“Barcelona” (Used 54 times)

Barcelona's Selva de Mar formed as a street duo in 2006, sculpting "aquatic music" from the wooden timbres of the cello blended with the pitched steel percussive frequencies of the hang.

"Música Para Planchar" is a track from their captivating self-titled debut. Their second album, Olas Invisibles, was recorded in a cathedral with guests like the Swedish singer Ewa Wikstrom and African artist Mû (listen to "Gulab Jeman" below). Their third album, Club Eden (listen: "Walking & Talking"), introduced electronic signal processing as they continue to refine their enchanting sound.

The duo is currently raising support for a fourth album that will introduce guest musicians from Spain, Israel, Guinea Bissau, Mexico, Argentina and USA. As one of the many folks who've enjoyed Selva de Mar's previous three releases for free courtesy of the artist here at the FMA, I'm proud to support their next album. This is one of the many projects curated by the FMA on our Kickstarter page.

Lauki is a Barcelona-based sound designer with a penchant for modern classical music and generative multimedia art.

The coordinates of 69º54´S-135º12´E point somewhere along the coast of Wilkes Land, Antarctica. Lauki describes  "the polar desert, another frontier of our planetary existence, a territory where only fools and heroes dare to go." On this recording, Lauki's digital processing manipulates classical instruments—including Heike Grafe's guest violin part on "Deconstrucción"—to shape the ambient dreamscape of a frozen world.

Despite the record's sensation of a glacial stillness, it is a quick 15-minute listen. Such is the nature of every release on Audio Gourmet, a UK-based netlabel cooking up releases "that can be listened to in full during a standard working tea-break."

License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
More Permissions: Contact Lauki

Thanks to Recent Music Heroes for the tip on this release!

Violeta Päivänkakkara was born in Helsinki, Finland, in 1992. She has always felt drawn to cosmology, planets, nature and the dream world. She creates environments and personal and melancholic atmospheres, using instruments like the glockenspiel, guitar, piano and electronic sounds of nature, among others. She currently lives between Helsinki and Barcelona. -La Gramola

"Sateenkaari" can be found on Kuu, a collection released this week on La Gramola Netlabel.

> Violeta Päivänkakkara on Facebook | Bandcamp | FMA

> La Gramola on FMA | Homepage

A new musical group orbits Barcelona with a proposal that wouldn't let you down. La Piccola Orchestra Gagarin lives up to its name in every way. It's small because there are only three players, but it sounds like an original orchestra (with instruments tuned to that point). And "Gagarin" is a nod to history's first cosmonaut launched into space, with whom they share the same uncertainty when they go up on stage, never rehearsed.

This trio of the Italian Paolo Angeli (Sardinian prepared guitar), the Russian Sasha Agranov (cello) and Catalan Oriol Roca (drums) has released the album Platos Combinados - "Mixed Dishes" - which is a true pleasure. All improvised on the spot, by the way, and characterized by creative freedom with no additives.

Who knows which planet they are on looking to for inspiration? But if you want a clue, know that their style is as much pop art as free jazz, indie and folk music of Sardinia.