February Outlook
Every month, Faro, the alliance of Ibero-American Musical and Cultural Media, simultaneously publishes its Panorama section in all the media that comprise it, thus multiplying its reach and visibility. The objective is to show, first hand, what happens in the scenes of the region. As you will see in this fifth installment —to which our magazine joins—, the pandemic has not put a stop to creation. The universe is immense, and there is much to discover. Better if we wear the headphones connected.
Lighthouse is composed of IndieToday (Argentina), Scream&Yell (Brazil), shock (Colombia), Magazine AM:PM (Cuba), POTQ (Chili), Construction Area (Spain), Indie Rocks! (Mexico), Rock Achorao' (Peru) and Piiila (Uruguay). It also works to create original and innovative content, as well as various activities that serve to break down borders and build bridges between the different countries of Ibero-America.
ARGENTINA
By Juampa Barbero / indie today
February in Argentina had another color. The shadows of 2020 little by little begin to fade with the spotlights of the stages; the feeling of desolation begins to lose the vigor that tormented us just a few months ago. With the vaccination period, the cultural agendas were filled again and, therefore, a general relief is perceived, without losing caution. What remains is to adapt to the new methodology of shows: fewer spectators, greater distance, but artistic enthusiasm is the collective consolation and each launch gives rise to the opportunity of a real and concrete encounter.
After a gap of almost two years that separates us from his latest album Pearls & Shells (2019), Fémina once again made waves with the premiere of Fantastic. A single ideal for fans of raw sensations, which reflects on the power of real love with a bright and necessary charisma for these times to come, combining elements of pop, rap and Latin folklore.
Asian luxury posted Ganbare, the second preview of his next album that will bear the same name. After surprising his followers with Broken glass, the trio made up of Andrés Serantes, Cristián García Laborde and Segundo Bercetche went for more with this piece full of arpeggiators that evoke an enigmatic atmosphere and make the techno ambient a banner of the successor to their self-titled album.
After Tit, Sara Hebe shared the second preview of the successor of Political par (2019), Fine Salt. A track that goes through a rhythmic fusion that goes from funk to reggaeton to immerse us in a dance that embraces both perreo and rave. The single It was produced by Ar13$ and Rulits TMB and was accompanied by a 3D video defined as a "turra and postmodern fantasy" by N4rf.
Pablo Malaurie once again wound up his solo facet with global cooling, three years after his last single, Frequence De L'Oréal. The musician from Buenos Aires was not with his arms crossed all this time —he was part of the Mataplantas meeting—, but now he returned with this romantic piece to continue exploring the electronic rhythms that suit him perfectly.
Flemari is the new song by Rosario duo Lalalas in which they elevated their post-punk temperament to a stormy sky with a danceable beat. this energetic track that takes us mentally to the 80s was conceived during the quarantine and follows from Hit With Tits, a compilation that brings together various genres and artists, promoted by the Spanish artists Lu Sanz and Ada Diez.
Just as Duki and Ca7riel did in their powerful collaboration I'm dying to party this weekend, Khea also savored a radical change in his new song your msg </3 with rock overtones and an explosive chorus of pure distortion. The 20-year-old ragman demonstrates with this single that its imprint has no limits and that being pigeonholed into a single genre is old-fashioned and boring for the new generation.
Lupe was one of the revelation artists of 2020: her album A number reached the top ten of our list with the best of the year. Months later, music from La Plata got fully involved in electronic experimentation together with DJs Pareja in Our Shape, an EP made up of four tracks that induce the frantic movement of our bodies as a path to liberation from all kinds of ties.
Fin del Mundo won our hearts with the self-titled EP they released last year in a context that lived up to its name. Now, the post-rock band based in Buenos Aires but with Patagonian roots premiered The fire, a single that begins with a powerful instrumental and then ignites the emotional flame with the searing interpretation of its vocalist, Lucía Masnatta.
In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the death of María Elena Walsh, Maia Basso and Gabriel Schubert reinterpreted some of her most emblematic songs with a dreams pop. From Song of the Vaccine until Manuelita, Maria It invites us to close our eyes to take us back to childhood in a dazzling flash of lightning, evoking a nostalgic feeling as sweet as it is pleasant.
