La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros

La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros were an Argentine symphonic/jazz-rock band that released two albums in 1976 and 1977 on Microfón. They were the post-Sui Generis vehicle for musician Charly García, who simultaneously directed the one-off folk ensemble PorSuiGieco.

Like contemporaries Invisible, La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros were a supergroup on the Buenos Aires scene. In addition to García’s credentials, Carlos Cutaia previously serviced Materia Gris and Pescado Rabioso while Oscar Moro had played with Huinca and Color Humano.

Members: Charly García (keyboards, guitar, vocals), Carlos Cutaia (keyboards), Oscar Moro (drums), Gustavo Bazterrica (guitar, vocals), José Luis Fernández (bass)

Background

La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros (The Bird Making Machine) formed in late 1975 as the new band of Charly García following the dissolution of his folk-rock duo Sui Generis. Initially billed as “Charly García y La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros,” the group debuted with García on keys and vocals, ex-Color Humano drummer Oscar Moro, and ex-Sui Generis bassist José Luis Fernández. They named themselves after a comic strip by Crist that ran in Siete Días magazine. Their first live appearance took place in Córdoba, where they encountered guitarist Gustavo Bazterrica, recently García’s bandmate in the folk supergroup PorSuiGieco. Bazterrica joined the lineup shortly thereafter.

Seeking to expand the band’s sonic range, García invited keyboardist Carlos Cutaia, whose prior credits included Materia Gris and the second lineup of Pescado Rabioso. With two keyboardists at the helm, the group shaped a densely arranged fusion of symphonic textures and jazz-rock interplay. By mid-1976, they secured a deal with the Microfón label and entered the studio to record their self-titled debut.

La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros

La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros released their self-titled debut album on November 17, 1976, on Microfón.

The album blends expansive keyboard arrangements with shifting tempos and layered textures rooted in symphonic structure and electric jazz-rock interplay. Keyboardist Charly García and organist Carlos Cutaia alternate lead and harmonic roles, forming stacked progressions, sudden accents, and sustained passages that drive much of the arrangement. Guitarist Gustavo Bazterrica interjects with rhythmic strums and concise, tonal leads, often weaving counterlines around the piano-synth axis. Bassist José Luis Fernández underpins the changes with alternating electric and acoustic tones while drummer Oscar Moro anchors the ensemble with paced fills, brushed cymbals, and fluid transitions.

“Bubulina” unfolds across layered keyboard swells and interlaced guitar phrases; the spacious tempo pivots midway into a multi-voiced instrumental buildup as piano and synth coil in rising tandem. “Boletos, Pases y Abonos” runs in sharp contrast, driving forward on clipped funk pacing that splinters into syncopated, improvisatory duels between Gustavo Bazterrica’s chordal runs and Charly García’s high-register keyboard motifs, both grounded by José Luis Fernández’s constant fret movement and Oscar Moro’s responsive meter shifts. “No Puedo Verme Más” sustains that taut forward motion with a thick backbeat and stop-start exchanges before yielding to a fluid middle section of keyboard overlays and pulsed guitar figures.

“Rock” opens with a processional sequence on piano and Mellotron, then breaks into a sharply punctuated rhythm that alternates between declarative vocal lines and instrumental surges. Closer “Ah, Te Vi Entre las Luces” stretches across eleven minutes of movement and restraint, cycling from subdued piano-vocal phrases into full-band interlock where dual keyboards and guitar stack parallel lines, then disperse into a tapering finale shaped by classical voicings and spatial reduction.

A1. “Bubulina” [Bouboulina] (5:35)
A2. “Como Mata el Viento Norte” [How the North Wind Kills] (2:44)
A3. “Boletos, Pases y Abonos” [Tickets, Passes, and Subscriptions] (6:30) – Pino Marrone
A4. “No Puedo Verme Más” [I Can’t See Myself Anymore] (4:15)

B1. “Rock” (4:06)
B2. “Por Probar el Vino y el Agua Salada” [For Tasting the Wine and the Salt Water] (3:22)
B3. “Ah, Te Vi Entre las Luces” [Ah, I Saw You Among the Lights] (11:09)

La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros recorded the album between July and September 1976 at Estudios ION in Buenos Aires. Jorge Álvarez and Oscar López produced the sessions with technical engineering by Alejandro Torres and Osvaldo Acedo.

