CATALAN! MUSIC eMAGAZINE ENGLISH

Catalan! music eMagazine

autumn 2011 issue 1

100 pop, jazz and folk live shows

MERCAT DE MĂšSICA VIVA DE VIC

Catalans on tour Recomended festivals New releases

Institut Català de les Indústries Culturals Rambla de Santa Mònica, 8 E-08002 Barcelona Tel.: +34 933 162 700 internacional.icic@gencat.cat www.gencat.cat/cultura/icic/internacional www.catalanarts.cat Text: Grup Enderrock Images: Ave Carrillo, Carles Rodríguez, David Elvira, David Quintana, Félix Broede, Gema Darbo, Guillermina Cardo, Ibai Acevedo, Inma Varandela, Jordi Vidal, Juan Miguel Morales, Lagatacristi, Lorenzo Cerrina, Martí E. Berenguer, Noemí Elias, Román Yñán, Tanit Plana, Xavier Mercadé i arxiu Grup Enderrock Design and layout: Manuel Cuyàs D.L.: B-32542-2011 Barcelona, September 2011 ISSN: 2014-3834 This magazine is published under an AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported Creative Commons license, which allows you to download this work and share it with others as long as you credit the author, but you can’t change it in any way or use them commercially. Read the full license at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Catalan! music eMagazine

autumn 2011 issue 1

The digital magazine for the international promotion of the Catalan music.

Available in English, Catalan and Spanish.

Published four-monthly.

intro

Catalan! Music eMagazine is the first of a series of publications in digital format for the international promotion of the various Catalan cultural sectors. This is a new tool to add to those already undertaken by the International Promotion Department of the Catalan Institute of Cultural Industries, ICIC, and aims to become a key element within the Department’s lines of action.

It combines two of the fundamental ideologies that ICIC is looking to develop over the coming years. On the one hand, internationalisation, which is necessary for the Catalan cultural industries that have demonstrated maturity and ability in facing new challenges and crossing borders into new markets.

It is essential that, once communication and distribution channels have been established in well-known nearby markets, the activities of Catalan agents is expanded into potential and emerging markets, chief among them being Brazil. On the other hand, adaptation to new technologies in the cultural sector is a change we are witnessing that cannot be ignored. First, the way we produce and listen to music was changed, then the way we communicate with each other, and finally, the way we read and find out about it. As a result, we need to be leaders in the production of resources in new formats that promote Catalan language and culture. We must not be left behind and we need to move forward into these new times in order to reach our entire audience wherever it may be and through whichever channel may be necessary.

Catalan! Music eMagazine aims to address these concerns by positioning itself as a magazine of reference for the Catalan music industry around the world. It will thus become a useful and essential tool for international professionals in the world of music and for all those interested in the search for and hyperlinking of music content on the internet. It is to be published in three languages (English, Spanish and Catalan), in order to reach a greater number of readers, and can be read on your computer and on mobile devices, phones and tablets. Catalan!

Music eMagazine covers new album releases, international tours, essential festivals, collaborations by artists and current affairs, all under the perspective of our interest in and aptitude for globalisation.

You will find this publication on the website for the internationalisation of Catalan cultural industries, www.catalanarts.cat, and on all the websites of the most representative music organisations and associations at Catalan and international level.

I invite you to read, watch, listen and enjoy this new publication in any format. Catalan! Music eMagazine is the mirror of a country and a culture, providing international projection and carrying the Catalan music industry to the world.

Fèlix Riera i Prado Director of Catalan Institute for the Cultural Industries

The ICIC and the musical sector: What can we do for you?

The ICIC, Catalan Institute for the Cultural Industries, is responsible for funding and development of the music industry in Catalonia. It provides a range of funding schemes to support both recorded and live music and has its own label, Catalan! Music, to promote the sector abroad.

Funding schemes The ICIC provides support to the recording industries by means of several funding schemes, the most significant of which are targeted at labels and programmers. Labels can apply for subsidies linked to their business plan – instead of funding individual releases, the ICIC funds part of the companies’ investments in production, digitalization and use of new technologies. The ICIC has also a funding scheme for the publication of records of particular cultural interest and others targeted both at private companies and town councils who regularly programme concerts or organize festivals.

Since 2008 the ICIC has also initiated an exchange programme with festivals and musical institutions from several regions and countries outside Catalonia.

This scheme allows for Catalan musicians to perform abroad, while some musicians from those regions and countries are also offered some acts in different venues and festivals in Catalonia.

Catalan! Music, the brand to promote our music abroad The ICIC also works for the distribution of Catalan music outside Catalonia.

This objective is carried out by means of the brand Catalan! Music.

Catalan! Music is the umbrella under which the ICIC acts in the international framework, in a coordinated way with the sector’s entities and associations.

Its actions include, among others, the presence of Catalan companies in international fairs and markets; support for Catalan music companies interested in doing business abroad; offering information, advice and contacts to Catalan and foreign professionals and companies for the international distribution of their productions; providing international consultancy for specific projects; favouring the creation of circuits for exchanges with other countries and the publication of compilations, catalogues, directories, a specific website, newsletters and other tools about the music sector in Catalonia.

The diverse actions to promote the internationalization of Catalan music are carried out via the five international offices of the ICIC, located in the strategic cities of several target markets: Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, London, Milan and Paris. The offices play an active role in the design and development of the dissemination and exportation policies for the Catalan music production.

Therefore, the range of actions performed by the ICIC in support of Catalan music is extremely wide, in response to the dynamism and the creativity of the Catalan music industry.

CATALAN MUSIC À LA CARTE Lluís Gendrau Journalist and director of the publishing company Grup Enderrock Catalan cuisine blends nature in a meal. Catalonia is one of the Mediterranean nations that has been best able to show its ability to turn its dexterity for cooking into an art and an international benchmark. Nowadays, Catalan chefs (with Ferran Adrià and Joan Roca at the forefront) are akin to rock stars. They have seduced and captivated countless guests from around the world, reinventing dishes using basic natural elements, adapting traditional resources and experimenting with new textures and technologies.

For many years we have been well-aware that Mediterranean cuisine is more than just a way of eating. It is a vital attitude characteristic of the peoples on the Mediterranean coastline which has transformed itself into a showcase for a healthy lifestyle: slow food as opposed to the English fast food. In short, we are what we eat and in actual fact this theory has been backed by the UNESCO declaration which considers the Mediterranean diet World Intangible Heritage. Thus, through its gastronomic tradition, Catalan culture receives worldwide acknowledgment.

This tradition of stylish dishes and recipes also applies to music and Mediterranean songs. We are what we listen to. Catalan music has a unique taste, aroma and flavour which can be appreciated through the colour of the notes and the sounds and lyrics of the compositions. Like cuisine, culture and music possess characteristics that are transferred from generation to generation and which evolve according to customs, social revolutions and currents in terms of migration. A thousand influences blend with the Earth and the landscape, far away from the fusion or urban, port-based musical styles.

Historically, Catalonia has been one of the most influential settings of the Mediterranean. It has been a meeting place for merchants and market goers, wizards and magicians, musicians and trapeze artists. In the Mare Nostrum, markets have been as important as, if not more important than, ports when

it comes to becoming acquainted with and describing characters and their lifestyles. They have all traced out a sound landscape which is based on their own roots and provides us with different, current and hitherto unheard-of music.

Catalan pop music is at the dawn of an alternative, distinguished and unique scene: new Catalan folk/pop. A new generation of artists have broken away from their ancestors – Catalan rock highly influenced by the Anglo Saxon styles of the 70s and 80s – and they have struck a balance with the earlier generation belonging to the Nova Cançó and the rock layetana movements.

This fusion makes it possible to revive classics while venturing for innovation, mass audiences – in terms of record sales and concerts – an ability to appeal to international audiences and the generation of much interest among multinational record labels in order to rediscover a loyal, profitable market of propinquity with the potential for internationalisation.

The Nova Cançó has its origin in the French chanson and has adapted as an original musical style of the Catalan-speaking territories, unique and impossible to translate but one that is widely shared in various guises in France, Italy and Greece. The Nova Cançó stems from a combination of voice and guitar in equal proportions where the power of the lyrics is as important as, if not more important than, the backing sound and where Catalan plays a key role. It came out merely fifty years ago as a civil response to the Franco dictatorship and it was later transformed into an artistic movement that was exported throughout the Iberian Peninsula and later throughout Europe and even in the Americas.

Some of the most international artists of the 20th century (Joan Manuel Serrat, Lluís Llach, Maria del Mar Bonet, Raimon, Pi de la Serra) have been champions of the Nova Cançó movement, which is now a leading revolution fostered by new generations who fuse its style with the new folk/pop: Manel, El Petit de Cal Eril, Els Amics de les Arts, Anímic, The New Raemon, Inspira, Maria Coma and Sanjosex (folk-oriented); Mazoni, Mishima, Love of Lesbian and Élena (pop-rock); and Lluís Vidal Trio, Llibert Fortuny and Manel Camp, Josep M. Farràs and Ignasi Terraza (jazz-based).

The Cançó as popular Catalan music benefits from wide popularity allied to a broad production of musically poetical styles (Túrnez & Sesé, Xavier Baró, Toti Soler, etc.) –unique to Europe – or to traditional forms (Miquel Gil & Manel Camp, Carles Dénia, Botifarra, etc.). Moreover, a highly personal and surreal current exists, partly linked to progressive rock, known as the Cançó

Galàctica or galactic song, based on costumerism and influenced by the artistic current of philosophers such as Francesc Pujols or painters such as Salvador Dalí. Excellent musical representatives of this style include Quimi Portet, Pau Riba, Sisa, Za! and Rosa-Luxemburg, among others.

