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Gourmand et surdoué (on se souvient de son copieux double album paru en 2007), l’Espagnol multi-instrumentiste ramène dans sa valise sept chansons luxuriantes, mélancoliques nappée de cordes, cuivres, glockenspiel, Farfisa, Casiotone... - Pinkushion
Join a young Spanish troubadour by the name of R — whose soon-to-expire visa is the least of his problems — as he roams the American frontier in search of love and his missing guitar. Along the way he is brutalized by aassorted post-punks and freak folks (or is that folk freaks?), kidnapped by ravers, and forced to sign a particular onerous contract by despicable industry types who plan to exploit his apparent naivité; finally young R is swept up into a Head-trip finale that makes Liquid Skylook like Romper Room. Now about that guitar....
Playlist for Episode 44
"Rise In the Springtime" (excerpt) by Lavender Diamond, from The Cavalry of Light (Matador, 2006)
"A Compass To Get Lost" by Remate, from No Land Recordings (Acuarela, 2007)
"Bedazzled" by Bongwater, The Power of Pussy (Shimmy Disc, 1991)
"Hooves" by Bowerbirds, from Hymns for a Dark Horse (Burly Time, 2007)
"Nag Nag Nag" by Cabaret Voltaire, from The Original Sound of Sheffield '78/'82 (Mute, 2002)
"I Sit On Acid" (12-inch mix) by Lords of Acid, from This Is The New Beat(PolyGram, 1989)
"Chances Are" by Remate, from No Land Recordings (Acuarela, 2007)
"I Know" by the Beta Band, from The Three EPs (EMI, 1991)
"In Our Talons" by Bowerbirds, from Hymns for a Dark Horse (Burly Time, 2007)
"Fall" by Remate, from No Land Recordings (Acuarela, 2007)
"Blood And Thunder" by Ultra Vivid Scene, from Rev (Chaos, 1992)
"Tube" by the Flying Lizards, from The Flying Lizards (Virgin, 1979) - Village Voice
Remate provides handsome proof that the alt-folk bug has made it all the way to Spain. Like Sufjan Stevens, his multi-instrumental approach offers
plenty of access points and raises it above also-ran status. Good job, as ‘No Land Recordings’ is spread over 25 tracks and two CDs that showcase his broad talents. Banjos? Head to the music box waltz of ‘Love At First Sight’. Celestial choirs? The Lambchop-esque campfire song ‘Toxic Love 1’, provides that. But it becomes clear that perhaps the standout fact about Remate is his voice. Rasping and hushed, it sounds like he’s swallowed a bag of nails and been a 40 Marlboro Red-a-day man since birth. He sounds the real deal. And looks it too. If there’s one final piece of evidence to prove his credentials, it’s that Remate is in possession of a mighty fine beard.
- NME
Remate is a Spanish musician living between New York and Madrid, whose work has been creating quite a buzz in Europe. In his latest album Superluv. Por Lo Que Tiene De Romantico (which roughly translates into Superluv. Because Of Its Romance), Remate is mesmerized by the relationship between love versus lust. In fact, the album was built on his fascination with the number of adult film actresses who take on the last name "Luv."
In a recent interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais he ponders: "That idea that you work in the porn industry, and your last name is 'love,' but misspelled, it symbolizes a lot of things I wanted to focus on. Love with misspellings, abreviated love, consumer love...nobody thinks of love when they think of pornography."
The gorgeous video for the title song "Por Lo Que Tiene De Romantico" is about these types of emotional clashes. To the tune of a heartbreakingly melancholy song with painfully intimate lyrics, a ballerina pole dances almost mechanically in an old apartment that looks like it belongs to someone's wealthy great uncle. A young man watches her from the doorway with an expression that is the exact opposite of lust: He is sad, disappointed, with a "here we go again" expression on his face. Eventually he walks away. She continues twisting beautifully, but she also seems upset, as if she is simply going through the motions.
It's oil and vinegar: Comfort and familiarity collide with rehearsed disaffection; passion meets apathy. Is it a question about the inexplicable nature of love? A metaphor for pornography? - NPR
We now present some of the response generated by the release of “Una araña a punto de comerse una mosca” (A spyder about to eat a fly), Remate’s last record and the first title by the label Todos Nosotros. You will find headlines from important Spanish media aswell as some of the most influential music magazines and specialized webs. - Spanish media
Discography
LP UNA ARAÑA A PUNTO DE COMERSE UNA MOSCA (Todos Nosotros, 2012).
LP SUPERLUV. Por lo que tiene de romántico ( Everlasting Records, 2011).
EP GIGANTE (Everlasting Records, 2010).
LP SOMERSAULTS (2009).
LP SAFE AND SOUND (2008).
LP NO LAND RECORDINGS (2007).
LP ON JUNK (2005).
LP BALLADS DON´T CHANGE THINGS (2004).
LP DECONSTRUCTIN' MOOD (2003).
Photos
Bio
Classically trained at reputed schools such as The National Conservatoire of Wales, Remate started practicing his arty lo-fi almost 10 years ago. The throbbing creativity and the martian DNA of his very fi rst recordings conquered various territories which went from dazzling folk to lustrous pop, and then even further as his career progressed. He signed up for Limbo Starr (who has edited artists such as Nacho Vegas, Maga or Chucho) to become “one of the most gratifying anomalies in the scene”, according to a Rockdelux critic. This prestigious indie magazine has kept track of Remate’s work ever since. During this period he met producer Paco Loco, whose studio became his second home, and started
a short-lived but lucid project named “Sommersaults” with Paco’s wife, Muni Camón. He started playing for big audiences (Primavera Sound, Festival Internacional de Benicàssim –Gary Louris, Jayhawks founder, was his partner on-stage-…), in smaller festivals and uncountable venues all over Spain. Given his inexhaustible musical fertility (he releases a record every year), writing-recording-touring has become something of a life cycle for him. After going through some labels which are a point of reference in the independent scene and becoming a staple in the foreign press (he has been reviewed in Village Voice, NME, UNCUT…), one fi ne day he started emailing with Stephin Merrit (The Magnetic Fields) and LD Beghtol (LD & The New Criticism, The Magnetic Fields). Thus resulted his penultimate work, which was produced and recorded in New
York. And from the hippest Brooklyn to little town Toledo to develop, with the help of his closest collaborators, his last work: “A spider about to eat a fly.”
Remate himself summarized his resumé for magazine Rockdelux’s April issue under the emphatic
title “I’m not painting a white on white before blindness gets me”. The complete text, after the jump:
http://www.rockdelux.com/search/s=remate;exact=true
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