Catalan! music eMagazine
winter 2013 issue 5
Alternative European Circuits And:
Catalans on tour Recommended festivals New releases
Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals Passatge de la Banca, 1 i 3 E-08002 Barcelona Tel. +34 93 316 27 00 internacional.icec@gencat.cat www.gencat.cat/cultura/icec/internacional www.catalanarts.cat Texts: Grup Enderrock Images: Ana Madrid, Andreas Krueger, Bàrbara Gurvit, Bart Heemskerk, Bernat Rueda, Carles Rodríguez, Dani Cantó, David Ruano, Diego Conti, Erin Fotos, Extreme Airshots, Ibai Acevedo, Irene Visa, Jan Latussek, Jim Bennett, Jordi Vidal, Juan Miguel Morales, Kevin McGehearty, Marc Bordons, Marcel Asso, Michael Buckner, Nieves Gentil, Ray Molinari, René Keijzer, Sean Mathis, Toni Lara, Xavi Torres, Xavier Mercadé D.L.: B-32542-2011 Barcelona, january 2013 ISSN: 2014-3834
Cover image: Xavier Mercadé
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/es/deed.ca
Catalan! music eMagazine
winter 2012 issue 5
The digital magazine for the international promotion of the Catalan music. Available in English, Catalan and Spanish. Published four-monthly.
intro
The Catalan music industry is mature and complex. It has gone through a process of change and shown its resilience and now has to make the most of this to continue growing and expanding. The digital world and the internationalisation of companies are two cornerstones on which the sector will have to shape itself in coming years. However, certain musical genres already forged paths in this direction some time ago. Styles such as punk, ska and soul made in Catalonia enjoy an alternative circuit for albums and concerts in Europe, filling venues and winning over new followers concert after concert. These styles are often on circuits outside the mainstream commercial venues and media, but overcome this hurdle and reach the fans who listen to the records and buy tickets to their concerts by using other formulas.
We invite you to read these pages, where you’ll meet these exponents of the internationalisation of music. We have also brought back our regular record label news with an extensive and varied catalogue, news of festivals and collaborative work between Catalan and international artists. The International Promotion Area of the Catalan Institute for the Cultural Companies, under the brandname Calatan! Arts, works to internationalise creative businesses in Catalonia. This work is envisaged with a large number of international groups and companies. Throughout 2012 there were more than 575 performances by musical groups outside Catalonia, with France and Germany being the two countries with most performances by Catalan artists. These figures come from the information provided by groups, which we regularly publish in the events section of the Catalan! Arts website.
Summary
HOT: ALTERNATIVE EURO on tour 20 news 28 links 40 festivals 50 upcoming festivals 60 new releases 62
OPEAN CIRCUITS
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*Corn Flakes
HOT
ALTERNATI EUROPEAN
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NATIVE EAN CIRCUITS *The Tiki Phantoms
hot ALTERNATIVE EUROPEAN CIRCUITS
Fromheadtotoe
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These are often ignored by the media and their proposals are not presented in the major international markets. However, for some years now a number of artists have been performing regularly at festivals and European venues and have even obtained licensing deals for their record label’s productions. We spoke to three representatives from three companies who, among other things, work to internationalise their productions and have been doing so successfully for years. Jordi Novell AND Ferran Amado Grup Enderrock
BCore. The consistency of a catalogue BCore is one of the most consistent labels on the Catalan music scene. Over 20 years they have released more than 200 products and signed both Catalan and international groups to their label. They started by specialising in hardcore, and in recent years have produced a fascinating catalogue of pop and punk music. BCore started by producing groups such as Corn Flakes,
hot ALTERNATIVE EUROPEAN CIRCUITS
Fromheadtotoe or Aina and soon established international links with other record labels in both Europe and America, such as Dischord and DeSoto, among others. By the midnineties, its groups broke out of the punk circuit and built a strong base in the underground circuits of Europe, the US and Japan, where small labels licensed Catalan record companies’ products. Jordi Llansamà, the label’s manager since the start, recognises that the current situation has changed a great deal: ‘We all know now that records don’t sell, here or anywhere. It is very difficult for a label to licence its products with international companies, as most business involves digital formats and publishing rights, and hardly anyone is prepared to transfer them’. Despite this situation, some of the label’s bands, such as Capsula and Tokyo Sex Destruction have managed to get licensing deals abroad. Capsula’s first record, In the Land of the Silver Souls, has been licensed in the US and some of Tokyo Sex Destruction’s albums have managed to do so in France and Germany. It is in these countries where their music has gained a foothold in the punk circuit. According to Llansamà, their success is because ‘you need to be classified in a specific style of music. Today, the label “punk-rock” works for the public and signing contracts. We work on the Web, sending emails
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Capsula
The Excitements
hot ALTERNATIVE EUROPEAN CIRCUITS
Soweto
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and so on, and often exchanging groups for our programmes’. Other groups of the company, such as The Tiki Phantoms, have such a specific sound that they regularly perform at European surf music events.
