Archive
JUANA MOLINA
Second sight: the idiosyncratic Argentine’s revelatory starting point
SEGUNDO (reissue, 2000)
CRAMMED DISCS
9/10
Though she’s rightfully known as a pioneer of the looping pedal, Molina’s unique vision was already in place on Segundo, released a year before the Boss RC-20 emerged. This epic double LP was constructed from multiple sets of sessions, most made alone in various home studios, though Springsteen producer Ron Aniello is a surprising collaborator on “El Desconfiado”. The lightning strike came when Molina realised that her messy, free demos were far better than anything she recorded ‘properly’; and so pieces such as the carnival-esque, electronic “Mantra Del Bicho Feo”, the woozy nursery rhyme “La Visita” and the gorgeous Technicolor trip-bossa of “El Perro” and “Quiero” created a stellar blueprint which set the songwriter off on the hazy, surrealist path she’s still following.