Bolachas.org - A New Home for the Cookie Monster

“Ivory Coast”, off Pure Bathing Culture’s...

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:25:07 +0100

“Ivory Coast”, off Pure Bathing Culture’s selftitled debut EP was one of my favorite songs of 2012. The former Vetiver collaborators will finally be releasing their first LP, Moon Tides next August 20 on one of Bolachas’ favorite labels, Partisan Records (of Deer Tick fame). Can’t wait.

DSS

The National – Trouble Will Find Me

Sun, 19 May 2013 00:21:00 +0100

When the National became what we could arguably call “present’s world greatest indie band”, a classification Brooklyn-via-Cincinnati group (tks, P4k) achieved among some folks with their widely acclaimed 2010 album High Violet, they’ve sort of crossed the river of relative “pop/rock starness”. That can be tough, can lead to get your own fans to stop from being your fans, can lead, in a band like the National, to an extreme, pernicious mainstreamization, to be sloughy about your song writing and music composition. Even if some people, like that friend of mine (no pun intended) who claimed that despite being a huge fan of Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers and Alligator, and “all tolerant” about Boxer (that enormous collection of catchy – though kinda sad – songs), thinks High Violet is awful, its drumming is unbearable, et cetera, et cetera, the fact is that a record like that only happens once in a blue moon. High Violet is the sad (and officier) version of Seinfeld, the sitcom, of the 21^st century, in the form of a music record. Also, the National’s evolution with time is unbelievably well, I dare say flawlessly planned. They have grown as a band with the years, just the way most of their records do the more and more one listens to them (Alligator or its little brother Cherry Tree EP are, probably, the finest example of it), and their strategy is a good one: each time a new record comes out, a new sound, a new topic is added on top of what we already knew.

On Trouble Will Find Me, it’s probably that baroque, basso continuo-alike sound, listened right when the album starts, with a great, strong, proper ballad, “I Should Live in Salt” – one of the nationalest songs in the record, too.

Some (yeah, in this text we only care about people who like the band – or at least don’t hate all the National’s work) may be disappointed with the absence of the roughness, especially on the lyrics they had us used to, but, at the same time, I believe some of that roughness was rather naïve, being fare to say that Matt Berninger, even though still able to produce little amazing drunken phrases like “I wish everybody knew / what’s so great about you”, has matured a bit, which is, sorry for the cliché, not better or worse, it’s just different.

On “Demons”, first song officially put out, the repetition of a boring and meaningless verse (“I stay down / with my demons”) sort of spoils the mood of the listener, right on the second track. Fortunately, “Don’t Swallow the Cap”, with the well-known drumming of Bryan Devendorf, introducing higher than usual pitched lead vocals, comes not to show up as the album’s best moment, yet as a very good tune, with an excellent guitar work. The National do know how to rock and roll, and it’s songs like this one or, and especially, “Sea of Love” (with that bass – Scott is great – inherited directly from Boxer) and “Graceless” (the best on TWFM, a song which has had the awful luck of being born in the shadow of a similar, and even greater, one: “Bloodbuzz Ohio”) are proof more than enough of it.

Assuming a bit of taste, even the biggest fan (and for credibility sake I have to admit I am one) knows this is the record of expendable songs. “Fireproof” is one of those songs (srsly, Cherry Tree is there, it’s amazing, no point on overdoing it), and, nearer to the end, “Pink Rabbits”, a pretty but way toooooo slushy (too mnstrm! that’s what I was talking about earlier) slow which isn’t able to convince – even with those solid, as usual, words here and there.

Still, the record isn’t far from great. Sorry, it’s only the truth. The level on the best songs already mentioned or ones like “I Need My Girl” (Dessner brothers are the best guitarrists on the indie world right know, I assure you) with the sweetest, simplest melody and amazing lyrics; or the not less beautiful, “Gospel” (the outstanding song that closes 2007 Boxer) sound-alike “Heavenfaced” – a wonderful instrumental arrangement, from the guitar to the keyboards, highly elaborated, ever growing, not the best but doubtlessly the loveliest. And, like returning to the beginning, so long ago, of an American americana-rock band some people thought was the successor of Silver Jews on 2001 The National, “This Is the Last Time” is nothing else than a bridge from “American Mary” to 2013. On “Slipped”, an enormous piece of songwriting, Matt apologizes for everything (something he’s so fond of doing) and states that doesn’t need “any help to be breakable”; it’s the band’s lead singer telling the listeners nothing has actually changed. “Humiliation” suffers a bit from the problem of being eclipsed by so many better songs this band has done in the past, but “Hard to Find” is, once again, different, in a good way, it contains the sweetness that is the most valuable acquisition of the National in this process of evolution. All in all, with all the (objective) odds against them, they “failed to fail”. Which is great.

