psychedelic Folk review page : Salvador Cresta

private Salvador Cresta : El Trovador fantasma y la comida del espejo (demo) (ARG,2005)****

This release is the best of all three Salvador Cresta releases and most accessible for non-Spanish listeners. Unfortunately in all three releases there’s a disturbing bass-buzz sound (bad earthing ?) in many of the tracks, which you hear not so much in headphones as on big size music boxes that are sensitive to bass tones.. -(I think this still can be filtered out if it is ever remastered for an official release-).

This is a collection of songs composed with a serious body but also some playfulness, adding funny noises or background noises (dogs bark more than once in the background ; or some rhythmical car horns loop on the far background which seems to have brought poetical/textual and music inspiration for a song on "Vemimentos") or funny vocal harmonies and beautiful acoustic guitar improvisations, sometimes also becoming surreal. This could remind us easily of early work from the Spanish Sisa (with Musica Dispersa & Sisa solo), or is like an acoustic Cocorosie with complete Spanish roots. The playful vocals might also remind people just a bit of Devendra Banhart singing in Spanish, with more variety.

People, who like the fantasy world of Finish items like Lau Nau, and imagine it mixed with a more textual and song world, can have some idea of Salvador Cresta’s musical world. Texts I think are important.

There are tracks, like “Un Reloj” which are more like poetry set into music.

Most vocal expressions, with all the free-from vocal fun and expressions, I guess are all honestly driven from this textual core, and perhaps a few times become still rhythmical avant-dada-like music themselves (especially on “Piedras Simceras”).

A great release which I hope will be discovered soon by some label.

Lyrics here ; Info & audio on http://www.madgranja.com.ar/salvadorcresta_album_trovador.htm

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priv. Salvador Cresta : Comó remontar un barrilete a través de una serie de estornudos (demo) (ARG,2005)***°

This release (which I believe is the first of the three) has some comparable elements like the first reviewed album, but still is from a somewhat different perspective. First 6 songs have strong rhythmical melody evolutions on acoustic guitar, for the first tracks in a hypnotizing way. The following short tracks mostly use more voices (as being partly an instrument) and a few extra instruments or arrangements (glockenspiel, whistling, flute, toy-organ, simple electronic sounds,..) which makes the music more like a kindergarten playground, (with all necessary fun- (making) elements), but still song based. After track 14-15 the music seems to be more serious and built from the textual expressions. Some tracks are spoken word (14,15), while with track 16 they hold the middle between vocal theatre and poetry, and many others hold the middle between spoken word poetry and song orientation, before there are again (by track 20) based upon fun with vocals, acoustic guitar and other instruments, comparable to the previous album I reviewed, in a more serious way, and to Devendra Banhart again. I miss of course the textual foundation, but the music still is enjoyable. Last track, (track 23) (with the usual vocal harmonies) with additional handclaps, and keyboard ping pongs is a fun version "Whiskey bar".

Lyrics here Info & audio : http://www.madgranja.com.ar/salvadorcresta_album_estornudos.htm

private Salvador Cresta : Tertulias de sótano submarino (el abuelo está viejísimo) (ARG,2006)**°

This album contains short ideas, first of child-like poetic and then more serious word and story driven songs, accompanied by beautiful acoustic guitar fingerpicking, with just a bit of whistling, background noises and other things. Track 10, suddenly, also uses a one-note core of a keyboard. The music is dreamy calm with awareness, with a pretty mood of improvisation, with a inner happy freedom of performance like on a sunny day-off. Many tracks are spoken word, in a rhythmical Spanish, within a song structure. This is the calmest album of all three.

Homepage with audio : http://www.madgranja.com.ar/

Contact : Salvador Cresta ; Lyrics here ; info here

private Salvador Cresta : Arana vegetal al viento (ARG,2006)****

Salvador Cresta made this new bedroom recording of half spoken half sung poetic miniatures with multi-layers of voices, acoustic guitars, a couple additional child-playful sounds on keyboards and toys, and a tiny bit more serious organ/keyboard and additional flutes (especially beautiful on “raro versio raro despliega un par de alas quemantes”). The whole recording is a real pleasure to hear. I can sense the bedroom with a wide open door to a terrace, sun coming in, birds whistling, dogs barking far away. Very nice ! Hope this will find an official release soon.

Earlier releases reviewed up (with additional links). Video here

Blogspot with info, audio in rar format,..: http://salvadorcresta.blogspot.com/

Mad Granja Rec. Salvador Cresta : Gatos y Antorchias -cdr- (ARG,2007)****

I always look forward to a next chapter of Salvador Cresta. This new release was sent to me in rapidly wrapped brown paper. When I looked closer at this paper it seemed to contain a old magazine photograph of some pope which now had a pencilled black cat head and a fire expression coming from his hands (see up).

