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Review: Betterwithmusic 2013

These are the sounds and rythms that came to betterwithmusic’s library in 2013…

SKETCHES

Sketches is basically an album of soul, of instrumental hiphop, of R’n’B. Sensual and reflective, in gereral. Delicate, but also pick up some rythm explosions. Passionate could be the adjective. But a controlled passion, elegant, somewhat distant. It’s a ritual of seduction.
Synthetic sounds close to the 80’s or 90’s to create songs based on chord progressions and basic arrangements of soul and funk. It looks like “Raw Dub”, but more soul and less “dub”.

SCENES FROM THE ZOO

Pop melodies with distorted guitars. Powerpop. Some grunge and shoegaze tunes too. Nerve riffs and powerful rhythms. Music that seeks immediate happiness boldly. No worries, no perfectionism. Noise. Positive songs, cheerful melodies, passional and “excessive”.
Referring to other projects of the library, I could say that “Scenes” it’s more optimistic and positive than “The Crowd”, more rogue than “Traveller’s Guide”.

GALAXY

Rhodes and Wurlitzer, pianos, acoustic drums and programming beats, strong synth-bass lines, slap bass, playful guitars, guitars with vocoder, tens of clavinets, classic synths (Moog, ARP, Davosynth, Jupiter-8, M1 etc), string arrangements … All tools available to create a dance compilation with old-fashion sounds, while still sounding modern. To vindicate these old grooves with a contemporary album. A funky Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy…

VIIKINSAARI

Viikinsaari are small pieces for piano. And it’s water. It is the piano that calls the shots through melodies and rhythms inspired by the sounds of water, in their ways, their reflections … With string and wind arrangements that sound like whispers at times and other times explode in the ears leaving the piano in the background, like waves. A space for melancholy and contemplation.

SELE

Christmas songs that are not actually Christmas songs. The same happened with Año Nuevo and Postcard. They are songs inspired by this holiday season, by the winter, the family gatherings & reunions, the decorated houses … but at the same time, songs that can be heard all the year. Compositions about optimism and joy, with a touch of melancholy, couldn’t do it any other way. I wanted to add and highlight a homemade and imperfect character, direct, without excessive tweaking and production. Something accessible to young and old people.

New projects will come next year (I’m already working on it)
Keep in touch!

… and Happy 2014!!

New Release: Viikinsaari

Viikinsaari is an island located in the lake Pyhäjärvi belonging to the City of Tampere, Finland. The island is a popular nature resort and an outdoor recreation area, attracting visitors all year round. In the summertime there is a boat connection to the island from the Laukontori harbour. In winter, the island can be reached by walking or skiing. The western part is a nature reserve, but there are also swimming shores, playgrounds, a small chapel, a fireplace for roasting sausages, a restaurant, a footpath through the nature reserve and a dance pavilion on the island. (Wikipedia)

Viikinsaari is the name of a movie that does not exist. A love story, a drama in which water plays a key role: the lake, the sound of the rain, a flood … An encounter in a extreme situation. But a situation that the players don’t know. To watch how something can be born while all around disappears. And viceversa (Spoiler?)

It’s a music poem and an imagination exercise for me and the listener.
The realization of an idea that I’ve been going around: create a soundtrack from three or four ideas, from an imagined story. There are no “real” images; it’s the listener who must to put it with a little help of the sound. So intimate, so universal.
Viikinsaari is small pieces for piano. And it’s water. It’s the piano that calls the shots through melodies and rhythms inspired by the sounds of water, their ways, their reflections … With string and wind arrangements that sound like whispers at times and other times explode in the ears leaving the piano in the background, like waves. A space for melancholy and contemplation.

Influences: Nyman & Sakamoto, a weekend in Tampere, leaky faucets, the first cold days of fall, lakes, images with cold colours, Chopin preludes, wet clothes near the fireplace, broken umbrellas in a dustbin, Satie & Debussy, Tom Wait’s Asylum Years…

Vazquez de Sola: Trazos de una vida

“In September 21, 1975, Andrés Vázquez de Sola (San Roque, Cádiz, 1927) returns to Spain after a long season in France. Cartoonist of prestige on french soil, he’s now looking for their place in the country where he was born.
Trazos de una vida chronicles the various stages in the life of artist relying on the testimonies of friends like Julio Anguita, Juan José Antonio Tellez or Antonio Fraguas (Forges). A life full of ups and downs. A life made with strokes of fate.”

This documentary by L & B Producciones shows a portrait in first person, passionate and lucid, full of vitality, as Vazquez de Sola himself. 60 minutes full of stories and anecdotes, a lifetime in and out of the paintings, the drawings…

It was a real pleasure to be part of this project with several songs. I want to thank Pablo (@PabloLaraToledo) and Manuel (@mBroullon) for their confidence and support. I hope to repeat the adventure soon!