Almendra - Almendra (aka "Almendra double album", 1970/1996 Remastered Edition)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Album: Almendra - Almendra (aka "Almendra double album") (Remastered Edition)
Released: 1970 (1996)
Genre: Progressive Rock
RCA/BMG Argentina - 74321 40730-2
Originally a double vinyl release from 1970 this takes the sound of the legendary Argentinian band a step further. The 14 minute "Agnus Dei" features guitarist Spinetta's stunning psychedelic fuzz guitar work outs whilst the music is structured, complex and more instrumental than the band's debut. Anyone interested in South American psychedelic rock should start here! This double CD version includes extra material too! - Freak Emporium
Though nobody thought about it when the whole thing started, nowadays everybody agrees that the Argentine rock movement was stablished by three groups: Los Gatos, Manal, and Almendra.
While Los Gatos played beat-pop, and Manal played urban blues, Almendra (Almond) played something completely creative, innovative and... different. No other group had sounded that way before! Almendra played beautiful melodies and magnificent lyrics, sometimes mixed with extremely moody sounds and sometimes mixed with extremely furious -but always melodic- lines.
Almendra was formed in 1968 after the break up of three teenage school groups: Los Sbirros, Los Mods, and Los Larkins. The initial rehearsals were held at the Spinetta?s house in Belgrano (an upper-middle class neighbourhood of Buenos Aires). By mid 1968, they met producer Ricardo Kleiman, who signed them for a single. (Kleiman was the owner of an important clothing shop -Modart- and ran a radio show -Modart en la Noche /Modart at Night- that aired the latest editions of beat and rock music of the world).
On September 20th, 1968, "Tema de Pototo" (a.k.a. "Para saber c?mo es la soledad") b/w "El mundo entre las manos" was released. "Tema de Pototo" is a beautiful beat ballad about a friend they thought was dead. Both sides feature orchestral arrangements by Rodolfo Alchourr?n (a producer’s request). This was the starting point of the brief career of one of the most wonderful groups in the world!
By the end of the year, "Hoy todo el hielo en la ciudad" with a great fuzz guitar work by Edelmiro, hit the stores. The b-side features "Campos verdes" from which a promotional film was made.
Due to their performance at the Festival of Auc?n, in Peru (something completely unusual at that time) the single became a huge success in that country. They even appeared on a TV show in Lima.
Back in Argentina, Almendra played during the summertime -that is, beginning of 1969- in Mar del Plata (a beach city 400Km South of Buenos Aires). Their debut in Buenos Aires was on March 24th, at the DiTella Institute (the avant-garde cultural centre of the 60s). Almendra spent the rest of the year performing at different venues, until September 21st (the first day of Spring -also the Student’s Day) when they played at the Pinap Festival. Pinap was the name of a beat magazine, and this Festival was the first major event of Argentine rock.
Meanwhile, the group was recording their debut album. An odd event marked the completion of it. Spinetta had drawn an original enigmatic face character for the cover. Days afterward, the record company told the boys that the drawing had been lost, so they were planning to use a photo of the group instead. Obviously upset, the musicians looked for the lost drawing and eventually found it discarded in the garbage! Spinetta stayed up all night reproducing his original artwork and took it to the record company the following day. They offered no excuses the second time!
The extraordinary debut album was finally released on November 29th, 1969. Along with the infamous drawing, it included an insert with the lyrics and technical information. The black & white back cover pictured the group live at the Pinap Festival.
This LP is astonishingly beautiful. All songs are excellent. It is really hard to try to explain them!
The opening track is an argentine rock hymn: "Muchacha (ojos de papel)", an acoustic Spinetta song devoted to an old girlfriend that still thrills the listener. Next comes the superb 9 -minute long "Color humano", written by Edelmiro, featuring his now famous long fuzz guitar solo. Molinari would name his next group after this song.
"Figuraci?n" is a soft tune brilliantly sung by Spinetta with Pappo on backing vocals and Emilio del G?ercio on flute. The energy and fuzz guitar returns with the superb "Ana no duerme", one of the best tracks of the album. Santiago Giacobbe guests on organ.
