Features Slamm San Diego | San Diego Reader | Pulse!
What the Day Was Dreaming reviews: San Diego City Beat | Delusions of Adequacy
Ritual of Hearts b/w Mexico DF 7" reviews at Jonson Family Records
White Sands reviews: Splendidezine | CMJ | Drawerb | Synthesis | Silvergirl | Snappop | ADKG
The Lost Works of Eunice Phelps Reviews: Kompressor | UMW
Pictures from Bottom of the Hill in SF 4/23/00  |  Pictures from Brudnell Social Club in Leeds 11/00
Portuguese Review 
More information available at Holiday Matinee, Better Looking Records, Darla Records and Acid Mothers Temple

What the Day Was Dreaming

Maquiladora, "What the Day Was Dreaming"
Darla
 Maquiladora are the modern equivalent to The Band, recording slower, soulful rock music with an all-encompassing country influence. They switch vocalists, vary between dense and sparse compositions, and throughout each release, they plunge deeper and deeper headlong into territory that both soothes and expands the reaches of human consciousness. This music doesn't so much play through the speakers but swirl and mist out like a vaporous mist that the ears inhale. There are awkward moments like vocal stumbling and strained falsetto, but in listening to the record as a whole they hardly matter. On Dreaming, they found quite a cast of characters to assist in their endeavors. From Blackheart Procession member Phil Jenkins, to a few of the Acid Mothers Temple roster, the guests add interesting flourishes. With the core members' strong songwriting, it makes for the most cohesive and expansive record Maquiladora have mustered yet. "Sudden Life" opens the record with an almost "Money for Nothing" approach: minimal sounds are joined by tom drumming and, eventually, guitars and eerily treated vocals. It's honestly enough to make me rise off the ground, soaring towards the sky. As the album progresses, the lyrics paint a delicate picture of loss, hope, and the world around us all. The trio of shamans that are Maquiladora sound in tune with the elements, and it informs the sounds their instruments and voices make. They describe themselves as desert music, but on What the Day Was Dreaming, they prove that setting too barren for music as full of life as this. Dreams will be haunted, and the day will be colored with shades of this music, making it a just little warmer and brighter. - Rob Devlin
brainwashed.com

________________

8.6 out of 10 - San Diego City Beat August 2003

Goes Well With: Black Heart Procession, Giant Sand, Calexico

Ritual of Hearts

Slammsd.com
6/19/02

9 out of 10
Goes Well With: Acetone, Low, and Blackheart Procession

Ron Jacobs

basement-life.com
6/24/02

“Go catch a glimpse of something familiar, something that’s strange,”
these words are not only lyrics to one of Maquiladora’s better tunes, but they are also an apt description of the music. The trio creates what the call “desert music,” an Americana influenced, country themed and spacious sounding hybrid of styles that is best compared to acts like Giant Sand. Occasionally Stipe-ish vocals, along with some beautiful female harmonies, turn Ritual Of Hearts into a
lush disc that is full of grand moments yet still somehow sparse in all the right places. Call it acoustic psychedelica if you’re so inclined, or just call it spooky. Maquiladora present this record with no flash or pretense, and it comes across just as intended; these may not be pop
hits, but they’re a series of powerful tracks that are ingeniously haunting and warm. Harmonicas, acoustic instrumentation, piano, and other subtle contributions pop up in all the right places, and they make Ritual Of Hearts into a brutally sincere folk tinged masterpiece. Alt-country fans that like a bit of gothic creepiness thrown into the mix will count this band as one of the most interesting finds of the year, and with such a solid sounding disc to their credit, Maquiladora may find themselves with plenty of acclaim in the very near
future. 

