MARCELO RADULOVICH | TITICACAMAN studio

Titicacaman Records CAT#17

To Lilliput & Back, Vol. 2
by Marcelo Radulovich (2014)
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The cassettes from the 80s and 90s have aged well, wobbly, muddy, hissy stuff to play with.
Layer new tracks, mix, remix
aiming at a strange music flashing a unique palette
feel free to make a mess
Lo-Fi + Hi-Fi, mid-fi does not make
songs, soundscapes, experiments
old 4-track cassette recordings as the main source
51 minutes worth of original music which spans some 32 years, recorded in various parts of the world, California, Costa Rica, Holland, Chile, Japan.
re-interpreting old, unfinished songs
little recorded could be gems, hard to reproduce
in bedrooms many years ago
psychedelic, rich, musical, moody, fun, out of tune
new words, new voices
after strange aural experiences

Volume 2 though? Where is volume 1? Well, I’m glad you asked that. To Lilliput & Back, Vol. 1 was released in 1996 through Accretions Records. It also used 4-track cassette recordings as the main source, similar vibe as volume 2, well worth checking out. 1996 to 2014, perhaps volume 3 will not take as long to see the hairs of ears.

To Lilliput & Back, Vol. 2 jumps around genres and doesn’t apologize for all its imperfections. It showcases Mr. Radulovich’s multi-instrumental skills and also features guest appearances from various creative entities. Tijuana-based drummer Carlos Maria plays on three of the tracks, Bill Ray plays drums on one, there’s also a wonderfully hypnotic vocal performance from the musically gifted Tina Dei, and a couple of tracks showcase the computer music work developed at Red Tape Studio in Holland, with painter Max Springer and Ben Boe in 1994.

CREDITS

All music and lyrics by Marcelo Radulovich except track 18, Radulovich/Springer/Boe
Marcelo Radulovich: voices, guitar, bass, keyboards, samples, drum machine, percusssion, electronics
Bill Ray: drums on track 8
Tina Dei: vocals on track 20
Carlos Maria: drums on tracks 6, 10 and 16 (recorded at El Rincón Studios, Tijuana México). Tracks 18 & 19 recorded at Red Tape Studio in Utrecht, Holland
Recorded/produced/designed by Marcelo Radulovich at Titicacaman Studio, 2014

Titicacaman Records CAT#14

Nohayquepreocuparsepornada
by Marcelo Radulovich (2004-2013, remixed 2013)
BUY : amazon | iTunes | bandcamp

Nohayquepreocuparsepornada is a collection of original songs by Marcelo Radulovich deeply rooted in the much treaded soil of rock’n’roll. Rock, yes, but of the 21st century kind, heavily influenced by a deft use of samples, mangled keyboards, field recordings, toy instruments and lush production. Recorded at Titicacaman Studio in Cardiff, CA, between 2004 and 2013, Nohayquepreocuparsepornada features the great talents of Enrique “Bugs” Gonzalez (Los Lobos, Jumbo, Plastilina Mosh) on drums and Marcelo on all other instruments and voices.

The music is vibrant and creative, a healthy blend of many genres and styles, the result of percolated years of slow grinding. The songs come across as offerings to the great gods of rock’n’roll, to the deities, the muses of art, to the surreal poetry of latin america, to strobe lights in a disco, to seeing the glass as half full, to an existential approach to ascension… little offerings of funky love pie baked by latinos. The album rolls on through 13 tunes, 7 in english, 4 in spanish and 2 instrumentals. Driving music, rich and colorful, a little dissonant at times, a tarty sweet at others, a strong pulse and drumming galore always present.

Word plays in lyrics add a lack of coherence, stories told through symbolism, gibberish and myth… some manic dude yelling at you in spanish, you don’t have to worry about anything, while he himself frets and bangs thrift store instruments in a small bathroom. Across the street, a blind beggar with a noisy speaker outside a church in San Jose, Costa Rica, wah wah leads, I am the good shepherd who tends to your daily needs, and we all wonder, what would come from a rat having intercourse with a snake? Mas Alla time stands still, speeds up and reverses, we are glad gluttons, and glad of it! Trying to make Fred rise through the sad wails of a lapsteel, lunching intricate, sultry salads en el pueblo, talking about how deep runs the water as it enters the throat, delivered by the queen. Now calling volunteers, calling citizens who took out machine while adding flux at the end of the day, all yell Nohayquepreocuparsepornada!