In the field of jazz, there is a clear influence from the North American bebop from the previous century which is fused with the roots of jazz in the guise of the rock layetana, a genre emerging from the surreal Cançó style and progressive Anglo Saxon rock. Barcelona, the jazz capital of southern Europe, has just marked the fiftieth anniversary of one of its emblematic venues, Sala Jamboree, a leading spot when it comes to the establishment of a firm base of clubs, festivals, academies and the so-called ‘Amics del Jazz’, or friends of jazz movement, spread out throughout Catalonia, along with Barcelona Jazz Festival, the longest-running festival of its kind in Spain with concerts organised for a period of four decades. It is this fusion which stems from the seventies which has given rise to the traces of a jazz style that links Barcelona to NYC, Buenos Aires and Europe. The outcome is the emergence of a young chronicle of musicians producing the new Catalan style of jazz (Joan Monné, CMS Trio, Five in Orbit, Victor de Diego, Raül Reverter, Karion, Hat, etc.), alongside two other major influences: tango on the context of the Barcelona link with Buenos Aires and Paris (Emilio Solla); and Flamenco (Perico Sambeat, Raynald Colom, etc.).

Catalonia has also placed itself on the European map as a hotspot for festivals.

Barcelona plays host to more than 150 festivities and it is the European capital of music thanks to the promotion and endeavours of festivals, venues, record labels and musicians who use the city as their showcase in order to project their creations.

And for dessert: a strategic blend of sweet and savoury, combining the richness of the land and the sea. On the 21st century Catalan music menu, served at a dining room with windows overlooking the Mediterranean and the world, the sound landscape and musical cuisine are both intimately tied to the origin of musical roots. Mediterranean folk – from lands ranging from the Balcans to Andalusia, or from North Africa to Cuba – is bathed by Catalan rumba (Ojos de Brujo, Dijous Paella, La Pegatina, etc.) and a catchy Flamenco (Miguel Poveda, Mayte Martín, etc.). What is more, North and South are brought together in the form of a ‘socatalà’ or Catalan sound (with artists such as Al Tall, Nour, Folkincats, the Orquestra Àrab de Barcelona, Coetus, etc.).

Open your ears and enjoy!

Catalonia has good infrastructure of venues, radio stations, festivals and a broad variety of artists and music industry. More and more artists and professionals from Catalonia find their way to Eurosonic Noorderslag and to audiences all over Europe.

And I expect much more to come because of the large amount of quality music that is produced in Catalonia.

Peter Smidt, creative director of Eurosonic Noorderslag and manager of Buma Cultuur (Extract from the compilation Pop Rock from Catalonia 2011)

It is rare to find a region of the world which contains such diversity in terms of music, a healthy and growing domestic market and a musical activity which reflects so perfectly well the cultural universe of the entire community. In Catalonia, music, more than any other art form, embodies the transformations of society and its roots in a particular tradition. (‌)The creative dimension of traditional Catalan music is no longer seen only as an expression of a particular heritage, region or culture, but rather as a rich and unrestricted field for artistic innovation and experimentation.

Sami Sadak, artistic director of Babel Med Music (Extract from the compilation World Music from Catalonia 2011)

In terms of its popular music festivals and industry, Catalonia acts like its own nation. The professionalism and vigour I’ve seen on behalf of ICIC in London, Berlin, Paris, Milano and Brussels is admirable, as the bands are presented professionally and effectively to potential buyers. Plus, the industry seems to take advantage of the fact that it houses some of the best music festivals in the world and constantly invites foreigners to do business with Catalan companies in Catalonia. This works, because of the hospitality of the people and the internationalism of the businesses. It is a pleasure working with ICIC and I hope Canada and Catalonia can continue to develop strong partnerships within our music industries.

Shain Shapiro, delegate of CIMA in the United Kingdom (Canadian Independent Music Association)

Summary

HOT: Mercat de MĂşsica on tour 36 links 56 festivals 64 upcoming festivals 76 new releases 78

a Viva de Vic

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*El Petit de Cal Eril

HOT

Merc de mĂş viva d / MV

17

rcat úsica de vic V LAB *Plaça Major de Vic

hot mercat de mĂşsica viva de vic

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From 14 to 18 September 2011, Vic will become the centrepiece for live music in a festival featuring new proposals for a Music Market that has been twenty years in the making and is now being tailored to meet the needs of 21st century cultural industries and the people behind them.

The first new aspect in this year’s edition is the change in artistic management, which now falls under the responsibility of Marc Lloret and two other music advisors: Maria Lladó and Oriol Roca. As artistic management is being taken on by three people, thereby meaning that it is considered from three different standpoints, programming will be carried out from varying perspectives also but always in an attempt to ensure that all the proposals presented complement one another.

As a result of this new artistic management (and an in-depth look at the needs of the industry), this year Vic Live Music Market (MMVV) has set up MVLab, a new concept that encompasses a host of activities in order to bring together all the elements required by professionals at the MMVV, such as conferences, networking sessions, speed dating, workshops and round tables aimed at strengthening professional ties between various cultural agents. These activities are also important in order to benefit from the experiences of renowned professionals in a field which is undergoing constant bombardment as a result of technological revolutions.

hot mercat de mĂşsica viva de vic

Moreover, in the context of the aim of the MMVV to transform MVLab into the hub for the national and international promotion of the Market, there will also be a series of concerts where audiences will get the chance to witness first-hand the events in the programmes which may be most interesting from the programmer’s viewpoint. This series will become a roadmap designed by the Market in order to make sure that no professional will miss the vital concert he needs to see according to their needs.

But how does MVLab make that choice? The artistic management have carried out an effortful task in order to choose groups whose proposals are likely to be the most interesting according to professionals; however, clear criteria have been set when making the choice to ensure the programme’s objectives may be reached and that the artists who perform have the following characteristics: a unique identity, a proven track record, robustness of the management company, a new performance to offer, an artistic venture, an ability to reach out to audiences, and so on and so forth. These events are planned as far as possible to enable programmers present at MVLab to decide on a series of concerts that will end with meetings involving the managers or agents interested in offering their own proposals.

With all these new aspects in mind, Vic Live Music Market will achieve its objective of becoming the meeting point in Catalonia, Spain and the world at large for music professionals whilst also

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upholding the reputation the event has built up over its 22-year history and maintaining the variety of styles that have transformed it into a unique Spanish festival. In addition, every year, and this year is no exception, the Market hosts a commercial trade fair with more than 70 exhibitionists gathered between Thursday and Saturday from 11 am to 7.30 pm, one that will once again constitute an appointment not to be missed for anyone who wants to become acquainted with the current situation of the culture industry.

In addition, the organisers have not overlooked the fact that the Market has become a key date for live music in Spain and especially Catalonia; accordingly, the concerts put on in the Plaça Major are addressed to the large audiences that have transformed the Live Music Market into a successful public event. Indeed, the MMVV organisers clearly want to highlight the endeavours of musical institutions and associations that actively contribute to ensure that the Market’s goals are met, institutions including Arc, Asacc, Apecat, UMC and the Catalan Arts Institute.

Along these lines, this year’s market will also have several forums for emerging groups in Vic from 14 to 18 September. These forums will be made possible thanks to the cooperation of Diversons, Sona 9 and Invictro and they will form a fundamental part of the MMVV: they will allow talented musical artists to be discovered by both professionals in the industry and by large audiences meaning they may in the future hold a prominent position in the national music scene. ■

hot mercat de música viva de vic Marc Lloret Director of Vic Live Music Market

“MVLab explains the philosophy of the Market” You are taking the baton from Lluís Puig for the artistic management of the Live Music Market. What challenges have you set yourself?

First of all, the artistic management is carried out in a joint fashion, even though I am at the lead I am assisted by two excellent colleagues: Maria Lladó and Oriol Roca. As a result, consensus has been reached about the entire programme as a team. We wanted to start from scratch and keep our commitment to the previous edition to a minimum. The idea was not to embark on a revolution, but we did want to make a change in terms of both programming and management.

It will be difficult to notice that in this edition because we began working in April, but I believe that in a short space of time we have prepared a programme that is true to what we think the Market should represent.

And what should the Market represent?

The Market should be a setting where, above all, groups are hired to perform in the following season. This apparently patent premise is what defines the event. There must be new and, as far as possible, hitherto unheard-of proposals in order to be eligible for being showcased in the forthcoming year. In this respect, this is not something we have discovered: all the artistic directors who have led the project have no doubt about this aspect. However, it is another more complex issue altogether as to whether this willingness actually results in effective outcomes. We sought to bring together the interesting proposals of the programmers, projects that are not widely disseminated in the media, although at the same time projects that do have a point of establishment, in other words, ones for which albums have been released this year or which are backed by an entire team in order to make them professionally viable.

23 These approaches have led you to set up a new trademark, MV Lab, to provide the setting for certain performances. Why is this?

With MV Lab we seek to identify those proposals that we consider fit in more clearly with the philosophy the Market should be centred on. The aim is to reinforce the idea that the Vic Market is a professional forum where unique, solid proposals with an established track record can be showcased even though they have yet to attain general recognition. Moreover, this also encompasses proposals that are backed by a business team. To operate otherwise would run the risk of the Market not giving rise to any firm venture. We want to showcase products that can achieve success on a commercial level. We have focused particularly on these criteria on the context of MV Lab. The three stages at Atlàntida, El Sucre, Club MV and Jazz Cava will form the venues for bands we identify using this trademark.

However, the Market is more than a professional forum; it has always had a more celebratory nature. Do you wish to conserve this aspect?

We think that the professional aspect of the scheme should be combined with the most popular facet. Therefore, in the Plaça Major in Vic we ventured for inviting interesting, well-established groups that draw large audiences without going against the aims of the general programming. This square is an excellent setting to showcase the Market before the population of Vic and the general public. Accordingly, it provides the backdrop for performances by artists such as Los Delinqüentes, Pastora and Els Pets, the latter group having been together for 25 years.

What role do new Catalan pop groups play in the programme?

Such bands do figure in the programme. It is important to bear in mind that younger groups are being promoted by Invictro which focuses on seeking out emerging groups who are looking for opportunities. The idea is for the Market to constitute a setting for groups that have a well-established structure, while the forum for emerging bands is provided by Invictro.

