If You Wait Long Enough: Songs Of Will Stratton
Will Stratton is a very talented musician: on his 25th birthday he had already produced four great albums full of amazing indie folk songs. Luckily I met Will last year, when he came from New York to Paris during his European tour with Paleo. I saw his concert in a charming apartment in Montmartre and the day after I saw him again in my favorite Parisian record store, Balades Sonores. With him Will brought his guitar and his last album, Post-Empire. The two little concerts made me fell in love with his songs and after that I listened to the album over and over again: it was my favorite album of 2012.
A few months later, I found a very sad new on the internet: Will was ill, with a state III testicular cancer. He cancelled his European tour scheduled for October and after that I started to follow him online, always waiting for good news. This has been a very tough moment for Will… However, he keeps working on his 5th album, proving that he not only a great musician but also a very courageous man.
More recently, some friends decided to cover several songs of Will, in order to collect some money to help him to face the medical expenses. The album is available on bandcamp for only $7. It is the opportunity to discovery another versions of Will’s work and also to help him to surpass this bad moment on his life. Will’s records are also available for sale on his bandcamp.
Good luck, Will! We are hoping for the best.
RBC
House of Wolves @ Divan du Monde (Paris) – 24/05/2013
House of Wolves represents the direct translation of Villalobos, the Hispanic name of the owner of this musical project. After self-releasing his first album, Fold in the Wind, in 2011, almost two years later the album is distributed by the French label Fargo. This was the bridge to the inclusion of House of Wolves in the first edition of Fargo Rock City Festival in Paris. Divan du Monde was a bit empty, but it was somehow expectable, as we had Villagers and Deerhunter that played in two neighbouring venues in the same night…
Alone on stage with his guitar, Rey timidly started the concert with “Jealous”, showing everyone that his voice is as amazing live as it is on record. “Flight” came next and it was probably the song that filled most my heart with positive feelings (“Baby, you’re the one, baby, baby, you’re the one…”). The highlight of the concert was the opening song of Fold in the Wind, where Rey spreads a vintage tune and the sweet request “kiss me like if the 50’s…”.
Even without other instruments but the guitar, we all enjoyed the songs of this little man with a cool squared shirt that landed in Paris directly from Los Angeles. Maybe because the jetlag, the concert was too short, with only 8 songs… It was early and everybody was in concentrated in the songs, so it would be perfect to listen the entire album. At the end of the show, Rey came down directly among the public, handshaking almost everybody in the room. It was the perfect end of a nice and very intimate show.
You can check House of Wolves’ beautiful album on his bandcamp. Please try to catch him next time that he shows up in Europe!
RBC
Día de la Música 2013!
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 25th 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 21st and 22nd, 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
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.
