audio jon arga & asier leoz
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CHUCHO

los diarios de petróleo · chewaka/virgin

At first we knew Surfin’ Bichos; knew and savoured them. We were also saddened by their disappearance. But then Chucho’s first recording, "78", was released. That soon put paid to any sadness we might have been feeling at the time. After that, the amazing ¨Tejido de Felicidad¨ fell into our eager little hands and reminded us just what this great band was capable of. This year, 2001, has seen the painfully slow and staggered release of ¨Los Diarios de Petroleo¨ ; 3 EP-s and an album make up what was originally supposed to have been a double album. Fernando Alfaro is one of the best songwriters in Spain today and what he writes is elegantly dressed by Chucho. They use whatever source of musical inspiration necessary to write songs the way they should be written.

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AMERICAN ANALOG SET

know by heart · tiger style records

One of the most interesting bands to come out of The States is hidden behind this suggestive name (the word analog is not American). Formed in Texas (USA) in 1995, the band, affected by line up changes but holding onto their coherency, have experimented and polished off their sound over these last six years. They are veterans of numerous tours, especially in States, and are an experienced live band. They’ve toured with many highly praised bands like Mogwai and Death Cab for Cutie. "Know By Heart", their fourth LP, brings us another small change insofar as they introduce noticeable shades of Pop and Folk. That said, they still remain faithful to their roots. They are masters of laid back and mid-tempo rhythms and traces of the great Elliot Smith can be heard in the voices at times.

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EELS

jackers · dreamworks

Mark “E” Everett loves change. This has been a noticeable characteristic of Eels ever since they brought out their first record (Beautiful freak, 1996). The word change is certainly not out of place when it comes to describing “Soul Jacker”, their fifth album. This Charles Manson look-alike singer (glasses, hooded top and a beard alike) has totally changed the sound that could be heard on their last record “Daisies of the Galaxie”. Those who, on hearing the last record, felt that Eels where doing stuff more along the lines of Beck, will only be able to say the same about a couple of songs on this record. The rest of the songs are dominated by a dirty and more garage type guitar sound (“Soul Jacker”, ) which is down to John Parish. PJ Harvey’s guitar player lashes out strong riffy starts to the songs.

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LAMB

What sound · mercury

"What sound" is the third album to be released by the duo formed by Andy Barlow and Louise Rhodes. Even though commercial success hasn’t welcomed them with open arms, they still haven’t lost their touch when it comes to recording brilliant studio material. They sprinkle on a dose of jazzy Drum & Bass and achieve an atmospheric touch to their music. They kind of sound like Terranova or Portishead. They use sequencers and lyrics that could have been written by William Orbitt, but their sound is a bit closer to the Cocteau Twins. All in all, and that’s the best thing about this record, the bits of music(over-produced) they stuck in here and there on their last album, have a much freer feel to them this time round, a more natural flow, in other words.