For many years I thought this album was all about the final track and the rest wasn't to be bothered with. Not sure how I missed all the great music here, but walked away with a +1 listen last night. Certainly Los Jaivas by this point in their career had toned down their rhetoric, and moved more towards the indigenous sounds of the region. Panpipes are definitely present and some of the music does recall walking European capitals and watching men in traditional garb looking for spare change. But it's far more than that, especially on 'Guajira Cósmica' and 'La Conquistada' which both recall Italian prog at their most pastoral. Similar to fellow countrymen Los Blops perhaps. And yes, that does get us to the finale 'Tarka y Ocarina' which is indeed a whopper - a track for the ages. The opening third recalls Ash Ra Tempel's debut with its thunderous drumming and ripping heavy psychedelic guitar - quite a jarring sound in this setting. The remainder is like a piano concerto gone mad, and certainly ELP or any number of their Italian equivalents like Metamorfosi or Triade come to mind. Overall a fantastic work, one of Chile's best from this era. And it should be noted they were in exile in Argentina during this period, escaping the recent Pinochet dictatorship.
Ownership: LP: 1975 EMI (Argentina). Beautiful gatefold. Acquired this from a reliable Argentina based mail order dealer (1996). It's been a long time since I looked at the value of this record, but it's skyrocketed, worth 7 times what I had it noted for (even though there are many original pressings from different countries). Good to know, though I'm not selling it.
1996 (first listen); 9/15/22 (review/new entry)
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