RiotGrrrl Day Playlist!

Today is the RiotGrrrl Day! Why the 9th of April? Because last year, the Major of Boston, Mark Walsh, honored and recognized the great Kathleen Hanna's works towards music and feminism, with the idea to promote riot grrrl culture in his own city. A much welcomed celebration we obviously couldn't miss. So, in order to celebrate, we have created a playlist with female bands from the last four decades. The idea is try to bring you a diverse and significant, in terms of riotgrrrl/feminist movement (knowing it's impossible to include all of them of course, share your favourites with us!). A fantastic excuse to enjoy and celebrate much loved music played, sung and written by women! Girls to the front!

Discoverer 95: new indie findings

Back with our new music proposals series. Several amazing bands awaiting to be discovered for you, here's the flamboyant trio of the week!

Beverly. Based in Brooklyn, Beverly is a duo formed by hyper-active indie musician Frankie Rose, former member of Dum Dum Girls, Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls, and Drew Citron, formerly in Ava Luna. Together since 2013, they finished their debut album in early 2014, with the irresistible first single 'Honey Do' happily collapsing our ears since February. Now, since past week we can enjoy the full album 'Careers', out on Kanine Records. The 60s married with the 90s, sweet female vocals wrapped in a dreamy pop haze with occasional bursts of electricity and fuzzy feedback placed on the background. Pleasant and solid in equal measure, the 'Careers' of Beverly promises to be an utterly joyous ride!

Cozy Catastrophes. Hailing from Bloomington, Indiana, Greg Adams ran the independent reissue record label Beehive Rebellion Records before writing over 1.000 album reviews and artist bios (!) for the All-Music Guide, plus hosting a thematic oldies radio program. What was left in his music agenda then? Starting his solo recording project, which he did last year, releasing debut album 'An Instructive Amusement' in August 2013. Now, thanks to our dear friends from February Records, Adams is back with a new EP, 'Way Last June', out now (there's an ultra-limited cassette too if you prefer, hurry!). Smart, warm and slightly somber bedroom-pop full of delicious melodic hooks and a subtle use of instruments like Casios, glockenspiels. An intimate pleasure!

Blessa. Although Liv Neller and Alex Burton started creating music before in Suffolk, as a quintet format, alongside with Jake Murray and brothers Robert and Andy Piercy, they only started making music together when most of them graduated at Sheffield's University in July 2013. After a few songs available online, in November arrived their debut 7" single 'Between Times / Bloom' on No-Self Records. The buzz start spreading and, finally, here's their follow-up in the form of EP 'Love is an Evol Word' out next week on Carmel Records / Generator. Dreamy pop fronted by Neller's killer vocals, here's The XX colliding with Fear of Men, electronic hints sharing melodies with jangly guitars... It might be an evol word, but you can't help falling in love with a band like them. Instant crush.

Primavera Sound 2014 in brief, day 5

And the last chapter of this Primavera Sound 2014's series is here. A sunny day at the Parc de la Ciutadella...

The Good

Our soft spot: Renaldo & Clara
Photo: Bloodbuzzed 

Four more bands: For free, under sunny and clear skies, in a relaxed way despite massification (which also means noise) at Parc de la Ciutadella. Seeing my dear Renaldo & Clara (want them in a more intimate venue soon please) playing some tunes of their superb new album, Hospitality for the second time, Mark Eitzel and Dum Dum Girls, who offered a very nice show again, in such a unique scenario is quite a thing to experience. A great way to end this Festival's edition after the exhausting (we were really on our physical limits on Sunday afternoon) central days at Fòrum, don't you think?

Sunny Hospitality. Photo: Bloodbuzzed 

The Bad

Massification: Coincidence or bad planning? Pretty sure wasn't the fault of the organisation, but the fact there was something else going on at the Parc (involving hundreds, thousands, zillions of kids, you can all get terrified now) almost collapsed the place. By the time Dum Dum Girls closed the gigs, it was extremely hard to just walk by.
Angel Olsen: We were so exhausted we couldn't find the strength to watch her at BARTS on Sunday night. Deeply sorry for that, please come back soon to Barcelona!

