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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Double vinyl edition of Triángulos De Luz Y Espacios De Sombra. Standard sleeve that comes with two inners including credits and liner notes by David Cortez.
Includes unlimited streaming of Triángulos De Luz Y Espacios De Sombra
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Triángulos De Luz Y Espacios De Sombra (Triangles of Light and Spaces of Shadow) is a collection of visionary Mexican electronic music sourced from obscure cassettes, CDs, private pressings, and personal archives, presented by Séance Centre and Smiling C. These works trace an expansive scene of prescient musicians who created a unique speculative cosmology, forging Mesoamerican mythologies with innovative sonic technologies.
From the mid-80s through the 90s, a network of Mexican musicians embarked on a journey to craft a musical expression distinct from the mainstream musical culture that dominated the airwaves and record industry. Based around practices of collaboration, ethnomusicology, electronic experimentation and home-recording, these artists traversed territories at the very edges of genre and musical form. Myth-scientists Antonio Zepeda, José Luis Fernández Ledesma, Jorge Reyes, Isaac Alva, and La Fábula venture into the periphery of the new age, incorporating Pre-Columbian rhythms and melodies into their dream-like compositions. Vistas Fijas, Armando Velasco, Eblen Macari, and Gabo move through radical new wave territories, utilizing guitars and drum machines to map their musical chronicles. Germán Bringas and Eugenio Toussaint traverse the jazz landscape, blending horns with electronics, improvising long uncharted expeditions. Pinning down a unified sound for these artists is challenging, yet they collectively cohabitate the capacious space of "ambient," employing diverse expressions through various imaginative modalities. What distinguishes these artists is a distinctly transhistorical approach which vividly imagines sonic possible worlds.
In an attempt to situate themselves within a culturally and historically complex landscape, many of the artists on the compilation reactivate ancient Mesoamerican music traditions, those of the Aztecs, Maya, and Olmecs. Their electronic compositions are intricate tapestries woven with the haunting melodies of pre-Hispanic flutes and ocarinas, resonating alongside the echoes of ancient percussive marvels like the teponaztli and huéhuetl. Ritualistic chants, undulating synths, and atavistic rhythms intertwine, conjuring a hypnotic mosaic of chimeric sound. Natural and acoustic sounds are juxtaposed within a synthetic habitat, as if towering skyscrapers cast a shadow across ancient pyramids. Rather than longing for an impossible past, these works evoke fantastical visions suspended in dreams, glimpses into the mythical realm of the hummingbirds.
The title "Triángulos De Luz Y Espacios De Sombra" (Triangles of Light and Spaces of Shadow) is inspired by a public access TV show of the same name that showcased several artists featured in this compilation. Imagining triangular prisms of light superimposed on otherworldly shadows feels apt for these illusory and phantasmagoric sounds. The space between these two opposing but interdependent images is the resonant juncture where these artists create their auditory oracles. This compilation highlights the prophetic luminaries of this underground community of musicians, with many of these songs previously unreleased or only available on fugitive formats until now.
This double LP release features 17 tracks remastered from reel-to-reel, DAT, and cassette masters. It includes two inserts with an essay by Mexico City based music journalist David Cortés on both Spanish and English, accompanied by archival photos of the artists and artifacts featured on the compilation. The first edition comes adorned in a luminescent sticker illustrating a solar eclipse.
RIYL: Outro Tempo, Durutti Column, Jon Hassell, Música Esporádica, Finis Africae
credits
released April 8, 2024
Design by Asger Behncke & Rudy Guedj
Mastered by Brandon Hocura
Produced and compiled by Brandon Hocura & Henry Jones
Special thanks to Joe Macari, David Cortez, and Alonso Salamanca
Smiling C is an archival project that shares the stories & songs of under-appreciated artists. We produce a collection of
records, documentaries, & digital releases to highlight musicians who didn’t get the deserved recognition for taking creative chances in their time. Working directly with the artists, we strive to make their innovative visions more accessible....more
supported by 13 fans who also own “Triángulos De Luz Y Espacios De Sombra”
Bedroom dreams of young North Americans in the glittering glow of early rock and roll. It's the spiritual follow-up to Sky Girl and, like that incredible comp, follows an emotional narrative rather than a chronological one. https://www.vikingschoice.org/archive/vikings-choice-2022-reissues-renewals-of-spirit/ Lars Gotrich
supported by 13 fans who also own “Triángulos De Luz Y Espacios De Sombra”
This album is one weird masterpiece. Killed my turntable needle a while ago and looked for music to fill the spot - blueblue did. A unique, dreamy, foggy weird journey into contemporary jazz. Love it since the first time listening! StrangeFlow