Featured: Víctor Hugo - “Así es como se arruina un verano”
Fuego Amigo Discos, Peru
by Pierre Lestruhaut
Considering Víctor Hugo used to sing in Mi Jardín Secreto, an indie rock band from Lima packed with Planetas-infused upbeat riffs, his latest single and closing track on Fonogramáticos Vol. 12 “Así es como se arruina un verano” is a considerable shift in musical style. Nearly every single person I’ve shared this great track with has had the same instant reaction of pointing out just how evocative it is of Ennio Morricone film scores. Only seconds into the track, you can almost feel the tension of an old spaghetti western duel building up. The initial heavy pounding beat and steady guitar strumming are joined by an almost frightening backing vocal harmony. Then the track morphs into a stunning series of chord progressions leading us into the inevitable grandiose climax and finale.
Most music that I would qualify as somewhat cinematic, such as Portishead or early Wu-Tang records, usually exercises itself in being sonically evocative of films and their scores through the heavy use of samples. Víctor Hugo instead directly embraces the same compositional form and structure of great Morricone climactic tracks like “L’Arena” or “The Ecstasy of Gold” in order to create something that emotionally brings us back to the experience of watching films. Released through Fuego Amigo Discos, “Así es como se arruina un verano” is unlike anything we’ve heard from the Argentine net label (and maybe even anything that’s ever been covered on CF). Yet this young label has already given us great singles by favorites like Los Migues and Luciana Tagliapietra, and it might just be starting to become the home of a series of interesting bands to watch.