In doing the research for a recent post about movie soundtracks with an alt/indie/modern rock bent, I found a number of other directions I could take the discussion. Here’s one of them: a discussion of artists who started out at some point making alternative music, then eventually left it behind to focus solely on scores and songs for filmed output. (This is separate from artists who dabble in screen work in addition to their “day job.” I’ll address those musicians in the next post in this series-to-be.) My research didn’t turn up too many names along these lines, but what names I did turn up are pretty darn big. For an idea of who we’re dealing with here, let me give you a sample from outside the lines of indie rock:

Trevor Rabin
No, neither Rabin nor his buddies from latter incarnations of Yes are anywhere near the alt-rock universe, but his roster of film scores have names and budgets as big as the arenas he used to play and as such can’t be ignored. If you’ve watched a movie in the last 15 years with Will Smith (Enemy of the State), Bruce Willis (Armageddon), Samuel L. Jackson (Snakes on a Plane), or Nicolas Cage (Con Air) on the marquee, chances are Rabin did the music for it.

See where I’m headed here? Good, now let’s look at four who score big for modern rock: (more…)

For those who remember the glory days of WDRE, I present to you a video of DRE’s first live broadcast (shot by none other than Mel “Toxic” Taylor)…

There are a few more to be seen, including the actual flipping of the format at midnight on November 9th, 1992…

Hello everyone, my name is Ramon and I am the host of YRock Internacional, a specialty show that brings you alternative rock and independent music from places in the Latin world as well as the most obscure regions of the Universe, every Saturday afternoon from 5 to 7 pm.

So, my first post in this here blog is obviously going to have to be about music from Spain; the Iberian Peninsula, and also the “motherland” o Madre Patria for many of the inhabitants of South, Central, North America and the Caribbean.

This is a really good map of the country and you will need to refer back to it once we start getting into some of the bands I will be discussing here shortly.

Getting back to music,  Spanish music is primarily known for its Flamenco. An autoctonal style of music that combines florid flourishes of guitar playing (toque) and mournful singing with deep roots in the Moorish influences of the middle ages and the gypsy, nomadic cultures of Europe (cante) and the dance or “baile”. It generated in the Andalusian region of Spain which comprises Cadiz, Sevilla and Malaga principally. Some of the biggest names in flamenco are Paco de Lucia, Camaron de la Isla or La Paquera de Jerez, Tomatito and the incomparable Joan Manuel Serrat. The Gypsy Kings brought wider acceptance to the genre in the early Eighties within the Anglo-speaking world.

Here’s a good example of flamenco music with two of the legends, Camaron and Paco de Lucia. Enjoy!

Here’s an example of the Gypsy Kings and their song Bamboleo which is, in large part, taken from a composition (lyrics and all) by Simon Diaz titled Caballo Viejo for which he didn’t receive a cent (but that’s another post):

So anyway, that’s flamenco. It is now considered the classical music of Spain and many artists continue to derive feeling and song from its meter, melody and sunctuous rythmns including modern bands like Estopa, Los Planetas, Ojos de Brujo, Macaco and Manu Chao among many.

Moving on to the 80’s and the New Wave or better known in Spain and the world as “la movida.”  La movida refers to a revolution of the arts that occurred in Spain after the death of  Generalissimo Francisco Franco “El Caudillo”,  Nazi sympathizer, commander of the Falange army, dictator-for-life and cold-blooded assassin responsible for Guernica among other atrocities, who subyugated the Spanish peoples for over 50 years of a regimen where censorship, hunger and police brutality were the norm.

After Franco’s death in 1973, groups of artists, musicians and otherwise repressed people came out of everywhere to redefine the Spanish cultural and social landscape giving the world movie geniuses like Pedro Almodovar and new musical maestros such as El Ultimo de la Fila, La Union, Paralisis Permanente, Gabinete Caligari, Aerolineas Federales, Siniestro Total, Golpes Bajos, Mecano and another hundred or so bands who took the sounds of the new wave and post-punk created in England and meshed it into their homegrown flamenco and buleria sound. There are a million bands and videos I could post here but I will do two of the most representative and keep in mind, these were the 80’s in Spain (so no laughing please).

