New Music from La Mecánica Popular, Sugar Candy Mountain
La Mecánica Popular
Roza Cruz
(Names You Can Trust)
Originally from Lima, Peru, Efraín Rozas moved to New York City to pursue doctoral studies in composition and ethnomusicology, and his group La Mecánica Popular has some lofty aims—to explore “the frontier between social dance and experimentalism” and to “erode the divisions between the popular and the avant-garde.”
However, perhaps demonstrating that the group is succeeding with its goals, the new album Roza Cruz can provide immediate enjoyment, without having to consciously process any underlying intellectual rigor or novel musical concepts, not to mention an aim to go far beyond the inadequate term of “world music” which more often than not means anything not from the Western world.
Straight off, the opening “Part 1 – Bienvenida” lays down some urgent rhythms with Guillermo Barrón on congas and Joel Mateo on timbales, quickly drawing the listener in with its compellingly dance-able barrage.
The band draws from two key genres—salsa dura and Peruvian cumbia (a.k.a. Chicha)—with distinctive percussion and scales; however, the flowing interplay from Rozas (on a Rhodes electric piano), guitarist Felipe Wurst and bassist Dan Martínez also evokes jazz-fusion while the atmosphere also draws from psychedelic rock.
Digging under the surface (which is an interesting enough surface, mind you), one will learn that some rhythms were composed by an improvising robot drummer invented by Rozas, which ties in with his explorations linking technology, myth and power.
Also the album’s title, Roza Cruz, is a nod to Rosicrucianism, the gnostic, esoteric secret society of which Rozas’ grandfather was a member.
Recorded live in the studio, the tracks on Roza Cruz can alternate between tight rhythmic passages where the players lock together on runs, improvisational opportunities for solos, evocative slow-burn grooves and also a looser category where there’s room to wander.
The brightness of the percussion faces a murky intrigue from prickly guitar lines and distorted electric piano; contrasting elements aren’t pitted against each other but mingle naturally, as tradition and technology and the apparent and the obscure play together in an expanding notion of Latin American music.
Sugar Candy Mountain
Do Right
(PIAPTK)
In George Orwell’s allegorical story Animal Farm, a biting and satirical criticism of Stalinism, the character Moses—a raven—represents the Russian Orthodox Church and describes a place called “Sugarcandy Mountain” where “clover was in season all the year round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges.”
Clearly, this place was Heaven—the bountiful afterlife paradise that offers an eternity of comfort.
The Oakland, Calif. group Sugar Candy Mountain lives up to its namesake, providing pop escapism and ample pleasures that are transportive and conscious of their own artificiality.
Led by the vocalists/multi-instrumentalists Ash Reiter and Will Halsey, the band takes obvious influence from various pop strains from the ‘60s, with the Brazilian group Os Mutantes coming to mind most notably; other sources, among many, include psychedelic garage rock acts and the Beach Boys’ gentler, harmonic moments.
Sugar Candy Mountain’s new, fourth album Do Right is probably its most subtle album so far; this writer finds the eccentric charms of 2013’s Mystic Hits to be more immediately persuasive, but Do Right has its own laid-back personality that thrives on providing small sonic details that bespeak a love for pop craftsmanship.
Its own off-center sounds may not seem as outwardly peculiar as those heard on some previous efforts, but listening to Do Right on headphones reveals its obscured gems in the beach sand.
Built up from a ‘60s pulse with tambourine accents, “This Time Around” has a million details, from its particular electric-guitar buzz timbre, to lush layered chorus vocals to string parts that add an elegance to the jaunty pace.
“Happening” manages to evoke The Beatles through individual elements—a melodic progression here, a high bass line, a Ringo-esque fill—although as a whole it doesn’t exactly sound like The Beatles, with sparkling synths and some non-obvious guitar chords.
“Quiet Place” is a high point, with Reiter’s sweetly soft and vulnerable vocals, patiently working through a casual pace through a strange wilderness of phaser effects and envelope-treated synth notes.
For fans of nostalgic, electronically enhanced, off-kilter yet largely inviting pop, it’s a hospitable, artificial paradise.