February was not just musical releases, since a new edition of FIBA was inaugurated, the festival that exhibits a wide variety of scenic and performance proposals. Throughout 10 days, more than 1,400 artists and more than 85 virtual contents fill Buenos Aires in different halls and cultural spaces in order to captivate the public with their artistic singularities.
March. what's coming:
With the joy caused by the reopening of movie theaters, something better awaits us next month: BAFICI returns after its suspension in 2020 due to the pandemic. The iconic festival of the seventh art will take place from March 17 to 28 with a program full of surprises that involves film relics from various countries and a strong national and independent presence.
BRAZIL
By Marcelo Costa / Scream & Yell
While the cases of the pandemic begin to be controlled in different parts of the world and the vaccine is a reality in many countries, in Brazil we are experiencing the peak of infections and deaths from COVID-19. It is not a surprise for those who have read the previous installments of this section, since we are being "directed" by a denialist government and a genocidal president, who, although it is hard to believe, in February criticized the use of masks. Brazil closes the month with 255,000 deaths, and this tragic figure is expected to increase. The intense distribution of fake news by people linked to President Jair Bolsonaro has put the country in a war of narratives that victimizes the people themselves. As we knew, 2021 will be tragic in Brazil.
Meanwhile, culture continues with its intense struggle offering material so that we don't sink into a mud of depression and sadness. Here are some highlights of what happened in the month without carnival.
MUSIC
Baiana System, the great creative band in the country today, announced the release of its new album oxeaxeexu, which will arrive in three acts: the first of them, pirate ship, came out in February and includes pray strong, recorded by the band from Bahia with the carioca rapper BNegão, and nauliza, with Makaveli and Jay Mita, both with powerful video clips. The second part of the album is called Instrument Recital and is scheduled to go on sale on March 5. The third and last part, America do Sol, will be published on March 26.
The Pernambuco psychedelic Tagore Suassuna launched the single tattoo, the first sample of his forthcoming fourth album Maya, which will be published in 2021 with production by Pupillo, ex-Nação Zumbi. The video was shot in a brick house in Restinga Sêca, in Rio Grande do Sul. “It's a kind of Midsommar Soft,” said director Matheus Toledo. Watch out!
Letícia Pinheiro de Novaes, from Rio de Janeiro —whose stage name is Letrux—, one of the most prominent emerging artists of new Brazilian music in the last five years, launched Pandemic Soon, an EP that revises five songs from Letrux years Prantos, 2020, album that entered the list of the best of the year for Scream & Yell, with versions signed by each of the musicians in his band. The songs also had video clips, like this one from Hail Poseidon (Roda de Invocação).
after the songs Venus and Criança Boa, the artist from Minas Gerais, Luiz Gabriel Lopes, closes a trilogy of singles released in early 2021 with Sewing, in a “Brazilian folkloric” wave that counts with the participation of the great artist from Rio Grande do Sul, Vitor Ramil. You can see a lyric video of the song here.
The soulful cult band from São Paulo Lestics ends a three-year silence with a new single. In 2020, leader Olavo Rocha created Dolores Fantasma (listen here), an experimental side project that appeared on several best of the year lists (Scream & Yell included). Now Lestics presents Vice, the first sample of a new album that will be produced very calmly.
From the Federal District, the group Joe Silhueta compiles on the EP other trails leftover songs from the recording sessions of their first album, trails of the sun (2019) and add a version medley by wonderful dinner and eternally, of the deceased Walter Franco, one of the cursed geniuses of Brazilian music. You can listen and download at the band's bandcamp.
In addition to the biography Tom Zé: The Last Tropicalist, the Bahian from Irará also took advantage of the pandemic to put his digital collection in order, finally launching for streaming the wonderful ep Tribunal do Feicebuqui (2013), which was born from a controversy: on the occasion of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Coca-Cola invited Tom Zé to do a voiceover for an advertisement for the company; initiative that generated criticism on social networks. The tropicalista's answer is this sensational four-song EP in which the rapper Emicida, Tim Bernardes (and his band O Terno), Marcelo Segreto (Pasárgada Philharmonic), Gustavo Galo (Trupe Chá de Boldo) and Tatá Aeroplano participate. Here you can read the interview we recently conducted with Tom Zé at Scream & Yell.
