Estimados, aquí os dejamos la primera parte de la crónica del Indietracks. En unos días pondremos el resto.
Lo primero era llegar
Creo que era la primera vez que dabamos tantas vueltas para llegar a un festival.
Esto provocó inicialmente en mí un poco de angustia, ya que nos levantamos a las 6 y media de la mañana el pasado viernes y hasta pasadas las 3 de la tarde no llegamos al hotel en Derby.
Una vez allí nos pusimos a preparar todo para disfrutar de nuestra primera tarde de festival. Gracias a la información de la web del festival pudimos encontrar el bus que te llevaba desde Derby al 'Midland Railway Centre', sitio desde el cual un tren de vapor te llevaba al festival.
La foto se corresponde a la parada de Derby en donde se cogía el autobus y los que estamos en la imagen somos los españoles que nos unimos para encontrar el camino hacia el Indietracks. Al lado unas inglesas también con muchas ganas de marcha.
El primer día fue la toma de contacto, descubriendo como se organizaba todo y viendo los 3 únicos conciertos que había.
Poca gente acompañó ... primeras caras conocidas (y es que este año ha habido bastantes españoles por allí) y las primeras cervezas (como curiosidad comentar que había una selección de cervezas de las cuales la stronghold fue la que más me gustó de todas), eso si, a temperatura ambiente, ya que allí no se toman frias.
De los conciertos, pongo notable a Rose Elinor Dougall, cuyo directo sorprendió. Modular un aprobado y mal para Au Revoir Simone (demasiado aburrido). Aquí una muestra de las canciones de la componente de las Pippetes.
360º de Separacion
Que placer saber que todos los amiguitos de la foto de ayer tienen fotolog para poder compartir experiencias por aquí.
Y gracias a ellos puedo matizar que lo que tomaba no era cerveza sino sidra, y cuyo nombre es Strongbow (Eva también me lo chivó ayer al leer los comentarios..jejeje).
Hoy en la foto otro amigo español, del cual teniamos referencias ilustres gracias a su blog musical 360º de separación ( 360º de Separacion ). Se llama Manuel y es un entendido en esto del PoP.
Gracias a él no nos perdimos a un par de grupos que fueron de lo mejorcito del festival: Eux Autres y Help Stamp Out Loneliness. Tomar nota de estos nombres.
Además, Manuel vino con un grupo de amigos alicantinos con los que pasamos buenos momentos... sin ir más lejos a muchos de ellos se los ve bailando en este video de Cats On Fire (Higher Grounds):
Mañana seguiremos escuchando buena música .... que ya la tenemos toda subida a youtube. ;-D
Y la música se convirtió en protagonista
Creo que es en el único festival en donde nada me ha resultado indiferente, y creo que el motivo es que todo lo que escuchaba era POP.
Todos los grupos siguen el patrón de la música que me gusta y ha sido un placer el poder escuchar de nuevo a bandas de las que soy fan (Cola Jet Set, Zipper, Cats On Fire, Kevin McGrother...), a otras que descubro de forma grata (Help Stamp Out Loneliness, Sucrette, Downdime, Eux Autres, Mighty Mighty, Friends...) y otras a las que me apetecía mucho escuchar en directo (Pocketbooks, Butcher Boy, Northern Portrait, Gordon McIntyre...).
Hoy la foto está dedicada a todos los grupos que han ido al Indietracks (algunos de los cuales he tenido el placer de verlos, ya que no se podía estar en todos sitios).
Os dejo una primera entrega de los videos grabados.... la semana que viene continuaremos con más.
Zipper - Cremmalera Sonaron muy muy bien.
The Smittens No me contagió mucho su alegria. Curiosa la voz grave del tipo alto de gafas.
The School Pude verlos sólo un poquito pero me encantó su pop de multiples matices.
Teenage Fanclub Espectaculares. Éxito tras éxito.
Pocketbooks Pop dulce.... por fin escuchamos en directo el 'Falling Leaves'.
Northern Portrait Demasiado parecido a veces a los Smiths con algo de pose... pero destacaría su canción 'Crazy'.
