Contempopranea Nos Espera! Burgim "The Way That You Smile"

Burgim "The Way That You Smile" (p)2014

Burgim was the only name from the Contempopranea cartel that I wasn't known of. So I just followed the links and listened to their new album "The Way That You Smile" on their Bandcamp page just to be prepared.

The album starts from some Nashville-like (mostly like any member of Ten Out Of Tenn formation) roots-rock song "White Whale" beautiful enough to attract you. The second track "Shame" is a pure classic. It showcases not only the acoustic guitar strummings but also more solid-sounding drums and perfect backing vocals. "Shame" is followed by the pack of mostly acoustic folk-pop songs with intimate vocals and vibraphone-sounding Hammond on the background.

The things changed on the track #7: "Illusion". This track is a Britpop-based midtempo song which abandons tiny folk rock in favor of the electric guitar solos and - do I really heard it? - 'chug-chug'. Though it sounds like some kind of 'play on the set up subject' it is really intereting twist. But band goes further on the next track. "Mister User" really rocks on full throttle with no strings attached. And you know what? The next "Mile In A Tear" is even more hard-rockin' piece! The song starts from the guitar part that repeats the introduction to the hit of the football-obsessed alternative deutsche-punks Sportfreunde Stiller  "Ans Ende Denken Wir Zuletzt"- but in a lo-fi way. The rest of the song is 'quiet verse - loud chorus'-structured theme with very catchy chorus.

So within this album the band makes a trip from contemporary Nashville folk pop to British/European alternative rock. Both faces of this Janus are far from 'one of a kind' position but overall pleasant, and I really expect them to be great onstage.

The best tracks: Shame, Mr. User, So Happy, No One Must Never (Take Us Apart)

Las Resenas Casuales. Eric Fuentes "Barcelona"

Eric Fuentes "Barcelona" 3CD, (p)2014, BCore Disc

Ex-leader of the renowned alternative band The Unfinished Sympathy Eric Fuentes has done a lot of work. Triple album - can you imagine that? Who's gonna issue triple albums these days? 

To prevent the album from being boring on the same templates repeated for 30+ times over and over again, Eric has chosen the way not to be concentrated on himself. He has invited some friends from the local music community to sing some songs. It was a good idea because these songs that were sung by different singers got the new dimensions and the new characters. The standout track of that kind is by no means the one that is sung by local superhero Ramon Rodriguez who usually goes under the alias The New Raemon, "Disfruta Perdiendo".

Most of the songs are sung in English - much as the back catalogue of The Unfinished Sympathy was. But the best track on the whole album is in Catalan ("Amb L'Algua Al Coll", and I have posted it here in the blog two weeks earlier). The second best track - El Hombre Burbuja-like "Incansable" is not English-languaged as well.

Probably, you can't call "Barcelona" unified cos the songs on the album are pretty much diversified in style. But it's strong feature is that you can feel how Eric simply does what he wants without any convoluted production tricks and martyr-like attemts to give the songs the additional glance. The whole album is not so long overall (~100 min) and it will hardly make you fall into boredom. But you will hardly like every song on it.

The best tracks: Amb L'Algua Al Coll, Incansable, Future Lovesong, Disfruta Perdiendo

Las Resenas Casuales. Sidonie "Sierra Y Canada"

Sidonie "Sierra Y Canada" (p)2014 Sony Music

Let's start to move the Sidonie albums from 'Rock' to 'Electronica' category, cos this catalan trio (known for the "fuck the barbershop" attitude) has abandoned guitars and started playing the synth-driven future pop. Also you may take Parade or even La Casa Azul as the new reference points to the Sidonie's creative heritage. Quite embarassing? Don't bother. Their trademark touches of psychedelia ain't gone anywhere and still are clearly present. But the main reason why should we not to worry about the changes in the band's modus operandi are the songs. The songs here are the best in the band's career. Even their breakthrough 2007's album "Costa Azul" was not so perfectly crafted melodically. 

