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The release of “999” is almost here but we couldn’t do it without first showing you “Amaneciendo Y Anocheciendo”, the third single from the album, and an especially relevant song that tips us off to what’s to come.

First, we have the production work of LEFTEE (from the Valencian collective Toxic Pop) who openly pushes the trio’s intentions to sneak onto the dance floor, maintaining their congenital sadness, but giving it a powerful energy. In fact, this release has two versions – the original that will appear on the album, and an extended version, in the best tradition of those maxis from the eighties. 🙂

Then, we have the lyrics. That phrase that repeats like a mantra: “Por las veces que me han hecho daño” (For all the times I have been hurt), and that is somehow an identifying mark for the group, the essence of their driving force.

And finally, we have the video directed by Daniel Cuenca – a spectacle of lights, projections, effects, psychedelia… It is the definitive touch to this group’s advance toward a new level of sophistication. Black and whites, backlighting, low angles, make-up. A new era opens for a group that has always been characterized by its overwhelming personality, and they let us see it once again. And we will all be able to confirm it definitively with “999”. Until then, dance sad. Or not so sad.

[ Read more ]

A few weeks ago, we gave you the advance of “NADA!”, the sonic (and structural) twist the new trajectory of INTERROGACIÓN AMOR has taken. And Carlos and Javier are still riding the wave of the explosion of prolific creativity, because they are giving us a new single, “el amor está en el aire”, and are letting us know about their new album called “cómo un ángel podría romper mi corazón” which will reach stores this coming June. On this new single, the second advance from this highly anticipated new album, our protagonists continue to play with eighties synth-pop concepts that they use with intelligence and imagination. So many things come to mind when we read the title of the song. And then we hear: “El amor está en el aire y yo me voy a ahogar” (Love is in the air and I’m going to drown). And then we see the cover (designed once again by Pablo Aragón) and we see a hand, holding a still-burning cigarette, buried among stones. And we know it’s them, without a doubt. All of this is done with elegant, silky, sumptuous arrangements, with a change of key included, in the best tradition of the great Broadway composers, but with a melody that shows off the best bedroom pop references, in two minutes of pure exquisiteness, that puts them back at the top of the list of current electronic pop artists. This is a highly addictive delicacy, a chorus that settles into our head [ Read more ]

TRACKLIST: 01 Razorblades & Honey (Hifi Sean Revision)  02 Razorblades & Honey (Hifi Sean Extended Revision) 03 Razorblades & Honey (Hifi Sean Dub Revision)

“Razorblades & Honey” was a song that our beloved Duglas T Stewart and Anton Newcombe (THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE) wrote together on a summer night in Berlin, and which was released on the marvelous “BMX Bandits Forever”. The song celebrated a dark, mysterious pop psychedelia, with a melodic hook that is the trademark of such talented composers. Soon after that, Hifi Sean, obsessed with the song and imagining all of its possibilities, decided to remix it. That’s right, we’re talking about Hifi Sean, one of the original members of BMX BANDITS themselves in 1985, who fronted the world famous THE SOUP DRAGONS, and who not too long ago went back to the front lines of the dance music scene thanks to his collaboration with CRYSTAL WATERS on the song “Testify”.

And from that we got three versions – one is techno-pop that lets the NEW ORDER influences that were already sneaking into the original baseline develop; one is an extended remix, the kind that hypnotizes you while you’re on the dance floor; and one is dub style, once again making the most of that magical baseline, giving it a radically outer-space tone and going head first into the most martial 4×4. You can’t resist moving your feet. And for the [ Read more ]

TRACKLIST: 01 Viernes  02 Cumbres Borrascosas

We can’t help it. Maria Rodés and David Rodríguez have such special chemistry when it comes to making music, and you can hear and feel it in everything they play. Their first album together, “Contigo”, gave us so much to talk about and is full of magical moments. We are going back to it for a new Digital Single, “Viernes”, sung by David, grievous and negative, rescuing that loser spirit of the best country, and giving the lyrics all the nuance that our protagonists know how to give, adding a touch of humor to the pathetic-ness of a story that those who really enjoyed “Contigo” will know well. If you haven’t already, go listen to it in its entirely soon, because “Viernes” is the piece of a puzzle you have to know, and enjoy. In the video, filmed for the occasion by Aitor Urbaneja, we can see them driving down a lost highway, dancing together at sunset, under a car’s headlights, and how they look at each other while they sing.