Peter D'Angelo

Pinback with Crooked Fingers and Maquiladora
May 24, 2002 - Great American Music Hall
from sfgirl.com

Before Friday's show at the Great American Music Hall I really liked Pinback. After checking out their intensely driving set that completely surpassed my expectations, I love them. This might have something to do with the large bar tab I signed at the end of the night, but even a White Russian ebriosity couldn't falsely manifest the way they rocked their hearts out. Most mellow indie bands just can't transfer the talent of their albums to an interest-piquing live set, so in anticipation of a relatively quiet evening, I had grabbed a seat upstairs, assuming I'd want to sit through most of the show. When Pinback took the stage they proved my assumption wrong. The San Diego duo, otherwise known as Zach Smith and Rob Crow, have added several musicians to their live performance making their lush melodies and sometimes static sometimes harmonious guitars really come together in a performance that crackled with ingenuity. They played a mix of new and old and the crowd loved it. Every minute of it.

Their incredible set was preceded by Crooked Fingers, the new moniker of former Archers of Loaf frontman Eric Bachmann, who took the stage, or rather the floor, and played his first few songs sans PA with simply vocals, banjo and upright bass from the middle of the crowd. In a smaller venue I can see how this would really wow a crowd and set an intimate mood for the entire set, but the personal gesture was convoluted by the size of Great American and the number of talkers who didn't seem to notice that a band was playing. After hopping onstage, Crooked Fingers played a solid set, the highlight of which was a Queen/Bowie cover of Under Pressure off his recent release on Merge Records, a collection of covers called Reservoir Songs. The uncanny resemblance of his voice to Neil Diamond's (appropriate showcased in his cover of Solitary Man on Reservoir Songs) had me singing Sweet Caroline all night long. He played a satisfying set but I must say I was ready for it to end several songs before it did.

The night began with a beautifully moody to rocky to folkadelic set by talented San Diego trio Maquiladora joined on the drums by Joe Plummer from the Black Heart Procession. If these guys are unfamiliar to you, run out now and buy Ritual of Hearts, their most recent release on Better Looking Records. Their dreamy, hallucinatory experimental desert rock lost nothing in its translation to the stage and they played an inspiring set to a less than inspiring crowd (who gets to a show in San Francisco for the opening band?). The trio showcased their multi-instrumentation abilities throughout switching between guitars and organ with Bruce even breaking it down on the accordion and harmonica. Phil's vocals ranged from soothing to raspy and back again each song standing entirely on it's own. It was my first time seeing them, though I'd spent the week prior bonding with their album, and they did not disappoint, far from it.

BLACK BOOK MAGAZINE
"The perfect soundtrack for trips into deep space, Maquiladora's latest record is folk music reared on NyQuil and too many viewings of Kubrick's 2001. These reclusive Californians do for country music what Radiohead did for Brit pop: dismantle the machine and rebuild it with alien parts. But for every washed-out guitar and analog synth, there is a warm piano or rural harmonica to bring you back to Earth. Pass the syrup." - Andrew Paine Bradbury

ALTERNATIVE PRESS
"Occupying a space between the desolate balladry of Cowboy Junkies' The Trinity Sessions and Giant Sand's backporch psychedelia, Maquiladora slow down America's musical heritage to a dirge. Just like how Codeine slowed down indie rock and punk to their base elements, Maquiladora play country ballads as if they were dusty Jimmy Rodgers tracks stretched out like taffy. Its as if they're inventing a new strain of Americana that has sucked out all the twang and replaced it with the expansion space of prog and psychadelia. While everyone else plies tired tales of whiskey and women, Maquiladora attempt to find new sonic and lyrical avenues for a music unwilling to shed its past." (4 of 5 stars)

MAGNET, July 2002
"San Diego trio Maquiladora shares (Neil) Young's knack for infusing minimalist sketches with a cinematic, wide-open spaces vibe. Its third album Ritual of Hearts (Better Looking) has the same stark austerity that marked Young's Sleeps with Angels, it also contains Giant Sand's Chore of Enchantment brand of losing-control wooziness. This intersection of manic folk thrill and drunken psych- with piano, synth, melodica, mandolin and accordion darting like honeybees - proposes a craftsman's worldview that, likewise, is deeply passionate." - Fred Mills

MAGNET, Jan. 2002
"Having previously been swept into a dreamlike state of narco-dependency with this trio's 1999 White Sands album, we're now left punch-drunk and staggering from its limited, U.K.-only 45 ["Ritual Of Hearts" single]. Imagine the dark Oedipus of "The End," the dappled beaches of Mazzy Star, the spangly stars of Jesus and Mary Chain and the neu-gospel of Black Heart Procession all rolled up into a serenity spliff. Single of the year, bar none." - review of "Ritual Of Hearts" 7-inch single.