Estimados, Minutos Musicales os desea que paseis unos días fantásticos, plagados de la compañía de la gente que os quiere.
Y para celebrar estos días que vienen, os dejamos música en mayúsculas: Ballboy. Gracias a una amiga hoy puedo disfrutar del último cd de este grupo de Edimburgo (gracias Claudia)... un lujo para los sentidos... y que me encantaría compartir con vosotros.
El año que viene verá la luz el doble CD de Minutos Musicales con lo mejor del 2008, el DVD con toda lo recopilado este año en Minutos Musicales (que es mucho) y haremos públicas las fiestas que hemos estado organizando durante los últimos meses y que me han hecho no poder enviar tanta música como me hubiera gustado.
El 2009 se presenta lleno lleno de sorpresas. Estad atentos. ;-D
"Ballboy are 3 boys and 1 girl from Edinburgh in Scotland. We have been making independent music since November 5 1999 which was the launch date of our first ep - Silver Suits for astronauts.
Since then they have released 5 albums:
Club anthems 2001 A Guide for the Daylight Hours The Sash My Father Wore and Other Stories The Royal Theatre I worked on the ships
They have toured the UK too many times to count and have been lucky enough to tour the USA and Sweden also (not forgetting one memorable snowy, drunken show in Berlin too)."
Estimados, este grupo estará tocando este fin de semana (más concretamente el día 12 de septiembre) en el Lemon Pop Festival de Murcia. Lo hará junto a La Casa Azul, Lidia Damunt, Triángulo de Amor Bizarro, Souvenir, Ellos...
El lider de esta banda, David Gedge es quien dirige The Wedding Present desde mediados de los ochenta. De igual forma que otros como Robert Smith y sus The Cure, Gedge es el único miembro fundador de la banda que permanece entre sus filas y también el responsable de la mayor parte de su repertorio. Su pop musculoso es toda una referencia en el espectro indie internacional.... de hecho para mí es una referencia que hayan sido este año cabezas de cartel en el festival Indietracks (http://www.indietracks.co.uk/).
Y tan musculoso... echad un ojo a la fuerza de sus composiciones. Sólo una recomendación: si alguna vez váis a verlos, elegid bien la cita y seleccionad la sala más pequeña a la que asistan ya que la potencia gana cuanto más pequeño es el local.
"The Wedding Present have had eighteen UK Top 40 hit singles… not bad for a band that has, from its inception, stubbornly refused to play the record industry’s game. That was back in 1985 when David Lewis Gedge boarded a National Express coach in London with 500 records packed into a pair of his mother’s suitcases. In this fashion, the debut single GO OUT AND GET ’EM BOY! was collected from the pressing plant, delivered to the distribution company, and The Wedding Present was born. That pioneering spirit has been at the core of the band’s philosophy ever since. From GEORGE BEST, "an unmitigated delight" [NME], the first full-length release on their own Reception Records onwards, the band has charted an appealing, if often eccentric, course of its very own.
With the early releases on their own label The Wedding Present acquired a reputation for bittersweet, breathtakingly honest love songs immersed in whirlwind guitars, so it was extraordinary that UKRAINSKI VISTUPI V JOHNA PEELA, with the band exploring traditional Eastern European folk music, should be the major label debut on RCA. “(They) carry off what is basically a bold experiment with verve” [NME]. However, this was soon followed by the more traditionally incendiary BIZARRO, “simply unbeatable” [Melody Maker] which featured their first hit single KENNEDY. Sounds Magazine said: “it’s their major label debut, but it’s a transition they’ve mastered beautifully”.
The next step, made with characteristically twisted Wedding Present logic, was to enlist noise-mongering [and, at that point, relatively unknown] sound engineer Steve Albini’s aid at a time when everyone else was releasing ‘Madchester’ dance mixes. The resulting SEAMONSTERS, recorded in the snowy wilds of Minnesota in just 11 days, suggested a more thoughtful Wedding Present. The Guardian newspaper noted that: "Albini has given The Wedding Present considerable weight, with Gedge’s voice trickling between banks of scowling guitars". Indeed, the singing ranged from sensual whispering to feverish screams.
