telescopio

gasca ~ telescopio (elefant records, 2001)

gasca is this spanish techno pop band from st feliú de llobregat. actually carlos andreu gasca started working with electronics because wanted to make music. he couldn't sing too loud because his parents were sleeping on the room next door. this facts had deep influence on how his music would turn out to be... melancholic, dreamy, atmospheric.
but don't get me wrong, when i say techno pop i don't mean the usual. with the beats we hear a trombone throughout the songs... the record also contains guitars, drums, strings... but the highlight is the trombone.
the sound from gasca may appear quite similar to family, at first. but that's a first impression: slowly gasca creates an atmosphere towards transcendental subjects. the name of the album is perfect because the songs sound like they were made to be listened at night and looking to/for stars.
the construction of the album is flawless:
'lugar soñado' sets the mistery and melancholic mood that will be there till the end of the last song.
'vacaciones' is a happy-sad song with beautiful whistles... (what i really like is the abillity to create happy melodies contrastating with gloomy lyrics).
'estratosfera' comes back with the melancholic/airy melodies and with orchestrations and guitars that are amazing. (so amazing that in the vinyl released by elefant there's a bonus track only with the instrumental of the song).
'pensando en ningún lugar' is one of my favourites. it has an uplifting beat and gorgeous trombone and beautiful lyrics talking about nowhere.
'pol' is in the middle of the album and it's an instrumental piece that for a long time was my favourite song to walk around the city. again beautiful trombone lines with jangly guitars and amazing synths. (there's some words in french at some moment... i don't understand much of french but i think it's a song about pizza).
after the middle, the album turns towards a more introspective mood and a mix of a wider range of electronic sounds. 'telescopio' is the last track of the album and seems to get the feelings a bit happier, which is great!
this is an overlooked gem from the beginning of the decade ready to be (re)discovered.
(and if someone has any news about gasca, let me know!)




01. lugar soñado
02. vacaciones
03. estratosfera
04. pensando en ningún lugar
05. pol
06. viaje entre los pubs
07. el barco que describes
08. nube gris
09. nunca vas a volver
10. telescopio
11. (bonus)




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romancero

la bien querida ~ romancero (elefant records, 2009)

ana fernandez-villaverde is la bien querida. she caught some attention with a demo from 2007 and since then, there was much expectation for this release.
the music is a mixture of sounds/influences that goes from the melodies like la buena vida, family to traditional arabian music and flamenco. her lyrics tends to talk about love and heartbreaking. that makes her be described by some people as the female stephin merritt, from the magnetic fields...
the arrangements are beautiful... rich in sounds to be discovered little by little. david rodrigues (from la estrella de david and junco y diamante) is behind production and does a beautiful job... in fact, i think he's one of the most creative musicians in the spanish scene at the moment... "Ana wanted to domesticate David’s stratospheric arrangements and cubist production toward clean sounds that fit better with the friendly environment of her beautiful songs." (from elefant's site).
the album contains moments of flamenco-influenced songs, others full of orchestration or filled with beats and bleeps.
it's a beautiful album with great moments ( like the one formed by the first three songs and its extremely delicate mix of instrumentations contrastating with the simplicity of the lyrics and ana's voice). we'll probably hear a lot about la bien querida in the future, but the especulation around this release was too much.



01. ya no
02. corpus christi
03. de momento abril
04. a.d.n.
05. 9.6
06. cuando lo intentas
07. el zoo absoluto
08. 7 medidas de seguridad
09. bendita
10. santa fé
11. los estados generales
12. golpe de estado

video for the first single of the album 'de momento abril'


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rocks and tears

kelly slusher ~ rocks and tears (elefant records, 2002)

kelly lives in portland, oregon and this is her debut album. nine melancholic pop tracks filled with sweetness and dreamy, ethereal moods.
she got into music playing bass in a band called crash and britany but she wasn't happy because the sound was too noisy and her voice too delicate. what she really wanted was to sing her own songs with electronic beats.
so in rocks and tears (recorded in 2000 by dustin ruske from rocketship) she plays her beloved guitar, a beatbox and a delay pedal effect turning her voice into fragile cotton clouds going through your ears. gorgeous layering of harmonies from this diy lady.
great moments in 'untrue' as if new order were a incredibly shy girl; 'i need you' with dustin ruske singing with kelly; and '55 dollars'.




01. untrue
02. i'm the devil in the neighbourhood
03. sing that song
04. i need you
05. knee deep
06. movie
07. one more thing
08. i was wondering
09. 55 dollars

site
myspace
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