The Young Mothers & El Omblico – Botapierna (In-Correcto, 2020) ****

By Daniel Böker

This is more a fan post than an actual review.

Please listen to this album. (You can read on but this is the message. Done!)

In the Catalytic Quarterly, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten wrote about his two weeks (there were three planned but the last one was cut off because of the lockdown) as a guest teacher al Javeriana University in Bogota.

During these two weeks there was a concert by his working group the Young Mothers together with the Colombian group El Ombligo. Håker Flaten wrote that there would be a recording of this concert on the label In-Correcto. Since I like the former records of the Young Mothers, especially Morose from 2018, I was hooked after reading about the record.

And well, here it is.

One has to say that the sound is the sound of a live concert. Which means on the one hand that it is not as clear and distinct as a studio recording. I listened to it on my headphones and think the music could use some production effort. But and this is a very strong but(!), then again, it feels as if the listener was almost there in the actual room.

And here, I think my fandom starts. What you hear is the sheer joy of playing together. My own mood completely changed (I became light-hearted and couldn’t help smiling. No joke.) and I almost started dancing to the beat of the rhythm section. Everything in this performance falls in place and you can hear and feel the joy of playing together.

The record consists of three tracks between 12 and 18 minutes. Each is based on some “simple structures” (I.H.F.) by Santiago Botero (the drummer of El Ombligo) which they rehearsed in the afternoon the same day the show took place.

I guess these “simple structures” are mostly the rhythmic structures that build the foundation of the three tracks. The album (the concert) has a strong vibe to it, that carries the whole thing along. There are not many noisy outbursts but again: a rather steady rhythm and the joy of playing along or against it.

Here in Germany at least spring is coming and this album might be my soundtrack for that time of year.

Check it out on Bandcamp.