I can now see why Pinochet's dictatorship was scared of this group
(which resulted in their ultimate expulsion). This is a long way from
the measured progressive rock of Alturas de Machu Picchu that would
arrive a decade later. El Volantin is what I would call freak rock,
maybe along the lines of Denmark's Furekåben commune, or perhaps even
the political wing of Amon Duul. Most of the material is tribal
drumming, (de)tuned percussion, acoustic guitar strumming, piano, with
male and female vocals chanted or screamed on top, and not the best
recording either. There’s also some pan flute so you don’t forget that
this is indeed a band of the Andes. The last track is really something
great – with wild fuzz guitar and frantic vocals. The whole thing is a
complete mess… had it come out today I wouldn't be impressed at all
(fake counterculture doesn't work for me). But for the time and place
(1971 Chile), this just reeks of the real subversive underground. You
can just feel it.
This is a serious work of civil protest. Awesome
really.
Ownership: LP: 2005 Shadoks. Single sleeve. Numbered copy 125 (out of 350).
Originals are extremely rare and come with a poster. According to one ebay auction:
"The group released El Volantin privately. The music on this album was
almost completely derived from improvisations, and can be considered as a
performance of a "happening". It was pretty wild and free. From 20
hours of work only 40 minutes were used for publication. There were only
500 albums printed, and were sold at their gigs and in some "friend´s
record stores"".
11/5/16 (review/new entry)
No comments:
Post a Comment