The boom of soul Adrià Gual is one of the most active musicians in the Catalan soul and rhythm ‘n’ blues scene. He is the founder of the Barcelona band The Excitements where he is not only in charge of the six strings of the guitar, but also manages the group at home and abroad. According to Gual ‘the market is no longer in Barcelona, Catalonia or Spain. On this circuit, our natural market is Europe. Today, the social networks mean it’s very easy to become known and it’s no more expensive for a group to go to Paris than A Coruña’. With regard to the European programmes, Gual insists that ‘there are specialised festivals and programmes in Europe, soul and rhythm ‘n’ blues clubs that play this style and many professionals who organise concerts, but there are also more general circuits that include these bands’. The Excitements are already well known on most of the European circuits, thanks to the band members’ previous projects and to the fact that they’ve also been spectators. ‘In
hot ALTERNATIVE EUROPEAN CIRCUITS
most cases, the public is very loyal and travels all over Europe. The rest of the circuit has known us through the promotional work carried out by both ourselves and our local agents’ declares Gual. The Excitements have performed most often in France and their work has a growing reputation in Holland, where they’ve played various concerts. The band is currently working the British and German markets. ‘We are generally very well welcome, we try to do the best we can and when something doesn’t work we think hard about what we’ve done wrong’. The group has three promotion channels for their international activity: local bookers; other press agents who they contract for specific campaigns in each country; and the social networks. According to Gual ‘the latter are quite time-consuming but are a good publicity tool, they are more immediate than other channels’.
The Jamaican Scene Pep Albalat is responsible for the company NBC Produccions Nyahbingi Crew. Its catalogue includes artists from the skareggae scene such as La Puta Opepé, Dr. Ring Ding, Sr. Wilson and Soweto. According to Albalat, there is an international Jamaican music
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The Pepper Pots
Tokyo Sex Destruction
hot ALTERNATIVE EUROPEAN CIRCUITS
circuit, which is much more firmly established in Europe than in Catalonia: there are more groups, more promoters and more people in general interested in this style of music. NBC has arrived ‘by directly contacting the scene’s specialist promoters, who have shown an interest in current and former artists and bands in our catalogue, such as Soweto, The Pepper Pots and Ranking Soldiers’. Some of these groups, such as The Pepper Pots, have easily joined the international circuits, working with key musicians in the scene such as Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed. Currently, the band is most popular in France, Germany and Italy where there is an interest in Catalan groups playing ska, rocksteady or reggae. Albalat thinks that ‘this is due to the large number of fans of these styles in these countries and also because they are places that are easy to travel to, cutting the concert promoter’s production costs and making it fairly easy to create a circuit’. The most popular groups are those that sing in English, such as Soweto, and groups with a more classic style with no Catalan or Latin touches to their songs. According to Albalat ‘they are groups that could just as easily be from London or Washington as Barcelona. However, there is a growing interest in ideas that combine more Latin styles or artists who sing in Spanish such as Sr. Wilson or Zuri.’
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Working on the stable European circuit is basic to develop NBC’s business: ‘getting on an established European circuit with Catalan groups also generates enormous feedback, and we commonly receive offers and proposals from other groups, promoters and managers. Indeed, exchange agreements are often set up directly between agencies from different countries.’ ■
on tour
Paco Ibáñez 22 Rik Van Den Bosch & The Dan che sudaka 26
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ndies 24
*Rik Van Den Bosch & The Dandies
on tour
Paco Ibáñez On a stage with a simple backdrop, dressed in black and clutching his guitar, Paco Ibáñez journeys through the history of Spanish literature in a show based on one of the finest musical anthologies of Spanish and Latin American poetry from the 18th century to present day. Paco Ibáñez presents the songs from his new album Paco Ibáñez canta a los poetas latinoamericanos. The artist transports us to Pablo Neruda’s Chile, to Alfonsina Storni’s Argentina, to César Vallejo’s Peru and Rubén Darío’s Nicaragua, combining songs of love, struggle and resistance, pure existentialism, enveloped in the power of the poetry, the rhythms and the instruments. Every Paco Ibáñez concert is a new creation, something unique. The artist leads the concert, masterfully selecting the songs from among his over 160 compositions, creating unique moments with sensitivity and art. Paco Ibáñez is to visit France in 2013, performing in Paris (30 January), Saint Avertin (7 February), Tremblay (9 February) and Ivry-sur-Seine (19 and 20 April). On 3 February he will perform in Lisbon (Portugal).
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on tour
poprock
Rik Van Den Bosch & The Dandies
Rik Van Den Bosch made his own guitar from a can, a piece of wood and some nylon at the age of seven and since then has professed a deep love for old-school folk and blues with his compositions and unique way of playing guitar that shy away from conventionalism. In 2002 he travelled from New Orleans to New York to discover the roots of the music he loves. With a bicycle, a guitar and a tape recorder, he gathered together his impressions on an album that acts as a musical catalogue of songs interpreted by the musicians he met: A Musical Impression of a Journey from New Orleans to New York. He then edited Out of Town and Blues for the Lowlands, and a medley of folk, blues and Mexican music entitled Coffee Cigarettes & Beer which reflects his equally diverse influences (from Jacques Brel and Nina Simone to Johnny Cash, Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson as well as The Velvet Underground, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Nick Drake and Pixies). His latest album, the EP Sea Side Mountain Side, is his first recording accompanied by The Dandies and the first published in Catalonia. Rik van den Bosch & The Dandies are starting out on a tour in Germany that will take them to Berlin (23 to 27 January) and Gera (3 May).
