GRUPO SALVAJE
AQUÍ HAY DRAGONES

CD-álbum [nois 1065]

 

MANYFINGERS
OUR WORN SHADOW

CD-álbum + DVD [nois1064]

 

YELLOW SWANS
DRIFT

mini-CD (38 minutos) [nois 054]

 

12TWELVE
L'Univers

CD-álbum [nois 1060]

 

MANTA RAY
Torres de Electricidad

CD-álbum [nois 1057]

 

THE SECRET SOCIETY
Sad boys dance when no-one's watching

CD-álbum [nois 1059]

 

Chris Brokaw
Incredible Love

CD-álbum [nois1061]

 

LD & THE NEW CRITICISM
Tragic Realism

CD-álbum [nois1062]

 

The Strugglers
You win

CD-álbum [nois1056]

 

VV.AA.
Songs To Break God's heart

CD-álbum [nois1054]

 

XIU XIU
La foret

Cd-álbum [nois 1058]

 

REFREE
La matrona

Cd-álbum [nois 1047]

 

The Zephyrs
Bright Yellow Flowers on a Dark Double Bed

Cd-álbum [nois 1050]

 

P:ANO
Brigadoon

Cd-álbum + 2 temas extra [nois 1055]

 

Viva las Vegas
2

Cd-álbum [nois 1048]

 

Damon & Naomi
The earth is blue

Cd-album + cd-sigle (ed. limitada) [nois1052]

 

MUS
Divina Lluz, una película de Ramón Lluis Bande

DVD [noisdvd03]

 

Matt Elliott
Drinking Songs

Cd-álbum [nois 1049]

 

JR
La JR

Cd-álbum [nois1053]

 

Destroyer
Your Blues + 3

Cd-álbum [nois1044]

 

Tara Jane O´Neil
You Sound, Reflect

Cd [nois1051]

 

Thalia Zedek
Trust Not Those In Whom...

Cd [nois1045]

 

Julie Doiron
Goodnight Nobody

Cd [nois1046]

 

VV.AA.
Acuarela Songs 3

2xCD [nois 1043]

CD1
Piano Magic / Berg Sans Nipple / Tex la homa / Girls in Hawaii / Julie Doiron / June Panic / Chris Brokaw / Lowlights / Jr. / Rivulets / Anari / The Somnambulants / Tara Jane O´Neil & Kristina / Árbol / Early Day Miners

CD2
Destroyer / The Decemberists / The Impossible Shapes / Bud Early / Tarentel / Miztura / Mines / Old Jerusalem / Loud / Maquiladora / The King Cobran / Lorna / Ant / Colch-on

 

For Stars
...It Falls Apart

Cd [nois1042]

 

Berg Sans Nipple
BSN play the immutable Truth

Cd-ep [nois041]

“BSN Play the Immutable Truth” is a record that goes a step further than “Form Of...” in demonstrating that the essence of Berg sans Nipple’s project is in itself unclassifiable. “An Eternity of Purgatory” starts with pop whispers and dilutes amongst syncopated drums and vibraphone echoes, while “Hark, The Poonie Angel sings!” brings together floating trumpets with synthetic rythms; “Swordfighting” is an intimidating superposition of dismembered melodies, but then “Memory Hole”, despite threatening to continue along the path of darkness, embraces the melodies of melancholic trumpets and paused redoubling. As always, an original, expressive and eclectic piece...loyal to its branding.
 

Migala
La increíble aventura

CD + DVD [nois1041]

 

Xiu Xiu
Fabulous Muscles

Cd [nois1038]

 

Aroah
The Last Laugh

Cd [nois1039]

 

Grupo Salvaje
In Black We Trust

Cd-álbum [nois1037]

Black is usually the emblem of silence, of intimacy. It grants nobility and elegance, especially when it’s shiny. However, in occasions, it can become an accomplice of dishonour and evil. The great Johnny Cash introduced it as a counterweight of the sequinned suits worn by other Country musicians and opted for it as a personal identity symbol until his recent death, a result of the world’s injustice. A personal symbol of style that translates into an attitude, which the Madrid band Grupo Salvaje have chosen as a homage for the christening of their debut album, thus broadening the list of links and references already in their album; starting off with the band’s name (Grupo Salvaje=The Wild Bunch), after Sam Peckimpah’s disturbing film, and following with the album title, an ironic charade of the altered legend on the back of dollar notes. The thing is In Black We Trust was going to be called Cash, in accordance with the band’s wish to honour the spirit and consistency of the Man in Black’s songs, and in the meantime, play on the game of words by referring to the currency that inspired the emblematic title. But regardless of circumstances and intentions, the nine songs of Grupo Salvaje’s presentation transmit, from the very first moment, the notions and ideals of a well-traced reflection and exploration of creative possibilities. A throbbing voyage headed by the experienced Ernesto González, without doubt the most credited member of a band that stems from the much-awaited revival/transformation after a decade of compromise with Pribata Idaho’s agenda, a pop-rock band which released four albums and many singles and EPs (including one collaboration with Peter Holsapple of The Db’s and REM) between 1992 and 2000. One of them “Hope” (1997) was even published in Japan. The voice of Ernesto, more delving and deeper than ever, decidedly different, distinguishes and conditions In Black We Trust’s career to a great extent. His touching and subtly differentiated approach to each song –from the elegance of the “Oh! My Dear” to the vivacity of “Sorrynonews” passing through the solemn impact of “Watercolor Summer”– is the backdrop for a compilation of songs with an individual character that are nonetheless part of a single effort. A record that takes off immediately and combines heart and lucidity to perfection, with both poetry and disturbance, a seducing range of sensations based on lyrics of pain and love, of roses and desperation, of the divine and the humane, of Elvis and God. Abel Hernández (Migala, Emak Bakia) contributes to the well-accomplished compactness of the theme line, both through a compromised and flowing production process and through the use of sound and atmospheric effects, which inevitably remind us of the legacy of Scott Walker, Leonard Cohen, Lambchop and, of course, Migala. A splendid and well-measured instrumentation, the absolute protagonist of the brief and pampered “Desheredada”, makes up the vehicle of that is built with epic –as in the chord crescendo in the closing of “The Survivor”–, has a number plate of melancholy and is fitted with a cinematographic touch stemming from a dose of complicity. As a result, elegance, intimacy, nobility and silence impose themselves, hidden by the metaphoric reflection on black. Qualities and images that are transmitted through a catalogue of compositions with intentional substance, which showcases the will of these five musicians to embrace the principles and manoeuvres of an authentic wild bunch. Moreover, they brandish skill and feelings as their main arms against futility and mediocrity, with that categorical combination of conscience and intuition. Just in that way.
 

