Eduardo Mateo
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Ángel Eduardo Mateo López (September 19, 1940 – May 16, 1990) was an Uruguayan musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and arranger. He played a key role in the development of modern Uruguayan music, blending
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
,
Latin music Latin music (Portuguese language, Portuguese and ) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America, which encompasses Music of Latin America, Latin America, Music of Spain, Spain, Mu ...
, bossa nova,
psychedelia Psychedelia usually refers to a Aesthetics, style or aesthetic that is resembled in the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience produced by certain psychoactive substances. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic ...
, and local rhythms such as
candombe ''Candombe'' is a style of music and dance that originated in Uruguay among the descendants of liberated African slaves. In 2009, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) inscribed ''candombe'' in its Rep ...
, in a manner similar to Brazilian
Tropicália Tropicália (), also known as tropicalismo (), was a Brazilian art movement that arose in the late 1960s. It was characterized by the amalgamation of Brazilian genres—notably the union of the popular and the avant-garde, as well as the meldi ...
. His songs have been recorded by various artists, including
Pedro Aznar Pedro Aznar (born 23 July 1959) is an Argentine musician and singer-songwriter. He has musical experience in jazz, Argentine folk and rock music and has a successful career as a solo artist. He is well known for giving rock songs a jazz-oriented ...
, Martin Buscaglia, Hugo Fattoruso, Fernando Cabrera, Leon Gieco, Mio Matsuda,
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,
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,
Jaime Roos Jaime Roos (born November 12, 1953, in Montevideo) is an Uruguayan singer, composer and record producer. In 2000, he won a Silver Condor Award for Best Score Musician in El Amateur. He has French blood from his father's side. His grandfather mi ...
, and Yahiro Tomohiro.


Career

In 1967, Eduardo Mateo, along with
Ruben Rada Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on the ...
, formed the band El Kinto, featuring Luis Sosa (drums), Walter Cambón (guitar), and Alberto Lagarde (bass). Urbano Moraes, Alfredo Vita (bass), and Chichito Cabral (percussion) also joined the band at different times. The group became one of the most influential in Uruguayan and South American music, blending rock, pop, and psychedelia with traditional Uruguayan and Latin rhythms, particularly candombe. They sang in Spanish and were pioneers in incorporating Afro-Latin percussion into a rock band for the first time. El Kinto’s work helped define the genre '' Candombe-beat'', a fusion of rock and candombe. Mateo disbanded the group in 1970 (Rada had left in 1968) to pursue a solo career. In 1972, Mateo released his first solo album, ''Mateo Solo Bien se Lame'', produced by Carlos Píriz. The title is a playful twist on the popular saying “el buey solo bien se lame” (the ox alone well licks itself), meaning that one can manage on their own. On the album, Mateo played all the instruments (guitar and percussion) and handled the vocals, except on the song “Tras de Tí,” where the Argentine vocal group Quinto de Cantares and singer Horacio Molina (father of
Juana Molina Juana Rosario Molina Villafañe (; born 1 October 1961) is an Argentine singer, songwriter and former actress, based in Buenos Aires. She is known for her distinctive sound, considered an exponent of folktronica, although it has also been descr ...
, who would later be heavily influenced by this album from a young age) participated. The album became a cult classic upon its release. Its acoustic and minimalist sound, along with a blend of rhythms and genres—including bossa nova, pop, folk, tropicalia, candombe, milonga, Afro-Latin rhythms, and even Indian music—had a profound influence on both Uruguayan and Argentine music, paving the way for a new musical direction in South America. When the album was re-released in the United States by Lion Productions in 2006, it made a significant impact, receiving praise from music critics and musicians such as
David Fricke David Fricke (born ) is an American music journalist who serves as the senior editor at ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, where he writes predominantly about rock music. One of the best known names in rock journalism, his career has spanned over 40 ye ...
,
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and
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, among others. In 2023, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked ''Mateo Solo Bien se Lame'' number 30 in its list of ''The 50 Best Latin-American Rock Albums''. His eccentric personality, problematic drug use, and difficult economic situation (Mateo was homeless for long periods) led to him recording very little in the following years. However, the few albums he did release remained outstanding works, though they were scarcely listened to at the time. In 1976, he released ''Mateo y Trasante'' with percussionist Jorge Trasante. In 1984, he released ''Cuerpo y Alma'', which is considered by many to be one of his best works. From the mid-1980s onward, Mateo focused on an artistic project called ''La Máquina del Tiempo'', in which he combined futuristic reflections on time paradoxes and space travel with elements of electronic music. Mateo recorded two albums under the ''La Máquina del Tiempo'' subtitle: ''Mal Tiempo Sobre Alchemia'' (1987) and ''La Mosca'' (1989), both with the collaboration of Hugo Jasa. Eduardo Mateo passed away on May 16, 1990, from sudden cancer.


Discography


Studio albums

* ''Mateo solo bien se lame'' (De la Planta, 1972) * ''Mateo y Trasante'' (Sondor, 1976) * ''Cuerpo y alma'' (Sondor, 1984) * ''La Maquina del Tiempo presenta a: Mateo / Mal tiempo sobre Alchemia (1er. viaje)'' (Ayui/Tacuabe 1987) * ''Botija De Mi País'' (with Ruben Rada) (Sondor, 1987) * ''La Maquina del Tiempo / La mosca'' (Orfeo, 1989)


Live albums

* ''Mateo & Cabrera'' (with Fernando Cabrera) (Orfeo, 1987)


Compilations

* ''Musicasión'' 4 1/2 (De La Planta, 1971) * ''Circa 1968'' (with El Kinto) ( Clave, 1977) * ''La Máquina del Tiempo / 3er. viaje, 1ª parte: Ida (1971 – 1984) '' (Ayuí/Tacuabé, 1995) * ''La Máquina del Tiempo / 3er. viaje, 2ª parte: Vuelta (1983 – 1988)'' (Ayuí/Tacuabé, 1995) * ''Inéditas'' (with Diane Denoir) (Vade Retro, 1998) * ''El Tartamudo'' (Perro Andaluz, 2000)


References

1940 births 1990 deaths 20th-century Uruguayan male singers Uruguayan percussionists Uruguayan male musicians Uruguayan male singer-songwriters Musicians from Montevideo Deaths from cancer in Uruguay Burials at the Cementerio del Norte, Montevideo {{Uruguay-singer-stub