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on tour
che sudaka Multicultural band Che Sudaka starts the year with its now traditional European tour, which this time takes them to 22 European cities. Precisely in Serbia, they have been invited to the Kustendorf Cinema and Music Festival, directed by Emir Kusturica, whom they met at a festival in Paris. The news for this year include the producer Gambeat recording the bass that will be played live and ex-Radio Bemba member David Bourguignon as the new drummer. The tour concludes Che Sudaka’s concerts to commemorate their 10th anniversary, present their fifth studio record 10 (self-produced, 2012) and celebrate their 1,000th concert at the Fuji Rock festival in Japan. Besides this tour, the group is running a crowd-funding campaign to finance the release of their first live album, 1111. Che Sudaka will be performing in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Serbia in January and February this year.
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folk world music
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news
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*South by Southwest
news
ETEP 2.0 Project The Catalan Institute for the Cultural Companies (ICEC) is taking part in the ETEP (European Talent Exchange Program) 2.0 project, which is subsidised by the European Commission. This European project is headed by Stichting Noorderslag, the organiser of the Eurosonic festival (Groningen, Netherlands), an event linked with the project. Besides the ICEC, the music export offices of France, Finland, Germany, Norway, Romania, Italy, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg are participating as co-organisers, along with the lobby European Music Office (EMO) and the Yourope network. The project aims to stimulate the European circulation of Catalan music and increase promotional opportunities for Catalan artists in a market traditionally dominated by America and Britain. Of a total of 2,800 Eurosonic-accredited industry professionals, 70 are from European festivals which belong to the ETEP, including the Catalan Primavera Sound and BAM, and commit to selecting one or several of the artists from the programmed line-up. There are also more than 150 accredited media (radio and press) from all over Europe to publicise the concerts. The Catalan groups chosen for 2013 are: Evripidis and his tragedies, The Excitements and Za!. These three Catalan groups, by being included in Eurosonic, will go on to become part of the ETEP. â–
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news
interview to Janke Brands ETEP Policy Officer and Business Manager
“If you do well at Eurosonic, you can be booked at the festivals that are taking part in the ETEP” What is the meaning and the goal of ETEP?
ETEP stands for European Talent Exchange Program and it is an initiative of the Eurosonic Noorderslag festival. It is a collaboration with various international partners, a network of 80 festivals that come to Groningen to check out the new talent presented at the showcase festival. Its goal is to increase the international opportunities for European artists. In a traditional situation where festivals would book primarily Anglo– American bands and some from their own country, the ETEP was set up in 2003 to get festivals to book more artists from European countries. Who are the members of the ETEP?
The ETEP is a formal collaboration between 15 partners: Eurosonic Noorderslag, the festivals Exit and Sziget, platform organisations EMO
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and Yourope, and 10 European music export offices: Music Export Norway, Catalan! Music-ICEC, Music Information Center Austria, Music:LX, Initiative Musik, Muziekcentrum Vlaanderen, Bureau Export de la Musique Francaise, Fondazione Arezzo Wave Italia, Wallonie Bruxelles Musiques, and Music Finland. Furthermore there are other contributors: Buma Cultuur, Sena and EBU, the main media partner of ETEP. Who is responsible for the artistic programme of Eurosonic Festival?
The Eurosonic programme is a put together by the Eurosonic booking team. Because of this we work together with the European public radio stations, EBU, and European export offices; we also have an elaborate network within the European music sector, guaranteeing an up-to-date knowledge of interesting new European artists. What benefits are there for Catalan bands taking part in this program? Should they fulfil any requirements?
The ETEP can give a great boost to the international career of Catalan bands. If you do well at Eurosonic, you can be booked at the festivals that are taking part in the ETEP, get media attention and increase your international network. The only requirement for bands is that they have to be selected for Eurosonic. This means bands need to have ‘international potential’. What is the challenge for the next few years?
The challenge is to increase the number of participating festivals to 100. Also to further increase the results, so that means more international bookings for bands.