Nonetheless, groups performing new Catalan pop, as it is called, who have maybe not yet jumped on the springboard in a big way, are represented at the event, artists of the ranks of Le Petit Ramon and Joan Colomo. ■

hot mercat de música viva de vic MVLab Program ACHILIFUNK & ENSEMBLE TALLER DE MÚSICS

Saturday 17 · 20.30h · PLAÇA MAJOR

ALMA AFROBEAT ENSEMBLE Thursday 15 · 18h · CLUB MV

ANDREA MOTIS & JOAN CHAMORRO GRUP

Diumenge 18 · 11.30h · PLAÇA MAJOR

ANNA ROIG I L’OMBRE DE TON CHIEN Saturday 17 · 21h CARPA L’ATLÀNTIDA

ANTÓNIO ZAMBUJO Friday 16 · 00.15h CARPA L’ATLÀNTIDA

ARAGONIAN

Saturday 17 · 18h · CLUB MV

ARA MALIKIAN ENSEMBLE Thursday 15 · 17h · CLUB MV

ATLETA

Saturday 17 · 01.15h · JAZZ CAVA

BAIGORRI’S DJ

Friday 16 · 01.30h · CLUB MV

BALAGO

Saturday 17 · 20.30h AUDITORI L’ATLÀNTIDA

BEDROOM

Saturday 17 · 22.15h · JAZZ CAVA

BENJAMIN HERMAN QUARTET Friday 16 · 23.30h AUDITORI L’ATLÀNTIDA

BERNAT FONT TRIO

Friday 16 · 19h · CLUB MV

BISCUIT

CHACHO BRODAS

Saturday 17 · 00.15h · EL SUCRE

CHUPACONCHA

Thursday 15 · 00.45h · JAZZ CAVA

COLINA MIRALTA SAMBEAT CMS TRIO & CHICUELO

Thursday 15 · 20h · TEATRE L’ATLÀNTIDA

DEAD CAPO

Friday 16 · 17h · CLUB MV

DIEGO GUERRERO y EL SOLAR DE ARTISTAS con ANTONIO SERRANO Saturday 17 · 21.45h TEATRE L’ATLÀNTIDA

Friday 16 · 03h · EL SUCRE

LE PETIT RAMON

Saturday 17 · 23.30h AUDITORI L’ATLÀNTIDA

LINALAB

Thursday 15 · 23.30h · JAZZ CAVA

LONELY DRIFTEN KAREN Friday 16 · 00.30h TEATRE L’ATLÀNTIDA

DJ KALI

LOS EVANGELISTAS

Thursday 15 · 01.30h · CLUB MV

DJ TAS

Saturday 17 · 01.30h · CLUB MV

EIKOSTATE

Friday 16 · 13h · CLUB MV

ÉLENA

Saturday 17 · 21.45h · PLAÇA MAJOR Saturday 17 · 23.15h TEATRE L’ATLÀNTIDA

MACROMASSA

Thursday 15 · 22.15h · JAZZ CAVA

MÀGICA

Thursday 15 · 19h · CLUB MV

Friday 16 · 21.15h CARPA L’ATLÀNTIDA

MAIKA MAKOVSKI

ELS PETS

MARC AYZA GROUP

ELS SURFING SIRLES

MARCEL CRANC

[EM] TRIO WOLLNY / KRUSE / SCHAEFER

MARC PARROT

Friday 16 · 23.15h · PLAÇA MAJOR Friday 16 · 01.15h · JAZZ CAVA

Friday 16 · 22h AUDITORI L’ATLÀNTIDA

GABBY YOUNG & OTHER ANIMALS

BOMBINO

GOSE

Friday 16 · 01h · EL SUCRE

JOAN COLOMO

Friday 16 · 23.45h · JAZZ CAVA

Saturday 17 · 22h AUDITORI L’ATLÀNTIDA

CARLES SANTOS I CABOSANROQUE

KATHRYN CALDER

Thursday 15 · 21h AUDITORI L’ATLÀNTIDA

LA KINKY BEAT

LOS DELINQÜENTES Y TOMASITO

Saturday 17 · 03.15h · EL SUCRE

Friday 16 · 22.15h · JAZZ CAVA

BULLITT

Friday 16 · 20.30h PLAÇA MAJOR

DJ2D2

Friday 16 · 21h TEATRE L’ATLÀNTIDA

Thursday 15 · 21.15h CARPA L’ATLÀNTIDA

LA IAIA

Thursday 15 · 00.15h CARPA L’ATLÀNTIDA

Thursday 15 · 22.30h · EL SUCRE Friday 16 · 18h · CLUB MV Saturday 17 · 19h · CLUB MV Friday 16 · 20h CARPA L’ATLÀNTIDA

MASTRETTA

Thursday 15 · 22.45h CARPA L’ATLÀNTIDA

MATADOR ROCKERS

Saturday 17 · 23.15h · EL SUCRE

MENDETZ

Thursday 15 · 01.30h · EL SUCRE

MISS CAFFEINA

Thursday 15 · 21.30h · EL SUCRE

MUJERES

Thursday 15 · 23.30h · EL SUCRE

25 Off Program ORELHA NEGRA

ALBERT AMB L’AIGUA AL COLL

MARACATÚ FM

ARTÚS ROCA

MOYA KALONGO

AZUL Y NÁCAR

NICO ROIG

PASTORA

BETH NAHRIN

NYANDÚ

PUERQUERAMA

BLÄUE

ODESSA

PUMUKY

BREMEN

OGUN AFROBEAT

RACHEL SERMANNI

CANVI DE PLANS

OLUMBÉ

DOTORE

PAU VALLVÉ

EL GOS BINARI

RADICAL ANIMAL BEAT

Saturday 17 · 24h CARPA L’ATLÀNTIDA

FULL EGGS RHYTHM

ROSA SÁNCHEZ CUARTETO

SFDK

GALCATS

ROSARIO SOLANO

SIDONIE

ESPERIT!

SANJAYS

SMOKING BAMBINO

INSPIRA

SEWARD

J.S.T.

THE MISSING LEECH

HABANA CON KOLA

TRAVESSIA

LECIRKE

VOCAL TEMPO

Friday 16 · 20.30h AUDITORI L’ATLÀNTIDA

PASCAL COMELADE I COBLA SANT JORDI Friday 16 · 22.45h TEATRE L’ATLÀNTIDA

Saturday 17 · 23.30h · PLAÇA MAJOR Friday 16 · 02h · EL SUCRE Saturday 17 · 17h · CLUB MV Thursday 15 · 22.45h AUDITORI L’ATLÀNTIDA

RUSSIAN RED

Friday 16 · 21.45h · PLAÇA MAJOR

SANTA MACAIRO ORKESTAR

Saturday 17 · 02.15h · EL SUCRE Thursday 15 · 00.30h · EL SUCRE Friday 16 · 22.45h CARPA L’ATLÀNTIDA

SOPHIA CHARAÏ

Saturday 17 · 20.15h TEATRE L’ATLÀNTIDA

SPLIT 77

Friday 17 · 22.30h CARPA L’ATLÀNTIDA

SUSANA BACA

Thursday 15 · 22h · TEATRE L’ATLÀNTIDA

SWAN FYAHBWOY

Friday 17 · 01.15h · EL SUCRE

THE MARZIPAN MAN

Friday 17 · 23.45h · JAZZ CAVA

YACINE & THE ORIENTAL GROOVE Friday 16 · 24h · EL SUCRE

Friday 16 · 20h

Diumenge 18 · 19h Friday 16 · 22.15h Thursday 15 · 21.15h Thursday 15 · 20.30h Thursday 15 · 21.15h Diumenge 18 · 18.15h Friday 16 · 23h Friday 17 · 21.45h Diumenge 18 · 17.30h

Diumenge 18 · 19.45h Friday 16 · 21.45h Friday 16 · 22.30h Friday 16 · 21.15h Friday 17 · 00.45h Thursday 15 · 24h

MAR ABELLA Friday 17 · 23h

Friday 17 · 23.30h Thursday 15 · 23.45h Friday 17 · 20h Thursday 15 · 22h Friday 16 · 00.45h Friday 16 · 23.30h Friday 17 · 22.15h Friday 17 · 21.15h Friday 17 · 00.15h Friday 17 · 21h

Thursday 15 · 20h

Friday 16 · 00.15h Friday 17 · 22.30h Thursday 15 · 23h

Thursday 15 · 23.30h Friday 16 · 21.15h

hot mercat de mĂşsica viva de vic Recommended shows A selection by Marc Lloret, director of Mercat de MĂşsica Viva de Vic.

electronic music

Balago avant-garde electronica

This group of artists offer a show with visuals which include images of them operating the machines they use for their live performances. This is instrumental, universal, exhilarating music. David Crespo sampler AND synthesiser , Roger Crespo sampler AND synthesiser , Guim Serradesanferm sampler AND synthesiser .

website

listen

pop rock

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Atleta Avant-garde and cult rock beat

The drummer and guitarist from the influential 12Twelve evolve towards realms of personalised sounds with a profound live performing capacity.

They incorporate electronic elements that broaden the colourfulness of their instrumental music, transforming them into highly multi-faceted artists.

Jos茅 Rosell贸 drums and samplers, Jaume L. Pantale贸n guitars and samplers.

website

listen

hot mercat de mĂşsica viva de vic

jazz

Bernat Font Swing, blues and boogie-woogie

Bernat Font is a young pianist whose maturity when performing jazz and blues is highly surprising, especially when performed through his own tunes. He is a genuine, efficiently trained artist with a good head on his shoulders. He has played his music all over the world and still holds a great deal of potential.

