While the Rathskeller may be well-suited for college folks and fried cafeteria food, it certainly wasn't meant for hosting a brilliant Argentine songwriter on the only Wisconsin date of her North American tour. Despite the less-than-ideal acoustics and atmosphere, Juana Molina and her backing band managed to shove plenty of charm through a wall of muddy acoustics and the indifferent chatter of passers-by on Saturday night.

From the opening tribal pulse of "Un Día," Molina sewed her sugary vocal loops deep into the worldly polyrhythms of drummer Gregor Hilbe while still managing to send them soaring over Martin Innaccone’s meandering bass lines. Molina’s diverse vocal range shifted rapidly between breathy lows and nasally staccato patterns as her tunes slowly built from droning arrangements into danceable crescendos.

In addition to piling on vast vocal layers, Molina punched in melodies with her synthesizer, and strapped on an acoustic guitar for a few numbers, including the ethereal set highlight "Vive Solo." At times, Innaccone would smile at Molina with an expression of utter disbelief, as if marveling at her ability to create such intricate systems of loops.

Molina's acoustic guitar kept feeding back, the bass was barely audible, and on top of everything, most of the audience (except for the devoted listeners who stood and sat up front) wouldn't shut the fuck up. Before ending the set with "Los Hongos De Morosa," Molina brought an old table on stage and played a cup game with Innaccone and Hilbe, using the cups and slapping the table to create a playful rhythm. Luckily, Molina and friends seemed completely unphased by the poor mix and ill-committed crowd, dancing around gleefully for the simple sake of playing music.

-- Joel Shanahan