These Go to 11: interviewing La Fonoteca

This week the guest answering our questionnaire is an hyper-active music promoter/defender with a magnificent poppie taste, kind of an ubiquitous spiritual leader of all things indie in Barcelona. We are referring to Miguel Atienza, also known as "La Fonoteca Barcelona man". These Go to 11!

Miguel Atienza, La Fonoteca Barcelona

Mr. Atienza, man in
music charge

La Fonoteca, born in 2008 as a website, is a platform with the main purpose of promoting and disseminating Spanish music inside & outside our borders. What began as a "Spanish Music-pedia" keep quickly evolved and expanded its activities, organizing concerts and releasing almost music (a set of ten vinyls to date) and an editorial reference. The aim is clear and true: spread the word on emerging bands and vindicate Spanish rich music legacy. Miguel leads the permanent headquarters of LaFonoteca Barcelona, created in 2011, establishing an exciting music dialogue between Madrid and Barcelona. He's the man behind several releases and many gigs in our city, with bands so indispensable as, to name a few, Doble Pletina, El Último Vecino, Las Ruinas, Linda Guilala, Gúdar, Grushenka, Les Sueques, Bananas, Alborotador Gomasio, Prisma en Llamas y Atomizador. Truly a man of music. Here we go!

1. First record that you bought (be honest)

I think it was The Who's 'Live at Leeds', or maybe one of Led Zeppelin. My early years as music buyer mixed 60's and 70's classics with Brit-pop records. I was a real fan of Oasis, for example.

Once, they ruled the world...
and it wasn't that bad

2. First and last concert you have attended (be honest too!)
The first concert I went, I mean paying myself, I believe it was one of Los Piratas. The last one has been Trapece, a group formed by members of the Moving Pictures, they merge pop, jazz, bossa... A really beautiful concert.

Making waves

3. Guilty pleasure (song/band you shouldn’t like but you do, yes, it’s the embarrassing question)

Who hasn't sung out loud Rocío Jurado's 'Como una ola'?...

4. Most precious music item you own (collector mode on)

I'm going to say my copy of 'Snowball' from The Field Mice. It's one of my favourites and is quite hard to find, so I'm excited to have a copy.

5. Favorite lyrics (not yours)

As my English is pretty bad I have always paid more attention to the lyrics of Spanish bands. Some of my favourite composers are Manolo from Astrud, Carlos Berlanga, Fernando Alfaro, Joan Miquel Oliver, Lolo from Hazte Lapón or Carlos from Los Lagos de Hinault, among many others. The last great discovery has been Sagrado Corazón de Jesús. Their lyrics have captivated me.

Tim Gane, the genious
alchemist of sounds & ideas

6. Musician/s you would like to meet (should be alive, for obvious reasons, but you can choose a dead one too)
I would like to meet Dan Treacy, despite he seems to be pretty sick. I wouldn't mind to talk about politics with Tim Gane either.

7. Favorite artwork album (not yours)
I will say the first that has came to my mind. I have always been fascinated by Belle & Sebastian's Tigermilk cover, with that combination between of innocence and sinister.

8. Books or movies? Depending on your answer recommend us one (trick: you can choose both) 
Luckily, in real life I can choose both, but in an hypothetical desert island, where I imagine that there wouldn't be any electricity, I would bring 'A Confederacy of Dunces' by John Kennedy Toole with me.

'Puente Aéreo' of exciting music!

  

9. Release (of yours) you are most proud of
The collection 'Puente Aéreo' where a band from Madrid and another from Barcelona share a 7''. We have published 2 volumes (Hazte Lapón + Gúdar and Univers + Celica XX) and we are really eager to start working in the 3rd one.

10. What’s does it mean indie for you? (yes, the “serious question”)
'Indie' is independent. Do it yourself, don't depend on the others. And if you do it yourself, you don't have to give any explanation to third parties.   

11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I would like to have my own little label and release few but very special in limited runs. I don't see myself organizing so many concerts as I do now, but you never know.

Zillion thanks Miguel!