The band came up with their next intriguing idea in 1992. By the end of December, The Wedding Present had released twelve singles, one per month, equalled Elvis Presley’s 35 year old record for "most hits in one year", rekindled everyone’s interest in that ultimate pop format, the 7" and led the NME to describe the band as "casually revolutionary and underhandedly unique". A gang of impressive names, including Ian Broudie from The Lightning Seeds and legendary Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller collaborated on the industry-challenging project, ultimately to be compiled on the two HIT PARADE albums and awarded "record of the week" by Tony Parsons in The Daily Telegraph.
WATUSI, produced by Steve Fisk (a prime mover in the celebrated avant-garde scene of Seattle), whisked the band off into another new area with its lo-fi pop, three-part a capella harmonies and Waikiki-ready surf strains. This “strong, multifaceted album” [Select], sprinkled with 60s and 70s pastiches, was described by some critics as their most varied and dynamic to date. “Watusi is (their) ‘White Album’, a late period re-assessment of their sound that finds them doing what they do best” [Melody Maker].
In 1995, the band released yet another 7" single, SUCKER, and completed a British tour with two drummers. Although the record sold several thousand copies and reached No.3 in The Festive 50 (the late BBC DJ John Peel’s end of year listeners’ poll) you won’t see it in any other charts, because, typically, it was only available at the concerts or by mail order.
The band returned to a more traditional form of record distribution with the car themed MINI, "a gem of a record" [Melody Maker] in which Gedge cloaked his tales of love, lust and infidelity with automobile symbolism in what can only be described as a concept album. To commemorate this release, the band played at the BBC’s Sound City Event, which was held that year in Leeds, the group’s home town. During the concert, the winner of a prize draw was announced, and a lucky Wedding Present fan became the owner of a real life classic Austin Mini motorcar provided (and delivered!) by the band.
For the next full length LP, the group decided to apply a decade’s worth of studio experience and produce the record themselves. Thus, the Top 40 album SATURNALIA was released by Cooking Vinyl to a flurry of critical approval. The NME exclaimed that "David Gedge has just written one of the best pop albums of the year" while The Melody Maker noted that in the new recordings, which were completed in the London studios belonging to The Cocteau Twins, you could "hear an experimentalism that would send half of New York back to the lab".
It was at this point in 1997 that Gedge started work on a new project called CINERAMA. A fittingly titled outfit, Cinerama indulged Gedge’s love of film music from John Barry to Blaxploitation via Ennio Morricone. Cinerama started life as a duo, Gedge and his girlfriend Sally Murrell, together with a shifting line-up of collaborators. 1998’s VA VA VOOM “turbo-driven melodies and bittersweet vignettes taking in everything from John Barry to the Zombies” [The Times] featured The Church’s Marty Wilson-Piper and Emma Pollock from The Delgados. Then, in 1999, Gedge rescued the rhythm section of the disbanded Goya Dress (Terry de Castro and Simon Pearson) and combined them with Wedding Present guitarist Simon Cleave. From 2000 the line-up remained relatively steady, apart from Finnish drummer Kari Paavola later replacing Pearson and Murrell’s eventual retirement from live performance.
Surely on pace to rival the abundant shelf filling of The Wedding Present, Cinerama released a clutch of singles in support of their debut LP, as well as a number prior to 2000’s Steve Albini-recorded DISCO VOLANTE “dangerously, seductively sweet” [Melody Maker]. Notable were the heart-rending SUPERMAN (complete with alternative Spanish take) and the six and a half minute epic HEALTH AND EFFICIENCY (also available in French!).
The third Cinerama studio album, TORINO (released in 2002), was much darker than the first two, with Gedge returning to a guitar driven sound and deciding to write predominantly about infidelity. “Cinerama are escaping the shadow of Gedge’s illustrious indie-legend past. Torino is a giant beast of adulterous lyrical fantasies, cult soundtrack flourishes and the screams of Albini-engineered guitars” [Uncut].