Refree
Nones

Cd [nois1036]

Refree is the alter ego of Raül Fernandez, music journalist and one of the most productive members of our independent music scene since the early 90s. Far from conceiving “Nones”, his second album, as a sporadic, parallel or passing venture that overlaps with his other many projects, Raül makes it a personal work that turns out to be one of the best records the Spanish pop world has witnessed in the last years. Biography: However, prior to this second piece of work for Acuarela, Refree had already made inroads with the publishing of “Quitamiedos”, for which they counted with the collaboration of –amongst others–Françoiz Breut, Abel Hernández (Migala) or José Luis Aguado (Manta Ray), in addition to some of the main musicians from Barcelona’s jazz scene. “Quitamiedos” –too ambitious or to dispersed, depending on how you look at it– was born and bred out of its time and context, and received better reviews abroad than in Spain. In France, it was chosen by the demanding Magic! Magazine as one of last year’s best international records, and Les Inrockuptibles highlighted it as a lyrical spirit and delicately woven piece of work. In North America, magazines such as Exclaim or reputed on-line publications such as Splendid or Epitonic, outlined its “varied keys of expression”, its well-blended influences –“from Dirty Three to Friends of Dean Martínez, passing through Ennio Morricone, they said–, and the “breath of fresh air” it meant to all those who feel “somewhat weary of the limits that pop and rock impose on themselves”. As an epilogue to “Quitamiedos” Refree supported The Zephyrs, Neil Halstead and Migala, and played in places such as Portugal and Russia. The two concerts in Moscow surprised a stunned audience who thought they’d seen the “Catalan Radiohead”, as was stated by a TV report on National television channel TV3, which sent their cameras out to the Russian capital. But none of this had prepared us in the least for a record like “Nones”, Refree’s new release. “Nones”: “Nones” is not an “on-the-scene” record, nor the logical result of talent, work and inspiration serving the traditional modernity of our little independent world, –where one has to continuously boast new points of view in order to be noticed, and labelling styles equal those of a supermarket attendant. Neither is it an “alternative” or “adolescent” album. It is actually an explosion that keeps a balanced appearance; the reflection of a dramatic maturity crisis that leaves us with a bitter aftertaste. Trumpets, violins, bass guitar, an omnipresent piano, together with a touch of electric fits and a few sound effects –sober and experimental at times– don’t distract us one bit from the final intention of Raül Fernandez, on whom poetry has grown as a beard. Framed by artists that range from Jaume Sisa, Dominique A and Le Mans, to the “experimental” 70s side of Claudio Baglioni or Joan Manuel Serrat, the album’s influences and coincidences are best subliminal. An immediate reference to Dominique A, Migala, Etienne Daho, Leo Ferré or Georges Moustaki is unavoidable, but it is equally easy to realise that none of these were taking into account in the elaboration of the 12 songs that make up “Nones” (by the way, it’s a Catalan expression used in childrens language when you cradle them to sleep). To talk of influences, classic songwriting, chanson or post-folk seems meaningless, when it is patently clear that the aim of the record is to extract the maximum out of a creatively inspired moment. Here, we should pay special attention to the rich instrumentation of the record –from the dark to the luminous–; the result of working with a fixed band instead of just using casual collaborators. In many songs of the record, which greatly succeeds in not being excessively eclectic nor merely ornamental, we hear the beautiful and melancholic voice of Irene Tremblay –“Aroah”, as the guitar of Olivier Mellano, a Dominique A regular. The front cover is by Francoiz Breut, who, as always, combines brutality and innocence. “Nones” is the product of a cross between Mediterranean tradition and the tones and keys of jazz. While most of the Spanish bands source from Anglo-Saxon influences, Refree looks towards Europe. France, Italy and Catalonia seem to be the ideal locations for Raül Fernandez’s tunes and moving lyrics: the blank paper crisis, a beheaded rat in the cellar, a father who lies awake waiting for his daughter to return from a party, the ending of youth, single mothers and domestic disasters of ranging emotional and romantic intensity...Themes that Refree cap without being neither soft nor sarcastic or devoid of parody, in the way of a non-electronic Magnetic Fields, disillusioned by life and future. Or as if Nacho Vegas had never read Dennis Cooper or Raymond Carver, nor listened to the Bad seeds. In “El hueco” (“the space”) –that talks about looking for a comfortable space to be lonely in, a space where one can remember and understand the past– is a small homage to the writer Belén Gopegui and her novel “Questione di scala”. A sure thing is that Raül Fernandez –who sings both in Spanish and Catalan– takes what he says and does very seriously. Listening to “Nones” is an experience that compares to watching one of those films which echo in your mind and your heart as you leave the cinema, or to reading a significant book –and not precisely for its metaphors and adjectives–, and, of course, it means enjoying a series of songs (of sharp lyrics and carefully arranged tunes, both in their richness and simplicity) that are as truthful as they are faithful to reality. Although it’s a fact that a poet is everything but poetical, records like this have driven some people to write about music. Just as records like this have given some people a reason to stop writing about music.
 

VV.AA.
Acuarela. Películas musicales

DVD [noisdvd01]

Features: Estratexa (fragmentu), Take a Look y Qué niño soy (MANTA RAY), Myriam, la primera, Recuerdos y Come Home (AROAH), Al debalu (MUS), Autómata (VIVA LAS VEGAS), Caer, rodar (DIARIU), Voz de radio virtual en la casa de las afueras (EMAK BAKIA), NH3 light, Merche* y Los Carteles (Sr. Chinarro), The guilt (MIGALA) and the documentary "Estratexa". Length: 79 minutes. Multizone.
 

