Roldán is both sufficiently eclectic and modular so as to resist being pigeonholed with a static definition, especially if we bear in mind the band’s countless collaborations and ever-changing lineups at live gigs. He is a mainstay of the artistic community born at the School of Fine Arts in Cuenca, from which most of their partners in sound experimentation come: Rafa Martínez del Pozo (La Jr, AA Tigre), Javi Álvarez (Dúo Cobra, Fluzo), Kiev cuando nieva or Lorena Álvarez y su Banda Municipal.
What is, nonetheless, especially interesting about this act is how all these elements are juxtaposed: the instruments are not subservient to the song itself, nor do they really provide a main riff. Rather, the instrumentation is articulated in a completely nonhierarchical and decentralized fashion. In this sense, the arrangements are like a set of vectors or packets of information that spread out freely on their own, thus causing the sensation of a heterogeneous, yet harmonious, sound whose complexity is akin to that of a symphonic music or baroque aesthetics. While Roldán does not sit comfortably within current pop-music conventions, the songs are catchy in their own way. And they are challenging, as they lack predictability, repetition and redundancy. The listener must play an active role in the process of deciphering the creative mismatches that slyly bestow an occasional knowing wink at DIY sensibilities with a sense of humor…
‘Te tenemos muy cerca’ is an EP made up of four tracks (as opposed to “songs” in the conventional sense) produced and recorded by Rafael Martínez del Pozo and then subsequently was arranged by Javier Álvarez. The result is something like a set of dials that range from avant-garde noise to musique concrete, while including visual and narrative techniques of hip hop and DJ mixes. What emerges from this cocktail of styles are tracks such as the fascinating ‘La princesa y la ballena’, in which faint African riffs meet dub, and prepsychodelic science fiction; or ‘No huyáis’: a paradoxical lyrical waltz framed by a captivating flow of rudimentary drums that is both spontaneous and intuitive. The hilariously epic ‘Aventuras en la gran ciudad’, in which we see traces of Scott Walker’s angst-ridden ‘Tilt’ precisely when we hear the eccentric howl of the EP’s title ‘¡Te tenemos muy cerca!’. The metric plasticity of the track contrasts with the precision of the hi-hats of blacksploitation films. ‘Las belugas’, with its beautiful bossa nova rhythm and strident guitar that follow the vocal melody, along with its wonderful vibraphone coda, is the clearest reference to Gastr del Sol and Red Krayola.
(…) Esperanza Collado
