Spanish Indie 10: suggesting the best national acts

It's been ages since I wrote the last chapter of this section devoted to the alternative music made in Spain. Luckily, I have been receiving/checking several new bands that deserve to be discovered. Hope you enjoy them!

When Nalda Became Punk. Started in 2006 as the solo project of Galician (Vigo) Elena Sestelo, under the name of Nalda, but after a first demo came a long break, until summer of 2010. A second demo, “Time to meet your family”, followed by the arrival of Roberto Cibeira in 2011 certified that When Nalda Became Punk was a reality. A 7” single out on Pebble Records on August anticipated, thanks to the infallible Shelflife Records, their debut album out now, "A Farewell To Youth". Fresh but instantly classic C-86, jangle-pop...pure pop joy. Think of Heavenly, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Helen Love... Yes, that good, just follow Nalda!

Coffee&wine. Ana Franco, the modest artist behind that (why?) lower case nickname, hails from Madrid. Creator of Manderley, a company provider/promoter of cultural services, in 2004 started her own music career. After a first single in 2009, a proper debut arrived with the self-produced EP "From the Roofs", out in August 2010. Past October she presented her first album "From The Ground", wonderful collection of folk and americana tunes with a melodic, pop taste. Like a crossover of Gillian Welch with Aimee Mann, Ms. Franco is a refreshing voice on Spanish scene. Looking forward to her gig at Minifestival de Música Independent!

Stand Up Against Heart Crime. This was pending since December, when I discovered them at Primavera Club. The once struggling project of Josep Xorto and Arnau Obiols finally took form in 2010 when they came up with “A Hundred Lovers”, a song selected for an ad campaign. The buzz had started. After an EP came their homonym full-length debut, last year, receiving the unanimous critics praise. And deservedly so, because their synth-pop, post-punk, or as they self-define, kraut-wave is shining despite its glooming touches, swooning despite the threatening atmospheres, and addictive as only good music can be.

Primavera Club 2012 in brief, day 3

After a few "technical issues", here's the last chapter of the review series of the Primavera Club Festival.

The Good

Standing Against Heart Crime. Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Stand Up Against Heart Crime- Nice surprise. Convincing sound: a bit of synth-pop, some kraut-rock, some post-rock with an eye on the dancefloor, a slightly dark atmosphere, and foremost, solid songs. Pretty sure it won't be the last post about them.
Toy- My "big name" of the night, all the expectations were quickly confirmed. Their music is fierce, polyhedral, a sonic blast. Even despite the sound wasn't the best, what a band.

The Vaccines. Photo: Bloodbuzed

Mark Lanegan Band/ The Vaccines- Lanegan was powerful & flawless, as expected, and his band was impressive (spectacular guitars). Sadly, his gig was misplaced, he should have played on a more intimate venue, interested people would have enjoyed it more. On the other hand, The Vaccines, despite sounding quite shallow on great tunes like "Post Break-up Sex" or "Teenage Icon", proved they already have an impressive "army" of infallible pop-rock songs.

The Bad
Shut your mouth! (part 3)- We suffered a new modality of this despicable catalogue of lack of education/respect for the artist or the people attending a gig. During Stand Up Against Heart Crime, at the very front row, the band's crew/people didn't stop talking for a single second. It's a strange way to help your supposed friend/partner on the stage, don't you think?

Toy in Barcelona. Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Toy- A very short gig, that didn't include the mind-blowing "Motoring", because it ended abruptly. Was the band so furious about the sound? Frustrated? The audience was for sure...
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti- I don't care about Pitchfork's (add/replace for whatever magazine/blog/music reference you prefer instead) opinion. The music of this guy is beyond horrible. He is capable of taking all the (admittedly) dubious music styles, like soft-rock or sunshine-pop and transform into forms of torture. Add that he sounded plain awful at Sant Jordi Club (atrocious volume). Like being at the dentist without anesthesia. Poor ears....
Strange line-up- Probably it has to do with the problems the organization has faced, but the running order of the gigs was a bit weird. Deerhoof tried very hard to connect with the audience, and have to be praised for that, but their music is too "special" to reach such a big crowd. Same applies to the music of Mark Lanegan. But one thing is for sure: they don't fit together. Add more confusion with the disastrous gig of Ariel Pink's following Lanegan. The result? Quite a tired audience leaving before what it was, in principle, the biggest gig of the night, The Vaccines.

The Queen
Farewell Primavera Club- There was nothing quite outstanding or memorable on Saturday. As a matter of fact, for me there was an atmosphere of... exhaustion. Something that makes sense if you think on the decision the Organization of the Primavera Sound announced on Sunday. Won't be another Primavera Club in Spain. After the unacceptable behavior of authorities in Madrid and (to a lesser extent) in Barcelona, the shameful rise of the VAT to cultural events, their decision is absolutely understandable. From a human perspective, of the entrepreneurs with a consolidated and successful event fed up of dealing with such a stupid (sorry but that's the word) bunch of people, makes even more sense. But for me, and I assume that for any music lover located or able to visit Spain for Primavera Club, this is just a let-down of gigantic proportions. It's very simple: it feels like I have been abandoned for the ones that were able to bring us the music I love.