The Leaf Lab

Efterklang: Tripper/Springer 2003-04 [Digipack / 2 CD]

Sick Man of Europe: The Sick Man of Europe [CD]

When Fernando Corona released Martes, his first album as Murcof, back in 2002, it was a bolt from the blue: a work of such clarity and strength of character that it became an instant genre classic. Utopía is a collection featuring sympathetic reworkings of tracks from Martes, the two tracks from 2003's exceptional Ulysses 12", both tracks from the Utopía Remixes 12" (April 2004) and two further previously unreleased Murcof tracks, ‘Una’ and ‘Ultimatum’.

Remembranza is the second full album by composer Fernando Corona as Murcof. Corona, born in Tijuana in 1970, was primarily known as a member of Mexico’s celebrated Nortec (“Norteño-Techno”) Collective before his first full-length, Martes, was released in 2002. His revolutionary work as Murcof saw him recontextualizing the work of his beloved European contemporary classical composers (including the likes of Arvo Pärt, Henryk Górecki and Giya Kancheli) within minimal electronic structures. It’s a trick that others have tried to pull off, but none with Corona’s lightness of touch, nor widespread appeal. The pieces here incorporate traditional instrumentation recorded especially for the album (including strings, piano and harp), working in tandem with his passion for new and unexplored rhythms.

Fernando Corona’s third album as Murcof marks a dramatic departure from previous works. Truly monumental in scale, Cosmos is composed almost entirely of recordings of classical instruments, a process which Corona describes as “expanding the possibilities of acoustic instruments through electronics.” It’s a move away from the micro-programmed sound he helped to pioneer, and his seamless integration of these apparently opposed forms is almost unprecedented.

Craven Faults: Standers [CD]

Efterklang: Parades/Under Giant Trees (Sp Edit.) [2 CD]