These Go to 11: interviewing Desperate Journalist

We are back with our interview series and I'm extremely happy to do so with one of my most exciting discoveries of 2014 so far, the very young post-punk band Desperate Journalist. Fated for big things, I already wrote it before: this is a band to believe in. These Go to 11!

Desperate Journalist

Desperate Journalist, dignifying a
noble profession with killer tunes

Hailing from North London, this quartet began their career in January 2013, making their live debut (that took place at the Negative Creep club) a month later. They quickly began to get the attention of good-eared people, and the buzz became "official" with their first single "Cristina", which entitled their debut EP, released in June that year. Two more tracks followed that November: the mesmerizing single "Organ" backed with "Distance", out on Label Fandango / Fierce Panda. Now the countdown is almost over for another release, the single "Happening" backed with "Vengeance", out on May 5th on Giant Haystacks Records. Ebullient but atmospheric, urgent but pensive, straightforward but passionate, fuelled by the magnetic voice of Jo Bevan (also on the most promising act Violet Hours), this is post-punk at its best. Here we go!

Band of brothers...

1. First record that you bought (be honest)
Simon: Oasis, "Definitely Maybe"
Jo: Gay Dad, "To Earth With Love" (single). I'm not entirely sure what the first album was but I think it might have been the first Garbage record.
Rob: "Appetite for Destruction" by Guns N’ Roses. I still remember how amazing it felt when I put it on for the first time.
Caz: My parents bought me some French pop records when I was a kid... I can't remember what the first one I went and bought for myself was, but I know that Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" was one of the first.

  

2. First and last concert you have attended (be honest too!)
Simon: First, Oasis at the NIA, 1997. Last , CuT at The Black Heart in Camden
Jo: First gig was Asian Dub Foundation, with my parents. Last was No Joy and Fear of Men, sometime late last year
Rob: I think the first might have been Bush in Wolverhampton but I wouldn’t swear to it. I think the last one was the Heartbreaks earlier this year.
Caz: The first one was this French metal band called Supuration (now Sup) when I was about 12, with my sister. It was a taste of being grown-up, and it made a big impression on me. The last one was Jonny Cola & The A-Grades at Cargo, last week.

Def Leppard...
Rock of Ages or aging Rock?

3. Guilty pleasure (song/band you shouldn’t like but you do, yes, it’s the embarrassing question)
Simon: I like most 80s pop. Bananarama...Belinda Carlisle. You name it.
Jo: I don't believe in feeling guilty about songs you like! Music is only as valuable as the response it elicits from you, whether it's Taylor Swift or Einstürzende Neubauten.
Rob: I love "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O’Connor and I don’t feel guilty about it.
Caz: I’m not embarrassed about anything I like listening to, but some people probably think I should be embarrassed about Def Leppard!

4. Most precious music item you own (collector mode on)
Simon: My silver Italia Maranello bass.
Jo: I have the same mic that James Murphy used in LCD Soundsystem (Sennheiser MD409) - it's amazing. We use it for recording but haven't played big enough stages to use it for gigs yet. Soon.
Rob: My Jetglo Rickenbacker 360/12. Sometimes still have to look twice to believe I own it.
Caz: My little 60's Watkins tremolo guitar amp which I got from a charity shop for £3 and sounds amazing.

Oh, those shy guys...

5. Favorite lyrics (not yours)
Simon: "Shyness is nice, and shyness can stop you from doing all the things in life you'd like to" The Smiths.
Jo: This is a really difficult question but off the top of my head: the whole of "Wings" by the Fall.
Rob: I’ve got to go with ‘I know I believe in nothing but it is my nothing’ from "Faster" by the Manic Street Preachers as I have it tattooed on my arm.
Caz: "It doesn’t matter if we all die” ("One Hundred Years", The Cure)

Brian "musichead" Eno

6. Musician/s you would like to meet (should be alive, for obvious reasons, but you can choose a dead one too)

Simon: I want Birdland to reform and we'll support them.
Jo: I would love to pick the brain of Brian Eno.
Rob: I don’t really like meeting new people so I’m not convinced meeting a musician I admire would do either myself or said musician any favours whatsoever.
Caz: I would have said Robert Smith and Conor Oberst but I’ve already met them! I’d rather not meet my idols anyway because I get terribly star-struck and make an idiot of myself.