news
Jimmy Cliff
Bruce Springsteen
Fiona Apple
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South by Southwest 2013 Austin (Texas, USA). From 8 to 17 March 2013 SXSW offers a unique meeting point for the world of independent music and film, as well as new technologies. The main aim of the festival, which also hosts conferences, is to promote professional and creative growth. At time to publish this magazine, the Catalan bands Aliment and Mujeres have been confirmed as part of SXSW’s official concert line-up. Year after year, South by Southwest comes round as an ideal platform for the launch of creative content. Multimedia presentations, concerts and film screenings can be found at SXSW, promoting interest from within the industry and providing entertainment for the public. ■On the musical side, the 2012 SXSW produced the following figures
Concerts: 2286 (547 international acts from 49 countries) Stages: 104 Requests to perform: 10,313 Conference delegates: 18,988 (from 58 countries) Total conferences: 182 Average concert attendance: 3,220 people Shores Auditorium attendance over 3 days: 55,000 people
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Els Pets perform in London 3 November 2012 Cargo, London (England) Twenty-seven years after their foundation, Els Pets performed for the first time in London. Cargo sold out, and Lluis Gavaldà, Joan Reig and Falin Cáceres gave a concert featuring all their hits accompanied by pianist Joan-Pau Chaves and guitarist David Muñoz ‘Gnaposs’. They began with ‘Vespre’, to which the audience enthusiastically sang along. The group, addressing the audience in both English and Catalan, continued with songs like ‘S’ha acabat’ and ‘Silenci criminal’, large doses of rock’n’roll that preceded the much celebrated ‘Nuria’, ‘Pau’, ‘Soroll’ and “XL”. One of the surprises of the night was their version of “She’s Got a New Spell”, originally by the English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg, of whom they profess to be admirers. ■
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what is Catalan! Arts? Catalan! Arts is the trademark created by ICEC’s International Promotion Department to identify and internationally disseminate the production of the cultural companies based in Catalonia: record companies and labels, publishers, art galleries, theatre companies, audio-visual and multimedia companies. The International Promotion Department also comprises Barcelona Catalunya Film Commission, who promotes filming in Catalan territory and Media Antenna Barcelona, an office that helps to process European funds for media. Founded in 2000, ICEC- Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies- is a public body attached to the Catalan Government Ministry of Culture aiming to provide stability for and to drive development in the Catalan creative industries. In the international promotion area, the main services Catalan! Arts provides are: Co-ordination of the Catalan presence at international fairs, festivals and markets Market research and consultancy on export and internationalisation projects Nurturing professional networking in Catalonia and abroad Creation of promotion and marketing tools Support for the presence in international media
Since 2005 Catalan! Arts works as a link between international professionals and Catalan companies in order to establish strong connections with the professionals interested in the culture made in Catalonia. Catalan! Arts has 6 offices in different European capital cities: Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, London, Milano and Paris. We provide a wide range of resources to work and collaborate with all the Catalan artists and to promote them internationally.
Do not hesitate to contact us; our offices can help you with any of your requests
Barcelona internacional.icec@gencat.cat
London london.icec@gencat.cat
Berlin berlin.icec@t-online.de
Milano icec.milano@gencat.it
Brussels brussels.icec@gencat.be
Paris icec.paris@sfr.fr
links Arianna Savall Connexions Ramon Humet Raynald Colom
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& Petter Udland Johansen 42 44
& London Sinfonietta 46 & Rise 48
* Raynald Colom
links
Arianna Savall & Petter Udland Johansen North and South Hirundo Maris is the Latin translation for ‘seagull’, and just like this bird in its nomadic flight, the quintet of the harp player Arianna Savall - part ancient music group, part traditional music group – sails the Norwegian and Catalonian seas of traditional music, adding their own musical waves. Savall, together with her co-leader Petter Udland Johansen, has created a group with a brilliant mix of timbres, crowned by the crystal-clear voice of Arianna herself, suitably tuned to songs from North and South alike. Arianna Savall’s debut in the New Series of the German company ECM is the result of her magnificent collaboration in albums with Rolf Lislevand (Nuove musiche) and Helena Tulve (Lijnen): the former, ancient sensual music; the latter, vigorous contemporary sound. In both genres, Savall has proven to be a very charismatic performer. ■
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classical music
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Connexions The beginning of a good friendship This November, the Connexions concert series – programmed by the firm BankRobber and the Taller de Músics – brought us two surprising events: Very Pomelo & Josele Santiago (on the 9th) and Sanjosex & Chicuelo (on the 23rd). Very Pomelo’s drummer, Pol Font, explains how they came to work with the Madrid musician: “Xarim Pomelo (voice and guitar) and Jordi ‘Nore’ Freixa (manager) attended the presentation party for the book La magnitud del desastre (The Scale of the Disaster) by Oriol Llopis (66 rpm Publishers, 2012). Also at the party was their much admired Josele Santiago, who told them he lived in Castelldefels (in Catalonia), that he really fancied playing with some local musicians, and that he thought a group with a name like ours would be interesting. We arranged to meet up for coffee and we all connected, playing versions of Ringo Starr, The Band, Captain Beefheart…in our rehearsal studio”. Carles Sanjosé and Chicuelo, on the other hand, set up once they had already decided to play together: “He came to see us when we were recording a live concert at Luz de Gas. We soon saw we had potential, because my songs have an Iberian feel to them and we could take the rhythm and harmony a step further. What we didn’t consider was doing flamenco”, explains Sanjosé. ■
