un Dia looks likely to win her new fans without leaving her original audience behind. --Jon Lusk
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Singer songwriter Juana Molina, has had a not altogether ordinary musical career. Up until the mid-1990s when she chose to concentrate on making music she was better known in her native Argentina and across the Spanish speaking world, as a comedic television actress. Since then however, she has produced five albums of increasingly intriguing and experimental music.
Her music is refreshingly hard to pigeonhole; i-Tunes assures me this is `world music' (surely the most unhelpful of all labels?). Certainly her music is folk-tinged; acoustic guitars tend to feature heavily in all her work, and Un Día is no exception, however she also employs an array of electronic tones and effects, that ensures her work is far from traditional folk and nearer the work of bands like Psapp, Tunng and Adem (who she toured with as part of the excellent Zero Degrees of Separation tour in 2007).
Un Día progresses naturally from it's predecessor, the excellent Son (2007). Some of the tracks would not sound out of place on her previous releases, however others make more use of electronic effects than previous efforts This is particularly notable on the opening title track and Lo Dejamos, which begins with woozy sounding keyboard squelches that wouldn't be out of place on a Boards of Canada album. Molina also seems to be making more and more use of her voice as an instrument, often heavily layered and treated (reminiscent of Björk's Medúlla).
Molina has produced another very fine album, perhaps a little less immediate than Son, but which repays repeated listens enormously. There are numerous highlights, but ¿Quién? (Suite), which reinterprets a track from previous album Segundo (2000) is hard to beat. She is perhaps not Domino's best known or most obvious signing, but her beautifully crafted and unique music is something to treasure.
Her music is refreshingly hard to pigeonhole; i-Tunes assures me this is `world music' (surely the most unhelpful of all labels?). Certainly her music is folk-tinged; acoustic guitars tend to feature heavily in all her work, and Un Día is no exception, however she also employs an array of electronic tones and effects, that ensures her work is far from traditional folk and nearer the work of bands like Psapp, Tunng and Adem (who she toured with as part of the excellent Zero Degrees of Separation tour in 2007).
Un Día progresses naturally from it's predecessor, the excellent Son (2007). Some of the tracks would not sound out of place on her previous releases, however others make more use of electronic effects than previous efforts This is particularly notable on the opening title track and Lo Dejamos, which begins with woozy sounding keyboard squelches that wouldn't be out of place on a Boards of Canada album. Molina also seems to be making more and more use of her voice as an instrument, often heavily layered and treated (reminiscent of Björk's Medúlla).
Molina has produced another very fine album, perhaps a little less immediate than Son, but which repays repeated listens enormously. There are numerous highlights, but ¿Quién? (Suite), which reinterprets a track from previous album Segundo (2000) is hard to beat. She is perhaps not Domino's best known or most obvious signing, but her beautifully crafted and unique music is something to treasure.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
9 reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
A Vocal Tour de Force
29 Nov 2008
This is my first encounter with Ms. Molina and I must say, this recording just blew me away. It's hard to know how to classify it. Is it electronica? Pop? World music? Jazz? It has elements of all of these, but Ms. Molina has created a totally distinctive sound that is listenable, danceable and still complex enough to grow with each hearing.
She uses simple, pentatonic melodies that make the tunes quite accessible, almost folk-like. Then she adds shifting, hypnotic rhythms, and the sort of variations in sound and dynamics that typically drive electronic/trance music.
But what is astonishing is her voice. She uses legato tone sequences, percussive chanting, shouts, howls and a huge range of other non-lexical singing techniques - often looped over each over - to create a fabulously rich texture of vocal sound. It's like nothing I've ever heard before.
Despite the sophistication of this music, it has the drive and appeal of pop. You don't need to steel yourself to listen to this, as you do with some avant garde artists. Quite the opposite. It sounds great out of the box; and it sounds great after listening a couple of dozen times, too.
I'm awfully glad I found this record. If you like music that has some depth and you appreciate innovation, this should definitely be part of your collection.
She uses simple, pentatonic melodies that make the tunes quite accessible, almost folk-like. Then she adds shifting, hypnotic rhythms, and the sort of variations in sound and dynamics that typically drive electronic/trance music.
