Thursday, August 11, 2011

Los Blops - Blops (1970 chilean progressive psychedelic folk rock, Shadoks reissue - FLAC)



Los Blops was formed by Pedro Greene, Julio Villalobos, Eduardo Gatti, Andrés and Juan Pablo Orrego. The group was still full of energy after a successful rock tour in the summer of 1970, at that time covering ? the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Doors, Animals, Cream, Kinks, Bob Dylan.



Pedro left the group to study in the U.S.A. and also Andrés retired. Juan Contreras, flute and keyboards, and Sergio Bezard, drummer and percussionist would replace them.



With this new conformation they begin to do some tryouts during the winter of same year 70, in the enclosure of 'Cyclotron' at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Chile, where they studied Biology.



Eduardo had an amplifier ' Marsha!l' of '62, with wheels. During the rests, one mounted on amplifying and was pushed by the others high speed by the runners of the Cyclotron.



Those were days of infinite innocence and energies. Here the Blops discovered that they could compose, fix and interpret their own music. It was there were they composed their first song, "Barroquita" -, by Juan Pablo.



The composition acted like magic and in a catalyst way. When one person came with an idea the rest worked on it from the very early morning, in eminence of the exit of the sun which was put in every song of Los Blops.



One influence were electric instruments, usually heard to have been played in pop and rock before, but also folkore highly influenced by the studies of classic guitar of Julio. Both influences were mixed in an original and pioneering form.



Impulsively, the group enters in a race of Composition in the Conservatory of the University of Chile. After a semester, very impulsively again the group let the results loose to the teachers.



With the hospitality of the Parra family, they rehearsed for a while in the house that was inhabited by Violeta Parra before. His spirit accompanied them. Visits of Victor Jarra, that settled to share music, with improvisations, talk and laughter... caused much enthusiasm and creativity.



Frequent changes of test places. In the house of Claudia Eppelin, they rehearsed the song "Vértigo", from Julio Villalobos, and listen hallucinated to "Axis bold as love", of Jimi Hendrix; and in the house of Paula and Julio, they rehearsed "Atlántico" and "Niebla" of Eduardo; they also rehearsed in the house of Carmen Silva, who's garden literally brought forth "La Mañana y el Jardín / the Morning and the Garden", of Juan Pablo. Sadness, loves, confusions and intuitions were also main inspirations.



Nature was strained spontaneously in them, as well as the struggle between natural and the "Maquinaria / machinery"... The adjustments of the songs were collective, communitarian... Juan Contreras coloured and enriched the subjects with his flutes and keyboards.



Sergio Bezard took the trouble to give the music a basic rythm, creative and different with each track. Their first formal performance happened in the "Marconi" theater - today "Providence" -, and it was produced by Alfredo Saint-Jean. This concert was is recorded by channel 7...



After that The Blops began to have a high demand of presentations and concerts. Cultural Centres, television, festivals... This first disc is recorded and mixed in twelve hours, in only two tracks, monotonic, in August of 197O, in the studio "Splendid",in the Monjitas street, close to the flank of the Cathedral in the Plaza de Armas of Santiago.



A beautiful acid (/psych) folk item (The instrumental tracks of the album can be compared to Ithaca and Agincourt), with acoustic finger picking guitars, flute, and sometimes with the addition of xylophone or piano, voice(s). Soft delicate pastoral music. Most tracks are instrumental. Enjoy it!




Los Blops - Los Momentos:





Track list:

01. Barroquita (4:22)

02. Los Momentos (2:52)

03. La Muerte del Rey (4:11)

04. Niebla (1:57)

05. Vértigo (8:37)

06. La Mañana y el Jardin (3:51)

07. Santiago Oscurece el pelo en el Agua (5:28)

08. Patita (3:47)

09. Atlántico (2:35)

10. Maquinaria (7:05)

11. Valle de Los Espejos (4:14)



Los Blops:

*Julio Villalobos - vocals, guitars

*Juan Pablo Orrego - vocals, bass

*Eduardo Gatti - vocals, guitars

*Juan Contreras - keyboards, flute

*Sergio Bezard - drums



[ Thank you DUSAN for sending this post ]

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