Music Without Labels I
Country-rock by Eagles
Shoegazing with Burning House
New flamenco by Rosalía
Country Rock: Introduction
In the early 70s, the hippie Californian movement came crashing down. After the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Jim Morrison, rock music stopped being representative of a generation, and other musicians, without well-defined ideologies, made the most of it to pave their own way.
That was how an approximation between rock and country music took place. It was directed to young people and it was less activistic but more emotional and festive. Music labels were searching for albums with a clean, not grating sound.
Eagles - Outlaw Man (1973)
Version of a song written by the US singer-songwriter David Blue. It was part of Desperado, the band's second album (considered one of their best).
The Eagles was formed in Los Angeles (California) in 1971. They were a group of young musicians led by the guitar player and singer Glenn Frey. Based on country music, bluegrass instruments and Californian surf rock harmonies, they created ballads with a touch of pop and rock music. They started with good compositions by singer-songwriters such as Gram Parsons or Jackson Browne and evolved into less risky and more professional music which relied on studio musicians with ample experience.
International: Burning House
Burning House is a band formed in Southampton (United Kingdom) in 2013. Currently, the trio is composed by guitar player and leader Aaron Mills, drummer Dominic Taylor and bass player Patrick White.
Burning House's sound is characterized by piercing layers of guitars, sophisticated melodic arrangements and introspective rhythms which unfold in frenetic songs with an optimistic message.
Burning House - Mirror Song (2018)
Song written by Aaron Mills and inspired by Jorge Luis Borges' works. It is the teaser single off their much-anticipated album, Anthropocene, which will be released in early 2019.
In Mirror Song we find a mix of shoegaze style and independent US music. Shoegaze is characterized by the use of noisy and melodic guitars, a multitude of effect pedals which create a spatial vibe and the addition of dark and melancholic lyrics. This genre’s name was coined by the press and it means 'to stare at shoes', because of the habit these musicians had of playing music staring at the floor without making eye contact with the audience.
National: Rosalía
Rosalía Vila Tobella, better known by her stage name Rosalía, is a Spanish singer and actress born in San Esteban de Sasroviras (Barcelona) in 1993. She has had a meteoric career, though not exempt from controversy.
With her reinterpretation of flamenco (personal but respectful of the tradition), she is introducing flamenco's repertoire to new fans who are becoming familiar with a genre which was traditionally restricted to a particular scene and that is becoming more and more universal.
Rosalía - Di mi nombre (2018)
Version of a traditional flamenco song where she is accompanied by Las Negris, Los Mellis, El Guincho, and Laura Boschetti. It was part of El mal querer, her second album.
In Di mi nombre, Rosalía does an updated version of Yali, the well-known tangos which Enriqueta Reyes Porras (better known as La Repompa) sang in her day. This way she pays tribute to the singer from Málaga who left us in 1959, almost six decades ago, when she was barely 21. Another one of her latest projects has been her involvement in the album of the innovative flamenco opera, A través de la luz. Created by the Cordoban musician and producer Fernando Vacas, it was released this last spring.