Tracks selected by Javier Blรกnquez (music journalist) in collaboration with Markets Development Department (ICEC). Text and foreword by Javier Blรกnquez.
Foreword Recent years have been particularly interesting in terms of the development of the electronic scene in Barcelona—and, therefore, in the rest of Catalonia—on account of two coincidental circumstances, once seen as the exception but now considered the rule. The first is that the network of labels and new producers has established closer and stronger relations than those that joined (or rather separated) them in the past. The shift in the publishing paradigm, which is now focused on small labels with limited means yet tremendous enthusiasm that work mainly in digital release, has led to a meeting of the minds. It has created a situation in which there is no longer competition, but rather colleagues devoted to the same cause. Without unity there is no hope of survival against a backdrop such as the current crisis, and social networking has yielded real networking—as evidenced by local festivals such as Cau d'Orella and MiRA, dedicated to strengthening ties. Moreover, new producers have joined the playing field, all young and virtually all of whom have been raised on digital usage, creating a vibrant music of undeniable quality, and better in quantity, technique and skill than that of their predecessors. It’s no wonder then that releases from Barcelona are appearing more and more as leading labels in Los Angeles, Hamburg and London. What some refer to as the ‘brain drain’ is, in fact, a simple sign of normality and of pride in the knowledge that our scene has a great deal to offer to the world.
Javier Blánquez
01
(5.17)
Balago L’etern retorn
Album: Darder Author: Roger Crespo Garriga www.foehnrecords.com/artistas-foehn/balago Balago have spent over a decade exploring the most emotional corners of ambient music, and in their fifth album to date, Darder, they seem to have reached a personal highpoint. In their misty pieces, melancholy and a feeling of solitude are blended with a few of the obsessions of this trio from La Garriga, such as artificial intelligence and time travel.
Record company and management Foehn Records Comte Borrell, 163 7è 4a E-08015 Barcelona Tel.: +34 619 424 882 www.foehnrecords.com Contact Marc Campillo marc@foehnrecords.com
Record company spa.RK Rambla Guipúscoa, 79 6è 1a E-08020 Barcelona Tel.: +34 619 184 138 www.sparkreleases.com Contact Sílvia Grumaches / Vicent Fibla mail@sparkreleases.com Management Marta Oliveras mom.elvivero@gmail.com http://momelvivero.org/
Photo: Barbara Gurvit
02
Bradien + Eduard Escofet Text (5.26) Album: Pols Author: Bradien + Eduard Escofet www.bradien.net/bnee Pols is a highly original album of which it is hard to remember any precedents since, perhaps, as long ago as the days of Pau Riba: it assembles the verses of the poet Eduard Escoffet, one of this century’s most innovative voices in Catalan lyrical poetry, on electronic bases from the Bradien trio, who play a kind of deconstructed and highly abstract pop. It works.
Xtrngr Together (3.44) Album: Together Author: Xtrngr http://xtrngr.tumblr.com Before releasing on Discontinu, a small platform that embodies something of the electronic spirit of Poblenou, Kenny PĂŠrez had been producing music here and there on labels from diverse places ranging from Lithuania and Ukraine to Canada. It was after moving to Barcelona, however, that he completed his debut album, a tribute to the more fluid and enveloping IDM marked by broken rhythms.
03 Record company Discontinu Records Barranc del Llop, 48 E-08750 Molins de Rei Tel.: +34 647 609 439 www.discontinurecords.com Contact Enric Masgrau discontinurecords@gmail.com Management Microclima Consell de Cent, 479 3r 2a E-08013 Barcelona Tel.: +34 656 944 514 www.micro-clima.com Contact Fernando Lagreca / Jordi Saludes fernando@micro-clima.com
04 Record company Permanent Vacation Welfenstrasse 82 81541 Munich (Germany) www.perm-vac.com Contact Tom Bioly tom.bioly@perm-vac.com Management Live in Dallas Muntaner, 217 5è 1a E-08036 Barcelona Tel.: +34 647 447 244 Contact Fernando Yáñez fernando@liveindallas.es
John Talabot Estiu (3.06) Album: Fin Author: John Talabot With Fin, his debut album on the German label Permanent Vacation, Oriol Riverola has become a hugely significant figure on the global electronic scene. This he did by reducing the textures of house to a kind of emotional sound that ranges from luminous to euphoric; although in the case of Estiu he also opts for a highly refined notion of sadness.
