Playlouder - Music is the Network

Quite how Juana Molina has earned so many plaudits for her new album Un Dia escapes me. Most great albums reveal more the closer you listen, the further you delve in to them. The more attention I paid to this record the more incessant, grating and aimless it seemed to become.

Transforming yourself into a respected musician after a being known as a sitcom actress is no easy task. No doubt her determination to steer clear of pop conventions and stay resolutely avant guarde and experimental has earned her a great deal of respect. But as is often the case with avant guarde music, it is has points of interest, it is different, it is challenging, but what rewards are there for sitting through it? Can you enjoy it?

There are definite parallels to Bjork in her work, but with less synthesisers and size - Molina’s sound is more precious. The Spanish guitar is the most recognisable element; but there are soft touches of ambient electronica and some synthesised beats, with hand claps and abstract vocals taking greater pride of place. The production is minimal; it has an organic, shuffling feel, always slightly distant, as if being played in a dark corner of the room. It starts off well : the competing elements of the title track combine to create a bubbling rhythm, almost too complex to tap your feet too.

The repetitive rhythms, the curious lyrical quips and warbling, the light beats, they’re  brought in layers, picked up, put back down, but they never build, they never gather together and develop, they just go on. The repetition is never hypnotic, it is grating and endless. You don’t where it’s going; it doesn’t surprise you by taking you somewhere unexpected, it goes nowhere. Just because the something is challenging and different, does not mean it cannot be tedious and predictable within itself. You could almost describe it as a more organic version of techno.

I would therefore advise caution. Put it on the background and you may find it tolerable, you may even enjoy it, but try to penetrate it, try to delve deeper, and it’ll run irritating head pounding rings around your mind.