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January 26, 2006
Quedate en Madrid
I love anything that reverts me to my childhood. One such thing is Mecano, undoubtedly the best pop band to come out of Spain. Descanso Dominical was the very first tape I ever owned back in 1988, and I still have it in my posession! With every listen, every year their music gets better and better.
To me, what sets Mecano apart from your usual synth-pop group that sprung from the 80s is their superior songwriting skills (other than their infectious sound and lead singer, Ana's lullaby yet strong voice). Brothers Jose Maria and Ignacio (Nacho) have such a talent for storytelling within the verse-chorus structure, it feels like you are listening to a literary masterpiece performed on the radio. Very few songwriters can achieve this and still score worldwide #1 hits.
Some excellent samples of their stories-within-a-song:
01) Hijo de la Luna- from their Entre el Cielo y el Suelo album (1986). It tells the story of how the Moon, desperate to become a mother, convinced a gypsy woman to birth a son for her. When the husband saw the baby's "pale as the moon" skin and grey eyes he killed the wife and abandonded the son in the forest. The Moon is reunited with her soon, and when he cries she reaches her Crescent phase to provide him a crib. I'm unsure whether this is actual gypsy folklore, but Gosh is it beautiful.
02) Marcha en Nueva york - Funny but often true story of the disappointment foreigners feel when realizing New York does not fulfill their expectations, such as not spotting any actors on the streets or not being able to speak "Christian" Spanish with the very hispanics in the City.
03) Eungenio Salvador Dali- One of their classics, it is the most incredible ode to the surrealist artist you'll ever come across. "If you reincarnate in flesh, reincarnate in yourself". It's worth learning Spanish just so you can understand this song.
04) Heroes de la Antartida- a very tragic song about Captain Robert Scott and three other British explorers in 1912 who set out to be the first to set foot on the Antartic continent, only to find the Norwegian flag of Amundsen already waving at latitude 0. Help never came their way, and all four of them died trying to reach their base. The song freakin feels like 3-minute action/survival movie...but much better!
05) Laika- What can I say about Laika. Unfortunately, this song (and two others) were only released on the CD version of Descanso Dominical, so I was unaware of this brilliant song until today. And holy crap wow. It is a charming little song about Laika, the very first living creature to go into space, onboard Russia's Sputnik in 1957. Laika ponders what is that giant ball of color and why is she circling around it, while laughter and champagne is served down on Earth. The song has that same immediacy of impending death that Bowie's Space Oddity is so famous for. The real Laika actually died seven hours after take-off from overheating and stress. I freakin cried when I heard this song today.
That is just a sample, for they have countless of great songs. Oh and I forgot the moody and desperate La Fuerza del Destino, presumably written for Penelope Cruz who was at the time dating one of the brothers. It is my favorite Mecano song, and I was FURIOUS when the stupid untalented Fey recorded a HOOORRRIIIBBLLEE cover last year, and then had the audacity to name the album (which are only covers of MEcano, wow, Fey, great way to "relaunch your career" ugh) after that song. Furious, I tell you.
Anyways, I urge all of you to give Mecano a try, even if you can't pronounce "Hola" without sounding like a right hick. Ana's voice breaks any language barriers and even though these were all recorded in the 80s, the sound barely feels dated at all.
Posted by starmagn at January 26, 2006 07:34 PM