Balún

Balún has been working toward a second full-length for several years, though the band has issued a few singles and releases in that time. The Brooklyn-based band – whose members all hail from Puerto Rico – has also been bringing the dembow riddim into their dreamy indie electronica for a few years now. We got to hear a bit of this new sound, which they are calling dreambow, on 2014’s “Años Atrás.”

Now the Brooklyn Boricuas are unveiling the first single from their forthcoming sophomore album Prisma Tropical, titled “La Nueva Ciudad.” Progressive but fully functional as dance pop, it’s as sublime as it is genuinely danceable, with surreal lyrics about distance and confusion in a relationship. It sounds in parts like Asobi Seksu colliding happily with Bomba Estéreo and is arranged almost like the living layers of a rainforest. Angélica Negrón’s airy vocals carry the melody up high in the canopy, sometimes letting bright vocal samples and twinkly tiples pick it up. The floor is composed of purring bass synth and a slow, gentle dembow thump. In the middle, a dazzling array of rhythms flit in and out, with what sounds like cabasa standing in for the requisite indie pop egg shaker. But it’s so much more than an indie band borrowing a dembow beat.

The single comes bundled with a B-side cover of “Está en Tus Manos,” from Javiera Mena’s landmark album Esquemas Juveniles, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The simple acoustic song gets a dreambow makeover with a slowed, sticky beat. Like Mena, Balún have been making music together for fully 10 years and have shown they have the ability to grow and reinvent themselves beautifully. This track suggests Prisma Tropical could be their own musical landmark, one to appreciate for years to come. - Remezcla

Balún is a band from Puerto Rico with an acute sense of creating ethereal moments of the sad kind. Could the tropigoth tagline apply? As sunset approaches on the Summer of Love 2016 (a cosmic event that last took place during the tumultuous social uprisings of 1967) the Brooklyn-based via Borinken four-piece return by making ripples across waters with a trademark sound they call dreambow. Incorporeal dream-pop, techno, shoegaze, folkloric sounds of South America, & dembow (one of reggaetón’s rhythmic daughters) are the amalgamation of the band’s idiosyncratic soundscape. A formula that after almost 7 years since Balún’s first contribution to Club Fonograma has stood the test of time.

With Afro Caribbean sounds like tipple, bomba barrel drum, dembow & a hazy, humid sense of a transcendent melancholy at work, “La Nueva Ciudad” joins the cannon of unorthodox, reggaetón-based classics of late. The sonic transmutations of established greats like J Balvin, Arca, Gepe, Javiera Mena & newcomers like MULA, Coral Casino, & Tomasa del Real have been expanding our understanding of the infinitely mesmerizing possibilities of the genre. Even Ibiza Pareo expressed interest in flirting with reggaetón during their Ruido Fest showcase in Chicago this summer. Clearly, our collective sonic future still belongs to the iconic, Afro-Caribbean sound.

Balún’s return feels accomplished, academic and ancestral. The chorus of “La Nueva Ciudad” invokes collective rapture (the spiritual power of reggaetón at work here) while Angélica Negron's vocals communicate intimacy & distance, discussing the circular nature of time, planets, & the need to create a city without mirrors. The prolific percussionist/producer Lawson White (Shakira, Wilco, Jamie xx) has been working behind the scenes with Balún, whose current lineup boasts PhD ethnomusicologist and Puerto Rican folk music expert Noraliz Ruiz (playing cuatro and on “La Nueva Ciudad”), Raul Reymundi, along with veteran players Angélica Negron & José Olivares. It would seem as though Balún have become curators of globopop. “La Nueva Ciudad” is the lead single from the forthcoming Prisma Tropical LP which is due in 2017. Listen to it below and its b-side, “Esta En Tus Manos,” a cover of the pioneer of indietronica reggaetón herself, Javiera Mena. - Club Fonograma

