Polarizados – RANCHO RELAXO: My Girl (Wrong Way Records, Single, 2017)

Avance del que será nuevo trabajo de los noruegos RANCHO RELAXO (me encanta este nombre…). Los chicos amplían su espectro sonoro añadiendo bases rítmicas y más teclas/sintetizadores a su tradicional Shoegaze. En breve publicarán su nuevo Ep: Polarized.

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Soft Party – ANDY SHAUF: The Party (Anti, 2016)

Conectado con la canción de autor y la renovación generalizada del sonido Folkie de los últimos tiempos, la música de Andy Shauf ha ido evolucionando paso a paso hasta llegar a este segundo trabajo titulado The Party, una especie de disco conceptual basado en las experiencias que cada uno de los invitados a una fiesta puede llegar a vivir.
Un disco calmado y pausado, de los de instrumentación silente, pianos, cuerdas y sensación de quietud. Si tus referentes son Steely Dan, Aimee Mann, Elliott Smith o Kings of Convenience; The Party es tu disco.
Me gustan: Twist your ankle, Quite like you, Begin again, The worst in you.

“The ten loosely conceptual vignettes revolve around the characters at a party, presumably in the microcosm of small-town Saskatchewan. As he displayed on his debut, Shauf has a knack for creating a lived-in, intimate world and his carefully constructed pop arrangements support his provincial narratives and observations. With the hushed darkness of Elliott Smith and the ornate sophistication of the High Llamas, he unfurls tales of jealousy, drunken confessions, humiliations, and burdensome early arrivals. The production is meticulously crafted and strangely dry, with paper-thin drums that pop as lightly as plucked guitar strings and warm clarinet stacks weaving in and out. While there are definitely standouts, like the elegant opener “The Magician” and the jangling “The Worst in You,” The Party requires the patience to be digested in its full form. In terms of craft and vision, Shauf has got both in spades, and while stylistically similar to his debut, he’s made adjustments and broken new ground here as well. His idiosyncratic, mumbled vocal delivery might occasionally make understanding the lyrics a bit of a challenge, but it’s also one of his unique distinctions and with The Party, he’s added another strong outing to his canon” (All Music)

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Rabia – LUNATICS ON POGOSTICKS: Sniffing lavender (2016)

Juventud, energía, vitalidad… todo ello traducido en guitarreos compulsos, estribillos fáciles y canciones inmediatas. Un buen disco de Punk-Pop en toda la extensión del término.

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Space Country – THE HANGING STARS: Over the silvery lake (Great Pop Suplement, 2016))

Una sobreexposición prolongada al Country-Pop Byrdsiano de Sweetheart of The Rodeo o los dos primeros álbumes de los Flying Burrito Brothers tiene como consecuencia un álbum como Over the silvery lake. Un trabajo absolutamente epatante preñado de Space Country Rock, absolutamente influido de Psicodelia y Pop Barroco. Una auténtica delicia de esas que pasa desapercibida para oídos generalistas e incluso para aquellos Indies no acostumbrados a ambrosías Pop como la que degustamos. 

“A promising debut from London’s The Hanging Stars, who switch deftly between deliciously sentimental Americana and swaggering psychedelia.” (Uncut)

“a hazy, desert-dream of a song, nicely sharpened with steely-eyed guitars, Mersey-laced harmonies and just a whiff of the Gun Club.” (Guardian)

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A guitarrazo limpio – THE PRESOLAR SANDS: The Big Noise (Lazy Octopus Records, 2017)

No sé si detrás de tanta guitarra y un trabajo de producción un tanto sobrecargado habrá algo más de postureo del que nuestros oídos puedan asimilar, pero lo cierto es que THE PRESOLAR SANDS tienen algo interesante en su música. Vienen de Suecia y son un buen exponente de esa especie de ola Post-Grunge que mora por la escena internacional de un tiempo acá.

“Their debut album THE BIG NOISE is out April 12 via Lazy Octopus Records. It draws inspiration from the Witch Hunts of the 17th century, and the period of mass hysteria in Sweden, called The Big Noise (Det Stora Oväsendet), where hundreds of women were assassinated for ”practicing witchcraft”.
THE BIG NOISE has heart-beat drums, vibrating guitars, reverberating piano, dark lyrics and the witchy voices of Jessica (sings lead vocals on “Exposure”, “Witches’ Hill”, “State Of Loneliness”, “Panic Disorder”, “Skinchanger” and “We Own You”) and Charlotta (sings lead vocals on “Det Stora Oväsendet” and “Dig You Out”)” (Press, Lazy Octopus)

