Mind Cinema

Spearheaded by Javier Elizondo, Priscila Orfanos, and Gerardo Gamez, Mind Cinema is a Monterrey/Vancouver band that creates surreal, numbing soundscapes, perfectly capturing the ambiguity, chaos and beauty of the subconscious. Their sound carefully touches on electronica, ambient and shoegaze indie rock.

Sun Beat is the group's first EP. It comes with 8 tracks tinged with dreamy sounds that crosses between the unpredictability of The Flaming Lips and ambient landscapes of Sigur Ros. Listening to the record is like getting blown away into a dreamland where beauty and madness mix freely and are emanating from the same source. It's a record worth having. The group also has several cool videos on Youtube, check those as well. They perfectly capture the band's unique sound.

Even though the members of the group created and recorded this compilation being a couple of hundred miles apart, Sun Beat still resonates with a coherent and enchanting sound that emanates from a group of individuals who clearly know and understand each others psyche. The sound is sonic and cerebral, stubbornly anchoring itself into your brain.

Opening with the catchy Downsides of Freedom, this upbeat electronic rock single mixes beautiful vocals and lovely beats. According to Javier, the group aims to "create a laid-back mood and soundscape for the listener to get lost into.” True enough, listening to this track is like floating away in space, surrounded by lovely, colorful stars and galaxies. It definitely gets you "lost" into an infinite sonic landscape. - Frostclick

. - Under The Radar Magazine

MC Dizzy Jackson
Reviewed 2011-03-05
Mind Cinema is quite an apt name for this band. The music could easily accompany the visual medium. And it’s really quite a mind trip as well. Ethereal, spacey, a definite excursion into the nether regions of the psyche. Synths, drum machines, vocal manipulations, effects-heavy, background vocals and voices. No FCC’s.

*My Favorites*: 2, 4, 8.

1. (5:07) Slow / Mid. Echoey vocals, spacey, disjointed. Vocal manipulations, synth, drum machine. Just weird, but pretty cool.
2. *(4:25) Mid. Dreamy, ethereal. Percussive, dramatic, driving. Trippy vocals. Guitar solo near the end.
3. (5:10) Mid. Short, male vocal intro about hallucinogens. Cymbals add nice atmosphere to epic soundscape. Stretched out vocal delivery.
4. *(4:40) Mid / Fast. Eerie sounding, hallow male vocal intro. Gets driving, drum-driven, cool guitar. Vocal manipulation break, then rocks. Long fade.
5. (6:04) Slow / Mid. Guitar, drum, keys intro. Really spacey stuff, vocally. Drawn-out and echoey. Guitar, drum predominate. Another epic sound.
6. (5:01) Mid. Kind of an ’80’s sound. Maybe Falco or Kraftwerk. The background voices are up-front and irritating.
7. (5:11) Mid. Smorgasbord of voices. Drum, guitar heavy. Dreamy.
8. *(3:12) Mid. Super effects to start, then acoustic guitar with male vocal, female backing vocal. Easy-going and upbeat. - KZSU Zookeeper Stanford

En esta edición de ‘Mundo Indie’ conocemos a la banda Mind Cinema de México.
En sus propias palabras (en inglés):
“We want to create a laid-back mood and soundscape for the listener to get lost into,” says Elizondo, encompassing Mind Cinema’s musical ambitions. With an ambient/shoegazing indie-rock style that draws influences ranging from Slowdive and Spiritualized to New Order, The Flaming Lips and MGMT, Mind Cinema holds true to their goal, creating heavy atmospheric soundscapes with drowsy/layered vocals and extremely catchy hooks and choruses. - Puerto Rico Indie

Any and all activities that require alertness or attentiveness should be avoided while listening to the debut release from Mind Cinema as their pedigree of upbeat ambient shoegaze will undoubtedly encourage the mind to slip in and out of consciousness—no stimulants needed. Sun Beat features layered meandering guitars, mesmerizing beats and soft, dreamy vocals all sounding like they were recorded in a huge echoing palace. “Monkeys” welcomes the listener with a country twang and harmonized vocals which get sampled over each other to produce the ambient wanderings of the track. “Lovesick High” seamlessly continues the vibe with toasty synths that are careful to avoid sounding cheap or cheesy. Their single, “Solar Rays,” is an epic of strings, synths, melt-in-your-ear vocals and a motif that comes as close to a chorus as you will get on the album. “The Downsides of Freedom” contains uncharacteristic aggressive vocal bellows midway through the track that sound a tad out of place, but the spacey delayed guitars are a good consolation. The album finishes with “Rec 22,” an indie pop song at its foundation fed through a thousand delay and reverb machines creating a warm and soft finale to the eight-song EP. Based out of Vancouver and Mexico, Mind Cinema has created a debut with many memorable moments that will echo into your subconsciousness, and though you may not be humming any of the tunes in the shower, you will appreciate the masterfully blended soundscapes and hypnotizing beats. The EP is available for a free download from their website, www.themindcinema.com. - Discorder Magazine