El cuarteto puertorriqueño radicado en Brooklyn, Balún, está de regreso con el sencillo “La Nueva Ciudad”, con el que anticipan su segundo LP, Prisma Tropical, a ser editado este próximo 2017 por el sello neoyorquino Good Child Music.
En “La Nueva Ciudad” podemos encontrar un punto de encuentro entre San Juan y Brooklyn, donde los tres miembros fundadores —Angélica Negrón (compositora de la filarmónica de Nueva York), Noraliz Ruiz (experta en folk puertorriqueño con doctorado en etnomusicología) y José Olivares— mezclan elementos típicos puertorriqueños como el cuatro/tiple y el barril de bomba, con un sonido electrónico sofisticado moldeado que cuenta con la ayuda del músico y productor Lawson White (quien ha trabajado con artistas de la talla de Chromeo, Matmos o Gil Scott-Heron / Jamie XX) y del miembro más reciente de Balún, Raúl Reymundi (guitarrista de vena punk). Aunque la etiqueta “dreambow” describe bien el ánimo ensoñador de este sencillo, la agrupación advierte estar preparada para un disco más ecléctico.


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Foto por Nosotrus

El cuarteto puertorriqueño radicado en Brooklyn, Balún, está de regreso con el sencillo “La Nueva Ciudad”, con el que anticipan su segundo LP, Prisma Tropical, a ser editado este próximo 2017 por el sello neoyorquino Good Child Music.
En “La Nueva Ciudad” podemos encontrar un punto de encuentro entre San Juan y Brooklyn, donde los tres miembros fundadores —Angélica Negrón (compositora de la filarmónica de Nueva York), Noraliz Ruiz (experta en folk puertorriqueño con doctorado en etnomusicología) y José Olivares— mezclan elementos típicos puertorriqueños como el cuatro/tiple y el barril de bomba, con un sonido electrónico sofisticado moldeado que cuenta con la ayuda del músico y productor Lawson White (quien ha trabajado con artistas de la talla de Chromeo, Matmos o Gil Scott-Heron / Jamie XX) y del miembro más reciente de Balún, Raúl Reymundi (guitarrista de vena punk). Aunque la etiqueta “dreambow” describe bien el ánimo ensoñador de este sencillo, la agrupación advierte estar preparada para un disco más ecléctico.


El lado B de “La Nueva Ciudad” es un cover a “Está en tus manos” de Javiera Mena, con el que se suman a la celebración de diez años del primer álbum de la chilena, Esquemas Juveniles, y que aparecerá en un compilado del blog colombiano El Amarillo que le rendirá tributo. - Red Bull Panamerika

Con unos días de retraso pero con la emoción aún intacta, destacamos el regreso de Balún envuelto dentro de una utópica narrativa. Un año ha pasado desde la última pronunciación de la banda. “Años Atrás” nos presentaba la evolución de la agrupación puertorriqueña después de un experimento lo-fi-electro-caribeño como lo fue el disco Memoria Textil.

Establecido en su propio cúmulo de metáforas, Balún ha vuelto para antojarnos más de su Prima Tropical -disco que verá la luz en 2017- con “La Nueva Ciudad”. Con el nuevo single, algo muy alineado a las atmósferas Helado Negro, la agrupación boricua deja de un lado la sensualidad presente en cortes como “Años Atrás” para regresar a la ingenuidad presente en los deseos.

Con una efervescente cantidad de dembow, techno y dream pop, Balún reestablece su denominado “dreambow” para invitarnos a ser partícipes de su nueva ciudad. La belleza de esta canción va surgiendo no de a primeras, sino con el pasar de las escuchas cuando el oyente es inhibido por la etérea voz de Angélica Negrón y su ruego por encontrar nuevos espacios. La maravilla de la trascendencia se hace patente cuando el juego de palabras nos lleva por acepciones del tiempo, caleidoscopios y conjuros.

Con “La Nueva Ciudad” los puertorriqueños se disponen a ingeniar una temática ambigua que se encarga de hipnotizarnos, mientras esperamos atentos al próximo movimiento que den, y que seguramente no nos defraudará.

La celebración se hace doble cuando encontramos un acompañamiento extra en el single. Tomando en cuenta los diez años del lanzamiento del icónico Esquemas Juveniles de Javiera Mena, Balún rinde homenaje a la heredera del pop hispánico con su versión de “Está En Tus Manos”. De igual forma que en sus composiciones, los puertorriqueños alinean la canción de Mena en un espacio lleno de respiros y guiños atmosféricos que conectan perfectamente con la fragilidad emocional que “Esta En Tus Manos” despliega en su versión original.