Though desperately missing the guitars in the mix and still considering "El Fluido Garcia" as their strongest effort to-date, I can't deny the melodic grandeur of the new album. These songs will surely make you sing and dance along and get stuck in your head for (at least) months.

The best tracks: Rompe Tu Voz, Un Dia De Mierda, Sierra Y Canada (Historia de Amor Asincronica), Las Dos Correas

Las Resenas Casuales. Modelo De Respuesta Polar "El Cariño"

Modelo de Respuesta Polar "El Carino" (p)2014 Limbo Starr

While the previous effort of Modelo de Respuesta Polar "Asi Pasen Cinco Anos" was mostly shoegaze album, "El Carino" is rather free-form post-everything rock with folk roots. It contains quiet slow-to-mid-tempo songs that incorporate winds, synths and digital effects galore and slowly evolve (or not evolve - which is more than usual here) towards the epic final. Only two songs - almost 7 minutes long "Tan Blanco" and closing "Los Mejores Anos"- remind me of the previous incarnation of the band. So if you liked "Asi Pasen Cinco Anos" much (as I did) this is not for sure that you would like "El Carino" the same way - these albums are not different to the point where they might be considered as made by two different bands, but the crevice is quite wide. And this crevice goes mostly from the absence of the muscular guitar parts on the new disc. So, "El Carino" is by no means beautifully arranged and perfectly produced album that may be a bit too calm and sleepy and a bit not what I expected from the band.

The best tracks: Tan Blanco, Los Mejores Anos, Miedo

Las Resenas Casuales. Russian Red "Agent Cooper"

Russian Red "Agent Cooper" (p)2014 Sony Music

It's neither good nor bad nor anything like that but the 'early version' of Russian Red is gone.

Lourdes Hernandez have changed alot. Gone are the quiet acoustic pickings and strummings, along with the quiet tongue-in-cheek singings which were more than usual on her previous two albums - "I Love Your Glasses" and "Fuerteventura". Now Lourdes sounds rich, and her singing - still tongue-in-cheek - is now definitely not quiet. Her voice has changed as well. The childish girlish obertones gave way to vocals which belong to a woman, not a girl - masterfully mixing longing with confusion and/or grief with all that passion with the greatest of ease.

The name of the album clearly appeals to "Twin Peaks", a creature of gloomy genius David Lynch (coincidentally, the definitive TV show goes to its 24th anniversary this year). "Agent Cooper" consists of the songs named by male names or surnames. Hastily I assumed that all the songs are named in honor of the series characters but it was a mistake - I can't recall anyone called Xavier or Tim B amongst the "Twin Peaks" characters.

The music. The music now incorporates the full arrangements, the elements of vintage pop, the tricky processing effects and all that 'chicks with brains' attitude that made the girls like Katie Herzig or Butterfly Boucher famous. For the better effect, all the aforementioned ingridients are covered with the salsa of vulnerability and new-found sexuality.

And, you know, this is really cool album. I like it more than any previous Lourdez' effort - but overall feeling is somehow kinda ambivalent, cos it's always a bit sad (though contradictory promising) when the young girls grow up.

Las Resenas Casuales. Letters From Reykjavik "Kalt"

Letters From Reykjavik "Kalt" (p)2012 El Hombre Bala Records

Another rock band from Canary Islands I have got acquainted with right now. Starting from year 2010 this six-piece indie-rock combo was successfully mixing La Habitacion Roja's translucent pop-psychedelia with shoegaze-touched sounds and angular post-punk bass lines in the vein of Galicians Igloo. The detached vocals of the singer Ruben Guisado made me recall at times The National's Matt Berninger, at times Esteban Ruiz from Sevilla-based band The Baltic Sea (another great band that I have to tell about a bit later).

I have found them some time ago through El Hombre Bala Records' bandcamp page and bought an album for just 1 Euro - but started listening only today while having my weekly trip from my native Tula to Moscow. And I was pretty shocked in a good way. This obscure band produced such the powerful music that within the first minute of the first song I came to conclusion that I was listening to the great band (yes, usually I make this kind of decisions pretty quickly). With every subsequent song I was frightened that the band might not be able to maintain the certain level of greatness they'd already approached - but every time my fears were false. It seemed like all six members of the Letters From Reykjavik had enough imagination to apply the amount of creative freedom into the tight structures of a post-punk based pop song. And don't forget about really cool melodies here.

