Do we like Juana Molina?

It is maybe one or two songs too long, it's true.

New Juana Molina album Un Dia: So. Good.

cool! I love all three of the albums she's put out over the past few years.

This one pushes the weirdness a little which is what I always wanted!

Amazon.com thinks it's reggae.

The reaction to Segundo from four years ago is so completely off it's hilarious.

Un Dia is interesting -- much more varied instrumentation than her previous work, more production, poppier, and she's almost completely done away with lyrics. The result may be a little too Enya for my taste; only time will tell. But it does away with the pesky problem of people who can't understand Spanish not knowing what she was singing about. They still won't know, but they can be confident that it doesn't matter much.

At this point (after only a few days with Un Dia), I still believe that her previous CD, Son, is her masterpiece -- much more sophisticated and assured than Segundo, and oodles more interesting than Tres Cosas. Check out its centerpiece track, Micael, which is available on her MySpace page and in some live versions on YouTube. It's a stunner, and the live versions are really impressive at showing how she works.

A little too Enya!? Wtf are you talking about? Agreed about Michael and Son in general but this is really great and more ostentatiously weird and electronic.

still thing Salvese Quien Pueda: Juana's Epic Re-Version (Edit) is the best thing she's ever done

Enya -- as in, lush, overdubbed, rhythmic, atmospheric, hooky soundscapes, with all vocals layered 10 times and reverbed to a farethewell. On Un Dia, Molina seems to think that if she's going to sing, it would be better if it sounded like there were five of her singing in an echo chamber. Not that I dislike it, but I like her actual, solo voice a lot, too, and I miss it on this one. I also liked her lyrics, so I miss something, too, when she sings the same three words over and over, and then breaks down the syllables into nonsense. Not that I would mind that sometimes, but it bothers me some all the time. But I'm being too negative. I like the album, just not as much as Son, yet. That's not faint praise. Son is one of my favorite album ofs this decade.

I, in turn, am a little wtf myself about your describing Un Dia as more ostentatiously weird and electronic. Until now, most of Molina's music in her actual adult, full-time-musician mode has been pretty strictly guitar + laptop, and sometimes just laptop. Two or three tracks had percussion, even. This record has all kinds of things that sound like actual instruments on it -- piano, drums, accordion, horns, bass -- and on almost every track. They may all be synthesized, but in the past her electronic music didn't ever sound like anything other than electronic music. Plus, in the past (and central to her ability to give credible live performances), almost everything was some kind of loop, albeit usually in different phases. There's lots on this record that couldn't be done with loops, you would have to have multiple musicians or backing tracks. Again, nothing wrong with that at all, but the effect (for me) is to sound much more mainstream and less weird/electronic than she ever did. Plus, it's all upbeat and poppy, and all fiver or ten of her are singing la-la-la instead of complaining about her mother or someone's dog. I would call this her bid at accessibility.

Ah well, I don't speak spanish so I never realised she was singing about her dog or whatever or even that she wasn't really singing lyrics on this one, so that whole element sailed directly over my head in fairness and actually relistening to both Son and Un Dia, you are actually completely correct. The thing I'm missing most now actually is the field recordings... Still I thing this has a pulsier richness that I'm really enjoying.

So is she now,4 years later, getting more pop ala Julieta Venegas?

did anybody see her with the "live band"? i saw her last year solo and it was soooo awesome and entertaining and mesmerizing...

kinda surprised there isn't more talk about here around here? (i didn't vote in the albums poll) but "un dia" was one of the best albums i heard all year... love ALL her albums (haven't heard "segundo") and they just seem to get better and better, if you ask me

Unfornately I missed her show here in São Paulo in 2007. I thought 'Un Día' really deserved a spot on the 'best of 2008' lists. This record is dope (literally)!

Impressive cd. While most of her shows on her current US tour are with a band, she's doing a few solo ones, including Friday night at Iota outside DC

i saw her the other night. it was stunning. she played keyboards and guitar and did a lot of looping interaction between the two. her bass player reminds me a bit of ben stiller

With or without beard?

stubbly, not joaquinish

saw her in san francisco a week an a half ago, great set. little goes a long way though, I thought it could have been shorter, because it gets samey; she did do a chunk in the middle without the band.

un dia is a great record!

agreed! and she's playing FREE in NYC two days from now
http://newyork.timeout.com/events/reggae-world-latin/292147/juana-molina-curumin-el-g
good deal

damn, i LOVE this

"this" ? "Un Dia" ?

folks have gotta see her live, it's magic

i love how the cover of "un dia" looks like the album sounds

I want her to propel even further into lunatic rhythmic propulsive territory. Like I love "Un Dia" but Un Dia could use a bit more gaboomph throughout. Still, very nice and thanks for reminding me through a revive - will have to dig this out (of the iTunes menu) and play it on the way to work tomorrow to put me in a good mood.