At the end of 2002, Gedge and Murrell unexpectedly split up, and he decided to leave Leeds, his home for the preceding twenty-four years, and move to Seattle in the USA. Following the end of this fourteen-year relationship, Gedge began writing a collection of songs apparently influenced by his despair over the split. TAKE FOUNTAIN, the resultant album, was recorded in Seattle by Steve Fisk [who also produced WATUSI, The Wedding Present’s 1994 LP] and released, perhaps ironically, on St. Valentine’s Day 2005. This saw Gedge reviving The Wedding Present name for the first album since 1996’s SATURNALIA to a torrent of critical acclaim. TAKE FOUNTAIN “is as eloquent an emotional discourse as he has mustered. Gedge has never before assimilated harsh rock textures to orchestral arrangements with such power.” [Mojo]. “Gedge hasn’t sounded this belligerently broken-hearted since 1987’s MY FAVOURITE DRESS” [Uncut]. “Fans have long since recognised Gedge as more poet than pop star. Like Byron without the marsh fever, TAKE FOUNTAIN confirms his status as an extraordinary songwriter” [The Times].
In the wake of TAKE FOUNTAIN’s success, and after almost an eight-year hiatus, The Wedding Present set out on a mammoth twenty month concert tour of Europe and North America which included most of the major festivals and ended in November 2006. In December of that year Gedge relocated to Hollywood, California, where he is currently living and writing but ventured back across the Atlantic in October 2007 when The Wedding Present performed the GEORGE BEST album live as part of a George Best “Twentieth Anniversary” Tour of Europe. Following that tour the band reassembled in at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio studio in Chicago to record “El Rey”. "
Grupo: The Wedding Present Disco: El Rey Año: 2008 Web oficial: http://www.myspace.com/theweddingpresent Canciones destacadas: SpiderMan on Hollywood, Santa Ana Winds, I Lost The Monkey, Swingers y The Thing I Like Best About Him is His Girlfriend
Estimados, hoy estamos, sin duda alguna, delante de uno de los mejores discos de este año 2008.
This Is Ivy League es un grupo con una lenta pero reposada carrera musical. Tienen un EP ("London Bridges") y acaban de publicar su primer disco selftitled. Su biografía según relata su myspace es la siguiente:
"Alex and Ryland met in 1997 in High School. Both were avid guitar players and both played in local bands with varying degrees of accolade. Alex got Ryland a job waiting tables at "Mr. Deli's Jewish Delicatessan," in Boca Raton, Florida. A few years later, Alex went off to pursue a degree in the culinary arts while Ryland procured his BFA in Acting. The two lost touch for seven years. Ivy League formed in August of 2005 when Ryland discovered that his old friend Alex was not only still playing music but living just ten minutes away from him in Brooklyn, NY. The duo quickly began writing songs together."
Y esto es lo que dice mi amigo Gustavo, del blog Take The Pills.
"Here is another wonderful indie pop release from this year. This Is Ivy League is based in Brooklyn and is formed by Alex and Ryland, the duo play amazing psychedelic pop songs with lovely well crafted jangly guitars wich reminds a lot of Blueboy. The album has some folk influences too, especially from Simon & Garfunkel. You have to hear this, so don't miss it!"
También os dejo la crítica de este disco de la web 'la karniceria': "Pocos discos hoy en día ofrecen un repertorio con la calidad del disco que nos ocupa. Se trata del debut de Alex Suárez y Ryland Blackinton, dos amigos, que bajo el nombre de This Is Ivy League no tienen reparos en reunir lo mejor de unos y lo más efectivo de otros para convertirlo en una excelente colección de canciones con identidad propia. De este modo, su disco homónimo suena sencillamente a pop del clásico, con melodías bonitas y estribillos pluscuamperfectos que harán las delicias de todos aquellos que oyentes que aún disfruten escuchando power-pop o sonidos acústicos similares a aquellos de los que tanto provecho sacaron pioneros como Simon & Garfunkel.
