Pour me some tequila and tell me about Mexican Prog

[Zappathustra]

The very few names I know something about:

-0.720 Aleacion just listened to this brillant piece from 1986, beautiful melodic prog with heavy influences from the local, folk tradition.

- Decibel - El Poeta Del Ruido A hard to believe RIO/Exprerimental masterpiece from 1980

- Nazca - Estacion de Sombra Another RIO winner, with a distinct Mexican flavor.

- Arbatel - Sumerios From 2008 this killer of an album has to appeal to fans of the old Italian school, particularly the heavy branch of it (Balleto di Bronzo, Cervello etc). Outrageous vocals from mademoiselle Rosario Hernandez add to the demonic character of the music. Shamefully overlooked.

So what do you think of those? And what else am I missing?

[TheH]

If it comes to Mexico "Cabezas de Cera" would be the first band to come to my mind. Awesome band.

I also like "José Luis Fernández Ledesma" and I have some early Iconclasta albums which I haven't heared in Ages but I liked them back than.

[MJBrady]

Banda Elastica , a fantastic rio/avant band

[Scrotum Scissor]

^ Most things goody happened from the very early 80s on, but then again it never really ceased.


For "symphonic" rock:


Galie - Galie (1980): very good, instrumental in the vein of Gotic, Camel (at their more edgy), Maneige et al. But very 'Mexican' in tone.

Nobilis Factum - Nobilis Factum (1982): strange, somtimes even outright bizarre in places, with theatrical vocals and loads of synthesizers.

Iconoclasta - Reminiscencias (1985): their second album. A bit over-the-top dramatic, but skillfully done.

Nirgal Vallis - Y Murio la Tarde (1985): one and only from these. Effectively remixes of an earlier demo. It's OK, but primarily for the participation of Ledesma (IMO).

Cast - Al-Bandaluz (2003): a mainstay band who moved from sterile neo (w. English vox) into somewhat more original terrain.


There were some other quite OK acts in this department during the 80s, like Chac Mool, Praxis, Delirium and Loch Ness, but they tend to sound a bit pedestrian and non-eventful to my ears. Better were the more "out" artists from the region, of which you'll want to hear the following:


High Fidelity Orchestra (80s and 90s): guitar-based, strict arrangements in somewhat minimal layout. Instrumental, vaguely KCrim- or Present- or L'Apocalypso Bar-reminiscent.

Banda Elastica (80s until today): Mexicali fusion, ethnic folk and the odd Zappatic, sporting a link to Nazca/Decibel. Joyful and pretty entertaining, think Samla/Nimal etc.

Erehia (90s): extraordinary duo of guitars/six-stringed bass, drums/percussion and MIDI, performing start/stop-dynamic, dense and dark notations.

Cabezas de Schera (early 90s until late 2000s): ethnic fusion trio. All of their stuff is well worth hearing.

Jose Luis Fernandez Ledesma (see Nirgal Vallis above; active solo from the late 80s): fabulous (and highly educated) composer and multi-instrumentalist who worked for years with virtuoso singstress Margareta Botello in a programme involving mergers of ethnic folk musics, electronic layouts, avant-chamber-rock and more. Sol Central and Designios are both absolute masterworks. Ledesma operates in several medias; all-acoustic, electroacoustic small or semi-large ensemble, solo etc.

[Sputnik]

I'll echo the praise for Banda Elastica and Cabezas De Cera, though I don't like all these band's output equally.

I like the Galie, but it's on the lighter side. Not as good as Gotic, but sort of in that vein.

Fans of Cabezas De Cera might also like Luz De Riada which features the MIDI sax player from Cabezas De Cera. I actually really like Luz De Riada, particularly their third album thought the first one is pretty good too. The second one isn't as good, but I still own it. Somewhat more "straight ahead" than Cabezas de Cera, but Luz De Riada still have a bit of an experimental edge.

A couple of modern Mexican bands I like a lot are Govea (http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=5485) and Saena (http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3588), both "symph" bands with a bit more kick and intricacy than they usual Neo-Proggy stuff.

That's pretty much all I've got from Mexico, though.

Bill

[Rulo]

Hola

Thanks Zappathustra for your interest in Mexican prog, I am Mexican.