El cover llega a nuestros oídos como una ración del compilado Adolescente Perpetuo. El compilado resulta ser una colección de tributos a las canciones del Esquemas Juveniles de Javiera Mena, disco lanzado en 2006 por el sello Quemasucabeza. Organizado por el blog hermano de Colombia El Amarillo, Adolescente Perpetuo presentará versiones de distintos artistas iberoamericanos y podrá disfrutarse en unas cuantas semanas. Atentos. - Dance To The Radio

The first single from Brooklyn-based electronic indie band Balún is titled “La Nueva Ciudad.” It will be featured on “Prisma Tropical”, the sophomore LP from the band, due to be released in 2017 via Good Child Music.
Balún is a music project that was created in the San Juan indie scene by core members Angélica Negrón, Noraliz Ruiz and José Olivares a decade ago. The band is notably known for its music genre-blending. Indeed, the four-piece band combines shoegaze, dream pop, dem bow, chiptune, and traditional folk elements to create a genre that Remezcla dubbed “dreambow.” On their second album, “Prisma Tropical”, the sounds are particularly evoking the band’s homes and the distance between them.

Here is the first single “La Nueva Ciudad” which was premiered on September 9. - High Clouds

Varios años llevamos esperando y prediciendo la llegada del Prisma Tropical de los puertorriqueños Balún. Finalmente, luego de una exitosa campaña de crowdfunding y de meterse al estudio con el productor Lawson White (Jamie XX, Chromeo, Ben Folds, David Lang), el grupo nos presenta hoy el adelanto definitivo de su nuevo disco. La Nueva Ciudad, una canción que continúa la senda rítmica de Años Atrás, la primera canción con el tag #dreambow que escucháramos hace ya dos años.
La Nueva Ciudad se basa en instrumentación y ritmos netamente isleños: tiple, barril de bomba y dembow, mientras que el toque dreampop lo aportan capas de sinthes destellantes. La voz atmosférica de Angélica Negrón nos lleva hipnotizados por un paseo espacial repleto de imágenes y símbolos; he aquí la mejor forma de explicar la transición musical de Balún, como adolescentes que se cambian de ciudad y despiertan sus oídos a nuevos sonidos, a un prisma que se abre a ellos mostrándoles un amplio espectro de acción, como si liberaran los secretos de todas las calles de esta nueva ciudad, eso sí, guardo la esencia de su lugar de origen.

El lado B del single es el cover de Está en Tus Manos, la entrañable balada de Javiera Mena perteneciente a su disco debut, Esquema Juveniles, un disco que está cumpliendo diez años por estos días y que Balún se animó a producir como parte de un tributo que hemos venido preparando con varios artistas del continente, precisamente para celebrar este álbum decisivo en el florecimiento de una generación de músicos independientes.
Pronto les daremos más detalles de este lanzamiento que nos tiene muy emocionados y orgullosos.

Este precioso cover lo escuchan al salto. Por favor, subirle todo el volumen a su estéreo o reproductor para disfrutar de los detalles de estas canciones, es una obligación. - El Amarillo

Hace alrededor de 7 años, José Olivares y Angélica Negrón crean Balún en San Juan, Puerto Rico, un proyecto gestado gracias a un gusto en común por hacer música con intrumentos inusuales, todo bajo una ánimo experimental y cinematográfico que reflejara una sensibilidad pop en la producción, las melodías y las estructuras de sus canciones. Sin límites taxonómicos, este par no sentía reparos en combinar texturas de dream-pop con techno, shoegaze y sonidos folklóricos sudamericanos; un crossover que refleja su idiosincracia sonora en canciones sofisticadas que coquetean con el dembow (una variante del reggaetón). Amparados por su eclecticismo sonoro, desde el inicio llamaron la atención de medios como Allmusic, Club Fonograma, Textura, The Big Take Over, The Tripwire, Flavorpill y Puerto Rico Indie, con reseñas muy favorables de cada entrega de la banda.