Overall, "Kalt" is the powerful and melodic guitar-driven music that sounds fresh and can make you nod your head to every beat of the drums. Great album with no strings attached. It's so sad that the band finally called it quits last autumn after 4 years spent together.

The best tracks: Broken Fences, Suddenly, Ballad

Las Resenas Casuales. Najwa "Rat Race"

Najwa "Rat Race" (p)2014 WEA Spain

Q: What is the most common thing between guinea pigs and the band Brasilian Girls?
A: Guinea pigs don't relate neither to Guinea nor to pigs.

First of all, this is NOT the dance-pop album. No.

Possibly, Najwa Nimri might think that her previous work "Donde Rugen Los Volcanes" which also has that distinct electronica sound was a bit lifeless. To breathe life into these cold and mechanistic sounds and beats the former actor had teamed up with New York-based electronic duo Brasilian Girls, and started to write songs in English, then went on full frontal on the disc's cover, then made provocative teaser videos, and finally appeared naked on the cover of the magazine. Wait, I forgot that she started singing in English.

The final result, however, doesn't differ much from "Volcanes". Where the new album lacks in nerve in comparison with the predecessor, "Rat Race" considerably exceeds it in accessibility and melodicism - but not to the point where it could be like 'well, "Donde Rugen Los Volcanes" was avant garde IDM and "Rat Race" is europop'. This is the record that seemingly strives to be 'pop', but really it isn't.

So I should declare that Najwa Nimri-Brasilian Girls team has finally created the album which apperas like Madonna's "Confessions On A Dancefloor" for the mentally rich.

And did I say that they made her to start singing in English?

The best tracks: Feed Us, Ballerina Legs, I've Seen that Face Before

Las Resenas Casuales. La Habitacion Roja "La Moneda En El Aire"

La Habitacion Roja "La Moneda En El Aire" (p)2014 Mushroom Pillow

This is a short story rather than a review.

In the very end of September'2013 me and my mujer Tanya were standing on the top of el Teide, the sleeping volcano for whom the isle of Tenerife should say 'thank you' for this isle's mere existence. The day was mostly sunny and we could see the 4 more isles around in the waters of Atlantic ocean, but on the top of the mountain the velocity of the wind was around 46 kms per hour and it was really cold. Our clothes were not intended for such the conditions, so we had a little time to spend there. But when we were only climbing up the mountainside one of our intentions was to sing some song on the top.

This idea sounded pretty beautiful: two people in love with each other, in love with Tenerife, toda la Espana and the local rock music being standing upon the highest mountain of Spain and singing the great song in Spanish. The song was not chosen in advance, though.

The previous day we met Noe Ramirez from Pumuky and spent an hour with him, so [the song penned by the local Tenerifian band] 'Los Enamorados' could be a good choice to sing. But it was so cold out that the words came into my mouth suddenly, and the words were: "Si tu y yo eramos tan felices, si tu y yo eramos indestructibles". We shouted them out several times and then started climbing down. So one of the emblematic moments in our life was marked by La Habitacion Roja's song.

The new album is the logical successor of the previous effort, "Fue Electrico" - to the point where it could be named "Fue Electrico Pt. 2". Recorded in the famous Rockfield Studios by the band teamed up again with the producer Santi Garcia, the whole album seems to be carefully grown up from 'Ayer', the song which was chosen The Song Of The Year by many Spanish mass media two years ago. So, if you liked "Fue Electrico" much, the new album is the fruit for you.

The best tracks: La Moneda En El Aire, No Quiero Ser Como Tu, Si Tu Te Vas (Magnifica Desolacion)

Las Resenas Casuales. Lendrone "Uno"

Lendrone "Uno" (p)2013 Matapadre Discografica

This is the first full lenght from the Galician experimental rock combo. In the world where Chileans Mostro are the highest extremum of experimentation, and the old 'american underground' pre-post-rock instrumental band Pell Mell is the lowest one, Lendrone with their mixture of complicated with simple and banal with inventing could be some kind of semantic middle.