The Queen

Words & Music: Mark Eitzel
Photo: Bloodbuzed

The Mark Eitzel Ordeal: Long-time pending on my agenda, I finally can say I saw Mr. Eitzel, which exceeded my expectations. Romantic, passionate and intense, bursting with every single word he delivered. I know this might be read as a cliche or a naive comment, but you know when an artist sounds true to your ears? Eitzel looked to me like a musician from another time, meaning that in a positive way. Without cynicism, without caring about aesthetics. Just melodies, words and heart. Only one thing to regret, the show was too short.

Links to every briefing on the Primavera Sound 2014:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

Primavera Sound 2014 in brief, day 4

And following the previous three posts, the last "big day" at the Forum, Saturday 31st at Primavera Sound 2014. A day where expectations weren't that high but ended being the most complete...

The Good

Great Old School punk
Photo: Bloodbuzzed 

The Buzzcocks: There were no bands that interested us much between 22:00 and 24:00, so we decided early on to try grabbing tickets for the Heineken Hidden Stage. And what a great idea it proved to be. Agreed, sound was quite awful, but what a fun and engaging show the punk-rock veterans put at PS. Quite something to see Pete Shelley and the relentless Steve Diggley giving all they had. 45 minutes of no quarter and undeniable hits, including 'What Do I Get', 'Harmony in My Head' & 'Ever Fallen In Love With Someone (You Shouldn’t’ve Fallen In Love With?)'. Fun, fun, fun.
Dum Dum Girls: Took them a little while to ignite, but they ended offering us a great gig. Still undecided on the looks (I think it distracts many people from the music, which to me is sad), but tunes like 'Rimbaud Eyes', 'I Got Nothing', and the heartfelt finale with 'Coming Down' are reasons enough to convince the blind, the deaf and the dumb...

Dressed to kill: Dum Dum Girls
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Primavera style: If there's one thing that makes this Festival rank among the best music experiences one can have is the fact you can spend a day (and not the most demanding one) seeing at least half a dozen interesting bands. This 2014's edition seemed a bit disappointing in that sense... until Saturday arrived. Our schedule was: La Sera-Univers (half gig)-Courtney Barnett-Dum Dum Girls-Hospitality-Buzzcocks-Helen Love. Not bad at all.

The Bad

Pitchfork-Vice sound: Quite simple, both stages have to improve in terms of sound quality. Also, something has to be done in order simultaneous gigs doesn't come together, which can be extremely annoying. Hip-hop while Hospitality plays? No way.
Little improvable things: Highly secondary but after several editions I still find Flatstock quite disappointing & expensive if you are not interested in a particular range of musics (Queens of the Stone Age style). Also the system to gave the Hidden Stage tickets could have been better, so there's no need for pretty ridiculous queues.

Melbourne's finest
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

The Queen

Courtney Barnett: I was sure her gig was going to be good, but that AMAZINGLY GOOD? Folk acquiring muscle, rock getting wit, impeccably executed tunes but flowing with dynamism and graceful spontaneity, like the natural, unforced charisma Barnett's has. Talent arousing, spilling over Pitchfork's stage. Do yourself a favour and go listen/watch the Aussie live if you can, you'll thank me!

And the final chapter, comprising the last day at Ciutadella Parc plus a brief summary arriving tomorrow!

Primavera Sound 2014: Timetables, 1rst attempt

PS14: the clashes' nightmare begins...

Here it is, the timetables for the Primavera Sound 2014 are unveiled... Still pending on some additional things, like Primavera als Parcs' schedule or the remaining small stages, but for the first attempt, this is what my PS 2014 looks like:

Wednesday, May 28th, La [2] Apolo
20:30 Aries 
21.30 Beach Beach 
22.30 Me and the Bees
Zero doubts here. Not very interested on Wednesday bands at Parc del Fòrum and La Castanya's showcase looks so exciting this is a no brainer. Me and the Bees presenting their new record! Can't wait...

