Spinetta

Although Artaud was officially billed as the third Pescado Rabioso album, the Argentine group had actually broken up by the time it was recorded.

Although Artaud was officially billed as the third Pescado Rabioso album, the Argentinean group had actually broken up by the time it was recorded. It's essentially a solo effort by singer-guitarist-songwriter Luis Alberto Spinetta, with contributions from his brother, drummer Carlos Gustavo Spinetta, bassist Emilio Del Guercio, and drummer Rodolfo García, the latter two of whom had played with Spinetta back in the pre-Pescado Rabioso band Almendra. If it's something of a progressive/psychedelic record, it has more to do with the juxtaposition of late-'60s and early-'70s styles on display than it has to do with the music itself. On various different tracks, Spinetta offers accomplished, sentimental acoustic-based folk-rock balladry ("Todas las Hojas Son del Viento"); languid jazzy San Francisco-styled mild psych…

If you like strings, consider Karenautas, a 14-piece outfit featuring five violinists, four cellists, and two double bassists – with a singer, clarinetist, and drummer completing the lineup. And Karenautas are from Argentina, so if you like tango…well, actually, don't expect any Piazzolla on Recreo, Karenautas' 2012 debut album, and clarinetist Martín Rur has suggested in an interview that listeners shouldn't regard the group as devoted primarily to Argentina's musical heritage. Instead, Rur noted the influence of Ravel, Debussy, and Bartók, but there are also non-classical touchstones, and even a big Argentine one: Recreo is dedicated to the late Luis Alberto Spinetta, a giant of Argentine rock who died in February 2012, not long after the album was recorded.