________________

From the pages of Alternative Press
Maquiladora White Sands - 4 out 5

Although Maquiladora may draw upon the lonesome sounds of folk and country, White Sands adds up to something much larger than the sum of its parts.  Occupying a space between the desolate balladry of Cowboy Junkies' The Trinity Sessions and Giant Sand's backporch psychadelia,   Maquiladora slow down America's musical heritage to a dirge.

     Although Phil Beaumont's alternately whining and growling vocals sometimes veer close to a caricature of a grizzled wanderer on his last legs, repeated listens to White Sands eventually prepare you for Maquiladora's odd revamping of Americana.  Just like how Codeine slowed down indie rock and punk to their base elements, Maquiladora play country ballads as if they were dusty Jimmy Rodgers tracks stretched out like taffy.  Its as if they're inventing a new strain of Americana that has sucked out all the twang and replaced it with the expansion space of prog and psychadelia.  While everyone else plies tired tales of whiskey and women, Maquiladora attempt to find new sonic an lyrical avenues for a music unwilling to shed its past.

- Bill Cohen

From the pages of Magnet Magazine, Issue: Aug/Sept 2000

...Now to the newcomers:  First and foremost is Maquiladora, whose three multi-instrumentalists have mastered everything from waterphone, accordion and melodica to the requisite array of stringed things.  On White Sands (Lotushouse), this astonishing trio conjures diverse influences (Lennon, Tom Waits, Giant Sand, Pink Floyd, Mooseheart Faith) even as it dismantles preconceptions of (and recombines disparate bits of) contemporary alt-country, 60's folkadelia and the timeless, amorphous trappings of musique concrete.

MAQUILADORA White Sands (LOTUSHOUSE)
  (out of 5)
From the pages of Pulse! Magazine, Issue: July, 2000

They say that prolonged stays in the intense heat of the desert can cause hallucinations. If this is true, then San Diego's Maquiladora must spend a lot of time exploring the arid land surrounding their hometown. On White Sands, the trio swirls styles, eras and sounds into a surreal haze that hovers about you like a dream. Visions of whitewigged men dancing in baroque halls, a lone vagabond traversing dirt so dried it has cracked into irregular shapes and dusty cowboys on mystical quests are channeled through such uncommon instruments as a waterphone and a xylophone and the more pedestrian guitar, bass and drums. While White Sands journeys from the almost straightforward country of "Happy Day" to the creepy tinkling and eerie chants of "Termez 1936," the production suspends the songs in a wispy fog that lends cohesion and elegance to the record. Captivating, intriguing and moody, but ultimately accessible, White Sands is the perfect substitute for the unbalancing effects of drugs and dreams.

-Heather Willis

MAQUILADORA
White Sands - Lotus House - Holiday Matinee
From the pages of the CMJ New Music Report, Issue: 668 - May 23, 2000

Maquiladora, a Spanish term for "sweatshop," is also a dark, unconventional trio from San Diego. Although that city is known for its port, it is the mysterious, foreboding desert that surrounds the city on three sides that exerts the most significant influence on the band. White Sands, the group's second album, is a chilling collection of glum songs that play like the biography of some bastard son born to one of Nick Cave's tragic heroines and Hank Williams's drunken cowboys. Employing everything from lap steel to waterphone to frying pan, the threesome works up a most threatening atmosphere to accompany Eric Nielsen's, Phil Beaumont's and Bruce McKenzie's crackling voices and fanciful tales. White Sands is far from the tranquil place its title suggests.

-Kelso Jacks

Experimental:  Maquiladora, "White Sands"
(Lotushouse Records) (out of 4 stars)
San Diego Union-Tribune May 11th 2000

Listening to Maquiladora is a lot like watching a Harmony Korine movie.