What’s more, the single comes with a previously unreleased track, recorded in the same sessions that led to the album. “Cumbres Borrascosas” is a ranchera in line with the best of Johnny Cash, once again with David’s voice on the front line, and where Sergio Pérez (SVPER, PEGASVS, THELEMÁTICOS) once again hits all the right notes (those guitars), and [ Read more ]

TRACKLIST: 01 Intro (Renacentista De Tutorial)  02 AliExpréss  03 Tamagotchi (Feat. GFOTY)  04 DM  05 Adulto Incomprendido  06 Internacional Call  07 Otra Fisicalidad (Feat. diana starshine)  08 Rubberhand (Feat. Tami T)  09 Chique De Internet  10 Traumas  11 Tu Foto De Perfil

Some albums are destined to become references, the reflection of a specific moment, a snapshot of the sounds and realities that move the world. And we wouldn’t be wrong if we say that “JÁJÁ ÉQÚÍSDÉ (Distopía Aburrida)”, the third pack of songs from PUTOCHINOMARICÓN, is one of hyperpop’s / futurepop’s album of reference. And it is one precisely because of the way it accepts its imperatives and stretches them out, twists them, pushes their limits and mixes them with thousands of other styles and influences. At this moment, and thanks to artists like Chenta Tsai, a sound or a musical movement becomes a style, an ingredient that can be added to any cocktail. That’s what happens when we talk about JOY DIVISION and post-punk, or MASSIVE ATTACK and trip-hop, to give a few examples. And “JÁJÁ ÉQÚÍSDÉ (Distopía Aburrida)” does this with an immense and surprising collection of national and international collaborators who have made this album’s sonic map so tremendous.

But if on top of th [ Read more ]

NEVVER has made a dramatic entrance with their new, now imminent release, “999”. With the production of LEFTEE and RARE (from the Toxic Pop collective in Valencia), they have been able to focus their sound from a different perspective, getting more direct, even more danceable songs – without losing the original melancholy and roughness – as a result.  The second single we’re advancing from the release, “Tu Boca Mordiéndome El Labio”, is the song that most clearly builds a bridge between the past and the present. Closer to trap, with that slow, dry phrasing, with just the right dose of autotune, but with cushions of sound that range between dreamlike and bucolic, and that turn the city’s solitude and darkness into the most beautiful – and at the same time saddest – landscapes. This is captured in the lyric video, recorded by the band themselves, where we see the silent part of a bustling city at a time when it is impossible to find silence, and where all the characters are anonymous. With its grainy texture, openly avoiding perfectionism, we become another resident of this nameless city. Because NEVVER’s songs are the city, buildings, streetlights, highways, dimmed lights, closed blinds, and people aimlessly wandering. Those are the parameters of the poetry. Because ultimately, that is what makes NEVVER’s music so special, beyond the brilliant production and instrumentation. Beca [ Read more ]

Things have changed. A lot. It’s not that things are better or worse; it’s that their capacity to surprise us, the make a mark, to be magical, have mutated in an unexpected way. We used to receive demos by the thousand. Tapes, CDs and all kinds of audio formats, with concise music that aimed at making your jaw drop in just a few seconds. Now, suddenly, you find that everywhere you look. You click a link, open a social network, a reel plays and your mind is blown. And you know you want to work with these people, and you know you are looking at diamonds that are just learning how to shine. In a way, that’s what happened to us with PIPIOLAS.

Formed by Adriana Ubani Álvarez (1997, from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) and Paula Reyes Morillas (1995, Alcorcón), PIPIOLAS is a duo with two radically charismatic people. But even more important is their overwhelmingly artistic spirit. They have that “certain something” that makes them stand out from the crowd. They are what makes them special.

They met in the RESAD (the Royal College of the Performing Arts), where they both studied acting. They took choral and lyric singing classes there. Paula had already taken her first steps as an artist, with a book called “Pequeño Soldado”, about a young, 9-year old gypsy child who lived in a small town near a Nazi-occupied city at the end of the Second World War, which turned her at 14 into a finalis [ Read more ]

TRACKLIST: 01 No Hay Futuro

Each time we have a new song from Guille Milkyway in our hands, the levels of joy are through the roof. It’s like tasting delicious food with your eyes covered. The first bite is full of the more powerful flavors, the direct ones, the ones that knock you out. With the second bite, you begin to notice that there is more going on, to discover those ingredients that don’t stand out immediately, but that are key for the texture and the final result. And each new bite brings a new nuance, a detail, something that makes the experience different every time, surprising, something you could never be bored of. In this age of Digital Singles, with Guille getting us used to savoring his songs one by one and spaced out, there is no better way to explain the experience. “No Hay Futuro”. That keyboard that seems to take us to sixties psychedelia (THE ZOMBIES!), the choruses, the clavinet that shoots us into the seventies, and then suddenly the bass drum kicks in and takes us to italo and disco music, and we can’t stop. And then we hear those vocoders, the BEACH BOYS start to come in, Moroder and Cerrone wait with a drink at the bar, Donna Summer is in the middle of the dance floor and Barbarella is about to arrive. The party begins, an apogee that never ends. The thousands of arrangements, the details, the horror vacui is an endless journey, a promise that we will never get bored, that each second is different. And y [ Read more ]

