CUU Desde El Espacio, Varios ArtistasCUU Desde El Espacio, Mexico
Rating: 69
By Carlos Reyes
Chihuahua is the largest and most violent state of the Mexico; it’s not a big surprise to find out most of its bands process such imagery through the most reddish, psychedelic, and neo-folkloric senses. CUU Desde El Espacio is Chihuahua’s most distinguished music collective, also the home of some of Mexico’s weirdest and most alienating music. The label is primarily ran by Andres Murilllo, better known by CF readers as Sr. Amable; he has collaborated in four Fonogramaticos, including a wonderful cover for Mr. Racoon’s “Pussygrama” in Nosotros Los Rockers.
CUU Desde El Espacio is the name of the label’s very first sampler, but it’s so meticulously constructed, it could be called a compilation. A total of 18 bands were summoned, and while the result may not translate into the most easy album to digest, it’s a terrific example of music as a lifestyle, and as a brotherhood. Almost every band on the album pushes the boundaries of the psychedelic, some succeed, and others not so much. It’s remarkable to find a compilation where Sr. Amable is the most accessible act in the bunch; his track “Nel Pastel” is submissive to its melody without subordinating the power of the elemental. Other highlights include Gay Duo’s ultra-progressive “Justin Our Favorite Dancer”, Manati’s psychotic “iPunk”, and the self-defining “Gorgeous” by El Gil. About half of the album is terribly alienating and too lo-fi to resonate with the common ear. There are probably many theme layers to this compilation that can only be understood by the bands themselves, and maybe the residents of Chihuahua. If anything, this album’s community demographic succeeds in sorting out a method to find escapism through a creative & secretive alliance.