A month ago I incidentally came across an article named "
13 Labels That Define Spain's Indie Music History". It briefly covered some truly emblematic labels but also the list included the labels that, on my opinion, had pretty limited impact on the scene. So I decided to make my own list of the key labels of Spanish indie rock. Here below is the 1st part of this list (in alphabetical order).
Acuarela (Madrid)
Sr. Chinarro,
Migala,
Refree
One of the seminal indie labels of 90s and 00s is led by 'the man of many talents'
Jesus Llorente. Formerly being responsible for producing such the 'high profile' artists as
Sr. Chinarro and
Migala, now the label releases the string of less-known musicians like
Manu Ferron or
A Veces Ciclon while Jesus tries to diversify the activities by releasing the books and creating the comic strips.
One album to listen to:
Migala "La Increible Aventura"
Aloud Music (Barcelona)
Fira Fem,
The Last 3 Lines,
Nothink
The relatively young Barcelona-based label with the roster that could make the
Pitchfork reviewers tremble - the genre specialization of
Aloud lies somewhere in the wide range between [adored by hipsters] electro, nugaze and so-called 'post-everything'. Pitchfork would definitely like many of the albums released by the label.
One album to listen to:
Fira Fem "Fira Fem"
BCore Disc (Barcelona)
The New Raemon,
Betunizer,
Eric Fuentes
Arguably the most important Spanish indie label of today. Launched 25 years ago as some kind of Spain's own
Dischord and initially being concentrated on punk and hardcore/post-hardcore now
BCore includes many stylistically different bands (let's just take four most recent albums by the label:
Dulce Pajara de Juventud's "
Triumph" is alternative rock with 'wall of sound' and soul music elements,
Margarita's self-titled effort is pop-punk,
The New Raemon's "
Oh, Rompehielos" is singer/songwriter and
Jupiter Lion's "
Brighter" is electro).
Also the label maintains the enormous list of officially licensed albums from many of the key North American independent labels where you can easily be drown into for hours.
One album to listen to:
Betunizer "Gran Veta"
The quirky punky uncompromised Asturian label's releases include, for instance, lo-fi/no-fi garage duo
SraSrSra, tight punk band
Futuro Terror, mentally unstable post-punks
Fabuloso Combo Especto, perfect IDM project
Farniente. Getting into your hands any given album released by
Discos Humeantes you'll never know beforehands what you're up to deal with. And this is not a bug, it's a feature.
One album to listen to:
Futuro Terror "Futuro Terror"
The burgeoning Barcelonian imprint tends to be one of the most interesting labels of the current moment. Celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2015 the label spearheaded by
Joan Casulleras and
Rafa Piera has the perfect and potentially groundbreaking (at least in terms of indie world) roster that includes such names as
Algora,
Burrito Panza,
Grushenka,
Cosmen Adelaida,
Como Vivir En El Campo,
Hans Laguna,
Las Ruinas... Should I tell you more? Probably no.
One album to listen to:
Las Ruinas "Toni Bravo"
El Hombre Bala (Santa Cruz de Tenerife)
Resonance,
El Viejo Astra,
Brutalizzed Kids
You may know nothing about Canarian indie scene but it's not because of the scene's poor conditions. Mostly it's because of the geographic remoteness and logistical issues caused by it. It's energetically and financially devastating to move your gear to and from the mainland, so only few bands from Canary Islands are able to do so. But if there is anything to prove the quality (and quantity as well) of the local bands that have limited live access to remote listener it's
El Hombre Bala - the label, the bar, the eventplace.
One album to listen to:
El Pilar Azul "La Constante Sin Nombre"
Elefant (Madrid)
La Bien Querida,
Cooper,
La Casa Azul
To say "Spanish indie pop" is to mean "
Elefant Records" and vice versa. Initially building its notoriety upon the 'donostia pop' phenomenon (
Aventuras de Kirlian,
Le Mans, etc) in the 1st half of 90s now
Elefant remains one of the most notable and the most significant indie labels of Spain... not only Spain, in fact, but of all non-English speaking part of world being responsible for tons and tons of classics released all through these years.
One album to listen to:
Family "Un Soplo En El Corazon"
As I have already said it once, the balancing man stamp is the best confirmation of the quality. You can't deny the fact that
Ernie Producciones/Records is one of the key indie labels as for Galicia as for Spain as a whole. Just look at these names:
Ninos Mutantes,
Julio de la Rosa,
Igloo,
Maryland,
Nino Y Pistola,
Napoleon Solo,
Pasajero,
Novedades Carminha,
Holywater...It couldn't be any better.
One album to listen to:
Igloo "La Transicion De Fase"
Flor Y Nata (Catalunya)
Colorado,
Lo Nunca Dicho,
Carlos Siles
Having such the stylistically diversified bands as
Colorado,
Karenin,
TanStuPids or
Copo in the roster, another Catalan imprint
Flor Y Nata has no inclination to any particular genre. But while the genre-based philosophy definitely is not one of the label's strenghts, the variety of supply truly is.
One album to listen to:
Carlos Siles "Doce Maneras De Esperar El Final"
Foehn (Barcelona)
I Am Dive,
Oso Leone,
Poomse
Led by red-haired Barcelonian
Marc Campillo,
Foehn Records is the label with distinct and well-shaped philosophy. If you're looking for the pure entertainment, please, walk away. There's nothing to entertain you but there's a lot to make you think over, make you feel deep emotions, make you drop with the raindrops upon the leaves in the hazy forests, make you see the world by the multifacet eye of the dragonfly.
One album to listen to:
GAF & The Love Supreme Arkestra