CREDITS

All music and lyrics by Marcelo Radulovich
Enrique “Bugs” Gonzalez: drums
Marcelo Radulovich: voices, guitar, bass, keyboards, samples, drum machine, percusssion, electronics
Recorded/produced/designed by Marcelo Radulovich at Titicacaman Studio, 2004-2013
Thanks to Frank Gaeta

Titicacaman Records CAT#13

Mercurio
by Marcelo Radulovich (2004-2007, remixed 2013)
BUY : amazon | iTunes | bandcamp

Mercurio is an intriguing display of an artist’s ever-growing musical vocabulary, a further crossbreed of styles and instrumentation, recorded and produced at Titicacaman Studio in Cardiff, CA between 2004 and 2007, re-mixed in 2013. In Mercurio, Marcelo plays all the instruments and sings all the vocals, focusing on creating a work that is deeply personal and singular, with lyrics that deal with the socio-political issues of always, family bonds and home, the omnipotent and the mangled stuff of the psyche.

These are raw, emotive songs, some in English, some in Spanish, one in a made-up language, the uniquely intriguing Sate Sane. The music is dense and very colorful, rich with samples and textures interacting with an array of acoustic and electric instruments, moving in and out of time signatures in an improvisational fashion. The result is a sort of organized, microtonal, twisted, filtered, electro-acoustic messy soulful brew, concocted at the crossroads of experimental and pop.

Reviews:
“Although highbrow electro-acoustic experimentation isn’t a steady staple of my musical diet, Mercurio will probably have me second-guessing every time I pass over a Robert Fripp album. Clever, beguiling and compulsively listenable, Radulovich crafts a sonic playground atop the avant-garde pavement laid by Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa and Faust. His playful, Dada-inspired wordplay isn’t an entirely new concept, but the way it’s contorted into foreign, glitchy noises with the use of computer technology suits the inventiveness of his soundscapes perfectly. If you’re looking for traditional pop songs, go elsewhere. If you’re looking for something fresh and deeply inspiring, Mercurio will be your muse.”
—Todd Kroviak (San Diego CityBeat – 3/2008)

“Even by experimental standards, Marcelo Radulovich’s music is pretty strange stuff. Frequently sounding like eccentric pop songs that are being hacked apart on the fly, his sonic creations tend toward fractured bursts of sound and cryptic lyricism that sound connected by only the barest of conceptual threads. On this particular album, there’s a strong emphasis on strange vocal approaches — many of the songs feature oddball choruses with staggered mass vocals and peculiar vocal treatments — and obscure but catchy melodies with inscrutable, even interrupted, rhythms. His approach here combines the unpredictability and innovative sonic exploration of free-jazz and improvised music with the potentially catchy structures of pop music, with bizarre and mysterious results. Some of the material here is (conceptually, at least) reminiscent of the Cheer Accident avant-pop classic THE WHY ALBUM. With fourteen tracks on hand, there’s plenty of variety in sounds and approaches, and the songs are mostly short (only two songs are over 3:32, and several are under two minutes), which means the strangeness of each track doesn’t have much opportunity to wear out its welcome before moving on to the next burst of weirdness. Strange, very strange, but highly listenable.”
–The One True Dead Angel (2008)

CREDITS

All music and lyrics by Marcelo Radulovich
Marcelo Radulovich: voices, guitar, bass, keyboards, samples, drums, drum machine, percusssion, electronics, violin, mandolin
Recorded/produced/designed by Marcelo Radulovich at Titicacaman Studio, 2004-2013

Titicacaman Records CAT#12

Index
by Marcelo Radulovich (2003-2013)
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3 20+ minute compositions originally recorded in 2003, remixed and released 10 years later. Stories through sound… drones in pursuit of some kind of ZEN state. Sound collage, phonography, ambient… dark/bright moods, the three pieces come across as a sonic triptych.

