Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Music Review: Fragmentos "Fantasmas" (Stupid Decisions)


Fragmentos are a band from Mexico and their album "Fantasmas" was released on cassette but by the time I had found out about it, it had sold out.   I still clicked play and then followed the cassette link to the Fragmentos Bandcamp page where the entire album can be heard.    So many people will always ask and wonder what that one force in the universe is that ties all of humanity together.   Some will say love, but I will always say music.   Is there a culture out there which doesn't have music?

Further proving my point that music is the universal language, "Fantasmas" is full of instrumental songs which you would not know their country of origin if not for the audio clips spliced in.   There is this strong FNL feel to it, which carries throughout the rest of the songs as well.    Just beautiful, blissed out guitar notes.   It can turn into this heavy, grinding fuzzy that has me reminded of the 1990's when bands plugged into pedals and made sounds bigger than ever before. 

On one hand, The Cranberries come to mind (Something like "Zombie"), but then it's also closer to post rock just the same.    Hints of Smashing Pumpkins and even Hum come together and I'm just amazed by how this sounds.   It truly does open up a lot of questions for me, which quite honestly should open up questions for you.   If you didn't know- if you are reading this from somewhere outside of North America- the current President of the United States wants to build a wall to keep people from Mexico outside of the United States.  (Land of the free, right?)

I think people- especially within the United States- have preconceived notions about their neighbors, no matter how far across the globe they might be.   How do you imagine people in Mexico live?  Do you think they all have dirt floors, eat tacos and listen to that certain type of music?   It's funny because I never really thought about the way music acts on a global level.   As I write this review, it opens my eyes as to the fact that Mexico as a country must have heard of, say, Nirvana. 

Which seems crazy because, yeah, bands have toured all over the world and played in almost every country they could, you know?   But I think most Americans don't think of it like that.   They think of the average person who is their age in Mexico as having posters of Futbol and Ricky Martin on their walls-- not Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins.   The truth is, this music just goes to show how similar we all really are.   So you want to build a wall to keep Mexico out?   How would you feel if they wanted to keep you out?

Let's celebrate our differences, sure, but let us not also forget just how similar we are.   You want hostility towards Mexico?   This cassette is sold out, but imagine if it was made available for me to purchase for a low price like $2, $3, but it couldn't come to me in the United States because of the political issues created by people like The President.   I'd say that would be a bummer.   People need to think these things through a bit more before throwing out blind hatred.    People also should listen to this album as it is in many ways the ties that bind.


Fantasmas is available at a name your price download here:


It was originally stumbled upon here:

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