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Ramon Humet & London Sinfonietta Zen balance The music of Ramon Humet has spread far and wide and has been accepted by the audience and critics alike due to his incessant search for a personal language of great refinement and balance, in form and expression. His creations emanate a profound love to nature: “Música del no ésser” (Music of the Non-Being), a piece ordered by the National Auditorium of Madrid, the Music Festival of Torroella and the Symphonic Orchestra of Barcelona and National Orchestra of Catalonia; “Escenes de Vent” (Wind Scenes), a piece ordered by the Symphonic Orchestra of Montreal and an initiative by the maestro Kent Nagano; or “Escenes d’Ocells” (Bird Scenes), a piece that has been doubly acclaimed with the International Reina Sofia Award and the International Olivier Messiaen Award. The project Niwa is the meeting point between the chamber music of one of Spain’s and Catalonia’s most renowned composers, the transparency and precision of one of today’s most prestigious chamber orchestras: the London Sinfonietta, and the potential for sound immersion and fidelity of timbre that enables it all to be recorded in high definition. Recorded last January 2012 at the Watford Colosseum in London, Niwa was conducted by one of the most promising batons in British music: Nicholas Collon. ■
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Raynald Colom & Rise The rising of a trumpet The trumpet player Raynald Colom’s rise in the jazz world is unstoppable. His new work Rise has included him in the firm Jazz Village, which belongs to the record company Harmonia Mundi, where his name is featured in catalogues with renowned artists like Ahmad Jamal and new names such as Roberto Fonseca. “I was born into a family where music was part of the atmosphere - his father, Philippe Colom, features in the album on the clarinet - and my godparents were saxophone player Jesse Davis and double bass player Horacio Fumero. So my music is the result of all of this”, he explains. These experiences have led him to team up with fellow musicians from across the Atlantic, such as Cuban pianist Aruán Ortiz and the North Americans Rashaan Carter (double bass) and Rudy Royston (drums), to which he has now added the Slovenian Jure Pukl (tenor sax); a formation that is rounded off in the album with the participation of the percussionist Roger Blavia and of the Eclectic Colour Orchestra conducted by Raul Patiño. Signing for Jazz Village fits in perfectly with trumpet player Raynald Colom’s dream of boosting his career to an international level. The distribution of Jazz Village’s catalogue to over forty countries will make the artist’s work more widely available, reaching the most important positions on the global jazz market. ■
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jazz
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festivals
faraday Tardor 52 44è Voll-Damm JAZZ FESTIVAL XV Fira Mediterrània Manre 7è San Miguel Primavera Clu + UPCOMING FESTIVALS 60
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AL OF BARCELONA 54 esa 56 ub 58
* Ferran Palau
festivals
Faraday Tardor 26 and 27 October 2012 Vilanova i la Geltrú
The intimate side of Faraday On 26 and 27 October, the Eduard Toldrà Auditorium hosted the second edition of Faraday Tardor, the more intimate version of the Faraday summer festival. In a total of six concerts, the bands Sr. Chinarro, Ferran Palau, Maria Coma, Manos de Topo, Renaldo & Clara and Paul Fuster filled Vilanova i la Geltrú with music. Faraday’s management recently announced that the 2013 edition of this festival, held for the last nine years in Vilanova i la Geltrú, would be the last. This last ever festival will be held on the 4, 5 and 6 July in Vilanova i la Geltrú with tickets already on sale. According to the organisation, over the last 10 years the festival has consolidated its goal of bringing independent music to new audiences. ■
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poprock
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Sr. Chinarro
Renaldo & Clara
Maria Coma
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44th Voll-Damm JAZZ FESTIVAL OF BARCELONA From 30 October to 30 November 2012 Barcelona
Street musicians On 30 November the Chick Corea Trio brought to a close the 44th Voll-Damm International Jazz Festival in Barcelona, where they shared the stage with internationally renowned artists and Catalan musicians. Over 50 concerts performed over one intense month. The festival opened with Omar Sosa, Paolo Fresu, Cristina Pato, Blas CĂłrdoba and Daniel Navarro and they were followed by Giulia Valle Grup, Michel Camilo and Tomatito, Mariza, Sergi Sirvent Octopussy Band, Albert Sanz Trio, Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club with Omara Portuondo, the Sant Andreu Jazz Band and Brian Blade. Previously, on 19, 20 and 21 October, Jazz flooded the streets of the city and several restaurants, where swing took over. A perfect welcome party just before the official opening of the festival programme. â–
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jazz
Albert Pla
Earth, Wind & Fire
Mavis Staples
Lee Fields
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festivals
15th FIRA MEDITERRÀNIA MANRESA 8-11 November 2012 Manresa
All facets of folk On 8 and 11 November, Manresa hosted the 15th Fira Mediterrània Manresa. Under the new artistic guidance of David Ibáñez and with the participation of the film producer Isaki Lacuesta as the guest star, the Fair included a whole array of novelties. Regarding the programme, it was characterised by a growing number of acts combining traditional languages with jazz; a new label was used: Nostrum, applied to present the ‘musical treasures of the Mediterranean that must be preserved’; and a special slot was reserved for the star acts, both at the opening (Tuétano, with the ‘bailaor’ dancer Andrés Marín), and the finale (in which Lacuesta combined El misteri de la Llum de Manresa - The Mystery of the Light of Manresa -, and La Dansa de la Mort de Verges – The Dance of Death of Verges -, a Mexican celebration of death and social critique to surprise all at the Plaça Major in Manresa). In the four days of the Mediterranean Fair, there is plenty of time for everything. ■