In the field of folk pop, we also recommend the release of the single Us, which anticipates the new EP by Ale Sater (Terno Rei); the video clip Greatness, by Sessa, a young artist also praised by the New Yorker and Uncut; and the beautiful clip of Temple of Nuvens, which offers fragments of Júlio Ferraz's isolation. While in the field of hip hop, the combative girls of the Rap Plus Size group criticize the fashion industry in the video clip of I only pay or what fits me.
LITERATURE
There are several essential books that are arriving at the beginning of the year. One of the muses of bossa nova and protest song in Brazil has her career told by Tom Cardoso in No power with Nara Leão. Fábio Massari, one of the country's legendary journalists - also a presenter on MTV Brazil in its golden age - publishes 1984, or English Album, in which he remembers his great year in the United Kingdom. The bilingual edition (Portuguese and English) of Cute Dream Delirious 3, by Bento Araújo, which compiles a hundred rare and courageous Brazilian records released between 1986 and 2000, is now on sale! The winner of the category best book of 2020 in the Scream & Yell vote —Africa Brazil: one day Jorge Ben voou for all people to see, by Kamille Viola— presented its English edition in February. And at Scream & Yell we talked to one of the authors of Imperio dos Gibis – A Incrível História dos Quadrinhos da Editora April, an important book to understand the evolution of the comic book market in Brazil.
CINEMA
In February we had International Panorama Coisa de Cinema, in Bahia, in a digital version open to the entire country. New episodes of the series were also released Hard, which focuses its target behind the scenes of pornographic cinema, and the premiere of Doutor Beaver, a documentary about one of the country's biggest criminals, who, among other things, was also president of a samba school and a soccer club.
March. What's Coming:
We would like to say “vaccine” and “live shows”, but the only thing we see in the future of the country is an immense darkness. “Torçam por nos”.
COLOMBIA
By Fabian Paez Lopez / Shock.co
In February, the waters of Colombian music releases began to stir. Between new waves of violence in Buenaventura and vaccines arriving slowly, very slowly, the soundtrack of this 2021 begins to effervesce. This month brought us quite a lot of good news. Here are our recommendations.
A group of young people from Tumaco, a municipality known as "The Pearl of the Colombian Pacific", got together with Iván Benavides, a long-time producer famous for his work with Carlos Vives, and with members of the Bogota label Llorona Records to build their first disc under the firm Discos Pacífico. Bat, is the title of this first 12-track production in Bejuco, he studies and plays with the traditional rhythms and songs of his region to mix them with jazz and Afrobeat.
After a 2020 in which both released music as soloists, Juan Galeano and Daniel Álvarez, the names behind the Electric Diamond, shook their own ways and released their album look what you made me do in which they reached a groovy refinement that undoubtedly puts them at the highest point of their career. (By the way, we talked to them: read the album review here).
Briela Ojeda, one of our Shock 2021 bets, released her debut album komodo temple, a collection of spirited songs that carry on their backs the mysticism of the Andean zone of our continent. A landscape exercise in which birds, specters, witchcraft and sacred alchemy sound.
As a bonus to the albums of the month, we also wanted to recommend a couple of definitive Latin rap albums for 2021. On the one hand, N. Hardem released Greenery and set it rolling, for now, on Bandcamp. On the other, Ruzto (who also collaborates with Verdor) and Soul AM scored a tremendous visual album recorded through the lens of Juan Gordon.
Armenia, a Bogota rock band, is preparing its new album for the second half of 2021 and Time It is a substantial preview of what is to come. A guitar song full of synthesizers that talks about the use/abuse of social networks. The voice of Tal Cual also participates in the song, a popular animated character on Colombian television for his appearance in the institutional short films of the Consumer Bulletin. Listen to the theme and know also Tal Cual's story here.
“The people don't give up the fuck” is a harangue that they have been singing in the streets of Buenaventura for several years to demand security and opportunities for the inhabitants of the port district. The song has taken on special force since the civic strike organized in 2017 and, in the last month, as a result of the upsurge in violence in the area. Regarding this situation, a group of women from the region met on this topic to sing Endurance: Cynthia Montaño, Carolina Mosquera, Ikandra, María Elvira Solís, Elena Hinestroza and Nailu Matamba Tierra, Alicia Arrechea and Karysol echo popular song today.