Side two begins with the sweet "Ferm?n", another beautiful song where everything is well done: the guitar, the organ (played by Edelmiro), the vocals... followed by a lullaby tune "Plegaria para un ni?o dormido" with yet another inspired Spinetta lyric.
I am personally fond of "A estos hombres tristes", a song with changing rhythmic and melodies. Emilio wrote and sung lead in the next one, the pleasant "Que el viento borr? tus manos".
The LP ends with the slow and beautiful "Laura va", yet another great Spinetta song full of urban moods. Rodolfo Alchourr?n was called on again for his fruitful orchestral arrangements and Rodolfo Mederos played the bandone?n to complete the sound of Buenos Aires.
This indisputable masterpiece is one of the best albums ever recorded in South America and a must to anybody interested in the music of these latitudes.
By the end of 1969 the record company released a new single featuring "Tema de Pototo" and "Final". The latter was originally scheduled to end their debut album, but could not make it due to time length limitations. The group wanted "Gabinetes espaciales" to be the a-side of this single but RCA wished to promote "Pototo" instead. "Gabinetes..." was eventually included on the compilation LP Mis conjuntos preferidos (RCA Vik 3836).
In early 1970 another single was released with two songs from the album. Meanwhile, Spinetta was working on a highly ambitious -though not original at that time- project: a rock opera about mankind’s inner search. But while they were working on this new album the group split.
On December 19th, 1970, Almendra (a.k.a. "Almendra double album") was released, along with a new single taken from it. The 2-LP set included only traces of the unfinished opera but was full of songs that previewed what the members of the group (noteworthy Emilio and Edelmiro) would do next. Although Luis Alberto Spinetta was the main composer of the first album and most of the singles, it was clear that his fellow musicians had their own ideas as well.
The brilliant double album is, thus, pretty heterogeneous. The music is more complex and has much organ and guitar playing.
Side A begins with "Toma el tren hacia el sur" featuring a great Edelmiro guitar solo. Next to the short and simple "Jingle", a Molinari powerful guitar composition ("No tengo idea") follows. "Camino dif?cil", written by Emilio, would fit in any Aquelarre album. The steady rock of "Rutas Argentinas" (a very popular song on live shows), the dark "Vete de m?, cuervo negro", and another two Molinari compositions: "Aire de amor" (advancing the Color Humano style) and the excellent "Mestizo" completes this side.
Side B features the chirping hard-psycho 14-minutes-long "Agnus Dei" and the cute "Para ir".
Side C includes the powerful "Parvas", "Cometa azul", my favourite "Florecen los nardos", -all with great guitar work- and Del G?ercio's rhythm ballad "Carmen".
Side D begins with "Obertura" (obviously the ill-fated opera’s overture), followed by the country-folk "Amor de aire" and "Verde llano" (both written by Edelmiro). This last side continues with "Leves instrucciones", a nice tune sung by Emilio & Luis Alberto and the outstanding "Los elefantes". "Un p?jaro te sostiene" -a rock number written by Del G?ercio- and the great Spinetta’s guitar oriented "En las c?pulas" close this highly recommended album.
Almendra’s split produced these wonderful outcomes: Aquelarre, Color Humano, and Pescado Rabioso... - The Magic Land - A-Z of Argentine Groups & Artists 1966/1977
CD1
1 Toma el tren hacia el sur 03:46
2 Jingle 01:29
3 No tengo idea 02:49
4 Camino dificil 02:31
5 Rutas argentinas 02:40
6 Vete de mi, cuervo negro 01:13
7 Aire de amor 03:00
8 Mestizo 02:29
9 Agnus dei 14:28
10 Para ir 03:59
CD2
1 Parvas 05:15
2 Cometa azul 04:27
3 Florecen los nardos 06:50
4 Carmen 03:07
5 Obertura 03:05
6 Amor de aire 02:39
7 Verde llanto 01:37
8 Leves instrucciones 01:34
9 Los elefantes 06:23
10 Un pajaro te sostiene 02:27
11 En las cupulas 04:42
LUIS ALBERTO SPINETTA - Guitar, vocals and piano
EMILIO DEL GUERCIO - Bass, vocals, organ, piano and efects
EDELMIRO MOLINARI - Guitar, vocals and organ
RODOLFO GARCIA - Drums, vocals and percussion
|