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The Jesus and Mary Chain siguen Siendo TJMC – Damage and Joy (Artificial Plastic Records, 2017)

El último trabajo de The Jesus and Mary Chain es algo así como el auto homenaje de una de las bandas más influyentes de las últimas décadas hacia ellos mismos. Un gozoso recorrido y repaso a través de todas sus facetas sonoras, desde las aristas primigenias hasta los ecos velvetianos, desde la versión más rabiosamente danzable hasta la más sensible con la colaboración de Hope Sandoval.
Los irreconciliables William y Jim han tirado de repertorio de ambos en solitario o, un tema prestado a la banda de su hermana Linda y composiciones recientes para elaborar este Damage and Joy.
Todo ello, por supuesto, regado con las guitarras suficientemente distorsionadas de siempre, su visión entre sarcástica y algo oscura del mundo que les rodea y esa forma de ser que en su momento definió un concepto como “cool“. The Jesus and Mary Chain continúan siendo en 2017 una banda respetable y lo que es más importante: siguen sonando a TJMC ; aunque la mayor parte de los medios ha sido precisamente lo que han criticado de Damage and Joy. Allá ellos.
Si te das prisa, este fin de semana les ves en Barcelona (29, Razzmatazz) y Madrid (30, La Riviera).

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Contra la Pared – COSMEN ADELAIDA: Dos Caballos (El Genio Equivocado, 2017)

“Cosmen Adelaida regresan con un álbum producido por Paco Loco que profundiza en los matices más oscuros y psicodélicos de su estilo, sin dejar de lado su particular habilidad por las canciones directas de pop romántico con destellos brillantes y festivos.  “Dos caballos” es su tercer trabajo desde que ficharan por el sello barcelonés El Genio Equivocado. En él siguen desarrollando su particular ‘saudade’, esa añoranza de lo que pudo ser y no fue, o de lo que fue y ya no será más. Encontraremos en “Dos caballos” la variedad de influencias habitual en Cosmen Adelaida. El post-punk de Magazine o Echo and the Bunnymen, estribillos que suenan a Ariel Pink, la rabia punk de Richard Hell, o experimentos como la canción Piranesi, que recuerda a Franco Battiato. Los madrileños siguen expresando la misma nostalgia y remordimientos, éxtasis y desengaño, rabia y piel de gallina” (Prensa-El Genio Equivocado)

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Cool – Kool & The Gang – Summer Madness (Rhythm Scholar Remix)

La revisión de Rhythm Scholar de un viejo tema de Kool & The Gang, contando con la ayuda de Dexter Wansel, James Brown, Dave Grusin ¡e incluso The Eagles!

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TELEVISION PERSONALITIES – A picture of Dorian & More… (Fire Records, Singles Reissues, Record Store Day, 2017)

Para celebrar el Record Store Day, que mejor que publicar un inédito como éste de Television Personalities. Un corte llamado A picture of Dorian, que les sitúa en el sitio de siempre, en una de las bandas seminales del Pop y del C86 desde hace alguna década…

“With the formidable Daniel Treacy at its core, Television Personalities remain one of new wave’s longest serving and seminal artists with a career spanning over three decades. The visionaries directly influenced virtually every major pop uprising of the period including artists as diverse as The Jesus and Mary Chain, Pavement and Creation’s Alan McGee” (Press)

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Artesanía Electro – JANE WEAVER: Modern Kosmology (Fire Records, 2017)

Funciona como una artesana del Electro. Jane Weaver maneja todos los hilos de la grabación, producción y edición de sus álbumes. Su sonido es igual y decididamente Retro: utiliza equipos electrónicos analógicos y huye de artificios. El resultado: una excitante mezcla de Kraut, Pop y los sonidos avanzados que propusieron en su día bandas como Can o Stereolab.

