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Cabezas de Cera — Un Segundo
(El Angelito Editor no#, 2002, CD)

Un Segundo Cover art

Cabezas de Cera is a RIO-styled progressive trio from Mexico that was formed in 1995. Their second release is an adventurous and original outing that is bursting with chaotic, creative energy. The instrumentation includes Stick, electric and acoustic guitar, sax, flute, clarinet, MIDI wind controller, didgeridoo, and electric and acoustic percussion. The instruments are frequently double-tracked, which creates a dense orchestration that sounds more like a quintet than a trio. Some points of reference include Discipline-era Crimson with the repeating Stick patterns, and also a more energetic version of Shadowfax due to the instrumentation and occasional world music influences. The woodwind player Ramses Luna tends to take the lead, with Mauricio Sotelo furiously riffing on Stick or guitar. At times the sax playing is rather edgy with solos erupting into squeaks and squalls. There are also some gentle melodic moments with flute and recorder themes, but most of the time the band is highly energized and in hectic forward motion. There are moments when the manic energy threatens to spin out of control, but CDC knows when to pull back from the edge. The only element that interrupts the flow of the album is the insertion of small snippets of seemingly random bits of conversation as interludes between most of the tracks. This is a bit distracting and detracts from an otherwise smoothly flowing album. Other than this minor complaint Cabezas de Cera has come up with a highly original and enjoyable disc that continues to make a strong case for the excellence of Mexican progressive music.

by David Ashcraft, Published 2003-02-01

Sometimes you like a band’s first disc so much that you actually fear certain disappointment with their second. Such is the case with me and CDC, but I'm thrilled to report that Un Segundo finds the band quickly settling into its own mature identity. The rad packaging has a post-radioactive event theme, and the intro serves this well, featuring didgeridoo vocalizations, wild electronics, and percussion. As with the first disc, we have the preparatory mode setting us up for the dynamic percussive jam, driven by Stick and spattered with sax. But there's a bit of homogenization on this disc, if you can use that term for such a breath of fresh air; there’s a discarding of the Crimsonizations and a certain degree of familiarity such that now the signature is clearly CDC’s. This mix of sounds, this convergence of the modern and the acoustic is perfectly natural and enticing: a track of tapped wood percussion and electric percussion; wood flute and MIDI-fied sax; tape loops, electric guitar loops, synth loops, powerful organic, exploding jams that leads into a track with 12-string acoustic guitar, bird calls, a sultry sax, and a glorious, festive theme. It's perfectly natural and something to expect with Cabezas. Sometimes these folk adventures are reminiscent of the better American folkies like Leo Kottke. One of the most fresh and vital modern progressive bands going. Prog is Dead? Not in Mexico it ain’t!

by Mac Beaulieu, Published 2003-02-01

Having had the benefit of seeing these guys up close in concert at Baja ‘02, their unique compositional perspective and instrumental brilliance made a lot more sense than what could be conveyed by their pretentiously overpackaged debut CD. This latest disc (again, overpackaged to the hilt, with a gimmicky multi-fold-out cardboard cover and little posters falling out of every orifice, with the disc itself stuffed in a pocket so tight that you damn near have to break the CD to get it out...) shows the trio in an even more sure-footed setting, experimenting and reaching out into different idioms to pull together their own sound which comprises elements of ethnic instrumental rock, an aggressive jazz sound, quirky math rock, spirited acoustic guitar based pieces, electronic and sample-based interludes, some heady “Cuneiform” like passages, and even the kitchen sink too. What’s difficult is to immediately compare what they do to any other bands. Using Chapman Stick, electric and acoustic guitars, a variety of woodwinds (mostly clarinets, saxes, flutes, and EWI), didgeridoo, drum kit and electronic percussion, they work through their set like the diehard adventurists that they are, pulling out all the stops to get the most of their compositions and arrangements. There are some overdubs, of course, but everything they do in the studio remains true to the essence of their live performance. CDC is a band that’s covering new ground in a most progressive way. Not much gets this writer excited anymore, but this disc does!

by Peter Thelen, Published 2003-02-01

Filed under: New releases, Issue 26, 2002 releases

Related artist(s): Cabezas de Cera, Mauricio Sotelo

 

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