críticas-reviews

Festival de les Arts: en valencià no parlem, però doneu-nos els vostres diners

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Festival de les Arts: en valencià no parlem, però doneu-nos els vostres diners

El Festival de les Arts és un festival urbà que se celebra a València al juny. Al contrari que els festivals tradicionals, on els assistents van d’acampada, té lloc al recinte de la Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències de València. És la resposta valenciana al SOS 4.8, festival murcià indie que començà menut i ha acabat per convertir-se en una de les cites ineludibles del panorama musical independent de l’estat, o al Primavera Sound, el festival que ara com ara més prestigi té a Espanya (després del FIB). Està controlat per una empresa que pertany als germans David i Antonio Sánchez, madrilenys, … [Read more...]

Review: Tipos de Interés and Futuro Terror @ Magazine

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Review: Tipos de Interés and Futuro Terror @ Magazine

Can you play a keytar? Do you even know what a keytar is? I’m not sure I’d ever actually been in the same room as one before this show. Where does one even get a keytar? Have you ever walked into a music shop and seen anyone perusing the available models of keytars? “Yeah I’ll take the Right Said Fred signature model in white with a Fender strap and I’d really like to loop that through a big fuck-off fuzz pedal, really shake the fucking place to its foundations, yeah?” The Future of the Left bassist plays kazoo on one track. I saw her do it on a boat in Bristol once. But I had never seen a … [Read more...]

El problema de la música i València

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El problema de la música i València

Sempre he sigut conscient que no havia nascut a un lloc on els artistes internacionals venien. En vaig ser conscient per primera volta quan era ben menuda, i les Spice Girls van fer un tour que anà a Madrid, però no a València, i a partir d’aleshores ha sigut decepció rere decepció. (Els Backstreet Boys sí que vingueren a València, però jo sempre he sigut de les Spice). València és una ciutat anèmica quant a cultura musical, cosa estranya per a una ciutat amb un festival de bandes i una tradició popular molt forta de cercaviles i agrupacions musicals als barris. Però sembla que hi haja una … [Read more...]

Valencia Underground II

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Valencia Underground II

"There’s something rumbling in the Valencian underground..." Last year I saw fit to write about the Valencian underground music scene. Or, at least, that's where it started. The truth is that Spain is in the midst of an alternative music boom, with gigs of both nationally famous and local bands taking place nearly every weekend, filling venues with loyal fanbases. Just this week basque rockers Berri Txarrak sold out in Barcelona and Valencia. Last month madrileños Toundra had a hugely successful run in Spain and are currently on the UK leg of a European tour. And not to mention the recent … [Read more...]

Margarita [2014]

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Margarita [2014]

As soon as the drums kick in on Crudo y Crema, the opening track of Margarita's second album Explota El Cuerpo [2010], I'm taken back to the first summer I spent in Valencia. In fact, the whole album reminds me of driving along the carretera del Saler with the windows down, past the Albufera, towards the sweltering beaches south of the city. Margarita's brand of eccentric indie-punk-pop is much more pleasing to the ear than what that road -part of the infamous Ruta del Bakalao- is known for. As you can tell, that album pretty much soundtracked the summer of 2011, so I had high hopes for … [Read more...]

Primavera Sound 2014: a memoir

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Primavera Sound 2014: a memoir

I've always been vaguely aware of Primavera Sound's pretentious reputation, a bit -dare I say it- hipster? Come on. Stereotype with me. You've got Download: metal heads in a field, FIB Benicàssim: guiris camping on the surface of the sun, T in the Park: Scots on mandy jibbing at other Scots on coke, Primavera Sound: a big ball of bohemian yah. So I can't really complain... I knew what I getting myself into. But when a group of Glaswegians invited me on a lairy weekend in, possibly, one of my favourite cities on the planet, how could I refuse? I hastily packed all the denim I could … [Read more...]

Épico es poco: No More Lies, Carmonas y Cigüeña en el Magazine

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no more lies in the shade of expectation

Qué maravilla es poder ir al Magazine y, por 8 euros, ver del tirón a Cigüeña, Carmonas y No More Lies. Qué gozada, joder. No More Lies han vuelto este año tras un silencio discográfico de casi una década con In the Shade of Expectation (bcore, 2014), un trallazo a la altura de sus predecesores, lo que no es moco de pavo. Y este debía ser el primer concierto propio de los de Sant Feliu de Guíxols en Valencia en una eternidad, aunque habían pasado por aquí en los últimos años abriendo para Lehnmotiv y en el recordado Festunizer. Servidor, que justo cuando se empezó a enganchar a No More Lies … [Read more...]

Valencia underground

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Valencia underground

There's something rumbling in the Valencian underground, and we're not talking about the shoddy metro system... We left the ingeniously-dubbed Festunizer day-of-mayhem last October with feelings that maybe we were on the cusp of something big, something new. There has been a recent boom in hardcore/math rock/punk bands hailing from Valencia and we are quite literally witnessing a shift; a new scene is being born. This could change everything... 00:30am 27/10/13: Magazine club, in the Juan Llorens neighbourhood of Valencia, has just witnessed a 12 hour indie-punk-hardcore mash-up gig … [Read more...]

Cigüeña: tormenta contenida

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Cigüeña tocando

La primera vez que escuché a Cigüeña fue hace unos meses en el ya legendario Festunizer, y el flechazo fue instantáneo. Dos tipos, no precisamente unos púberes, tocando guitarra y batería con una intensidad memorable, pero con cierta elegancia. Algo así como un mamporro envuelto en terciopelo. Recuerdo que entré al Magazine a mitad de "Tormenta" y se me quedó grabada a fuego, cosa harto difícil por lo ajetreado del día (y por mi memoria de pez). Cigüeña es, pues, la suma de Unai (guitarra y voz) y Martín (batería), valencianos de adopción y nacimiento, respectivamente. Cuentan desde 2012 … [Read more...]

18/1/14: WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS!!! DEMOLISH EL LOCO

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18/1/14: WAU Y LOS ARRRGHS!!! DEMOLISH EL LOCO

Wau y Los Arrrghs!!! stormed through a raucous hour-long set last Saturday night, reducing the bursting-at-the-rafters El Loco gig space in Valencia to a sweaty, dancing beer-soaked mess. Firm favourites in the underground Valencia rock scene, WyLA!!! never fail to impress. I’ve been aware of this ever since I was dragged to a gig of theirs at Overbooking festival, set in an isolated building in the middle of the Albufera, in 2011. When it was clear that they were not going to make their 1am slot, the guiri in me nearly gave up and went home.  In retrospect I’m glad I stayed because a couple … [Read more...]