Patrick Saracino is a seeker, when he isn’t travelling the globe trying to find what he’s looking for he is flexing his considerable musical talents and skill in various musical acts around his home town of Adelaide, South Australia. Here He is currently living and working in Buenos Aires
Travelling is about more than seeing places, posting pictures online or pretending, that in 2016, there’s many paths that haven’t been trodden before. However, I’ve found that if you spend long enough in one place, in enough different places, you begin to get an idea of the subtle differences and how they define a place and it’s culture.
Argentina is and always has been an intense country; the politics, the nation and especially the people. Likewise, it’s capital Buenos Aires is an expansive city that has long been full of contrasts, contradictions and creative, passionate people living life to the fullest in spite of the chaos around them. Living here is a day by day prospect which makes for an immensely rich culture of art, resistance and consequently, amazing music. It’s also worth noting that Argentina is one of the only places in the world that draws a marked distinction between ‘Rock Nacional’ (Argentinian Rock) and ‘International Rock,’ an evolution that has taken place as a result of a myriad of cultural and socio-political factors which hint at Argentina’s prolific musical heritage. The tracks I’ve included barely scratch the surface and most are from the late 60’s and early 70’s, the formative era of the underground of Argentinian rock, and quite frankly one of my favourite periods of music in general.
Living here is a day by day prospect which makes for an immensely rich culture of art, resistance and consequently, amazing music.
I fell in love with Buenos Aires immediately after arriving here for what was supposed to be a one month visit in July of 2014. As the result of a subsequent impulse decision, I find myself having lived here for two years and thoroughly immersed in a culture which is best summed up in Argentinian spanish as a ‘buena onda’ (good vibe). I’ve met some amazing people on my travels with the same obsessive, music addiction that I have and there’s nothing better than being recommended amazing music and sharing my favourites. The tracks I’ve chosen are related to travelling, experiences and ultimately, discovery.
One such discovery worth mentioning is being played Luis Alberto Spinetta’s Artaud (1973), which is now undoubtedly my favourite Argentinian album, for the first time on a lazy, autumn evening drinking mate (tea) and whisky with two fellow music lovers on ‘la isla’ (the island/their backyard). It’s these type of moments that make travelling, and especially living in a city like Buenos Aires, enriching and worthwhile. Spinetta features heavily in this mix, and is undoubtedly my favourite Argentinian musician. From the early, bluesy psych-rock of Almendra to the atmospheric, experimental leanings of Invisible and his countless solo albums, I’m convinced that if Spinetta were singing in English he would be regarded as one of the greats.
As the result of a subsequent impulse decision, I find myself having lived here for two years and thoroughly immersed in a culture which is best summed up in Argentinian spanish as a ‘buena onda’ (good vibe).
There are also certain pieces of music which aren’t Argentinian which I’ve included towards the end of this mix because they’ve been a part of my process of connecting with particular places apart from Argentina. The Lichens piece is special for me and has accompanied me during visits to Pompeii, Machu Picchu, the Acropolis, the Amazon; places with a depth of history that can only be experienced by detaching yourself and focusing your senses to be able to experience their gravity. The Pharaoh Sanders piece is from Elevation (1974), and no piece of music could have been more apt to accompany oneself in a hammock, in a hut in the Amazon jungle in Colombia during what can only be described as the ultimate form of a ‘trip;’ culminating in life-changing reflection and self-discovery in the form of an ayahuasca-induced out of body experience.
Finally, whilst speaking of reflection, Neil Young’s Cortez The Killer is an exceptional song, but has taken on a new meaning for me as a result of my time spent in Latin America. Listening to Neil’s abstract depiction of the polemic of colonisation/post-colonialism whilst travelling on countless long-haul buses and watching the Andes and it’s inhabitants pass by has provided me with a newfound insight; it’s rich culture, tradition, beauty and by contrast, injustice and extremity – a history which, to this day, is perpetuated in daily life across this vast continent.
Track List
El Mato A Un Policia Motorizado – El Día del Huracán (2012)
Almendra – Toma El Tren Hacia El Sur (1970)
Pappo’s Blues – Especies (1971)
Vox Dei – Apocalipsis (1971)
Pescado Rabioso – Como el Viento Voy a Ver (1973)
Agitation Free – You Play For Us Today (Germany / 1972)
Manal – Casa Con Diez Pinos (1970)
Billy Bond y La Pesada – Cada Dia Somos Mas (1971)
Tanguito – La Balsa (1970)
Invisible – El Diluvio y la Pasajera (1974)
Luis Alberto Spinetta – Cementerio Club (1973)
Neil Young – Cortez The Killer (1975)
Los Natas – La Sepa (2004)
Pharoah Sanders – Greeting To Saud (Brother McCoy Tyner) (1973)
Lichens – Heilagur Draugur (2012)
Cover shot by Laura Schimpfle
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