ataque de caspa

Ataque de Caspa ~ Supongamos, Por Ejemplo (Independent, 1985. Released: 2011)

Madrid (Spain), circa 1985.

A group called Ataque de Caspa - Dandruff Attack - formed by one girl (Carmen) and five boys (Nacho, Lalo, Alfredo and Luis) recorded a few songs, played once on a tv show, did a few gigs and vanished. 

Internet (Earth), 2010.

We can say that a certain phenomenon happened... all of a sudden, bands were playing Ataque's songs in concerts, a 4 track ep from almost 30 years ago started to spread and a buzz was created around the band... suddenly, there was a myspace and facebook page. 

Now 'Supongamos, por ejemplo', a 6 track ep, is available for free download on bandcamp with two more songs. Impossible to describe the sound, really... not because it is 'different' but because it has that dust of time that gives an amazing feeling and atmosphere to it. It is C86, twee, Joy Division-esque at moments. In a perfect world, Cherry Red would've released their ep and they would be opening concerts for Orange Juice.

Close to none information is available online. What some people are saying is that after all this years away from music, they are recording new stuff with Los Nikis, a spanish pop punk band from the 80's. 

Also, a tribute album will be released, featuring some of the best bands of the new spanish indie scene like Los Punsetes, Klaus & Kinski and Triángulo de Amor Bizarro.     

Shake of the dust from the past 30 years and dance... here you'll find 6 glorious tracks that - thankfully - saw the light and ears of our times... 

01. Viaje a Egipto

02. Cronica China

03. LaLaLa

04. Nigeria

05. La Pesca

06. La Militar

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one year of original music from february records

Should've talked about this amazing compilation two months ago, when it was released... but hey, first things first. February Records is a small independent record label based in Connecticut, it was created a year ago and features independent artists from different music backgrounds but with a strong sense of indiepop and DIY connecting them all.
The compilation is a free download and is some sort of celebration of the first anniversary of the label. What a celebration, I say... I think the last time I got this excited with a compilation was when The Leamington Spa volumes were released.
'One year...' has 19 songs: one song for every artist/release of the first year of the label's existence (14 artists) and 5 songs from artists that'll have music released in 2011.
Americana, lo-fi, powerpop, dreampop, electronic, bubblegum, 60's driven pop... there's music to every kind of ear.
Highlights:
opening track 'I Thought You Wanted To Know' by Secret Charisma and its beautiful guitars;
'If Monday'd Never Come' by Brilliant At Breakfast with the cutest vocals ever and that sweet indonesian sense of indiepop melody;
'Westbound Train' by Two If By Sea, the most intimate song of the release with whispery vocals and calm electronic base;
and 'Indian Lunch Buffet' by Women's Basketball. A powerful song to jump and sing along; also holds the best verse of the compilation "The only two things that would make me feel ok today: an indian lunch buffet and your freaking face".
Really, if you had to listen to only one compilation for the entire year, 'One year of Original...' should be IT.

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01. Secret Charisma . I Thought You Wanted To Know

02. Abby Mott . She Don't Play Nice

03. Onward Chariots . Seven Miles Away

04. Boy Genius . When Sunday Goes

05. The Cavemen Go . The Saddest Affair

06. Even Artichokes Have Hearts . If

07. Dexter Poindexter . Sixteen Candles

08. Brilliant At Breakfast . If Monday'd Never Come

09. Ghost Of Chance . Jennifer

10. Summer Library . Past The Railroad Tracks

11. Two If By Sea . Westbound Train

12. The Month Of June . Daffodil

13. Birds Of California . Laugh Out Loud

14. The Tyler Trudeau Attempt . We've Got The Look

15.  Bourgeois Heroes . Elizabeth Is Bored

16. The Inclined Plane . The Wax Museum

17. The Fictional West . Soul For Suckers

18. Jayson Munro . Strangely Black Was The Night

19. Women's Basketball . Indian Lunch Buffet

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motorama. interview #36

photo by i. kasminin

Coinciding with the release of a new song through Holiday Records (and a new video!), today we feature Motorama: a russian band that will take you to the 80's cold wave era and post-punk movement and still will manage to set your heart on fire and give electric shocks to your feet with hints of twee and dreampop.
All of their releases are available for free and in case you don't know them the best advice I can give to you is to go download their songs as soon as possible.
'Alps' is their debut album and was listed on our best of 2010. It is a gem, a hidden gem that caught the attention of the blogosphere through warm arrangements, dreamy guitar hooks, strong bass lines and a deep voice.
Let yourself get lost into their magical summery forest, always haunted by cold winds.

