For Marin County and Light
Mashnote :: May 2008
Read the interview with Gregg Kowalsky
Lulacruza in Concert
Cultura Mazatlan :: Julio 2007
Un viaje a través de la selva y los campos sudamericanos, pudo vivirse durante el concierto que brindó la noche del jueves, el dueto Lulacruza en el corazón de la Plazuela Machado. Luis Maurette y Alejandra Ortiz sorprendieron al público porteño con su innovadora música en la que mezclaron sones indígenas y sonidos ambientales a través de una computadora, creando ritmos en los que convergieron lo tradicional y lo moderno.
A dos años de haberse formado la agrupación sus integrantes confiesan haber encontrado la fórmula de sus composiciones tras una intensa búsqueda de sus raíces, "Nos dimos cuenta de que lo netamente folclórico no era lo nuestro y tampoco lo totalmente moderno, así que decidimos mezclarlos y así surgió muestra identidad" comentó Alejandra Ortiz. La voz de Ortiz capturó al auditorio mazatleco desde las primeras estrofas de "Utría" y los mantuvo atentos a las historias en las que Lulacruza narraba la belleza de la selva y los bosques, recreando, con la ayuda de la tecnología, lo mismo un amanecer que un atardecer, el canto de las aves o grillos. Instrumentos originarios de Venezuela, Chile, Colombia y Argentina, como el bombo legüero, las flautas putumayo, el cuatro y el charango, son elementos fundamentales en el proceso creativo de la pareja de músicos. "Canta", "El conocimiento", "Pensar bonito" y "Arpa Iris", fueron algunas de las canciones que interpretaron con gran sensibilidad y que fueron fuertemente aplaudidas por los asistentes quienes al terminar el espectáculo tuvieron la oportunidad de adquirir la primera producción de Lulacruza, "Do pretty"
Sus composiciones reflejaron las múltiples corrientes que alimentan la obra del dúo, "muchas de nuestras canciones han nacido de nuestro viajes, de la convivencia con los indígenas", dijo Ortiz al auditorio que se dio cita frente al kiosco de la centenaria plaza. Además Luis Maurette, encargado de la generación de los sonidos electrónicos, comentó que sus temas contienen también influencias de la música tradicional, japonesa, brasileña y africana, además del folclor sudamericano. "La música que hacemos busca despertar esa capacidad de crear tan poderosa que tenemos todos los seres humanos y que a veces se nos olvida", agregaron Luis Maurette y Alejandra Ortiz al finalizar la que fue su primera presentación en México.
Interviews/Entrevistas
Vuenosairez :: Agosto 2006
Read the interview with Argentinian webzine. - German Andres
Lulacruza "Do Pretty!"
Earplug :: October 2006
Now that the novelty phase of electro-Latino fusion has passed and most of the faux-ethnic, cut-and-paste snoozedelica can safely be moved to the recycle bin, a new generation of artists is finding newer, subtler ways of merging traditional Latin American songwriting with subtly electronic production. Much like their semi-compatriot Juana Molina, Lulacruza favor acoustic guitars, intimate and idiosyncratic percussion, and voices; the Argentine/Colombian duo draws inspiration from Brazil as well as Argentina, with notable traces of tropicalia in the psychedelic swell of tracks like "El Conocimiento." Hazy drones hang over much of the album, whether the noxious, beatless "Children" or the strangely lurching "Cueva, Utero, Trueno," which sounds a bit like unplugged Cabaret Voltaire mashed up with demure pop vocals. Other songs, like "Utría," with its vibraphones, bells, woodblocks, and sinewy female harmonies, are more recognizably pop but no less rich or rewarding. A strange, complicated, and charming album, Do Pretty! does far more. - Philip Sherburne
Textura :: August 2006
Pair luscious female vocalizing with South American rhythms and instrumentation and you get… Lulacruza, but you're forgiven if you said Savath & Savalas. It's not so much that the two groups sound alike as that there are few such outfits in operation (in fact, the snappy funk pulse and South American vibe makes “Pensar Bonito” sound more like an out-take from Slicker's We All Have A Plan than Apropa't). Truth is, the oddly-named Do Pretty! proves that the slightly more song-oriented Lulacruza, comprised of Argentinean Luis Maurette and Colombian Alejandra Ortiz, is every inch a match for Scott Herren's S&S. Even better, Lulacruza segues from intimate songcraft to experimental settings with preternatural ease. The group's instrumental palette is kaleidoscopic with found sounds, field recordings, and electronics enriched by bombo, tar, maracón, tiple, and cajón.