I am in a mexican facebook group called "Republica Progresiva", and just late last year we had a poll about our favorite all-time Mexican prog albums. The results were:

Position, band, album name, issue year and votes they got.
1. Flüght, “Flüght” (1982) 29
2. Decibel, "El Poeta del Ruido" (1978) 26
3. Galie, “Galie” (1981) 22
4. El Ritual, "El Ritual" (1971) 20
5. 0.720 Aleación, “0.720 Aleación” (1986) 20
6. Iconoclasta, "Reminiscencias" (1985) 19
7. Jose Luis Fernandez Ledesma/Margarita Botello, "Sol Central" (2000) 19
8. Nuevo México, "Hecho en casa" (1975) 18
9. Cabezas de Cera, “Metalmúsica - Aleaciones Aleatorias” (2004) 18
10. Códice, “Alba y Ocaso” (1999) 16
11. Via Láctea, "Via Láctea" (1980) 15
12. Chac Mool, “Nadie en Especial” (1980) 15
13. Nirgal Valis, “Y Murió la Tarde” (1985) 15
14. Jorge Reyes/Antonio Zepeda, "A la Izquierda del Colibrí" (1985) 15
15. Banda Elástica, "2" (1989) 12
16. José Luis Fernández Ledesma, "Dicen Que Somos Dioses y Nos Soñamos Hombres" (2000) 12
17. Cabezas de Cera", "...un segundo" (2002) 8
18. Saena, "Saena" (2008) 3

If you are interested in a particular one, you can easily use google to listen to it mostly in youtube.

Funnilly enough, my favorite mexican prog song (not album) is not represented in the above list. This song is inspired by some anthropomorphic gigantic figures found in a Tolteca prehispanic site.

Here it is, hope you like it, it is a fusion of rock and folk music by the band Flamingo Rock and is called Los Atlantes of Tula:

[Zappathustra]

Thank you all very much. That's a lot of homework!

What about Arbatel? Has anyone listened to them?

[Sputnik]

What about Arbatel? Has anyone listened to them?

Never heard of them. Just looked them up on Youtube and gave this a quick scan. Not half bad, I may try to hunt this one down!

Bill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5eHz4yDJEY

[Paulrus]

Surprised Cast hasn't been mentioned yet. I'm not a huge fan but I think they were important in terms of keeping the movement going via their connection to the Baja Prog festivals.

[TheH]

Surprised Cast hasn't been mentioned yet. I'm not a huge fan but I think they were important in terms of keeping the movement going via their connection to the Baja Prog festivals.

Have a closer look at the postings...

[Zaragon]

There are 40-some-odd TriMax-era Mexican longplayers on this directory of albums from the Spanish Americas — ctrl+f "Mexico" on each page for specific bands/releases.

The most densely red-marked albums in the directory include titles by 0.720 Aleacion, Banda Elástica, Gerardo Batiz, Iconoclasta, Mendez Trio, Nobilis Factum, and Peck Smyth & Off. Overall, the mid-'80s appear to be the most ruby-rich period for that country.

[Zappathustra]

Never heard of them. Just looked them up on Youtube and gave this a quick scan. Not half bad, I may try to hunt this one down!

Bill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5eHz4yDJEY

Well, if you get by with the vocals - which I love, but are very idiosyncratic to say the least - this is like an out-of-place, out-of-time Italian gem.

[Sputnik]

Well, if you get by with the vocals - which I love, but are very idiosyncratic to say the least - this is like an out-of-place, out-of-time Italian gem.

It does have a very Italian feel. Vocals are a bit histrionic, but I've heard worse. I'm listening to it more, overall I like it.

Bill

[Zalmoxe]

Humus - important representative of the Mexican psychedelic scene:

[Zalmoxe]

Tom Hayes has a few more recommendations here: http://unencumberedmusicreviews.blog...h/label/Mexico

[chalkpie]

I do recommend sipping the following whilst spinning some Mexican prog:

Casa Noble - Single Barrel Extra Añejo if you can find it, but all three other varieties are all stellar
Don Julio 1942 - the BEST tequila I have ever had. Close to $150 in most places.
Riazul - any
Fortaleza - any but the blanco is killer
Corralejo - great value
Corzo - any, awesome
El Tesoro - I used to like this more than I do now but its good
Siete Leguas - Great
Espolon - great value, not the greatest but they now have an anejo and an extra anejo

Sip it neat! Buy a set of Reidel ouverture tequila glasses.

[NogbadTheBad]

I haven't seen these two avant bands mentioned so far

Arteria - features Juan Carlos Ruiz of Decibel & Nazca
Culto Sin Nombre - features Juan Carlos Ruiz of Decibel & Nazca

[Progbear]

Galie - Galie (1980): very good, instrumental in the vein of Gotic, Camel (at their more edgy), Maneige et al. But very 'Mexican' in tone.

They apparently have four albums. I have the second and, while it’s not as adventurous as the first, is perfectly pleasant listening. Unusual in that it actually sounds like an older recording despite being made later. It’s just Fender-Rhodes, flute, acoustic guitar, bass and drums. Very mellow and light.