Another friend of mine (again, no pun intended) trusted them with her skin. I, by now, am fairly sure I’d trust them with my life.

- RC

Día de la Música 2013!

Thu, 16 May 2013 18:59:00 +0100

Día de la Música – the Madrilenian urban festival which has in the past few years brought very relevant international indie acts such as Destroyer, St. Vincent, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and The xx; but also hugely acclaimed Spanish ones like Sr. Chinarro, Delorean and Hola a Todo el Mundo – will take place a month and a half from now.

This year, the organization started by confirming one of the greatest bands of all time, and one of the most loved around here, British space-rock group Spiritualized, along with post-punk legends The Fall; The Horrors and others, and again one of our favorite indie acts of current Spanish scene Hola a Todo el Mundo, plus Extraperlo (Continental Breakfast om nom nom). On past April 25^th we have been awarded with quite a few more interesting names, such as the new Scout Niblett, Waxahatchee, Yeasayer-sound-alike’s Autre Ne Veut, and decent-Animal-Collective-in-2013, English trio Darkstar. Awesome.

On June 21^st and 22^nd, first two days of summer 8) – and what a hot summer it is in Madrid –, the mentioned above and more (and more to come yet) will play at Matadero, a nice venue near the center of the city. Passes for both days currently cost €50 and single-day tickets are available for €30.

Like we always say: being able to, go!

-RC

Brand new song & video from Nicola Donà AKA Horrible...

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:15:49 +0100

Brand new song & video from Nicola Donà AKA Horrible Present. This man can’t write a bad song and that’s why we’ll be releasing more of his music later in the year on Cakes and Tapes.

Site of the Day: Bolachas

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:59:44 +0100

Site of the Day: Bolachas:

we were the Site of the Day last month on ex.fm and we just learned about that now. awesome.

exfm:

Bolachas is a Portuguese music blog that has been championing all genres of indie music since 2006.
Listen on exfm

Last month we presented the new line of Converse sneakers for...

Tue, 14 May 2013 14:00:00 +0100

Last month we presented the new line of Converse sneakers for 2013. The promo vid has some Black Lips in it. Watch it.

New Arborea: “Pale Horse Phantasm”. Beautiful song...

Mon, 13 May 2013 15:31:04 +0100

New Arborea: “Pale Horse Phantasm”.

Beautiful song from the new album, Fortress of the Sun, along with a fascinating video.. be sure to read more about the process at Folk Radio UK.

Arborea will be presenting their latest album live on our next Bolachas Session at Mercado Negro, Aveiro, PT next Saturday, May 18th at 10:30pm. Event here.

Bolachas Session #04-2013 Thursday, 9th May 2013 • 10:30pm •...

Fri, 03 May 2013 15:11:00 +0100

Bolachas Session #04-2013

Thursday, 9th May 2013 • 10:30pm • €5

EMPEROR X

Mercado Negro, Aveiro, Portugal

event

Our friends at VideoPick are putting together a party to...

Thu, 02 May 2013 12:37:00 +0100

Our friends at VideoPick are putting together a party to celebrate their new website. And they’re doing it in a city where nothing relevant ever happens. Major props.

Mac DeMarco, “My Kind of Woman” source

Wed, 01 May 2013 13:26:00 +0100

Mac DeMarco, “My Kind of Woman”

source

Just got news from the WARP HQ… After considerable...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:46:17 +0100

Just got news from the WARP HQ…

After considerable speculation since Record Store Day, we can reveal that the new album by Boards of Canada ‘Tomorrow’s Harvest’ will be released on Tuesday June 11^th in North America on Warp Records.

http://cosecha-transmisiones.com/

01. Gemini

02. Reach For The Dead

03. White Cyclosa

04. Jacquard Causeway

05. Telepath

06. Cold Earth

07. Transmisiones Ferox

08. Sick Times

09. Collapse

10. Palace Posy

11. Split Your Infinities

12. Uritual

13. Nothing Is Real

14. Sundown

15. New Seeds

16. Come To Dust

17. Semena Mertvykh

Stream Mark Kozelek & Jimmy LaValle’s Perils from the...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:53:00 +0100

Stream Mark Kozelek & Jimmy LaValle’s Perils from the Sea on Pitchfork Advance.