Bernat Font piano, Ivan Kovacevic double bass, David de la Vega drums.

website

listen

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website

listen

folk world music

Pascal Comelade & Cobla Sant Jordi Popular music in the broadest sense of the word

A groundbreaking musician with a highly personal vision of pop and rock, accompanied by Cobla Sant Jordi, a band always open to new experiences, with an enviable ability to adapt to new sounds, challenges and his fellow travellers. A retrospective of the best-loved songs by Comelade featuring some intimate and original arrangements. Pascal Comelade pianos; Pep Pascual Ivan Martínez guitars, Oriol Luna drums. Cobla Sant Jordi: Xavier Torrent flute and drum, Marc Timón and Oriol Gibert tible, Enric Ortí and Josep Antoni Sánchez tenora , Carles Herruz and Timi Rodríguez trumpet, Isi López trombone, Pep Moliner and Miquel Àngel López fiscorns, Joan Druguet double bass. instruments,

hot mercat de mĂşsica viva de vic

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jazz

Colina Miralta Sambeat CMS Trio & Chicuelo Flamenco, jazz, Latin music

If to three masters of jazz such as Perico Sambeat, Javier Colina and Marc Miralta we add a master of the flamenco guitar like Chicuelo, by definition the result has to be something special. This combo makes its debut at Vic Live Music Market with the guarantee of its expertise and extraordinary stagemanship. Chicuelo Javier Colina double bass, Marc Miralta drums, Perico Sambeat saxophone, Isaac Vigueres percussion, Alba Carmona Vocals. guitar ,

pop rock

Maika Makovski rock , pop

Maika Makovski is one of the most resounding phenomena in the realm of rock and they are presenting their new album Desaparecer (Outstanding Records, 2011) with tracks produced purposely for a show with the same name directed by Calixte Bieito based on poems by Edgar Allan Poe. Maika Makovski vocals guitar and organ, David MartĂ­nez drums and percussions, Juan Carlos Luque bass, vocals and percussions, Oskar Benas guitar and vocals.

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hot mercat de música viva de vic

pop rock

Mujeres Rock and roll urgency and revival

Courageous, daring and complex-free, this quartet have already been put to the test on international stages and achieved much positive acclaim. With lyrics in English and influences from classic rock ‘n’ roll they have a host of different reasons to appeal to diverse audiences. Yago Alcover vocals and guitar , Martí Gallén vocals and guitar , Pol Rodellar bass and vocals, Martín Gutiérrez drums.

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folk world music

CaboSanRoque & Carles Santos instrumental

Two of the champions of modern experimental Catalan music have joined forces for the first time in order to put on a new spectacle: Maquinofòbiapianolera.

Carles Santos, a benchmark in the realm of modern music with a long track record has composed a piece for piano and orchestra. CaboSanRoque perform the piece on their machine. Carles Santos piano, Laia Torrents accordion, keyboards and sputnik ,

Roger Aixut guitar and wind instruments, Josep SeguĂ­ laptop.

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hot mercat de m煤sica viva de vic

Yacine & Oriental Groove

folk world music

Popular Mediterranean music

Popular Mediterranean music is what this group led by Cheb Balowski and Nour produce drawing influences from traditional Greek and Arabic music filtered by the moisture of the Catalan coastline. They apply a wide variety of languages, styles and rhythms in order to connect with their audiences instantly and enduringly. Yacine Belahcene Benet vocals and percussion, Yannis Papaiannou electric lute and vocals, Bernat Guardia bass, Aniol L贸pez Arabic percussion, Jordi Herreros drums, Quim Puigti贸 sound technician.

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SingerSong Writing

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Anna Roig & l’Ombre de Ton Chien pop music

Francophone pop music is the style adopted by this group during their heightened career which has brought them to the elite of Catalan pop. Anna Roig and her counterparts tell stories in Catalan and French. Although at present only Catalan audiences have been drawn by this group, it is likely that their songs may soon make a connection with French audiences.

Anna Roig vocals, Carles Sanz piano, keyboards, melodica and tubular bells, MagĂ­ Batalla guitars, Carles Munts double bass and electric bass, Ricard Parera drums and percussion.

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on tour La pegatina 38 Che sudaka 42 La troba Kung-Fú 44 Muchachito 46 obrint pas 48 Agustí fernández 50 Perico Sambeat 52 Sergi Sirvent 54

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*La Pegatina

on tour

La Pegatina This young group from Montcada i Reixac are proponents of the urban rumba movement and having only released three albums Al carrer! (self-released, 2007), Via Mandarina (Kasba Music, 2009) and Xapomelön (Kasba Music, 2011), they have become an unmissable group at any rumba or alternative Sarau festival in Catalonia. The group draw huge audiences at their concerts which involve a combination of songs in Catalan and Spanish. Their latest album features contributions from artists in the fusion scene including Joan Garriga (La Troba Kung-Fú) and Amparo Sánchez (the former front runner of Amparanoia). Although the album can be downloaded for free in its entirety from the Internet, the record label Kasba Music has released Xapomelön in Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Japan and Spain.

Following the record number of downloads of their latest album and their widely attended concerts in Spain, in July they took part in the Bardentreffen Festival in Nuremberg, Germany, alongside La Banda del Surdo and Las Migas. The group have also presented Xapomelön in France (at Carcassone and Saint Gilles), the Netherlands (at Lichtenvoorde) and in Belgium (Ghent).

From 12 to 16 October, La Pegatina will be performing in the XVII Ibla Buskers Festival in Ragusa Ibla (Italy) and they will then embark on a brief tour of Italy stopping at Turin, Bologna and Taneto di Gattatico.

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folk world music

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on tour La Pegatina

“The musical culture in Europe is very different” In musical terms, where does La Pegatina find its inspiration?

Everyone has their benchmarks. It is clear that the two French members of the group did not listen to Los Chunguitos and Los Chichos when they were younger. I listened to rumba but also listened to Los Secretos and the occasional rock group signing in Catalan. However, the mainstay that brings together everything we do – even though we took a long time to realize – was rumba, regardless of whether it could be considered that we do not produce Catalan rumba because we do not use a fan. However, the spirit is there: the dance, the fiesta, the street, etc. We are rumba champions and we do not think that anyone needs to cast aspersions on who is and who isn’t.

You began by performing in the street and in unusual places, for instance on the Montcada night buses, and now you embark on tours of Europe. Do you think that this new album is going to be a sure fire success?

If sure fire successes were easy to decipher everyone would adopt the same approach to achieve success! What we have done is try to gather the best ingredients we had at our disposal and put them together in a recipe we cooked with great care and attention. This production has entailed a huge amount of musical creativity. It has been a highly risky venture as benefiting from contributions by first rate musicians and trying to perform at their level is very demanding, particularly in the case of Amparo Sánchez and Joan Garriga (La Troba Kung-Fú). They are individuals we have admired and still hold in high regard. It was thanks to them that we embarked on a career in music.

This is a very long album with some 21 tracks showing a certain degree of continuity along the lines of releases such as Próxima estación: Esperanza (Virgin, 2001) by Manu Chao, with verses and mottos that appear in more than one song.

Was it your aim to produce a conceptual album?

41 No. The album was produced on the basis of the songs. There are sections that almost entirely consist of mottos and they do repeat on certain tracks such as ‘molta merda i massa teatre’ and ‘mucho lerele y poco larala’. At the end of the day, audiences seek these kinds of slogans, sentences that convey their feelings and with which they can identify.

You have been able to compare the circumstances of Catalan musicians with those experienced by others in Europe at large. Are there many differences?

We have noticed that music culture in Europe is very different. In the Netherlands and France there is a circuit of regular venues and audiences trust the programmers meaning that they do not mind paying to see new groups because they know that each venue uses judgment when determining their programmes. This is not the case in Catalonia. Beyond our borders people love music but here, audiences love you because your music either provides an excuse for a festival or because they can identify with your lyrics.

Why do you think that is the case? Is it a problem with our programmers?

Is it the audiences? Is it the groups?

It is an overall problem. Here, the work of musicians is not really held in high regard. When the French call you to hire your services they prefer not to do so if they are unable to pay you the fee. On the other hand, in Catalonia the first thing a programmer does is cut your fee by half. Even then people are surprised to discover that Spain is the only country in Europe to have not yet implemented a legal downloads service. I guess it is just in our character.

on tour

Che Sudaka Che Sudaka is one of the most sought-after bands in Catalonia who give powerful live performances achieving the greatest projection for the Barcelona fusion scene. The group was formed in 2002 by musicians from Catalonia, Colombia and Argentina and they perform a mesh of Latin rhythms, ska and punk. This year their latest album Tudo é possible was chosen as one of the 150 best albums of the year by 23 European journalists who compile the World Music Charts Europe. The rundown also features another Catalan album: Construmón by Muyayo Rif. In addition, this year the group embarked on one of their biggest international tours. After beginning the year with a brief tour of Italy and Germany with concerts in Austria and Hungary, in June they performed in Parigny-les-Vaux (France), in Eichstätt, Cologne, Koblenz and Mutzig (Germany), in Interlaken and Appenzell (Switzerland). In August they gave live performances in Germany, Belgium, France and Italy.

In October they will conclude their international tour with performances in the Fight for Rights Festival in Tokyo (10 October) and in France (in November at the Fat Festival @ La Phare de Tournefeuille, among other engagements).

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folk world music

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on tour

La Troba Kung-Fú Set up by Joan Garriga, the former Singer and accordion player from Dusminguet, this group from La Garriga La Troba Kung-Fú made their stage debut on 8 December 2005 at a concert in the Sala Clap in Mataró and in a short space of time they became the most popular fusion group blending a host of styles including Rumba, Jamaican and tropical grooves and lyrics championing the social aspect of the old troubadours. Their first album Clavell morenet (K. Industria Cultural, 2006), with performers including Marià Roch (bass, formerly of Jarabe de Palo and Los Sencillos), featured the popular Catalan song with the same name. The group have managed to hold a prominent position on the international scene and in 2007 they attained the Altaveu and Puig-Porret Awards on Catalan Critique. In July 2009 they performed in the Teatre Grec on the context of the Grec Festival and in September they performed at the Parc del Fòrum as part of the Cruïlla BCN fusion sampler. The live album Rumbia at Ernesto’s (Music Machine, 2009) recorded in Sittard (the Netherlands), which was on sale at their concerts, is a moving testimony to their live performances. In mid 2010, they released their most recent album A la panxa del bou (Chesapik).

After presenting their new collection of songs throughout Catalonia and performing at concerts in the Netherlands and Belgium, in July this year they embarked on an international tour with performances in Portugal (Sever do Vouga, Estarreja and Agueda), Belgium (Ghent and Leper) and France (Rodez and Bayonne). They also took part in the Bardentreffen Festival in Nuremberg (Germany) sharing the line-up with La Banda del Surdo and Las Migas.

