Beck:
An icon of the 90s, Beck hasn’t performed in the Spanish capital for almost seven years, until recently at the annual DCODE festival. A true showman, he and his band staged an entire crime scene, and blew us all away with their energy and riff-filled set list.
Rodrigo Amarante:
He was a member of Los Hermanos before teaming up with The Strokes drummer Fabrizio Moretti and Binki Shapiro (who also collaborated with Beck back in 2006) to create Little Joy. The Brazilian singer and songwriter launched his first solo album, Cavalo, just last year, after recording its entirety in an empty room. Still largely unknown in Spain, he shared his resonant voice and portuguese folk last night at a small bar in Madrid.
Angel Olsen:
The St. Louis-native singer/songwriter has been touring with Rodrigo Amarante and plays tonight at Sala Charada in Madrid. A stripped-back sound and garage rock appeal add a whole other dimension to her Americana-infused folk songs.
George Ezra:
He got almost all inspiration for his new album from a trip around Europe (hence the song titles ‘Budapest’ and ‘Barcelona’). Bringing to mind names like Willy Mason and Ray LaMontagne, he will be performing on Friday 10th of October at Sala Independence here in the Spanish capital.
Future Islands:
A band which I’ve mentioned a few times on this blog, will be returning to Madrid where they played only last year. Playing on the 22nd of October at T Club, I’m tempted to get tickets, even though I saw them only four months ago at Primavera Sound.
James Vincent McMorrow:
With the slight pitch of a 70s female singer/songwriter, the mellow guitarist drew inspiration from Sufjan Stevens and Band of Horses before recording his first, self-titled album alone in a house somewhere on the Irish coastline. Love him or hate him, he’s playing at Joy Eslava on Friday the 24th of October.
The Orwells:
Festivals should never be reserved just for summer, and there are some great ones in the fall, too (like Pitchfork in Paris). Madrid is hosting a day-long festival in October and among invited bands like The National and The Kooks, the ones to get most excited about are The Orwells. The Chicago-native indie rockers have toured with the Arctic Monkeys and recently performed at SXSW. They’re bringing their versatile, garage-rock sounds to the Mad Live 2014 fest on the 31st of October.
The Raveonettes:
Garage, electronic and at times synth-heavy with nu wave inspirations, The Raveonettes duo have eight albums to their name and evolved for a richer sound with each one. Originally from Copenhagen, they’ll be playing at Sala Arena on the 4th of November.
Angus & Julia Stone:
A brother and sister duo whose indie pop whispers in the background of hipster coffee joints the world over. They will be filling Madrid’s legendary La Riviera with sounds of Santa Monica dreams, on the 7th of November.
Cat Power:
Cat Power’s haunting and emotionally-revealing blues-infused alt-rock got me through many college nights of studying. The eccentric performer is stopping in our city towards the end of her ongoing tour, and will also be playing at La Riviera on Sunday, 16th of November.