Headbirds Sharon Highlights (5.05) Album: Sharon Highlights Author: Daniel Guijarro http://elsegell.com/artistas/headbirds/es Primavera Sound has just launched its own label and has chosen as the first artist in its catalogue Headbirds, i.e. Dani Guijarro, a producer with a brief track record on platforms such as Tracy Records, a specialist in tech-house surround sound of bright textures, reminiscent of the traces of neon lights and shivers of a unforgettable night of partying tucked away in the memory.
05 Record company and management El Segell del Primavera Ram贸n Turr贸, 153 baixos E-08005 Barcelona Tel.: +34 933 010 090 http://elsegell.com/ Contact Carles Baena info@elsegell.com
Record company MofoHifi Records Ltd 33 Alexander Road, Aylesbury HP20 2NR Buckinghamshire (UK) Tel.: +44 129 643 4731 www.mofohifi.com Contact Hal Ritchtinson hal@mofohifi.com Management Middleground Bcn Pg. Maria Cristina, 36 E-08759 Vallirana Tel.: +34 696 581 677 www.middlegroundbcn.com Contact José Luis Sevillano sevi@middlegroundbcn.com
Photo: Sandra González
(3.28)
Alizzz Collapse
06
Album: Collapse EP Author: Cristian Quirante Catalán (Alizzz) www.soundcloud.com/alizzz www.facebook.com/pages/Alizzz/201912586571866?fref=ts
Cristian Quirante is our answer to those Scottish beatmakers such as Rustie and Hudson Mohawke who have once again come up with the colourful, lively and sexy funk sound of the eighties, although now with an ultramodern and futuristic twist. The best introduction to him is his EP Collapse, on the London MofoHiFi label, which is starting to give him quite a good reputation internationally.
Photo: Jordi Castells
Lasers As You Want (3.05) Album: Exchange Levels Author: Lasers www.lasersmusic.com On their first album, Lasers were seeking a kind of cosmic sound for pop. On the second, Exchange Levels, pop no longer matters and the band’s interest is focused on good slow, balanced house with flashes of passion and hedonism (without neglecting melody), the kinds of aromas that announce and celebrate the arrival of summer.
07 Record company Irregular Alexander Bell, 24 3è 5a E-08224 Terrassa Tel.: +34 687 930 416 www.irregularlabel.com Contact Bruno Garca bruno@miracle-miracle.com Management Miracle Management Alexander Bell, 24 3è 5a E-08224 Terrassa Tel.: +34 605 515 765 www.miraclemgmt.com Contact Pierre pierre@miracle-miracle.com
Sistema 1976
08 Record company Natura Sonoris naturasonoris.bigcartel.com Contact Henry Saiz henry@naturasonoris.com Management Manel Ruiz manel@area3.net
(6.17) Album: Possible Sounds of Möbius Author: Sistema www.6tma.net Manel Ruiz has taken years to release his first album—after his EPs, remixes and sessions became legendary in underground Barcelona—and the final result has risen to expectations and confirmed that he is as a master of intelligent techno with baroque construction, rich in irregular beats and mischievous arpeggios.
(4.03)
Photo: Inma Varandela
bRUNA Ever After Album: Thence Author: bRUNA www.bruna.cat
Thence, the second album by Carles Guajardo, is a celebration of childhood, the years of sentimental education and the happiness that arise in discovering new and fascinating worlds. In his case, it is electronic music, and in his devout synth-pop miniatures he re-imagines house and eighties-style Italo disco with a masterful way of cutting and pasting samples.
09 Record company and management spa.RK Rambla Guipúscoa, 79 6è 1a E-08020 Barcelona Tel.: +34 619 184 138 www.sparkreleases.com Contact Sílvia Grumaches / Vicent Fibla mail@sparkreleases.com
10 Record company Irregular Alexander Bell, 24 3è 5a E-08224 Terrassa Tel.: +34 687 930 416 www.irregularlabel.com Contact Bruno Garca bruno@miracle-miracle.com Management Miracle Management Alexander Bell, 24 3è 5a E-08224 Terrassa Tel.: +34 605 515 765 www.miraclemgmt.com Contact Jaume Pagès jaume@miracle-miracle.com
The Suicide of Western Culture Love Your Friends, Hate Politicians
(4.29)
Album: Hope Only Brings Pain Author: The Suicide of Western Culture www.thesuicideofwesternculture.com The Suicide of Western Culture, collectors of scrap equipment—which they fix themselves to get hold of vintage, low-cost gear—and fans of orgies of turbulent sound, are a version from the towns of Rubí and Terrassa of British and American groups that combine the rhythmic force of techno with nebular spatial noise. Music for dancing and floating.