Lulacruza's experimental side emerges repeatedly. Kranky artist Gregg Kowalsky lends electronic colour to the meditative “Maremoto y Gotear” while “Cueva, Utero, Trueno” struggles to maintain balance amidst opposing tensions, with Ortiz's voice a stabilizing centre for James Sinclair's electronic fuzz on one side and a percussion section on the other. Hazy instrumentals (“Children,” “Escafandra”) reveal the duo to be as adept at deeply textured soundscapes as it is vocal songs. Still, as much as the group impresses on other fronts, the strongest weapon in Lulacruza's arsenal is Ortiz's voice, an instrument of marvelous versatility and tonal colour. Her multi-tracked singing buoys the already-lilting “El Conocimiento” and proves entrancing on the lullaby drone “Serpenterio.” The tender ballad “Sheltered Me” closes the album in particularly lovely fashion, with Ortiz draping a torch-laden vocal over Quentin Sirjacq's ruminative piano playing against the distant echo of swooping bird cries. Do Pretty! impresses as a remarkably poised and assured collection, and even more so when one considers that it's the group's debut.
- Ron Schepper
Vis.a.Vis :: August 2006
Seldom does a sound emerge so ripe and innovative. Lulacruza's Do Pretty! is the divine culmination of the talents of Argentinean/Colombian duo, Luis Maurette and Alejandra Ortiz, weaving haunting female vocals with South American instruments and electronically manipulated field recordings. The album is a dreamy pilgrimage that takes you through sound-scapes that range from up-tempo, South American rhythms to more fluid, contemplative compositions. Ortiz's lush vocals are a soulful salve and, combined with Maurette's brilliant electronic layering, capable of producing a physical reaction akin to goose bumps. "Pensar Bonito" and "Utrí a" will make you want to move while more primordial pieces like "Children" will leave you feeling like the inside of your head has been wiped clean with a cool silk rag. Do Pretty! is brave in its adherence to what is the essential, spiritual essence of music. It's sophisticated but unpretentious, playful and refreshingly devoid of any cynicism. Bjork lovers will definitely dig this one! - Naomi Vibbard & Nathalie Bresztyenszky
Veintitres :: Junio 2006
Qué sale de cruzar -musicalmente- a una colombiana de voz prístina y un argentino dotado para la instrumentación? Lulacruza, una agradable rareza, un dúo dificil de clasificar que recupera la musicalidad latinoamericana con un sentido moderno, de rico pop. Alejandra Ortiz y Luis Maurette se conocieron en una famosa escuela de música en Boston (Berklee). En lugar de imponer cierto virtuosismo -dominan el cuatro y la kalimba ella, el charango y la percusión él-, en Do Pretty! amalgaman sonidos tradicionales con electrónica y ruidos ambientales -guijarros acunados por el agua o voces infantiles grabadas de Brasil a Japón- que pueblan discos más inextricables, como Suite Patagónica de Sebastián Escofet. "El conocimiento" es un reggaetón tranquilo en el que Ortiz vuelca una letra de neohippismo, al estilo de su compatriota Andrea Echeverry (Aterciopelados). Cantados en inglés y en castellano, con orquestaciones que recuerdan a la experimental Björk, otros títulos, como "Cueva Utero Trueno" u "Orchard", dan una idea de una mezcla delicada de animalidad que dialoga con nuevas tecnologías en busca del ADN de Latecnoamérica. - Martin Mazzini
Los Inrockuptibles :: Junio 2006
Texturas acuaticas, aires folkloricas, plegarias hipnoticas y paisajes contemplativos. Un gran debut.