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folk world music

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on tour

Muchachito Muchachito, the identity of Jairo Perera (a former member of the group Trimelón), employs his voice and the bass drum he operates using his foot at the head of a group who embarked on their musical venture at the turn of the 21st century within the fusion scene. Their first album Vamos que nos vamos (2005, K. Industria Cultural) with tracks such as “Acicálense” and “Mambo 13”, composed by Muchachito, offers an original approach to a port-based texture fusing rumba with touches of jazz and swing carried overwhelmingly by a string section, all mixed with funky cadences. One of the characteristics of their performances is the execution of one or two large scale paintings carrying a comic-style beauty painted live on the stage by Santos de Veracruz and other contributors. These paintings are sometimes offered to the audience at the end of the concert by means of a raffle. Muchachito is part of the G5 project alongside Kiko Veneno, Los Delinqüentes and Tomasito, who have released a record with the same name (Tucaratupapí; EMI, 2006) and are currently on tour. The group made a comeback with a second album Visto lo visto (K Industria Cultural, 2007), drawing larger audiences and launching a tour of concerts including an engagement in the Sant Jordi Club in Barcelona.

For their live performances they also offer renditions of songs by Los Amaya, Peret, Renato Carosone and Rocío Dúrcal.

Their most recent album, released in 2010, is entitled Idas y vueltas (El Orfanato Eléctrico) and has been presented by the group in several European cities. Indeed, they took part in the Bout du Monde Festival (Brest, France) and the Arino Folk Festival (Naples, Italy) in August. In September they took part in the Fête de la Jeunesse et Musique (Brussels, Belgium) and the Couscous Festival (Sicily, Italy). After presenting their album in the Sant Jordi Club in Barcelona, they concluded their tour with a concert in Buenos Aires (Argentina) on 18 November.

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folk world music

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on tour

Obrint Pas There has not been a larger revolution in the realm of modern Catalan music than the one led by Obrint Pas. The background of the group began in 1993 in Valencia. They sold 3,000 copies of their demo, Continuant avançant (1995), which ravages the sound of Catalan rock based on a fusion of soft sounds, hardcore and ska. The group made a huge leap by conquering Catalonia and in 1997 they managed their own EP, La revolta de l’ànima (45 Revolucions Records).

In 1999, on the record label Propaganda pel Fet!, they recorded their first album: Obrint Pas. In February 2002, and after touring most of the Catalan lands, Obrint Pas released Terra (PpF), transforming them into a leading band in alternative music. In 2004, after a tour totalling 70 concerts, the group recorded La flama (PpF). This album laid the foundations for the group’s international renown whereupon they embarked on a European tour which culminated in the recording of their first live album and DVD, En moviment (PpF, 2006), recorded in Valencia and performing alongside guest musicians such as Fermin Muguruza, Inadaptats, Al Tall and Titot from Brams. In 2007, following a new international tour, they released Benvingut al paradís (PpF), which includes contributions by Miquel Gil (Valencia), Alif Sound System (Toulouse, Occitania) and Area 23 (Caracas). This year (2011) they have released a book album Coratge (PpF) which has been presented at a host of locations including Madrid, Lugo and at the Mighty Sounds Festival in Prague (Czech Republic).

This July, the group from Valencia embarked on a tour of Japan which culminated in a performance at the Fuji Rock Festival in Naeba. At the same time, the record label Inpartmaint is also preparing to release a Japanese version of their latest album Coratge (PpF, 2011) which will include two extra hits taken from En moviment (PpF, 2005). This was the second time that Obrint Pas had toured Japan. Their return to Asia centred on a tour which began at the Radical Music Network Festival in Tokyo on 27 July. They then performed in Minakami on the 28th and ended their tour at Asia’s foremost festival, Fuji Rock Festival, an engagement which drew crowds of more than 100,000 people for a line-up including such artists as Coldplay, Arctic Monkeys or The Chemical Brothers.

folk world music

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on tour

Agustí Fernández The pianist and composer from Mallorca Agustí Fernández stands out as one of the foremost improvised music performers on the international stage.

He has produced recordings either solo or as a member of a host of groups – solo piano, duo, trio, quartet, etc. – of some twenty albums and he regularly features in projects by renowned artists of improvisation such as Evan Parker and Barry Guy, among others. He is the director and co-founder of the Caos Orchestra, director of the Big Ensemble of the Musicians’ Workshop, the founder of the Trio Local alongside Joan Saura and Liba Villavecchia, a regular contributor to Carles Santos and to choreographer and dancer Andrés Corchero. His album Aurora (Maya Recordings, 2006) for trio with Ramon López on drums and Barry Guy on double bass is deemed the foremost release in the history of jazz in Catalonia.

On 8 and 9 July he performed at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in Norway, between 11 and 17 July he went on a tour in the United States and on 27 August he took part in the Météo Festival Mulhouse in France.

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jazz

on tour

Perico Sambeat Both nationally and internationally Sambeat is one of those jazz musicians who knows how to perform in a diverse range of registers. Likewise, he manages to attain an enthusiastic welcome from critics and audiences alike wherever he performs. At the age of six, he embarked on studies in piano and singing of scales and thenceforth he has never failed to add another rung to his ladder. In 2008 he formed Big Band Flamenca. With this group he released an album of the same name alongside Miguel Poveda on vocals and the inseparable Javier Colina and Marc Miralta providing rhythm backup.

At the same time, the rhythmic group formed the CMS Trio, a group with whom Sambeat released his second record, Andando (Universal/Contrabaix, 2008). Perico Sambeat and his colleagues and counterparts Eladio Reinón and Ricardo Belda were all involved in the Taller de Músics of Barcelona, a place where Sambeat developed his craving for perfection. He recorded alongside renowned musicians such as Tete Montoliu, Steve Lacy, Daniel Humair, Maria Schneider and Pat Metheny. He has released New York Barcelona Crossing (Fresh Sound New Talent, 1998) on which he shared the limelight alongside the Rossy brothers (Mario and Jordi) and debut artist Brad Melhdau, and Ademuz, exemplary of the history behind and the future ahead of Catalonia’s new generation of jazz musicians.

Sambeat has taken part in the jazzahead! exhibition in Bremen (Germany) programmed on the context of the Catalan! Arts cycle as part of the trio MiraltaOláh-Sambeat, along with Catalan drummer Marc Miralta and Hungarian pianist Kalman Oláh. The musician, who has received an award from the Association of Modern Music and Jazz Musicians of Catalonia for best saxophonist, performed at the Respire Festival in Aigner-et-Puypéroux (France) on 2 July, he performed in Paris on 3 July and on 12 August in Brussels (Belgium).

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jazz

on tour

Sergi Sirvent Sergi Sirvent is a multi-instrumentalist and a prolific musical creator whose primary instrument when performing his sound-based repertoire is the piano. He appears to be at home when improvising with the group Unexpected or when providing music for classic Russian films along with the trio Karion. He became well acquainted with and developed a gusto for essential bebop when he formed a trio with the seasoned musicians Horacio Fumero and David Xirgu, and when he needed to break the rules, he formed his own Free Quartet. Sergi Sirvent is full of surprises and his repertoire, which has countless faces, is founded on a host of musical, literary, pictorial and philosophical referents.

Sirvent released the double CD El pes de les balances (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2010) which he presented in Germany where he put on three concerts in Berlin (on 4, 5 and 6 August).

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jazz

links The Pepper Pots Mishima Brossa Quartet de Corda

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Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed 58 Laetitia Sadier 60 Belle & Sebastian 62

*Mishima at the Palau de la Música Catalana

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The Pepper Pots & Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed PRIMAVERA SOUND SALA APOLO, BARCELONA. 24/05/2011 The Pepper Pots are a group from Girona who produce soul music, they sing in English and have toured throughout Europe. The Pepper Pots tend to record with their own record label Black Pepper Records. It was also the Black Pepper Studio that was chosen in May 2011 by the North American Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed in order to record a joint project. ‘Paperboy’ is one of the most widely revered artists in the current, old school worldwide soul panorama (appointed for the best artist nomination by the journal Rolling Stone). The Pepper Pots are formed by three female vocalists and they have already released four albums. The two first albums were influenced by a more Jamaican style of sounds – Swingin’ Sixties (2004) and Shake It! (2007) – and the two most recent records – Now! (2009) and Train to your lover (2011) – strike a sound that is more akin to a soul and R&B revival that has been highly welcomed by critics and audiences alike. ■

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Mishima & Laetitia Sadier (Stereolab) BANDAUTORS SEASON, PALAU DE LA MÚSICA CATALANA BARCELONA. 06/03/2011 As close followers of Stereolab, Mishima invited the group’s singer Laetitia Sadier to take part in a special concert the Catalans organised at the emblematic Palau de la Música Catalana on 6 March 2011. The six musicians performed two songs: “Neix el món dintre l’ull” and an adaptation in Catalan of the song by George Brassens “Il n’y a pas d’amour heureux”, concerning a poem

by Louis Aragon. This reference is not merely a coincidence because the leader of Mishima, David Carabén, is influenced by both the French chanson and especially English pop and beyond (in summer 2010 they shared the stage in Barcelona with the Norwegian group Kings of Convenience). Carabén pays great attention to their lyrics (in Catalan on their last three albums) in the way the French singer-songwriters did, but at the same time Mishima have ventured for a clear, enlightened approach to their melodies with an ability to break the mould and be a cut above the rest in the same way Stereolab do. Perhaps Mishima may go on to prepare a version of a song by Stereolab because, as a current musical band, it would be more similar to the cover produced by Editors of “French Disko”. Established in Barcelona in 1999, Mishima released their first album in 2000, Lipstick Traces (The Rest Is Silence), in English, which was followed by The Fall Of Public Man (2003), Trucar a casa. recollir les fotos, pagar la multa (2005), Set tota la vida (2007) and Ordre i aventura (2011). ■