(Sunn 0))) on the way home from work today, so that tells you what kind of week it's been.)

i like son the best overall, i think. it has just the right amount of dynamics. part of what i find interesting about her sound is how.. well, gradually throughout her songs, things get chaotic and intense, but there are these moments that hit in a very sudden way. she has an interesting way of combining/interweaving tha drone w/refreshing bursts of energy without derailing the trance.

i think i know exactly what u mean

New album out this fall!

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/15855-juana-molina-eras/

This new track is great, even if it isn't much of a departure from her style on Un Día.

new album streaming on NPR:

http://www.npr.org/2013/10/20/236325245/first-listen-juana-molina-wed-21

I need to listen to that

It's the first thing she's done in years that has really chimed with me. Really enjoyed listening to that.

I want her to propel even further into lunatic rhythmic propulsive territory. Like I love "Un Dia" but Un Dia could use a bit more gaboomph throughout.

this is exactly what Wed 21 does. the production is clearer, more bass-heavy, and less reverbed-out than Un Día, so the drums really cut through the mix, and her increasing use of a drum kit (as opposed to handclaps and improvised percussion, which sometimes faded into the background on her past records) makes a big difference. this is definitely her most layered, most meticulously produced album yet, but it's also her most ferocious — it's like her appearance on the Congotronics tribute album inspired her to record a whole album of rhythmic workouts in that vein.

despite the fact that she plays all the instruments on the record, the material sounds awesome with a live band:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzzq5b0lSM8

(I wonder if she'll tour that way in the US)

I just wonder what her recording process is like. does she loop and layer the instruments live in the studio and record everything in one take, or does she record the parts separately and do a ton of overdubs afterwards? I'm guessing it's the latter.

My lady friend hipped me to WED21 and it became one of my favorites of the year.

We are awaiting an American tour date close to our neck of the woods.

Wed 21 is amazing

she is amazing. don't sit this tour out. totally mesmerizing

Saw her in HK; very good, but after a few songs paja boludo

She's out in Virginia suburb of DC club tonight, but I can't make it

"paja boludo" = "thatched asshole"? (google translate isn't being very helpful here)

I saw her in Cambridge on Monday and she was great! so I'll second what qualmsey said.

I was pretty astounded by her show recently, definitely hypnotic and took me places at times

not sure what "paja boludo" means but i feel like seeing her live is the closest i'll ever get to watching damo suzuki front can. her witchy rhythmic sense is that inspired. love her vocals and how the songs constantly shapeshift. plus the drummer sorta looks like a young keith richards

This is great

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he-eAyHRfFg

I am here for this

http://soundcloud.com/crammed-discs/juana-molina-cosoco-1

New LP on May 5th

ooo

yesssss

yay!

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I like this. I bought Un Día, but I could never get into it, even though it seemed like something I should like. (Comparisons to Karuki Zamen Kuri No Hana, in some circles.)

I kind of lost track after Tres Cosas (for no partic reason though, love those first three records, Segundo my fave). Am def on board for this one.

http://www.npr.org/2017/04/27/525546136/first-listen-juana-molina-halo

New one is streaming. Subdued compared to her last album, but undeniably Juana Molina. The album art is horrendous, though.

mellow for sure. simple album art is a cross between the opening allegory-of-tools/war->immortality' evolution sequence in kubrick's 2001 and russell banks' rule of the bone (after a long bong rip or two)

Fascinating album, quite varied, lots of stuff to chew on. Quite easy to get into. The cover is ugly but the music is more than making up for it.

The album cover makes me not want to listen to it. Still, when I have listened to it, it's just been okay. Cosoco was a good single, but it's not a good representation of what the album sounds like. Too snoozy. Maybe good for weed + headphones but that's not where I am these days.