"Uno" is divided onto two parts by the intermediate segue called "La Mecanique Moderne" which is considerably shorter and quieter than any other track on the album. Before and after the aforementioned track we have the captiously built-up instrumental krautrock-tinged math-rock where the heavy use of syntesizers meets the occasional bursts of noise, overloaded bass lines are beaded on the convoluted rhythmical patterns, and where the plain canvas of a composition can all of a sudden explode with the guitar overdrive.

'The heavy use of synthesizers', 'convoluted rhythmical patterns', 'overloaded bass lines' - these features are the common place for the most of 'experimental-math-noise-jazz-everything else'-fusion bands, and the main thing lays in the surface of the proportions. In case of Lendrone the proportions are definitely right. The trio from La Coruna gives the listener the fascinating trip without taking away the time to rest and breath easily from him.

The best tracks: Don Balon, La Marcha Solar, Methavolante

The digital version of the album you can download from the Matapadre bancamp page or Lendrone BC on the 'name your price' basis.

Las Resenas Casuales. Manolo Breis "Verna"

Breis "Verna" (p) 2014 Sweet Song Records

Today the singer/songwriter from Murcia Manolo Breis (who ususally appears in public using only his surname) releases his new album called "Verna" less than 10 months after his previous effort "Invisibles" was released.

Breis is not that widely bred in 2000 'detuned guitar/lo-fi sound/high-pitched voice'-kind of singer-songwriter. His songs are fully arranged, and while his musical pallette is not so wide but it is far from minimal as well. Exploring mostly slow-to-middetmpo dynamics, this album is calm and appeased. And from the first listen I get the feeling that the album lacks the song that can stuck in your head for hours and days. But the songs have their good features, like smartly structured "El Timon" or slowly growing up "Malos Tiempos" - and these two songs are definitely amongst the best ones here.

The best tracks: Dame Algo De Ti, Al Amanecer, El Timon, Malos Tiempos

The album can be officially downloaded from HERE for free.

Las Resenas Casuales. La Maravillosa Orquesta del Alcohol "Quien Nos Va A Salvar?"

La Maravillosa Orquestra Del Alcohol "Quien Nos Va A Salvar?" (p) 2013 Mus Records

To put it shortly, the Burgos-based sextet La Maravillosa Orquestra Del Alcohol (or LaMODA) plays acoustic bluegrass in the vein of Mumford & Sons or The Lumineers. "Quien Nos Va A Salvar?" ("Who's Gonna Save Us?") is the first full lenght effort of this combo emerging from the heart of Castilla y Leon province. On their bandcamp page (where you can buy the digital version of this album or download their previous releases for free) they describe themselves as 'drinking Nashville bourbon along with Russian vodka and Irish "Guinness" all at once'. But despite these characteristics their music doesn't really sound like the cocktail one could produce from these uneasy components. If "Quien Nos Va A Salvar?" would be a drink it could be definitely too fresh for the vodka-bourbon-Guinness mixture.

The songs on this album rarely exceed 3 minutes long with the only exception of the closing 'Nueva Orleans' over-4-minutes timing. The instruments used include banjo, saxo, accordion and violins in addition to acoustic guitars and drumkit. And it sounds like the band could manage all this wide range of tools with the greatest of ease playing full throttle and singing with all the passion the human beings could infuse in the music they make never showing the signs of losing control. And while not being the major step aside from [as trendy as] typical Mumford & Sons sound LaMODA can show you how the pack of fresh melodies and the lack of vanity-indulged hypergravity can bring a breath of life (or liveliness) into this deadborn idea of 'let's make this sort of Middle American roots music in England and Sweden and everywhere else'.

Let them be the followers of the trend, but they're not the copycats.

The best tracks: Los Hijos De Johnny Cash, Vasos Vacios, 1932