“Barcelona” (Used 54 times)

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

Primavera Sound is one of the world's most incredible music festivals, unique in the way they unite (even re-unite) world-famous headliners while also digging deep to discover up-and-coming artists. Based in Barcelona, Primavera brings artists from all over the world, with an ear that is uniquely attuned to sounds from Spain's underground. 

Here's a mix featuring music by 32 of the artists who are scheduled to perform at this year's Primavera Sound festival, May thru June 3rd. 2012 will be the fourth year in a row that WFMU broadcasts live from the festival, and we're looking forward to archiving more approved Primavera Sound performances here on the Free Music Archive!

Sharon Van Etten (US) | Shellac (US) | Sictor Valdaña & The Check This Outs (ES) | Siskiyou (CA) | Sleep (US) | Sleepy Sun (US) | Sleigh Bells (US) | Spiritualized (UK) | Sr. Chinarro (ES) | Stasi (ES) | Steven Munar & The Miracle Band (ES) | Tall Firs (US) | Templeton (ES) | The Afghan Whigs (US) | The Chameleons (UK) | The Cure (UK) | The Drums (US) | The Experimental Tropic Blues Band (BE) | The Field (SE) | The Free Fall Band (ES) | The Ganjas (CL) | The Go! Team djs (UK) | The Lions Constellation (ES) | The Men (US) | The Olivia Tremor Control (US) | The Pop Group (UK) | The Rapture (US) | The Right Ons (ES) | The War On Drugs (US) | The Wedding Present plays Seamonsters (UK) | The Weeknd (CA) | The xx (UK) | Thee Oh Sees (US) | Trash Talk (US) | Unicornibot (ES) | Univers (ES) | Veronica Falls (UK) | Villarroel (ES) | Void Ov Voices (HU) | Washed Out (US) | Wavves (US) | White Denim (US) | Wilco (US) | Wild Beasts (UK) | Wolves In The Throne Room (US) | Xavier Baró (ES) | Yann Tiersen (FR) | Yo La Tengo (US)

Check out many more select recordings from past Primavera Sound festivals as we look forward to Primavera 2012!

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.

Last week, we kicked off a collection of recordings from WFMU's two days of Primavera Sound coverage with Prince Rama, Swans, Oneohtrix Point Never, Suicide, Pissed Jeans, The Monochrome Set, Ducktails, Half Japanese.

This week, we bring you six more from Barcelona's incredible multi-day / multi-stage music festival! Check out free artist-approved mp3s by...

* Barcelona's own Aias! Gaia, Laia, and Miriam were inspired to start a band after seeing the Vivian Girls at Primavera Sound a couple years back, and they sing in Catalan (not Spanish!), which is the language of Catalonia. Captured Tracks released their record A La Piscina, and the three-piece was joined by guests on saxophone for this Primavera Sound set
  >> Aias live at Primavera Sound

* Legendary downtown NYC avant-garde composer Glenn Branca is the conductor of the Glenn Branca Ensemble (pictured). This 4guitar, + bass & drums supergroup performed The Ascension: The Sequel (2010's follow up to Branca's seminal 1981 release The Ascension) in its entirety, and the FMA hosts four selections from this performance
  >> Glenn Branca Ensemble live at Primavera Sound).

* The Fresh & Onlys from San Francisco! Led by the prolific songwriter (and former hip hop artist!) Tim Cohen on guitar/vox + all-around positive force in music Shayde Sartin (Skygreen Leopards, Kelley Stoltz, Teenage Panzercorps, the band is in top form
  >> Fresh & Onlys live at Primavera Sound

* WFMU & KEXP faves Moon Duo (Ripley Johnson of Wooden Shjips + Sanae Yamada, pictured) bring the new psychedelic sounds of San Francisco to Spain, with jams off their new Sacred Bones release Mazes
  >> Moon Duo live at Primavera Sound

* Montreal's dual female-fronted 4-piece noise-poppers No Joy! Scott Williams was telling me that the whole set, they sounded like a shoegazin' Mary Weiss, and then they closed with "He Cried!" Check out their debut LP Ghost Blond (Mexican Summer).
  >> No Joy live at Priamvera Sound

* The Soft Moon, a project of California's Luis Vasquez, performs live with a full band. "Tiny Spiders" closes his s/t debut on Captured Tracks, and capped off a set of dark 80s-inspired angular post-pop.
  >> The Soft Moon live at Primavera Sound

:: Primavera Sound 2011 on WFMU (full mp3 collection)

// Stay tuned as we'll be adding even more sets next week!

Primavera Sound held its eleventh-annual festival in Barcelona Spain last month, and we are proud to present mp3 highlights from what is truly one of the world's most incredible music events. This year, a record-setting 120,000+ attendees were treated to several stages'-worth of performances by established artists, special reunion performances, and many up-and-coming artists who you might not expect to see on the big festival stage.

For the third year in a row, the freeform-inspired folks at Primavera invited WFMU to broadcast live [playlists here and here], and we are kicking off the Free Music Archive collection with sets from...

Prince Rama  ::  Swans  ::  Oneohtrix Point Never  ::  Suicide  ::  Pissed Jeans  ::  The Monochrome Set  ::  Ducktails  :: Half Japanese

We picked out a few highlights below, like Michael Gira (pictured L) giving WFMU a Ween-referencing "shoutout" before launching into an incredible version of "Eden Prison" off the new Swans album My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky, and Matt from Pissed Jeans speaking directly to the guys & girls in the audience during "Boring Girls," leading into the most trance-inducing drum solo of the entire festival. New Wave chart-toppers' Prince Rama (pictured R, formerly Of Ayodhya) performed backed by VJ Julian of Quiet Hooves; Oneohtrix Point Never's set was a psychedelic trip; Suicide performed their entire first LP followed by "Dream Baby Dream as an encore; Half Japanese played a rawkus set of should-be hits that recalled their performance at WFMU's 2008 SXSW festival; the fantastic reunion performance from London post-punk pioneers The Monochrome Set; and a full-band set of jams new & old from New Jersey's own Ducktails.

Check out the entire Primavera Sound 2011 FMA Collection here, and stay tuned (RSS) as we'll be adding more artist-approved songs & sets for your on-demand enjoyment!