Thursday, May 29th, Parc del Fòrum
17:45 Grupo de Expertos Solynieve (Sony)
18:40 Real Estate (Heineken)
19:35 Midlake (Sony)*
20:40 Warpaint (Heineken)
21:50 St. Vincent (Sony)
23:00 Queens of the Stone Age (Heineken) 
00:30 Arcade Fire (Sony)
If the schedules fit and there's time enough to move from Sony to Heineken and viceversa stages this should be an amazing day... Fingers crossed!

Friday, May 30th, Parc del Fòrum
19:25 Jenny Lewis (Sony)
20:40 Dr. John and The Nite Trippers (Ray-Ban)*
21:40 Slowdive (Sony) 
22:50 The Julie Ruin (Ray-Ban)
00:20 The National (Sony)
Terrible what a dramatic day it's going to be: Slowdive versus Sharon Van Etten? No Pixies? No War on Drugs? No Lee Ranaldo? That's criminal and, sorry to say, I believe the organisation could have done better, it's pretty strange to me not to think many of the public interested in one of the aforementioned won't like to watch any of the other names... so why are they playing at almost the same times?

Saturday, May 31th, Parc del Fòrum
17:20 La Sera (Vice)
18:45 Courtney Barnett (Pitchfork))
20:00 Dum Dum Girls (Pitchfork)
20:50 Hospitality (Vice)
21:50 Volcano Choir (Sony)
01:05 Helen Love (Vice)
02:10 Foals (Heineken)
Not as terrible as Friday but quite disappointing again. At this point I'm sacrificing Television because I'm not going to leave Courtney Barnett's show and don't want to miss Hospitality's... and after that gig... we'll see... Like last year's edition, maybe I'll be back home pretty early.

Sunday, June 1rst, BARTS
19:40 Joana Serrat
20:45 Grouper
21:50 Juana Molina
23:00 Angel Olsen
Another no-brainer, really looking forward to see Angel Olsen live, and I'm curious about a couple of names on BARTS' agenda so not much to discuss here...

Sure it won't be the final schedule!

*Incomplete (depending on the distances between stages)

Primavera Sound 2014: first impressions

And the DAY arrived, the Primavera Sound 2014 unveiled its line-up yesterday night. The movie was so-so imo (too short to make their story appealing) and the theatre was too full of hipster/posers only worried to identify the band names that made it hard to follow, but anyway, that's understandable. PS organisers offered quite a night (for free) to guests, so many thanks in that sense. 

But let’s go to key question. The #BestLineUpEver? No way. But it's a very interesting, diverse, and with a lot of potential line-up. Except Friday (The National & Slowdive, oh yes, oh yes), it’s the year I’m more disinterested with headliners. As a matter of fact, Thursday’s big names are ok for me, Friday are excellent, and Saturday are… annoying. It’s also worrying bands/hypes like Disclosure, Volcano Choir or Haim are so high in the line-up instead of groups like Midlake, Real Estate, Dum Dum Girls. So more than ever, I’ll happily focus on the "middle & lower class" of the line-up, where names like The Julie Ruin, Hospitality, Courtney Barnett or my dear Sharon Van Etten appear. Crossing my fingers overlaps have mercy this edition. They are going to make the difference between an ok Festival or an unforgettable one.

When timetables are confirmed, I'll add our plan for Wednesday and Sunday, but right now for SURE I'm going to La Castanya showcase (Me and the Bees!) and Primavera als Parcs, which looks stunning! But right now, here's how my (our) Primavera Sound 2014 looks like...

Green- Definetely seeing them. Absolute must
Yellow- If there are no overlaps (in particular with the green ones), I'll be there for sure
Orange- Curious about it/"on research mode"

Amoeba, music lover's paradise

Amoeba's logo. Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Now that I've been able to post the pictures of our trip to Southern California it's also time to unveil our several visits to another must-see on L.A.: the Amoeba store. What an incredible place!Who cares about walk of fame's, Hollywood stars, chaotic cities and traffic jams where there's such a paradise awaiting for you?

Heaven, I'm in heaven...
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

So, it's time for a question I always wanted to solve.
What's in my bag?