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Col·lectiu Brossa & Belle & Sebastian PRIMAVERA SOUND PARC DEL FÒRUM, BARCELONA. 27/05/2011 It was not the first time that Col·lectiu Brossa and Belle & Sebastian had shared the stage with the Scottish group. They first shared the limelight with them during Barcelona’s Festival of La Mercè when B & S asked to be accompanied by a string group for some of their live tracks. Col·lectiu Brossa is a group that is undergoing constant change as demonstrated by their classical music projects or when they accompany Catalan pop groups. They originally formed under the name Brossa Quartet de Corda and comprised the artists Aleix Puig and Pere Bartolomé (violins), Laia Besalduch (viola) and Quico Pugès (violoncello). They were occasionally joined by Gregori Ferrer (accordion and musical arranger). Col·lectiu Brossa are currently working on six shows where they can perform a vindication of the works of the visual, scenic poet Joan Brossa. They will also provide a reminiscent rendition of silent film music (by Segundo de Chomón) from films set on the context of the Nazi holocaust and the international squad members in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Indeed, they were the headline act at the latest event held to pay tribute to International Brigades – marking the 70th anniversary of their participation in the Spanish Civil War – performing songs and anthems that constitute an emblem of their battle. On 25 October, the group spearheaded an evening full of emotion attended by surviving members of the brigades and their families. This repertoire has been put together on an album released in 2010. ■

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festivals primavera sound 66 S贸nar 68 faraday 70 Cru茂lla BCN 72 FIMPT 74 + upcoming festivals 76

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*Standstill, Faraday

festivals

PRIMAVERA SOUND

pop rock

26, 27 and 28 May Barcelona

CONSOLIDATION OF INDIE MAINSTREAM Every so often, an artist in the style of Mika or the Scissor Sisters, who is over-dressed and excessively flamboyant, becomes fashionable. This year it is the turn of Of Montreal, who took centre stage at the festival encouraging audiences to dance and sing. With a more serious and less contagious tone – at the other end of the Fòrum park – P.I.L. gave a performance with John Lydon who, although he has kept his appeal following the Sex Pistols, offered robotic movements which voided the group of charisma. The culminating moment of the first night came when Grinderman and Nick Cave singing to pagan creatures were idolized from the front rows, always hanging on to their irony. Also noteworthy was the interplay of textures from Interpol, the austere electronica of the New York group Suicide (Cave recommended them and everyone attended) and the regular spectacle from The Flaming Lips. Friday night featured M. Ward (such a classic who even sung “Roll Over Beethoven” from Chuck Berry), Belle & Sebastian (with the Brossa String Quartet) and the festival concert most of those in attendance had been longing for: Pulp performing the first concert in their tour. Despite other important moments and the prominence of the groups (The National, Deerhunter), the festival suffered a degree of déjà vu with names such as Shellac on the ATP stage (how many times have Steve Albini’s group performed?). However, there was much acclaim for the wonderful John Cale, his group and BCN216, performing París 1919 (Reprise Records, 1973), although music lovers nowadays want to see more modern musicians than the excellent PJ Harvey. The foremost Catalan artists at the festival were Les Aus, Za!, Fred i Son, La Célula Durmiente, The Pepper Pots, Èric Fuentes & El Mal and Els Trons. ■

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The National

Pulp

PJ Harvey

Grinderman

festivals

SóNAR

electronic music

16, 17 and 18 June Barcelona

THE ELECTRONIC APPOINTMENT IN SOUTH EUROPE This is not a chronicle of the 18th edition of Sónar, the International Advanced Music and Multimedia Art Festival. Indeed, it is no great innovation to open the celebrations in Barcelona Auditorium with a performance from BCN216 and the London group Synergy Vocals, as part of a double line-up with Steve Reich, who did not turn up. However, BCN216 did perform Sextet (1984) and Music for 18 Musicians (1974-1976) with the greatest of musical engagements, hypnotically reiterating the sounds of Marimbas that transported listeners to the realms of Bali where Reich found his inspiration. Then, audiences longed for intimate concentration and crescendos: during the daytime performance of Sónar it was somewhat difficult to keep track of Astrud. Subtlety was patently lacking in the Fira Gran Via (M2) where audiences were seeking other paces (beats, rhythms, etc.) what with the speeding paces and the chemical beats otherwise prominent. Thus, heading for the large warehouse to see The Human League was a genuine breath of fresh air amid such a wave of machine music (with, of course, some notable exceptions: Four Tet, Aphex Twin, Apparat). Despite being an 80s bands, the hits of The Human League and the clips illustrating them lent the performance a warm feeling. It may also be that M.I.A. saw the world as changing for the worse, but they still lost it. Wanting to be on a par with an Indian Goddess or the guru of an incorrect policy meant that they re-engaged in violence, even when addressing the audience. It is just as well that where there is life there is hope and Janelle Monáe put on a performance to pay tribute to the classics and indeed the closing ceremony in the Teatre Grec from Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto was truly beautiful: notes delicately dancing away on an LED display to a digital beat with a melancholy solo. Behind the noise, a melody develops, behind the unique light, a range of notes sounds out, behind the traditional and innovative repetition, beauty emerges. ■

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Janelle

Apparat

M.I.A.

festivals

FARADAY

pop rock

1, 2 and 3 July Vilanova i la Geltrú

VILANOVA I LA GELTRÚ, POP CAPITAL After some thirty concerts, the eighth edition of Faraday ended with a new, much welcomed success. National and international groups shared the limelight demonstrating the excellent taste shown by the organisers’ choice of music. On Friday, Faraday was launched by Samitier and Litoral, who presented some of the tracks that will be featuring on their new album on a day marked by the English group The High Llamas who gave a serene, emotional performance. They were followed by the seasoned band Espanto, an improved live performance from Aias, the indie duo from Murcia Klaus & Kinski, the flawless Britpop group The Bluetones and the Valencia group Polock. The night concluded with Za!: the duet have been one of the most widely acclaimed groups of the summer. On Saturday, the highlight of the day was Ron Sexsmith: the outstanding student of Elvis Costello who offered a lesson in skill and pop that has the makings of becoming a classic.

Heading the bill were Sexsmith who managed to bring a smile to audiences’ faces with an acoustic performance of a fragment of Mocedades’ “Eres tú”. In the evening, performances were given by veteran group Bradien, the pop group Inspira, acrimonious rock performers Tom Williams & The Boat and songs from the album Minor Swing by Da Capo. Surprises include an emotional performance from Arnaud Fleurent-Didier, the Galician Emilio José who was warmly welcomed and the highly acclaimed Standstill in a concert where Viva la guerra! (Buena Suerte / Pias, 2006) shared the limelight with Adelante Bonaparte (Buena Suerte, 2010). The heavy electronica of The Suicide of Western Culture and the uncouth punk/rock of Els Surfing Sirles put the cherry on the cake of a festival that was attended by some 1200 spectators. The bravest spectators even hung on until Sunday to hear a live performance from the great John Grant. ■

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Standstill

Inspira

Klaus & Kinski

festivals

CRUÏLLA BCN 8 and 9 July Barcelona

A ‘BLOCK’ THAT WORKS

pop rock

This festival is a cruïlla (block) that genuinely works. It is not easy to ensure that a new mass festival makes a space for itself in Barcelona. There are countless others and the recession does not do anything to help matters. It is therefore no mean feat that the second edition of the Cruïlla BCN festival (the conquest of the Catalan capital made by the original Cruïlla de Cultures which first took place in Mataró, fostered by promoters from culture centres) brought together some 22,000 people in the Fòrum park, 4000 more than last year. Moreover, these numbers were achieved thanks to an eclectic line-up shared by major international artists and groups from all over the Catalan lands. The first day of the festival featured a rendition from Hawaiian surfer and musician Jack Johnson, who left audiences taken aback when he gave a joint performance of “Home” in a bilingual Catalan/English version alongside Eduard Estivill and Montse Domènech from the historic Catalan folk group Falsterbo, acquaintances he has been good friends with for many years. It was the most heavily attended concert on a day which also featured a performance from the winners of Sona 9 La Iaia, the Barcelona indie pop act Pau Vallvé and New Zealand group Fat Freddy’s Drop. Saturday was the biggest night of the Cruïlla festival with an intergenerational fusion of styles. The Puerto Rican group Calle 13 starred in one of the foremost performances with their American style, committed reggaeton and hip-hop.

The historic English group Madness offered a rendition performing all of their classic hits one by one starting with “One Step Beyond” and ending with “Nightboat to Cairo”. Obrint Pas represented Catalonia with a top rate performance on an evening that culminated with an old school rap festival from the mythical Public Enemy. ■

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Jack Johnson

Calle 13

Madness

festivals

FIMPT

folk world music

15, 16 and 17 July Vilanova i la Geltrú

THE STRINGS OF TRADITION A chip off the old block of tradition: this best defines a festival of musicians from all over the world created before the phrase ‘musicians of the world’ was in fact coined. This is one way of defining FIMPT, the International Popular and Traditional Music Festival of Vilanova i la Geltrú which was held for the 31st time this year, building on the previous editions: a host of concerts and a broad spectrum of styles which, based on a traditional foundation, covered all manifestations ranging from Catalan rumba to Celtic sounds, traditional songs and festive fusion. The town square hosted the most highly expected performances: the Pyrenean folk group El Pont d’Arcalís, the unclassifiable German combo 17 Hippies, Irish accordionist Sharon Shannon – who returned to the festival ten years after the first time she wowed music lovers who attend every year, the Chilean new cumbia group Chico Trujillo, Sabor de Gràcia and particularly Peret. Lastly, Sunday managed to remain a rain-free day and the King of rumba performed in one of the most widely attended concerts in the festival’s history in the Plaça Major. Meanwhile, the new Eduard Toldrà municipal auditorium played host to the more ‘peaceful night time performers’ with calmer renditions such as that from Serbian singer Bojana Nikolic, the Plaça de les Cols filled with children’s entertainment and bagpipes, and Xavier Baró revived the old songs of love and war in the Foment Vilanoví for the Revista Sons evening as only he knows how to. ■

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Sharon Shannon

Xavier Bar贸

Neila Benbey

Chico Trujillo

upcoming festivals From 3 to 6 November

Fira mediterrĂ nia de Manresa folk website

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4 and 5 November

faraday tardor website

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From January to April 2012

tradicionÀrius website

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folk world music

77 From 20 October to 1 December

festival de Jazz de barcelona website

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From 23 to 27 November

Primavera club website

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From 3 to 26 November

Jazztardor website

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jazz

new relea Aias A la piscina

Alexis Cuadrado Noneto ibérico

Amansalva M’han dit que diuen...