Juan Oreste Gatti designed the elaborate double-sleeve packaging, which features artwork by cartoonist Crist, whose newspaper strip inspired the band’s name. Microfón issued “Cómo Mata el Viento Norte” backed with “No Puedo Verme Más” as the album’s single.

Películas

La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros released their second album, Películas, in 1977 on Microfón.

The record expands their layered, symphonic jazz-rock approach with increased contrapuntal interplay and structured ensemble dynamics. Guitarist Gustavo Bazterrica trades phrasing with keyboardists Charly García and Carlos Cutaia, who alternate lead motifs and harmonic fills across piano, organ, Mellotron, and synthesizers. Bassist José Luis Fernández underpins the harmonic shifts with alternating sustain and movement while drummer Oscar Moro drives the material with a flexible backbeat and responsive accent work.

Películas opens with “Obertura Siete, Siete, Siete,” a steadily layered instrumental that sets the album’s tone with gradual crescendos, interlocking piano and synth patterns, and restrained accents from guitar and bass that widen the harmonic field before tightening into a syncopated close. “No Te Dejes Desanimar” extends that structure into vocal form, pivoting from a soft 7/4 piano-led verse into a widening chorus and string-swept instrumental coda where Charly García stretches the vocal line into open meter, echoing the ensemble’s pulse.

“Qué Se Puede Hacer Salvo Ver Películas” runs on a Latin-leaning rhythm base, then splinters into pointillist instrumental breaks where each instrument trades short phrases over a steady undercurrent before folding back into an ensemble refrain. “Hipercandombe” sustains the album’s peak rhythmic energy with fast, staccato riffing and call-and-response exchanges between synthesizer and guitar, driven by Oscar Moro’s tightly sprung snare patterns and sudden shifts. “Ruta Perdedora” lowers the pace for a lyric-centered progression that breaks midway into a section of interwoven bass, guitar, and organ phrases that rise and retract in measured counterpoint. “En las Calles de Costa Rica” closes the album with a high-velocity instrumental run where Gustavo Bazterrica overlays his most linear guitar phrasing over rotating electric piano pulses and forward-leaning bass figures.

A1. “Obertura Siete, Siete, Siete” [Overture Seven, Seven, Seven] (4:50) – García, Fernández, Moro
A2. “Marilyn, la Cenicienta y las Mujeres” [Marilyn, Cinderella, and the Women] (4:24) – García
A3. “No Te Dejes Desanimar” [Don’t Let Yourself Get Discouraged] (4:10) – Cutaia, García
A4. “Qué Se Puede Hacer Salvo Ver Películas” [What Can One Do But Watch Movies] (6:15) – Cutaia, García

B1. “Hipercandombe” [Hyper-Candombe] (4:31) – García
B2. “El Vendedor de las Muñecas de Plástico” [The Seller of Plastic Dolls] (4:52) – García, Bazterrica
B3. “Ruta Perdedora” [Losing Route] (5:43) – García, Fernández
B4. “En las Calles de Costa Rica” [In the Streets of Costa Rica] (4:10) – Bazterrica

La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros recorded Películas in the autumn of 1977 at Estudios ION. The band self-produced the sessions with oversight by Jorge Álvarez and coordination by manager Oscar López. Alejandro Torres and Osvaldo Acedo engineered the recordings, mastered by Martín.

Juan Oreste Gatti handled the album’s visual presentation, contributing design, photography, and cover artwork. Microfón paired “Qué Se Puede Hacer Salvo Ver Películas” with “Por Probar el Vino y el Agua Salada” for single release. The LP came housed in a printed inner sleeve with lyric insert.

Postlude

La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros dissolved in the late 1977 over creative differences. They played their final show on November 11 during “Festival del Amor” at the Luna Park stadium in Buenos Aires.

García and Moro became two-fourths of Serú Girán. Cutaia co-headed Ce.Ce. Cutaia for one album and then launched a solo career. Bazterrica joined the reformed Los Abuelos de la Nada for three years during the early 1980s.

Discography: