Peralta - Spain's Best Kept Secret - Live in Gijon, Spain 15/03/2019

A number of really good rock bands have come out of Spain over the years. One thinks of Los Brincos, of course, and Manta Ray, and also contemporary band Hinds.

Peralta rank along any of the above named. They are Spain's best kept secret. A throuroughly superb rock band. And I'm not the only one to think so. Sid Griffin, of the Long Ryders and the Coal Porters, says they his favourite band. And he should know. They've played together.

They are gigging once more around Spain and if you get the chance go and see them live, they really are an excellent good old fashioned hard rockin' live band. They really deserve to be better known.

Marcos Montoto is an outstanding guitarist, probably one of the best in Spain. He knows his Clarence White and has a knack of compact, melodic and slightly off the wall solos that really pack a punch. Pablo Gonzalez is a superb drummer, one of the best around. He has an innate drive and powerful funkiness that really push the band forward. He can also do Keith Moon style fills and come right back in on the beat. Angel Kaplan (rhythm guitar) and Juancho Lopez (bass) are a formidable rhythm section that anchor the fireworks and keep the band on track. They all write their own songs and do vocals and harmonies but most of the lead singing is handled more than competently (in English) by Pablo.

The band's self composed songs are tuneful and reminiscent of late period Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, CSN and classic mid 60s Garage Rock. They do a fantastic cover of the Gram Parson's Older Guys which rocks harder than the original (see clip below).

Their CD "Time Purpose and Gold"  is a favourite of mine and ranks alongside Beechwood Sparks or the Woods as a 21st century psych amerikana rock classic. It is is available for buying or free streaming on bandcamp here https://folcrecords.bandcamp.com/album/folc030-peralta-time-purpose-gold-lp

Do yourself a favour and check it out.

All in all, a live band that delivers great songs, has a fantastic rhythm section, does nifty off the wall guitar solos, play 12 string guitars, do harmonies, and even throw in some Who style feedback.

They tick all the boxes and just get better and better.

Why the hell aren't they better known?

Check out some of last Friday's gig in their hometwon of Gijon, Spain here.

and at their most who-like

Read more here http://strangerthanknown.blogspot.com/2014/12/peralta-time-purpose-gold-spanish-bands.html

Andreas Polyzogopoulos - Conciertos Consentidos, Gijon, Spain 28/10/2016

Some of my musical highlights of 2016 have been the series of jazz and soul concerts organized by Gus Zarrillo, Lidia Lopez and Miguel Uria as "Conciertos Consentidos" in Gijon. The quality of gigs has been so invariably high that it's almost a given that a good night's live music is guaranteed for all. However the best gig I've seen so far - in fact one of the best gigs I've seen this year - took place at the small Cafe Plaza Doze last Friday night and featured the young and rising Greek trumpeter Andreas Polyzogopoulos and his quartet.

He'd actually played the previous night at the larger Sala Acapulco and this show seemed to be an extra added at the last minute as kind of friendly informal follow-up and a chance for some local musicians get up and jam with him after the main set.

His style is economic and full of soulful subtlety often recalling 50s era Miles Davis. His band - Vasilis Stefanopoulos on bass, Drakos Ktistakis on drums and featuring Asturian virtuoso César Latorre sitting in on keyboards - set up relaxed but very tight jazz/funk grooves which give him plenty of space to explore and improvise.

I've not heard much of his recorded work but I get the impression his influences are pretty wide. He has even released an album of Pink Floyd cover versions which I'd love to track down. There is an ethereal spaciness in his playing which is reminiscent of some of Miles Davis early 70s work - especially In A Silent Way (one of my favourite albums ever by the way).

The gig in the Plaza Doze was packed out but the audience were hushed and reverent, aware that we were witness to one of the best displays of soulful jazz artistry we've seen in a long time.

It really was an outstanding show, the Conciertos Consentidos brand is now well on the way to becoming a trademark of quality. Let's hope there's much more to come. In fact I believe the next show is December 15th and features the Daniel Cano Quintet in the Sala Acapuco in Gijon.

Anyway, here are a couple of clips from Friday's Plaza Doze show

Andreas Polyzogopoulos, trumpet, Vasilis Stefanopoulos, bass, Drakos Ktistakis, drums, César Latorre, keyboards.