The Zephyrs
A Year to the Day

Cd [nois1035]

 

Emak Bakia
Frecuencias de un rojo devastador

CD-álbum [nois1034]

The third album of EMAK BAKIA has just been released. The trio, formed by Abel Hernández and Coque Yturriaga (both are also members of Migala), together with David Fernández, present us with a work titled "Frecuencias de un rojo devastador" (Frequencies of a devastating red). A compilation of 14 stirring, poetical and agonizing songs, the album is a puzzle of sounds and images that remind us of cut'n'paste, Matt Elliot, Hood, hip hop, the Warp label or "indietronic". It is probably one of the best albums of the year 2003, from a group who has admirers amongst people like Piano Magic, Ian Crause o Thalia Zedek, and whose "Jane", "Después" (After) and last year's CD-EP "Un Cuerpo Extraño" ("an unidentified body") -one of the most outstanding in 2002, according to magazines such as Rockdelux, were highly acclaimed by reviewers. This "Frecuencias de un rojo devastador" comes in, at the best possible moment; after a lengthy experience both at home and en route. The new album casts a sidelong glance at past discography, but tries to stay clear from any tumbles. Although it starts and finishes with "La telaraña de sus ojos" ("The Spiderweb Eyes") and "Vista aérea del viaje a Tsukiji" ("Aerial View of the Trip to Tsukiji"), two pieces of introverted acoustic folk, the band leaves its most classical traits to one side for the rest of the album. It deepens in the use of abstraction and hip-hop constructions, without straying too far from the main tune, or from whatever it is that actually makes the tracks so personal. In this case, the vocals are secondary, but unexpectedly take the lead or the stage and throw you when you least expect it. The distinctive keyboards that marked the start of the band are still there, yet tarnished, in many occasions, by a dark and cold leitmotif. To sum up, the album opens a new path for restless and excitable minds that see music as an unavoidable remedy for their unique perception of the world. "Frecuencias de un rojo devastador" searches, dazes you, moves you, wanders, returns, rebounds, discovers and tells a story. All in one.
 

Julie Doiron / Okkervil River
split-album

CD-álbum [nois1033]

Listening to this split CD is like watching someone rise, naked, from bed in the morning, laze around the house for a few hours, gradually don formal dress, walk outside, and get hit by a car. It traverses, in a leisurely 39 minutes, the distance between the softest whispers and the loudest screams, encompassing at either pole the lullaby and the murder ballad. It also displays modern folk music in both contemplative and ecstatic modes, as a soft tracery of whispers and strums and as a ragged tapestry of trembling strings, simmering organ, and tumultuous gusts of distortion. Julie Doiron, who starts things off, began her career as the 18-year-old bassist for Canadian lo-fi darlings Eric's Trip, with whom she recorded three acclaimed albums for Sub Pop before striking out on her own after the group's demise in 1996. Doiron's second solo outing, Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars, netted Doiron Canada's prestigious Juno award in 2000; since then, she has published a book of her photographs with New Brunswick's Broken Jaw Press and released three subsequent albums on Jagjaguwar. Doiron's half of this split - five solo performances recorded at her home in the mornings and evenings of December 2002 -represents her most startlingly intimate and unguarded work yet. Where in the past she has either carefully draped her songs in rainy cascades of electric guitars and shimmering keyboards or presented them elegantly spare and immaculately recorded, here Doiron casually sketches out her songs, leaving in fumbling fingers, missed lines, and sounds from the next room (including those of her four children). These new songs find their writer more content than she has perhaps ever appeared on record, singing lullabies to her family, love-songs about sleeping in on snowy November mornings, and affectionate tributes to her favorite musicians. Where Doiron's approach to modern songwriter-based folk is homey and uncluttered, her Jagjaguwar brethren Okkervil River offer instead something more far turbulent. Building on the sound of their critically-praised Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See, this Austin, TX group here mixes skeletal folk, lush chamber pop, and supple rock and roll in service of the literate, uncompromising songs of frontman Will Sheff. "He Passes Number Thirty-Three," a sidelong tribute to missed chances, starts off as delicately as Doiron's whisper-quietest moments before turning into a contemplative ballad and, just as quickly, a towering prog-soul singalong. And then, once the distortion subsides, the paired murder songs hit and Okkervil River promptly steer this split out of the sun room and onto the chopping block. Coming so quickly on the heels of Doiron's intimate strummings, these songs (one of them a version of the American traditional "Omie Wise") are an alarming but aesthetically bracing change, the kind of weird and welcome surprise that only a split CD can fully deliver.
 

Sr. Chinarro
El ventrílocuo de sí mismo

CD-álbum [nois1032]

Sr. Chinarro's most recent work is a closing chapter for the frantic activity that has dominated the last two years -two albums and two singles. Antonio explains the temperament and harshness of the projects that followed "La pena máxima" by saying: "all the previous songs to 'La opera…' were woven on a mesh of uneasiness. I decided to be direct and expose the mesh, I didn't feel like weaving". But paradoxically, and in line with the constant emotional and stylistic turnarounds of his restless character, Luque has set aside a dynamic and glossy sound for "El ventrílocuo de sí mismo": something like the perfect mix between "Brotherhood" (New Order), and the first homonymous album of The Smiths, providing it can be said, at this point, that Sr. Chinarro sounds more or less like something other than Sr. Chinarro. Ten songs of lyrical and ironic pop that sum up all the learning and musical knowledge Antonio Luque has been acquiring for years. "El ventrílocuo de sí mismo" is, without doubt, one of his most brilliant and inspired records. Satanic hearts, balls of San Vito, volcanic pans, satanic wines, fools with pencils and workers in tuxedos arrange meetings in compositions that have been described as "customary", "surreal" and even "purely mathematical". A lot has been said about his style as a writer. One can easily find the echoes of Paolo Conte, Robert Smith, Ian Curtis, flamenco music, Kafka, the Mediterranean, popular festivities and the sad thoughtfulness of someone who cannot tell jokes or dance sevillanas, despite living at the centre of all the merriment. In many ways, his lyrics evoke the secret Andalusia of beach huts, old schoolmates at the stream, fairs spent dressed in a raincoat, and short-tempered parents with empty wallets. Domestic life and the absurdity of adult life seem to have heavily influenced his most recent writing. As he confessed in an interview for the French web page Popnews.com, Luque feels his new album has been shaped by: "summer, jealousy, B minor, varied humming, diverse humming, an unfriendly folklore, the records I like, and myself".
 

