SOHO RIOTS EP
(THE PONI REPUBLIC, MEXICO)
RATING: 64
This is an uneven release considering the great work the Poni has given us, but it’s not ultimately bad, just painfully alienating. This sounds like an album musicians would respect but not necessarily like, it’s intentionally messy and bumpy, thing is, the band is comfortable in its own skin and that’s part of its charm. For someone who loved last year’s works by Bam Bam and the Vivian Girls, this lacks a sense of melody and therefore becomes a hard one to digest. Plenty of distortions and steady beats, with vocals blending along, the first two tracks “Get Lost” and “Coffee Shop Devil” become almost tasteless if not because of their great intros. The second half is a great improvement, the mess gets some shape in “The Days of the Days” and then, an unexpected track pops up that makes one almost forget the rest. “Mr. Tambourine Man” is a memorable Bob Dylan cover worth to download.
PLEITO EP, NAHUER
(CHURRO MACHINE, ARGENTINA)
RATING: 56
There’s probably nothing wrong with this one, it’s just so plain and self-secured that it falls into the ordinary. Nahuer seems to be in a stable position, on a comfort zone that shuts down before envisioning the broader picture of simply offering distinction. This artist should’ve taken the risk and taken the album’s title more seriously, a fight would have been fun to experience. As musical form goes, it’s perfectly executed; a track like “Pleito” is produced so well it could be part of a Babasonicos album. Second track “Fin” has its ups and downs, while “1807” intends to be play with an acoustic setting but falls short. A three-track EP shouldn’t be enough to judge the artist itself; hopefully a next encounter gets to be juicier.
DOWNLOAD: Pleito EP
CALLE 434 – LOS DICIPULOS, LUNY TUNES
(ECHO FUEGO, PUERTO RICO)
RATING: 37
Three years ago, getting featured on a Luny Tunes compilation was a fulfilled dream for reggaeton and bachata artists, now it’s no big deal; it lost respect because as expected, followers have given up on the laziness their beats were getting, and many just lost it when RBD was the leading artist in one of their last albums. Back when they were preliminarily and erroneously called the latin Neptunes, they featured hot artists like Daddy Yankee, Wisin & Yandel, Ivy Queen and Don Omar, mostly with original material they would produce. Now all the magic is gone, both as producers and padrinos of worthy talent. Half of these tracks are as old as the explosion of the genre itself, perhaps they just decided to ‘revive’ a track like “Mirama” to include the big boss on the credits. There is a highlight here, Arcangel of course, who again, shouldn’t be hanging around these two, but luckily he participates with previous material of own. This is a great way to differentiate his potential to the rest; he makes the rest seem like a not very funny joke.
DOWNLOAD: “Pa que la pases bien”, Arcangel