En el afán de potenciar su música, el dúo se mudó a Brooklin, NY, cuna de la vanguardia sonora, donde deciden crecer la banda con la ayuda de Andrés Fontanez, Noraliz Ruíz, Shayna Dunkelman y Raul Reymundi. Además de afianzar su alineación, esta movida les permitió presentarse en festivales de todo el país como Decibel Fest, Pop Montreal, FMEL, Issue Project Room, Festival MOD y el NYC Popfest. Por otra parte, los reflectores de la avanzada abrieron puertas para remixear artistas como Algodón Egipcio, El Columpio Asesino, Miou Miou y Adriana Calcanhotto, además de colaboraciones como la compañía de teatro experimental Face The Music.



Desde un paraje íntrospectivo, pero bailable y sensual, "La nueva ciudad" se titula el más reciente sencillo de Balún, un tema articulado por el productor y percusionista Lawson White (Shakira, Wilco, Jamie xx), quien supo traducir la efervecencia latina del reggaetón sideral, hacia un terreno de minimalismo e indietrónica. “La Nueva Ciudad” es el primer sencillo de adelanto de Prisma Tropical, cuarto trabajo de la banda que verá la luz en 2017. - La Banda Elastica

Hay algo mágico en la música de un grupo como Balún. De un tiempo para acá el grupo nacido en Puerto Rico se ha dedicado a manufacturar canciones que parecen salidas de un sueño y que dan la sensación de vivir en cualquiera de las portadas de Memoryhouse. Sin embargo, también han tenido una cruzada firme mientras lo hacen: la de no olvidarse de aquellos sonidos que su país natal produce y la de incluirlos en sus experimentos más recientes. Ha sido una labor de pasión pura que derivó en el dreambow, una combinación bellísima entre los momentos más adorables del dream pop y el ritmo inconfundible del dembow que, además, es tremendamente efectivo al oído de quien lo escucha.

Después de aquella gran acción llevada a la realidad en Años Atrás, el grupo llevó a cabo una milagrosa recaudación de fondos en internet para poder continuar y darle vida a un segundo flamante nuevo disco llamado Prisma Tropical que verá la luz en algún punto de 2017. Ha sido una larga espera desde entonces, pero ha valido completamente la pena. Y el primer sencillo de ese disco es la prueba más palpable de todo ello.

Se llama La Nueva Ciudad y es claramente una muestra más de ese experimento del dreambow pero con un espíritu mucho más dulce y étereo que su antecesor. Aquí Balún se escucha como nunca antes: como un poderoso milagro puertorriqueño del calibre de otros como Buscabulla y como una extensión de aquello que Coral Casino ha logrado crear, pero también como una remembranza al acuático y conmovedor mundo de Mermaid Sashimi de hace unos años e incluso a aquella inolvidable atmósfera marina de Michael Giacchino, todo envuelto en una personalidad que se siente particularmente especial del grupo. Son muchos años ya los que Balún lleva activo en el radar de la música latinoamericana y parece que el momento de su gloria está muy cerca. O por lo menos eso es lo que augura esta nueva canción de ensueño. - Tacón De Oro

“La Nueva Ciudad” es el primer sencillo de Prisma Tropical, el esperado álbum de Balún que podremos escuchar próximamente gracias a todos los fans de la banda que contribuyeron con su exitosa campaña de crowdfunding y al sello Good Child Music.

La etnomusicóloga e integrante del grupo, Noraliz Ruiz, nos cuenta que el sencillo “sigue por la línea del dreambow que ya habíamos explorado con “Años Atrás” pero tiene elementos de música puertorriqueña y se destaca el sonido del cuatro, el tiple y el barril”.

