Review Summary: Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota at its finest
Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota – Último Bondi a Finisterre (1998)
Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota was an argentinian rock band formed in 1977, with Carlos "el Indio" Solari and Skay Beilinson as the group leaders. Considered one of the most important argentinian rock bands of all time, they achieved a huge popularity without resorting to big record companies or media, keeping themselves as an independent and self-managed band.
Último Bondi a Finisterre is their eighth album, maybe their most experimental record, back then criticized for that very same reason. They took a huge twist on their sound, going for a most electronic, sample-based sound (still mixed with their own style), encouraged by the fact that they had their own studio.
And in this attempt for mixing their own style with the new technologies that they had now at their fingertips, the electronic sounds that they achieved took a huge role on every aspect of the record. The music is plagued by loops and samples but without sounding like a different band, while the lyrics create a digital world where there are places such as Cybersiberia, Cyberbabel and there's a digital god that you can recreate if it went wrong. The artwork of the record also presents digital versions of the members of the group, trapped in a virtual world that runs through all the ilustrations of the album.
Personally, I find Último Bondi a Finisterre as one of the finest albums ever made by Patricio Rey y sus Redonditos de Ricota: this concept of digital world that shapes the entire album is well accompanied by the music (with the use of technology as a major element on its sound) and by the artwork that helps to visualize it.
Favorite tracks: La Pequeña Novia del Carioca, Estás Frito Angelito, Scaramanzia
