A Quick Guide To... Foehn Records

Recently we (me and my mujer Tanya) have spent a couple of days in Barcelona to celebrate Tanya's birthday. On the last day of our short trip we met Marc Campillo, the head of Barcelona-based indie label Foehn Records (before the viaje I contacted him via Facebook so our short encounter was not a surprise for both of us).

It took a small amount of time for us to find the place where Foehn is really based, and shortly after I pressed the button of the intercom and said "Hola! Soy Mikhail desde Rusia!" a man with the natural red-coloured hair appeared on the treshold. Also, he was in the I Am Dive (one of the definitive Foehn bands) t-shirt. He brought us four CDs that I'd ordered, and also 3 CDs additionally as un regalo for us. The Spanish people of music never cease to amaze me - they're all so amicable and welcoming, and Marc is not an exclusion at all.

Foehn Records is the home for the thinkful music. You won't find any pop-oriented moneymakers here.

From Marina Gallardo to Inigo Ugarteburu, from Ursula to Blacanova, from I Am Dive to Oso Leone, from Lucius Works Here to El Gos Binari - at least one common thing unites all these bands and artists as well as all other bands and artists on the label: you can't listen to them on a fly. To feel and to understand this music you should really dive into it. You should sit down and listen to. I said sit. Down.

The CDs I purchased:

Oso Leone "Mokragora"

Poomse "Vs. The Kingdom Of Death"

GAF y la Estrella de la Muerte "Sunriser"

Ursula "10 Anos Por Amigos"

The CDs Marc presented to us:

Blacanova "Blacanova"

tannhauser "Para Entonces Habras Muerto"

Lucius Works Here "Pequeno Almanaque Espacial"

All of them would be reviewed here pretty soon.

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)