My bag, "deconstructed"
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

To begin with:
Sleater-Kinney- Dig Me Out & One Beat
Seapony- Falling
Adam Green- Friends of Mine
Dum Dum Girls- End of Daze EP

On happy collector's mode
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Ex Cops- True Hallucinations
Rose Melberg- Portola
Fanfarlo- Rooms Filled with Light

Plus three collector's gems from personal favourites:
R.E.M. - Up and New Adventures In Hi-Fi special editions
The Divine Comedy- A Secret Story special edition

Discoverer 52: new indie findings

Back with our regular dose of new proposals, enjoy!

Born Ruffians. We begin our discoveries with this Canadian band from Midland, Ontario, but based in Toronto since 2004, when after some local gigs they signed to the UK electronic label Warp Records. Their self-titled debut EP came in 2006, followed by the successful single "Hummingbird", in anticipation of the LP, Red, Yellow & Blue. The second album, "Say It", arrived in 2010. Now they have announced their comeback with "With Her Shadow" and "Needle" both included on the forthcoming album "Birthmarks" out in April. Quirky, joyful and smoothly anthemic indierock. Very special.

Pins. We move to Manchester, UK to meet an all-female quartet with  a very short story behind them, as they've only been a full band since summer 2012. A double A-side, "Eleventh Hour/Shoot You" and the live EP "LuvU4Lyf" are the only releases so far, but are more than enough to get us excited. Like the missing link between Warpaint (these tribal cymbals) and the Dum Dum Girls, this is hyper addictive indierock with one foot on the C-86 style and the other on Phil Spector and the "droning 70s". Irresistible combination of fuzz, echoes, reverbs and pop melodies. Band to watch.

Khushi. Our third proposal comes thanks to the good indiespot website, who at the beginning of the week discovered this mysterious artist/band. After tracing the few information available thanks to social networks, it seems that behind Khushi (which means happiness in Hindi) there's an unsigned guy from Hackney, London with four spectacular tunes on his soundcloud. As indiespot says, you can hear the echoes of Bon Iver, The National, Local Natives or The Antlers. Impressive references for this amazing little collection of slow burning songs, full of intensity, delicacy and fire that captures real emotion. Judge yourself and let's expect for more.

Best EPs of the Year 2012

After the books and concerts, is time to review 2012 in music releases. It's been a year full of wonderful EPs (only EPs, no singles, 3 to 5 songs), so they deserved a list of their own. Needless to say, this is a very personal list (comments on each band clicking on their links). Hope you enjoy it!

15. The Stammer- The Stammer 
14. Shy Little Jane Presents: The Dramatic Tale of Her Animals- Jane Joyd
13. The Belljars- The Belljars 
12. Baffin Island- Baffin Island 
11. Pale Lights- Pale Lights 
10. We Hunt- All We Are 
9. The Fake Stories About You & Me- Pale Sunday 
8. StarTropics- StarTropics 
7. Pure Bathing Culture- Pure Bathing Culture 
6. Young Romance- Young Romance
5. Ununiversalizable Us- The Very Most
4. The Distractions- Rose Elinor Dougall
3. Time Relentless- The Hermit Crabs
2. No Sleep- Fountains
1. End of Daze- Dum Dum Girls
 
The "Records List" coming shortly!

"End of Daze", Dum Dum Girls at their best

End of Daze EP

On "Mine Tonight", our beloved Dum Dum Girls needs a little more than a minute before showing "the hand" the tune has: all aces. An epic, inner fire that bursts alongside with the desperate and deeper lyrics about loss, loneliness and being lost, without missing their trademark sounding, but reinvigorated and enriched. Its a mesmerizing opener for "End of Daze", an EP that only has winning cards, and a perfect summary of what easily ranks among the best of their career so far.

The driving and irresistibly catchy melodic guitar pop that devotes so much to their garage origins is still there, in particular on "I Got Nothing", but even in that tune, Dum Dum Girls sound "heavier" than ever. Not in the sense of having moved to hard-rock (thanks God), but into adding much more depth on each song. It's on Dee Dee's voice, on the guitars sonic palette, and the emotions each composition reaches.

