FRIDAY, JULY 27

Julieta Venegas at House of Blues.

Whether confessing the secrets in her heart, or veiling them with elusive imagery, Julieta Venegas wove such an intoxicating spell of enchantment on 1999's breakthrough second solo CD, Bueninvento, that she's now regarded as something like a goddess in the often macho rock en espanol scene. She straddles the Old World, with the clipped accordion swooning of "Casa Abandonada," and leads the way to a bright Nortec future during the intro to "Flor," with its suffused bubbling-lava keyboard tones and Joe Gore's splinters of radioactive guitar. "Flor" then segues from hushed balladic intimacy to boisterous nouveau glam rock and back again. Venegas exudes even more serenity on "Seria Feliz" and the serpentine-guitar insinuations of "Todo Inventamos," as well as an emotionally faithful yet technology-twisted version of Juan Gabriel's "Siempre en Mi Mente." Like a goddess, she can be all things to many people: Just don't ignore her. (Falling James)

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