V/A - Sombras: Spanish Post-Punk and Dark Pop 1981-1986

Quadruple LP boxed set. - Includes a 16-page booklet with an essay in Spanish and English by journalist Jesös Rodröguez Lenin and contributions by Beatriz Alonso Aranz-ɬ°bal (Los Monaguillosh) andCarlos Entrena (Décima Vöctima), plus many artist photos and memorabilia. Sombras is the first compilation to survey in depth the darker side of the fledgling, vibrant music scene of Spain in the early 80s. Featuring 42 artists, including essential names such as Par-ɬ°lisis Permanente, Décima Vöctima, Desechables, Gabinete Caligari,Derribos Arias, Ana Curra, Polansky y el Ardor, Los Monaguillosh,Alphaville, Claustrofobia, Agrimensor K, Matrona Impödica,Ultratruita, Ceremonia, New Buildings, and many more. Both formats include booklets with an essay in Spanish and English by journalist Jesös Rodröguez Lenin and contributions by Beatriz Alonso Aranz-ɬ°bal (Los Monaguillosh) and Carlos Entrena (Décima Vöctima), plus many artist photos and memorabilia. "The damn Movida. The best that can be said of that phenomenon is that it was the starting point and the trigger of something else, of another movement that garnered no fame but was far more interesting musically and intellectually, although the glow of glamour went to the fatuous flames of superficiality. This other movement, in contrast, had neither name nor anyone singing its praises. It centered on the existential angst described by the Danish philosopher Sören Kierkegaard instead of the jovial innocence of silly pop in the late 70s and the very early 80s of the last century. It wasnt a time for joking around. The outlook was grim and, logically, after a few years that we had wanted to celebrate because of the death of Franco, murky and ominous images began to inhabit the collective subconscious of those youths who were apolitical by necessity. The most extraordinary paradox is that is that it was a light-hearted new wave group, Ejecutivos Agresivos, that served as the seed for this shift in orientation. Many characters came together in that group who were going to do a 180 on the music that was being made. Carlos Entrena, their singer, who would become one of the founders of the GASA label and the leader of Décima Vöctima was there. Also there was Ignacio Gasca, a boy from San Sebasti-ɬ°n known as Pochwho, after the breakup of Ejecutivos Agresivos, would form Derribos Arias. Jaime Urrutia was in the line-up, who would soon be the singer and guitarist of Gabinete Caligari. The band included Juan Luis Vizcaya, who had a brief stint as the drummer of Alaska y los Pegamoides. Also a member was Paco Trinidad, who would become another founder of GASA and who, with time, would become the main record producer of the 1980s (Hombres G, Duncan Dhu). The transition from one era to another even had an exact date: the 13th of November, 1982. On that day, in the auditorium of the Escuela de Caminos de Madrid, the last concert that Alaska y los Pegamoides played in Madrid took place, although none of the members themselves knew this for sure at the time. They gave to their fans, along with the tickets, a flexi-disc that included two unreleased songs -- Volar and El jardön -- both written by Eduardo Benavente (also of Par-ɬ°lisis Permanente), with a theme and style that had nothing to do with what Alaska y los Pegamoides had done so far. To wrap up that moment symbolically, the group that opened the show was Los Monaguillosh, who would shortly become one of the best-known bands of the nascent psychedelic siniestro sound." - Jesös Rodröguez Lenin.