Nobilis Factum - Nobilis Factum (1982): strange, somtimes even outright bizarre in places, with theatrical vocals and loads of synthesizers.

This wins the contest for “album artwork f%&*ing with the listener’s expectations.” The front cover makes this look like some sort of metal album. Then you get the back cover of a bunch of Mexican guys with guitars, and you begin to think it’s some sort of pre-Colombian folk sort of thing. Then you actually put it on and all these weird synth sounds blast you in the face! These guys get points for originality; this album took some time to really appeal to me but their sheer creativity (especially their vast imagination in their use of all those Korg and ARP synths) puts them over the top.

Iconoclasta - Reminiscencias (1985): their second album. A bit over-the-top dramatic, but skillfully done.

I think Iconoclasta were the most consistently, reliably good Mexican prog band. I won’t say “you can’t go wrong,” but most of what I have heard by them has been of interest.

Cast - Al-Bandaluz (2003): a mainstay band who moved from sterile neo (w. English vox) into somewhat more original terrain.

I’d say even some stuff from their “neo” period is worth investigating, at least from Endless Signs through to maybe Imaginary Window. Alfonso Vidales has a profound classical influence in his keyboard playing that impresses itself strongly in the music, making them a much “deeper” band than your usual boilerplate neo-prog.

There were some other quite OK acts in this department during the 80s, like Chac Mool, Praxis, Delirium and Loch Ness, but they tend to sound a bit pedestrian and non-eventful to my ears. Better were the more "out" artists from the region, of which you'll want to hear the following:

Chac Mool were probably the most popular “prog” band Mexico had on offer, endorsed by a label no less than Philips. I have yet to be impressed by anything I’ve heard from them, though.

I do have a soft spot for the one official release by Delirium (entitled Primer diálogo on CD, they have an archival release, too, which I have not heard). They have some interesting musical ideas, and the addition of a violin is always appreciated. Unfortunately the dreadful production and cheapie Crumar synths seriously undercut their intentions.

High Fidelity Orchestra (80s and 90s): guitar-based, strict arrangements in somewhat minimal layout. Instrumental, vaguely KCrim- or Present- or L'Apocalypso Bar-reminiscent.

Man, this is seriously uncompromising stuff! Mexican avant-gardists do not f&*% around! Sort of comparable to the active-at-the-same-time (yet not as good) Caja de Pandora in their seeming attempt to cram as many dissonances per song as they can manage. So harsh sounding it probably takes the average listener some serious homework to get into this (it certainly took many listens to sink in for me), but it’s worth the effort.

I don’t think Toccata have been mentioned. They’re more prog-metal, but better than average, with some superior keyboard work in addition to the power-chording guitar. Their real asset, though, is vocalist Andrea Medina. She is an absolute force to be reckoned with. One album to date, 2005’s Circe.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Surprised Cast hasn't been mentioned yet.

Oh, they were mentioned by that troll.

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

one of my favorites which I didnt see mentioned is

Kromlech - La Soledad de las Sombras

[spacefreak]

Luis Pérez (México Mágico Cósmico) - En El Ombligo De La Luna (Ipan In Xiktli Metzli)

Not exactly prog but sits easily in any kosmische collection.

[spacefreak]

...and another player from the prog scene that went the ethno-ambient way.

[Zappathustra]

I do recommend sipping the following whilst spinning some Mexican prog:

Casa Noble - Single Barrel Extra Añejo if you can find it, but all three other varieties are all stellar
Don Julio 1942 - the BEST tequila I have ever had. Close to $150 in most places.
Riazul - any
Fortaleza - any but the blanco is killer
Corralejo - great value
Corzo - any, awesome
El Tesoro - I used to like this more than I do now but its good
Siete Leguas - Great
Espolon - great value, not the greatest but they now have an anejo and an extra anejo

Sip it neat! Buy a set of Reidel ouverture tequila glasses.

[Zappathustra]

Luis Pérez (México Mágico Cósmico) - En El Ombligo De La Luna (Ipan In Xiktli Metzli)

Not exactly prog but sits easily in any kosmische collection.

Oh yes, I remember you posted this on FB. Excellent!

[Scrotum Scissor]

Caja de Pandora

Their self-titled first is easonably good, I think (i.e. not the second one). But like several Mexican early 80s recordings, the production is kinda weak. Even an otherwise great band like Banda Elastica suffers somewhat from this; I believe a lot of that excellent second album of theirs would be better known were it not for the rather "muddy" sound. Not that it should prevent anyone from getting it!