Paralisis Permanente: Autosuficiencia (”Self Sufficiency” by the classic post-punk band Permanent Paralisis. Eduardo Benavente, singer and guitarrist, was killed in an auto crash on the way to a gig in 1983 at age 20)

Mecano: Perdido en mi Habitacion (”Lost in My Room” from the supergroup of the Eighties in Spain and Latin America. Notice the mini-Casio synth the guy is playing and the horrible clothing…ha ha ha ha)

And two flamenco-influenced bands from that era are:

El Ultimo de la Fila (The last in line) - Aviones Plateados (Silver Planes)

Duncan Dhu - En Algun Lugar (In Some Place)

Finally, after a period of dormancy, when the Spanish bands lost ground to the more popular sounds of grunge and Brit pop during the Nineties, there is a resurgence of truly remarkable Spanish bands coming out and making a push for more international appreciation. In the last 7 years, bands such as Los Planetas, Maga, La Habitacion Roja, Cooper, Dover, MUS and La Buena Vida have given way to younger upstarts with a new lease in the rock ‘n’ roll life.  I am talking about amazing new sounds coming from the likes of Lagartija Nick, Dorian, Triangulo de Amor Bizarro, Havalina Blue, OVNI, Delorean, Love of Lesbian, Deluxe, Facto Delafe y Las Flores Azules, Sidonie, La Celula Durmiente, The Sunday Drivers, and many, many more. Let me start by giving you the best bands from 2007 in an informal poll I did with some of my friends and you can make your own judgement:

Love of Lesbian (Barcelona): Universos Infinitos (”Infinite Universes” from their album Cuentos Chinos para Niños del Japon or Chinese Stories for Kids in Japan)

Dorian (Barcelona): Cualquier Otra Parte (”Any Other Place” from their 2006 CD, El Futuro No Es De Nadie.)

Lagartija Nick (Granada): Contar lo que no puedo contar (”Tell you what I cannot tell you” from El Shock de Leia. This great band is from Granada, Spain, a superb musical city)

The Sunday Drivers (Madrid): Do It (from the excellent album titled after the San Francisco studio where they recorded it in 2007 “Tiny Telephone.” Mushroom pillow records.)

Pajaro Sunrise (outskirts of Madrid): Sunday Morning Birds (from their self-titled debut album “Pajaro Sunrise” on an excellent indie label called Lovemonk records).

La Habitacion Roja (Valencia): La vida moderna (”Modern Life” from their album Cuando Ya No Quede Nada (When there’s nothing left) which was recorded and engineered by the master Steve Albini in Chicago. Also signed to Mushroom Pillow records).

Facto Delafe y las Flores Azules (Catalunya): El Indio (”The Indian” from the trip-hoppy album “La Luz de la Manaña”, Light of the Morning)

OVNI (Barcelona): Tu necesidad (”Your necessity” from the band that most resembles The Strokes ever, anywhere, great new and young band from Spain. “Aterrizaje!” is the name of the album, signed to Nacional records in the States.)

Delorean (Barcelona): As Time Breaks Off (”from their album Into the Plateau, this amazingly good band from Barcelona has been tearing it up since 1996 and YROCK has been, probably the only station to play them on regular rotation. Sounding like The Rapture before there was even a band called The Rapture, these guys are huge in Spain and hopefully soon in the US. Recently played at SXSW in Austin and hopefully their new record will come stateside soon.)

The Pinker Tones (Barcelona): Karma Hunters (These crazy dudes from Barcelona are the perfect example of a multi-cultural, polyglot and user-friendly dance machine. This song comes from their amazing album The Million Colour Revolution of 2006, which has songs in English, Spanish and German (one of my favorites is called Pink Freud). They are set to release their newest album Wild Animals on June 3rd on Nacional records. They are also all set to conquer the Universe when they go on the whole Warped Tour this Summer. If you like dancing, you will love this band. Professor Manso and Mr. Furia are funny, eclectic, smart and very, very satisfying. They absolutely rule!!) Check it!!!

Well, that is all I have for now, I could’ve spent a lot more time fishing for more videos of great Spanish bands but then again, it would get boring and there is a finite length oftime I can do this for. Check out their records, their mySpace pages, support them by buying their records and hope you love it as much as I do. It is music to enjoy and listen to it with your friends and loved ones and remember where you heard it first, YROCK Internacional on YROCKonXPN.org.