7. Favorite artwork album (not yours)
Simon: Manic Street Preachers' "Journal For Plague Lovers". I have it on my bedroom wall.
Jo: XTC's "Go 2".
Rob: I’m torn between "The Queen is Dead" by the Smiths and "Dog Man Star" by Suede…
Caz: "Cassadaga" by Bright Eyes. The record comes with this little “Spectral decoder” that you use to see the true cover.

On Lynch's one-way road

8. Books or movies? Depending on your answer recommend us one (trick: you can choose both)

Simon: Films probably. I recommend "From The Sea To The Land Beyond". Cool archive footage of English coastland with a soundtrack by British Sea Power. 

Jo: I love both. I recently saw "Local Hero" for the first time, which is a fantastically underrated and moving film. My favourite book is either "Riddley Walker" by Russell Hoban or "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess. Weirdy-language books are the best.
Rob: I’m not in to films so much apart from odd historical epics… I would however highly recommend "Jude the Obscure" by Thomas Hardy, "The Masterpiece" by Zola and "The Idiot" by Dostoyevsky. Of course "Don Quixote" by Cervantes is very good too.
Caz: Both. It’s hard to choose... I’d recommend the ones that I loved so much I had to watch/read them again as soon as I’d finished them: "Lost Highway" (David Lynch), and as for books, "The Outsider" (Camus) and "Les Enfants Terribles" (Cocteau).

9. Songs (of yours) you are most proud of
Simon: "Cristina" - the populist's choice.
Jo: From a selfish melody/lyrical perspective, "Distance" is my favourite.
Rob: I’d probably go with "Happening" which should be our next single. Mainly because I came up with a guitar part that took me several months to be able to actually play properly. I’m also quite pleased with how it’s got quite an odd chord structure, manages to be essentially a pop song and is still nice and boisterous.
Caz: "Mistakes" - It's the first song we’ve ever written together and therefore my first ever drumming performance.

10. What’s does it mean indie for you? (yes, the “serious question”)
Simon: When i was young i thought it meant any guitar band in the charts that wasn't Heavy Metal. Ha! Now I know it's a lot more complicated than that...
Jo: It used to mean independent but now I suppose it's shorthand for any guitar band
Rob: I think it should mean being able to make the music you want to make. I suspect that now it’s just shorthand used by lazy journalists to describe bands with guitars they can’t be bothered to listen to.
Caz: As Jo said, for me it used to mean anything that was DIY and outside of the major labels but now it just means any guitar band!

11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Simon: Probably answering questions about 10 years ago
Jo: Sleeping on top of a pile of money with many beautiful ladies. On a bus.
Rob: Probably in the same flat, on the same street, having curry in the same curry house.
Caz: On tour, but also having a house by the sea.

Zillion thanks Desperate Journalist!

These Go to 11: interviewing Young Romance

Awww, what a crush I have on our next interviewed band. You know there are groups you like, others you simply adore and then there’s a special category when a group’s song can hit somewhere very very deep inside of you? Young Romance is one of these bands for me. So happy to feature indiepop’s most adorable duo... These Go to 11!

Paolo Ruiu and Claire Heywood, Young Romance

The indiepop's romance.

This inseparable London couple has been making delicate and stunningly gorgeous indiepop tunes since 2011, with an intensity that reveals real emotion and sensitivity in what they do. Initial tunes like "Swollen Hearts, Bitter Tongues", "She, Me, Him and You", "Six Sides" gave me the alert they were a band to watch out closely, but after summer of 2012, with the release of their stunning EP ePop022, with our dear EardrumsPop's friends, including the sublime "Follow on Your Own" (personal favourite) I became a devoted fan. More tunes arrived on 2013, like the great “Lines”, but 2014 is going to be Young Romance’s year as “Twenty Five”, track included on the Candy Twist Fanzine compilation’s “ Nobody’s Business” or “Pale” their first official single that will arrive this March courtesy of Banquet Records proves. Pure pop perfection, as immediate as lasting. Here we go!

