Bocanada

During the final stages of Soda Stereo, when the problems within the band became more evident, as well as their imminent breakup, Gustavo Cerati released his first solo studio album, Amor Amarillo (1993). Cerati described it as a "very impulsive [but] not premeditated" album. At the time of its release, Cerati stated that he wasn't thinking about developing a solo career. He said that all the solo albums and releases before Bocanada were made purely for "pleasure," believing that his career was already established with Soda Stereo. Despite this, during the production of the album, Cerati began to save ideas for Bocanada, describing one of its songs, "Pulsar," as "the starting point of Bocanada." After their breakup and brief farewell tour, El último concierto in 1997, Cerati began to plan his solo career, making albums not just for pleasure, and referring to Bocanada as his "first solo album."

On Bocanada, Cerati takes a turn towards electronic music, with most of the sound being trip hop, downtempo, and neo-psychedelia. In line with other genre pioneers like Massive Attack and Portishead, many of the songs use one or more samples from various artists. Despite the overall electronic sound, the album's most recognizable single, "Puente," is one of the few songs that eschews electronic music as its foundation, instead featuring a more conventional pop-rock sound. Around the time of Soda Stereo's breakup, Cerati had already composed songs with electronic sounds and using computers, some of which ended up on this album. The album was largely created using an Akai MPC, which was essential for the sampling and composition process. These samples were also processed through a MIDI mutator, and he considered these new computerized elements as important to the production as the guitar. ^[4] Flavio Etcheto, artist and musician, assisted Cerati in essential ways. He participated in all the songs and co-wrote "Alma" and "Perdonar es divino," in addition to contributing loops, samples, and backing vocals. He also acted as an organizer and advisor for Cerati in the formation of his first solo band.

Cerati used the software Pro Tools to create the album, commenting:

Bocanada opens with “Tabú” which introduces sounds with electronica, sampledelia and jazz elements. It demonstrates the ability and prose of the recording techniques and structures of the songs, as proven with “Puente”, an alternative rock and electronica song with a pop sensibility that stretches to other songs on the album. This album also shows Cerati’s desire to explore electronic music as a whole. Bocanada is mainly a dream pop, trip hop, psychedelia and electronica album with strong influences from art rock and downtempo. Other genres appear as influence such as sampledelia, breakbeat, plunderphonics and jazz.^[5]

All songs written by Gustavo Cerati, except where noted.