Manta Ray
Estratexa

Vinilo 180 gramos [nois1031LP]

 

Manta Ray
Estratexa

cd [nois1031]

Truman Capote said it through Santa Teresa: “There are more tears shed over answered prayers than over unanswered prayers”. So there was people asking for Manta Ray to return to rock, and their new album goes so much further than that. When they started as a Spanish independent band, we knew that the hole existed because they were just filling it: in “With Love And Squalor” (from the Subterfuge Ep “Escuezme”, in 1994) we saw raw noise rock with bluesy tradition in the same way that made Afghan Whigs or Come so good to everybody. Their first album, self-titled, was a shock and also their live acts, intelligent and ambitious. And always looking for the best teachers: at “Diminuto Cielo” -their first album with Astro, the record label that carried them from then to 2001- Manta Ray played with Spanish cult (and mad and sinister and... ) singer Corcobado, being their tour together something really special. Then the five guys from Xixón (Asturies), after letting a couple of member go finally set up as a band with José Luis García singing and playing guitar, Nacho Vegas (Migala) playing guitars and effects, Nacho Álvarez as bassist, Xabel Vegas on the drum thing and Frank Rudow playing each thing that you can imagine it’s possible to play.
And they reached a crossroad: maybe in Tolouse there’s an answer through the best European rock band of the nineties, Diabologum. “La Última Historia de Seducción” is a split-cd where both bands share knowledge and music, and the best excuse for touring both sides of the frontier. In 1998 they gave us “Pequeñas Puertas que se Cierran, Pequeñas Puertas que se Abren”, a catalogue of their new ambitions and open-mindedness. That summer they played the Benicàssim Festival with Yo La Tengo and PJ Harvey amongst others, and respected stars like Sonic Youth got shocked by their powerful concert: they’ve grown and we’re happy to see it. And not only us, because it’s normal for Manta Ray to be designed as the ‘best national live act of 199X, year by year on the independent press (like the Rock the Lux magazine), and it’s clear that they’re the most important band in the history of Spanish indie music (with Migala maybe, the only other Spanish indie band well-known outside our country). They recorded a single for Amsterdam VPRO Radio Station, but that’s not an ending: 99 it’s the release date for two curious albums, “Score”, a cinematic-tribute featured in 36rd Festival de Cine de Gijón, and “Manta Ray Vs. Cosmos”, where they let their songs be remixed by the hungry technoheads of the Cosmos crew. Nacho Vegas then decided to start with his solo career and to help Migala.
But Manta Ray don’t stop: with the basque producer Kaki Arkarazo at the mixing desk, 2000 “Esperanza” (hope) don’t give it up of course, more rock in the rock edge, more further in the experimental sides... But they don’t want to feel alone and a year after they released “Heptágono” hand-to-hand with Schwarz, a really good psychedelic band from Murcia, and many other projects began... For example, Viva Las Vegas, a band based in the José Luis García and Frank Rudow duo, where they explore in experimental and minimal music (but always focused on a almost bluesy way of song). They released last year a split cd with Chris Brokaw (from Come), and in the 2002 Tanned Tin edition -a festival in Santander, North of Spain- they did a gig with him. Their debut album was out this year too. And we can’t forget that in Tanned Tin 2001 Frank and Nacho Álvarez joined Thalia Zedek (the other half in Come’s brain) in a gig that went so well that they decided to continue it as an all-over-Spain tour, and a final gig at Benicàssim Festival. Finally on his own, proud and ready, Manta Ray get a step right back to jump so much further: through Acuarela Discos (the Spanish record label that put Migala, Mus or Aroah out of Spain) and again with Kaki Arkarazo, they give us “Estratexa”, an extraordinary rock (almost punk!) journey closer to the cult heroes Suicide or the contemporary math horror from Trans Am or the french genious Programme than to the indie rock of early nineties.
“Take a Look” will get you scared by it’s brutal rythm and spiral bass, and screaming and clautrophobia... And “Estratexa” (the song) isn’t less agressive with it’s fuzzy bass and powerful drums. And what’d be “Qué Niño Soy” but another frighten self-criticism hardcore spit? With “Asalto” you’ll need no lyrics to imagine what’s happening there, with those guitars up & down... And “Monotonía” (gutural voice among sick and sexual bass hits) and “Ébola” (new rock’n’roll? Ha!) are explicit from it’s names. Only through “Añada” we’ll see not so much r.p.m. and landscape and ambient feeling. The double-ending “Rosa Parks” and “Ausfahrt” is thoughful and mathematic, more focused into the sound and less into the (dark) emotion. But don’t get wrong with “Another Man”, because it ends in a way that didn’t promised to. Finally, this album is a take no prisoners effort of martial rythm out of breath. And when you think that they’re being reflexive, get scary because they’re building fallen cathedrals. Take care. Get out of their way. It’s the best advice.
 

VV.AA.
Acuarela Songs 2

3 cd [nois1029]

Acuarela Songs 2 is a tribute, a melting pot and a briefing point. Last year’s “Acuarela Songs” was a 2CD album that compiled songs from Spanish and international bands that used the word ‘Acuarela’ (ie: watercolour) in their songs. Voices from different places and different languages that somehow paid homage to the label. The album was highly acclaimed by the critics (mostly on the States and France), and now Acuarela releases the second volume, a three-step way to celebrate its ninth birthday.

One.
Melancholic hope and deep emotion: brought by the Austin-based duo The Windsor for the Derby formed by Dan Matz and Jason McNeely -plus collaborations- who have recorded for hip labels like Young God, Aesthetics or Trance Syndicate. Followed by a track from ex Come voice and guitar Thalia Zedek, who shows us her most intimate rock. Natural Snow Buildings published by the Paris-based cd-r distro company Hinah, give us a warm little song made with lazy guitars and emotive cellos. Not like Experience, the new band from Michel Cloup the guy that was the compositive 50% in European cult band Diabologum. Last year they burnt out our venues and best-of-the-year lists. Rock! Jack from the UK tell us a new tale on basic techno and style crazyness (with frontman Anthony Reynolds holding an emotional flag), while Nacho Vegas, former Manta Ray guitarist and nowadays member of the well-known spanish band Migala, works with Mónica Vacas (singer of the band Mus, who are also based on Asturias) on a new folkie Diariu song. From the States, one of the best dreamy pop bands, L’Altra, picture colours through a Donovan classic, and french man but Tucson resident Amor (50% of Calexico friends Amor-Belhom Duo) sings a classic pop comedy. Spanish indie stars Migala who know really well the shades that exist between black and white, do an amazing instrumental version of a ghost song they’ve found in the remains of a fire. Man, the trio from Nantes (France), deliver a delicious and mediterranean instrumental acoustic folk piece, published on Les Disques du Soleil et de l’Acier. From Boston, four piece Victory At Sea, give us a tense and dramatic rock ballad with the stunning voice of Mona Elliot, just between The Black Heart Procession and Rachel’s. And James William Hindle proves why he works for Badman Recording Co. and why he appeared on the John Denver’s tribute compiled by Mark Kozelek: his classic folk reveals that he’s a master of tiny emotions. The same goes for Jack’s alter-ego, Jacques, who finishes this first step with a minimal masterpiece.