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folk world music
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Els Berros de la Cort
Factoria Circular
Xavi Lloses
Brams i l’Escola Municipal de Música de Berga
festivals
7th San Miguel Primavera Club 6-8 December 2012 Barcelona
Indies in the club Primavera Club was born in 2006 as an extension of the Primavera Sound festival in order to make room for new values, for groups that had not been included in the programme, and to bring back some of the most successful acts from previous editions. The festival has become well grounded as a winter proposal within the independent sphere of Spanish music. This year, the Primavera Club has also spread to Portuguese territory as a step further in the journey on which it embarked after the last Primavera Sound. The festival is composed of performances that value quality over popularity, thus offering a sound and a coherent musical proposal, leaving room for DJ sessions too. The programme brought together Catalan, Spanish and International artists, mixing emerging talents with acclaimed icons. Among the most significant performances not to be missed were the concerts by Antònia Font, Cocodriles, Ghandi Rules OK, Dulce Pájara de Juventud, Hans Laguna, Bremen, Renaldo & Clara, The Last 3 Lines, and the collaboration between Los Planetas and associated groups such as Triángulo de Amor Bizarro, Sr. Chinarro, Fernando Alfaro or La Bien Querida. ■
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poprock
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Antònia Font
Mark Lanegan
Sr. Chinarro
upcoming festivals Barcelona From 20 February to 11 May
poprock
24 Guitar Festival BCN
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map
Salt From 1 March to 6 April
poprock
Black Music Festival
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Terrassa From 7 to 23 March
32 Festival Jazz Terrassa
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Girona From 11 to 21 April
Festival Strenes
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Va r i o u s
jazz
61 Vila-seca From 3 to 5 May
14a Fira de M煤sica al Carrer de Vila-seca
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Va r i o u s
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Barcelona From 22 to 26 May
Heineken Primavera Sound 2013
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poprock
Barcelona From 13 to 15 June
S贸nar 2013
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Electronic music
new relea Albert Attenelle — Suite Iberia & La Vega
Antònia Font — Vostè és aquí
Various Artists — Blackcelona
Esther Condal — Home
Gorka Benitez - David Xirgu — A Marte otra vez
Ignasi Terraza — Sol-IT
MINE! — La fi del món
Pau Vallvé — De bosc
Quart Primera — Pel·lícules
ases
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Blaumut — El turista
Bradien + Eduard Escoffet — Pols
OBC — Eduard Toldrà Impressions líriques
Jordi Gaspar / Jordi Bonell / Roger Blavia — Gemini
La Brigada — Incerta glòria
Martí Ventura Trio — Transicions
Ratafia — Olor de nou
The Free Fall Band — Elephants Never Forget
The New Raemon — Tinieblas, por fin
new releases
classical music
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Albert Attenelle — Suite Iberia & La Vega (Columna Música) Piano solo
website listen The Suite Iberia soars way up high at the pinnacle of eternal pianistic literature , which very few artists have included in their repertoire. Even less common is to be able to hear it live and there are not too many recordings either. Among these rare events we might highlight the recording by Alícia de Larrocha for EMI. But destiny sometimes brings unexpected surprises, and thus, to re-edited versions such as that by one Guillermo González (Naxos), we must now add Albert Attenelle’s version, as it so rightly deserves. ■
new releases
POPROCK
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Antònia Font — Vostè és aquí (Robot Innocent) Pop-rock
website listen video Antònia Font, or more specifically, composer Joan Miquel Oliver, is experiencing a period of creative fertility and truly going all out: Vostè és aquí contains no less than forty songs which, at first, are a little overwhelming with cascades of twists, style shifts, changes in rhythmic patterns and atmospheric turbulence. The Majorcan group is, of course, not the first to take on the macro-song style. This is the specialty of experienced international groups such as They Might Be Giants and The Residents in their Commercial Album (Ralph Records, 1980), a work that contained as many tracks. But what is not so common is for an initiative that could be considered experimental to be taken on by such a popular artist. An example of Catalonia’s cultural excellence, which allows eccentric artistic ideas to become embedded in our mainstream microcosm. ■
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Various Artists — Blackcelona (DiscMedi) Soul & Funk
website listen video The fact that the journalist and music lover Ferran Amado has decided to sign the coordination of this project is a positive sign in itself. Good vibes become reality when we wake up from the musical illiteracy in which we were submerged. Blackcelona compiles 16 pieces of modern black music produced in the city of Barcelona, which will make you want to shake your body to the rhythm of soul, funk, Latin jazz and boogaloo. In this record, we find
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excellent vocalists with the lead singers of The Excitements, Betty Belle, Luxópolis, First Take or Sweet Vertigo, rediscovering the experiments of Astrio, and dancing to the boogaloo beat of Electric Gozarela or Los Fulanos. A varied and boundless repertoire: The Slingshots, Banda Achilifunk & Original Jazz Orquestra del Taller de Músics or Tirantlofunk are just some of the musicians lurking within the city. ■
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Blaumut — El turista
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(Picap) Pop
