Spanish Indie 23: suggesting the best national acts

Another round of stunning national discoveries! A trio of wonders who are in love with synths and keyboards but also with a very open-minded concept of pop. Enojy!

Murciano Total. Hailing from Molina de Segura, Murcia (of course) this peculiar band began in 2012, almost as a joke, under the nickname Lena y Sema, but behind the project are José Lozano, former member of Automatics and Universal Circus and his partner Elena Molina. First demos, appeared on lyric-video format surfaced that same year, igniting the buzz and grabbing the attention of our dear friends at El Genio Equivocado, who quickly signed them. With diverse collaborators from bands like El Estudiante Larry, Perro, The Yellow Melodies, Alex de Klaus&Kinski and even Jota from Los Planetas, the duo compiled their work on the limited cassette 'Demos 2012-2013' in December 2013. After a two-hours sold out 7" on early 2014, now we can enjoy their first album, 'Quereres y Dejenes' out since February. Vintage synthesised pop, devoted to OMD or Gary Numan, but with a genuine knack for melodies and twisted lyrics, also recalling the hunt for the perfect pop tune that make Murciano Total closer to national legends like Family. Cult band on the making.

Espiritusanto. Hailing from Madrid and formed around 2010, the origins of this quintet, now sextet, have to be traced from the ashes of the band Portonovo, as two of their founding members were part of that melancholic, moody pop group. Their first reference (all the forthcoming releases are self-released and name your price download at their bandcamp) arrived in January 2012 with the digital EP 'Nadar a Crol', which includes a version of 'I Give You Two Seconds to Entertain Me' from the great Northern Portrait, followed that April by 'No Volvamos Aquí Nunca, No Será tan Divertido' EP. Two more EPs had been released to date. In May 2013, 'Femenino/Masculino' and, in February 2014, 'El Fondo del Aire es Rojo'. Their intricate, lush and ambitious view of pop place Espiritusanto on a unique position within the national scene. Male/female vocals, noise pop with a kraut envelope, sweet dreampop with hints of a darkness... A whole pop experience you shouldn't miss.

Antiguo Régimen. Coming from Valencia, this quartet formed at the end of 2011, although their sharp post-punk sound got defined around September 2012. On February 2013 they released their debut 7" single 'La Formación de la Sombra' on Burka For Everybody / Discodrome / Flexidiscos, followed in April 2014 by their first LP, 'Política de tierra quemada'. Like a flawless record found on a long-time forgotten vault of the post-punk 80s here's the chill, icy and desperate sound. Echoes of The Sound, The Chameleons, The Wake or, going back to Spain, Fasenuova, Nudozurdo or Décima Víctima. Menace and mystery.

The Bloodbuzzed Jukebox 40

These months are going to be full of music & concerts, so while we are working on our gig's calendar, we propose you a new round of our TOP TEN playlist! This week with awesome tunes marking the returns of Big Summer and Murciano Total, two great bands on El Genio Equivocado's roster, as well as Etti/Etta, Breakfast in Fur or Elstow, our weeky "portion" of new discoveries on this round. And remember, this is also available on our Blog's soundcloud page.

Direct links to the previous Jukebox weeks
Week 1 Week 8 Week 15  Week 22 Week 29 Week 36
Week 2 Week 9  Week 16  Week 23  Week 30   Week 37
Week 3 Week 10 Week 17  Week 24  Week 31  Week 38
Week 4 Week 11  Week 18   Week 25   Week 32   Week 39
Week 5 Week 12 Week 19   Week 26   Week 33
Week 6 Week 13 Week 20   Week 27   Week 34
Week 7  Week 14   Week 21   Week 28   Week 35

Primavera Sound 2014 in brief, day 3

And a new Primavera Sound 2014's chapter comes right away. Friday 30th was, on paper, our biggest day, but did it meet the expectations? Here's the answer...

The Good

Manic Matt at PS14
Photo: Bloodbuzzed

The National: 6th time seeing "my" band live and I'm still impressed. At PS (their second time at the Festival) they didn't have the best of sounds, as a matter of fact, Matt had issues with his mic all night, and I don't know if they consciously decided to go for the big stadium-Festival's overtly huge sound on some tunes, one that swallows the amount of subtleties (drumming, path changes, additional instrumentation) that make The National stand out from the rest. Having said that, their thunderous version is equally hard to match: 'Abel' was a real punk explosion with Matt going nuts, 'Squalor Victoria' and 'Sea of Love' where blistering, while 'Afraid of Everyone' and 'Conversation 16' where unstoppable beasts. But what makes The National incomparable is that, along with the strength comes the heartbreak, in the form of 'I Should Live In Salt', 'This Is The Last Time' and personal favourite 'About Today'. Need even more? Well, they brought to the stage Bon Iver's Justin Vernon to help with the climax of 'Slow Show', and later on the show, they invited Hamilton Leithauser and Paul Maroon from The Walkmen, paying tribute to them. Two of my favourite bands together? Hamilton singing 'Mr November' with Matt? The sound didn't do justice to the mind-blowing moment, and I had the feeling there was another song (maybe 'Vanderlyle'? just imagine Hamilton, Justin and even Sharon Van Etten singing it) that was left behind because of it. But anyway, another fantastic show from THE BAND...

The Bad

It pours over Bloodbuzzed
Photo: Bloodbuzed 

Rain: We enjoyed the show of Murciano Total under sunny skies, but we had to run for shelter after just three songs of John Grant's gig, which had started in the most promising way (have to check this man immediately).Then it poured for more than an hour, providing memorable (mean it in a depressing way) images of a food area completely collapsed by thousands of people looking for cover. The Forum is quite a nightmarish venue with bad weather.
Strange day indeed: The rain, being wet for too much time or moving throughout a swamped Fòrum, these are not the organisation faults. But that, combined with a frustrating timetable, having to decide between Sharon Van Etten and Slowdive, or Pixies and The War on Drugs, missing Hamilton Leithauser, Lee Ranaldo, The Twilight Sad... when there were several empty spots on the day (due to Jenny Lewis and The Julie Ruin's cancellations) made the BIG day for us somewhat disappointing.  

The Queen

Slowdive, when spacey-guitars hits...
Photo: Bloodbuzzed 

Slowdive: Technically, this spot would be reserved to The National, but this was my first time watching Slowdive live. 'Avalyn', 'Catch the Breeze', 'Machine Gun', 'Souvlaki Space Station' and the immense 'When the Sun Hits'...there are tones of (music) gold there, folks. Besides Rachel Goswell looked pretty moved, and the crowd was, surprisingly, as respectful as the ecstatic music of the band deserves. I finally saw Slowdive playing, and it was exactly the amazing experience I had dreamt their shows would be. Hope it's not the last time...

Brief of the last "big day" of the PS14, Saturday 31st about to come!