Two.
No concession: Manta Ray, the best Spanish rock band, gets monochromatic and rock the place with the first electrifying chapter in this second part of the tale. Together in history with Victory At Sea through Spore, 27 is a three-member band with force and sense, power and harmonic colour. But not with the tradition of British most secret pop diamond, Bitter Springs, who make clear why the word pop has to be written with capital letters when is used in the same sentence as their name. Just like the greatest french chansonnier of the nineties, Dominique A, that shows that he’s far away from orthodoxy. The Zephyrs (from Scotland) gave us last year their shoegazing pop pearls, and this is another thrilling one. Spanish band (from Valencia) Polar, with a long and full of great records career, show us here a beautiful indie pop hit, and The Strugglers walk on by a path that’s not less good for being well-known: Randy Bickford sings a classic country rock song that we’re going to love. Next step is the delicious and dramatic chamber pop music from a Vancouver duo call P:ano, Nick Krgovich and Larissa Loyva (here with Mariko Molander on viola), and Grupo Salvaje is a dark homage to Pekinpah’s Wild Bunch, in classic rock format with lyrics from Jesús Llorente (boss at Acuarela) and with musicians like Ernesto González (from Spanish cult indie band Pribata Idaho). Just in time to let Yann Tambour, last french genious, break his dark ambient electronica solo project, Encre, with a band that enlarges and sets fire to his stuff. Mus show us a raw demo version of a song from their recent album, “El Naval”, and Lisabö, the basque hardcore intelligentsia, let the record flow to a point where Guimo, five people from Bordeaux, close it up sightseeing the 4AD legacy with a melancholy landscape pop song.

Three.
True History: Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) gets on his way and introduces us to a dark and hipnotic nightmare. After that, St. Louis quartet The Potomac Accord gets heavy with an epic rock that translates Sunny Day Real Estate to landscaping, while Anamude (Ana Hortillosa) reveals from San Francisco her love to Shakespeare, John Fahey and Robert Johnson, via minimal folk pop. Then L’Altra repeat in Acuarela Songs singing in spanish over epic electronics and describe watercolour walking on foreign lands just like the german Green Apple Sea who move on american rock ground. Nicolas Laureau, co-founder of the great parisian label Prohibited, and former Prohibition and NLF3 member, goes solo as Don Nino with a minimal and bluesy folk piece, and Cynthia Nelson (Retsin, Ruby Falls) plays with Michael Littleton a warm pop song, a tribute to Sophie Drinker. Raül Fernández, (charming member of Élena, Romodance, Sitcom...), plays with friends in his solo project, Refree, and NYC technopop duo Vitesse who drop another elegant and retro bomb, just in time for Antonio Luque, a.k.a. Sr. Chinarro (probably the best Spanish pop band that survived from the early 90s) to play a song that could be in his last Ep “La Tapia del Perejil”. Brooklyn trio Timesbold reflect its watercolor over a dangerous and dark pop, and Transmissionary Six, probably a new name for you, present a song signed by Terri Moeller (Walkabouts) and Paul Austin (Willard Grant Conspiracy), and it’s recorded by Kevin Suggs, so you know, it rocks. Finally, the Spanish band from San Fernando (Cádiz), Ursula, get their hands on the Acuarela catalog to build a dark mosaic with samples and stolen texts. Definetely, the best ending...

 

Thalia Zedek
You´re a big girl now

mini cd [nois032]

Thalia Zedek has been making music for two decades, in bands such as Dangerous Birds, Uzi, Live Skull and Come. During a summer 2002 heat wave she sandwiched a few days in between European tour dates to record six songs with her musician friends in engineer Andy Hong's air conditionless living room. The hot result: four peerless originals and two covers, one by Bob Dylan whose title she borrows for this EP. Thalia once again proves, following her first solo effort “Been Here and Gone” on Matador Records, that whatever she applies her voice and vision to becomes part of a body of seemingly timeless musical works. There is an air of authority in its world-weariness, a certain sang froid that resists the musical trends of the day. Her songs sound lived in, thoroughly hers and of the moment. And it is always astounding how surefooted she is in choosing cover material and making it sound as if it's always had a place in the Zedek canon.

The Velvet Underground's “Candy Says”, written by Lou Reed about Warhol-circle celebrity transvestite Candy Darling, is a natural for Thalia with its theme of alienation from the self and others. Such gender-bending subject matter plays itself out even more subtly in her moving version of Dylan's “You're a Big Girl Now”: just make the conceptual jump to song narrator as woman. Here the theme is one of lost love, commonplace in Thalia's originals here as well. That's why, with such a preponderance of depressing lyrical concerns in her music, it's such a hoot to see this package's cover photo of Thalia lighting up a big fat stogie. You're a big girl now indeed. Delightful, yes, but a pose also suggesting the confidence with which she tackles her own songwriting. “Everything Unkind”, “No Substitutions”, and “No Fire” are simply as somberly grand as anything Thalia has written. And “JJ8”, despite its almost sprightly gait in comparison to the other song tempos, still sounds quite centered as it recounts even direr circumstance. Thalia's band features immensely talented and long-favored folks: Daniel Coughlin from ex-band Come, Mel Lederman of Victory at Sea, and David Michael Curry of The Willard Grant Conspiracy. They impart to the material all the eloquence and gravitas needed to render these marvelous songs Zedek standards.
 

Vitesse
You win again, gravity!

cd [nois1030]

Forth full-length album (with an exclusive extra track only for Europe) from mysterious American studio duo, sensual and sparkling synth-pop majesty. Songs drawn through a downpour of heavily layered analogue keyboard fortitude, chiming guitar filigree and spacey feedback sirens, delicately programmed retro rhythms, and a Stephin Merritt/Ian Curtis-inspired lyrical and vocal nonchalance… A sound so intimate and personal it’s been deemed “acoustic music powered by electricity” and “pop music through a soft lens”. Vitesse is all about classic Factory Records heyday. Rhythmatist/arranger Joshua Klein is a former member of Aden and Toulouse. Hewson Chen is a member of Alsace Lorraine. Previously Vitesse has released two full-length album on Hidden Agenda, 'A Certain Hostility' in 1998 and 'Chelsea 27099' in 2000. Last year Vitesse released their third LP, “What Cannot be but is", exclusively on Acuarela. Featuring covers of OMD and Bruce Springsteen, it was a jewel of introspective techno-pop, with lyrics about tearful eyes, time's passing, the need for redemption, dissatisfied hearts and the sensation that the world is changing too quickly.