But what is astonishing is her voice. She uses legato tone sequences, percussive chanting, shouts, howls and a huge range of other non-lexical singing techniques - often looped over each over - to create a fabulously rich texture of vocal sound. It's like nothing I've ever heard before.
Despite the sophistication of this music, it has the drive and appeal of pop. You don't need to steel yourself to listen to this, as you do with some avant garde artists. Quite the opposite. It sounds great out of the box; and it sounds great after listening a couple of dozen times, too.
I'm awfully glad I found this record. If you like music that has some depth and you appreciate innovation, this should definitely be part of your collection.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Truly Groundbreaking : Five Times in a Row
16 Oct 2008
Format:Audio CD
For Juana Molina, creating world music that sounds 'different' is by now something she is used to. On what I consider her best album, "Son", she took the tempo down even further and created a set of slow, intimate groove numbers that also worked as spacial, orchestral masterworks. The artist is indeed an experimentalist, but its quite something that she manages to remain mainstream while doing so, with enough 'pop' elements in her records so as to not be classified 'aloof'.
Things should change with "Una Dia" though, as this is by far her least accessible record. For long term fans such as myself, the album is yet another departure, as it is definitely 'faster paced' than her last two languid, almost breathtakingly slow albums. But for listeners who come trying to discover a new world artist, this might not be the best place to start. I highly recommend her far more intimate debut album for that. On "Una Dia", some of the set pieces are almost like intricately designed soundtrack-vignettes from some lost Spanish arthouse film. All of her 'nature' elements are still present, but there is a darker, more elusive quality to the music, almost bordering on trip-hop but without the beats (think a stripped down Tricky, or Martina Topley-Bird).
Personally I found the album too short, and the last three tracks a tad meandering, but its still essential if you are at all interested in Molina's musical output. She is the Frida Kahlo of the Spanish music world - underappreciated, yet eccentrically talented. Give this a spin, and check out that gorgeous cover art (all of Molina's album artwork are masterpieces in their own right - I have the artwork for her third album as a poster print, framed)
Four Stars.
Tracklisting:
1. Un Dia
2. Vive Solo
3. Lo Dejamos
4. Los Hongos De Marosa
5. ¿Quien? (Suite)
6. El Vestido
7. No Llama
8. Dar (Que Dificil)
Things should change with "Una Dia" though, as this is by far her least accessible record. For long term fans such as myself, the album is yet another departure, as it is definitely 'faster paced' than her last two languid, almost breathtakingly slow albums. But for listeners who come trying to discover a new world artist, this might not be the best place to start. I highly recommend her far more intimate debut album for that. On "Una Dia", some of the set pieces are almost like intricately designed soundtrack-vignettes from some lost Spanish arthouse film. All of her 'nature' elements are still present, but there is a darker, more elusive quality to the music, almost bordering on trip-hop but without the beats (think a stripped down Tricky, or Martina Topley-Bird).
Personally I found the album too short, and the last three tracks a tad meandering, but its still essential if you are at all interested in Molina's musical output. She is the Frida Kahlo of the Spanish music world - underappreciated, yet eccentrically talented. Give this a spin, and check out that gorgeous cover art (all of Molina's album artwork are masterpieces in their own right - I have the artwork for her third album as a poster print, framed)
Four Stars.
Tracklisting:
1. Un Dia
2. Vive Solo
3. Lo Dejamos
4. Los Hongos De Marosa
5. ¿Quien? (Suite)
6. El Vestido
7. No Llama
8. Dar (Que Dificil)
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Compelling and hypnotic rhythms and layers
13 Nov 2008
Format:Audio CD
The first track, Un Dia, begins without hesitation and catalyzes the listener into a rhythmic soundscape of multi-layered vocals that reminds me of no one so much as Philip Glass, though the comparison with Glass pretty much ends there. The songs, fast and slow, are kaleidescopes of beats, sounds, melodies and words. A woodsy, psychedelic feel permeates the album from the artwork to the music, and it makes me think of some forested fantasy world full of lush vegetation and bizzare creatures juxtaposed with a slow Sunday morning. This is the first Juana Molina album I have listened to, and it has given me a wonderful impression of the artist and compels me to want to hear more from her.
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