Usually promoters promote their own gig and don’t really...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:09:49 +0100

Usually promoters promote their own gig and don’t really care about the other concerts an artist plays in their country. But Emperor X is so amazing - and so is his tour poster, made by Márcio Folha - I couldn’t help but promote them all.

Aveiro event

Portuguese tour event

Friends in London… here’s a rare opportunity to...

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:10:04 +0100

Friends in London… here’s a rare opportunity to check out two of the best Portuguese acts of the relatively new century. May 31st at the Round Chapel. More info at The Portuguese Conspiracy.

Dead Combo

Norberto Lobo

Atoms For Peace - Amok

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:00:28 +0100

I’m probably just throwing whatever indie cred I have left out of this twenty-three story window we call modern life, but let me say this: I like RHCP. I love Flea. I love that he once auditioned for Public Image Ltd. (which, incidentally, is a band that I love). I love his catchy, funky bass lines. I love it he’s still going strong despite playing for a band that has gone way past their prime (oh, how I fucking love - and miss - Californication’s absolute lack of pretension and great tunes to sing along to). So, when I found out Atoms For Peace would be a supergroup consisting of both him and Thom Yorke (whom I like, not love, but respect), along with some other guys no one cares about (just kidding), I was excited to hear what could possibly come out of their epic brainstorming. Amok, however, kind of failed to deliver - not that it is a bad record, it is actually a pretty great record, but I was expecting something funkier, something that would blow my mind away (then again, I should know hype is a very dangerous thing), and not just The King Of Limbs 2.0. Oh, well. I guess I’ll have to settle for dancey tunes such as “Before Your Very Eyes”, for the overall dub techno feel I get from this record, and for Yorke’s vocal take on “Judge, Jury And Executioner”, depressing-but-not-in-a-cut-your-wrists-right-fucking-now-kind-of-way, depressing in the sense that you could be chilling to it at the beach during sunset, like in a Café del Mar soundtrack or something of the sort. I like, not love, Amok; but I’m glad it came out and gave a reason for Yorkey and Fleayey to carry on with their rockstar lives past forty, that it gave them - especially Flea - a special kind of artistic credibility outside their regular bands. In a way, Amok might very well get some hipsters thinking, man, Flea’s pretty good, isn’t he? Why the hell did I hate RHCP in the first place? Why the fuck do I hate fun? Why isn’t James Blake in here?

4/5
PAC

Game of Thrones, please stop giving me reasons to watch you. A...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:32:11 +0100

Game of Thrones, please stop giving me reasons to watch you. A new The Hold Steady short song played over the credits on last night’s episode and I’m glad the Internet exists. Just imagine having to wait until that episode was broadcasted in Portugal to be able to listen to the song.

To be honest, I never understood why would people spend big...

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:15:00 +0100

To be honest, I never understood why would people spend big bucks on sneakers just to thrash them and make it look like they were put on an incinerator after a week dwelling on the Paredes de Coura festival traditional mud. There’s no need to do that anymore, since the new Converse Chuck Taylor All Star collection, The Well Worn Sneaker Collection already features the age-worn effect the cool kids used to aim for back in the day. Well, after what I did to my brand new shoes on last year’s edition of Optimus Primavera Sound, I should probably get proper footwear to go there this year. I’ll pick the orange ones once our government steps down. I don’t want to be associated with them. Do we have a deal?

Nightmare Ending is the first Eluvium record since...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:47:19 +0100

Nightmare Ending is the first Eluvium record since 2010’s Similes, and if that wasn’t enough good news alone, it is a double album. It’s out on May 14 on Temporary Residence, who just gave us this little treat called “Entendre”.

pre-order

Mr. Bungle have reunited to contribute to the Desert...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:11:13 +0100

Mr. Bungle have reunited to contribute to the Desert Sessions’ 11th volume. Ok, probably not, but this is the closest thing to a Bungle trip (in more than a single way) in the desert you’ll ever listen to. The debut album by SOUQ will probably be released later in 2013

Jacob Faurholt used to be Crystal Shipsss by himself. But...

Fri, 22 Mar 2013 15:05:09 +0000

Jacob Faurholt used to be Crystal Shipsss by himself. But Crystal Shipsss is now a full blown band and they’re releasing a new EP full of slow burners like “Listening to Devil Town”, a song about, you’re right, listening to Daniel Johnston’s “Devil Town”. Crystal Shipsss EP is out next May 6th on digital + cassette. Daniel would be proud and I’ll probably throw a cassette into the stage when I see him performing at Optimus Primavera Sound by the end of May.

DSS