website listen video The opening track, “Bicicletes” (Bicycles), and others such as “Pa amb oli i sal” (Bread with oil and salt) have all the ingredients they need to become hits, with unique voices and catchy tunes. The song title “Only You (i el teu xampú)” (Only You - and your shampoo) may make us reminisce about Els Amics de les Arts, but Blaumut has its own character, owing to the group’s two founders: singer-songwriter Xavier de la Iglesia and classical violinist Vassil Lambrinov, who add an infinity of fine nuances. Their songs look to be as everlasting as they are easy to listen to. Blaumut are not the only ones inspired by cold landscapes, nor are they the first to drink from the Beatles’ cup, but they have the art of bringing back our joy and faith in music. This first album is an original and melodious compilation that breathes new life into the Catalonian pop scene. ■
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Electronic music
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Bradien + Eduard Escoffet — Pols (spa.RK) Electropoetry
website listen video After the one-off experience of their first album, where they wrote the music to Linden (spa.RK, 2009), by the poet John Giorno, this second project by the electronic group Bradien meets the poet Eduard Escoffet from Barcelona to have a go at electropoetry. There are musical poems written specially for the project, there are songs linked to architecture, urban development and ecology, and there are abstract collages. The album was co-produced by the Australian band Simon Walbrook and the Catalan artist Bradien. An attractive laboratory of poetic electronics exploring new territory. â–
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Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC) — Eduard Toldrà - Impressions líriques (Record_CRG) Symphonic Music / Opera
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Eduard Toldrà’s music is conducted by Antoni Ros Marbà, a disciple of his, and led by the OBC a successor to the Barcelona Municipal Orchestra, one of the maestro’s favourite ensembles. This CD delights us with a new edition of a key piece from Catalonian lyrical theatre: El giravolt de maig (The Somersault of May), originally edited by Harmonia Mundi in 2007. Ros Marbà, conducts the opera as usual, with a certain symphonic grandeur that hides its more
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theatrical nature. This conductor, however, is more inspired in the first orchestral CD. And his inspiration continues in the bright and well-known sardana “Empúries” and in La maledicció del comte Arnau (The Curse of Count Arnau). But Toldrà’s monograph would not be the same without a sample of his lied, which is why it is well worth listening to the cycle La rosa als llavis (A Rose on the Lips) beautifully performed by Elena Copons. ■
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Esther Condal — Home (Petit Indie) Singer-songwriter
website listen video A crystal clear voice full of mystery envelops these songs born of this pianist’s sensitivity and emotion. With David Soler as producer, Esther Condal stands out not only as a composer, but also as a performer who dares to give words and a voice to “Trois beaux oiseaux”, by Maurice Ravel, or to cover Tom Waits’s “Alice” and The Smiths’ “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want”. ■
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Gorka Benitez - David Xirgu — A Marte otra vez (Artimaña Records) Jazz
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Little did the always inspired Pere Bardagí know that one of his quotes would end up as the title of a jazz cocktail dreamed up by the two finest cosmonauts of improvised music in Catalonia. They are wind instrument artist Gorka Benitez and percussionist David Xirgu, and the quote in question is: “I want to go back to Mars again”. Spontaneous, fresh, bold, shared and uninhibited. The secret lies in the complicity between these musicians, who were fed on the same jazz
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bottle and took their first steps and first flight together. That’s why when they step into the spaceship, together with the chef Estefan Lismond and the visionaries Gorka Reino and Guillermo Trujillano, the feeling of catharsis is overwhelming. They have also expressed their dislike for grandiloquent words and overused expressions, but that does not stop this album from being classed as one of the crown jewels or, better still, as a star of the republic. â–
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jazz
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Ignasi Terraza — Sol-IT (Swit Records) Jazz
website listen video We have had to wait over two decades since the beginning of his career for a taste of Ignasi Terraza’s first solo album. The title itself, Sol-IT, is a play on words combining solo work with his initials to mimic the word “solid”, referring to the consistency that his piano language has gradually achieved. Among the many satisfying elements we can find in all 24 tracks of this extraordinary double album, one that cannot be denied is that his comprehensive outlook has broadened the musical perspective of an artist that goes beyond the style of swing from which he set off. His hands hold the secrets of jazz from all ages, allowing him to reproduce dozens of styles with a breath of new life, playing his own tunes and traditional pieces with a particular flair. ■
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jazz
Warmth, intimacy, calm and serenity are transmitted by Jordi Gaspar in his second work as lead artist; yet another element to add to the evocation stirred by his last record, AkixĂ (Juan Palomo, 2009). The main novelty of Gemini comes by moving away from his descriptive approach, where music is no longer the observer and goes on to become
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Jordi Gaspar / Jordi Bonell / Roger Blavia — Gemini (Quadrant Records) Jazz
website listen video the observed. In this sense, it is a personal journey diving deep into the musical translation of thoughts and feelings. As special guests, the album involved the participation of artists such as trumpet player Raynald Colom and singer Ferran Savall, who added the final strokes to a painting using shades of earth and air. â–
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La Brigada — Incerta glòria (The Indian Runners) Pop
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With their first two albums, entitled L’obligació de ser algú (The Duty to be Somebody; Outstanding Records, 2008) and Les paraules justes (The Right Words; Outstanding Records, 2010), La Brigada made it perfectly clear that their group is not the product of mere coincidence. Now, with Incerta glòria they have taken it one step further: here is an album that wants to be an album. A project designed with a melodious sound that is repeated over and over, and that begins and ends with twin songs. La Brigada has also maintained