I think I like Sin Dones a lot

i feel like seeing her live is the closest i'll ever get to watching damo suzuki front can.
seriously?! this is a strong endorsement! i came to this thread to convince me to see/not see her show tonight and i think i got my answer! hyperbole or not :)

I saw her like 10 years ago and it was awesome. You should go!!

I did!! The Can comparison was actually quite useful -- her wordless vocal jams with the band really went there in a way that did remind me of some of my favorite Can jams. Enjoyed it immensely!! Really glad I went.

she is great live

Her new EP rocks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rSZ-t8e0o0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgNRdjuUxUE

good stuff, i quite liked halo but this seems something different.

a concert she'd planned for tonight was cancelled due to coronavirus, so she's livestreaming it tonight -- pretty sick:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNu1ievAbek

North America tour happening in April and May

I lost touch with her music and just heard her punk "For Fun" ep tonight. Re her current tour she says:

during the lockdown i dove in some sort of contemplative state. time passed and there i was sitting outside by a fire pit in the garden, just thinking and looking at the sky. everything was so quiet and pristine. and so was i. it took me a long time to be able to play or do other things.

one day someone asked me if i wanted to play a live show via streaming and there was the reason to go back. it was like in the old times, when i was playing for hours improvising over and over on the same song. and then a question that have asked myself for years: why is that i never do this live? why being so structured and not get lost on stage like i do when i'm on my own at home. finally i decided to not die without doing it. and i did. and it was the best i could have done.

https://www.brooklynvegan.com/juana-molina-announces-spring-solo-tour/

I also haven't heard her live in Mexico album from just before the pandemic in early 2020

Segundo album has been reissued and she did some live trio collaborations in Japan (I think) with Terry Riley and Jeff Mills.

The Anrmal 2020 live in Mexico release has some punkier, noisier cuts .

Molina tells City Paper that previously, with her band, “the arrangements were fixed, and every night we played the same.” On this tour, Molina will “start a song as usual, and then [I] don’t know exactly how it’ll finish.”

Molina solo tour 2022
https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/554253/juana-molina-from-argentine-tv-star-to-experimental-folker/

Saw her solo DC gig last night. Pretty experimental. She uses her keyboard and pedals and loops and repeats her vocals or instrumental sounds and sometimes distorts her vocals. I liked the songs that were the most rhythmic and tuneful.

Killer set in Seattle last night. A tiny room & she had the audience captive every minute.

I keep confusing Juana Molina and Javiera Mena, probably because I've only heard the latter

Something I wasn’t prepared for, and which definitely made the night better, is how funny she is.

Her comic actress roots are still there at times

I would love to see her, v jealous of you both

oh hey, i was there too, she was great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvkdwcjl53g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLuarhVj4DM

RFI: Latina artist with similar number that was kind of an Other Music favorite for a hot minute. That’s all I got, sorry.

Lucrecia Dalt?

For some reason I've never listened to her before, but she's amazing. To think I could have seen her here in 2022!

We'll give you a late pass

I don't think I listened to her 2024 ep Exhalo

New album out tomorrow bitches

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A54wqKoOR8A

Not the cover of the century, being on the painfully literal side, but still appropriately left-field / outlandish

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2057456417_16.jpg

I really like the song btw

Strong album, highly recommended. Relatively straightforward, with lots of dark subterranean folky and rocky undertones, and a top layer of YMO-style energy and decadence carried by the sequencer. Her voice is characteristically monotonous and buried, but it's addictive, there are constant things happening, and her impressionistic style is inimitable by now. Several moments of sonic poetry that you just have to wait for - the pretty Caravanas for example, the strings on the stunning Va Rara. I like the prominent bass. There is an improvised quality on the latter songs, wandering echoes in the electronic space. I also just realized there's obvious synergy between what she does and what Mabe Fratti does - that could be an awesome collaboration.

Surprised Desinhumano wasn't chosen as the single, although I find Siestas Ahí utterly beautiful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8DSDZVD5RI

I realize I haven't heard Halo, her latest from... eight whopping years ago. I have to admire someone who builds a consistent career with seven main releases in 25 years. Mark of a true master.

https://juanamolina.bandcamp.com/album/doga

She makes it sound so effortless and this is another glorious buzzy jacuzzi of an album. It's def lusher than Halo, which is also completely great but more arid. Since Halo was released, her music has become my default 'mental spring clean' soundtrack, and this tickles the brain really joyfully