Third song "Tress and Flowers", a cover of Scottish duo's Strawberry Switchblade is another fine example of these Dum Dum Girls 2.0. An aching and echoing ballad, its strikingly powerful and allows Dee reaching a new climax of emotion with her voice. An coupled with "Lord Knows", which is even better, a slow burning juggernaut in which everything, voice (these fading backing vocals), vibe, guitars, drums, lyrics, has "classic" written all over, proves the band is probably at their peak as musicians. When the combination of simplicity and conviction produce such irresistible results, its undeniable: you have it.

After such a pair of shocking tunes, "Season in Hell" might sound like a more predictable number, but this first judgement quickly turns to be wrong. Again the echoes and the recognisable beat characteristic of the band, but also the new post-punk pulse, the slight riff distortion and the impressive chorus line "Doesn't dawn look divine?", propels the tune into a new direction, closing the EP on a refreshing, extremely satisfying note.  

Not even 20 minutes of stunning indie pop-rock. "End of Daze" is absolutely unmissable. The Dum Dum Girls at their best.

SCORE: 8,25/10

My People's List: Best Albums 1996-2011

Pitchfork is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a participative proposal: a top albums' list, from 1996 to 2011, but made by us. It has been a really really hard & challenging (therefore interesting) thing to do, so here's Bloodbuzzed's contribution. See you all next week (off for holidays until Sunday!!).

1

TOP PICK

High Violet

The National

• 
  

  2

  Boxer

  The National
• 
  

  3

  If You're Feeling Sinister

  Belle And Sebastian

4. Trailer Park- Beth Orton
5. The Bright Carvings- Monkey Swallows the Universe
6. The Back Room- Editors
7. Alligator- The National
8. Let England Shake- PJ Harvey
9. You Are Free- Cat Power
10. OK Computer- Radiohead

11. This Has Been the Death Of Us- Saint Judes Infirmary 

12. Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea- PJ Harvey
13. The Last Broadcast- Doves
14. Central Reservation- Beth Orton
15. Antics- Interpol
16. Teen Dream- Beach House
17. All That You Can't Leave Behind- U2
18. Reservoir- Fanfarlo
19. While You Were Sleeping- Angelou
20. In Colour- The Concretes
21. What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood- The Mynabirds
22. Turn On the Bright Lights- Interpol
23. Underachievers Please Try Harder- Camera Obscura
24. Hopeless Unbeliever- The School
25. It's Never Been Like That- Phoenix
26. The Suburbs- Arcade Fire
27. Happy Healthy Lucky Month- Saint Judes Infirmary
28. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart- The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
29. A Rush of Blood to the Head- Coldplay
30. Lost Souls- Doves
31. An End Has a Start- Editors
32. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix- Phoenix

33. This Is Hardcore - Pulp
34. The Seldom Seen Kid- Elbow
35. Transatlanticism- Death Cab for Cutie
36. Deserter's Songs- Mercury Rev
37. No Shouts, No Calls- Electrelane
38. Suck It and See- Arctic Monkeys
39. Show Your Bones- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