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its original distinctive musical features: the crossing of acoustic guitars looking towards the border, and a precious pop attitude that gains strength in this album and has the power to evoke. And they are still inspired by wonderful material; by the echoes of the West Coast of North America produced by Phil Spector. Their sounds are bright and solemn, they are grave yet agile. The foundations of this album make Incerta glòria the perfect remedy for random formulas and snippets of music on the net. â–
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Martí Ventura Trio — Transicions
jazz
(Jazz Granollers) Jazz
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Martí Ventura is a professional pianist, a craftsman of the keys, who flows over ebony and ivory conveying over eighty years of tradition that have shaped his musical style; a classic and well-founded way of becoming imbued with the language of improvisation. When it comes to reflecting his mood, he has chosen the element of transition to
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express the passage of time and of emotions. Each track is introduced by one or more transitions as a manner of short epilogues from the previous piece that advertise what is to come. Thus, Ventura generates a sense of continuity that endeavours to captivate the listener in a single, non-stop session. â–
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MINE! — La fi del món (Música Global) Pop-rock
website listen video A record in the shape of a pop artefact from the apocalyptic era that combines ingredients which, from far away, have an antagonistic appearance: exuberance, melody and misty lyrics This is a work with slightly darker shades than previous records, in which Mine! lends nuance to their euphoric styles and part of the Brit-pop heritage, and buries their repertoire in a low mist that restrains their tendency towards vehement twists. All in all, a work that is very much suited to our times, to this turbulent Zeitgeist that alters moods and vital thoughts. ■
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Pau Vallvé — De bosc (Amniòtic Records) Singer-songwriter
website listen video If we thought that Pau Vallvé’s albums tended to have a film-like element, like an evasive soundtrack racing towards fantastical worlds and fleeing from prosaic reality, in his new work, De bosc, all this has suddenly become even more evident. Before us lies a meticulous refuge-album, an invitation to break away from everyday routine and from the constraints of destiny. This time, Vallvé does not merely transport us to a parallel universe, but invites us to reconsider our lives and to become whatever we want from now on. A welcoming, soothing placenta-album, yet one that is also a catalyst, a newly kindled flame. ■
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Quart Primera — Pel·lícules (Satélite K) Auteur Pop
website listen video Right here, right now, a new era begins for Quart Primera. The album is neither short nor simple, featuring some very intense tracks. Gone is the easily digestible pop-folk vibe of their first album, El món en un cafè (The world in a café) (Satélite K, 2010): their songs get better and better the more you hear them, fully engaging on a more emotional level. Singer Pere Jou is the face on the cover and the main character of this new era’s adventure. That is how this Barcelona group have presented their new album, where references to the film world are clear from the very first song, opening with fragments from Citizen Kane (1941). ■
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folk world music
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Ratafia — Olor de nou (Temps Record) Folk
website listen Olor de nou is the second album released by Ratafia, a peculiar trio playing popular Basque and Catalan music. Pere Romaní adds the secret touch of the trikitixa and the diatonic button accordion, Tolo García-Plata infuses elegance on the clarinet, and Víctor Pedrol provides the busking rhythm of the tambourine and the riq. The result: a malleable group as talented in a passacaglia as they are at folk dances or in concert. Thus, Olor de Nou contains tunes of their own composition such as “Gran Cercle a l’Agnès”, popular instrumental pieces of Basque and Catalan origin, and European folk dancing classics such as the “Hassapiko Nostalgique”, as well as tracks sung in Catalan and Basque. ■
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The Free Fall Band — Elephants Never Forget (BuenRitmo) Pop
website listen video Youth, good songs and a great performance. This is the positive outcome of a first album by a group which has managed, in a very short time, to find its place in the off sections of festivals such as Fira de Vila-seca, Faraday, Poparb or Jazzaldia in the Basque Country. Jan Bosch, Marc Salicrú, Miquel Coll and Xavier Armiñana have raised a pop monument:
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ten songs, superbly performed with recognisable melodies, natural sounds and great acoustics, in which we might acknowledge the talent of young and prodigious followers of Herman Dune, The Housemartins or Jonathan Richman. An album that is a true delight to the ears and contributes to strengthening the pop art scene in Catalonia. â–
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The New Raemon — Tinieblas, por fin (Marxophone) Singer-songwriter
website listen video With his fourth instalment as a solo artist, Ramón Rodríguez is taking firm steps towards electric sounds and away from acoustics (this is the eleventh step, if we count Madee, Ghouls’n’Ghosts and the trio he was in last year with two fellow musicians: Francisco Nixon and Ricardo Vicente). Coming out of the shadow of his last album, Libre asociación (BCore, 2011), he has adorned his new songs with figures that can’t help but enrich his discourse, without compromising his usual character and subtle irony. The fury of his lyrics, a well chosen collaboration with the voice of Maria Rodés, and tracks such as “Marathon Man”, “Galatea” or “Centinela” are the key to the success of this work by The New Reamon. ■
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