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From The Desk Of The Ladybug Transistor: ¡Tesoro!

The Ladybug Transistor formed in Brooklyn in 1995, and frontman Gary Olson has been the band’s sole constant member. Clutching Stems (Merge) is the group’s seventh album and the first to be made following the 2007 asthma-related death of drummer San Fadyl. Since, the band’s lineup has solidified behind Olson, featuring Kyle Forester, Julia Rydholm, Mark Dzula, Eric Farber and Michael O’Neill. The Ladybug Transistor will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with Olson.

Mark Dzula: Last summer, I found a $1 record by a popular Venezuelan harpist Juan Vicente Torrealba and his Torrealberos. The dollar bin holds optimism and hope; although it’s frequently stuffed with leftovers and garbage, treasure is just as often hidden in plain sight. Why treasure Los Torrealberos and this record, Concierto En La Llanura, in particular? I have to admit bias. It is impossible for me not to love the pluck of a harp playing popular music, especially after bazillion-plus viewings of A Night At The Opera and other Marx Brothers films. Apparently, Harpo had a terrible time with rhythm—not so for Torrealba. Los Torrealberos knock around a jaunty pulse in their small combo, as if each instrument dances around the others. Bouncing between the strumming and maracas, the harp on this record sings with a charming lilt, colored with the perfectly imbalanced sound of strings ringing out against each other, slightly out of tune.

Video after the jump.