Digamos que uno tiene medio partido ganado cuando es capaz de incluir temazos como “Love is impossible” o “London Bridges” en su primer disco. Temas como “The Richest kids”, “Celebration” o “Don’t waste your love on me” nos hacen darnos cuenta de toda la influencia que actualmente Belle & Sebastian ejercen en numerosos grupos ingleses. Los momentos más tranquilos o más acústicos comandados por “An introduction”, como “A summer chill”, “Modern world”, “Til the day”…, se acercan descaradamente a la calidez de la música de bandas como Kings of Convenience. Por último, conviene no perderse ese delicioso homenaje que hacen a la bossa en “Viola”."
Grupo: This Is Ivy League Título: This Is Ivy League Año: 2008 Web oficial: http://www.thisisivyleague.net/ y http://www.myspace.com/ivyleagueonline Canciones destacadas: A Summer Chill, Celebration, Don´t Waste Your Love On Me, London Bridges, Love Is Impossible y The Richest Kids
Estimados, este es el primer disco que me ha gustado sobre manera en el 2008. Hot Chip han sabido combinar perfectamente la electrónica, con ritmos bailables, con sonidos huecos y profundos.
Hot Chip es una banda británica de electropop. Tiene 3 álbumes en el mercado.
La banda se formó en el año 2000 a raíz de varios trabajos realizados previamente entre 2 de sus miembros, Alexis Taylor y Joe Goddard. Tras autoeditarse varios álbumes, firmaron en 2003 con la discográfica inglesa "Moshi Moshi", con la que sacarían su primer álbum, de nombre Coming on strong, en 2004. James Murphy, líder de LCD Soundsystem, se interesaría en ellos y los contrató para su discográfica DFA en Estados Unidos.
Un año después firmarían con la discográfica EMI para Reino Unido y su segundo álbum, The warning, ganaría bastante más repercusión. Su single "Over and over" sería considerado como "canción del año 2006" por la revista musical británica NME[1] . Su último álbum, Made in the dark, salió a la venta el 4 de febrero de 2008 y su primer single "Ready for the floor" alcanzó buenas posiciones en el UK singles chart.
El grupo también destaca por sus actuaciones en vivo y sus remixes de otros temas. En España el grupo ha actuado en festivales como el Sónar o el FIB.
"Hot Chip formed in 2000, though members Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard had previously worked together and had been in the same sixth form at Elliott School in Putney, London. In an interview, Goddard said that early Hot Chip music was written like sixth-form poetry, with acoustic guitars. However, the band completely changed direction because they got "so pissed off with it" and decided to try and make the most inane songs they could.[1]
After years of self-releasing records, they signed with Moshi Moshi in 2003 and released their debut LP Coming on Strong in 2004. Soon after this they started working on their second album and signed a US record deal with the DFA Records who re-released their debut album in late 2005.
In 2006 Hot Chip released their second album, The Warning. Now signed to EMI in the UK, the band gained much more mainstream appeal as well as the attention of critics. The album was shortlisted for the 2006 Mercury Music Prize[2] and was Mixmag's Album of the Year 2006. This album spawned also two UK top forty singles: "Over and Over" in March 2006 and "And I Was a Boy from School" in May 2006. "Over and Over" received attention for its music video, which was directed by Nima Nourizadeh, and was also named as the best single of 2006 by British music magazine NME.[3]
The band is also well-known for their live shows, because they often reinvent their songs on stage, creating a completely different sound to what might be the official version. Recent festival appearances include Dour Festival, Glastonbury, Sónar, Benicassim, Electric Picnic, Bestival, Lovebox, the Reading and Leeds Festivals, the Summer Sundae festival, the Big Day Out T in the Park , Summer Sundae and Splendour In The Grass (2007). They released a DJ-Kicks compilation in 2007, which included a new song called "My Piano", also released as a 12".
The band are also known for their DJ talent; all five members took part in a DJ set live on BBC Radio One's The Essential Mix radio program, hosted by Pete Tong, on December 29, 2007.
The band released their third studio album, Made in the Dark, on February 4 2008. The first release out of it was "Shake a Fist" which was released as a limited one-sided 12" in September 2007. The first proper single was "Ready For The Floor" in January 2008, which reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart.