Band page http://www.andreaspolyzogopoulos.com

Conciertos Consentidos on facebook https://www.facebook.com/ConCiertosConSentidos/ 

Post main set jam with local musicians Felix Morales on drums and J.Ramon Feito on the keyboard on a fantastic version of My Funny Valentine. 

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Fatbeat! Powerhouse Jazz / Funk from Madrid

Asturian Jazz: The Xaime Arias Trio at the Alambique, Gijon, Spain 7/8/2014

Views of Spain - The Art of Arle Corte 

The Flamin' Groovies at the Gijon Sound Festival 15/4/2016

I have always had a soft spot for the Flamin' Groovies.

I bought their classic Shake Some Action as soon as it came out in the spring / early summer of 1976 on the strength of the review in the NME. That album, along with the first Ramones (which I bought exactly one week later - also on the recommendation of the NME) seemed to be the fast forward button into punkish things to come.

By 1976 there was change in the air. Punk was about to happen and the Groovies album, along with the similarly retro first two Dr Feelgood albums, appeared to point to the way forward, away from all the excess of early 70s glam and prog rock and back into a new refreshingly stripped down, black and white world of skinny ties, drainpipe trousers and the three chord trick.

In fact it's arguable that the Groovies were the first band to see 60s retro as a way forward - in the USA anyway. .At the time its resolute re-affirmation of the values of 1965 - three minute songs with catchy hooks and jangly guitars - can be seen as both a forerunner of, as well as an influence on, the likes of late 70s Mod revivalists The Jam, and also the later psychedelic Cosmic Amerikana bands of the early 80s - The Rain Parade, The Long Ryders et al.

Shake Some Action is a classic album brimful of some seriously catchy self penned songs (and a few covers) that still sounds fresh some 40 years later.

But it wasn't just that it had some great songs on it - I Can't Hide, You Tore Me Down, I Saw Her, Teenage Confidential are all classics - but it  also appealed to my own teenage 60s mod nostalgia obsession and I spent the latter months of 76 I trying to track down their previous albums Teenage Head and Flamingo - not easy in those days, as neither album had sold especially well and they were, by that time, long deleted.

However, due probably to the hype around the burgeoning UK punk scene and the Groovies evident influence on it along with other similar purveyors of high energy rock like the New York Dolls, Stooges and MC5 - whose albums I was also eagerly trying to track down at the time - both Teenage Head (1971) and Flamingo (1970) did get a surprise reissue as a double album package on the UK Kama Sutra label in late 1976.  

And when eventually I found it - in, of all places, Boots the chemist who, in those days, sold vinyl albums as well as cosmetics and aspirins - and took it home, I was staggered to hear a completely different band (Cyril Jordan and bassist George Alexander being  the only two musicians Teenage Head and Shake Some Action had in common) and musical approach; one that owed far more to the raunchy R'n'B of the Stones, and even 50s Rock and Roll, than to the jangling mid 60s poppery of the Beatles and Byrds. 

Teenage Head is in fact a classic hard rock album - comparable to the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers. Flamingo is no slouch either. On both albums singer Roy Loney swaggers and leers in best Jagger mode and guitarist Cyril Jordan also proves a dab hand at coming up with memorable chunky block chord riffs à la Keith Richards.  Lead track Teenage Head being a prime example.

As a guitarist Cyril should not be underestimated. Groovies albums are packed with some killer riffs - Slow Death, Heading For The Texas Border, High Flyin' Baby all come to mind and Shake Some Action (co-written by him and Loney's replacement, Chris Wilson) is a glorious pop song that really should have been a massive hit.

Strange to say though that despite being one of my favourite bands of 76 I never got to see them live.

So when I heard the reformed band - Roy Loney, Chris Wilson, Cyril Jordan, original founding member and bass player George Alexander, plus drummer Victor Penalosa - were coming to the Gijon Sound Festival on their 50th Anniversary tour, I was seriously looking forward to seeing them.

They did not disappoint. It was a blasting white hot set chock that drew on "hits" from both the early Roy Loney era and the later Chris Wilson band.

Cyril is still a very tasty picker and the years have given Loney's voice a power and confidence which I think he lacked as a younger singer.

Check these clips from Youtube for proof.

So, 50 years on from when they formed and 40 years on from when I bought Shake Some Action, this is how good they were...

Better than ever?

Shake Some Action!

More from the show here

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The Rolling Stones' finest hour - "Get Yer Leeds Lungs Out"...

The Sadies - This Week's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World live...

The Tarnished Gold - Beachwood Sparks

The Ugly Beats and Peralta live in Gijon 11/12/2014 - Sublime Nineteen-Sixty-Sixicity

The Sonics at Sala Albéniz, Gijon, Spain 8th October 2015

It was packed full. Overfull probably.

And it was hot. And it was fast. And it was loud.
It was everything a good old-fashioned rock'n'roll gig should be.

The Sonics really delivered at the Sala Albéniz in in Gijon on Thursday night. For a band whose members have already entered their seventies it was actually pretty shocking a times to witness the sheer raw power that these veterans of the 60s garage scene could summon up. The relentless pace and energy of the 75 minute set was of an intensity that would make bands half their age envious.

I must also confess to being a little surprised at how varied the audience was. The band certainly have a following in Gijon. Of that there is no doubt. The theatre was absolutely packed the to walls. And not with the old timers either but with a pretty varied range of ages. A lot of the younger people in the audience must have been at least a third the band's age.

The Sonics are tight and solid but for me the star of the show was drummer Dusty Watson (The Supersuckers, The Queers and even Dick Dale). He really drove the band forward. A band is only as good as its drummer they say. Well, the Sonics are a fantastic rock'n'roll band to see live and one of the reasons for that is most definitely Dusty Watson. The man is a drumming super machine.


Here they are playing the hits.

Jerry Roslie (keys/vox); Larry Parypa (guitar/vox); Rob Lind (sax/harp/vox); Dusty Watson (drums/vox); Freddie Dennis (bass/vox)

Sala Albéniz, Gijon, Spain 8th October 2015.

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The Jim Jones Revue triumph in Gijon, Spain 9/8/2014

The Sadies - This Week's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World live... 

Yé-yé! Spanish Nuggets - Ten 1960s Garage, Beat and Psych classics from Spain.   

Ryley Walker - Live in Gijon, Spain 8/7/2015

Ryley Walker in Toma 3, Gijon, Spain - Photo, D.Mainwood

Ryley Walker is gigging around Spain this July and turned up at the Bar / Book shop Toma 3 in Gijon to play an informal lunchtime acoustic set.

Although he started late due to some kind of road accident / traffic hold-up on the way, Ryley played a pretty relaxed set that went down well with the mixed audience of local musicians, hardcore fans and families with kids.

He's an impressive guitarist who brings to mind Davy Graham as well as Bert Jansch, Tim Buckley and more recently, especially on the new album Primrose Green, John Martyn.

I reviewed his first album All Kinds Of You on this blog last year - it's an excellent debut debut - but the new album goes way beyond into jazz territory that Martyn only hinted at on his early 70s Island albums. With its swirling jazz rhythms and pastoral English folk ambiance, it's one of my favourite albums of the year so far - and excellent summer listening. Check it out if you haven't heard it yet.

But anyway, here is a selection of Ryley's acoustic set in a packed bar in Gijon on a cloudy, muggy afternoon in July.


If I Were A Carpenter

Cocaine Blues

The West Wind

Tour Poster

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"All Kinds Of You" - Ryley Walker's debut continues the folk tradition of Bert Jansch, Davy Graham and Tim Buckley 

Asturian Jazz: The Xaime Arias Trio at the Alambique, Gijon, Spain 7/8/2014 

Fairport Convention Bouton Rouge Sessions   

The Cool Sound of Asturian Jazz - Carlos Pizarro...

UCSC Dorm Tape 1967 - Who is the mystery singer? 

Eli Paperboy Reed Trio - Gijon, Spain 7th March 2015

The Eli Paperboy Reed Trio hit Gijon last night for some deep down 'n' dirty blues, gospel, soul and Saturday night rock'n'roll.

Or I should say Sunday morning as the band didn't actually plug in and go until one in the morning. It was a long night for Eli as he also did a DJ set after the band finished.

I must say that, much as I like Eli's 60s Soul inspired albums, live is really the way to see him, and this back to basics Walkin and Talkin 10th anniversary tour really packs some primo blues'n'soul punches.

Eli has a phenomenal gospel inspired voice that is quite often reminiscent of Sam Cooke, Joe Tex or a more tender Wilson Pickett. The trio really gives his voice room to maneuver and also, I imagine,  allows for some gospel style vocal improvisation to take place.

An example of which may be seen on this clip when Eli's microphone broke in the middle of I'm Gonna Leave You Alone. He just carries on anyway and the result is some sublime soul. A really stunning performance.

And one that invited audience participation. The spirit was there and we were truly moved.
Watch.

And I swear the spirit of Sam Cooke was conjured up in the first 60 seconds of Take My Love With You.

Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Club in 1963?
Nope. Eli Paperboy Reed live in Gijon last night.
What a voice.

And this a cracking version of James Brown's Think.

The whole show was a brilliant example of gospel and soul flavored swamp blues with just the right amount of rock'n'roll chaos.

Just what you want in the midnight hour on a Saturday night.

Indeed, the very spirit of Saturday night itself.

Go see 'em.




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"Elvis is on the guest list" - Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Gijon, Spain 22/05/2014 

Gregory Porter - The Gijon Jazz Festival 

James Brown's Deep Funk - No synthetic effects. No Safety Nets... 

Key To The Highway - The Rolling Stones at Chess Studios 1964 and 1965 

Peter Green - "A Mind To Give Up Living" - The Blues of despair and salvation
 

The Brew - Gijon, Spain, 5th February 2015 Review

The Brew at Sala Acapulco, Gijon, Spain  © Arlé Corte

UK band The Brew gave a classic set of storming retro rock on Thursday night in Gijon, Spain. Seeing this power trio gives one the an idea of what it must have been like to see a very early Led Zeppelin or The Who around 1968 or 1969. Gibson guitars, Marshall amps, howling feedback drenched solos and even, at one point, a guitar solo with violin bow à la Jimmy Page.  

And a drum solo! 

26 year-old Jason Barwick is undoubtedly an extremely talented guitar player and is more than ably backed up by father and son rhythm section Tim Smith (bass), Kurtis Smith (drums). Check out their version of Hendrix's Little Wing on Youtube to cast aside any doubts about his undeniable string-bending talents.

How big would Jason have been in the guitar hero heyday of the early 70s? He certainly looks the part (on occasion reminiscent of a young David Gilmour or Steve Winwood) and evidently has the technique, imagination and fire that would have put him in the spotlight in a more guitar hero friendly age.

 Jason Barwick © Arlé Corte

Having seen Damian Chazelle's 2014 drum themed film Whiplash only the night before, Kurtis' drum solo (at times quite evidently inspired by John Bonham's Moby Dick) was also something I enjoyed more than I would ordinarily. I've never really been a fan of the drum solo. It's always seemed to me to be more about physical endurance (see Whiplash) and crowd pleasing rather than music - maybe it should be an Olympic sport. However one must applaud the physical exertion and accomplishment at least.


Here's a couple of clips from a show which I enjoyed immensely.
See below for some great photos of the show by Arle Corte


The Brew are
Tim Smith (bass), Kurtis Smith (drums) and Jason Barwick (guitar, vocals).

All photos by Arlé Corte. Many thanks to her for letting us post them here.

 © Arlé Corte

 © Arlé Corte

 © Arlé Corte

 © Arlé Corte

 © Arlé Corte

 © Arlé Corte

 © Arlé Corte

 © Arlé Corte

 © Arlé Corte

 © Arlé Corte

 © Arlé Corte

Bonus track for fans of Whiplash and John Bonham - That drum solo

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Amazing Journey - The road to "Live at Leeds". The Who Live in Philadelphia 19/10/1969

Cream live at the Spalding Bar-B-Que, 29th May 1967

Texas International Pop Festival with Led Zeppelin...

Led Zeppelin at Southampton University 1973 

Views of Spain - The Art of Arle Corte 

Peralta “Time, Purpose & Gold” - Spanish Band’s Homage to West Coast Rock is one of the best albums of 2014

"Peralta...mi Banda española favorita." - Sid Griffin (The Long Ryders)

2014 has been a pretty good year for my kind of rock’n’roll. If you are into 1960s influenced acid-tinged jangling sunshine psychedelia this year has really brought forth a bumper crop.

Woods, Real Estate and The Ugly Beats have put out their best albums to date and we have heard superb sophomore albums from Quilt and the Allah-Las. Add to the above the excellent psych-folk debut albums from Cian Nugent and Ryley Walker and you can see it really has been an excellent year.

An album that I really should have picked up on sooner – it was released in April – is Peralta’s debut Time, Purpose & Gold. I saw the band support the Ugly Beats in early December and was really impressed - so much so I decided to check out their debut album. I’ve been listening to it non-stop for the last two weeks and, for my money, it is worthy of being placed alongside the above mentioned albums as one of the best of a very good year.

Peralta are a band from Gijon in the north of Spain. Individually, they have been around for a few years playing in different bands on the local and international scene. Angel Kaplan played with the most recent incarnation of the Cynics and has also put out some high quality self-composed solo material which is also worth checking out.

Gijon has a thriving local band scene - originally known as the “Xixon (or Gijon) Sound” in its heyday in the 90s (see here for more on the Xixon Sound) - over the years the town has given us the pure pop of Australian Blonde, the experimental post rock of Manta Ray, the folk-pop of Pauline en la Playa and the garage punk of Dr Explosion. Solo artist Francisco Nixon has shown an extra-ordinary talent for writing wonderful 60s inspired catchy pop songs and the very successful folk troubadour Nacho Vegas has turned himself into a kind of Spanish version of Leonard Cohen and/or Bob Dylan.

Peralta are veterans of this scene and recorded an EP in 2012 which included an excellent version of Buffy Saint-Marie’s Indian Cowgirl In The Rodeo but this year’s Time, Purpose & Gold is their first full length album together.

It is an extremely impressive debut - for my money one of 2014’s best albums. It’s full of well-crafted, self-composed songs that are not only very catchy but bring to mind the early 70s glory days of Clarence White era Byrds, The Flying Burrito Bros, CSNY, Neil Young and even the Eagles as well as harder rocking Brit outfits like The Who (on You're Going Too Far) and The Faces (on Waiting For The Past).

As well as composing the material themselves the band also prove themselves to be expert players. They can really get into a groove. Pablo Gonzalez’s drums are outstanding throughout – especially on You’re Going Too Far – his urgent and exhilarating Keith Moon style fills and splashes really propel the song.

Guitarists Ángel Kaplan and Marcos Montoto are superb instrumentalists. Check out the guitars on Lock You In My Dreams. Great riff and a helluva solo.

The album is impressively consistent but also quite varied. Behind The Fence recalls the brilliant and sadly missed blues and bluegrass picking style of Clarence White whereas People Inside Of Me is anthemic hard rock and is reminiscent of The Who circa Quadrophenia

All in all, Time, Purpose & Gold is a superb collection of West Coast influenced rock. The vocals may occasionally lack confidence - understandable if one remembers English is not their native language - however the band show an unerring knack for clever and catchy song-writing and make inventive and memorable rock’n’roll. These are tunes that really stick in your head.

This album brings to mind some of the things I hold dearest - The Byrds, David Crosby,  Neil Young, The Grateful Dead, The Who, The Faces and 60s Garage Rock. It freely drinks from the same well of Cosmic Amerikana and 70s rock but, much like The Woods, Beachwood Sparks and The Sadies, Peralta attempt add something new to the mix and, in so doing, they are worthy followers of that pioneering tradition.

Stunning West Coast Rock brought to you from the north coast of Spain. It’s already on my list of summer 2015 beach listening.

If you too love all of the above click this link and listen to the album in its entirety. You won’t be disappointed http://folcrecords.bandcamp.com/album/folc030-peralta-time-purpose-gold-lp

Peralta are:

Marcos Montoto (guitar and vocals)

Angel Kaplan (guitar and vocals)

Pablo Gonzalez (drums and vocals)

Juancho Lopez (bass)

Bonus
Peralta and The Ugly Beats in Gijon doing a wonderful version of the Flamin' Groovies' I Can't Hide.

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20 years of the Xixon Sound

"All Kinds Of You" - Ryley Walker's debut continues the folk tradition of Bert Jansch, Davy Graham and Tim Buckley 

"Born With the Caul" - Cian Nugent and the Cosmos  

Horizonte Eléctrico - 10 Great contemporary Spanish bands...

The Tarnished Gold - Beachwood Sparks

Woods "With Light and With Love" - Review 

Yé-yé! Spanish Nuggets - Ten 1960s Garage, Beat and Psych classics from Spain. 