A shame I miss the understanding of the significance of the poetic side of the album. Technically it seems to have been recorded well enough. I repeat myself, (-this still is a lo-fi product-), that this still sounds more interesting and a more consistent listen than the Devendra Banhart releases, so I don’t understand why there is no label interest yet. Thanks to the multi-track system Salvador Cresta is once more split into many persons, let’s say like helped by many more Salvador Cresta dwarfs, who cooperate with himself. Acoustic guitar, fun keyboards arrangements, washboard rhythms or guitar box fingering, lots of sing-a-long, hiss, ooah, and cough along vocal arrangements, and a bit of piano, drinking glass percussion or flute, a self built wah-wah and who-who receiver changing some other playful keyboard sounds, and here and there an environmental recording, and a radio, contribute to make the songs like complete worlds of musical theatre, just like a broadcast send from a carton box television for creative souls.

Audio : here

Label info : http://www.madgranja.com.ar

with this release : http://www.madgranja.com.ar/salvadorcresta_album_gatos.htm

Previous releases reviewed on http://www.psychedelicfolk.com/acidfolkreview15.html#anchor_294

& http://www.psychedelicfolk.com/acidfolkreview15.html#anchor_320

next 2 releases ->

privateSalvador Cresta : Bedroom Preacher -No Talent Lo Fi Spanglish- (ARG,2008)****

Costumers, politicians and English-speaking people tend to not want Spanish song music. Not because they don’t understand this second most important language in the world ; it is a threat (for their language). For some citizens in America there are already too many Spanish speaking people, and that’s why this language is seen as a threat. Build walls to protect us from more Spanish coming in! are plans from the latest government. Music labels won’t publish easily Spanish song music, even when there are a few exceptions. Salvador Cresta is good, really good ; it’s weird folk music. But it’s in Spanish. People won’t accept this. Myself, I don’t understand much of it but it still makes me laugh with enjoyment. I don’t care how this can be. But he still didn’t find his label. I asked Salvador just to try once to make English songs, even if it’s in terrible English. It might have the same effect. And no, he does not speak English well (he says) (perhaps neither do I), but he accepted the challenge and wrote to me “I have wrote in English but I don’t know what I say.. anyway, who cares!”.. “The "Upolite Upolinko” album it’s me whit a friend called Gonogan”. Just in case people might not understand the English he also wrote on the album : “no talent lo fi Spanglish”, so with a warning ! The two CDRs I received were customized unique copies which contained also the last smoked cigarette and a unique tourist photograph showing a dangerous innocent situation (see up).

The English spoken album is in fact to some degree a serious album. It contains funny keyboard arrangements, a few comical but also sweet bedroom songs and a few sad instrumentals, played with electronic keyboards, some acoustic guitars (sporadically electrified guitar), glockenspiel, whispery vocals and dual vocals, flute arrangements and a dog barking quietly being curious in the background. Some of the lyrics contain funny irrelevant associations. The funniest title on the album is “Wait don’t go I can find a job”. This is sung by dual somewhat-harmony-voices in the telephone with little bits of white noise sound effects, and quiet acoustic guitar picking, and the aforementioned curious dog in the background. To keep away real nationalists, two Spanish songs are included too, also with beautiful harmonies, with its deviations of popmopompom or quiet mouth buzzing. Last ultra short track imitates a harmonic a capella composition of kazoos and ducks imitators. A short (-27 minutes-) but again brilliant, and well arranged album.

private Salvador Cresta : Upolite Upolinko “teta tatá, tateti” -bedroom recordings- (ARG,2008)****

Also this mini-album sounds like a perfectly compiled creative song album, in Spanish, arranged with dual vocals, picking arrangements on acoustic guitars and some arrangements of toys, flutes and extremely little percussion. “Tutan Come On” is a more serious almost baroque piece on organ, with some changing effect.

PS. Salvador Cresta makes costumized CD's or even songs/albums for those who order it, so each album will be a unique album.

Description of Salvador on : http://www.wovenwheatwhispers.co.uk/...

Info : e-mail Salvador

private Salvador Cresta : Membrana de Tortuga Gitana (ARG,2009)****

"I make that album around november/december 2009... I try to sound like my mind, and my mind is a collage (and it´s not "mine")...