Let me leave you with my favorite song, from my favorite Spanish band, Los Planetas (Un Buen Dia): CRANK IT UP!!!

Your comments are definitely appreciated. Write me at ramon@yrockonxpn.org

Adios!!!!

So yesterday brought us the brand new album from The Raconteurs, Consolers of The Lonely. So far I’ve only heard the single, “Salute Your Solution,” which is pretty great! And guess what, they went and made a pretty neat video for it. Watch it below…

A particular blue-and-gold flag has been flapping on my musical map for the last few weeks now, and there are reasons why above and beyond home furnishings:

• The awesome bangin’-beat blog Palms Out Sounds recently posted about a hot club track from a new group called Maskinen. Watch the video for “Alla Som Inte Dansar” and you’ll see the visuals are straight-up Justice, the delivery right in the wheelhouse of Dan Le Sac v. Scroobius Pip. I recently played this on The Circuit, and it’s a great song with just one dirty little secret: the provocative translation of the chorus.
• S.O.S.: Abba drummer dead at 61.
• “Yours truly, Jens Lekman.“
• Some Y-Rock listeners picked up on a track introduced to them by Sat Bisla on our Passport Approved show: “Better When You’re Naked” by the Swedish group Ida Maria. (The lead singer of the same name is Norwegian by birth, but we’ll let her slide. This time.) Earnest stuff, I hear some Pretenders in there. Sadly, most of their material is still only available for purchase on the other side of the pond. Learn your exchange rates.
• I’m From Barcelona, 20+ members strong, visit Philly in late April for one of just two East Coast shows.

And let’s not forget some of Sweden’s more usual suspects: The Sounds, The Hives, The Cardigans, The Knife, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, The Field, Peter Bjorn & John, The Concretes, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, The Caesars (”Jerk it Out”), Army of Lovers, Hellacopters, Meshuggah, The Radio Dept., Sally Shapiro, Neneh and Eagle-Eye Cherry (by birth!), Robyn, The Shout Out Louds, Millencolin, Whale (”Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe”), Lo-Fi-Fnk, Mando Diao

It’s totally Modern Rock Madness time!

Yesterday’s competitions were fierce, and today’s are only looking to be even more so.  The Modern Rock Madness site has all the info you need to get your own bracket, vote for the currently battling bands, and keep up to date with the results!

Remember, you have the chance to win a Nintendo Wii by filling in a bracket as the tournament progresses and sending it in to us when it’s over.

Tune in all this week to hear how your favorite band will fare in this tournament of rock!

This year was my second time at SXSW in Austin, TX and I had a great time. Saw some excellent music, hung out with some cool folks…there will be a post on the regular XPN blog where all the XPN peeps who attended will post their favorite moments…here’s what I submitted, plus a bonus picture! 

1. R.E.M. at Stubbs - My favorite band playing some of my favorite songs. Nuff said? I hope you heard it played back on XPN last Thursday night…if not, it’s archived here.
2. Phantom Planet at La Zona Rosa - reminding me why I loved seeing them live so many times. Frontman Alex Greenwald is still a madman onstage.
3. Be Your Own Pet - Outside in a courtyard…hyperactive, spastic and after 3 songs, the generator ran out of gas, so the band goofed around and interacted with the crowd until they had power again, while Thurston Moore looked on from the sidelines.
4. Meeting Mick Jones of The Clash!!! It’s not every day you meet a Punk Rock legend…maybe I will splice the picture together with the one of Jim McGuinn & I with Paul Simonon from last year’s SXSW.
5. The Whigs rocking the XPN/Stereogum/Paste party. “Right Hand On My Heart” is just plain sick live.

Also, I met Whitney Matheson of USA Today’s indispensable Pop Candy blog and briefly chatted about (what else?) R.E.M. Here is a picture of a blogger and me, posted on a blog. How meta! 

It’s that time of year… well, really, those times of year.

Ireland.com presents the top 40 Irish albums. A couple of interesting artist legacies (Bell X1, Glen Hansard), a little bit of where-are-they-now (Therapy?), a little bit of who-dat (Microdisney). Beyond that, just a whole lotta usual suspects — Van, MBV, U2. With U2’s all-powerful stature, you might be surprised what album serves them best in this countdown.

