Poor Spain. Already bounced from the World Cup following their loss to Chile today, one of the presumptive favorites (and reigning Cup champions) is gonna go home empty handed. Which means today is pretty much the only day I can post a Spanish record for you and have it be somewhat relevant to World Cup happenings. That said, today’s installment of the An Album A Day project will focus on a somewhat overlooked (or maybe little-known outside of Collector Scum circles) Spanish prog group called Grananda.
Oh man, the urge to open the next paragraph with, “Hello mother. Hello father…” is weighing heavily upon me right now. Maybe if I can somehow reference it without actually doing it…
Ahem.
Granada. Formed in Madrid by Carlos Carcamo (flute, violin, keys, guitar, percussion and vocals), Antonio Garcí Oteiza (bass), Juan Bona (drums and vocals), and Michael Vortreflich (guitar). The quartet recorded three studio albums. There was Hablo de Una Tierra in 1975, Espana Año 75 in 1976, and Valle Del Pas in 1978. Naturally for their third and final album Carlos Carcamo ditched his bandmates and hired an entirely new cast: Carlos Basso (guitars), Julio Blasco (bass) and Antonio Rodriguez (drums). While veering off into folk territory on a couple tracks, this is a notable album because it rocks pretty hard and pretty consistently. There isn’t too much meandering, which for me gets in the way of TRIPPING BALLS sometimes, you know? The good news is that Carcamo’s “keys” aren’t goofy most of the time (think: Spinal Tap), sometimes he uses weird space-y presets to create unique tones that fill out the sound quite well. What orchestrated passages exist on this record are still pretty heavy compared to other, tamer prog records.
Plus, there’s a weird fucking bagpipe thing going on that whenever I hear it I chuckle in a good way, like, “Whoa, where the fuck did that guy come from!”
Granada
Valle Del Pas
(Movieplay – 17.0908/1, 1978)
A1. No Sé Si Debo [MP3]
A2. Breve Silueta De Color Carmín
A3. Noches Oscuras, Ocas Contentas
A4. Himno Del Sapo
B1. Valle Del Pas
B2. Calle Betis (Atardeciendo)
B3. Ya Llueve
