Panorama Faro: November

The year 2023 is coming to an end and FARO, the Alianza de Medios Culturales de Iberoamérica, wanted to say goodbye in style with the last panorama of the season: the one dedicated to the main novelties that appeared during the month of November, always according to the criteria of the different media that are part of the alliance.

We will still have December, but no one is unaware that this is a month in which the lists, with the most relevant releases of the year, are the protagonists. An appointment to which we will also go to give an account of the highlights of 2023 in each of our countries. Although we'd better not get ahead of ourselves and let's move on to the Ibero-American music of this past month and, of course, to the already classic playlist that we have made with all the love in the world.

ARGENTINA / by By Juampa Barbero (Indie Hoy)

All about nothingness - Fermin

All about nothingness unveils a new metamorphosis of Fermín Ugarte. In his second album, the Chascomús-born artist echoes his aesthetic deconstruction to create a collage pop that takes elements of Brazilian funk, trap and reggaeton, without losing the electronic music that shone through in their EP Tomorrow is worse (2022). Recharged with emotions, forms and styles, Fermín sounds ready to leave his heart on the table to make us vibrate to the rhythm of his palpitations.

Over the course of these eight tracksthe producer and DJ shows us that music is as much a channel to transmit intense feelings as it is a fun and necessary game to find the perfect chorus. Between luminous melodies, magnetic verses and experimental flashes, the successor of Order and progress (2021) shows an artist who doesn't mind following manuals. Thus we hear him orbiting the auras of Dillom and Six Sex in defiant collaborations, or flowing over beats surrealists who turn sorrows into a brilliant dance floor. Fermín takes us to his own paradise where it is always spring.

BRAZIL / by Marcelo Costa (Scream & Yell)

Griô Black - Pantera

Black Pantera, a trio from Minas Gerais that has been gaining a loyal following wherever it goes (Mike Patton, from Faith no More, was photographed wearing one of the band's T-shirts), released an EP in November with five songs in English. Griô (African tribal speakers who transmit their knowledge through songs and history) shows the group's desire to expand its anti-racist discourse. Formed by brothers Charles Gama (vocals and guitar) and Chaene Gama (bass and backing vocals), plus drummer Rodrigo Pancho, Black Pantera has three albums under its belt and this new EP continues to combine elements of rock, hardcore and metal with strong lyrics. At DREADPOOLwhich opens the EP in a thrilling way, they quote Spike Lee and say that they are infiltrating the klan. The fast-paced R.I.S.E. shouts that "they will never kill us or erase our history". BURNOUT speaks of fatigue in a strident way, whereas in SHUT UP N' FUCK OFF ask not to be judged. On the final topic, UKUMKANIThey warn: "My ancestors keep the flame burning". It's only 12 minutes, but it's an exciting 12 minutes. Spread the word.

CHILE / by POTQ Team (POTQ Magazine)

Tell me - Karen Paola - (Karen Paola Version 2023)

In Chile we start the month of November with a long awaited return. At the beginning of the 2000s, a successful youth television program left us with a pop promise: Karen Paola, a singer who in 2004 stole the spotlight with reversions of hits as Long live the night, Tell me and Come come come. Although her career has known of unreleased compositions, it is these titles that live in the imaginary and heart of the Chilean songbook. Karen Paola closes 2023 with the re-recording of her hit song Tell mewhich for the first time reaches digital platforms in an official way. "In this comeback I wanted to be the pop artist I always dreamed of. I wanted to do this pop again in a big way, dance, sing and interpret", she says about this experience that came with a videoclip, one of her first professional adventures in this second part of her career. The premiere will be part of a short film, where we will be able to know new compositions of this television figure who ended up being one of the pop icons of the country.

COLOMBIA / by Valentina Alfonso (Shock.co)

Elegant arrabalero - Jaison Neutra

This is an album that could not have any other name. Elegant arrabalero summarizes the proposal of Colombian artist Jaison Neutra: the union of sounds close to rock and pop, with cumbia and other styles of the most uninhibited and mischievous country music. Jeison Neutra evokes famous names of traditional Colombian music such as Calixto Ochoa, Alfredo Gutiérrez or Noel Petro with an authentic sound and lyrics that recall the stories of grandparents that pass from generation to generation. It is an album that takes us on a journey through all the regions of Colombia and deep into the nostalgia of the suburbs.

CUBA / by Magazine AM:PM

You & I - Joey Calveiro; Arturo Sandoval

No one expected this collaboration, but once you hear it, it's impossible not to love it. Joey Calveiro, the 16 year old sax sensation, has teamed up with legendary Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, to deliver a new album. You & IThe result is an enchanting cohesion, a tender ballad in which both instrumentalists show their best cards: while Sandoval shreds the melody with wisdom and elegance, Calveiro pushes the theme with an infectious youthful joy. The result is charmingly cohesive and a preview of what the Cuban-American Calveiro's upcoming debut album may bring, a material that has been announced to feature such stars as Chucho Valdés and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. We will have to keep a close eye on this name.

SPAIN / by Fran González (Mondo Sonoro)

Duel - Medal

To the wise, few words are enough. Eric Sueiro, Marc López, Joan Morera and Josep Peris have only needed one of five letters to reduce in expression and context the fate of what they say is their first concept album, inspired by loss and the different tropes that sadness and uprooting bring with them. After three albums marked by a certain formative instability and an ambitious formula of difficult labeling, Barcelona's Medalla now throw us a forceful and enraged kick entitled Duel with which they not only make their best proposal to date but also frame, from the universality of their message, all those common problems that life puts in front of us, as if it were a macabre and merciless gymkhana.

MEXICO / by AnaLi Rodríguez (Indie Rocks!)

Ship - Mothership Titan

With a new configuration of members, the legendary independent Mexican electronica band, the band's new line-up has been expanded, Titan returns with a fifth LP of nine singles to accompany us in this chaotic closing of 2023. "It's music to dance to in the apocalypse. To laugh in the face of despair. To wake up accepting the consequences", they state in their newsletter, and yes, it is. Somewhat dark, playful, experimental in beats which the trio of Emilio Acevedo, Julián Lede and Yamil Rezc from the capital city had never implemented before. The Mother Ship transports you to different worlds of electronic music with techno, rock, psychedelic atmospheres and a variety of situations, respecting its glamorous and irreverent essence.

URUGUAY / by Kristel Latecki (Piiila)

Ubi to Private - Zeballos and Knak

As 2023 draws to a close, we can safely declare who were the musical characters of the year. Two of them were undoubtedly the rappers Zeballos and Knak. Surpassing themselves at every step and selling out shows both in Uruguay and abroad, they are among our export artists par excellence. And as colleagues and friends, collaborations abounded this year. In August they released the romantic RagazzaSeptember was the turn of the boom bap Gloriaxin which Knak states that they have to "stop looking outside if we are up to the task"; and the following month he closed the triad Rosaliaof bowling romances over an organic instrumentation.

But as if that weren't enough, this month they came out with Ubi to Privatean EP of three tracks where they not only continue to do what they know, relying on the talent of each one, but the great success of these songs is by the producers Bruno Cammá (Dostrescinco) and Tadu Vázquez, incorporating candombe to the matter. And for that they counted on two popes: Tatita Márquez on drums and Nicolás Ibarburu on guitar. Three hits infectious diseases to end the year.