The Ugly Beats and Peralta live in Gijon 11/12/2014 - Sublime Nineteen-Sixty-Sixicity

Anyone who has taken even a slight shufti at this blog will have garnered (correctly) the impression that I hold the year 1966 AD in quite some high regard.

For me, it was the musical peak year of the 60s - the year with all the potential and none of the hang-ups. It was the year with all the promise, the energy and the momentum but with none of the excess that was to bedevil the end of the decade and the most of the 70s. 1966 is the year when, as Hunter Thompson wrote in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, “You can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”

And what a musical high water mark it was. The Beatles made Revolver, The Byrds put out Eight Miles High, Dylan released Blonde on Blonde and in San Francisco bands like the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Big brother were coalescing into the next new wave. 1966 felt like the year when it was all about to happen.

If you could return in time you’d set the clock for the spring of 66 wouldn’t you?

I would anyway. Summer in Swinging London, to see England win the World Cup, and then off to spend the rest of the year on Haight Street SF and seeing everyone at the Fillmore and Avalon ballrooms.

Time travel is, for the moment anyway, impossible – or at least difficult to arrange -  but we do have some splendid bands to recreate some of the ambiance of that golden iridescent year – one of whom are the Ugly Beats from Austin, Texas.

The Ugly Beats at Sala Acapulco, Gijon.

Their new album “Brand New Day” is a sublime mix of 1966 inspired Garage Rock and Pop – their best yet actually – and judging by the gig I saw at the casino in Gijon on Thursday night, they are a live band to be reckoned with.

They played a varied mix of excellent original material from all of their four albums along with some superb covers. Their version of The Rascals' Find Somebody is way better than the original and the two tracks from the Ramones first album - Cretin Hop and Today Your Love - went down a storm and fitted in perfectly with the band’s hi-energy garage punk ramalama ethos. They even did a spectacular cover of obscure Spanish band Los Nivrams' Sombras.

If there was a negative, it might be that there was a little too much chat from the stage at times. It slowed the pace and deadened audience enthusiasm - it might be an idea for some visiting US and UK  bands to remember that, in places like Gijon, not everyone understands English perfectly and some comments from the stage sailed wonderfully over the audience’s head to fall, inevitably, quite flat.

Support band Peralta (a kind of Gijon super group made up of some ex components of well known local bands like Dr Explosion and The Cynics) also put in an impressive set and are definitely a band to keep an eye on. The two bands teamed up for a couple of numbers and Peralta’s set encore of the Flamin Groovies I Can't Hide (with Ugly Beats Joe Emery and Jeanine Attaway joining them on stage) was one of the night’s highlights.

An excellent night. What a pity so few turned up to see them. But then if local promoters don’t advertise how is anyone going to know? Time and time again I have seen poorly attended gigs in Gijon with no promotion or advertising. There wasn’t even a poster of the show outside the main door of the venue fer Chrisake...

Anyway, the Ugly Beats. Sublime shimmering Nineteen-Sixty-Sixicity. 

It’s A Brand New Day. 

It is.

Go see ‘em and buy the album.

Here's a video selection of the night's highlights from Youtube.

Ugly Beats Joe Emery and Jeanine Attaway joined support band Peralta for their encore. A stunning cover of the Flamin Groovies I Can't Hide.

The Band's own Up On The Sun and Brand New Day.

A cover of the Rascals Find somebody.

A cover of Sombras by Spanish band Los Nivram (whose name is a tribute to the Shadows Hank Marvin - Nivram is Marvin backwards).

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Ten 21st Century Summer Psychedelic Nuggets

20 years of the Xixon Sound

Los Brincos - Glorious 60s Garage Beat Psych Pop...

New Year's Eve 1968 "Surprise Partie" with The Who, Small Faces, Booker T, Pink Floyd, Joe Cocker, Fleetwood Mac... Dawn of the Rock Revolution 

Yé-yé! Spanish Nuggets - Ten 1960s Grarage, Beat and Psych classics from Spain.  

Spain's Cosmic Country Rockers - Arizona Baby live in Gijon 1 / 11 / 2014

Arizona Baby - Photo Ricardo Suarez

Arizona Baby are a Spanish band who, believe it or not, do a really impressive line in Cosmic Americana.