There´s "lyrics" about the mystery of the sky in the night; around minute 04:00, that song: it´s midnight and i´m sitting in a kind of taxi; it´s a black, obscure route in the mountains of Córdoba; it´s supposses that i got to go to the city, but something takes control of my body and i say to the driver: "LET ME RIGHT HERE", and it´s a black, obscure night and the trees and the stars and the moon and there is no one around there and i feel something very powerful running inside of me... I´m alone but i´m not alone.

And there´s "lyrics" about no have a "physical home" whit a roof and a bed, around 07:00... "I find a free hotel whit a huge giant bed of grass"...

And there´s lyrics AGAINST THE CITIES: (09:30) "Cities lies to you whit aerosol food"

"Cities lies to you whit horror movies in your living room, they want FEAR for you"

"Cities lies to you, they say: The Light is electric and you have to pay for it"

"Cities lies to you and they put the CRYSTAL HOLLY WATER in a bottle and then throw shit in the rivers and now you got to buy that funny little plastic bottle whitout his ancient power"

"Cities lie to you, they say: Accept the violence like an ordinary sucess in your life; kill your brother and make damage to other people, it´s not a weird thing, it just happens"...

Well, that kind of things appears in the collage of images that flows down my hair, inside that strange balloon whit eyes and a mouth...

It´s all recorded whit an old notebook and the old cheap microphone that i use to record from the beguinning (that´s records that i send you in the 2005)... "

"Estoy viviendo en el campo, en un pueblito diminuto rodeado de árboles y montes; me dedico al "Constante Recreo" llevando una vida sin manejar dinero en efectivo. Creo que situarse al márgen del sistema sin participar de él, es la única manera de ser felices. Llegó el momento de acabar con los relojes; no pueden seguir dominando nuestra vida."

Just listen to the story in music, a collage with lots of song happenings, built up like a large musical poem with lyrics and music, guitar themes, with sing-along voices with theatrical strength, filmic actions, arrangements with toy organ keyboards and serious keyboards, background collages of media (television) and story enfolding environmental settings of experiences interfering with the song, including the interference expression of a desperate delirium version of “foxy lady” describing the situation of a failed setting of temptation. Not sure what happened, it listens like an artful drama.

Info : http://www.myspace.com/salvadorcresta & http://www.last.fm/music/Salvador%20Cresta

private Salvador Cresta : Home videos vol.1 & 2 (ARG,2009 & 2010) ???

"Hallolla…I´m from Argentina, so i don´t speak english… I say: La membrana de la tortuga gitana.

I have made this short movie in a place that i have been living for a few months, in the mountains of Capilla del Monte, Cerro el pajarillo, the subterranean city of Erk´s.

For dvd´s and cd´s, call me: 987309875834758943768996798352789376589

Or write me an email: salvadorcresta@yahoo.com Acid Anteojos en mi Patio"

I found as introduction on the net.

Where vol.1 seems to have been a collage of different ideas, I had the impression Salvador Cresta really got into video collage completely, technically and creatively. I had the impression of one story in different occasional parts, part of it just like parts of life, based upon Salvador Cresta’s free mind and free person’s life, his house, his friends, his dog, his girlfriend all participate, but also collected video’s of private recordings of family parties and fairgrounds, like odd loops with odd video effects. The soundtrack is brilliant, a collage being one with the images, including some pop songs by Los Migues and perhaps a Jana Hunter song, besides music from Salvador Cresta. In between are surreal visions and the life’s story becomes surreal too, like a puppet theatre, expressed with tripped visions with real dolls, like a poisoned mind’s dilusion. You have to see it. I hope some days someone releases a CD+DVD release. Salvador’s talent is growing. Welcome to the free mind.

No links are on the net. These videos are not meant for the net. Feel free to order your own copies.

"Please, if you can, remember to your listeners that i sent my stuff whit originals draws and collages and hair and little pieces of me, so they can experiment the presence of a REAL HUMAN sending/behind the package, and not a CD made by a robot 10,000 times the same PRODUCT.

PRODUCT/MONEY/PRODUCT/MONEY/PRODUCT/MONEY... I´m just OUT. OUT. OUT. OUT.

I just want to change the channel.

I hope you enjoy what you are doing, and if you don´t enjoy, well... Sometimes i´m just eat a piece of bread, or i walk for hours and hours whitout a certain destiny or place to go. It´s not IMPORTANT. There´s nothing really important. I´m just laugh, and laugh, and laugh. When a man kills other man, it´s so ridiculous, so absurd, so stupid. They fight for little pieces of space in a fucking giant planet; they fight for littles pieces of mental paper for his mental collages; they fight for THINGS like televisions, weapons, factories, coins... I don´t fight. I don´t like his world. I´m just OUT.".... .............................