Korine is the guy who made "Gummo," a very disturbing film about—well, I don't really know what it's about, but it keeps you riveted to the screen even though you desperately want to look away.

Take this Maquiladora Iyric from the song "Ankle: "Your ankle is broken / so are you. Or this one from "Itchy Song:" Don't scratch my back / because I haven't the itch / haven't had it for years.  Each song experiments with sounds like falsetto voices, bells, xylophones, chants and—as it says in the liner notes, golf balls and frying pans.

Standouts are "Julian " a moody Tom Waitsey love song and "So Far Away," a hypnotizing, whisperfueled journey that's passionate in a very subtle way.  Members Eric Nielsen, Phil Beaumont and Bruce McKenzie are also local artists and actors, which probably explains why the music has lots of dramatic silences and interludes.  And though "White Sands" is confusing (just listen to'Termez 1936'), random and disconcerting it's a beautiful piece of work. I can't turn away.

-Nina Garin

Maquiladora
White Sands
(Lotushouse)
Review by Eric G.
from http://www.drawerb.com

Maquiladora explores a lo-fi, ghost-town-saloon aesthetic not too unfamiliar but slightly askew with a whole host of vintage instruments and versatile voices, creating an album of remarkable craft and beauty. The band certainly takes cues from Neil Young, Tom Waits, Nebraska-era Bruce Springsteen and probably even Mercury Rev. "Julian" sounds so much like Tom Waits it's almost frightening. I don't know if this is a good thing or not. There is a point when homage turns into blatant imitation, but Maquiladora employs so many other styles on this record that you can hardly hold one song against the group. Plus, it's a good song even if it does sound exactly like Tom Waits.

To Maquiladora's credit each song sounds like a different band playing it. The melodies in "Ankle" are heavy-lidded and float over top a distant guitar jangle with countless concurrent and extraneous sounds. "So Far Away" has a nightmarish quality with its eerie spoken word backdrop and off-kilter guitars. White Sands sounds like the soundtrack to some bizarre, neo-psychedelic musical taking place way out West. "Itchy Song" pulls you into its downtrodden mood with gravelly vocals and tentative jug band pluckings. There are Eastern overtones mixed in with the rough and ragged as well, particularly in "Termez 1936"- the most experimental song on White Sands.

Maquiladora eschews the easy way out with White Sands. Most of the songs are hard to digest upon first hearing, but their loose construction opens up countless interpretations so that each listen reveals new insight. The band clearly has the capacity to write straightforward pop songs because underneath all the experimentation lays the groundwork for a collection of well-crafted melodies. White Sands is definitely one of those albums that grows on you. Do seek it out.
http://www.drawerb.com

White Sands, the new release from local indie artists Maquiladora, is a heady follow-up to 1998's Lost Works of Eunice Phelps, a concept record about a friend's "encounter" with a dead country singer. Lost Works was an inspired record, recently earning Maquiladora an invitation to perform on NPR's "The Lounge." This time around the three multi-instrumentalists conjure more than a country ghost. Maquiladora takes you to strangely familiar places and populates them, fleshing out the fright they harvest in their black-lit closet. A calliope ride called "Prostitute" and the Tom Waites-y "Julian" open the record with a fit and a grin. 

The obtusely titled "Happy Day" is a dark document with a Deliverance-in-the-desert quality. Bruce Mckenzie's barbed wire guitar keeps the experimentalists rock-roll honest, like the thorns around a cactus flower, particularly in the caustic "Ankle" and the pretty "So Far Away." Resurrected and retouched, those tunes and "Itchy," a Maquiladora fave, quash any of the trite bunk your radio's calling alt-pop. The songs on White Sands are musical images, constructed and deconstructed around the temperamental, melismatic voices of Phil Beaumont and the loopy, kind of east-world rhythms of Eric Nielsen. Which is not to say the tunes are practiced, but explored, and expressively reported by these three charmed songsmiths.

 -Robert Dixon March 2000