Index is kin to (case of the missing) Thumb, released by Accretions Records in 2002, it displays Marcelo’s continued fascination with sound collaging, sampling and electronic manipulation. This is music to close your eyes and make up words to, rich, moody, and sometimes prickly winter lulls for insomniacs.

CREDITS

All music by Marcelo Radulovich
Marcelo Radulovich: keyboards, samples, electronics, phonographies
Recorded/produced/designed by Marcelo Radulovich at Titicacaman Studio, 2003-2013

Titicacaman Records CAT#08

Vertigo at Lunchtime
by Marcelo Radulovich (2008-2013)
BUY : amazon | iTunes | bandcamp

“Marcelo Radulovich is an auteur. On his latest album Vertigo at Lunchtime, and like it’s very immediate predecessor Mercurio, all the sounds, words, ideas, songs, artwork and production come from the same source. Mercurio and Vertigo feel connected in a fraternal way, perhaps Mercurio represents evening into night and Vertigo at Lunchtime springs into life at dawn and takes us through the daylight hours. The opening track (and album title) is every inch the driving song with the listener emerging into a bright new morning full of twisting possibilities. ( “everything is A Ok cos’ something good always turns up”). The mood is upbeat, positive, the melodies are delirious and catchy but we are being taken on this jaunt with an eye on the undertow, the underground tributaries where a good time can be thoughtful, introspective and surreal.

We are carried along on groves (waves on a beat) and the stories and incantations come through in Spanish and English, an international music full of emotional dictation and subtle observation that provides a chronicle of life and it’s layers. we experience school thoughts (a nostalgia) , food, a life lived by the sea by the desert by the city in the wilderness…

“Manicomio Que Comio” has a driving metallic rhythm and a melody line that is whistling catchy. Marcelo’s vocal intones in Spanish the virtues of Bob Dylan and Hank Williams. We are led into private fascinations during “Why” the surreal science of Elvis Presley myth in “Elvis Pelvis”.

We visit some twisting roads where the automobile must slow down and enter the shade, “Globo Globito” and “En le Plaza” give us a howl in a study of vocal harmonies, it’s a meditation and turns the spell into Fall colors. Before long we are back on to the clear nursery rhymes of Replacement, chimes sing and the music rolls along wave after wave , a bouncing tripping groove laden melting pot of styles and loving rhythms.

I want to mention the burlesque, the cheerleaders chant in “for my school”, a soaring vocal performance that gives each song it’s lofty elevation. How about peddling, a virulent vaccine, diamond overalls, lollipop crack and 20 doses of that.

The album resists the distant lamplights itchy glow as the day wanes!.

I believe this album is so absurdly accessible, so humbly articulate, so ridiculously moving and catchy, it has the stature of a Pynchon novel or the finest Vonnegut.”
Neil Carlill (Delicatessen, Lodger, Vedette, Me Me the Moth)

CREDITS

All music and lyrics by Marcelo Radulovich
Marcelo Radulovich: voices, guitar, bass, keyboards, samples, drums, drum machine, percusssion, electronics
Recorded/produced/designed by Marcelo Radulovich at Titicacaman Studio, 2008-2013

Titicacaman Records CAT#06

La Mano Ponderosa
by Marcelo Radulovich (2012)
BUY : amazon | iTunes | bandcamp

La Mano Ponderosa is Marcelo’s 13th solo album, 10 tell-tale songs that keep growing like a chia pet with each listen, as beats, melodies, and surreal tropical imagery puffs like smoke, as hooks and a myriad of musical styles flutter the speakers, as nuances and details come twirling into the earhole, suggesting a repeat listen and another Cuba Libre.

The experiment was: use only an iPod and its apps to play every track. Layers! Words, voice, 8 songs in spanish, 2 in english. There’s depth, and hooks, lots of details, strange and unique… songs to play while driving with the top down on a clear night.