Como parte del lanzamiento, Balún también han compartido un lado B muy especial junto al sencillo. Se trata de una versión del tema “Está En Tus Manos”, original de la chilena Javiera Mena, cuyo álbum debut —Esquemas Juveniles— cumplió diez años el pasado agosto. El mismo será homenajeado con un compilado de covers por parte de nuestros hermanos colombianos del blog El Amarillo, donde se incluirá el trabajo de Balún. - Puerto Rico Indie

Balún's debut CD is a swirling mix of lo-fi electronics and old-school instruments that puts to rest the idea that all indie electronic music sounds the same. Indeed unlike many bands who could be called indie electronic, the trio from San Juan fully integrates the electronics involved so that many of their songs (like "Moving Pictures" or "To My Room") would sound right at home on an Artificial Intelligence compilation or on a mix next to Aphex Twin, Modest Mouse, and Plone. To put it another way, the electronic songs on the album sound like they could be pop songs, while the indie pop songs sound like they could be techno instrumentals. Not too many groups have been able to pull this feat off with much success but Balún makes it look easy. While all three members provide synth and programming expertise, Angelica Negron is the secret weapon, contributing beautiful accordion and violin passages along with her childlike but not childish vocals. Her accordion especially gives the record a moody, almost elegiac quality. Tracks like "I Shouldn't Do This" and "Snol" sound like they were taken from the soundtrack to the saddest breakup movie of the summer, and "Be Careful When You Walk" sounds like an unholy mash-up of New Order, Seefeel, and Astor Piazzolla. Most everything else sounds like what you wish every indie electronic artist would do, only sadder. Occasionally the group breaks out of their funk and gets almost funky, like on the speedy, acid house-sounding "People" (which nonetheless has a mournful, accordion-led bridge) or cheerfully chirpy on "Everything's Alright," but mostly they are content to float on a cloud of atmospheric melancholy. They even manage to out-slow Slowdive on the shoegaze threnody "They're Calling Us," which helps end the album on a decidedly blue note. By the time the next track, the heartbroken "Disappearing Act," ends you will either be ready for therapy or for going back to the beginning of the disc. On Something Comes Our Way, Balún has created a very fine record, one that will appeal to lovers of both sad indie pop and inventive electronic music.

Tim Sendra - 4/5 Stars - AllMusic Guide

Puerto Rican trio Balún hardly tries to hide its Múm-like tendencies on its debut full-length Something Comes Our Way. In a dozen songs, José Olivares, Angélica Negrón, and Andrés Fontánez spin wide-ranging variations on electro-acoustic pop in a style that recalls Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today is OK and simultaneously allows room for bleepy arcade sounds and synth-pop. The generally sweet and gentle character of Balún's material gets a considerable boost from rich, multi-hued arrangements teeming with violins, accordions, dusty pianos, bells, melodica, and guitars in addition to the usual electronic touches.

“People” somehow manages to weave Solvent-styled gleam with child-like vocals, accordion, and drum'n'bass into something not only coherent but pleasurable, while the pairing of guitar hum and hushed vocals in “Be Careful When You Walk” recalls Lush. Elsewhere, “A Surprise” and “They're Calling Us” exude a dreamy stateliness and “I Shouldn't Do This” evokes the nostalgic melancholy one feels when reviewing old photo albums. Though its sound echoes others, the album is consistently engrossing with a peak moment arriving at “Snol” where Balún wraps shoegaze guitar and accordion in the dreamiest of melodies. - Textura.org

When sleepy eyes give birth to musical inspiration there is Balun, a band that went from electronic to electro-acoustic within two years, transitioning from Balloon to Balun. Now, Angelica, Jose and Andres (from San Juan) embark on the follow-up to their dreamscape filled EPs (While Sleeping and Nada Que Hacer Hoy) with Something Comes Our Way, furthering the child-like fashion of groups like The Boy Least Likely To in its organic spirit and edgy innocence. Less angsty in comparison, Balun also presents the soothing, ultrasonic sounds reminiscent of the 'ol Super Mario Bros. Nintendo ("Moving Pictures") and grade school melodica. The album is thoughtful, endearing and metaphoric - cut to The Red Balloon (the '50s French film where a red balloon follows a young boy throughout the streets of Paris).

Concurrently the album's synth pulses capture euphoric R.E.M. or perhaps the novel sense of awakening ("Be Careful When You Walk"). "Opening The Box" provides blips of distorted vocals, while "People" notably progresses whimsically into the atmosphere of a Parisian accordion. There is something elusive about Something Comes Our Way that is thoroughly enjoyable - something which somehow could be projected throughout global reel footage and muted to this record in all its precious reverie.

