Alquimia – "Coatlicue" Goddess Of The Earth (1992, CD, Mexico)

An independent artist, composer, synthesist, percussionist, and vocalist, Alquimia is known mostly in new-age and fourth-world music circles, though her work truly transcends any form of categorization. Now living in London, her primary influence continues to be the pre-hispanic culture of her native Mexico. Her collaboration with J.L. Fernandez Ledesma on the album Dead Tongues (review in issue #10) piqued this writer's interest, beckoning further exploration. The music herein is primarily an expressive mix of pre-hispanic percussion, ambient droning synthesizer work, electronic effects, and ethereal multi-layered vocal work (no lyrics), with occasional flute and guests contributing guitar, violin, and more percussion to the odd track — but for the most part all instruments are played by Alquimia. Someone looking for comparisons might consider her music as a meeting of the ethnic percussive based work of people like Jorge Reyes, and the vocalizations of folks like Enya, sprinkled with a healthy dose of experimentalism. The earlier album is the most experimental and traditionally ethnic of the two, with its lengthy multi-part title suite. The '95 album is perhaps the more spacy and dreamy of the two, and a bit more vocal as well (many of the sounds which one might be believe to be synths are, on closer scrutiny, actually voices). Either disc is outstanding, though the more recent album is probably a better starting point for most. (Exposé)

Alquimia & Jose Luis Fernandez Ledesma ‎– Dead Tongues (Lenguas Muertas) (1996, CD, Mexico)

Atmospheric, evolving, intricate and layered; a suite of fine compositions and carefully crafted sounds. Consistent creation of another place, another time.

Dead Tongues is Mexico-born singer Alquimia's third album and her first to have been widely available. A collaboration with keyboardist Jose Luis Fernandez Ledesma, it also includes appearances by Arturo Romo (percussion), Julio Sandoval (bass), Blu (saxophones), and Ramon Nakash (violin). The match between Ledesma and Alquimia is perfect: both play many instruments and conceive their music as accumulated layers. It results in dense pieces filled with keyboard parts, flutes, multi-tracked vocals, and samples related to folk music or traditional everyday activities. The album is bookended by "Foundations" and the two-part title track, both highly evocative pieces featuring recitation by both musicians. Ledesma's texts conjure up dead civilizations. Added to Alquimia's often-dreamy vocal constructions (a Mexican version of Enya?), they provide a slight new age aura that is not completely brushed off by the daring arrangements. In between these two songs there is the suite "Road to Santiago" -- a series of impressionistic snapshots -- and three more instrumental pieces, very soft and somewhat immaterial. They lack focus and leave the listener wondering what they should have been about. Dead Tongues stands among the most accessible (as in "marketable") albums ReR Megacorp has released. Followers of the label may find it lacks challenge, but fans of haunting female vocals and those looking for a touch of exoticism will appreciate.