TRACKLIST: 01 Resistiré (Banda Sonora Original “Élite”)

Ana Fernández-Villaverde continues to grow her repertoire beyond her albums, and like any good inquisitive mind, there is always some ulterior motive, there is no work of inspiration (be it her own initiative or required) that does not surpass all expectations. And now it’s the DÚO DINÁMICO’s turn, and that Netflix show “Élite” that has blown up the viewing charts. In the fifth season, which is coming out now, there is an episode full of little references and homages to the inimitable Spanish film maker Pedro Almodóvar. And at one point, the protagonists are watching “Átame”, a movie which ends with “Resistiré” by Manuel and Ramón. The original version melts into LA BIEN QUERIDA’s revisiting, which weaves the downtempo with flamenco, creating a mantra of mystery and introspection, of roots and contained outbursts.

The idea came from Paulina Márquez, musical supervisor for the show, who saw in Ana the perfect protagonist for this special moment of the season, and the result of it is a Digital Single that will be released this coming April 6, the same day that “Romancero” celebrates the 13th anniversary of its release. And in 13 years so many things have happened, there have been so many songs, so many surprises and so many changes. And [ Read more ]

“Overwintering” is the new album from Bobby Wratten (THE FIELD MICE, TREMBLING BLUE STARS), recording as LIGHTNING IN A TWILIGHT HOUR. The release follows on from the recent stand-alone 7″ “The Circling Of The Seasons” and the 2015 album “Fragments Of A Former Moon”.

A collection of eleven songs overseen in collaboration with Ian Catt; a partnership dating back to the earliest days of the regularly referenced THE FIELD MICE. Both Anne Mari Davies and Michael Hiscock from THE FIELD MICE feature throughout this latest addition to Bobby‘s discography. Also present is Beth Arzy (TREMBLING BLUE STARS, JETSTREAM PONY, THE LUXEMBOURG SIGNAL), and Harvey Brown who adds guitar to the record’s penultimate track.

While some songs entered the studio fully formed, more than half of “Overwintering” began life as purely musical landscapes before beginning a journey, eventually resulting in songs like the opener, “Lincoln Green”; a subtle introduction to this world of people and places, text and texture. The hypnotic psychedelia of “Delphinium” follows, featuring the first of four lead vocals by Anne Mari Davies.

Side one draws to a close with “Leaf Fall Is Over”; a pop song that holds an inner darkness exploring the rarely addressed theme of old age. “All I want is to escape, but I cannot run / Away, away, from this shadow I& [ Read more ]

After a 10” Mini-LP that has given punk rock fans and Riot Grrrls so much to talk about, LISASINSON are back on the music scene with an even more powerful sound and those addictive choruses they know how to make so well. The first look (of the many to come) is this “No Sé Muy Bien” where their usual references continue to pop up in the group’s lyrics: rejection, failed relationships, spite, and being fake. “Ya no quiero ser moderna / Ahora paso del post punk / No me invites a tu puta fiesta / No soy parte de ese club” (I don’t want to be a hipster anymore / I’m over post punk / Don’t invite me to your fucking party / I’m not a member of that club). Really fun rhymes, relentless distortion, catchy melodies and a new show of their ability to create immediate hits. And a more solid and aggressive sound, aided by the production work of Carlos Hernández (CAROLINA DURANTE, AXOLOTES MEXICANOS, AIKO EL GRUPO, TRIÁNGULO DE AMOR BIZARRO).

And specifically, moving away from the typical, this first Digital Single after “Perdona Mamá”, gives us a video by Miguel Yubero that goes beyond all stereotypes, an original idea from LISASINSON in tribute to Valencian pilota (a traditional sport in the Community of Valencia, similar to handball). Miguel puts our protagonists on a court (called a trinquet), where they play a game and also unleash their hit in one clean [ Read more ]

We are continuing that marvelous journey to the childhood and family of Soleá Morente through her tremendous album, “Aurora Y Enrique”, which is now indelibly marked in the minds of thousands. And it’s time to look at that exquisite tribute to her sister Estrella with “El Pañuelo De Estrella”, a song that starts off with synthesizers and dreampop, and moves little by little into flamenco and fusion territory, developing into a delicate, fragile and emotional piece. This Digital Single once again stands out with an excellent audiovisual document, in this case directed by Juanma Carrillo (who has worked before with Soleá, as well as with LA BIEN QUERIDA, LA CASA AZUL, RUSH WEEK …), and which opens with a marvelous shot in an old street, representing two generations of the Morente Carbonell family. The video makes us complicit in a contagious evocation of the past and present of Soleá and Estrella’s relationship (both of whom are of course in the video), in flamenco caves and theatres, in the cobblestone streets. And once again we get goosebumps, and have tears in our eyes, and catch the feeling of being privileged spectators of authentic emotions, unique memories, an unrepeatable moment in time. And we couldn’t be more grateful. Grateful to the Morente Carbonell family. Grateful to Soleá. Grateful for such generosity.

