Juana Molina / Segundo / mp3s

This is the first installment of New Music Fridays. I’ll just be highlighting artists who I think are doing interesting things.

To kick things off, Juana Molina is one musician who keeps sparking my fancy every time I hear her music. The easy hook for Juana is that she is an Argentinean comedienne turned musician. That might suggest that she’s the Weird Al of Buenos Aires, but most everything I can find on her suggests that she is a musician who happened to put her music on hold while she starred in her own hit TV series, “Juana y Sus Hermanas.”

She has a very light, but sultry voice that is reminiscent of other South American sirens: Bebel Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, Beth Carvalho of Conjunto 3D, Silvana Malta, and Sabina Sciubba (Alright she’s not from South America, but her band’s called Brazilian Girls, c’mon!). Juana’s sound is stripped down to a handful of basic instruments that texture the background of her delicate vocals.

She’s been garnering more and more buzz, but not so much in the states. However, Mr. David Byrne, who has his ear to the proverbial world-music-ground, was so impressed with her music that he invited her to open for him on his 2004 tour. The language barrier is most likely to blame for her US anonymity. American’s want to understand the deep and poignant lyrics of their pop stars. I don’t speak a lick of Spanish, and I could care less. I liked Shakira less once she started singing in English.

Her website houses a few nondescript videos and a handful of really good MP3s for your listening pleasure.

Besides, anyone who cites Stewart Copeland’s “The Rhythmatist” (1983) as an influence is alright by me.