Dynamo (Soda Stereo album)

Following the release of Soda Stereo's critically acclaimed fifth studio album Canción animal in 1990, Soda was propelled to international recognition, particularly with their rock anthem "De música ligera", which received vast airplay across Argentina.[3] Shortly after the album's release, Soda embarked on an 81-show tour around Latin America and Spain, called Gira Animal.

In 1991, lead singer, guitarist and frontman Gustavo Cerati began a musical partnership with Daniel Melero of Argentine band Los Encargados, a longtime friend of Cerati's, previous collaborator of Soda Stereo's and lover of electronic music.[4] Cerati found the change in genre especially constructive for composing songs and began honing the art of sampling, buying an Akai MPC[4] and composing sample-based songs with Melero in Estudios Supersónico. This partnership would eventually culminate in the release of the Rex Mix EP (1991), as well as a Cerati-Melero collaboration, Colores santos, in 1992, both of which draw heavy sonic influence from electronic music, the Madchester scene in the United Kingdom, and neo-psychedelia.

Exasperated by their old material, Soda had already begun working on new music towards the tailend of the Gira animal tour, after a brief pause in touring. Cerati said, "We made the decision to distance ourselves a little, to do other things, to open our heads a little bit, to travel and to get together when it was right. That's how it was."[5] On top of Cerati's aforementioned influences coming into songwriting sessions, Soda also grew interested in alternative rock, impressed by the works of British shoegazing and dream pop bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Ultra Vivid Scene, Sonic Youth, Ride, Primal Scream, Spiritualized, and Lush.[6][7] Immediately following the culmination of the tour in May of 1992 by way of six shows in Spain, Soda Stereo began work on a new album, tentatively titled Gol, but renamed Dynamo after Melero made a comment about old bicycles having dynamos.[8][5] Two of the three songs composed exclusively by Cerati, "En remolinos" and "Primavera 0", had allegedly already been written by the time the group returned to Buenos Aires.[5] According to Cerati, much of the album's material was composed in jams and rehearsals, with the audio recorded in stereo and saved onto DAT's.[5] Other songs, such as "Texturas", were based on old songs from the band's beginnings.[9][6] Eventually, Cerati states, "twenty-something" songs were written for the album.[5] Many of the rejects for Dynamo ended up on other albums; the song "Rombos", from Cerati's solo album "Amor Amarillo" (1993), was first written by Cerati for Dynamo, and documentary footage by Boy Olmi taken from the recording sessions shows Cerati playing the song to Bosio on his MPC.[10] Other songs, such as "Zona de promesas"[11], "Ángel eléctrico", and "Planeador", ended up on subsequent Soda projects.

Gustavo Cerati (pictured) performing with Soda Stereo in Mexico City, 1993.

Recording began in August 1992 in Estudios Supersónico in Buenos Aires, near Belgrano. Most of the lyrics were written in-studio, to the melodies.[12] Meticulous about the album's sound, Cerati wished to "deform" the album sonically by constructing shoegaze-reminiscent walls of sound, while keeping the vocals in the foreground and executing powerful choruses characteristic of Soda's "heroic" trademark sound.[13] In turn, he dominated the atmosphere of the studio vision-wise.[14] In keeping with the album's electronic theme, songs such as "Camaleón", "Sweet sahumerio", "Ameba", "Nuestra fe", and "Claroscuro" were built around loops, synthesisers, and samplers such as Cerati's MPC60. Cerati, Bosio, and Melero contributed extensively to the album's artistic production.[15] The recording sessions for the album took a notably experimental direction compared to past albums; for inspiration, the crew recorded raga rock track "Sweet sahumerio" by holding an impromptu yoga class in the studio with Cerati's personal yoga trainer[16], and for the first time, enlisted the help of a local Hindu music band for instrumentation, including tabla, tambura, and sitar.[15] Track 5, "Camaleón", was recorded in an unusual setup, with Cerati on bass guitar and Bosio on electric guitar (minus the solo at the end).[15] Recording for the album culminated the following month with the recording of fifth single "Claroscuro".[16]

Dynamo was released in October 1992 in Latin America on cassette, compact disc, and vinyl. The Gira Dynamo began on 27 November 1992 with a presentation on the Argentine talk show Fax[17], and venue shows began in December 1992 in Buenos Aires.[17]

While Dynamo was not particularly favored commercially upon its release, it is today considered a cult classic and was one of the first shoegazing albums by any Latin American artist. is considered the Hispanic shoegaze's maximum referent. Soda Stereo was a pioneer band in the wave of experimental alternative music within Latin America, in which Dynamo turned to be considered a benchmark and influential album for many musicians and bands in Latin rock, not just for the experimentation and influences that permeated throughout the record, but also because of the virtuosity, musical complexity and growth achieved by the band during the realization of this album.

All lyrics are written by Gustavo Cerati, except for "Toma la Ruta" by Cerati and Daniel Melero.

Soda Stereo

• Gustavo Cerati – lead vocals / guitars / MPC60 / keyboards / producer / programming
• Zeta Bosio – bass guitar / backing vocals / producer
• Charly Alberti – drums / percussion

Additional personnel

• Daniel Melero: sampler and keyboards, collaboration producer
• Tweety González: sampler
• Flavio Etcheto: trumpet
• Sanjay Bhadoriya: tabla (on "Sweet Sahumerio") and Padanth Voice (on "Camaleón")
• Eduardo Blacher: tambura (on "Sweet Sahumerio")
• Roberto Zuczer: sitar

• Lyrics