"You win again, gravity!" consist in 16 sentimental, dark and touching songs that sink in from the first listen, thanks to straightforward melodies and simple structures…
 

Sr. Chinarro
Cobre cuanto antes

cd [nois1028]

The sixth studio album of the band from Seville means the desertion of the "post" style that started with "La primera ópera envasada al vacío" and the Eps "La casa encima" and "La tapia de Perejil". Now Sr. Chinarro return to the unheard outline since "El Porqué de mis peinados" or "Noséqué-nosécuántos": gloomy and ill-bred pop with a storytelling bent, and on the classic structure of drums, guitar, bass, and keyboards and voice (altough the one that plays all, except for the drums, is the singer himself). "Cobre cuanto antes" has a really warm production, on the style of old records of The Red House Painters (like "Ocean Beach") or American Music Club, and its ten songs could be labeled as "chinarros classics" that have nothing to do with the experimental eagerness of his last deliveries. There are no traces of Arab Strap or post-rock to be found by journalists on the grooves of a cd that's thick on it's lyrics, and rich in instrumentals - eventhough it drinks from the "poor musics" of mediterranean and andalusian aspect- , and above all, full of twisted surreal poetry, the one that Antonio Luque performs exquisitely. The songtitles are: "Han quedado níquel", "La callé mojada", "Respuestas para misses", "No vale reírse de los solos", "Con las vainas olvidadas", "Sección de telescopios", "Epilady", "Capillitas cruz del campo", "Plug In" and "NH3 light", probably the catchiest one with a friendly chorus.
 

Aroah
No podemos ser amigos

cd [nois1027]

Half Spanish half American Irene R. Tremblay is adamant on her first album, even in the title of it (No podemos ser amigos means “We can’t be friends” in Spanish). Her debut EP, Cuando termines con todo, habrá terminado contigo, referred to a paternal warning that could be easily brought into artistic and emotional territories (you know, the letting go that leads to emptiness, the search for something extreme). Now she finally hits even more directly: “Maybe it’s me and my big ideas. Maybe it’s life teaching me the hard way, saying: if you take what you want girl, you will lose all that you’ve got girl” (she sings on the LP track Axe Song). The selection of the six-song EP as best of its category for 2001 in Rockdelux magazine, the tour with Migala´s guitarrist Nacho Vegas and the EP they shared (Seis canciones desde el Norte) are all behind her now. Even further away are the old bedroom demo-tapes where she’d record country-folk songs, her work as co-editor of the fantastic Parsley Webzine, a handful of European and US performances and a few Spanish gigs supporting Retsin, Tristeza and Labradford. That’s a lot. But what is most clearly left behind is her apparent confusion, the feeling of “I don’t know what to do with my music”. That is no longer an issue on this full-length. While on the introductory EP two members of Migala assisted in production duties, now Frank Rudow (of Manta Ray and Viva las Vegas) is in charge of recording. David, the super drummer for Emak Bakia, is no longer on board. But now Frank is involved (playing percussions and keyboards), and so is Nacho Vegas (with several guitar parts and vocals on “Canción con Idioma”). And Abel Hernández (of Emak Bakia and Migala) is around too, now in the spotlight, lending his deep voice to a sad ending titled Whiskey. But back to the point: Aroah concentrates and orchestrates fourteen songs in only 42 minutes, stressing every piece. Flaunting production and arrangements on the songs where pulses accelerate and Irene wields an electric guitar, dressing down her acoustic songs to vocals and guitar with an occasional detail. The former are straightforward and furious, while the latter are introspective and delicate. Rather than point towards more obvious associations, not even from an aesthetic standpoint but just from an ethical one, Irene is comparable at times to Tara Jane O’Neil (Retsin, Rodan), effortlessly synthesizing folk and country traditions under a darker and more dissonant lens. She uses her beautiful voice elegantly in both of her native languages: ten songs are in English, three are sung in Spanish and one is “wordless” (Canción sin palabras means “song without words”). And she proves –once again- to be much more of a guitarist than a lot of people would want to believe. Flavour of the Month (one of the best songs on the album) could have been on Red House Painter’s Songs for a Blue Guitar, and La Historia más Triste could have been on any album by that band. The complicated arpeggios of Canción con Idioma remind of Nick Drake’s dexterity. On her lyrics she is melancholic (“you tasted so sour and I am so bitter”), violent (“you were scared of what little girls can do, especially handling little people like you”), uncompromising (“we cannot be friends anymore”), disenchanted (“es la triste realidad, la gente miente, no lo puedes evitar” which means “it’s the sad truth, people lie, you can’t help it”), and shielded with a cynicism that borders on self-parody (“I hated me, I hated you and all the stupid things we do to feel smart when we are a pair of the biggest idiots in the world”). No podemos ser amigos is powerful, Aroah matures well and we’re glad to see her grow.
 

Refree
Quitamiedos

cd [nois1025]

Refree, Raül Fernandez's alter ego, is also the name he uses to present the most personal and risky compositions of this hero of the Spanish independent scene. In spite of the individualism suggested by this project, Refree offers him the possibility of working with people he admires. There are no predefined limits, no fixed set of collaborators, and stylistic unity is not of any vital importance for the project.
"Quitamiedos" is Refree's debut album. Its ten songs were conceived around a different sort of instrumentation. Apart from influences such as Nick Drake or French maestro Yan Tiersen, that might well be the record's most beautiful peculiarity: how chords can lead into textures and these developments never break the wholeness, though the personal, intimate quality of the songwriting remains a strong pillar. To achieve this, Refree invited artists he respects and - in certain cases- shares a friendship with, to participate on his songs. On "Quitamiedos" we can hear Françoiz Breut singing in Spanish on one of the most beautiful songs on the album, a song that was praised by Dominique A himself. We also find Migala's Abel Hernández contributing the deepest vocals on "Feo y Malo" and Jose Luis Aguado, of Manta Ray and Viva las Vegas, whispering on the song the album owes its name to, and Helena Miquel of élena doing backup vocals.
Other contributions to the album are those of musicians Reynald Colom and Llibert Fortuny, two of the most important figures among the Barcelona jazz scene, accompanied by Chocadelia's upright bassist, Héctor Moras. And of course, the most valuable help of Raül's bandmates from élena. "Quitamiedos" is surely Raül Fernández's most adventurous recording, and he is already one the most dynamic personalities in Spain's music scene. Today he is, apart from Refree, active in the bands élena, Romo and Shudo. And in the past he was in Corn Flakes, a band that disappeared after being key players in Spain's early nineties indie scene, and the short-lived Sitcom.
 