For more songs, here is our playlist with the complete news of the month
March. What's Coming:
Speaking of Armenia, on March 21 we will have a new Shock Presents, live and in person, at the Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo. Armenia will be presented live after a year that has seemed eternal without live music.
Girl, singer-songwriter from Manizales and the guest at our Shock Presents in February, will premiere what will undoubtedly be one of the albums of the year on March 19: more raw songs. It will be the continuation of one of our favorite plates of 2020. Remember this date because the rawness and creativity of La Niña are soaring.
It is predicted that in March the cinemas will reopen and the local film calendar will be reactivated. The industry, one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, has not yet seen the light.
CUBA
February is, since the coronavirus entered our borders, the worst month of the pandemic in Cuba. In the midst of the confinement —which is becoming more and more intolerable—, of alarming numbers of people confirmed with the disease and of a rising economic crisis, Cuban music is looking for loopholes through which to escape and reinvent itself. As we continue to long for live concerts, we accumulate hours glued to our headphones.
Probably the most controversial release in February was the premiere of the video clip homeland and life, directed by the director Asiel Babastro and which brings together various notable musicians from the national scene —such as Yotuel, Gente de Zona, Descemer Bueno, Maykel Osorbo and El Funky— in an unequivocal declaration of their disaffection towards the current Cuban government.
In January 2020, when COVID-19 was still little more than fiction for Cubans, Ruy Adrián López-Nussa, heir to a rich family tradition, went to the Martí Theater to record a concert, without an audience. From that long journey the CD-DVD was born two languages (Bis Music, 2021), which was released this dystopian February under the musical production of his brother Harold, and where the musician has the luxury of interacting with the percussion instruments that he is passionate about. This album has two accomplices: the piano and the drums. One way: music.
With a retro and funky aesthetic, the video clip The potato arrived to spice up the quarantine: on the one hand, the flow by Cimafunk; on the other, the sensual voice of Diana Fuentes. Both artists come together in this song that is part of the EP Cun Cun Pra that the author of I'm going premiered at the end of 2020, and where it makes us dance again, while we watch the days go by from the living room of the house. For now, and luckily, the potato is served!
Buena Fe sings once again to heartbreak and betrayal. He does it his way, through a video clip, and with the single Who I am, eighth track from his album Carnal (Egrem, 2019). The audiovisual, available on the platforms since February 8, was directed by the filmmakers Claudia Hernández and Ariam Valdés, who have collaborated with the group on other occasions.
Chocolate MC is said to be the only president of the Reparto Republic. He repeats it over and over again, in each of the 20 tracks on his new self-titled album, released under the Buya Music Productions label on February 17. The King summons all his subjects and throughout the phonogram parade Wampi, El Micha, Anübix, El Chacal, Jakarta, Fisiko, among other exponents of reggaeton and the cast on the Island, to bring us back the sounds of the neighborhood. Yosvani Arismin Sierra Hernández bows to his god: Elvis Manuel.
If there is a Cuban musician who has a loyal audience, it is Waldo Mendoza. And it is that the romantic song found a refuge in him, a commitment from which the singer-songwriter can hardly escape. Waldo knows it, his followers know it and the song knows it. That is why the advent of his most recent album, no more goodbyes (Egrem, 2021), has not gone unnoticed on the radar of furious lovers on the Island.
Roly Berrío is one of those artists that we can only understand if we see him in concert. Live is his best weapon, he is the show. Perhaps for this reason, this time he preferred to sing for us from the stage where he feels most comfortable: El Mejunje, and he does so with the premiere of his single February 14th, as a preview of the DVD fire flies, forthcoming under the Colibri label. In this issue, Roly —who is a hopeless romantic— says that the Day of Love is only profitable for the entertainment industry and he fervently wishes it to disappear soon. Where to sign?
We turned our eyes for a moment to the cinema, since the documentary Newfoundland, directed by filmmakers Alejandro Alonso and Alejandro Pérez, received the Ammodo Tiger Short Award from the Rotterdam International Film Festival. The film is a portrait of Havana with a rigorous commitment to aesthetic rigor where the city, as we know it, begins to unravel.
Alex Cuba's melodies are simple and, because they are simple, beautiful. Accompanied by his guitar, the musician and composer from Artemisa based in Canada, puts tenderness into each song, and his most recent single New world is not the exception to what seems to be his golden rule. Now he is accompanied by one of the most powerful voices on the Mexican scene: Lila Downs; meanwhile, he says that in the next few months we will have an album to adore. Spirituality, love, faith, new beginnings, that's what both artists sing about in this single.