CREDITS

All music and lyrics by Marcelo Radulovich
Marcelo Radulovich: voices, iPod
Recorded/produced/designed by Marcelo Radulovich at Titicacaman Studio, 2012

Titicacaman Records CAT#03

Legends & Robots
by Marcelo Radulovich (2011)
BUY : amazon | iTunes | bandcamp

Tiny, fiery fairies in forests tangling garlic vines, legendary musician robots gather to entertain a crowd dressed in bright hues, consumers one and all. Lights flutter as projections of falcons plummeting race by, banners read TONIGHT WE CHALLENGE. Each attendant receives a bunny book at the entrance, a program adorned with erotic imagery depicting Alaskan drama, mating swimming clam diggers, lifesavers, sporting t-shirts reading Paris A Fortunate! Page 2 explains the goal, and why the underground….

CREDITS

All music and lyrics by Marcelo Radulovich
Marcelo Radulovich: voices, drum machines, synths, programming/sequencing
Recorded/produced/designed by Marcelo Radulovich at Titicacaman Studio, 2011

Physical copies available through us. $10 (USA dollars via Paypal) includes shipping & handling in the continental USA.

Titicacaman Records CAT#02

Summer in Winter
by Marcelo Radulovich (2008-2013)
BUY : amazon | iTunes | bandcamp

Blocks of centuries frozen, clowns in smoky bars, a skinny kid and cantankerous Chuck at the senator’s ball, green bears on soda cans and frolicking nuns of a new convent, such is the lyric stream in Marcelo’s album titled Summer in Winter, 12 songs about a feverish, blundering time, full of anticipation and expectations.

Produced and recorded at his home studio between October and December of 2008, at the peak of the USA presidential elections, Summer in Winter picks up where Vertigo at Lunchtime (produced earlier in 2008) left off. The feel again points up, the mood is warm, the songs are short, rhythmic, melodious and lyrically vibrant. As common to Marcelo’s production approach, he sings all the vocal parts and plays all the instruments, referencing years of experimenting with sound, soul, rock, ambient, crackling vinyl…. Summer in Winter is filled with creative ideas and entrancing sounds, a very original music that reaches out with positive vibes and multi-cultural painterly jangle.

CREDITS

Titicacaman Records CAT#01

Dear Annex
by Marcelo Radulovich (2009-2013)
BUY : amazon | iTunes | bandcamp

Dear Annex is Marcelo’s 11th solo album, originally recorded in 2009 – 2010. 10 sunny, smoggy songs + one sprightly remix. Dear Annex is a musical trip to a land where dada funk and brooding bubble gum chew in rhythm to dance-a-la-dense mixes, as poetry flexes and horns blare, setting a mood surreal yet satisfyingly familiar: pop, funk and rock sensibilities at the root.

Mr. Radulovich, working at Titicacaman Studio, acts as writer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and engineer. The album also features wonderful contributions by talented collaborators: 5 of the 10 songs in Dear Annex feature lyrics by Neil Carlill (Delicatessen, Chicanery and Marcelo’s partner in Me Me the Moth); 3 tracks feature guitar and piano by Mike Keneally (Zappa, Dethklok); trumpet, percussion and vocals by Chris Conner (Channing Cope, Bantam Feather); trombone samples by Michael Dessen (Cosmologic); theremin by Jim Call (The Penetrators, Zirk Ubu and Marcelo’s band mate in Nicey Nice World & Nice World); turntables by DJ Tenshun and a couple of appearances by Bill Ray on drums.

CREDITS

All music and lyrics by Marcelo Radulovich. Lyrics for tracks 2, 3, 5, 7 & 10 by Neil Carlill
Marcelo Radulovich: voices, guitar, bass, keyboards, samples, drums, drum machine, percusssion, electronics
Chris Conner: trumpet on tracks 1, 2, 4, 5 & 11, vocals on tracks 1, 4 & 11, cymbal on track 4
Bill Ray: drums on tracks 9 & 11
Mike Keneally: guitar on tracks 9 & 10, piano on track 6, vocals on track 11
Jim Call: theremin on track 6
Michael Dessen: trombone samples on track 10
DJ Tenshun: turntables on track 7
Recorded/produced/designed by Marcelo Radulovich at Titicacaman Studio, 2009-2013

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