(Vital Weekly no. 293) Jorge Castro's first 'Sin Titulo' (meaning 'Without Title') was a self-released work in a plastic cover, with nothing else. Both music and art very minimal. This new one looks much better, I'd say: a carton sleeve with a color xerox stuck on to it. Castro is best classified as an ambient guitarist. In about 45 minutes he strums his guitar in an almost random way, maybe or so it seems, feeds in through a delay box (or two, or three), which comes to us as a self-generating system, a self feeding animal, but one of a very relaxing nature. In some of his previous works there were harsher undercurrents, but they have completely disappeared here. This is ambient music in the best Eno/Fripp tradition....recommended. - Frans de Waard

(All Music Guide) Sin Titulo #2 is a one-track album, 44 minutes long. Jorge Castro multiplies ethereal guitars through multitracked delays and electronic processing. The guitar notes shimmer, their decaying overtones blur into the background. Layers add to layers in an accretional process that never reaches oversaturation -- this is well-controlled ambient music. The textures change slowly, softly, creating more of an atmosphere than a dynamic composition. Robert Fripp¹s soundscapes and Richard Pinhas Œ90s improvisations meet the shoegazer guitar playing of Loren Mazzacane Connors. As the piece progresses, things veer to a more experimental domain, although very gently, taking the listener by the hand. The music becomes more warped (whammy bar effects?), more processed, also denser and just a bit disquieting. This last section also sees the appearance of a short repeated theme that evokes a section of Mike Oldfield¹s Tubular Bells. If the reference can sound unusual, it fits the mood perfectly. Sin Titulo #2 may not be an original affair, but Castro clearly has full control over his art. He knows what he is doing and he does it beautifully. - François Couture

(Blastitude no. 12) This is some nice pretty stuff, not dissimilar from other Castro music I've heard, but my favorite so far. It might be a little light 'n' fluffy for some of you harder-noise types, what with the little "whoodly" synth-type wheedles and squiggles, but it slowly gets thicker and thicker as Castro keeps piling up the loops, and the melancholic melodies that emerge late in the piece really put it all in a frame. As with this same label's Jorge Castro/Carlos Giffoni duet released a year or so ago and reviewed in a back issue of B'st'ude [and again in this one], I get a not at all unpleasant feeling of 'aural humidity' from the music. At the same time, it sounds great accompanying the big fat snowflakes that are softly pouring down outside. One track, 38 minutes. - Matt Silcock

(Aural Innovations no. 23) This is my introduction to Jorge Castro's music and while I don't know how prolific he's been I did gather from the Public Eyesore site that there was a Sin Titulo #1. Sin Titulo #2 consists of a single continual 44 minute solo guitar work in which Castro explores ambience, atmosphere and pure ethereal space, the music being an evolving cosmic sound sculpture. Castro utilizes recognizable guitar sounds to create his aural magic and resulting scenery that unfolds in our ears and minds, but also employs numerous effects to create colors and textures that enhance the music. What makes Sin Titulo #2 enjoyable and easy to stay with throughout it's 44 minute length is the number and variety of layers and sounds that Castro throws into the mix, elevating it to a realm that is dreamy but far too busy for standard ambient music. The use of un-efx'd guitar sounds also adds a rawness, and even a bit (at times) of a rock element to the music, despite the fact that the instrument is being used to create soundscapes, something that sets it apart from much similar music I've heard. And despite the dreamy nature of the music, the atmosphere does take on a density and intensity that doesn't jar the listener, but does provide countless bits to ponder and uncover, rather than being something to meditate on. An interesting and enjoyable sound sculpture voyage. - Jerry Kranitz

