Bueninvento

1	Fe 3:39
2	Hoy No Quiero 3:13
3	Casa Abandonada 4:07
4	Enero y Abril 3:34
5	Volutad 4:28
6	Salvavidas 3:43
7	Siempre en Mi Mente 4:04
8	Flor 3:57
9	Todo Inventamos 3:08
10	Bueninvento 3:10
11	Seria Feliz 3:25
12	Otro Sol 5:10
13	Instantanea 4:24
14	Sueno de Sombras 4:35

Barnes & Noble

Tijuana-bred singer-songwriter Julieta Venegas's second album, despite being produced in part by Meme del Real of Mexican avant-guardistas Café Tacuba, presents her angular songs in a more accessible light than evinced on its predecessor, Aquí. Where her debut, helmed by Latin rock eminence Gustavo Santaolalla, highlighted Venegas's accordion and haunting vocals to quirky effect, Bueninvento enables Venegas to stretch out in various directions, from the jangly power pop of "Fe" to the noirish "Mi Voluntad" and the folkloric "Casa Abandonada." The best tracks, such as "Siempre en Mi Mente," combine all of these, topped off by her impassioned vocals. Buoyed by instrumental support from Beck drummer Joey Waronker, Tacuba bassist Quique Rangel, Los Lobos tenorman Steve Berlin, and others, Venegas's darkly seductive second album is a welcome return from a singular talent in alternative Latin music. Mark Schwartz

All Music Guide

Julieta Venegas made a remarkable debut in 1998 with Aquí, an album of enormous breadth and boldness. Her follow-up, Bueninvento, is no less bold, though it is more stylistically consistent from beginning to end. The piano songs that characterized the second half of Aquí are nowhere to be found on Bueninvento, as Venegas instead delves headlong into the style of driving rock en español exemplified by "De Mis Pasos," one of the two singles from Aquí. Like "De Mis Pasos," the songs of Bueninvento are driven by drums (often programmed), accordion accents, electric guitar, and compelling choruses. There's also a lot of keyboard, which becomes evident immediately, on the album-opener, "Fé," which sounds like an amped-up rewrite of "Cómo Sé," the other single from Aquí. The second song on Bueninvento, "Hoy No Quiero," makes evident the degree to which guitars play a large role in driving these songs with aggressive forward momentum. In fact, the entire opening stretch of songs showcases the qualities of Bueninvento; for instance, "Casa Abandonada," the third song, opens with a minute-long solo accordion riff, while "Enero y Abril," the fourth song, is richly layered with programmed beats. As Bueninvento progresses, the variations in mood and intensity from song to song become the most noticeable aspect of the album: downbeat songs often follow upbeat ones, and loud choruses often cut through the calm opening verses, with a chaotic finale capping off most songs. A few songs toward the end of the album stand tall: "Bueninvento," which rattles along on a nervy beatscape and erupts with strings toward its close; "Sería Feliz," the successive song, which mesmerizingly seems to sway back and forth; and then "Instantánea," which opens with a couple minutes of tense acoustic guitar strumming and fragile singing, then ruptures gloriously. Despite the many standout songs, Bueninvento plays like one long 14-song suite. The songs themselves have their unique characteristics, to be sure, yet end up seeming like sequenced movements when the album finally comes a close after 54 tumultuous minutes. While this can make the album difficult to penetrate at first listen -- make no mistake, this is not pop music -- Bueninvento is a deeply rewarding album, one that is rich with tension and intensity and one that reveals itself a little differently with each listen. Jason Birchmeier

Rolling Stone

...her sugary hooks make you close your eyes and smile with contentment. Ernesto Lechner