U.S. Regional and Local Music Scenes
Local Barcelona, Spain Music Scene
Barcelona is a huge music city that brings many diverse voices and styles together.
In the new century Josh Parker has helped define some of the new sound, mixing
in an English influenece. He has found that the due to Spain's economic crisis
since 2005, low cost ideas for local musicians have gained acceptance, especially
using social media tools such as Facebook. Some of the best known artists in Barcelona include rapper Porta, R&B singer
IreneB, instrumentalist The Cyblorkx, reggae band Pirat's Sound Sistema and
indie band Made In House.
The most likely chance that a new artistic form of music will blossom organically
comes from the art of storytelling. Songs that are more like poetry or revolve
around story-based lyrics have always offered fresh new dimensions to music. Music
of the music scene in Barcelona relies on dance music at festivals. Occasionally
you'll hear about creative groups going against the grain, such as Radiosepia,
who have an atmospheric sound folk influences.
While rhythm and melody are important to almost any song, they do not have to be
structured in a uniform way. The reason some producers or music industry people
might think that a consistent dance beat is necessary to have a hit record is
because they've been conditioned to think that way. But Barcelona has been an important
testing ground for new experimental music, as presented at the annual eclectic
festival Localitzacio Executant Metaforica (LEM).
The conditioning of the world to view pop music history through the narrow lens of the pop
charts has created barriers for creative musicians who may want to explore musical
territory beyond dance music. Within the dance world there are certain rules that
have developed to keep people dancing. Since DJs get embarrassed when a song kills
the dance floor, they look for music that keeps the floor back. That's partly why
so much music have the same beat. It's easy for night club DJs to mix.
The big challenge for musicians is to write beyond what's happening at night clubs.
But there will also be pressure to go along with whatever trends make people dance.
If the only goal is to keep people dancing, there's already a ton of music that
will make it happen. But some people want to broaden their horizons, which is what
alternative music is for. Some of the key places where Barcelona artists play
are Sala Appolo 2, Antilla Latin Club, Electric Bar, Robadors 23 and Jarlem
Jazz Club.
|