“Like dreams, Jane Weaver’s songs come to her “like fully-formed pictures” she explains, but only now, with a discography that spans 3 decades, has she taken concentrated and uninterrupted recording time to focus on a genuine studio album from start-to-finish. Recorded using genuine all-analogue vintage machinery, Weaver balances the obscure against the unpredictable matching every beat with every considered syllable in a 40 minute opus comprising her best lyrical songwriting to date. Songs like H>A>K and The Architect match aero-lite melodicism with pounding rhythm tracks evoking vivid images of early Modernist art, Archigram blue-prints with a rigid back-bone of Eames worthy construction. In tracks like Slow Motion and The Lightning Back, Weaver combines subtle patch-bay arpeggios combining the stylings of Wendy Carlos and (previous collaborator) Suzanne Ciani with yearning lyricism and the type of agile melodics seldom found in synthesised pop music. Other organic tracks on the LP combine awkward twangs and dystopian dirge to expose Weaver’s knowledgeable grasp on early European prog with the angular Faustian / Can pang of Loops In The Secret Society and the commune rock evocation of Ravenspoint, a seasoned reduction of Amon Duul, Ash Ra and Acanthus. The album’s title track however will tick multiple boxes for fans of all the aforementioned micro-genres with one of Weaver’s most intimate performances to date combining crystalline vocals with swells of electric organ, crooked rhythms, spiked psych guitar and spectral radiophonic effects challenging the best in obscure Swedish acid-rock and Elephants Memory’s soundtrack psych… possibly a compliment at it’s most monarchial” (Press-Fire Records)

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Tour dates:
18 May: Hare & Hounds 2, Birmingham, UK
19 May: Band On The Wall, Manchester, UK
20 May: The Great Escape Festival, Brighton, UK
22 May: The Lexington, London, UK
23 May: Rough Trade East, London, UK
02 Jun: La Maroquinerie, Paris, France
07 Jul: Bluedot Festival, Jodrell Bank, Cheshire, UK
20-23 Jul: Liverpool International Music Festival, Liverpool, UK
25-26 Aug: Sea Change Festival, Totnes, UK

Retro-Techno – FRAGILE TOM: The particular go (Discos de Kirlian, Reissue, 2017)

La disquera barcelonesa Discos de Kirlian, acaba de reeditar el disco de Fragile Tom que apareció hace algún tiempo. Todo un bonito y crepuscular paseo por el Synth-Pop de raigambre más ochentera.

“80’s flavored synthpop between cheerfulness & introspection. German duo Fragile Tom creates synthpop between cheerfulness and introspection, building upon the legacy of late 70s & early 80s electronica, and drawing from influences such as Yazoo, Tears For Fears and OMD. Ensuing from a fundamental doubt in the powers of human perception, their output thematically revolves around the countless mysteries that are bred by the ubiquity of interpersonal distance and alienation in relationships” (Press, Discos de Kirlian)

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Lisergia – IS BLISS: Into a Dream (Club AC30, Single, 2017)

“Is Bliss have hooked up with the label for a new EP, and it tightens their noise pop aesthetic still further.
The hooks feel more defined, while the production applied renewed clarity with Is Bliss displaying continuing confidence in their sound.
‘The Honeycomb Explosion’ arrives on May 19th, with Clash able to premiere lysergic new cut ‘Into A Dream’.
Reminiscent of those early Verve jams fused with Ride’s rock swagger, it’s a heady fuzzed out return” (Press Club AC30)

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Nueva Era – NO JOY: Creep (Ep, Mexican Summer, 2017)

Dejando atrás y algo de lado esa tendencia visceral y algo autodestructiva de sus últimas producciones, el dúo canadiense NO JOY tiran hacia sonidos algo más cercanos al Shoegaze como lo conocemos tradicionalmente, e incluso con influencias del Post-Punk. Un Ep que les puede abrir una nueva era en su música.

“As the principal writer of their past catalog, White-Gluz steers the material on CREEP in new directions, drawing on varied influences ranging from Industrial to New Age. With co-writer and producer Jorge Elbrecht, the pair create a soundscape that is both familiar and fresh. Tracked in Montreal at Hotel 2 Tango and in White-Gluz’s Little Italy apartment, the sound is huge. Dynamic juxtapositions of dark and light, feminine and virile are cemented together with their signature earworm hooks. No Joy are challenging themselves by distancing from the traditional rock band formula, creating a new live show to accompany the release.
By taking control of their new direction, it’s the beginning of a new era for No Joy”

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Vísceras – BERLINA: Desértico (Single, Grabaciones a Montones, 2017)

Viaje a través del Noise-Pop hacia las vísceras del Shoegaze más sucio.

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Retro-Pop: Juvenilia: Juvenilia (Pretty Olivia Records, 2017)

Retro artefacto de Pop con innegable acento algo añejo y atractivo post-adolescente. Influencias un tanto obvias, pero vienen a ocupar un espacio de sobra conocido por bandas en el panorama Pop nacional.