We close these recommendations with good news: Maestro Chucho Valdés decided to return to his old passion for teaching and announced the opening of a virtual music academy. Piano and improvisation courses —filmed entirely at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami-Dade County—, as well as talks on Afro-Cuban jazz will be the main course of this new adventure undertaken by the founder of the legendary Irakere. The Chucho Valdés Academy will open its doors on March 15 and registration can be done at the following address: www.chuchovaldesacademy.com
March. What's Coming:
Two record releases are the most anticipated for the month of March on this side of the Caribbean Sea. On the one hand, Leoni Torres promises to give us a new album, after a long time in which the artist has dedicated himself to releasing only singles on his digital platforms. On the other hand, the trapton scene is pleased with the announcement of twerking 2030, the next phonogram by Yomil y El Dany —which will be released just eight months after the death of Daniel Muñoz, one of its members— and which, according to Yomil, seeks to evolve the sound of the genre. As an advance, a little over a week ago the video clip of the song came out wobbly, with which we close this Panorama.
CHILE
By POTQ
The month of February in Chile is characterized by being slow and not very newsworthy. The cities are emptying and the country's long coastline is filled with people. The pandemic broke with tradition, even at the level of the cancellation of the classic Viña del Mar Song Festival; as we approach this second pandemic March with increases in infections, despite the vaccination campaign, some attempts to return to live music and a festival in support of music workers.
2021 started with news from Gianluca. we first met for you together with Pepe: Vizio and during February he arrived Winter. Would you like to observe your funeral? That is part of the fantasy presented to us by the musician in this video clip directed by Francisca Matus, hand in hand with a single that moves away from the sounds that we had already seen him pursue, to try new ones. Will it be a clear trend of your new stage? We will have 2021 to prove it.
In addition, we find a dreamy dembow, the last single of Emaflu. Let's not go back to before It was a song that was born last winter, during the strictest quarantine in Chile, but both the artist and Cuatrobeats, her producer, thought it sounded like summer. That's why he slept for a couple of months and reappeared during February. The same vibe delivers its video clip by Loretta Casteletto.
Perrosky has always stood out for his simplicity both lyrically and in his music. And in one for real doesn't stray from that premise, with simple bluesy guitar and minimal percussion. It is in the video where the band decided to surprise.
Certain of the quality of their song, the duo preferred to make a psychedelic-Indian video where everything begins with a simple walk and the static noise of some speakers, to end with images flying over the Alameda in the midst of the protests. A sort of Big Lebowskian daydream Chilean style.
The guitars, synthesizers and the vibe of “old” reggaeton come together in Bewitched, a collaboration between Filgueira and Salares. This is a preview of an upcoming EP entitled Nothing changes, which we expect to hear in full over the next few weeks.
The group led by Macarena Carreño gave us a very good dreampop EP during 2020, called The shyness of the Eucalyptus, through the Free Fall label. Precipice It is the first letter of introduction of a new album that will be released at the end of 2021, apparently giving continuity to the electronic pop with which we had known them.
The band anticipates that this new work will be crossed by the concept of IKIGAI, a Japanese philosophy that could be translated into Spanish as "reason for being", a vital motivation or a mission.
C-S4R is the last to post a single for the collaboration between the Flecha Solar Festival and the Spanish independent label Snap! clap! Club!, who came together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the release of the album Ore, by Javiera Mena, collaborating on a tribute album where each song is performed by a different artist.
C-S4R contributed his own version of Suffer, which although it could be said that it is quite similar to the original, you can tell the difference in the bubbly new keyboards and a much more current mix. And speaking of this project...
Antónima is another of the independent pop names that contributed a song to the tribute album for the 10 years of Ore. Your version of to the truth is one of the best versions of the album, since not only does he make the song his own with his characteristic well-sung but not annoying tone of voice, but you can also see his desire to combine electronic instruments with guitars in a good way.