(Broken Face no. 13) One long, subtle and slowly unfolding piece graces guitarist Jorge Castro's Sin Titulo #2, his second album for the incredibly prolific Public Eyesore imprint. Castro lets his guitar wash seep through a delay box into sweeping clouds of ambient guitar works that fills the space of a big hall in a second, and for the rest of the 45 minutes we get to see these sound clouds move around each other into constantly shifting musical forms. But there isn't one single hasty move to these spacey soundscapes, every note hangs in the background before making it to the podium, and before disappearing it stays for a while as if to make sure that the next sequence of warm organic drones make it out there safe and sound. Sin Titulo #2 reminds me of Eno's most ambient moments and Rafael Toral but also the seamless flow of minimalism that Charalambides have explored lately. I'm sure you all know what that means. - Mats Gustafsson

(AmbiEntrance 1/02) More esoteric guitar excursions from Jorge Castro; quietly stewing mists simply expand into a weirder sci-fi funhouse zone of rubbery tonal impulses. That mode evolves into a lengthy miasma of blurry strumming/ scratching/ jangling which writhes with warmth and vaporous bassy undertones. As it approaches its 44-minute duration, soft noodly string-bending is heard. Nicely composed though all that on-and-on wandering seems a little aimless at times. - David J. Opdyke

(I Am Cancer) One song , almost fifty minutes. upon relinquishing this onto my cd player, i had the grand vision of a swirling epic that might fit well as the score for braveheart, but i dunno. i mean braveheart was a good movie, but this just dosent seem to fit into that genre. maybe the patriot ? william wallace of the revolution would more then likely turn down the offer. if they had cd players back then, william wallace might not have understood jorge castro but i bet it would have calmed his temper a bit. there is hope though, as i remember hearing something about william wallace in space, but that might have just been a dream i had. a glorious dream. sin titulo #2 has the body, and maybe even some skill that might come close to that of raphel toral. after listening to this song for awhile, i got the feeling of being on nother planet. a strange planet. a planet run by creatures similar to that of MAD BALLS. i didnt like that. - Chris Fischer

(Dream no. 3) One long 45 minute instrumental track of shimmering shifting sounds. Delicate spiderwebs of delayed guitar that echoes back on itself like endless Fibonacci Spirals of coiled undulating ambient sound. This keeps changing and evolving over it's quarter of an hour existence, hovering somewhere in the neighborhood of Vini Reilly, Frippertronics, the Dead's space jams and Roy Montgomery. Soothing, dreamy and engagingly active throughout. - George Parsons

(Neo-Zine no. 17) One track 44:14 mins. Sweet light ambience taking short hops across the skyline, flitting like a will o' the wisp in a seemingly care free manner. Not fancy but too lush to be called minimal, I'd say its just enough to shine a tiny spotlight on the acupressure points of the universe. It's a stress buster, a little droning, but it gets around in its own time to feel out the higher consciousness and massage it to finer health. Slightly other-worldly, but close enough to home to keep things pleasant. Echoes of revelations picked up and played back slowly for scrutiny and enlightenment. - CHC

(Eld Rich Palmer no. 11) Another guitar-generated record presents Jorge Castro, a member of Cornucopia. His efforts to redefine guitar as a tool to make ambience music results greatly in largely trippy but many-dimensional guitar nebula that pulses and throbs for about an hour making no hurry in progression of the mood. The conception to lay many grooves with guitar varieties (delays, fuzzes, twanging, distortions, floating etc.) that run along allows Jorge to build a construction with big capacity for a sound. I enjoyed his work, and his work enjoyed me. I played it many times, which speaks for itself! - Krzysztof Sadza

(Aiding & Abetting no. 231) Public Eyesore sent me a passel of discs. They're all great. I'll be reviewing a couple of them each issue until I finally run out (when you review a limited number of albums a month, you've got to pace yourself). In any case, I think even the non-Spanish speakers in the audience can translate the title. Castro is an electronic artist who specializes in that somewhat forgotten realm of the ambient. There is but one track here, a long and involved trip through Castro's mind. Long, but never dull. Castro isn't aggressive with his music, but he sure knows how to light a fire under some great ideas. Within the context he's set up, Castro introduces a multitude of thoughts. He's careful to give each one full expression before adding it to the ether and unveiling the next beauty. Patience is required, sure, but boy is it rewarded. Castro's hand is steady, and his mind is alive. The trance caused by this disc isn't to be missed. - Jon Worley