40. Coming Up- Suede
41. Days- Real Estate
42. Collapse Into Now- R.E.M.
43. Heart of My Own- Basia Bulat
44. Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi- Camera Obscura
45. 1972- Josh Rouse
46. To Be Still- Alela Diane
47. Grab That Gun- The Organ
48. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not- Arctic Monkeys
49. Befriended- The Innocence Mission
50. Submarine OST- Alex Turner
51. Funeral- Arcade Fire
52. Nashville- Josh Rouse
53. Motherland- Natalie Merchant
54. Cast of Thousands- Elbow
55. Up- R.E.M.
56. Seven Swans- Sufjan Stevens
57. Lisbon- The Walkmen
58. Holiday in Rhode Island- The Softies
59. Veronica Falls- Veronica Falls
60. Volume Two- She & Him
61. Reveal- R.E.M.
62. Daybreaker- Beth Orton
63. Songs About You- Language of Flowers
64. Loss- Mull Historical Society
65. The King Is Dead- The Decemberists
66. Scottish Fiction: The Best of Idlewild, 1997-2007- Idlewild
67. Blue Is the Colour- The Beautiful South
68. Dear Catastrophe Waitress- Belle and Sebastian
69. A Year With The Very Most- The Very Most
70. Fleet Foxes- Fleet Foxes
71. Say Yes!- The Hi-Life Companion
72. Different Stars- Trespassers William
73. Some Cities- Doves
74. It's Blitz!- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
75. Bang Goes the Knighthood- The Divine Comedy
76. Would You Let Me Play This EP 10 Times A Day?- Hello Saferide
77. Dirty Birds- Kat Flint
78. Broken Record Prayers- Comet Gain
79. The Casket Letters- Monkey Swallows the Universe
80. In and Out of Control- The Raveonettes
81. Meet the Eels: Essential Eels Vol. I- Eels
82. Gulag Orkestar- Beirut
83. I Will Be- Dum Dum Girls
84. Wild Flag- Wild Flag
85. A Temporary Dive- Ane Brun
86. Saltbreakers- Laura Veirs
87. Volume One- She & Him
88. Our Earthly Pleasures- Maximo Park
89. Night On My Side- Gemma Hayes
90. Pretty in Black- The Raveonettes
91. Ongiara- Great Lake Swimmers
92. Neptune- The Duke Spirit
93. Challengers- The New Pornographers
94. The Crane Wife- The Decemberists
95. Oh, My Darling- Basia Bulat
96. The Fool- Warpaint
97. I Am Kloot- I Am Kloot
98. Absent Friends- The Divine Comedy
99. OH (ohio)- Lambchop
100. Criminal Art Lovers- Northern Portrait

Check the full list, with all the Pitchfork's visuals/format at http://peopleslist.pitchfork.com/list/372a3a41/

And have your say!!

The Love Anniversary Playlist

Today is a very special day, me and my girlfriend are celebrating our second anniversary together. So I hope you allow us this playlist, largely discussed and analysed, that is a compendium of the 24 songs/bands (one for each month being together) that have been/are important in our relationship. Needless to say, it is a extremely personal playlist, listed in some sort of chronological order regarding our relation, with a few of my favourites, few of hers, and many others that can't only be understood for us. But anyway, is the nicest excuse to put some music on!!

1. Editors - Munich
2. The Strokes - Someday
3. Kaiser Chiefs - Never Miss a Beat
4. Franz Ferdinand - Michael
5. Nirvana - The Man Who Sold the World
6. R. E. M. - You Are The Everything
7. The Divine Comedy - I Like 
If we had to choose just one band/artist as "Our" soundtrack, it would be him, so Neil, be "warned" that at the November gig in Barcelona you'll have two ardent fans on the front rows 
8. Basia Bulat - Heart of My Own 
First gig together
9.  Eels - Hey Man (Now You're Really Living) 
10. The Decemberists - Don't Carry It All
11. Beirut - Nantes
12. Arctic Monkeys - She's Thunderstorms
13. Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait
14. Russian Red - The Sun The Trees
15. The Bright - Your Private Garden 
Most followed band together, so far
16. Kings of Leon - Talihina Sky
17. Miles Kane - Come Closer
18. The Vaccines - If You Wanna
19. Dum Dum Girls - Bedroom Eyes
20. Manos de Topo - Animal de Compañía 
Like them, we have a particular sense of humour
21. Ramones - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
22. Wild Flag - Romance 
23. The Walkmen - Song for Leigh
24. Cat Power - Sea of Love 
Perfect end of the playlist, don't you think?

Battling Sónar Festival 2012 with covers!

I'm trying to write a couple of posts but I'm blocked... mainly because outside our flat there's an (electronic) war: Sónar Festival 2012 has started... not even 100 mts from where we live. With our extra-thin walls and the hot weather that forces us to keep the windows open if we don't want to get sick, there's no other option: we have to fight (musically speaking of course).

