Minutos Musicales: Chris Walla

Estimados,
si veis las referencias musicales de este grupo os podréis hacer una idea aproximada de cómo suena el album debut de Chris Walla: Tegan And Sara, Mates Of State, Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberist....

Y estas referencias se deben a que Christopher es el guitarrista y productor de Death Cab for Cutie además de otros grupos. Actualmente reside en Portland, Oregon y el disco que hoy os presento es el projecto en solitario de Chris y que por diversos motivos nunca ha salido a la luz. De hecho 1999 se publicó un cassette con algunas de sus canciones (por aquel entonces se llamaba Martin Youth Auxiliary) y apenas se hicieron unas docenas de copias. Sin embargo después de unos cuantos años por fin este trabajo ha salido a la luz para ofrecernos unos temas delicados, tranquilos y que perpetuan la estética de toda su carrera.

Os dejo lo que ha dado de sí su carrera discográfica como músico en todas sus facetas

As Martin Youth Auxiliary
Martin Youth Auxiliary (Cassette) - Elsinor - 1999

As Chris Walla
Field Manual (CD) - Barsuk - 2008

With Death Cab for Cutie
Main article: Death Cab for Cutie#Discography
You Can Play These Songs with Chords (1997, Elsinor)
Something About Airplanes (1998, Barsuk)
We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes (2000, Barsuk)
The Forbidden Love E.P. (2000, Barsuk)
The Photo Album (2001, Barsuk)
The Stability E.P. (2002, Barsuk)
You Can Play These Songs with Chords (2002 re-release, Barsuk)
Transatlanticism (2003, Barsuk)
Studio X Sessions E.P. (2004 digital-only release, Barsuk)
The John Byrd E.P. (2005, Barsuk)
Plans (2005, Atlantic)
iTunes Originals - Death Cab for Cutie (2005 digital-only release, Atlantic)
Narrow Stairs (2008/upcoming, Atlantic)

Other Credits
The Long Winters, The Worst You Can Do Is Harm (2002, Barsuk) - Guitar, Bass, Baritone, Hammond, Harmony Vocals, Drum Kit, Trap Kit, Melodihorn
The Long Winters, When I Pretend to Fall (2003, Barsuk) - Guitar
Travis Morrison, Travistan (2004, Barsuk) - Organ, Synthesizer, Bass, Guitar, Percussion, Piano, Xylophone, Melodica, Drum Machine
The Decemberists, Picaresque (2005, Kill Rock Stars) - Electric Guitar
Nada Surf, The Weight Is a Gift (2005, Barsuk) - Guitar, Keyboards
The Long Winters, Putting The Days to Bed (2006, Barsuk) - Guitar, Piano
The Decemberists, The Crane Wife (2006, Capitol) - Keyboards, Background Vocals
Tegan and Sara, The Con (2007, Sire) - Guitars, Keyboards, Organ, Shakers, Cymbals, Tiny Guitars, Bass

As producer
In addition to the Death Cab for Cutie discography, Walla has assisted in production of the following albums:

The Long Winters, The Worst You Can Do Is Harm (2002, Barsuk) - Production, Engineering, Mixing, Tape Splicing
The Velvet Teen, Out of the Fierce Parade (2002, Slowdance) - Production, Engineering
Hot Hot Heat, Knock Knock Knock (EP) (2002, Sub Pop) - Production, Engineering
Hot Hot Heat, Make Up The Breakdown (2002, Sub Pop) - Mixing, Engineering
The Thermals, More Parts per Million (2003, Sub Pop) - Mixing
The Long Winters, When I Pretend to Fall (2003, Barsuk) - Production, Engineering, Mixing, Mixing Advisor, Recording
The Thermals, Fuckin A (2004, Sub Pop) - Engineering
Travis Morrison, Travistan (2004, Barsuk) - Production, Sampling
The Decemberists, Picaresque (2005, Kill Rock Stars) - Production, Mixing
Nada Surf, The Weight Is a Gift (2005, Barsuk) - Production, Engineering, Photography
The Decemberists, The Crane Wife (2006, Capitol) - Production, Mixing
Tegan and Sara, The Con (2007, Sire) - Production So Many Dynamos, Untitled Upcoming Release (2008/upcoming, Skrocki) - Production

"Chris Walla will release his debut solo full-length field manual on January 29, 2008, on Barsuk Records.

Known both as the guitarist / producer in Death Cab for Cutie and as an in-demand producer of other independent-minded artists (Tegan & Sara, The Decemberists), Walla brings a refined aesthetic and melodic ear to everything he involves himself in. Walla's past recordings of his own songs (occasionally made available online under the name "Martin Youth Auxiliary") have mostly been quickly-recorded lo-fi sketches unintended for widespread release. field manual represents the first time his own songs have been given the studio attention and thought-out approach to recording for which he is in such demand by others.