Their brand of Gram Parsons / Byrds influenced psychedelic acoustic country rock really works well - especially in a live setting. For a band that only has two acoustic guitars, a drummer and no bass, Javier Vielba (lead vocals and guitar), Rubén Marrón (lead guitar) y Guillermo Aragón (percussion) have a surprisingly full sound and are reminiscent, both in look and style, of an acoustic Byrds circa 1971 .

Check out this video they did for the title track for the 2012 album The Truth.

Their 90 minute set at the Sala Acapulco in Gijon on Saturday night was outstanding. I really enjoyed them. Below are two highlights.

Their new album is called Secret Fires and is available on Subterfuge. Check it out. They have a knack for writing tunes that are both catchy and imbued with a sense of good cheer.

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20 years of the Xixon Sound

Horizonte Eléctrico - 10 Great contemporary Spanish bands...

Horizonte Eléctrico 2 - 10 Flamenco Rock Classics

Los Brincos - Glorious 60s Garage Beat Psych Pop...

Yé-yé! Spanish Nuggets - Ten 1960s Grarage, Beat and Psych classics from Spain. 

Views of Spain - The Art of Arlé Corte

© Arle Corte

Different views of Spain
People tend to have a stereotypical view of Spain - it's always hot and sunny and people spend all their time listening to flamenco and dancing Sevillanas. Nothing could be further from the truth. Spain is actually an astonishingly varied country made up of different regions all with their own languages, dialects, customs and cultures.

And northern Asturias is not like the south of Spain at all. If you go to Asturias expecting the stereotypical Andalucian / Mediterranean culture of bulls, flamenco and sun you will be surprised to find the historical and cultural influences there are Celtic, people drink cider and there is almost as much rain as there is sun. With its history of coal mining, heavy industry and shipbuilding Asturias also has a lot in common with Wales or the north of England.

The landscapes in Asturias are also different to the Spanish stereotype. The wet climate makes it very green and it’s actually one of the most mountainous regions in Europe - people go skiing in the Picos de Europa mountains in the winter.

The changeable weather and light seem to give a sense of movement to the Asturian landscape - the hills, mountains, cliffs, the sea almost have a kind of musicality to them.

Atardecer © Arle Corte

Arlé Corte
One of the Asturian artists who reflects that musicality is Arlé Corte. Although she says she is more interested in the warmer climes and dazzling deserts of Southern Spain, I think it is sill seen through the prism of Arle’s Asturian background.
 
What interests me is the musicality in her work and as you look at these pictures I’m sure you will, as she says, “see the trace of a dance in the movements of the brush”.

Jazz © Arle Corte

Influences and inspiration
In the following text Arlé comments on her work, her influences and what inspires her
(translated from Spanish - original at the bottom of this post).

You can contact or follow Arlé on her facebook page here

"Although I was born in a country with so many variations of green it's difficult to count them all, I really love the ochre, red and orange hues so redolent of deserts and hotter lands. Those are the shades usually found in my work".

"In some way painting is a way of travelling from within to an unknown place".

© Arle Corte

"Like everyone I've had phases and explored variations on different themes: Imaginary deserts, recreations of evocative Pre-Roman Asturian Art, the masculine nude seen from a woman's point of view, the coal mines that were so close to my life as a miner's daughter and grand-daughter... "

© Arle Corte

Guerrero © Arle Corte

Despertar De Xanes © Arle Corte

"In some ways I reinterpret the world and from time to time I go back to being a young girl playing with collages, where everything is possible." 

Collage © Arle Corte

Gijon © Arle Corte

"Inspiration is everywhere, opening my eyes, I don't touch it, I feel it. When that magic moment of creation arrives, "the good accident" as Kandinsky said, in which the canvas itself seems to guide the senses through the brushes, pencils or whatever is to hand, there is always a song in the background. Music forms part of that creative moment, as important as any other tool, guides the hand as well as the body. Yes you can dance and paint at the same time, You can shout in jubilation, or in frustration when you want to cover the whole canvas in black because nothing is working out as you want, just like anything else in life. So a note can escape from the frame like a wink of thanks. Sometimes it's even easy to see the trace of a dance in the movements of the brush."

