CocoNot - Cosa Astral
Ever wonder what would happen if you put Animal Collective into a blender with Tito Puente, some ganja, and some reeeeally good rum? Neither have I, but i’d imagine it’d sound like CocoNot.
This li’l ensemble from Mexico, or some place down there, puts out some ridiculous grooves under a tropical, trippy, yet fairly accessible melody section that brings to mind the above combination to a ridiculous degree. These guys are like a friggin’ Royal Caribbean cruise, sans cheesiness and fat people with obnoxious kids, and rich brats who have eluded their parents and are currently lowering your faith in humanity one way or another. No, these guys are what is good about the tropics. Each song sounds like either :
A.) A delicious fruit
B.) Sitting in a hammock
or
C.) Having a kickass rhumba party
Broken down, CocoNot takes from the new psychadelia movement happening farther north, Afro-Cuban rhythms, quirky synth sounds, and whatever the main guy, El Guincho, is smoking. Theres also a strange sense of a wall of sound feel, even though its distinctly absent save for wonderfully lush reverb, and the production is definitly not lo-fi by most means. The production sounds like having a really shitty radio turned down low, but your ear is right next to it.
CocoNot’s quazi-sparse arrangements and light upbeat feel is both familiar and exotic, like most fruits for lack of a more eloquent metaphor. Different language aside, these guys are doing something as refreshing as a nice caipirinha on the beach of Costa Rica at sunset with the view of a carnival off in the distance.
Reviewed by Squishy
Track List
1. Conservad El Reyo (3:56)
2. Te Tenia En Cinta (2:43)
3. Verbena De Los Delfines (3:28)
4. Si Apuntos y No Matas Todo (2:33)
5. Tao (3:07)
6. Polen Muchacha! (3:14)
7. El Final De Sonido Tropical (3:08)
8. Miles De Ojos (3:00)
9. Ibiza (4:35)
