Cornucopia "Vibroacústica" CD
[Generator]
Once again it's been awhile since I've heard any output from this Puerto Rican act, but this is an interesting concept album of spacious and minimal ambient textures. According to the insert, the US Navy has been using the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico for military exercises for 61 years, polluting the ocean and causing residents to develop an illness called "Vibro-Acústica" due to the loud noise waves released by such exercises - affecting the immune, gastrointestinal, neurological, and cardiovascular systems, among other things. This CD-R is stated to be "a direct reaction to the arrogance of military leaders and the US government" and "a show of support for those who are fighting, non-violently, to finally get the Navy out of the island of Vieques", using analog synths, digital processing, and field recordings of the cost of Puerto Rico and a local amphibian called the coqui. Interesting. These are very minimal compositions that tend to be quiet and repetitive without a lot of layering. Shuffling sounds, pops and clicks, sinister distorted loops, and smooth ambient undercurrents tend to be common elements, and the field recordings of the Puerto Rico coast become obviously evident in the aptly titled "Hydro 1", "Hydro 2", "Hydro 3", and "Hydro 5" (one must wonder if "Hydro 5" is a typo, as there is no "Hydro 4" listed). "I.G.S." is interesting in its use of panning effects and throbbing low-end, it sort of fucks with your ears and has more of an intriguing atmosphere to it when choral synth tones and typewriter-esque percussive clicks enter the mix. "Cristal" has an ethereal quality to it with lots of bright blips and ringing delay, some of which creates sounds similar to those that would come from insects or something of that nature (similar nuances appear in "Las Antenas"). The recording sounds quite nice. My only complaint is that the output volume of the release is so damn quiet most of the time, I'm not sure if it was mastered or not, but I had to jack the volume up to hear everything properly in headphones. There are a few areas where the levels (input, I assume) peak to distortion, but aside from that the tones and textures are crisp and relatively warm. The CD-R looks professional (despite some light pixilation on the text) with a thick black and white sticker over the entire face of the disc and is housed in a full color sleeve with simple artwork and basic text. Inside is a one-sided color insert that contains only text, but as mentioned earlier the information provided is very interesting. The only setback I see with this disc is that it's a bit too long to really remain interesting due to the lack of variety that it contains. With songs running more than eight minutes on many occasions and a total running time of more than an hour, it can get tiresome. One other thing I must bring attention to is that the $15 price tag on this release from the label is fucking inexcusable in my opinion. Yes, this is a solid effort. And yes, it is professionally packaged. But come on, it's a fucking CD-R in a sleeve! Most labels sell pro-pressed CD's with complete full color booklets and jewel cases for less than $15! There's just no justification for such a charge, and in fact everything this label sells seems to be obscenely overpriced. Contact Cornucopia directly if you're interested, perhaps they have copies available for cheaper? (6/10)
Running time - 62:49, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Particle.Loop.Live.Bomb, I.G.S., Las Antenas]
Cornucopia - cornucopiapr@hotmail.com

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