By José Gandue @Gandour
I come and claim the right to euphoria, to rage made dance and shout, to sweat on the dance floor while the music reverberates in our bodies and ears. To the sonic intensity that shatters behavioral norms at unexpected moments. I turn to the howl of machines, guitars, and percussion that explode from the speakers to rid ourselves of conventional demons that attack us every day. The medicine lies in using the right records to turn up the volume and believe that it's time to take over the planet with wild tenderness and collective ecstasy. Does it sound exaggerated? Yes, definitely. I may even have overused language to explain what I feel when I hear Claps, from the Chilean electronics project Mono or Stereo?, But in the almost fifty minutes that this newly released album lasts on digital platforms, the first impulse that overwhelmed me was to smile and imagine the impossible revolutions that we deserve to change the world.
The duo featured in our review, whose start date is 2016, It consists of percussionist Loreto Ríos Montecinos and guitarist José Toro Concha. They have performed throughout Chile, in Spain and Germany. This album release is their second album, part of what will be a trilogy of albums (Clips, Claps, Clocks). With their first recording they received a nomination for the 2018 Indigo Awards in the Best Song category, and at the Pulsar Awards 2019 they were nominated in the categories of Best Electronic Music Artist and Artist of the Year.
Claps It has eight cuts of varying length, the shortest being Status quo, which barely exceeds a minute in length and, in contrast, Opus – Essay on Pop Culture, which lasts over 17 minutes, and throughout its playback, an unbeatable celebration unfolds that never loses intensity. But make no mistake, this is not simply about blasting low frequencies and waiting for the automatic shaking of the bodies present at the event. There is risk, intelligence, and advanced experimentation in the powerful result. The sound achieved approaches what we might consider classic expressions of European techno from recent decades, although the particular difference lies in the execution of the instruments by Ríos Montecinos and Toro Concha, which add unusual textures and original emotions. There are no typical genre clichés here. There's a punk attitude, and the beautiful, resonant filth imposes its rule over the rhythm.
This is a good album, but it hasn't received much promotion outside the very specialized circles surrounding the band. There isn't much information circulating about Mono o estéreo? online, and contacting them has been impossible. But when it comes down to it, that doesn't matter. Luckily, music doesn't depend on it.
If you're looking for pleasant surprises and want to get rid of any anger that might be lingering in your body, This could be the appropriate soundtrack for it.
