Everything in Hop Along revolves around Frances Quinlan. Because, as well as being the founder of the band, Quinlan has one of those magnetic personalities that charms you from the word go. It is said, and it is true, that she doesn’t have one voice but 10: she can carry whatever song you want sounding tough, sweet, bluesy or screaming her head off, whatever the occasion requires. She makes you to actually believe in something. Luckily her bandmates (that include her brother on drums) are a versatile and nervy combo that carries Hop Along straight to the golden era of Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel and Modest Mouse. But this is 2018 and they are in Philadelphia. So besides their indoubtable indie rock skills, they offer a wide stylistic range and an empowering feminist discourse. Get on board, this is addictive.
Cada dilluns, cada setmana estem ‘On Fire’. Després de gaudir del Primavera Club. Divus Julius Bonasera torna amb la maleta plena de noves cançons. Demà estrenarem el més nou de Empress Of,Loyle Carner,Isaac Gracie, Courtney Barnett,HÆLOS o Little Dragon. També escoltarem el retorn de Beirut i ens fixarem en els concert de Cat Power,Iceage,We Are Scientists o Here Lies Man.
All those times when you refused to believe that Animal Collective were an updated version of The Beach Boys, you were right: the real update of the Wilson brothers’ harmonic Rubik cube is Palm (just listen to Composite, go check it). Although, as this Philadelphia quartet takes on the beach legacy by the most tortuous of the routes (that of wild pop experiments) they also sound like Avey Tare and Panda Bear. So you were half right… anyway, who cares? Palm’s melodious and instrumental talent is a hydra: out of every tune or arrangement that they splice there come several new ones. And all of them are good. Today in concert at La 2 of Apolo. Primavera Club.
There are artists who only know how to write from anger, and there are those who know how to turn everyday life, the day to day, into a universal pop song. Jaume Benedito is the latter, as you can clearly appreciate after just one listen to Oh, Tokyo!, an uncomplicated story of a journey to the Japanese capital with a declaration of love included: “I always wanted to be the man who took you to Japan”, says the chorus. This everyday life epic performed according to the teachings of maestros of refined chamber pop such as Neil Hannon, Edwyn Collins and Jens Lekman, is the backbone of Silent James. His songs are fleeting embraces of life to enjoy a sunny morning, to cheer up an afternoon or to let yourself be carried away by a calm nostalgia, the type that can condense our whole story into the best song in the world. Today in concert at 1PM at Centre Cultural Albareda, Primavera Club.
Everything started with Blonde: Frank Ocean proved, crystal clear, that thunderous bass was not necessary –sometimes even no bass was necessary– to make a R&B record bursting with rhythm, depth and punch. Softer, deeper. Many students applied at the school of Blonde, but none has been so outstanding as the American artist serpentwithfeet with his debut. With soil, his first record, Josiah Wise offers himself to the audience through his voice. It’s powerful, polyhedral, penetrating, silky; it wraps itself around you like a python to finally whisper in your ear. With this voice and the subtle incredibly modern and textured electronic bases by Clams Casino and Katie Gately, serpentwithfeet remains true to his commitment to free love (and break up) that represents his debut: from the heart of the earth, from a whisper in a deep hole, but destined for the sky. Today in concert at La2 of Apolo. Primavera Club.
Fa anys que el Primavera Club, edició de tardor i sota cobert del festival mare, ha abandonat el model del reclam a cop de cap de cartell a favor de l’aposta pels grups que preveuen que ho petaran aquesta temporada, alguns dels quals ja acumulen milions d’escoltes en alguns hits (encara que penseu que no els coneix ni sa mare). Per gaudir en les distàncies curtes de bandes que potser d’aquí a no gaire tocaran davant de milers –alguns potser al Primavera Sound–, i a preu de gran ganga, fitxeu tot el cap de setmana a l’Apolo, o un d’aquests dies.
Divendres 26
Gran dia per als ritmes vintage, amb el mambo i el son cubà d’inspiració anys 50 d’Orquesta Akokán, i Altin Gün, homenatge al folk psicodèlic turc dels 60 i 70, tot plegat rematat per Habibi Funk i Athens of the North, vinilíssimes sessions de disco, soul, boogie i nuggets àrabs. Atenció també a l’R&B futurista introspectiu de Tirzah, i al (hip) pop domèstic i simpàtic de Jimothy Lacoste i Boy Pablo.
Dissabte 27 Kadhja Bonet fa soul sofisticat i retro; Serpentwithfeet, soul futurista i devastador. Halo Maud fa pop afrancesat somiador; Flohio fa por a cop de flow. Més promeses (complertes) del rap? Octavian, Jpegmafia i Slowthai. I el refugi pop? Hop Along. Però el must serà el sabor galego amb autotune d’Esteban & Manuel.
Diumenge 28
Festí de noves veus femenines amb coses a dir, amb substància en el fons i alegries en la forma a càrrec d’Ama Lou (R&B), Stella Donnelly(folk) i Buzzy Lee (pop de cambra produït per Nicolas Jaar). Snail Mailpodrien repetir el triomf d’Alvvays fa quatre anys, i Palm fan math pop wilsonià. No us perdeu tampoc la presentació de Cupido, la ‘boyband’ pop de Pimp Flaco i els madrilenys Solo Astra.
The lost paradise of Latin music pre-bogaloo and pre-salsa is the dancehalls of Havana and New York in the 50s and 60s. Orquesta Akokán, twelve outstanding Cuban musicians of different generations led by the singer José “Pepito” Gómez, in their debut recover the styles that swept through those dance temples like a Caribbean hurricane: mambo, chachacha, Latin-jazz… Their desire to recover those sounds, as old as a well-matured rum, is an injection of traditionalism that is not so different from the impulse which drives the most traditional Americana artists. But reproducing the sound (long live variety!) of those Latin big bands is much more demanding: you have to have experience, to sing like a star, to have a special rapport, and basically you have to give it your everything. Well, Orquestra Akokán is the sort of band that puts its heart into every note it plays. Because in Yoruba that is what Akokán means: heart. This next friday in concert at Sala Apolo, Primavera Club.
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
Ville à Dômat 