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Reviews

Iconoclasta — Resurrección
(Luna Negra CDLN-41, 2009, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2010-07-01

Resurrección Cover art

If anything can be said about this long-running Mexican progressive band, it’s to expect the unexpected. The band has been going in various forms since the early 80s, and no two consecutive releases are alike – they have been all over the map musically, incorporating rock, jazz, classical, ethnic, and folk in varying amounts into their own web of sound, sometimes with vocals, sometimes purely instrumental, but always spirited and with expressive originality. Perhaps it’s because (with the exception of the first few) their releases have been rather, shall we say, intermittent and far between, and from one release to the next there’s plenty of room for evolution. Today the band features three founding members – composer, multi-instrumentalist, and backing vocalist Ricardo Moreno, Ricardo Ortegón (electric guitar) and drummer Victor Baldovinos. New members include vocalist Alma Castillo and bassist / vocalist Greta Silva – that’s right, two female vocalists harmonizing right out front, which is a big change from any previous Iconoclasta release. After an opening bluesy funk-rocker and its more progressive follow-up, the band begins pulling from their jazz, folk, and classical influences and fusing them to their newfound vocal prowess; this is by far the most vocal album by a band that started life as essentially instrumental. The six-minute instrumental “Deidad Solar” reflects back to the early band’s sound, but then turns back to the present with the beautiful and overtly progressive eleven minute suite “Huautla – Homenaje a Maria Sabina.” In all, an excellent new release from one of Mexico’s finest bands.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 38, 2009 releases

Related artist(s): Iconoclasta

 

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