Wikibin hosts a list of baseball players’ entrance music. And you thought sports entertainment was just limited to the WWE? Interesting finds: [1.] Too. Much. Nickelback. [2.] Julio Franco comes out to Christian pop and gospel, obviously as a measure of thanks for being able to play at the age of 73. [3.] A few players actually have come out to music made specifically for pro wrestlers, among them the Yankees’ Jason Giambi, the White Sox’ A.J. Pierzynski, and the Blue Jays’ Matt Stairs. [4.] Trade bait? Mark Sweeney is with San Francisco, his 8th NL team in 13 seasons, yet enters to the Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.” [5.] Players who pick from one catalog include Philadelphia’s Shane Victorino (Bob and other Marleys), Scott Spiezio of St. Louis (his own band Sandfrog), and Toronto’s Lyle Overbay (Pearl Jam). [6.] Biggest name player with the worst ear? Try Matt Holliday of Colorado: Creed, Scott Stapp solo, and Madonna. Yeesh. [7.] Some of the artists you wouldn’t expect to hear (but probably fit right in) include Daft Punk, The Police, System of a Down, Dire Straits and Duran Duran. You’ll shed a tear when you see which player gives Mike Patton side project Tomahawk a little love. Be warned that the list is a mish-mosh of players active and retired, and may be a trade or two behind some players.

Believe it….Trent Reznor has taken the Radiohead approach to release his latest project, Ghosts I-IV, on the interwebs…Ghosts I-IV is a 36-track all-instrumental collection (think of it as four 9-track EPs)…

There are a number of ways to get the tunes, and all can be found at the NIN Store…of course, all of NIN’s fans have been flooding the site, so it might be a bit sluggish until they work out the kinks…

BRASS - “Set & Drift”

New band, new style, new attitude, from former members of Allison Ranger, Motumbos Hospital, & North Star Infinite. This new band blends indie rock hooks and melodies with  a technical display of instrumentation that races from quiet melodies to a wonderful thundering explosion of math rock/prog. Sounds like early Incubus (think of the sound of S.C.I.E.N.C.E. ), meets Mars Volta, meets Faith No More, with harmonizing pop hooks over crunching riffs simelar to later day music of The Beatles and The Who. This is pretty awesome if I do say so myself, and I do, and that’s why you are reading this...

BEST TRACKS: #2 “The Optomist”, #1 “Autum Hex Signs”, #5 “Separate Bodies”, #7 ” Tall Ships”

JAKE’S RATING: 5 of 5

PAT CUSICK - “RHYMES WITH MUSIC”

This is impressive, this guitarist from Halifax, PA (yeah, I never heard of it either) wears his influences on his sleeve with a sound that is best discribed as Indie pop meets americana rock n roll. Sounds like Warren Zevon, Elvis Costello, Lou Reed, Brian Setzer, that other guy named Elvis, and The Beatles.

BEST TRACKS: # 2 ” Drive Drive Drive”, #4 ” Amelia”, #7 ” Who Rigged My Radio”, # 6 ” Damn The Miles”, # 5 “Calling Out From My Heart”

JAKE’S RATING:  5 of 5

STONE LUCY - “SYNDICATED SUMMER”

Prog metal from Washington D.C.,  very heavy but melodic. Sounds like Tool , & Opeth.

BEST TRACKS: #1 “Manikin”, # 3 “Searching For The Missing”, #7″ Nothing In A Name”

JAKE’s RATING: 2 1/2 of 5

THE SILENCE - “FIND YOUR WAY HOME”

The Silence is anything but, they are a 3 peice alternative rock act from Philly with a familiar style sound. Their sound is a mix of altenative rock staples such as Our Lady Peace, and Smashing Pumpkins mixed with quirky fun pop rock simalar to the styles of Spacehog, Fastball, and The Wallflowers.

BEST TRACKS: #3 “Myralene”, # 6 “Alang Came A Sign”, # 10 “Breathe”

JAKE’S RATING” 3 1/2 of 5

THE THRIVES - “ALL ROCKETS”

Catchy indie pop with big guitar riffs from Harrisburg, PA. Sounds like Our Lady Peace, Oasis meets Jet.

BEST TRACKS: #5 “A Snack For The Angels”, #1 Fall Right Down”

JAKE’S RATING:  3 of 5

And Now here’s what was played this week on The Y-Rock Philly Local