(La Folia 7/02) Packaged in a beautiful sleeve, the music is likewise beautiful, but luckily not pretty. No info on the cover; it starts with two layers of guitar. One warbles like a marble down a long highway, the other serves as continuo. Then come in what I guess you could call the sound effects, but these glistening, parabolic or diagonal moments make this extended piece so different from ambient or other composed electronic music. - Steve Koenig

(Ampersand Etcetera 2002_10) Castro returns with another stunning guitar solo as a single 45 minute track. It shifts from a ringing sliding tonal opening through a range of moods. These include picking melodies, tone drones, spacey echoed tones with surface activity, melodic passages, relaxed drones and swirling percussive. Too mellifluous melodic and delightful to describe. Controlled and flowing, dreamy concentrated ambience which complements and compliments pit17, this is simply a pleasure. (And the length of this review in no way is proportional to the pleasure – probably inversely would be truer) - Jeremy Keens

(Slippytown) Guitarist Castro strums shimmers reverbs floats etc. through one long 44-minute thing that works kinda like a minimal piece, but with the electric guitar and reverb giving it a fabgear rock edge and general space-out vibe that might not make fans of Meddle-era Floyd shudder. I think it sounds just swell myself. - Eddie Flowers

(Ibol no. 4) I don't know if I'll ever use this word again, but: PRETTY! (even my girlfriend liked It!) from castro of cornucopia harsh noise fame, a single long (42 min.) minimal/ambient track of (almost?) entirely guitars and effects. A lot of drift and delay, some loops, some light flanging different themes, melodies, and harmonies, coming and going. no unnecessary guitar-virtuoso-noodling-nonsense... pure well-realized atmosphere. - Bob Saunders

(Dead Angel no. 53) This came out on PE a while back ago -- in fact, he may well have a newer one out -- and it took this long to get around to reviewing it because... um... well, i'm sure there's a good excuse lying around somewhere. While we figure out just what that excuse might be, let us focus on Mister Castro and his fine, reverbed 'n twinkling guitar of ambient doom.... This is one long track of Castro playing elliptical, often flamenco-like guitar figures through what sounds like a truly staggering line of efx pedals, with the result that the guitar goes through movements of tone 'n sound. On a label dominated mainly by releases full of chaos and inexplicable strangeness, this is something of an oasis in the mutant freejazz zone. Soothing and near ambient much of the time, it is driven by droning notes and repetitive guitar figures; approximately ten minutes into the piece, the drones start to dominate and take on a dark, groaning tone that gradually morphs into a brighter, denser conflagration of shimmering acoustic guitar figures. Past the twenty-minute mark things settle into a languid, nearly motionless ambient groove that goes on for quite a while, until the ambient background grows darker and thicker, with the bell-chime guitars starting to recede in favor of chittering, clattering sounds as the background drone begins to die away. Eventually the drone comes back, as do the chiming guitars, and even more eventually it all fades out, with the bell-chime guitars the last to go. At nearly 45 minutes it's a bit on the longish side (ha!), making it more suitable for background listening (unless you really like Castro's way with a guitar), but this is fine... it's certainly more worthy of background ambience that the horrible Muzak they pump into elevators. Actually, i think maybe elevator music should be replaced by PE releases, which would certainly make things more interesting, eh? - Pym

(Empty) This is slowly evolving string (mostly guitar) ambient. What I just wrote is a rather plain description of the record, but I guess describing it is not enough. How does it feel? First of all, it feels quite surprising, because one 44 minutes track should be extremely boring: it isn’t. It also feels cosy and comfortable, the transitions from one part to another being natural enough. It feels like floating, like flying (although I’m not really sure of this one since I never actually flew except in a budget airlines plane which I’m sure you can’t call flying –well, that’s what I imagine flying feels like). It feels like closing your eyes. It feels delicate. It feels crafted. It feels thought over and yet not overthought. Melodies come and go, textures pass to and fro and I’m left relaxed and quiet. - DDN