In January 2008 the band appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross to promote "Ready For The Floor". Joe Goddard appeared on Never Mind The Buzzcocks on Thursday 31st January."
Grupo: Hot Chip Disco: Made In The Dark Año: 2008 Web oficial: http://www.hotchip.co.uk/site/ y http://www.myspace.com/hotchip Canciones destacadas: Ready For The Floor, Bendable Poseable, Out At The Pictures, Hold On, Made In The Dark y Touch Too Much
Estimados, aquí os dejo un par de temas que se pueden extraer de un grupo con claras referencias heavys pero que ha sabido perpetuar un sonido parecido a Dinosaur Jr. y que tildaría como 'sonidos de potencia contenida y sutil puesta a disposición'.
Según se definen en la web de su discográfica son un grupo revival de rock and roll liderados por 2 hermanos cantautores (Brad & Courtney).
"Blood on the Wall is a lo-fi, Brooklyn-based indie rock band, influenced by bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain, Pavement, Pixies, and Sonic Youth. Band members include siblings Courtney (bassist/vocalist) and Brad Shanks (guitarist/vocalist) and drummer Miggy Littleton. They have released two full-length albums, Blood on the Wall (2003) and Awesomer (2005). Blood on the Wall are signed to the Brooklyn based label The Social Registry.
The band toured with Yeah Yeah Yeahs in 2006.
Discography Blood on the Wall (2003) Awesomer (Social Registry, FatCat) (2005) Liferz (2008) "
Estimados, aquí recojo el comentario pertinente de la web 'Hypersonica' (http://www.hipersonica.com/) en donde se destaca con mucho criterio el disco que hoy os presento. Como resumen decir que la electrónica en un formato semi-duro llega hoy a vuestros oidos.
"Mark E. Smith, cabeza pensante de los imprescindibles The Fall, y los alemanes electrónicos Mouse on Mars se han unido para crear el disco que a LCD Soundsystem no le sale (y ahora que se arrima al sonido U2 aún menos). Bajo el nombre de Von Südenfed y con el disco Tromatic Reflexxions, el trío calavera ha creado un sonido de baile chulesco, quebrado y muy macarra.
Fledermaus Can´t Get It, primer tema del disco, engancha rápidamente encajando todos las piezas de este puzzle. Sobre un ritmo destinado a contagiarse a todos los huesos de tu cuerpo y ruiditos electrónicos, Mark E. Smith se pone su careta habitual (la de chulo de barrio) y escupe sus textos. Tan pegadiza como el Heart Of Hearts de !!!.
La fórmula funciona en otras muchas canciones. En Flooded aplicándole unos cuantos ritmos rotos, en Family Freud dándole pátina de R&B lujoso a los Missy Elliot, en The Rhinohead aplicándole una melodía pop y dejando por los suelos a los mediocres Kasabian.
Puede que al disco le venza su extensión y su falta de variedad (ahí alivian el tema Chicken Yaiamas o Dearest Friends). Puede que el experimento les hubiese quedado mucho mejor en formato corto. Pero es el disco ideal para ponerte contento mientras te preparas para salir de juerga y para hacer el cafre a altas horas de la noche. ¿Qué más se puede pedir de un pasatiempo temporal hasta para sus propios creadores?"
Grupo: Von Südenfed Disco: Tromatic Reflexxions Año: 2007 Web oficial: http://www.myspace.com/vonsudenfed Canciones destacadas: Flooded, Fledermaus Can't Get Enough, Dearest Friends y The Rhinohead
"Blood on the Wall is a lo-fi, Brooklyn-based indie rock band, influenced by bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain, Pavement, Pixies, and Sonic Youth. Band members include siblings Courtney (bassist/vocalist) and Brad Shanks (guitarist/vocalist) and drummer Miggy Littleton. They have released two full-length albums, Blood on the Wall (2003) and Awesomer (2005). Blood on the Wall are signed to the Brooklyn based label The Social Registry.