Martin Del Carpio – Notes from the Underground CD Review / 2015 Self / 8 Tracks / https://martindelcarpio.bandcamp.com / https://www.facebook.com/martindelcarpiomusic /
Kill Your Beauty is the opening composition on Notes from the Underground, the latest work from New York’s Martin Del Carpio. This introductory track creates a musical approximation of the hustle and bustle of a cityscape, with a bold and brash set of instrumentation that gradually gets more chaotic and glitchy. The frenetic energy that is present during this introductory track will capture the attention of fans, while the number of twists and turns that are here ensure that fans will have no idea where Del Carpio will go in the follow-up compositions.
Dios Ha Muerto is a powerful percussion-led track that has the same protean sound, utilizing vocal samples to establish a wholly different dynamic. Where the tendency is to become more safe and pigeonholed in the later realms of a recording, Notes from the Underground will have fans guessing from beginning to end.
Baton Rouge is a high-water mark for the album. The slower tempo and more laconic styling of Del Carpio here dovetails nicely with the more expansive Antiteater. Antiteater begins with a bit of reality (vocal sample) before taking fans on a journey of the mind. The subtle shifts and differences that occur here gradually accumulate into something engrossing with intense vocal harmonies, a buffeting wind-like composition, and a haunting echo.
The Ballad of Ninfa is the final track on Notes from the Underground and blends together the stronger vocal side of Antiteater with the atmospheric sounds of a Baton Rouge acts as a perfect ending to Notes from the Underground. Del Carpio is able to defy convention and create something that disregards genre conceptions.
Top Tracks: The Ballad of Ninfa, Kill Your Beauty
Rating: 8.3/10