Coyu Flus Flus (Outro) (3.49) Album: Fabula EP (LC: 18711) Author: Ivan Ramos Salinas (Coyu) ISRC: DEDL81300362 www.facebook.com/CoyuMusic Coyu (aka DJ and producer Ivan Ramos) has used his label Suara and worked with Edu Imbernon to establish himself as one of Barcelona’s most active artists on the international scene. He seeks a tech-house assortment from an elegant palette of sounds and those pleasant sensations that work so well at Ibiza after-parties. The Summer Man.
11 Record company Systematic Recordings www.systematic-recordings.com Contact Marc Romboy info@systematic-recordings.com Management Miracle Management Pallars, 147, 2n (Espai Taronja) E-08018 Barcelona Tel.: +34 687 930 416 www.miraclemgmt.com Contact Jaume Pagès jaume@miracle-miracle.com
12 Record company and management Subterfuge Records Almirante, 30, 1ยบ dcha. E-28004 Madrid Tel.: +34 917 000 036 www.subterfuge.com Contact Gema del Valle gemma@subterfuge.com
beGun San Francisco (5.24) Album: San Francisco Author: Gonzalo Hernanz Moreno https://soundcloud.com/begun In early 2013, Gunsal Moreno released for the Madrid label Subterfuge his first maxi single in his new artistic adventure, beGun, a project of house-pop with silky arrangements and pleasant vocal samples. The EP in question is entitled San Francisco and sounds as free and sunny as the city it refers to.
M So ar lv c P e iñ et o co l ag ul a (5.49) Album: Hivern Jacking Tapes Vol.1 Author: Marc Piñol After many years devoted exclusively to deejaying, mostly in the booth of club Nitsa, Marc Piñol recently branched out into production. As yet, he has not produced a lot—and virtually all his work are vinyl limited editions on the Hivern label—but he has a defined style of retro house with something of a penchant for acid.
13 Record company Hivern Discs Travessera de Gràcia, 123, 1er 1a E-08012 Barcelona http://hiverndiscsgoodies. bigcartel.com Contact Franc Sayol hiverndiscs@gmail.com
14 Record company Classicworks NeptĂş, 18-20 2n 1a E-08006 Barcelona Tel.: +34 670 043 255 www.classicworksrecords.com Contact Nehuen Mac Allister / Luis Garban info@classicworksrecords.com Management Middleground Bcn Pere IV, 135 baixos esquerra E-08017 Barcelona Tel.: +34 696 581 677 (Sevi) / +34 600 044 482 (Dani) www.middlegroundbcn.com Contact Sevi / Dani booking@middlegroundbcn.com sevi@middlegroundbcn.com
(5.11)
Nehuen Bad Automation
Album: Cardopusher / Nehuen - Split01 (CWS001) Author: Nehuen www.soundcloud.com/nehuen Classicworks is one of the season’s surprise labels. It was founded by Nehuen and Cardopusher, two efficient DJs with a track record in genres such as dubstep and jungle who nonetheless felt the need to branch out into sounds different from those that had hitherto filled their cases. Nehuen is therefore trying (successfully) his luck with the crudest acid house.
Photo: Noemí Elías
JMII Fiesta Música (6.55) Album: Nueva York EP Author: JMII www.soundcloud.com/JMII
Jami Bassols is a member of Aster, a duo fascinated by the most space and psychedelic branch of American techno. Since moving to Berlin, however, he has worked solo as JMII and tried a more house-type (though equally classic) sound which has prompted great interest from one of the hottest labels in this field: 100% Silk, based in Los Angeles.
