Featuring glitchy micro programmed beats, layers of finely honed electronic sounds and some truly gorgeous piano and string parts that have been lovingly weaved into the mix. And, despite the dark and broody nature of the soundtrack overall, there are huge payoffs to be had when Corona manages to choose just the right chord to radically alter the mood of any given piece.
[Listen | Purchase] Mexican electronic producer Murcof, otherwise known as Fernando Corona, first came to my attention with his stunning debut album, Martes, which was released on Leaf back in 2002. Corona’s music struck me as a scintillating blend of micro programmed techno and heavily manipulated orchestral samples – at the time, it quite simply didn’t sound like anything else to my ears. The thing that really stood out on Martes, however, was the extreme minimalism and bare-bones production aesthetic, where even moments of drawn-out silence were to be regarded by the listener as a major feature. This had a rather unnerving quality that forced you to concentrate on the tiniest of details, and because the production was stripped back so far, you really could follow every reverb trail right to the back of the mix if you wanted.
This was followed up, if we ignore the patchwork of originals and remixes that made up 2004’s Utopía, by an even more remarkable album: Remembranza. So stunned was I upon hearing this album that I insisted some of my university friends listen to it on headphones in their own rooms, in complete darkness, while utterly boxed on whatever smokables they could lay their hands on. Thinking back on it, this could easily be interpreted as severe mental torture in a court of law, as Corona’s 2005 album is bleak, to say the least. Not that it wasn’t balanced with beautiful moments and head-nodding grooves. There were also times when the doom-laden, oppressive atmospheres gave way to majestic piano lines and soaring string sections. Plus there was some righteous slabs of pure sub bass throughout, which is always a good thing in my book.
In short, I fell in love with Corona’s sound, though he did go off on one with 2007’s Cosmos, which, let’s just say, was a very difficult album. Luckily, Corona returned to the vibes of Remembranza for his soundtrack to mind-bending Mexican film, La Sangre Iluminada, which roughly translates as Enlightened Blood. Unfortunately the film was never distributed in Europe. However its soundtrack has thankfully been re-edited, remastered and re-released on InFiné.
Corona has gone for a character based approach here, so aside from the intro and outro tracks, certain themes have been developed for each of the main characters. Therefore the majority of tracks have names like “Hugo I,” “Paloma III” or “Isaías IV,” and so on. And even though I was unable to hear the music in the context of the film itself, you can tell that the moody ambiance and thematic approach is only going to add to the characterisation. In fact, some of the more atmospheric numbers, often featuring little more than a pulse and various reverberating sounds, remind me of similar moments in Clint Mansell’s excellent soundtrack for Requiem for a Dream.
It’s worth bearing in mind that this is most definitely a soundtrack, with the prerequisite that the music must remain in the background and not take anything away from dialogue. Therefore most of the twenty tracks on offer are very short mood pieces that, while fine to have on in the background as you go about your day, aren’t going to make you sit up and listen intently. Nevertheless these are nicely balanced with some far more fully-featured tracks, each lasting between three and five minutes – tracks that are so good I’d argue they justify spending your hard-earned dollar on the entire album. Typically these feature the glitchy micro programmed beats, layers of finely honed electronic sounds and some truly gorgeous piano and string parts that have been lovingly weaved into the mix. And, despite the dark and broody nature of the soundtrack overall, there are huge payoffs to be had when Corona manages to choose just the right chord to radically alter the mood of any given piece.
The final track sees Corona take on a remix of Chilean bolero-funk fusion band, Los Ángeles Negroes. At first, due to the vocals and use of real drums, I thought it stuck out. After a few listens, however, I completely changed my mind. “Como Quisiera Decirte (Murcof Remix)” is a fantastic end, blending powerful male vocals, trip-hop rhythms and various stringed instruments with Corona’s otherworldly sense of nuance. And the way the final vocal is looped seamlessly and gradually filtered out of the mix is a stand out moment in a consistently strong album.
Murcof’s La Sangre Iluminada is out now on InFiné, with both MP3 and CD versions available. There’s also a super limited edition (with only 300 copies worldwide) red vinyl LP. [Listen | Purchase]
[audio:http://igloomag.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Murcof_Paloma-IV.mp3|titles=Murcof “Paloma-IV” (clip)]