- Pauline Pechin - The Tripwire

On its recent Something Comes Our Way (Brilliante), this Puerto Rican electro/acoustic band presents a dreamy mix of mellow, minimal music that brings to mind seductive Stereolab songs, nonboring atmospheric soundscapes—and the best children’s music. And by that, we don’t mean a slumming Ralph Covert or some goofing Wiggles, but rather the ethereal, brilliant soundtracks that you’d hear on 1970s school filmstrips or during the blithe minimovies that appeared on Sesame Street. It’s this playfulness that makes Balún’s multi-instrumentalists (between the three members you get a healthy sampling of melodica, accordion, synths, violin, guitar, glockenspiel, bass, Celtic harp, toy piano, drums and laptop noodling) stand out from other blippy keyboard-sounds-and-breathy-vocals acts.

Normally, we wouldn’t have high hopes for a live show from anyone who dabbles in the ambient as much as this unit. But the reason Balún seems worth seeing is that, in addition to being gentle, light and airy, the music just sounds genuinely fun. On record, Balún’s joy is audibly tangible, and we expect that attitude will allow these performers to engage and entrance. And then there’s the accordion…it’s always a party when someone breaks out a squeezebox.

Also worth noting is that this release seems to declare that Brilliante has quietly, humbly established itself as one of the great Chicago labels. If the imprint and this band continue to release unpredictable, exciting, uncategorizable music like this, Thrill Jockey had better watch its back.—Jake Austin - Time Out Chicago

San Juan, Puerto Rico-based trio Balún make dreamy, twinkling electro pop. The classically trained musicians use barely-there guitar motifs, mournful accordion swells, and delicate glockenspiel melodies to sculpt gorgeously glitched-up, densely layered arrangements that recall the ethereal, brooding magic of Múm or the "lead-guitarlessness" of shoegaze heroes Slowdive. Balún's full-length debut, Something Comes Our Way, features muted, childlike vocals layered under gently building melodica lines and drifting loops of blissed-out synth work. Local Latin psych-pop outfit Allá headline. - Flavorpill Chicago

For a band based in Puerto Rico, Balun are a world apart from the popular sounds of reggaeton, Ricky Martin and salsa. Instead they have developed a cult following with their distinctive electro-acoustic pop sound. Yes, pop. But this kind of loose classification does not really encapsulate the beautifully crafted, intricate whole that is the Balun sound. They deliver sweet harmonies, reminiscent of the rich textural landscape chartered by bands like Mum and Sigur Ros with the occasional dash of up-beat melodies.

While it’s only been a few years in the making, ‘Something Comes Our Way’ is a mature full-length debut. ‘Opening the Box’ sets the pace for the album with a gentle tweetering glitch aesthetic. Ethereal cries and childlike vocal cut-ups further haunt the track. Melodica and guitar ride a breeze of synth sounds in ‘The Surprise’ as it slowly builds with violin strings and sampled soft beats. The mood continues with ‘People’, a bouncy track where Balun’s extra secret weapon is revealed – Angelica Negron’s vocals. As the album progresses, it becomes evident that Angelica, along with fellow band members Jose Olivares and Andres Fontanez, are accomplished multi-instrumentalists. Since meeting in 2001 while studying music at the Conservatory they’ve been experimenting with keyboard, violin, harp, accordion, melodica, guitars and a slew of samplers, cd players and turntables. As a result, they’ve managed to craft a sound that makes pop seem more sensitive and down-tempo electronica less stern – a joy to listen to.

Renae Mason - Cyclic Defrost Magazine Issue #15

The folks behind the NYC-based (mostly) music blog Crackers United have made quite a name for themselves by throwing great parties full of both local bands just about to break and the hottest buzzed-about touring bands. The latest installment of the concert series–now at the Mercury Lounge since the closing of it’s former home, Sin-e–brought in some local and (inter-)national heavyhitters (like Land of Talk - who played another great set to a hugely excited crowd) and newcomers alike, including San Juan, PR’s Balún, for whom this was their first ever east coast show. The room was full by they time the band finished their set, and they were bombarded by new fans eager to get their album. It certainly seemed like a hearty welcome for a new band in town.