“Jangle pop at its best. Teclados absorbentes, guitarras cristalinas, ritmos irresistibles y melodías del pop más perfecto.
Con un pie en Nueva Zelanda (The Clean y los Verlaines están ahí) y otro en el indie rock americano (The Feelies sobre todo), sin perder de vista el mejor pop nacional (especialmente el de los años 60) llega el debut de Juvenilia para recordarnos que el pop sigue siendo algo importante y que los corazones aún se exaltan con una buena canción” (Prensa Pretty Olivia Records)

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Hidden Spirit – LVL UP: Return to Love (SubPop, 2016)

Ecos noventeros, fronterizos por igual al DIY y al LoFi. Graban para SubPop y tienen ese encanto de las bandas del sello.

“Hidden Driver,” the opening track of LVL UP’s third album and Sub Pop debut Return to Love, never stops moving. What starts with unassuming guitars and vocals adds new lines, depths, and intensity, until its unrestrained, triumphant finish. “God is peeking, softly speaking,” repeats the chorus, working through the relationship between spirituality and creative inspiration, and introducing a band that is always pushing further.
LVL UP — guitarists Mike Caridi and Dave Benton, bassist Nick Corbo, and drummer Greg Rutkin — is a true collaboration, a band that takes the stylistically distinct ideas of four members and brings them togeth- er into something new. Caridi, Benton, and Corbo write and sing equally, bringing their work to the group to be fully realized, resulting in an album built on different perspectives but a common drive.
“We have very different inspirations across the board,” says Benton, noting his own admiration for the writer and documentarian Astra Taylor, Corbo’s interest in the mystical and the occult, and Caridi’s attention to personal storytelling. The music itself grows from a shared melodic and experimental sensibility, as well as a nod to iconic influences like Neutral Milk Hotel and Mount Eerie.
LVL UP was formed in 2011 at SUNY Purchase as a recording project between Caridi, Benton, and their friend Ben Smith, with the original intention of releasing a split cassette with Corbo’s then-solo material. They instead released that album, Space Brothers, as one band, and Rutkin joined shortly afterwards for the group’s first show. Smith left the band for personal reasons just before the release of second album Hoodwink’d, a joint release on Caridi and Benton’s label Double Double Whammy and Exploding in Sound. DDW also put out records from other artists in the tight-knit community that launched the band.Also part of that university community was Return to Love’s producer Mike Ditrio, who mixed LVL UP’s previous records and “was basically a fifth member of the band,” says Corbo. “He played a huge role in developing the sound, without butting in too much. He also navigated our personal dynamic really nicely.” (Press)

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Bajistas Bigotudos – BILL BOTTING AND THE TWO DRINK MINUMUS: Better Friends (Wiaiwya, 2017)

“First there was Paul McCartney, Phil Lynott and Lemmy, and now in 2017 Bill Botting swells the esteemed ranks of bass-players-with-moustaches-come-charismatic-frontmen.

Following Allo Darlin’s triumphant farewell back in December 2016, their ever-buoyant bass player Bill Botting is releasing his debut solo album in March on Fika Recordings and WIAIWYA.

He gathered a supergroup of siblings and indie legends including Allo Darlin’ bandmate Paul Rains, Jonny Helm from The Wave Pictures, Tom Wade from Owl & Mouse, Laura K from Tigercats, Darren Hayman from Darren Hayman and Hannah Botting from home, christened them the Two Drink Minimums, took them to Ramsgate, and recorded Better Friends.

Better Friends is simply described as indie mixed with country, or country mixed with indie. Or like if Lou Reed went to a Linda Ronstadt Concert in 1988 and decided to have a change of direction.

Imagine the soundtrack to a 1970’s road movie directed by John Hughes, with a little power pop, some cosmic American music and some post-punk, pre-indiepop jangle, all played through an Australian indie filter, with a Paul Simon cover thrown in for good measure. You can hear the Go-Between’s in there, some solo McCartney, perhaps an Antipodean Kinks and even some classic Huey Lewis, Hall and Oates or Billy Joel.

Better Friends was predominantly written on the move: on 3 hour night buses, tour vans and cross country trains. There are tales of hotel rooms without spare keys [Paulie’s Girl], absurd ‘sexy’ Halloween costumes (Sexy Mental Patient, Sexy Zombie etc) [Feeling Sad Again] and the difficulty of explaining depression to your eldest child [Difficult Stuff].

The cover of Graceland came from hearing Willie Nelson’s version while waiting for the rest of the band to arrive for the first rehearsal. Having thought it was uncoverable, Bill proceeded to cover it with the gang. And he still modestly maintains that The Two Drink Minimums’ version is the second best of the three.

