javiera mena

The last minute of "Sicronia, Pegaso" is glorious bleep-bleep. If I were going out dancing as often as I did five years ago, I'd turn that last minute into a communal face off.

i'm so happy

i have recently realized "espada" is one of the best songs in years

listened to this like 5 times, v much in love

Excellent sounding album, I find it more consistent that Mena

i wish i could speak spanish; i feel like that would only compound my enjoyment of this. last minute of "la joya" is some of the most breathtaking music of this decade

production here is great and i think the songwriting took a big step forward too, love this record so far

To be honest, I felt a little disappointed by this on first listen. It *sounds* great, but the songs weren't as immediately memorable as those on Mena. And it's sort of ... one-note, maybe? But I'm looking forward to digging into it more, so that its hooks and nuances reveal themselves.

i completely disagree with you about the songs--i find them both more immediate and more interestingly constructed. "sincronia, pegaso," for example, has something of a disco slow burn that reads as confectionary, almost, but has these very finely wrought details like the "rapido, rapido" bit that's all slinky and just barely off the beat. and the title track works a very endearing st etienne vibe as it works itself up to that final synth meltdown/layered vocal bit that's discussed upthread, which is one of my favorite musical moments this year.

the last record got by, i thought, mostly on good synth sounds and a nice idea but lacked in catchy songs.

i have to admit that i played a few of her songs on youtube and most of them had that sort of elementary-school sing-songy, rudimentary melodies that remind me of indie pop bands of the 1990s like stereo total or something. the production was often enjoyably busy and textured but the songs were almost insultingly plain. i recognize this is not a consensus opinion and maybe i just heard the wrong songs. but my immediate thought was that in terms of melody/song structure this sounds like a lot of iberian indie pop of the turn of the century which i largely found completely disposable... even if the dance-music textures made it a little more engaging.

she's from argentina, right?

Chile.

i mean that kind of super-sugary indie pop stuff has some currency in latin america, right? i imagine it's kind of a rich-kid thing, though i wouldn't know for sure.

xpost

ah, i see. sorry! my point still holds--or doesn't.

I like her, and she's about the best there is at figuring out how nuevo retro synth pop should sound, but, yes, often her vocal melodies on these tracks are just OK. My favorite song from the last album was the ballad "No Te Cuesta Nada," not the dance pop.

Chileans and Mexicans don't listen to the same music.

of course, i'm forgetting the names of those spanish (and some portuguese) indie-pop bands i sort of dabbled in ca. 1998-2001. i believe some were on the elefant label. generally speaking they were very post-sarah-records type of thing, and generally speaking there was an almost total absence of songwriting talent.

xpost

who referred to mexicans?

iberian refers to spanish and portuguese -- i was just likening her songwriting to some bands from those places that i used to know. and IIRC there were also some chilean and argentinian bands of that time that had similar sounds.

but it also reminds me of plenty of anglo-american, french, even german bands of that period.... but the iberian stuff stands out in my mind as being particularly devoid of melodic interest, relying instead on musical citations of 1960s pop and general twee-ness to carry interest. but maybe this is kind of a thread derail in which case, sorry. :(

Mexico is in Latin America.

yes, what is your point?

I'm not picking on you, am, just pointing out that a Chilean musician is not Latin American and wouldn't make music that sounds like sugary sweet pop that has currency in Latin America. I get pricklier because it's close to home. It's like when critics refer ot "pop" as a monolith and use "African music" as a buzzword.

Latin America is the subregion of the Americas comprising those countries where Romance languages are spoken, primarily Spanish and Portuguese. It consists of twenty two nations which cover an area that stretches from the southern border of the United States to the southern tip of South America, including the Caribbean.

i recognize that there are distinctions among latin american countries, but it was my recollection that indie pop had some currency in both chile and argentina (which ,per every definition i know, are latin american countries), at least it once did. i said nothing about mexico.

Alfred has his own special definition of latin america iirc

Latin America is Cuba. Just Cuba.

saying 'this music has some currency in latin america' does not imply that it's equally popular in e.g. mexico, argentina, belize, the dominican republic, etc.

never underestimate ILX's ability to be tooth-gnashingly pedantic. but i love you, anyway, alfred.

i recognize that there are distinctions among latin american countries, but it was my recollection that indie pop had some currency in both chile and argentina (which ,per every definition i know, are latin american countries), at least it once did. i said nothing about mexico.

This makes more sense. I mentioned "Mexico" only as an example of a Spanish-speaking country nothing like Chile.

wins reminds me: Yeah, I was taught that "Latin America" stretched from Mexico to Panama. South of Panama was a continent called South America. And Cuba wasn't a part of Latin America at all – it was an island in the Caribbean. Same for the DR.

a side note: "Latin" is a meaningless adjective anyway. I have a native-born friend whose mother is a naturalized citizen born in Florence, Italy. He likes to call her Latin American.

it's not meaningless in the sense that it has some intersubjective meaning if i told most people, e.g., "i have been travelling a lot around latin america," they would know what i meant.

I love you, North American scum

I love Pide.

Have been assuming it's a song about

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/03/c8/0e/9d/chicken-pide.jpg

I agree with you, amateurist, re Mena's melodies sounding influenced by that Iberian twee circa 2000… but to my recollection that sort of thing was never at all popular in Latin America (perhaps Entre Rios being an exception).

The thing that bothers me about Mena's singing though is not her melodies but her phrasing, which is sort of typical of South American indie and it kind of grates of me. I can only get past it because the music is incredible.

I have grown to really love this album, with "Otra Era" and "Sincronía, Pegaso" being the stand outs...but that can change based on the day. I'm finding it hard to compare it with MENA since they seem like such different beasts.

Also, it looks like there is some countdown clock on her website counting down to Monday. Hopefully, that's when we can order the physical version.

wtf @ Alfred using "Latin America" as a synonym for "central america"

― jaymc, Saturday, January 25, 2014 10:16 PM (9 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i think this album is much better than mena

this is really great

do all her albums sound like peak era kylie

Not really sure but Esquemas Juveniles is also really good

Mena is about half very good half okay

nah, mena is 100% great, esquemas juveniles is about half very good half okay. they get less kylie-esque as you go back, afaict, but i'm no kylie expert.

Mena is definitely 100% great, just not in the same way as Otra Era.

her videos are usually great but the one for otra era is surprisingly dull

nah, mena is 100% great, esquemas juveniles is about half very good half okay. they get less kylie-esque as you go back, afaict, but i'm no kylie expert.

― karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Thursday, November 6, 2014 3:06 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark

Yeah I realized I had it mixed up, this is the correct opinion

you guys the "espada" video

it's a masterpiece

javiera era era era era era era

la carretera reminds me of a perfume song

^

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGfY0aIvIZg