New single: One Moment

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And here's my interview with Vlad: creative process, the album, references, influences, visual music and the internet killing the music industry are among the topics...

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music to see #13 (tennis edition)

1 interview + 3 official videos + 1 live performance







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summer fiction. interview #35

Summer Fiction is the latest project of Bill Richini, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The music is rooted in 60's pop but is not at all limited to (or by) that. It is, instead, the starting point to a journey through a range of musical styles that go from folk ballads to instrumental waltzes - comprising everything in between. It evokes The Beach Boys in happy moments, The Zombies in sad memories... but the thing that it's really special about it is the fact that isn't a fulfilled, complete happiness or sadness: it has shades of a complex mix of feelings translated through beautiful melodies and lyrics that are simple, nostalgic and evocative.

The album, was created in a way that the songs should work together as one piece, with a sense of a story being told. My personal interpretation is that the album comprises the entire summer:  first a certain excitement of infinite possibilities and then slowly – day by day (or song by song) – reality starts to sting. And you realize that reality had always been there but the love infatuations made you blind for it. The end of it has that feeling of the last day at the beach, when you suddenly realize that those days are not gonna last forever.
The band's Last.fm description also has a pretty good line/interpretation:
"The album loosely follows a young girl's coming of age but reads like the journal entries of the guys who fall for her".

Also, watch Chandeliers.

Here's our interview with Bill. We talked about the creation of the project, summer memories and creating music while riding the subway...

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radioseven

radioseven ~ radioseven (independent, 2011)

Feeling adventurous and like exploring the unknown lands of the universe (your own and ours?). Radioseven might be the perfect soundtrack for those modern souls that spend more time than they should looking to the stars and wondering why and when and where and how.
Combining guitars (echoing new wave-ish feelings) with a strong electronic base (not at all aseptic but involving and warm) , this project - created by an anonymous someone to keep it "purely artistic and ego-free" - aims to create music for late night and early morning hours.
While exchanging emails this morning, the artist said that the project "is also inspired by exploration and discovery. I'm disappointed that I've grown up with so much already discovered (like going to the moon)."

A new single is on the making and will be called 'Stellar Cartographer'. 

You can download the just released ep for free on bandcamp.

Here's the video for 'Explorers', the track that I think sums what we could call the Radioseven aesthetic.  

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music to see #12 (symfoniorkestern edition)

Sweden's smallest symphonic orchestra got a new song and video called 'Sommardepression '11'. To celebrate their magical melodies, we present you their 4 videos and the download link to the new song.

Get 'Sommardepression '11'


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written within

Twiggy Frosbite ~ Written Within ( Despotz Records, 2011)

Wake up but keep dreaming. Listen to the new song from this swedish band, formed with members from The Deer Tracks.'Written Within' is dark, layered and delicate. It's dreamy - and just like a dream - not obvious...
The opening text from the band's website talks about dreams and that feeling of being half asleep and half awake, and that's exactly the kind of feeling the song has.

It's great when a band has a clear aesthetic sense of what its music represents and yet, don't let it be constrained and limited by that. Dreaming, we'll wait for more...



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delay trees.interview #34

photo by Aapo Huhta

From cold Finland comes the warm melodies of Delay Trees. A four piece band that in 2009 released ‘Soft Construction’, a cinematic trip in form of a seven tracks ep (or a 7 track ep in form of a cinematic trip, it’s up to you to decide).
Then last year, came out their debut album, following the same path of indiepop mixed with some shoegaze/post-rock and an atmospheric melancholia previously heard on their ep.
What makes Delay Trees’ music stand out, is how appealing it is to the memory  (and here I’m talking about very personal memories). Their songs have the effect of a faded picture that you haven’t seen in years and that suddenly, takes you back to a place filled with nostalgia, that you haven’t been in a long time, but still hold a sense of familiarity and remember everything: the colors, smells, weight of the atmosphere…
This is not music you would present to an acquaintance; it requires a certain intimacy that you can only reach with someone you feel comfortable to talk about your feelings in the most honest way. That same intimacy is what makes Delay Trees music so deep and compelling.  

Here's my conversation with Rami: beginnings, inspirations, past memories, bad covers and the connection between music and image are among the topics.

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