Though lacking live drums, Balún surely have a strong beat - provided by both live and sequenced samples, which complements the acoustic and electric instrumentation well, all giving lead singer/accordionist Angelica a strong base for her soft vocals. I couldn’t put my finger on it at the show, but a quote on their myspace page made it clear who they reminded me of - The Vaselines.

Balún don’t have any further tour dates schedule at the moment, but it’s likely that they’ll be performing more frequently here in NYC now that half the band has relocated here.

Posted by Bryan, Monday, April 9th, 2007 - CMJ Staff Blog

"...Balún may be from San Juan, but conventional Latin influences escape the Puerto Rico trio ontheir quiet debut full length, 'Something Comes Our Way'. Constructing the kind of Teutonic soundscrapers destined for Morr Music's catalog, Balún makes fragile dioramas out of mutated electronics and muted acoustics..." - XLR8R Magazine Issue #100

This predominantly instrumental record coasts along fairly interesting until the fifth song, "I Shouldn't Do This". At this point, Puerto Rico's Balún shifts gear from decent, pensive but generally artificial, synthesizer and programming-dominated pieces to much more organic, gently affecting, and thoughtfully crafted marvels. In the case of the aforementioned, a soft accordion softly guides the melody, but beyond this, there are just enough splashes of guitar, voice, violin, and piano to render incidental the programmed components. In all, this is a nice, reflective record with real moments of splendor. - The Big Takeover Magazine Issue #59

Recently, it seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day to give a lot of the music I buy/download my full attention. Working, organizing shows, going to shows, searching out music, playing DJ, moving, sleeping, and writing for this damn blog doesn’t leave me enough time to spend with a record as I’d like. It’s like I’m going through albums like one suffering from diarrhea goes through toilet paper.

Take Balún for example, who I eventually get into writing about below. I fell in love with An EP Collection last summer and had good intentions of listening to Something Comes Our Way soon after, but didn’t get around to it until the end of the year. Many albums and many months later, I found myself standing in Chicago’s Reckless Records, and for some reason finally remembered that I wanted to pick up Balún’s debut (they didn’t have it), so I made a mental note and finally downloaded it via iTunes.

Balún is a self-described “electro-acoustic pop outfit” comprised of three classically trained musicians; Angelica Negron, Jose Olivares , and Andres Fontanez. The San Juan, Puerto Rico trio delicately balances the lines between ambient techno, electronica, shoegaze, and pop.

“Inventive electronic” is a phrase I’ve been hearing applied to more and more new music these days. When I hear the term “inventive electronic” I typically think of bands that shaped an entire genre of music, band’s like the Kraftwerk’s, Aphex Twin’s, Squarepusher’s, etc. etc. I wouldn’t label Something Comes Our Way as “inventive” because a lot of the territory the band covers on these 12-tracks has been explored by the likes of Múm, Boards Of Canada, Björk, and Slowdive to name a few. However, Balún has this unique knack for taking what’s been done before and making it sound unique and fresh. The trio is most moving when they allow their music to float around in ambient washes and dreamy atmospherics, which envelop glitchy beats and twinkling delicate melodies. The results are both enlightening and breathtaking.

The band marries an assortment of instruments and sounds on Something Comes Our Way, everything from with lo-fi electronics, found sound, blissed-out synths, toy piano’s, harps, violins, glockenspiel’s, accordians, melodica’s, guitars, drums, and bass. Most of the tracks on the album are instrumental, but Negron lends her innocent vocals to a couple of the songs giving them a childlike playfulness. Along with contributing vocals, Negron also adds violin and melancholy, yet beautiful accordion arrangements to fully flesh out the band’s elaborate sound. Something Comes Our Way is much more than your typical run of the mill bedroom pop, it’s brilliantly crafted, intricate, twinkling, and certainly raises the bar for future indie electronic music. - Crackers United Blog