The selection of sounds, the way of singing and that excellent guitar solo at the end of the song make it one of the strong points of an album that already had us quite excited.
what's coming
The Union Association of Arts and Entertainment Workers (AGTAE) is preparing to hold the AGTAEFest, a festival that can be enjoyed via streaming on March 6 and 7 through Eventride and pass line. There will be more than fifty presentations by artists such as Ana Tijoux, Los Tres, Lucybell, Francisca Valenzuela, among others, to help the members of the guild and raise funds. Let us remember that the losses of the entertainment sector in Chile due to the pandemic have been 18 billion pesos, with an unemployment rate of 90 %.
On the other hand, the Chilean Copyright Society (SCD) is preparing a cycle of Women Musicians starting on Wednesday, March 10 in its room located in Plaza Egaña, being the first initiative to reuse the concert halls in a year. of the pandemic, abiding by the current regulations issued by the Ministry of Health. Frank's White Canvas, Ruzica Flores, Nicole Bunout and Marineros will be performing.
SPAIN
As the third wave of the pandemic subsides at the same time that vaccination is slowly advancing, several Spanish cities witness the vandalism of groups of demonstrators who violently protest the imprisonment of rapper Pablo Hasél in the last days of the month because of a law that limits freedom of expression and that the government promises to modify soon. In this context, we highlight ten musical and cultural proposals that adorned February in Spain.
The Spanish monarchy is not going through its best moment. Knowledge of the scandals of the King Emeritus turned everything upside down. And for increasingly politicized planets, the matter does not go unnoticed. Thus came the single The King of Spain, unmissable and sharp piece with the focus (and the finger on the sore spot) placed on what was popularly known for many years as "King of Campeche".
Following in the wake planet, Let's go with Los Pilotos, the Banin and Florent project, which presents the first single of what will be Atlantic Alliance, an album that will bring together 14 Latin American artists to shape a true treatise on contemporary popular electronic music from the region. The subject in question is The tidal cycle, in which Los Pilotos are accompanied by the delicious Dominican trio Mula.
C Tangana is a genius. With the succession of advance themes of what will be The Madrilenian, an album to be released at the end of the month, is proving to be in a state of grace and to have an overflowing talent. the double video Nominated/Hong Kong (with Jorge Drexler and Andrés Calamaro) is too good. Pure cinematography for a late-night party in which there is room for performances by Paz de la Huerta and Julia de Castro, an allusion to Los Abuelos de la Nada, Drexler smoking in a bar and verses of cold tomato juice, from Manal, a seminal Argentine rock band. Pure art.
In March 2000, Charly García jumped into a hotel pool from the ninth floor. Now, in 2020, the Asturian singer-songwriter Pablo Und Destruktion takes as his starting point that leap of the Argentine genius to shape Charly Garcia's jump, a great song in the form of a little push towards courage, frankness and irreverence. The video clip, shot in the Asturian mountains, includes, as expected, images of the famous jump.
The Catalan pianist and composer Clara Peya, who will publish her album at the end of the month Periphery', joins Alba Flores and Ana Tijoux to present border woman, a tribute song to women who are on the fringes of society. Women who, despite being considered invisible, are a fundamental pillar. The theme has a suggestive video that served to spread a solidarity campaign in aid of the feminist association Jornaleras de Huelva en Lucha.
There are bands that are literally unclassifiable. Califato ¾ is one of them, capable of sounding avant-garde, popular and fun; vindicating the Andalusian cultural idiosyncrasy and redefining some of its codes. His long-awaited new album will be released at the end of the month but before it arrives I love you and I love it, a romantic hit, crushing and rumbero that tells an intimate, dark and delusional love story.
There is no doubt about the talent and projection of Sen Senra. The young Galician artist takes giant steps towards stardom. And your recent single It only confirms what was said. Sublime, a round hit, directly shows its most pop and danceable face, offering something that may seem easy but is actually within the reach of few. For those who want more, we have to wait until March 26, the release date of their EP. chrome heart.
For their part, the adorable Cubero Brothers release two albums simultaneously: telluric wanderers, with beautiful folk songs featuring Josele Santiago, Rocío Márquez, Amaia, Christina Rosenvinge, Grupo de Expertos Solynieve and Nacho Vegas, among others; Y Toribio Project, work that recovers the songbook of Toribio del Olmo. A delight, as usual.
