Voiceless Rock for Speechless Listeners…
Do you remember Vista? Some years ago, when Windows started to commercialize its latest operative system, an ad appeared on TV showing people surprised by unexpected experiences. Leaving the commercial aside, that feeling of surprise came to mind when I first heard Toundra playing. This rock quartet from Madrid left me saying to myself: “that was great! What was it?”.
What I heard listening to their second album “(II)”, was a radically new approach to the concept of instrumental rock: the commonly adopted strategy used to send some kind of message by avoiding using vocals has been a complete success. There’s no lead guitar, nor piano, nor trumpet governing the melody. There is no standard verse-chorus structure in the songs.
What we have is a powerful rhythm section, which marks the changes in the music. Two guitars that wisely underline the different atmospheres by means of astonishing distortions and smart delays which alternate with the acoustic moments. The complexity of the compositions are never boring. Several plays are needed to keep mentally track of the songs primarily due to the fact that some of them are considerably long, sometimes more than 10 minutes. The concepts of the sound are strongly rooted in the alternative rock of the nineties. No electronic stuff. In some passages, I miss the penetrating voice of Billy Corgan. But not too much!
Franco Rigato
Web page: http://www.myspace.com/toundraband
Artists permanently (and randomly) "on air" at present date: Toundra(Spain), Maxena Tace(Italy), Sawako (Japan), The Cleopatras (Italy), Hollowblue(Italy), OPA(USA), Nora Keyes (USA), Simona Gretchen(Italy), Facciascura (Italy), hiiragi fukuda (Japan), Stardog(Italy), I Got A Violet(Italy), The Agrarians (USA); Feldmaus (Russia); Red Velvet (Italy - France); Eigenheimer (Holland); Drugs Made Me Smarter (Mexico); Kelvin & Speedy Peones (Italy); Tidy Kid (USA); NIMM (Italy); MorningPaper (Italy), Edgar Graves (Czech Republic), Marshmallow (Croatia), David Morley (England/Belgium); Bancale (Italy); Antony Raijekov (Bulgary); Amélie (Italy); Celestial Aeon Project (Finland); Channel in Channel out (USA); Madrigali Magri (Italy), Gimme 'hat Moonshine (Belgium), Krakenti (Latvia), Wheelchair Discotheque (Latvia), TheOneOnTheIsland (Slovakia), Maok (Slovakia), LaBon (Slovakia), Jordan Jordan (Slovakia), Social Society (Slovakia), Batte (Norway), Orange Crush (Norway), Oriental Music System (Hong Kong), Iamsum (Hong Kong), Rex Cody (Hong Kong), Donkey Valium (Hong Kong), Smiling Buddhas (Hong Kong), O-M (Hong Kong), Hvoya (Ukraine), Automatic Pilot Required (Brazil), Yogi (Brazil), Light Merchants (South Africa), The Slowmovies (Italy); I am this (USA); Kråkvind (Sweden); Planet Brain (Italy); Lebatol (UK); Sarah Schuster (Italy); Krt 963 (Italy-Japan); Flap (Italy); Nicker Hill Orchestra (Italy); Menrovescio (Italy); Annabel (USA); Karmatest (Italy); The Dada Weatherman (France); Diablo Swing Orchestra (Sweden); Japanese gum (Italy); Above the tree (Italy); Volcano Playground (Canada); Linz (Italy); Anomie Belle (USA), Christophe Marc (France), Death Valley Sleepers (Denmark), Jeremy Sparrow (Denmark), Zoon van snooK (England), Systemton (Germany), Matti Bye (Sweden), Manuzik (Japan), Chances (Italy), Hometaping (Great Britain...?), Ping (Norway), Frey (New Zealand), Manhan (Japan), One Chef (Sweden), Mijagi (Poland), Pandacetamol (Scotland), Lu-Sin (Argentina), Thomas Solgaard (Denmark), Wonderboy (France), Los Hermanos Butaca (Argentina), La Biyuya (Argentina), Negro Fluo (Argentina), Sempai (Italy), Riccardo Vianello (Italy), Wolther goes stranger (Italy), Eildentroeilfuorieilbox84 (Italy), Buzz Aldrin (Italy), Stefano Roveda (Italy), Rosso! (Italy); manzOni (Italy).