Manchester City Rollers

1. First record that you bought (be honest)
PAOLO: Oasis, “Roll With It”
CLAIRE: 911, “Bodyshakin'”

2. First and last concert you have attended (be honest too!)
PAOLO: The Counterfeit Beatles / Veronica Falls
CLAIRE: 911 / Bombay Bicycle Club

3. Guilty pleasure (song/band you shouldn’t like but you do, yes, it’s the embarrassing question)
PAOLO: Kanye West, “Bound 2”
CLAIRE: East 17, “It's Alright”

No, not alright

4. Most precious music item you own (collector mode on)
PAOLO: Original copy of The Rolling Stones’ “Sticky Fingers”
CLAIRE: Lou Reed’s “Transformer” vinyl.

5. Favorite lyrics (not yours)
PAOLO: The Strokes, “Someday”: "Alone we stand, together we fall apart, I think I'll be alright. I'm working so I won't have to try so hard, tables they turn sometimes".
CLAIRE: Mystery Jets, “Flakes”: "The trouble with dreams, they're not what they seem, cause when you awake they fall through your fingers in flakes".

Phil Spector, aka "The Hair"

6. Musician/s you would like to meet (should be alive, for obvious reasons, but you can choose a dead one too)
PAOLO: Phil Spector, David Bowie, Keith Richards, Kate Bush
CLAIRE: Elvis, Lou Reed, Ringo Starr, Tina Turner

7. Favorite artwork album (not yours)
PAOLO: The Madcap Laughs– “Syd Barret”
CLAIRE: The Ramones– “S/T”

8. Books or movies? Depending on your answer recommend us one (trick: you can choose both)
PAOLO: Films - "The Godfather 2"
CLAIRE: Books - Oscar Wilde - "The Picture of Dorian Gray" / Daphne Du Maurier - "My Cousin Rachel"

9. Song (of yours) you are most proud of
PAOLO: "Follow On Your Own"
CLAIRE: "Pale"

10. What’s does it mean indie for you? (yes, the “serious question”)
BOTH: Not compromising personal ideas for a commercial purpose, therefore having complete creative control.

11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
BOTH: With a few records out and playing shows to the people who love those records in the way that we do with other bands.

Zillion thanks Claire & Paolo!

"Live Forever", the days of britpop

Live Forever: The Rise and Fall of Brit Pop

My teenage years were the britpop years. It was a very fun and exciting time even from the distance, Spain, because there was music on tv (quite a lot if you compare with the desert that is now tv in that regard) and Oasis, Blur, Suede, Pulp, etc, were also artists able/capable of topping the charts then. Something unthinkable now. Those were better times (thanks technology for the internet though, you have made tv completely useless for music, which is something good, considering how awful it is here in Spain). I will try to restrain my nostalgic impulses from now on, although nostalgia is an important factor on “Live Forever”, the documentary.

“Live Forever” tries to analyse the “boom” of popular music in the UK on the middle 90s, and its importance/weight on the British cultural and political landscape. It bases part of its strength on the contributions of the artists themselves: Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis, Damon Albarn of Blur and Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, with occasional interventions from Massive Attack’s 3D and Sleeper’s Louise Wener, among others (Damien Hirst, Ozwald Boateng, music journalists and members of the industry).

There’s a lot of fun in this “rockumentary” about this unusual period on the recent history of music. In particular, Noel and Liam are two fantastic comedians on their own, justifying watching the film with their opinions (Liam is hilarious). The film flows with rhythm despite the amount of interviews. But director John Dower is able to go much further than just the battle of Blur vs Oasis (Albarn’s reaction to the question speaks by itself) or the records. “Live Forever” aims to be a study of popular culture in the UK.

It almost achieves that ambitious goal. The renaissance of British music is clearly contextualised. Thatcher (always Thatcher) spent more than a decade to destroy the country, and, of course, that included the annihilation of culture. But after her, at the beginning of the 90s, the landscape changed, first slowly (Noel saying how bad was the electronic-house music on the clubs is amusing), with the landmark gig of The Stone Roses, but then accelerated, to the years of madness, from 1994 to 1997. A reaction against the conservative period, the Americanization of culture, and the reinvention of “everything Brit” to adapt it to the emerging momentum are well documented, resulting in a very engaging documentary.