El Petit de Cal Eril Vol i dol

Evans - Fernàndez - Gustafson Kopros Lithos

Frederic Mompou Música callada

Manel 10 milles per veure una bona armadura

Mazoni Fins que la mort ens separi

Quartet Casals Metamorphosis

ases Anímic Hannah

Gertrudis Tripolar

The New Raemon Libre asociación

Asíkides & Tal Ben Ari Hesperia

Guillamino Fang

Xavier Baró La màgica olivera

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Benet Casablancas Seven Scenes from Hamlet...

La Kinky Beat Massive Underground

Za! Megaflow

new releases

Aias — A la piscina El Genio Equivocado GARAGE POP

website listen video The charm of Aias is the group’s spontaneity and the fact that their venture came completely out of the blue. This female trio from Barcelona still have a lot of ground to cover, but their release has been highly acclaimed among a certain sector of the Catalan and international indie scene; indeed, they signed with American record label Captured Tracks and in Catalonia they signed with El Genio Equivocado. Aias have built their own wall of sound, one that was already conceived and patented in the sixties by Phil Spector with female groups such as The Ronettes. A wall of sound based on melody, distortion and the angelical voices of the group’s members, superimposed over the music creating a powerful effect, particularly because this kind of sound is virtually unheard-of in Catalonia. A la piscina is a lo-fi album with naive lyrics, which may be popular because of its simplicity, immediacy and its soft pop and punk feel.

No other musical techniques need be sought in this album, it is best to just listen and enjoy. ■

pop rock

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new releases

jazz

Alexis Cuadrado — Noneto ibérico Bjurecords FLAMENCO JAZZ

website listen video Having settled in New York more than a decade ago, the double bassist and composer from Barcelona Alexis Cuadrado continues to make a name for himself with an interesting career as a creator.

In Puzzles (Bjurecords, 2008), the musician sought to venture into a field that is not easily accessible, Flamenco, and he produced compositions in which the link between Flamenco and jazz shows a new course of understanding. The basis was to compose eight pieces with a Flamenco waltz structure and to transport them into the realm of jazz and improvised music, a continuation of New York Flamenco Reunion (Nuevos Medios, 2000) led by Marc Miralta which to a certain extent is legitimised thanks to his participation in the group alongside the saxophonist Perico Sambeat. The remaining musicians include alto saxophonist Loren Stillman, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, guitarist Brad Shepik, drummer Mark Ferber and pianist Dan Tepfer. With these names supporting him, Cuadrado achieves a Nonetto that operates as accurately as a machine in using the codes of modern jazz to express the archaic magic and deep-rooted rhythms of Flamenco. ■

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new releases

It is hard to be objective with this album as we have witnessed its development ever since Amansalva won the 2nd Mediterranean Sounds Contest at the 2009 Manresa Festival. The intent that could be seen in that performance – one of the first from a quartet that had only been formed a few months before – seems to have materialised in the form of a debut album that follows along a particularly prolific aesthetical line, a course which, with landmarks set by Carles Dénia and La Nova Rimaire or Mara Aranda and Solatge, takes a traditional repertoire and dresses it up with a timbric richness and attention to detail in the arrangements. However, this album also reverberates the ambience and cheer of Música Nostra, because as with the historical

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Amansalva — M’han dit que diuen...

Temps Record MEDITERRANEAN MUSIC

website listen video group from Mallorca, we encounter a warm-sounding voice, flute melodies, constant interplays of string with harmonies on guitar and percussion with a Mediterranean bearing. The album begins with the track that the quartet usually perform at the end of their concerts “La gata i el belitre”, to the point where it reaches the song depicting the final harvest, Amansalva take us through a repertoire of songs, many of them traditional in the Catalan lands, on an album that also features two guest voices (Dora Riutord sings her composition “Ma terra”, and the aforementioned Carles Dénia leaves his mark on “Fandango de Mollet”) with the accompaniment of Ernesto Briceño’s violin. ■

new releases

pop rock

In some people it arouses drowsiness while in others it revives their conscience. There seems to be no way out for the former group and it is a shame as they are unable to immerse themselves in the realm of this musical family. Indeed, the dichotomy hitherto existing in terms of Anímic’s style of music has emerged once again with a new album entitled Hannah, because there is no disentanglement (they follow along the line of folk and intimist music). In this respect, the latter group have a lot to cheer about because there is a development and growth that will enable them to enjoy this new, highly-thought-out release. Hannah is another album that has been produced with great care and attention and Ferran Palau and Louise Sansom are

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Anímic — Hannah Les Petites Coses / Error! Lo-Fi / BCore Disc POP-FOLK

website listen video the composers: Ferran produced in Catalan while Louise produced in English. According to Palau, the title track on the album deals with a lady, a country or an animal or indeed… something important, infinite, that has many centuries of history behind it. The same musical history is what forms beautiful tunes. The gems on the album include “Boirina”, a song that builds up all the way through in the form of a spiral and deals with a half-world, a state of sleep where weird things happen that do not seem odd. Once we said that the music of Anímic would help to clear away the fog of the day-today. Regardless, they continue to clear away the routine, with or without the storm clouds and the bluebottles. ■

new releases

Asíkides & Tal Ben Ari — Hesperia Temps Record WORLD MUSIC

website listen video

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The group led by Greek multi instrumentalist Yannis Papaioannou worked with a number of musicians from all four corners of the globe in order to produce their second album alongside the Israeli singer with the suggestive voice Tal Ben Ari. The repertoire takes a look into Greek, Arabic, Armenian, Turkish and Flemish traditions with compositions inspired by these traditions which are by no means out of place. Also highly fitting is the voice of Yacine Belahcene, who works with Papaioannou on Yacine & The Oriental Groove. In short, this is a well-guided voyage on course to Hesperia, the western country where the sun sets according to the Greeks, in other words, the Iberian Peninsula. â–

new releases

classical music

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Benet Casablancas — Seven Scenes from Hamlet; New Epigrams; In modo di Passacaglia Naxos CLASSICAL MUSIC

website listen video Thanks to the record label Naxos, this intriguing release has been produced devoted to the music of the individual from Sabadell Benet Casablancas (1956). The album Set escenes de Hamlet (1989), begins with a piece clearly linked to the Second Viennese School, with the occasional hint of Schoenberg’s Suite, opus 29, where the interest lies in the poetical, restless dialogue established between the narrator and the musical creator for a work. A constant bond with the past has led Casablancas to discover a unique voice that has shone out greatly in recent years with works such as Alter-Klang. Of course, this is not to tone down the merit of the 90s found in Epigrams (1990) and New Epigrams (1997), which imbued wonderful timbric handling and were examples of major creations. These works, which as Josep M. Guix points out in the CD inlay – “a la Viena de Wittgenstein” – were stylistically attached to Wittgenstein’s Vienna, as per the song, form a powerful testimony of a composer who on this voyage is backed by the direction of Manuel Valdivieso, a disciple of Benet Casablancas, and by Barcelona 216 in all their shining glory. ■

new releases

pop rock

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El Petit de Cal Eril — Vol i dol Bankrobber POP

website listen video El Petit de Cal Eril does not need to hide the most brutal part of human existence in order to lend the species dignity. On their second album, Vol i dol, magic and cruelty occur side by side; purifying snow appears amid sadistic scenes. Everything is so natural and seems to be bound by a universal law from which we are excluded, without the power to intervene. Pons went on to produce a far more moody album than his first ...I les sargantanes al sol (BankRobber, 2009), though he does possess an immediate therapy to tone it down: his voice. Vol i dol is a self-produced album recorded in the studios of Joan Pons in Biosca (La Segarra), according to him, close to the ground. Like its predecessor, it entails a form of visionary, forest folk music, although steering somewhat clear of more psychedelic leanings. Here, there is no heir for “L’amistat del calamar”, instead there are more unsheathed songs more akin to the notion of a somewhat crazy troubadour with a group of select acquaintances. The world of El Petit de Cal Eril is both picturesque and cannibalistic. Vol i dol conveys blame and doubt, as well as a playful spirit of celebrating life characteristic of he who has taken in the aroma of a funeral procession on more than one occasion. ■

new releases

The very title of the album and the four tracks that comprise it show that we are facing a complete taunting of the rules and conventions established which lay the foundations of the aesthetics of musical art. In addition to the literal translation of Kopros Lithos, which would be something like ‘fossilised shit’ there is the photograph of the fossilised excrement on the cover, a detritus that could easily be a metaphor of a decomposition of sound with which these three maestros of radical improvisation exert themselves in order to bring together all the ingredients that have nurtured their high calorie musical diet with discordant proteins and vitamins. Once again the pianist from Mallorca Agustí Fernàndez reasserts himself as one of the most daring, moving creators

jazz

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Evans Fernàndez Gustafson — Kopros Lithos Multikulti Project IMPROVISATION

website listen in the realm of modern music worldwide. He does so alongside two first rate accomplices, the American trumpeter Peter Evans and the Nordic saxophonist Mats Gustafson. There is no room for a grace period. The aim is precisely to turn around the entire chain built up by conservatories, academies, schools and all manner of regulated study centres and to regurgitate it from the gut without the need for a filter. The result is a waste where a large body of the sound secretions of the past two centuries fester, a fossil which, when subject to the carbon-14 technique, could make it possible to detect leaks of Bach and the treatment of harmony made by Schönberg, the random combinations of John Cage or the delirium of Varèse. ■

new releases

Frederic Mompou — Música callada La Nuit Transfiguré, 2010 CLASSICAL MUSIC

website In a selfless demonstration of familiarity with the aesthetics of Mompou, Carmen Martínez offers a serene, unhurried rendering where we witness a transcendental, spiritual side to the music of Frederic Mompou. Música callada shares this Catalan spirit of taking time out and approaching a new consideration of reality in this verse. On this context of intentions, one can but admire the serenity and calmness with which the pianist has performed on this recording. She possesses a gift that goes beyond technical and mechanical aspects, and the sounds that emerge from her piano playing carry with them the secrets of a music which, like none other composed by Mompou, can be identified by the composer himself as “the least composed music in the world”. The essence and profoundness with which Martínez has performed on this album enables the listener to become better acquainted with a style of music that even Mompou describes as being “void of air and light”. ■