Mind Cinema is an indie/electronic group for Vancouver, BC. Their music is generally very laid back and full of interesting soundscapes. Take a listen to their track Solar Rays which features smooth relaxing vocals from Priscila Orfanos - Ride The Tempo

Mind Cinema are a three piece originating from Monterrey, Mexico. Formed when founding members Gerardo Gamez and Javier Elizondo were studying and working in San Diego California. Elizondo then uprooted once more to Vancouver, Canada while Gamez returned home to Mexico. The band continued digitally and in Dec 2009 Priscila Orfanos (vocals) joined and Mind Cinema self-recorded their debut EP ‘Sun Beat’ which you can get for FREE.

For Fans Of: Spiritualized, Cocteau Twins, Still Corners
- Music Mule

Been really digging this new band from Vancouver called Mind Cinema. They create these laid- back moods and sound-scapes that you seem to get lost in. Drawing from influences ranging from Slowdive to New Order, The Flaming Lips and MGMT, they create these ambient/shoegazing indie-rock tunes that are dripping in haunting, drowsy, layered vocals courtesy of Priscila Orfanos that just seem chill you out no matter the time or day. The music can have a dark overtone at times, but don’t let that deter you for checking out their tunes, they are really good.

Mind Cinema released their debut EP, Sun Beat, this month and as a special treat are letting you guys download it for free through their website.
- Boom Boom Chik

La imagen mental de una banda trabajando, automáticamente nos remite a pensar en un grupo de personas (casi siempre 4 o 5) que se conocieron bajo circunstancias de la vida cotidiana (amigos de la infancia, compañeros de escuela, un clic mágico en alguna fiesta) y que decidieron iniciar una rutina de ensayo en el garage de alguno de ellos bajo un mismo nombre. Después, por alguna razón, fueron escuchados por algún gran gurú musical quien los llevó a la fama. Afortunadamente en el año 2010 este sistema de creación musical parece más ridículo que dogma.

Algo que pocas ocasiones viene a nuestra mente de inmediato al escuchar una canción es preguntarnos ¿qué distancia y a través de qué caminos y vías ha tenido que viajar la información, las cintas, los dispositivos de almacenamiento, los tracks, los bits, los beats y todos los elementos que la conforman para convertirse en lo que son?. Hay una banda que me hizo reflexionar esto desde el primer instante, se llaman Mind Cinema.

Gerardo Gamez y Javier Elizondo (oriundos de Monterrey, N.L.) empezaron a hacer música juntos mientras estudiaban en San Diego, California por el simple gusto de hacerla y de crearla. Tiempo después Elizondo cambió su residencia y trabajo a Vancouver, Canadá; mientras que Gamez regresó a su ciudad natal. Esta situación los orilló a continuar su proceso creativo intercambiando pistas de audio digital a través de correo electrónico, formando las piezas que conformarían la identidad y el sonido de Mind Cinema, que ya en ese momento estaba recibiendo atención desde muchos lugares. Priscila Orfanos y su compleja y sedante voz se integró al proyecto para darle su forma definitiva, y se metieron al estudio en Diciembre de 2009. El resultado de esta viaje físico y digital de ida y vuelta fue el EP Sun Beat, lanzado en Julio de 2010.

A la fecha, son dos días enteros en los que no he podido dejar de escucharlo, se han convertido en un gran porcentaje del soundtrack de mi estadía en Campus Party México. Los 8 tracks que lo conforman son un conjuro que parece hecho de algo muy dulce pero en el fondo lacerante. Todo un triunfo para aquellos que disfrutan al escuchar a School Of Seven Bells, o a Stars, o tal vez el resultado de la transición del efecto creado por el trip hop, el shoegaze y la música ambiental en los 90's a la década actual.

Pueden descargar Sun Beat en su totalidad desde aquí. - Rock & Radio