Moving on to the field of cinema, animation fans have the Mostra Internacional de Cinema d'Animació de Catalunya, Animac, as a must. Between February 25 and March 7, organized by the Lleida City Council, the event celebrates its 25th anniversary offering a journey through the past, present and future of animated cinema, reflecting on the path traveled by the event, the most veteran dedicated to animated cinema in Spain.
Finally, with exhibitions, workshops and conferences that make up a program with almost 200 activities starring more than 500 designers and professionals from the sector, a new edition of Madrid Design is held in the Spanish capital during the months of February and March. Festival. Inevitable for lovers of graphic design, fashion, architecture, interior design and gastronomy.
March. What's coming:
In a somewhat rickety movie listing due to the pandemic, we should not overlook the premiere of The inocents, debut film by Madrid-born Guillermo Benet about the police eviction of a concert in a social center in which the impact of a stone kills an agent. Who threw the stone? Who knows? Why are they silent? The story of the silence of people who live knowing the answers, and also of their cowardice and guilt. In theaters from March 12.
In the literary field, we look forward to kids apart (Trojan Horse), the narrative fiction debut of the Madrid poet Julieta Valero, in which the author puts together the emotional puzzle that unites two women with a magical and sensual prose.
Peru
In February, the Peruvian lands were hot —because of the summer and the political upheaval— and caused many mixed feelings in our artists and creators. In fact, only in the week of Valentine's Day, more than 30 singles were released that addressed topics of love, illusion, resentment, among others. The air of hope is still present in the creation of independents with a view to making Peru a better place in the year of its bicentennial. But come on, music is and will always be our best refuge, so let's keep consuming it.
Two different generations of Latin American music united in this impressive song. what was to be It is a reflection that invites us to embrace and value the things that "yes are" and we have around us. A short walk through the playful world of Alejandro and María Laura, this time with the help of Andrea Echeverry from Aterciopelados. A luxury of collaboration.
summer hell, Fernanda Perochena's debut album surprised many with its diverse musical nuances and the introspective exploration she embodied in it. Of this album, among other pieces, stands out In the air, an R&B that moves between experimental pop and warm hyper pop. Surrealism made music to enjoy the summer.
In 2020 Hit La Rosa surprised by taking an interesting turn in its sound that meant new challenges and entering a new niche that we define as "dark cumbia". Tide changes from bolero to psychedelic cumbia that reaffirms the band's attitude of constant reinvention. Highly recommended.
La Lá's third album is very close to becoming a reality in collaboration with Altafonte Network, and miracles It is the first preview. La Lá's creative restlessness led her to incorporate bachata into her enormous collection of musical genres that she has been making her own since her debut in 2014. miracles It is a love song that transcends the planes of life and allows us to remember our loved ones who left for the immensity.
How can the heart and the senses not speed up with such a voice and such a sensual piece? EVAH does not detach itself from the pop genre that it has been developing with passion since its inception. However, we noticed a lot of attitude with the premiere of heart races, which subtly announces a change in the style of the young singer from Lima, who is preparing many surprises this 2021.
It is somewhat unusual to hear Sebastián Gereda starting softly with his voice. The usual thing is music or a red-hot saxophone. But in Baby we find a theme with experimental touches in the voice, well accompanied with beats to move your feet in the middle of summer. Sebastián remains faithful to his musical principles, placing his proposal as outstanding in the national indie scene.
Great Explorations of the World, what a bombastic name for the pop novelty from the group Blackthony Startano. A piece that cuts a little the energetic style of the Lima band, who are preparing more songs this 2021. Well, although the world is quite strange, it does not mean that they stop. With so much talent, Blackthony Startano will not sit idly by and will continue to explore more sounds, as is the case with this song.
The Cusco band La Jenkins presents its first single since quarantine: okay. As they say, it was initially conceived by the vocalist daco Castro as a guitar ballad, but later it took on greater force and intention with the participation of the other members. The lyrics "recreate the dialogue during the final breakdown of a relationship."
Releasing full-length albums in times of singles and algorithms streaming we find it worth applauding. Although records had little prominence during February, we recommend these two essential gems:
Sea contains 16 jewels submerged between the successful turn of the experienced band Indigo and its classic sound walk. The video clip of Spiral Excesses, released through the Faro alliance, is that midpoint between the past and present in the band. A balanced work where he exposes all the musical strength of Indigo, who have gone "countertide" in the face of the pandemic. They have not stopped producing, to the point of overcoming all barriers. Listen to the record. They won't regret it.
