Nazca - 1985 - Nazca

Nazca

1985

Nazca

01. De Oir Le Duele La Boca (7:35)
02. Sueño Tras La Ventana (2:54)
03. El Viaje De Los Muertos (4:30)
04. Lladotropogato (9:37)
05. La Rebelion De Los Colgados (6:14)
06. Paguros Del Dia Gris (2:09)
07. Nazca (4:40)

Alejandro Sanchez / violin
Carlos Ruiz / oboe, bassoon
Guauahtemoc Novelo / drums & percussion
Jorge Gaitan / bass, viola
Carlo Nicolau / piano, cello

Now defunct, NAZCA started off in 1980 with Alejandro Sanchez and Carlo Nicolau who were later joined by three other musicians. All five boast classical music training as well as extensive experience with various bands and/or classical music orchestras. Their compositions, which are mostly a collective affair involving improvisation, mix an equal part of RIO, classical music, avant-garde classical and ethnic (as in Mayan/Aztec/ Inca). Although their music is fascinating and absolutely unique, their coming about in the early 80's proved fatal to the band. As Sanchez once recounts in an interview, the local crowd wasn't very receptive to anything that wasn't pop or mainstream back then; he even recalls some concert goers literally walking out on them, visibly irritated as they thought the band were being intentionally provocative with their music. The lack of interest from both the public and the promoters finally prompted the band to split up in 1988. They had released two studio and one fantastic live album.

Eurock describes their music as "ART ZOYD and UNIVERS ZERO in a Mayan temple playing for a sacred ceremonial ritual". NAZCA's music indeed possesses that mysterious quality one would associate with the spirits that inhabit old Mayan temples. Although the general tone is rather subdued and mysterious, it offers an incredible variety of moods and tempos and contains almost no repetition. The surreal effects are achieved through the use of the bassoon, oboe, violin, piano, viola, cello, bass, drums and percussion - the string instruments being slightly emphasized on their second album, "Estacion De Sombra". All of their albums are recommended, and "En Vivo" particularly so: more than a mere live rendition of studio tracks, it showcases tunes that have been significantly modified, lengthened and/or reinvented by improvisation, making the album feel like a new one altogether. It also contains previously unreleased material and has a better, richer sound than even the studio albums.

To make chamber-rock music in a prog context is already quite bold, but a gigantic boldness it is to write and perform chamber-rock in a musical scene that unabashedly favors easy-listening pop. This is what the adventurous Mexican quintet Nazca did in the 80s. Their 1985 debut album, titled after the band themselves, placed them in a dangerous yet interesting position: to perform dark, abstract music in an attitude of breaking down the barriers between experimental rock and contemporary chamber, with a notable prominence of classical woodwind and string instruments. The featured presence of bassoon/oboe guarantees mystery; the recurrent violin flourishes (at times, augmented by the bassist shifted to the viola and the pianist shifted to the cello) guarantee tension - mystery and tension to the nth potency is what, in a nutshell, Nazca is all about. This album reveals the solid influence that 1979-81 Univers Zero and early Art Zoud had inspired in this band: traces of "Western Culture"-era Henry Cow's dynamics are also added, as well as some slight colors of folkloric origin. 'De Oír Le Duele la Boca' (Spanish for 'So Much Hearing Makes His Mouth Hurt'. go figure!) kicks off the album with somber, polished bassoon lines, as if introducing a creepy moment that is waiting to happen. The piano pulsations that later emerge build the piece's core, while the violin struggles to assume a starring role until it eventually conquers the whole sonic display. The last portion's serenity anticipates the deceitfully peaceful contemplation portrayed in the next number 'Sueño tras la Ventana'. This piece is somewhat playful on a subtle level, but its languid frame takes over the listening experience. 'El Viaje de los Mueros' explores funerary moods with a vivacious solemnity: the abundant dissonant overflows on strings and oboe are crucial to this end. The percussive ornaments pertinently fill the few empty spaces left by the other instruments while they provide a creepy cadence that emulates bones hitting each other. The last 35 seconds provide a very Stravinkyan martial fanfare. 'Lladotropogato' is a pure exercise on Univers Zero-style RIO: after a brief violin solo, captivating as it is terrifying, its main body consists of a motif cleverly developed into a constrained crescendo. The coda is led by the piano-bass pulsations. 'La Rebelión de los Colgados' preserves the coherence in the album's mood with an extra dose of colorfulness, bearing a playful twist to this overall somber album. 'Paguros del Día Gris' fills the official repertoire's last 2 minutes, and it is intensely sinister. "Nazca" is a must for all genuine avant-prog collectors, world-class chamber-rock from Latin America.

If you ever fancied the books of Carlos Castenada put to music but never cared for fryin your own brains on magic mushrooms, a trip with the music of NAZCA could well do the trick.