It’s honest and personal, melancholy and joyous… like a warm hug from a new friend at the end of a boozy night” (Press-Wiaiwya)

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Crossover – BARDO POND: Under the Pines (Fire Records, 2017)

“So complex and substance-affected was their evolution, Bardo Pond have been creating their dreamy riffs for 26 years alongside a myriad of side projects and their prolific Record Store Day releases. Returning with a career defining album, ‘Under The Pines’ sees them delve into the subconscious with their transcending cosmic post-rock.
Over 41 minutes The Pond’s fermentation, their languid throb and textured groove (flute, violin, Isobel Sollenberger’s haunting vocals) sounds like cathartic dream pop wrapped in a delicately constructed barbwire shroud.
“Playing fuzzed out stuff of stoner dreams since the mid ‘90s,” (thanks Pitchfork) and beyond the mentions of free jazz, the avant garde, Sun Ra and The Book Of The Dead, Bardo Pond’s remarkable career and exemplary output has seen them gain fans from all corners of the pond. In 2010 Lou Reed and his wife Laurie Anderson invited them to perform at the Vivid festival they curated at the Sydney Opera House, not forgetting they were recently handpicked to support Jesus & Mary Chain at London’s Roundhouse as part of Mogwai’s 20th Anniversary and Stewart Lee chose them for the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival which he curated just last year.
Hailed for their space rock, drone, shoegaze, noise and/or psychedelia, and in a super lengthy interview in Ptolemaic Terrascope enthused (back in 2001) that they were somewhere between John Cage’s silence on 4’33 and Japanese noisenik Merzbow’s total ear splitting cacophony.
One of their finest albums to date and nearly three decades on, Bardo Pond are in it for the long haul and remain one of the most significant underground rock bands of our time” (Press-Fire Records)

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Palabras Sucias – ALONDRA GALOPA: Ocaso (Linier Discos, 2017)

Viajes oscuros a través de palabras sucias y ambientes algo tenebrosos que nos evocan recuerdos cinemáticos y sonoridades ochenteras. ALONDRA GALOPA presenta su cuarto trabajo para Linier Discos.

“4ª trabajo de la banda granadina. Los 14 temas que componen ”Ocaso”, muestran la versatilidad, bipolaridad y capacidad del duo formado por Juan A Salinas y Mónica Navarro de llevarnos por atmósferas tenebrosas e inquietantes, mostrarnos su personal visión del pop y darnos por momentos ambientes con una belleza cristalina o incluso mostrarnos crudamente el desgarro del rock. Un trabajo para viajar a lo largo del mismo de principio a fin.
Alondra Galopa presenta su nuevo trabajo. Algunas de estas canciones las han ido publicando a lo largo de 2016 como adelantos del mismo, pero la edición final cuenta con muchas mas sorpresas. Siete nuevos temas inéditos y una edición en digipack con 12 páginas y todo el trabajo fotográfico que el artista Enrique Redondo ha realizado para la banda. “Una canción. Una imagen.” El trabajo ha sido grabado, mezclado y masterizado por Juan A. Salinas en el estudio que ha montado la banda y el trabajo es la trayectoria del aprendizaje, pruebas y experimentos resultantes durante todo este tiempo.
“Alondra Galopa es una banda singular, un proyecto personal de Juan A. Salinas (Maine, Varaverde, Apocalypse) y Monica Navarro,que huye de los vicios y virtudes del indie generalista. Sin ínfulas y con mucha honestidad la banda de Granada va trazando una hoja de ruta que obedece a la propia aparición de sus canciones.” (Mondosonoro)

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Ciencia Infusa – MURCIANO TOTAL: Cencia (Vídeo-Single, El Genio Equivocado, 2017)

“Cencia 1” es el primer single adelanto de “Cencia“, un LP que contendrá 13 cortes agrupados en 7 cencias. “Cencia” continua con el homenaje a los coplas murcianas, mas concretamente a la clasificación que de ellas hizo a principios del siglo XX Díaz Cassou en su libro ‘Cancionero panocho‘. Tras “Quereres y dejenes“, “Enquinias” y ahora “Cencia“, terminarán este homenaje en 2018 con “Rondas y Músicas“.
Este single se acompaña de videoclip, donde Murciano Total se inventan una Murcia en lucha entre la cencia y las leyendas y tradiciones murcianas. En este primer cencia van incluidas “Incertidumbre” y “No sabes nada sobre mí” en el que en vídeo pasa de una imagen fija de Deméter (diosa griega de la agricultura, cuya imagen presidía desde la montaña la Vega del Segura en el siglo III a.C.) a un escenario retrofuturista dominado por la ciencia. El vídeo está realizado como todos los del grupo por Jose Lozano” (Press-El Genio Equivocado)

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