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new releases

Gertrudis — Tripolar

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Música Global Rumba-Pop

website listen video We could call it Rumba/pop in order to give it a label that would not frighten off the group’s regular fans, but it would not have been amiss to classify the album as pop or to highlight the new, highly prominent hint of electronica on it. Gertrudis have returned equipped with a new image and new genres, maintaining their musical label: indeed, it is under this skin that such treasures as “La samarreta” lie, the legacy the group initially bequeathed us with. Tripolar contains their traditional tracks – the cheer of “Que bonica” or the triumphs of “Ríete” and “No sé si” – but the album also includes experimentation that in some cases doesn’t quite cut the mustard while at other times endows us with a glorious accompaniment. The tones of punk – oftentimes fused with reggae – can be heard in the powerful “Satinfecció”; the earthly voice (Roger Mas) brings them together in a perfect mesh in “Cortines”; electronica stems freely from the heels of “Curiós” and critique oozes from “La marrana del jersei de llana”. The whole album is accompanied by the dulcet tones of the violin, well-thought-out words and a dedicated struggle. The trio from La Garriga have developed a three-stage potion: a desire to do things properly, the willingness to experiment and the endeavour to produce excellent songs. ■

new releases

Guillamino — Fang

electronic music

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BankRobber Electronic MUSIC

website listen video Based on the analogy between the words ‘fang’ (mud in Catalan) and ‘funk’, Guillamino has forged an album to regain the artist’s most dancefriendly facet; one that links him to soul and the sound of synthesisers from the forgotten eighties which no longer seem so gloomy and dreadful.

Recorded and mixed between L’Alt Empordà and Barcelona thanks to the invaluable help of the old Casio CZ5000, Pau Guillamet affords us with a collection of warm tunes that appear to have been conceived in order to liven up the most rogue-filled hours in dodgy clubs. A master of chaos, Guillamino is running away from the more dance-laden facet that his previous album the EP Whip Gymnastix (BankRobber, 2010) originally bore. Particularly noteworthy on this work is the voice of Bikimel on “Viratge”, the digression towards hip hop on “Help Me” with tributes to the sounds of George Michael, Prince and the Pet Shop Boys.

Unpredictable as always, Guillamino likes to bring anarchy with every album, and he has once again achieved just that. ■

new releases

electronic music

Kinky Beat have evolved by experimenting on their own formula in the murky realms of underground electronica. There is very little left from this group that relates to the pioneering fusion of the generation of Trimelón and Muchachito Bombo Infierno. This new release is something completely different, possibly highly related to the frantic drum’n’bass sessions of French group La Phaze, the raga of the German group Gentelman or the tribal, rebel rhythms of the British

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La Kinky Beat — Massive Underground Kasba Music ELECTRONIC MUSIC

website listen video Indian group M.I.A. Approached as if it were a continuous rave session, Massive Underground was recorded in the group’s premises and in Sierra Wave Studios with Dive Dibosso (Sólo Los Solo), and has been produced by three original members of the group (Chalart 58, Willy Fuego and Míriam ‘Matahary’) alongside Basque producer GZK. La Kinky Beat have reinvented themselves in order to continue to tug from the bottom of a highly eclectic source. ■

new releases

pop rock

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Manel — 10 milles per veure una bona armadura DiscMedi/Warner POP

website listen video 10 milles per veure una bona armadura is a free-flowing album where narrative nurtures melodic, subtle, powerful dynamics; with few twists and less use of ukuleles. Songs that occasionally establish an interplay with the ambivalent in order to pose metaphors and parables wherever the listener wishes to observe them; stories that leap through time and toy with fantasy. The ten songs on the album depict a maze of lush orchestrations and imaginative rhythmic arrangements. The percussion is vital in order to uphold the tension in tracks such as “Benvolgut” and “El gran salt”, where an engagement takes place between rounded fragments from wind instruments and banjo strokes. “La cançó del soldadet” portrays a dreamy tale replete with bombs and shipwrecked vessels; “Boomerang” is most akin to a traditional song, or would be if it was not for the text that could be read in two ways. The album gains momentum with the slightly fatalist story of “La bola de cristall” and the magical celebration in “Aniversari”. It finally heads for victory culminating with “El Miquel i l’Olga tornen” or the Habanera in New Orleans “Deixa-la, Toni, deixa-la”, which leads onto a deafening fanfare to end the album in the party mood. ■

new releases

pop rock

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Mazoni — Fins que la mort ens separi BankRobber POP

website listen video Fins que la mort ens separi contains bursts of genuine pop, art and attention to detail when it comes to arrangements, the occasional unorthodox venture and harmonised touches of rock’n’roll, all under the auspices of an atmospheric contagion lending the final outcome a sense of imaginary light. We know that Pla does not use a pre-built mould in order to compose a song and this is clearly illustrated by the celestial choruses with a touch of Brian Wilson about them, leading onto the instrumental track “Fins que la mort ens separi”, a tune whose final afterthought comes in the form of the album’s final lap: “Fins que la mort ens separi II”. Along the way we encounter a wide variety of changing pop where attention to detail and unsettled ambiences are compatible with the most crude, sloppy mediated, albeit discordant of instincts. Jaume Pla has an innate ability to fuse sensitivity and ferocity. Fins que la mort ens separi is a living, mutant artefact that paints a musical language that is wide awake, playful and sharp, finely tuned thanks to the contribution of other members: Miquel Sospedra (bass), Jordi Rudé (guitars and synthesisers), Aleix Bou (drums) and Toni Molina (electronic drum). Songs with a twofold essence that deal with death and love, personal vindications, adult uncertainties and even survival. ■

new releases

classical music

Quartet Casals — Metamorphosis Harmonia Mundi CLASSICAL MUSIC

website listen The career of the Quartet Casals is gaining serious momentum.

Having already produced their sixth album, the Catalan group have once again shown they are one of the foremost quartets in Europe.

On this occasion, under the title of Metamorphosis, we are drawn into the realm of the Hungarian music of three inspirational 20th century creators: Bartók, Ligeti and Kurtág. In reference to the former we are offered an evocative, poetical rendition of Quartet no. 4, Sz 91, while the rendering of Ligeti’s Quartet no. 1 takes us to a new level of fantasy performance that transforms the rendering into another version to be considered among those already in existence. The album closes with Dotze microludis per a quartet, opus 13 by Kurtág, a work with a major micro-formal rendering where they demonstrate that they take to the performance like a duck to water. However, beyond doubt the foremost aspect is the feeling the listener is left with upon witnessing the audition. The listener is left with the sensation of having witnessed the ramifications and influence of the maestro Bartók as performed by two of the biggest names in Hungarian music of the 20th century. ■

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new releases

The New Raemon — Libre asociación BCore Disc Singer-Song Writing

website listen video Ramon Rodríguez gets bigger and bigger with every album, restlessly and continually producing EPs, EP compilations or single albums. The musician from Cabrils has developed even further with this new album, one in which a great deal of thought has been invested, with dense, shadowy tracks, one on which he abandons acoustic sounds and ventures for a more electric beat akin to Madee – his band who said goodbye to the stages in February – a feature that was not evident in his previous solo albums. The fact that he did not have to combine the two projects and that they were set apart in terms of sound has led The New Raemon to redefine his sound and take it to new levels apt for his wealth of experience. Irony fades away and The New Ramon takes us to a more unique and similarly exciting dimension. ■

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new releases

Xavier Baró — La màgica olivera

SingerSong Writing

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Khlämor Records Singer-Song Writing

website listen video Xavier Baró spoils us. Every album this troubadour produces is a tiny masterpiece. Now he has produced La màgica olivera, delving into the introspective paths of Cançons del temps de destrals (Satchmo, 2004), Flors de joglaria (DiscMedi, 2006) and Lluny del camí ral (Quadrant, 2009), incorporating a traditional repertoire and heightening references to specific landscapes and proper names, as it were, to the detriment of the dreamlike ambiences that prevailed in his previous works. The singer-songwriter from Almacelles has struck the right tone in order to ensure that such gems as “A la plaça fan ballades” and “El caçador i la pastora” carry themselves aloft with his personal, timeless voice, while he entices audiences into listening to the ancient, spellbound stories of bandits, pugs and defeats of a town sprawled between France and Spain. The deep-rooted tones of the piccolo, the Chirimia, the diatonic scale, and the bells all add to the characteristic homely sound: minimal percussion, heavy strings (guitars, lute, viola, mandolin) and long-drawn-out notes on the organ forge a nebulous, rugged sound. In order of appearance, the album also features guest performances from Clara Viñals, Àngel Andreu, Lo Pardal Roquer, Heura Gaya, Meritxell Gené, Jordi Gasion, Miquel Àngel Tena, Víctor Verdú, Txabi Àbrego and the great Jaume Arnella, who sings “Lo nostre canal d’Urgell”. ■

new releases

Za! — Megaflow Acuarela EXPERIMENTAL

website listen video They come last in any list (that is what happens when your name begins with z) but Za! are also a huge band and have managed to create a name for themselves within the dominion of the Barcelona underground.

Megaflow is quite simply a fresh acclamation of a friendship where noise is a means of connection.

Continual improvisation in the form of sound collages, the group overwhelms with a collection of sounds that left-handed guitarist Papa du Pau draws from his instrument and the countless pedals connected to it, and the rhythm set by Spazzfrika Ehd on his drums and other percussion machines. This is an experiment in sound research based on chaos and cacophony, immersing the listener into a realm of sound that calmly flows from free jazz to the hardest metal. â–

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