Finally, the beatmaker, MC and Lima producer Pounda (from Pounda & NoModico and Vudufa) premiered Fireflies, an EP loaded with a lot of emotion in its beats, instrumentals that, although they are based on the classic beats of rap (very present in the DNA of this artist), distance themselves from the classic proposals, getting quite close to genres such as downtempo with some nuances of ambient, future garage, and even synthwave like in the case of single album's namesake. Play already fly.
URUGUAY
By Kristel Latecki / piiila.com
Closing the month of February, Uruguay finally caught up with the region and received the first batch of vaccines against COVID-19. There is faith that in this small country vaccination is carried out quickly, but we will tell you about that in the next installment.
At a cultural level, the demands of the sector continue, asking for tax exemptions, the opening of municipal halls and theaters and the application of a 30% of the real capacity, and not minimum taxes per stage. The private rooms open, since the beginning of February, already offer a lively and diverse agenda for March. Almost a year into the pandemic, more than ever the community needs the support of the government and the presence of the public.
In the meantime, we can listen to the new.
Beginning this month, Ruben Rada presented new music by Carlinhos Brown. Referring to the Mangueiras samba school and honoring his mother who was born in Santana do Livramento, in Chao da Mangueira the legendary musician experiments with the fusion between samba and candombe, with lyrics by Ronaldo Bastos. This is the first cut of an album dedicated to his mother's side, and it goes without saying that this union between Uruguay and Brazil sounds perfect.
Continuing with the song legacy of the great and finished band Carmen Sandiego, Flavio Lira created under his pseudonym Amigovio an album that has a lot of synthpop and Spanish pop with eighties airs, acid humor, relationships that didn't work out and an ode to porn stars alike. Name. Among the ten songs there is a kind of nostalgia, in looking back and telling a story from the past, but without romanticizing it. It is to dance locked in the room and remember failed loves.
Amigovio has also just collaborated with Julen and la Gente Sola on the song Slow Animals. Inspired in part by the isolation produced by the pandemic, it shows a lethargic state of mind. “The days are eternal / there is gunpowder in the air”, they sing and feel.
Lu Ferreira's powerful voice shines on the first cut of what will be her debut album. Offering is an excellent and enthusiastic way to start this new cycle, carrying an intonation with flamenco airs that escalates into an expressive rock, and that proclaims everyone's right to love.
For its part, La Vela Puerca premiered on platforms an old unreleased song that they presented for the first time in Where you are, a show offered by streaming last October. look how it is it evokes previous stages of the mythical group (fast and energetic phrasing) with the strength of a 25-year-old band that sounds extremely tight live.
Another of the releases of the month that stood out for its danceable and hyper catchy component is you didn't want to listen by Miranda Díaz, a very young singer who has been showing off in feats. with artists like Tormenta, Gula, Milanss, Gavo, Berna, and Zeballos. In this single take the lead on an excellent track created by one of the trusted creators of hits: the producer Dubchizza. We need track to enjoy this theme even more.
If we talk about Dubchizza we have to talk about his group Los Buenos Modales, who before releasing their promised second album released a collaboration with the cumbia group The La Planta. Hello It is located in a pop aesthetic with accents of hiphop electronics, ideal for beach inns.
Other track of Uruguayan pop released this month is Obstinate by Eros White, one of the artists and producers who has most promoted and improved the sound of the genre in the country. Continuing the excellent streak that began last year, this new single is a subtle hyperpop with a clear SOPHIE and Charli XCX influence with verses by flow ragpicker.
And to continue within the genre, the NME duo offers The 2 in the 4th, an electropop song that regrets a breakup and recalls better and sexier moments. With influences from the latest Daft Punk, they hit the nail on the head with the groove and the right interpretation.
One of the last EPs of the month was Diplomacy, from Sáez'93 together with Franco Carter from Madrid. Between old school samples, passed through a minimalist filter, and intervened by noise and vinyl tray distortions, the MCs intersperse verses and demonstrate their enormous harmony and brotherhood through distance.
March. What's Coming:
As I said at the beginning, this month several venues that stopped their activity during the summer are reopening and will offer a fairly busy agenda of shows, so luckily we will have live music and with the corresponding protocols.
Playlist Faro February 2021