In addition to the expected difficulties he encountered attempting to approach his own work with the necessary detachment of a producer [difficulties which led Walla to enlist the help of Canada-based British ex-pat (and Midnight Oil / The The producer) Warne Livesey], the project hit an unexpected snag when a data hard drive containing critical album files was confiscated by U.S.Customs. The drive was held "to be analyzed" for several weeks on its way back into the U.S. prior to final mixing of the album. (Apparently the U.S. government is unfamiliar with FTP sites, and believes that physically transporting hard drives across the border is the technique of choice for foreign individuals trying to move sensitive information into our country. Brilliant.)

Interestingly, a strong political thread runs through the record's lyrics; Walla takes more than a few shots at U.S. policy, both at home and abroad, and challenges at least one senator to find the exit door... For whatever reason, the drive has still not been returned, and so Walla is working with his original tapes and a back-up drive (during his breaks from the studio where he's currently producing a new Death Cab record tentatively slated for release in late spring or early summer of 2008) to re-apply the finishing touches on the album.
Walla played all the instruments on this record, except for drums. Drum duty was shared by Jason McGerr (of DCfC) and Kurt Dahle (of New Pornographers)."

Grupo: Chris Walla
Disco: Field Manual
Año: 2008
Web oficial: http://www.myspace.com/chriswalla
Canciones destacadas: Our Plans, Collapsing; Everyone Needs A Home y Geometry &C

Minutos Musicales: Stars

Estimados,
hoy llega hasta vuestros oidos una banda canadiense formada por Torquil Campbell (vocalista) y Chis Seligman (teclados). Actualmente están ubicados en Montreal aunque sus pasos empezaron en Toronto, luego en New York y finalmente recalaron en Montreal.

Su música ha sido catalogada como "beautiful, eloquent indie pop". Su sonido ha evolucionado de un pop-electrónico como el ofrecido en su primer album (Nightsongs) a una instrumentación más rockera en sus dos últimos albums, la cual se refleja en la incorporación del cantante y guitarra Amy Millan y el bajo Evan Cranley así como de Pat McGee en el disco "Set Yourself On Fire" (una auténtica obra maestra y referencia absoluta para un dj que se precie).

"The band's breakthrough single was "Ageless Beauty", from their 2004 album Set Yourself on Fire. Millan, Cranley and Campbell are also members of the indie band Broken Social Scene, with whom they currently share a record label, Arts & Crafts. Campbell is also an actor and has appeared on the television shows Sex and the City and Law & Order. Millan released a solo album in 2006. Several of the band's songs, such as "The Vanishing", "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead", and "The Big Fight", have appeared on the Fox Network's The O.C. and CTV's Degrassi: The Next Generation. Their single "Ageless Beauty" was also featured in a promotional trailer for Vh1's So NoTORIous.

On their website, the band has noted that their name was chosen without prior knowledge of the short-lived project by Syd Barrett. They have cited a wide variety of musical likes and influences ranging from Berlioz to Outkast, citing among others Barrett, Paddy McAloon, New Order, The Smiths, Brian Wilson, Momus, and Broken Social Scene. They covered The Smiths' "This Charming Man" on 2001's Nightsongs and The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York" in 2005. Other indie artists have been guest collaborators on many of their tracks, especially for an early period including the release of their first LP.

They recently surprised their fans by releasing their latest studio album (In Our Bedroom After the War), on July 10, 2007, a full two months ahead of its expected release date, onto iTunes. When Stars released In Our Bedroom After the War to online retailers weeks before the CD's actual release date to circumvent the album's inevitable leak, part of their reasoning touched on the increasingly blurry line between critics and listeners. The band believed indie-rock fans should be able to review and provide opinions of the band's albums similar in a way to the so-called critics, but soon realized that the outcome could be very far from their ideal expectation. Soon after the music site Pitchfork Media gave the new album a 7.4 out of 10, Torquil Campbell offered up a rant that not only tore into the music site and the reviewer but lamented the death of art and criticism, which as a result prompted much scoffing from some critics and bloggers, as well as approval from others. The band contributed a T-shirt design to the Yellow Bird Project. to raise money for Le Chainon, a women's shelter located in Montreal, Quebec."

Grupo: Stars
Disco: In Our Bedroom After The War
Año: 2007
Web oficial: http://www.arts-crafts.ca/stars/
Canciones destacadas: Midnight Coward, Take Me To The Riot y The Night Starts Here