1998 — It was a very good year (for Bloque)
Bloque
Three and a half stars
“Lifting folk melodies and thundering waves of Latin Rhythm underpin distorted guitars; potentially melodramatic songs are undercut by hip-hop bravado and sarcastic humor. Nothing is too audacious for this band... Bloque collapses tired notions about latin rock and dances on the ruins.”
Greg Kot
Rolling Stone, November 1998
“The power of rock, too often taken for granted in the United States, is just gathering force across Latin America. Bloque, a band from Colombia, hot-wires local traditions from across Colombia with funk, hard rock and jazz, it doesn’t imitate American and English styles, it colonizes them. Bloque improved on a superb album, Bloque (Luaka Bop/Warner Brothers), with some of the years most galvanizing performances in live shows at The Fez, making music that was smart, sly, passionate, funny and utterly committed to making a significant racquet.”
John Pareles
The New York Times, December 1998
#1 Record of the year - Bloque
“The best new rock band on the planet is from Colombia. This co-ed octet mixes up Led Zeppelin crunch, tropical rhythms, rap vocals and Latin folk music with so much intelligence, savvy and joy that it sounds second nature. Iván Benavides is a front man who radiates charisma, sarcasm and urgency — imagine Midnight Oil’s Peter Garrett with a sense of humor.”
Greg Kot
The Chicago Tribune, December 1998
From The New York Times critics’ Top Albums of 1998:
1. Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Ruffhouse/colombia)
2. Bob Dylan Live 1966 (colombia)
3. Carlinhos Brown Alfagamabetizado (Metro Blue/Capitol)
4. Beck Mutations (DGC)
5. Bloque Bloque (Luaka Bop/Warner Brothers)
6. R.E.M. Up (Warner Brothers)
7. Tricky Angels With Dirty Faces (Island)
8. Hole Celebrity Skin (Geffen)
9. Elliott Smith XO (Geffen)
10. Air Moon Safari (Caroline)
“Rock still sounds wild and dangerous in the hands of this colombian band. Mixing regional rythms with funk and jazz, Bloque turns discontent into a party that could easily get out of hand.”
Jon Pareles
From The Philadelphia Enquirer Top Albums of 1998:
1. Bloque Bloque (Luaka Bop)
2. Dirty Three Ocean Songs (Touch and Go)
3. PJ Harvey Is this Desire? (Island)
4. Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (Ruffhouse/colombia)
5. Madonna Ray of Light (Maverick/Warner)
6. OutKast Aquamini (LaFace)
7. Pearl Jam Yield (Epic)
8. R.E.M. Up (Warner Brothers)
9. Elliott Smith XO (Geffen)
10. Rufus Wainwright Rufus Wainwright (DreamWorks)
“There’s no getting around it: Average Joe three-chord rock is in decline. One of the genuine surprises of the year, Bloque integrates urban ideas and tropical latin pulse into music that’s never simply a carnival vamp. It best refrains blaze with the frenzy of punk, and its melodies combine the stately declarations of Latin folk with less familiar hymns. What’s most interesting, though, is the band’s ability to switch meters and moods on a dime: One minute ‘Nena’ is a stately turn of the century son montuno, the next a shimmering samba, the next a salsa meets jazz groove spiced with polyrhythmic agitation.”
Tom Moon
“Bloque’s tunes fall so easily into one another the album often seems more like a live set than a studio recording. It also makes you wish you were dancing to the band in a packed nightclub at two a.m.”
Neil Gladstone
Raygun, December 1998
“This collective from Bogota brings punk rock intensity to a twisted mix of afro-pop, jazz, rock en espanol, and electronic funk.”
Tracey Pepper
SPIN, December 1998
“Bloque’s self titled debut album not only expands the range of Rock en Español; it’s also one of the year’s best rock albums, period.”
Rick Mitchell
Houston Chronicle, October 1999
“Bloque finds the common ground between Rubén Blades and Beck (Jeff, that is) for a guitar-rich groove. Their self-titled debut rattles with salsa style shakers, rock fusion elements, jazz organ and invigorating chants.”
Margit Detweiler
Philadelphia City Paper, September 1998
“Bloque, an eight-piece dynamo from Bogota, Colombia has whipped together an enticing fusion of funk, world music and rock for its’ self-titled debut. Bloque’s lusty grooves draw from South America’s rich cache of rhythms... but Bloque’s interpretation is anything but traditional.“
Steve Ciabattoni
College Music Journal, October 1998
“Horn charts, distorted guitars, South American folkloric chants, funk, salsa — added together it means that Spanish speakers of the American Continent are rejuvenating rock, and up against the self titled debut album from this persuasive Colombian band, the language barrier looks flimsier and flimsier.”
Ben Ratliff
The New York Times, September 1998
“Bloque’s music — political, angry, danceable, brilliant — is unlike anything yet recorded in the rock genre”
Alisa Valdes
The Boston Globe, September 1998
“When Bloque performs songs such as ‘Daño en el Baño,’ it loads them up with exhilarating keyboard, conga, guitar and flute solos. The effect, especially when singer Mayte Montero takes the stage, is riveting.”
Isaac Guzman
New York Newsday, September 1998
“Modernity fuses with tradition in the music of Bloque... their sound is a bracing mix of merengue and other Central American rhythms with elements of jazz, Santana-esque rock and hip-hop urgency.”
Richard Harrington
The Washington Post, August 1999
“No Rock en Español band has approached the flow or kineticism of Bloque. Catchy tunes, chants, smoking guitar work and tight
ensemble interplay all characterize Bloque’s sound.”
John Pareles
The New York Times, September 1998
“Bloque’s rhythms have left their origins behind. Mixed with funk propulsion, rock distortion, jazzy dissonances and side trips into reggae and salsa, and topped by sardonic lyrics, they have become rambunctious and modern — dance music for a rowdy, hotwired millennium.”
Eric Snider
Tampa Weekly Planet, August 1998
“Colombian group Bloque’s psychotropical funk — a mix of squealing rock riffs, pounding Latin dance rhythms, afro percussion, chanting, ska, highlife guitars, and poetic lyrics — plays like the soundtrack for a state of emergency.”
Judy Cantor
Miami New Times, August 1998
“Bloque achieves the difficult feat of mixing accurate hard-rock firepower with buoyant, danceable rhythmic flexibility of salsa... Atop the propulsive percussion we also get lacerating guitar lines... it’s a potent but flashy blend executed with headspinning precision.”
Peter Margasak
Chicago Reader, September 1998
“Bloque’s lyrics not only tackle the everyday issues of Colombia, but also of many other Latin American nations. Bloque makes songs that reflect real life. Their musical arrangements make each track a metaphor for survival and liberation.”
Gonzalo Aburto
El Diario New York, September 1998
“The ultimate live outfit, Bloque is the kind of band you wish would perform every weekend at the joint down the street... The Colombian group’s Los Angeles debut... was a revelation.”
Ernesto Lechtner
The Los Angeles Times, October 1998
“Bloque is no spanish-singing mimic of a dated American rock band. This group is more like a force of nature... Bloque unleash a torrent of political fire in songs that spanned the emotional barometer from boundless joy to rage”
Ray Rogers
The New York Post, September 1998
“Bloque has extended the reach of Rock en Español... In one of the most creative and rambunctious records in the alternative Latino music scene today, Bloque has come up with an intriguing debut album.”
Ernesto Portillo
San Diego Tribune, October 1998
“Bloque stands out by taking the rock idiom and combining it with both the traditional music of Colombia and that country’s black music heritage.”
Lola Rephann
The New York Press, September 1998