So, thanks to the wonderful A.V. Undercover Episodes we are enjoying some exciting, powerful, and extra-loud covers, so we don't have to hear the (almost exaggerating) annoying and neverending electronic beats (not a fan of that sort of music, but what really pisses me quite a bit is how they define themselves as an "advanced music Festival", but oh, well that's another story...). So, let's play some guitars and some "real" singing instead!


Dum Dum Girls cover Big Star: Lovely band playing one immortal song, from an immortal group I really have discovered thanks to Primavera Sound 2012.

The Walkmen cover R.E.M. The Walkmen cover R.E.M.: One of my favourite bands covering a gem of a song from "MY" R.E.M. No need to say anything else.


Sharon Van Etten and Shearwater cover “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” 
Sharon Van Etten covers Fine Young Cannibals Sharon Van Etten covers Fine Young Cannibals: Doble dose of the amazing Sharon, you can never have enough of her. The duet with Shearwater is stunning. So powerful.

Hospitality covers Steely Dan: One of the bands of the year so far doing wonders!
Basia Bulat covers Ted Leo & The Pharmacists: And Basia being Basia, just hear them sing.... Come back with new music, we miss you!

Dum Dum Girls in Barcelona: sound matters

Dum Dum Girls (+ Arponera). La [2] de Apolo, Barcelona, April 5th
 

Dum Dum's style. Photo: Bloodbuzzed

I was really looking forward to see the Dum Dum Girls for the first time live. Their music is highly addictive and the chance of seeing them very close, as La [2] de Apolo is a small place, was also appealing. Pretty soon the venue revealed their pros and cons.

Before Dum Dum Girls took the stage, the support act Arponera tried to warm up the (pretty cold) night. But they couldn't. I'm pretty sorry to say it, but what was that? Someone should change that tendency of Spanish indie of lyrics that for the sake of being supposedly funny or odd makes the group relevant. There's only one Manos de Topo, and besides unusual lyrics and an eccentric lead singer, they have some (quite a lot, as a matter of fact) talent and tunes. Arponera doesn't have any of these two qualities yet, so their set was quite annoying.

Dee Dee in action
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Time for the Dum Dum Girls, finally. Yes, the first impression can't be better. Four attractive women playing guitars (and drums), all dressed for the occasion, with drinks and bottles strategically located. Pure rock'n'roll style, despite the bassist looking a bit lost (something that would continue during the whole gig). Guitars kicked in... but not the voice. Again, the "curse" of La [2] de Apolo, swallowing Dee Dee's voice. Once more on the first row. Once more incapable of hearing the lead singer. The first part of the gig, with "He Gets Me High", "Catholicked", "I Will Be", "Wasting Away" ruined by the sound. I don't know if this fact is the decision of the bands that play here or just a matter of a bad performance from sound engineers, but I have been at this venue dozens of times, have enjoyed fantastic concerts, but suffered as well some disappointing ones. 

More Dee Dee in BCN
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

With that femme fatale attitude there was little interaction with the audience, so the fear of being a wasted occasion was present. Luckily, things started to improve, after "Rest of Our Lives" and the lovely "Bedroom Eyes". Dee Dee, who turned to be a relentless frontwoman, battling against the (excessive) noise, was able to show, slowly, her vocal range. Hits "Bhang Bhang, I'm a Burnout" and "Jail La La" preceded the super-catchy "Always Looking". And the best was yet to come.

Gig's setlist.
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Because finally, sound "became" decent. It was Dee who asked the engineers to low down her guitar before starting a couple of songs, but the final tunes of the setlist sounded superb, showing the amazing mixture of these sharp guitars and noise backgrounds with their trademark effervescent pop melodies. "Heartbeat", "Hold Your Hand", before newbies "I Got Nothing" and "Lavender Haze", both excellent (next release sounds really promising with tunes like that), raised the level of the gig. "Sight of You", their Pale Saints' cover followed in a stunning performance. Afterwards, they left the stage for a very short while, returning with "Coming Down", Mazzy Star's close sister, and one of their best songs to date.

With that fantastic end, I left the venue with mixed emotions, half-frustrated, half-satisfied. This band rocks, we were able to hear it for a while, so this concert could (should) have been spectacular.