Kevin Morby, known for being the bassist of Woods and for being the leader of The Babies, began his solo career in 2013 with the release of Harlem River (Woodsist, 2013). A debut album based on a melancholy and warm folk-rock that led the New York musician, singer and composer to success. A tremendously special, magical and simple sound that has been exploited and experimented in his last two albums, Singing Saw (Dead Oceans/Popstock!, 2016) and City Music (Dead Oceans/Popstock!, 2017).
Kevin Morby has released this year an ambitious new album called Oh My God. The follow-up to 2017’s City Music is a double-LP concept record that brings the Los Angeles folk rocker’s religious imagery to the forefront.
The Visual is an Amsterdam-based outfit consisting of Anna van Rij (vocals/guitar), Timon Persoon (synths/electronics/keys) and Tim van Oosten (drums/percussion). Signed to Mink Records in 2017, they released their debut EP ‘Translation’ on December 15th 2017 at packed show at one of Amsterdam’s finest venues: de Melkweg.
That dreamy, cinematic quality runs through all eight tracks of the band’s debut album ‘Moments Of Being” released last year. Jim Morrison and Nick Cave are touchstones too, admired for their intensity and passion, but her real hero is the artist she’s most frequently been compared to, particularly in terms of singing – Jeff Buckley.
Beirut, the musical project led by Zach Condon, announce the return of its magical folk of Balkan reminiscences with epic sections of winds. After several years of silence and with No, No, No (4AD, 2015) as the last recording reference, the Santa Fe band will release in 2019 their fifth studio album Gallipoli (4AD, 2019). An album recorded between New York, Berlin and Puglia that presents, according to Zach himself, a more “extreme” approach to their sound making imperfections part of the songs. This friday in concert at Vida Festival.
The Good, The Bad & The Queen are a supergroup that need no introduction, made up of Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz), Paul Simonon (The Clash), Tony Allen (Fela Kuti), and Simon Tong (The Verve). This project first saw the light in 2007 in the form of a debut album The Observer called “one of the most surprising and magical albums Damon Albarn has been responsible for.” After eleven years of silence, this past November they released Merrie Land, their highly anticipated comeback and an album unquestionably influenced by the current political and social landscape. Straddling the line between melancholy and hope, this work is a reflection upon what it means to be British in our times, an era of indeterminacy as evidenced by Brexit and the international panorama.
Ezra Collective play a vital role in new sound of London Jazz by combining the delicate technicalities of Jazz musicianship with Afrobeat, Hip Hop, and many influences of Club culture tied together by a sound that’s unmistakably their own. 2017 saw the release of their genre-bending second EP “Juan Pablo: The Philosopher”, which they took on a successful tour across the UK and Europe. This year they’ve released their debut album ‘You Can’t Steal My Joy.’
What can we say about Jarvis Cocker that hasn’t already been said? He may describe himself as a short-sighted musician & broadcaster from Sheffield, but we know him as an icon. As the lead singer of Pulp for 34 years, he created songs that you’ve sung back at him and that have soundtracked all the important moments of your life. You also know him as the creator of two magnificent solo albums and as the man who released Room 29: a song-cycle written in collaboration with the Canadian pianist, Chilly Gonzales.
Last year he returned with new material. He played tiny clubs and caverns throughout the UK, presenting his new musical ensemble, JARV IS.
We apologise if we scared the hell out of some of you with that baseball cap in our Primavera Pack, the one that said ““Ex-indie”, before releasing the line up so that you could delight in all the names … and relax. Did you think we had forgotten about you, you nineties lovers? Never, whilst Stephen Malkmus has a guitar and still feels like playing it: and it is patently obvious on Sparkle Hard (2018), that the most famous fringes in Pavement have a long career ahead. With seven albums under his belt (one solo and the rest of them with The Jicks), the Portland artist leaves behind him spatio-temporal labels to bring together classical melodies and deafening contemporary lyrics (references to the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements included), without forgetting to deliver three or four tracks with his delightful morning sparkle trade mark, as reassuring as it is characteristic. And as he himself sings on Middle America, “I will not disappear”. We have Malkmus, habemus indie, for some time to come. Tonight in concert.
Advertisements
Radio Magazine about Barcelona's indie and alternative music & culture scene. Live broadcast every Thursday from 10.00PM to 11.00PM and Saturdays from 1.00PM t0 2.00PM at Barcelona FM 100.5