Ola © Arle Corte

To Itaca © Arle Corte

San Lorenzo © Arle Corte

"Aunque nací en una tierra con tantas variaciones de verde que resulta tarea difícil intentar contarlos, desde hace ya un tiempo tengo verdadera devoción por los ocres, rojizos y anaranjados, esas tonalidades tan identificables con los desiertos y tierras cálidas. Esos son los colores que habitualmente se encuentran en mis trabajos. De alguna manera pintar es una forma de viajar desde dentro hacia un lugar inconcreto.

Como todos he tenido épocas y variaciones sobre diferentes temáticas: Desiertos imaginarios; recreaciones del sugerente Arte Prerrománico Asturiano; el desnudo masculino visto por ojos de mujer; la mina tan cercana a mi vida como hija y nieta de mineros…De alguna manera reinterpreto mi propio mundo y de vez en cuando vuelvo a jugar a ser niña con los collages, donde todo es posible.

La inspiración está alrededor, abriendo los ojos, no se palpa, se siente. Cuando llega ese instante mágico de creación,”the good accident” decía Kandinsky, en la que el propio lienzo parece guiar los sentidos a través de los pinceles, los lápices o lo que pueda tener entre las manos, siempre hay una canción que suena detrás. La música forma parte de ese momento creativo, tan importante como cualquier otro material de trabajo, guía los movimientos de la mano y del propio cuerpo. Si, se puede danzar y pintar. Se puede gritar en el momento de júbilo o en el de frustración cuando quisieras cubrir todo de negro porque nada es como se desea, al igual que en muchos momentos de la vida. Así alguna nota se escapa dentro del cuadro como un guiño de agradecimiento. Incluso, a veces, es fácil ver que en los movimientos del pincel hay el rastro de una danza." 
- Arlé Corte, 2014




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The Jim Jones Revue triumph in Gijon, Spain 9/8/2014

© D. Mainwood

The Jim Jones Revue crashed into Gijon, Spain last night just as the side effects of Hurricane Bertha were supposed to be hitting the UK. Seems like a fair exchange. They are not so much a band as an elemental force of nature and they managed to convert - possibly too late as the band are splitting in October - an initially indifferent crowd of two or three thousand (most of whom, as the gig was free, would never have heard of them and were just there to gawk) to their own firebrand version of rabid rock'n'roll fundamentalism.

Photo of the gig from the band's facebook page.
Click to enlarge

The gig was in Gijon's Town Hall Square. As I have mentioned elsewhere, it is not one of the best of places to play as it's a small square surrounded on all four sides by concrete and brick - mostly offices, restaurants and flats. Yes people actually live right next door and I expect they spent this morning repairing the windows, replacing the crockery and checking the walls and ceilings for cracks and sonic damage. Anyway, the crap sound you get usually in a place like that was rendered null and void by a band that actually thrives on distortion, echo and sonic mud. They overcame, they soared and they conquered.

The gig was a triumph. And intense. We are in the same stripped down to basics territory as the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion here. Super amplified 50s rock - as the Guardian's Michael Hann said, "The Jim Jones Revue imagine that rock'n'roll didn't really need to evolve after 1956; it just needed to get much, much louder, and wildly more distorted". So loud was it that, as I was close to the front of the stage, the impact of the sound was something you could physically feel. It actually felt like my chest was being pressed on and dug into. Fortunately however, rampant tachycardia soon instigated free-fall euphoria.

On stage the band recall some of my faves like the The MC5, The Stooges, The Who and Wilko Johnson era Dr Feelgood. Jim Jones (ex lead singer of 1980s psychsters Thee Hypnotics and Black Moses) is an authoritative frontman who often brings to mind Jagger and the 1968 leather clad Elvis. He easily won the crowd over on what could have been a difficult gig. Many people would just have been passing through the square - Gijon is having its "Semana Grande" - a week of town festivities and everyone is on the street - however most stayed and were transfixed and enthused by a gig that started off intense and just kept building until, by the time of the Eddie Cochran / Jerry Lee Lewis inspired encores, we were attaining hitherto unknown communal levels of musical rapture.

What a shame the band are calling it a day in October.

See them while you can.



Band page and farewell tour dates
http://www.jimjonesrevue.com/



The Jim Jones Review in Gijon
Jim Jones: Vocals / Guitar
Rupert Orton: Guitar
Gavin Jay: Bass
Nick Jones: Drums
Henri Herbert: Piano

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