It gets even better, when the bastard of Tony Blair appears and the so-called New Labour's tries (with significant success) to seek the alignment of britpop with them. When the term "Cool Britannia" appears. And when the consequences of the huge and sudden triumph arrive (the obvious presence of drugs, Jarvis comments about the struggle while making “This Is Hardcore”) before the inevitable, also sudden, fall of the movement, replaced (with cruelty) by Pop Idol and Robbie Williams. Its even more depressing if you consider that, 15 years after, we are still surrounded by the same kind of rubbish (I would add sadly multiplied).

Unfortunately, “Live Forever” is also a “hit & miss”. The film dates back from 2003, and many things seem outdated, or incomplete with the perspective of time. Think on Oasis' split, on Blur, Pulp, Suede and The Stone Roses reunions... Think on the current vindication of the 90s in music (in particular American indie, neglected on the documentary). Think on how awful, terrible is mainstream music nowadays, when during the 90s, britpop was the mainstream... That is not covered by the documentary.

But if that’s understandable, what it is hard to assume is the limited scope in what regards to bands. Sure, Oasis, Blur, Pulp were the leaders of the movement, but where are the rest? Just to name another big name, where’s Suede? Where are the precursors of the movement, in particular The Smiths/Morrissey? And the vast amount of groups that were also part of it, or jumped into the britpop bandwagon, with more or less fortune? And the ones who didn't want to be related with them (Radiohead, PJ Harvey)? Also, if “Trainspotting” was so referential, why there’s no interview with any of the people involved? I could keep going on and on... but I think you get the idea. Too many interesting things are presented, but very few are sufficiently explored, while others are ignored. It is one of the rare occasions when the length of the film is evidently not enough to "fulfil its promises".

“Live Forever” is a highly valuable documentary. It offers quite a lot in a quite engaging way, and benefits from the interviews of some of the fundamental artists of the music movement, that are revealing and/or very funny. But it falls short. Like being in front of an iceberg named brit pop, you know you are only seeing a relatively small part of the whole thing. Hoping for a bigger, bolder, better documentary covering that music period soon.

SCORE: 6,5/10

"No Distance Left to Run", Blur's popscene

No Distance Left to Run. A Film About Blur

Where were you while we we're getting high? Rhetorically asked the distinct's voice of Liam Gallagher in the Oasis' classic "Champagne Supernova", Blur's archenemy on the era of britpop. Those were my teenage years, and that's was also "my battle of the bands". "No Distance Left to Run" is a music documentary on the group's latest reunion to date, back in 2009, for a series of very special concerts, in a very emotional comeback for the four-piece members of Blur.

Directors Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace follow the band on the road, at rehearsals and during gigs, mixing it with extensive footage about Blur's history. Live shots are spectacular and the level of intimacy is particularly revealing in the internal dynamics of the band, without hiding their problems.

Very soon "No Distance Left to Run" shifts the focus to the relation between the singer and britpop icon Damon Albarn's and lead guitarist Graham Coxon, which in my opinion is the real highlight of the documentary. Yes, we also have a recap from their early days as a band and how they reached their superstardom status, being one of the main references of the britpop years... of craziness (but love to watch a deeper documentary on the issue). That success and popularity affected the band very seriously, in particular to the aforementioned two, to the point of putting Blur in limbo soon after Coxon left the group, due to his problems with alcohol and personal instability.  

But the music part looks more like a "Behind the Music" program, a bit too polished/friendly with the band to be really engaging (it misses some known "issues" as Albarn's politicisation or drug abuse). What intrigued me were the personal remarks of the band members. Blur's rebirth after seven years of hiatus really seemed to me an attempt of four persons trying to reconnect with their friends. Alex James and Dave Rowntree cannot hide their pain when they comment how Coxon left/was fired from the band. Albarn and Coxon show real emotion when they remember how they restored their heavily damaged communication.  That part is compelling and makes the whole documentary really recommendable. Its unclear whether is an active band anymore, but judging from "No Distance Left to Run" at least seems that their four members restored their friendship.

SCORE: 7/10