15 Record company 100% Silk 6046 Roy St. CA 90042 Los Angeles (USA) www.listentosilk.com Contact Amanda Brown listentosilk@gmail.com Management Live in Dallas Muntaner, 217, 5è 1a E-08036 Barcelona Tel.: +34 647 447 244 Contact Fernando Yáñez fernando@liveindallas.com
16 Record company and management Neonized Records Josep Floresví Garreta, 7 4t 2a E-43005 Tarragona Tel.: +34 699 504 678 http://neonized.net http://facebook.com/nnzdrcrds Contact Gonzalo Esteban gonzo@neonized.net
We Like Turtles feat. Arufe Kings of Hip House (4.20) Album: Kings of Hip House EP Author: We Like Turtles, Arufe www.facebook.com/we.like.turtles.music www.facebook.com/FernandoFreshco There is an underground cult for certain retro sounds on the local scene—beginning with DJ Kigo’s Espanish Boogie mixtapes—, and on the same direction work the duo We Like Turtles, who don cap and sweatshirt and enthusiastically recover the hip-house sound that prevailed throughout Europe from 1989 to 1992. Arufe, a humorous MC and true prince of the genre in Spain, also features.
Evol Proper Headshrinker 10 (3.00) Album: Proper Headshrinker Author: Stephen Sharp & Roc Jiménez de Cisneros http://vivapunani.org Evol is the most daring, radical proponent of Barcelona experimental underground and, in their new album for the Austrian label Editions Mego, they are again working with a sole idea: a digital synthesis of rave sounds—ranging from techno beats to horn noises at times of peak euphoria— which they turn into insistent loops and evil drones capable of damaging even the most hardened ear.
17 Record company Editions Mego http://editionsmego.com/ Contact Peter Rehberg pr@editionsmego.com Management Roc Jiménez de Cisneros Torrent de les Flors, 71 2n 1a E-08024 Barcelona Tel.: +34 932 132 537 http://vivapunani.org rocjcb@gmail.com
Catalan! Music is the label created by the Catalan Institute for the Cultural Companies to identify and disseminate the work of musicians and artists from Catalonia, as well as that of the music industry that supports them: labels, managers, bookers and festivals, among others. The site www.catalanarts.cat reflects all the actions developed by Catalan! Music to favour the international promotion of Catalan music. These actions include the coordination of the Catalan presence in international fairs and festivals, the support to professional networks both in Catalonia and abroad, consultancy services and the creation of promotional and marketing tools –such as this CD, that aims to collect some of the latest and most interesting contributions made by Catalan musicians to the electronic music scene. + info: www.catalanarts.cat
ICEC Barcelona Passatge de la Banca, 1-3 E-08002 Barcelona Tel.: +34 933 162 770 internacional.icec@gencat.cat
ICEC London 107 - 111, Fleet Street UK-London EC4A 2AB Tel.: +44 20 79 36 90 26 london.icec@gencat.cat
ICEC Berlin Charlottenstr. 18 D-10117 Berlin Tel.: +49 30 551 95 40 berlin.icec@t-online.de
ICEC Paris 3, rue la Boétie F-75008 París Tel.: +33 1 43 25 04 35 icec.paris@sfr.fr
ICEC Bruxelles / Brussel Delegació del Govern de Catalunya davant de la UE 227, Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat B-1040 Bruxelles / Brussel Tel.: +32 2 230 72 21 brussels.icec@gencat.be
1. Balago: L’etern retorn (5.17) 2. Bradien + Eduard Escoffet: Text (5.26) 3. Xtrngr: Together (3.44) 4. John Talabot: Estiu (3.06) 5. Headbirds: Sharon Highlights (5.05) 6. Alizzz: Collapse (3.28) 7. Lasers: As You Want (3.05) 8. Sistema: 1976 (6.17) 9. bRUNA: Ever After (4.03) 10. The Suicide of Western Culture: Love Your Friends, Hate Politicians (4.29) 11. Coyu: Flus Flus (Outro) (3.49) 12. beGun: San Francisco (5.24) 13. Marc Piñol: Solve et coagula (5.49) 14. Nehuen: Bad Automation (5.11) 15. JMII: Fiesta Música (6.55) 16. We Like Turtles feat. Arufe: Kings of Hip House (4.20) 17. Evol: Proper Headshrinker 10 (3.00) Promotional product. Not for sale. D.L.: B.14584-2013 / Artwork: Hamo Studio / www.hamo.es