Cartel Urbano :: Noviembre 2007
Un argentino y una colombiana hacen uso de bases electrónicas para procesar voces, instrumentos folclóricos y paisajes sonoros grabados entre Ladrilleros, Tokio, Praia du Forte y Boston. Este es un trabajo bien logrado, con "canciones primitivas y luminosas", segun Luis Maurette y Alejandra Ortiz. Pasajera en un trance rítmico entre lo análogo y lo digital, la música de Lulacruza está hecha de melodias reconfortantes que proponen una experiencia imbuida de campo y selva. Transpórtense con canciones como "Utría" o "Serpenterio". - Luisa Piñeros
Projecto Under :: Febrero 2007
Nacidos en Argentina y Colombia respectivamente, Luis Maurette y Alejandra Ortiz se conocieron mientras estudiaban música en Boston. Ahí no más nació Lulacruza, para conjugar lo que contemporáneo del sonido del mundo y lo autóctono de Sudamérica.
El universo de este dúo gira alrededor de cuatro elementos: viento, tierra, fuego y principalmente agua, creando canciones primitivas y luminosas. Como una ninfa del altiplano, Alejandra hipnotiza con canto y versos que terminan rindiéndole homenaje a la mismísima Pacha Mama. Luis se ocupa de la escenografía: primitivismo selvático procesado electrónicamente. A esto hay que sumarle una intensa carga de instrumentos folklóricos, entre ellos el charango, el cuatro y las percusiones.
Sumándolo todo, el disco básicamente termina dando como resultado folk de sentimiento andino y cadencia étnica en estado de trance eléctrico. Grabado en Oakland y Bogota y mezclado en Bs As, Do Pretty! – que en castellano seria hacelo lindo – es el primer disco del dúo y cuenta con las colaboraciones de varios invitados estrella entre ellos Juan Stewart (ex Jaime sin tierra) y Urian Sarmiento (percusionista de Aterciopelados).
Nosordo/Rojo "Tachan" Compilation :: Luis Maurette "in between (edit)"
Foxy Digitalis :: October 2005
(10/10) Compilations are never this good. At best, they are usually slight disjointed collections that can be separated into each individual artist's contribution and judged depending on which tracks you like or dislike. There is no such thing here; each song, though of course as unique as its creator, is equally as good as the others. None upstages another, in spite of their differences.
Yet those differences are far greater than most compilations can achieve. In order to repair the discohesiveness that one normally expects in an album with so many separate musicians, the compiler usually resorts to a certain forced mediocrity, where no song is allowed to deviate too much from the others lest it seem completely out of place. But this compilation is communism at its best; each individual is allowed to be individual and the whole album works better because of it.
One of my favorite things about this compilation is the unique samples in some of the songs. "In Between (Edit)" has the sounds of a hospital and breathing equipment, followed by breathing so close to your ear that you can almost feel the warmth of each breath . . . Luis Maurette's "In Between (Edit)" does a more complete job of pulling you into the created world of the song than any other I've ever heard . . . If a more harmonious compilation ever comes across my path, I will be incredibly shocked. Every song deserves your attention and none try to steal it from each other. Most compilations are simply stepping stools to an artist's greater work; this compilation is an album in its own right. - Eden Hemming Rose
"Two Degrees of Freedom" Choregraphed by June Watanabe :: Music by Luis Maurette "in between"
Voice of Dance :: October 2005
The finest few minutes in the concert given Sunday (Oct. 16) by EmSpace Dance at San Francisco’s Dance Mission Theater by were not choreographed by the company’s founding artistic director Erin Mei-Ling Stuart, but by guest June Watanabe, the veteran Bay Area dance talent who served as Stuart’s mentor in Margaret Jenkins’ CHIME Program last year. What apparently Watanabe did not pass on to her colleague was how to make even the slightest gesture resonate; in the solo, Two Degrees of Freedom, which Watanabe made for Stuart, virtually nothing—and almost everything—happens.
Stuart’s performance in the premiere lifted the spirits with its emphasis on details explored, reintroduced and tied together with invisible silk threads to create a small organic work of art. Formal elements, a slow revolve, arms crossed and head raised, made this more than a minimalist excursion, and the industrial strength sound score suggested much. - Allan Ulrich