Viva las Vegas
Viva las Vegas

cd [nois1023]

Viva las Vegas is the new band formed by José Luis Aguado and Frank Rudow, singer and percussionist – respectively – of Manta Ray. On this project they benefit from the possibilities of sonic experimentation, blending together mathematical distance and deep emotion. They create songs that immediately could be placed among the same musical boundaries inhabited by bands like Royal Trux, Come, Libraness or Modest Mouse. Yet there’s an unmistakably European twist to their music, bringing to mind that created by Dominique A, Yann Tiersen or Experience’s more introspective moments. During their short existence -barely a year- they have developed a simple and yet complex style, based on an idea used by other musicians they admire: building instrumental layers over a central structure that varies only slightly. In spite of the concept-driven start point, the results reach the heart before the brain, creating moments of hypnotic arrest not apt for patients with heart trouble. Their first release was a split single with Chris Brokaw (ex-Codeine, ex-Come...), including the songs “Un río llamado Obrigo” and “Una vez más”. The record was released a few months ago, in a collaboration between the North-American label Kimchee and Acuarela. That record is now in it’s third pressing. Thanks to it they have reached the playlists of over a hundred college radio stations in the USA and have performed at the legendary Paradiso club in Amsterdam (together with Nacho Vegas and Aroah) as well as in Oporto (with Restin and Labradford). The songs on the eponymous “Viva las Vegas” are a mosaic of poetry, chanson and film-like atmospheres. Soundtracks to impossible and possible films spread in mid-tempo that, just when they seem about to take off, leave the listener face to face with total silence. Jose Luis and Frank offer a series of sonic turning points, their main characteristic being moderation; nothing screeches, nothing feels out of place, the vocals hardly ever rise above the music. From the intimacy of “Estaré de paso” and “Inmune a las palabras” to the recited “Yo”, the vengeful tone of “3, 14” to the post-blues touch of “Don’t run, don’t cry” or the French air of “Despiértate, pequeño problema”. Viva las Vegas’s first record – with it’s samplers, trumpets, it’s descriptive guitars, syncopated rhythms and the beehive of keyboards and harmonies - is an essay about love and escapism (nothing to do with David Copperfield). The lyrics, both in English and in Spanish, give simple answers to complicated problems: “Quiero descubrir un corazón cerca/ Sano y que no rompa, que no cause sufrir” (“I want to discover a heart close to me/ A healthy one that won’t break, that won’t cause suffering” It’s been a long time since a record – one that’s more likely to be filed under post than under pre –, at the conclusion of it’s over 43 minutes, has succeeded in slipping such an overflowing bouquet of sensations into the hands of the unguarded listener. Concealed and at the same time decisive, classical but equally groundbreaking, the twelve pieces on “Viva las Vegas” sound like something different. It’s like when we promise to never fall in love again and then love appears once more, as something alive and new. Or like when something or someone enters our lives on tiptoe and gradually makes its way to that - ¿organ? ¿memory? ¿secret? ¿muscle?- that we’d been hiding from everything and under every circumstance. And then we realize what’s happened. We backtrack into what seems like a reverse deja vu that begins and ends inside of us all.
 

Vitesse
What can not be, but is...

cd [nois1020]

 

Sr. Chinarro
Despídete del lago

cd [nois1018]

A long-waited compilation of Sr. Chinarro's previously unreleased songs, B-sides, covers and alternative mixes, which Acuarela has been treasuring for years, see now the light of day. A demolishing collection of 16 tracks (1993-2001) which transmits a sensation of discomfort, of time´s tide smothering all of us.
 

Sr. Chinarro
La primera ópera envasada al vacío

cd [nois1019]

Deliberately gloomy, with a rugged, harsh, sharp and dense sound, and practically recorded live. Sr. Chinarro's latest album, "La primera Ópera Envasada al Vacío", contains seven that add up to over 38 minutes. After much beating around the bush - Antonio Luque's favorite sport - his new work is meant to be the long play resurrection of the Seville-born artist. Perha1ps as the result of an uncomfortable personal exorcism, or maybe as a consequence of wanting to get to the bone both musically and lyrically, Sr. Chinarro deliver a piece of work that recuperates the "terminal" atmospheres of their early songs. New interest is added by Luque's delivering; this time he is a crooner, singing with more emotion, disgust and hurt than ever. You'll have to look carefully to find the moment in which Luque switched from humour to rebuff, yet the artistic result is beyond surprising. All the typical Spanish themes for which Sr. Chinarro was known are lost, or at least diluted here. Those expecting to find traces of Andalusia, eerie Semana Santa (Easter) festivities and sick fairs, references to Southern Spain and/or the Mediterranean, will have to dig deep. The music and the lyrics, the noise and the fury, are the whips that Luque shakes at his classic pop song until it becomes an unconventional piece of (post-) rock. It lingers half-way between Dominique A's "Remue" and The Cure's "Pornography", reminding us at times of the atmosphere created by Bark Psychosis or of Mogwai's sonic hammering. His voice, behaving as a whole other instrument, drags a neutral accent along tangles of guitars and relentless drumbeats, almost martial in their advance. This time Luque had the special collaboration of Linda Pitmon - who usually drums for Steve Wynn- on two songs.
 

For Stars
We are all beautiful people

cd [nois1021]

