Belén's Top 10 Tracks of 2013

Belen gives us her top 10 tracks of the past year, a real mixture for you all in this one.

Enjoy!

Introducing... SMILE

The band from Spain (Getxo) is presenting the first single of their next album ‘Out Of Season’ out on the 15th of October. They come back with their third LP, after the release of ‘Seaside’ in the year 2012 still available for free download. John Franks is the leader of the band along with Jokin Totorika and Daniel Merino, though they started with an acoustic sound it soon developed in fresh and rhythmic vibes with the incorporation of Ferdy Breton and Javi Gonzalez.

‘City Girl’ is the track chosen to present their new record. It transports the seaside feeling of the Spanish coast as parallels of the Californian ones, full of surfers and with bright sunny days. With a catchy riff and easy lyrics, the song reminds us of the summer that is sadly ending but that still encourages us and the girl to “find a crazy adventure” in this short track but prosperous and promising album that goes on the line of the EP but assures a timeless collection of tracks for this autumn. 

For fans of // The Drums, Best Coast, Tennis
 
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Free Mp3 / SMILE - City Girl 

Written by  Belén Martinez

EP Review... Kodaline - Love Like This

We don’t miss a chance to talk about our favourites Kodaline and though their album is coming in the next days, news about them have come a bit earlier. Love Like This EP comes out with two new songs that won’t be part of the album and an acoustic version of the single. The EP is available on Soundcloud so that everyone can enjoy it!

"Love Like This" will sure become an anthem for this summer/spring crushes and fleeting couples. With a folky fun mandolin and the group’s laughs in the background, the beginning of the song sets us in the mood for the joyful and harmonica rushed chorus that will become one of their highlights on-stage.

If they had been compared to Coldplay before, when "What It Is" starts there is an automatic reflection to Fix You. The song talks about growing-up, finding your own path in life and the resignation of living “in a world that is never as it seems” and where “people try to buy and sale their dreams”. In a chorus side-to-side chant the message is clear: as McCartney’s mum said, Let It Be and try to make your best on your own.

"Midnight" creates a surrounding atmosphere, with mumbled lyrics, Steve’s voice lower than the usual and a recurring rhythm. A simple and calmed song that links perfectly the feeling towards the acoustic version of Love Like This. This time, forget about celebrating the short but passionate vacation love, because sadness takes the stage from the beginning. Folk inspiration is replaced by the piano, and the laughs by a tissue-pack, saying goodbye to that love that couldn’t last forever. The chorus hymn becomes a hurt cry, and so, it ends, the love, and the EP.

After this we can’t hide our excitement for the album release, but will it be for a transitory love or will it last forever?

Kodaline - Love Like This
Out of 10: 9/10

Written by - Belén Martínez Saiz

Album Review... Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito

Veterans Karen O, Brian Chase and Nick Zinner are back with their fourth album in the 10th year from the publication of their first album “Fever To Tell”. They say first impressions are often the truest, and the unveiling of the cover for “Mosquito” was a shocking one. Most of the fans, (and I include myself among them) freaked out when we saw the controversial design of Beomsik Shimbe Shim. Of course, something that we love about Yeah Yeah Yeahs is their capacity to be different and surprising; but maybe that was too much.

Fortunately, originality plays another role when it comes to the album itself. Eleven songs with the production of David Sitek and Nick Launay offer a lo-fi collage of their past works together with some new experimentation. The album will be officially released on the 15th of April but a full-album stream with track-by-track commentaries is already available online.

"Sacrilege", the first track released as a single and the first track of the album, was named Best New Track by Pitchfork. The song was written when the band was in New Orleans, and by picking up the religious tradition of gospel and mixing it with Karen O’s voice, they created this brilliant anthem. The second track, "Subway" is the most hypnotic and involving song in the album. It depicts an everyday routine moment for most of us and softly sends us to sleep into our consciousness using the metro rattle sample as a lullaby. The track that gives name to the album, "Mosquito" suddenly wakes us up immediately, as the bite of a mosquito itself would do in the middle of the night. Whispered and called by Karen’s whispering, the mosquito is invoked by the drums to “suck your blood”. Pay attention because you’ll be able to hear even a mosquito buzzing. The next tracks, half-decided between softness, sexuality and intensity, balance the high and low moments of the album. They aren’t as attractive as the other tracks at first listen, but surely grow after a few times. "Under The Earth", evokes one of the dark corners of the streets of New York. It slows down the rhythm and brings up experimentation with random sounds. Following its vibe, "Slave" brings back It’s Blitz! sounds, with a synth beginning, an engaging guitar presence and an appealing rhythm, it makes us slaves in the search of the final climax begging: “keep me, keep me”.

"These Paths" experiments with the adding of layers based on a sample of six notes repeated through all the song. This track enjoys the highest registers in Karen’s voice so my advice is to savour it and don’t try to sing it at home.

Nick’s riff begins "Area 52"; an emergency call that ends up sweaty and aggressively. Every time I listen to it, I imagine the video version of it, an action 80s movie, green liquid blood and enormous OVNI over our heads maybe? This alien invasion is, together with Mosquito and Buried Alive, the rock ingredients in the album taking us back to their first album sounds.

The collaboration with Dr Octagon in "Buried Alive" results in an interesting horror atmosphere, it has been slightly rejected by some fans, but from my point of view, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’s guest (together with producer James Murphy) matches successfully the album’s expectations. Concluding the album, "Always", described as an engagement song by Karen O, echoes, simple and direct. A minimalistic lyric, music based song that brings "Despair", the Hysteric equivalent. These last pieces end the album emotionally and beautifully together with "Wedding Song".

There is something for everyone and also something from every of their previous works. As a whole, it has some mood swings not recommended for a non-stop listening from beginning to end of the record, but if you are looking for a song to match your romantic spirit, an energy injection, or a dark, horror movie night, Mosquito will have what you need.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito
Out of 10: 7/10

Written by - Belén Martínez Saiz

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Ra Ra Riot new album 'Beta Love' - Preview

Ra Ra Riot have announced the release date for their third album Beta Love as March 18th for the UK on Barsuk Records. The album marks the band’s first outing as a four piece with members Wes Miles on vocals, Milo Bonacci on guitar, Mathieu Santos on bass and Rebecca Zeller on violin forming the core of the group.

We've got Belén Martinez's take on the new material in a special preview of the album!

Beta Love:
Pop electro and a good feeling is what they bring us this time. References and the comparison with Mika may come forward thanks to the happiness, hope and the love theme of the song. But Ra Ra Riot keep it simple, the track follows its natural way, leaded by the chorus. Begging for love in a robot world, as the one that we live in, they will give us this positive pill and the final promise of getting closer, closer to you. 




When I Dream: 
This track is warm and perfect for a rainy day. Talking about emotions, Wes Miles’s voice sounds moving and pure after the bass house-esque rhythm. Little by little their sound reaches a climax in the chorus, which introduced by a slightly higher repetition, maintains it simple and easy to follow but at the same time full of meaning. The bass and the violin fit flawlessly with the voice, making this track almost perfect. Including a tricky part that appears in the minute 2:00 and lasts just for 20 seconds, the circle structure of the song makes it perfect for a relaxed listen, starting over and over again.