Pescado Rabioso - Artaud (1973/2004 Remastered Mini LP Edition)
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Album: Pescado Rabioso - Artaud (Remastered Mini LP Edition)
Released: 1973 (2004)
Genre: Progressive Rock
Sony Argentina - 2-493913
Third album from this highly regarded arly '70's Argentinian band. More folky than their earlier efforts, it has a laid back atmosphere, with jazz tinges and acoustic guitars / piano augmenting Luis A. Spinetta's fine vocals. Housed in a mini card sleeve. - Freak Emporium
After Almendra broke up, Luis Alberto Spinetta recorded his legendary first solo album and left for Europe. Back in Buenos Aires he formed a trio to perform stronger acid-related music with Osvaldo "Boc?n" Frascino on bass and Juan Carlos "Black" Amaya (ex-Pappo's Blues) on drums.
The dreamy psychedelic cover -drawn by Jorge Vis?ovesky and originally released with a poster insert that included the group's Statement of Principles- was the preamble of Desatorment?ndonos, their first superb album. (Note: future reissues lacked the insert).
Side A (a.k.a. "Damas" -"Ladies") opens with "Blues de Cris", a powerful hard-blues led by Spinetta's guitar and dedicated to the same girl that inspired him for the sweet "Muchacha ojos de papel" (his most famous song) but this time to say goodbye. "El jardinero (temprano amaneci?)" is a long psycho song full of effects and distorted guitars. On the other hand, "Dulce 3 nocturno" sung by Spinetta and Boc?n is a beautiful relaxing tune.
Side B (a.k.a. "Caballeros" -"Gentlemen") begins with "Algo flota en la laguna" -another distorted guitar psycho song- and ends with the enigmatic "Serpiente (viaja por la sal)" featuring Carlos Cutaia (soon to join the group) on Hammond organ. A must!
Boc?n left and was replaced by David Leb?n (ex- Pappo's Blues and Color Humano) on bass. With this new line-up, Pescado Rabioso released an excellent hard-rock single: "Post-crucifixi?n" b/w "Despi?rtate nena". During a show at the Olimpia Theatre of Buenos Aires, the quartet was filmed performing the single for the movie Rock, hasta que se ponga el Sol. These live versions, included on the soundtrack album (Talent I-382), are even better than the studio ones!
In late 1972/early 73, Pescado Rabioso went to studio to cut their masterpiece: Pescado 2, a 2-LP set considered one of the top 5 best South American rock albums ever recorded, and certainly the highest point of Spinetta's creativity genius.
Pescado 2 was conceived as two separate LPs: one called Pescado, and the other called 2. The two covers were joined upside down and the original version included a 48-page booklet with the lyrics, technical data, photos, texts and drawings, as well as a poem by Arthur Rimbaud and a quote from his "Illuminations". This is not coincidence, since it explains the origin of Spinetta's surrealistic lyrics of that time.
The 18 tracks are numbered, and the numbers are part of the song titles as well.
Side A opens with "Panadero enso?ado" a guttural duo between Luis and David, and is followed by the great saga "Iniciado del Alba"/"Pose?do del Alba" lead by the Hammond organ with Leslie. "Como el viento voy a ver" is a wonderful easy blues number. The effects of "Viajero naciendo" and the first Leb?n composition to be recorded "Ma?ana o pasado" close the side.
Side B features a rock & roll number "Nena boba", "Madre Selva", another superb moment of the album with climatic guitar and organ, and the enigmatic "Peterib?" (unique Argentine tree).
Side C begins with 16 seconds of "Peterib?" to give continuity to the whole concept. "Se?orita" is a group-improvised composition. "Credulidad" is an acoustic song with Spintetta reminding his early years. "Hola, peque?o ser!" is an anti-drug hard rock with excellent guitar and organ duels. "Mi esp?ritu se fue" is a nice ballad written by Boc?n.
Side D opens with "Sombra de la noche negra", a hard rock composed by Black Amaya with furious guitars and organs. The calm returns with "La cereza del zar", a folk-psycho ballad, and "Corto" (originally called "Despu?s de la bomba") about the nuclear holocaust. The album closes with an absolute Spinetta masterpiece: "Crist?lida", a 9-minute opus with rhythm changes and orchestral arrangements.
In short, an absolute must have album!!!
Unfortunately, by mid 1973 Pescado Rabioso split due to musical differences and a fight between Spinetta and Leb?n. A rock & roll single with a non-LP track ("Me gusta ese tajo") was released, and then Luis Alberto recorded a wonderful solo album credited to Pescado Rabioso: Artaud.
With the help of his brother Carlos Gustavo Spinetta on drums and his former Almendra mates Emilio del G?ercio (bass) and Rodolfo Garc?a (drums) on some tracks, Artaud (obviously dedicated to French poet and actor Antonin Artaud [1895-1948]) is yet another masterpiece.
The cover deserves a chapter on its own. Even on this ground Spinetta surpasses his own limits. Instead of being square, the original cover of Artaud had an odd oversized shape that made it impossible to rack in conventional LP bins. It is a serious competitor for The World's Most Original and Anti-Commercial LP Cover contest. It also included a small booklet with the lyrics and technical information.
With a different (mainly folk) musical style than Pescado 2, Artaud opens with the wonderful "Todas las hojas son del viento". "Cementerio Club" is a psycho blues. The strange "Por", the moody "Surpercher?a" and the beautiful "La sed veradera" come next. Side B opens with the long and climatic "Cantata de puentes amarillos", and is followed by the electric "Bajan", the psycho "A Starosta, el idiota" and the terrific "Las habladur?as del mundo"(one of the best songs of the album). A difficult LP to describe, due to the nature of the music and the lyrics, but a must for Spinetta followers.
Despite its brief existence, Pescado Rabioso is still today the most influential group of Argentine progressive rock musicians.
Late in 1973 Spinetta formed Invisible. In 1976 a best-of LP, "Lo mejor de Pescado Rabioso" (Talent SE-620), was released, featuring all the singles. All the albums have been widely reissued on vinyl and CD. (Note: reissues of Pescado 2 lack the booklet; Artaud's cover became regular square!). The latest CD version of Pescado 2 includes the complete booklet in miniature format. - The Magic Land: A guide to Beat, Psychedelic and Progressive Rock music between 1966 & 1977 in Argentina and Uruguay
1 Todas las Hojas son del Viento (02:13)
2 Cementerio Club (04:58)
3 Por (01:41)
4 Supercherķa (04:18)
5 La Sed Verdadera (03:31)
6 Cantata de Puentes Amarillos (09:09)
7 Bajan (03:26)
8 A Starosta, El Idiota (03:15)
9 Las Habladurķas del Mundo (04:03) Luis Alberto Spinetta - guitar, vocals
Carlos Gustavo Spinetta - drums
Emilio del Guercio - bass
Rodolfo Garcia - drums
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