TRACKLIST: 01 El Pañuelo De Estrella (Feat. Estrella Mor [ Read more ]

BUBBLE TEA AND CIGARETTES on Tour

The duo formed by Kat and Andi, who meet in New York and decide to make fragile, vaporous, lysergic, melancholic music, with echoes of MAZZY STAR, COCTEAU TWINS, THE XX, GALAXIE 500, Francis Laiand CIGARETTES AFTER SEX. In Spain, we are going to have the privilege to be the first to see them live. BUBBLE TEA AND CIGARETTES have been some of the biggest news in recent years for Elefant Records, because they are practitioners of that sound we like so much and that so few people inhabit, but those who do tend to offer us marvelous musical experiences. At the end of March, they are going to be playing in Madrid, Zaragoza and Barcelona, touring with the songs from the four singles they have released so far – songs as marvelous as “5AM Empanada With You” and “Santa Monica”, and even some new songs that will be included on their first full-length album with Elefant. Songs recorded in their apartment in New York and mixed by Anthony “Rocky” Gallo (Norah Jones, Cat Power, THE XX, CIGARETTES AFTER SEX, THE KILLERS, THE CLIENTELE…) and mastered by Greg Calbi (Stevie Wonder, John Lennon, David Bowie, TAME IMPALA, ARCADE FIRE, St. Vincent, PERFUME GENIUS, BLONDIE, Aretha Franklin and a very long etc).

On Thursday, March 24th, they will perform in Madrid, and Friday the 25th in Zaragoza. In both concerts they will be accompanied by TRONCO, who are still s [ Read more ]

TRACKLIST: 01 NADA!

The diptych formed by “mariposas y vómito” and “vómito y mariposas” were destined to be cult classics and legends, and to make INTERROGACIÓN AMOR an unforgettable event on the national independent pop panorama, and that is exactly what happened. They are a rara avis that are now going through a transformation. This transformation is ultimately confirmation that this story is not ending here, and that there is still so much more to say. Now a duo, this new single, “NADA!”, marks a new era for Carlos and Javier, as the first advance from the second album from the INTERROGACIÓN AMOR project. It is the starting shot, a cry to the heavens for rebellion and a statement of intentions. Because as soon as you press play you realize that so much has changed.

This time the work is happening in the studio (they chose to work at El Invernadero) and we find ourselves listening to a dark, direct synth-pop that moves progressively into post-punk and noise. The coproduction work of DJ HATER (an El Invernadero resident, who has worked with groups like BAYWAVES, MEGANSITO EL GUAPO, MORI and IRENEGARRY) was key to this sound – he is a dilettante activist for urban sounds and with a style strongly marked by internet culture. The song presents a futuristic imaginarium with dystopian touches, supported by images from Pablo Aragón (@parafeno) and with photographs from Adri Cuerdo  [ Read more ]

TRACKLIST: 01 Primavera  02 Be My Baby  03 Italia (English Version)

If the collaboration between the velvety voice of Cristina Quesada and the overflowing creativity of Joe Moore (THE YEARNING, THE PERFECT KISS, JULIE ET JOE) has already given us a handful of singles from “Think I Heard A Rumour”, get ready for a feast of what is to come. The tandem is back with an exercise in high-voltage Italo Disco. As an advance for “Dentro Al Tuo Sogno”, their upcoming album, we have a Digital Single full of juicy material, starring one of the songs that will be on the album: “Primavera”.

The song lays out all the sumptuousness of the sound taken to greatness by names like Giorgio Moroder, SAVAGE or Katy Gray. The thing is, Joe Moore has managed to find the mystery and the very special color of the melodies of these artists he has soaked up. “Primavera” makes this clear, with its rhythmic-ness, its deep basses and synthesized lines, creating a shady ambiance that hides the underlying vitality, which is perfectly reflected in Cristina’s lyrics: a song for spring, as a metaphor for the need to escape from dark moments and contexts, swinging in the luminosity of the chorus.

The single also has two songs that won’t be on the album. The first is a seductive version of “Be My Baby” that Lenny Kravitz wrote for Vanessa Paradis, burying the northern-soul in layers of synt [ Read more ]