Beauty appears to us in different disguises. Sometimes this happens in more obvious ways, marked by its virtues, as a pure delight. On some occasions it comes to us in a subtler way, on tip-toe, pretending not to want something. But wanting it very badly. The new album by the North American band For Stars – licensed by Acuarela in Spain and Portugal with an exclusive and additional track – is one of those beautiful gifts that, expected as they are, couldn’t be a greater surprise. It’s your birthday, your friends are hiding in the living room waiting for you to arrive home from work, the lights are off. After two LP’s that garnered excellent reviews in their homeland and an EP on Acuarela (thanks to which they gave four concerts in Spain during November of 2000), the San Franciscans return in excellent shape, capable of proving that respect for tradition is not at odds with surprise. The arrangements on the songs – sometimes unusual –are probably their strongest point. Without neglecting the addictive melodies inherited from the Beach Boys, Love or Neil Young at his lyrical best; or lyrics that have earned them a position as heirs of American Music Club or Red House Painters. On We Are All Beautiful People the band’s sound has become richer and stronger – partially due to the production of John Croslin (Pavement, Spoon, Guided By Voices). Also perceivable is the hand of drummer Tommy Casey, the newest member of the quintet, who is responsible for many of the ‘details’ that make this album essential. If “For Stars” (98) and “Window For Stars” (99) were clearly poetic and in the vein of Galaxie 500’s “Today” or the best of Simon & Garfunkel, now, in singer Carlos Forster’s words: " We used some louder ideas and added a little extra noise. It's not as sparse as some of our earlier stuff, but it's not a huge, loud fast record, either." As main songwriter for the band – and someone who names Gordon Lightfoot, Cat Stevens and The Replacements as key influences – Forster is shy about considering himself a rock musician: “I’m trying to get beyond conventional ideas of rock and pop and make something beautiful”. Like many artists bred under the bright sunshine of the West Coast, For Stars’ music pours shadows and light on love (the meaning, the sense and its unpredictable shapes) , memory (something we have or something we’ve lost?) and the toll and passing of time. We are All Beautiful People is a definite step for For Stars towards songwriting maturity, and also the record that most faithfully captures their intense live act; they combine talent and inspiration to the point at which some of us – we confess – run out of paper handkerchiefs.
 

Bitter Springs
Best bakers on the island

cd [nois1016]

Bitter Springs is one of the great secrets of British pop music, with a history stretching back to 1986, though for the first decade they were known as the Last Party. In their current incarnation, the outstanding quintet has issued five LPs, a B-sides and rarities collection, and six singles on a variety of little labels, continuing to hone a distinctive and compelling style of loose-limbed, erudite pub-rock that betrays an obvious affection for the fierce and wonderful folk-flavored rock of The Pogues and Black 47, and perhaps also the harsh post-punk polemics of The Fall. Often employing wryly cheerful flutes, accordions, violins, and pianos, Bitter Springs creates riotous, driving jigs that sometimes sound as if they'd be well-suited for a carnival or fair. At other times their sound loses its folky glee, steering more towards stark, dissonant post-punk. As with The Pogues, it's easy to get swept up in Bitter Springs' energy and overlook their lyrics, but they're often quite astute and eloquent meditations on matters both personal and political. Best Bakers on the Island anthologized their B-sides and rarities, some of which dated back to the Last Party days.
 

Emak Bakia
Después

cd [nois1014]

"Después" is the second album of Emak Bakia. Here, lyricism and audacity go hand in hand under the influence of Disco Inferno, the John Cale of "1919", Third Eye Foundation (whose leader, Matt Elliot, a self-proclaimed fan of the duo, was kept away from working on the mixes by previous commitments) and post-pop in general. Eleven pieces, graphic and poetic, in two distinct parts; one dark and pessimistic, the other more luminous in a sentimental road movie format. Exhaustive use sampling, instrumental themes, stories of serene affliction over the ghosts fo the past and the future, and well-crafted english lyrics are the four corner stones of a very emotional work.
 

Migala
Arde

cd [nois1017]

Arde ("It Burns") is simply a masterpiece of moody lyricism and daring orchestration. Electric and acoustic guitars, strings, keyboards, accordions, clean percussion, and random scraps of found sound (banal dialogue from a Spanish television program, the jarring crash of a car accident) all coalesce into something so dark and so lovely. "Arde" is a gorgeous seven-minute instrumental track which opens with ambient street noise, keys, and crashing percussion, before building into a strange but glorious instrumental composition which includes the rattle of a train and loops of Spanish conversation. "The Guilt" is one of the album's highlights, combining beautiful guitars, strings, and vocals with a sense of dread. As with Migala's previous albums, the songs are a mix of Spanish and English, but whether you understand the words or not, you'll understand the tone of complex regret. Migala's highly original style has earned them a ton of "sounds likes" in music critics' reviews -- Arab Strap, Will Oldham, Songs: Ohia, Tindersticks, Leonard Cohen, and even Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds -- and while all of those comparisons help a bit, none of them comes close to getting at the heart of Migala's sound. There's nothing like this group. "Arde" was released in the US by Sub Pop.
 

Flow
Sensazione

cd [nois1015]

Flow, the dynamic group from Cordoba (Spain), returned in 2000 with an arsenal of songs, singles for all audiences and emotional pop which makes no apologies. "Sensazione" is an irresistible album, catchy and intelligent, the likes of which has not been heard in these parts since the first records from Le mans, Astrud or La Buena Vida. FLOW covers all genres (pure pop, bossa nova, tecno—pop, noise) and shows influences from independent American and Scottish bands. The album’s twelve songs show off this eclectic mix rarely found in pop music and they are about summer babes and lost memories.
 

JR
127

Cd-álbum [nois1011]

This enigmatic Spanish trio was formerly known as Yogur. They've released a pair of albums, the most recent a claustrophobic exercise in stark folk deconstruction entitled 127. The singer offers hushed, half-sung, half-muttered Spanish lyrics over the strum and squeal of an acoustic guitar and occasional reverb-heavy slow-motion drum thunder. Periodically a dog barks or a car goes by off in the distance. It's lo-fi post-folk which will also probably appeal to fans of Spokane, Guided by Voices, Will Oldham, and Smog.
 

Migala
Diciembre 3 a.m.

cd [nois1002]

The long-awaited re-issue of Migala´s 1997 debut. Remastered and with a different lay-out, its 18 songs display the band´s motto ("to create classic songs with an uncanny atmosphere") in a very accurate way, and their early influences (Cohen, Reed, Tindersticks, Mazzy Star...) are more present than ever. Migala is this Spanish songwriting band which is called to be come one of the most brilliant and promising bands of rock/songwriting. "Diciembre, 3.a.m." present their early and more lo-fi side, ranging from some lo-fi guitar experiments to more beautiful and magic pop-rock or songwriting songs. A must, this is recommended.
 

Sr. Chinarro
Compito

cd [nois1001]

Sr. Chinarro´s second album. A Mediterranean touch to this dark songwriting influenced by Lorca, Joy Division and Kurt Weill.
 

Sr. Chinarro
Sr. Chinarro

cd [aq1001]

13 track 1994 debut album by this neat doom-pop band. A bit less "original’ than their following releases, and a bit more anglo, with a vaguely Smithsian undertow. Includes a New Order cover and was produced by Kramer (Galaxie 500, B.A.L.L., Bongwater…).