Emak Bakia - Spanish Post-Rock Mediums!

Spanish post-rock mediums are coming to nighttime Moscow! The members of "Emak Bakia" describe their works as "night music with elements of the underground." Critics claim the creativity of the Spaniards straddles the line between electronics, folk, rock, hip-hop, and... cinema. But it would be more accurate to say: "Emak Bakia" captures in music our feelings and states: weakness, random encounters, calmness, loneliness, love... This is about you and me.

Emak Bakia – a barely translatable Basque expression related to peace and tranquility. This enigmatic phrase has always attracted artists and musicians from different countries. American filmmaker and photographer of the early 20th century, one of the representatives of Dadaism and Cubism, Man Ray named his film "Emak Bakia," and the English group "Muslimgauze" – one of their albums. Man Ray translated the mysterious phrase as "don't disturb me," and this is the interpretation the members of the Spanish group "Emak Bakia" adopt: "let us create freely."

The group was formed in 1996 by two Madrid musicians, Koke Iturriaga and Abel Hernandez, the leader of the most famous "intelligent" Spanish rock band “Migala.” Koke and Abel had completely different musical tastes, but this not only did not interfere with their collaboration, but rather spurred them to experiment with various genres and sound sources. They recorded material at home, using very simple and therefore unexpected “instruments”: old tapes and records, harmonicas, acoustic guitars, and samples of various sounds: phone conversations, street noise, fragments of old French films... When they recorded the demo, they sent it to recording companies, and one of them, Acuarela (which releases all leading Spanish indie musicians, such as Manta Ray who visited Moscow this year) released the album. The first "Emak Bakia" disk, titled "Jane," caused a stir among Spanish music lovers and received rave reviews in the USA, France, and the UK.
In the second album of the group, "Despues" ("After"), released in 2000, the influence of "Third Eye Foundation" (the leader of "Foundation", Matt Elliott, is a big fan of "Emak Bakia") is felt, as are parallels with the music of John Cale, "Disco Inferno" and other representatives of post-pop. Critics attempting to define the style of "Emak Bakia" compare them to "Kraftwerk," Laurie Anderson, "Radiohead," Kurt Weill and label them as the "new New Order"... But still, "Emak Bakia" is special; their music carries very personal experiences and worldviews that are, nevertheless, remarkably close to us listeners. Their albums and concerts, full of poetry and real feelings, can be compared to meditative "journeys" into the past: they awaken memories of long-forgotten and most cherished: childhood, family, loved ones, nature... A journey into the past where, as in cinema, frame by frame dreams and hopes, unfulfilled and future, emerge.
The music of "Emak Bakia" turns out to be understandable to completely different people: lovers of classics and rock, IDM and urban song. On their disks, soul-piercing "neo-classical" post-rock crescendos are replaced by chamber electronic "plays" in the spirit of Aphex Twin, followed by a vocal ballad (the voice and vocal manner of Abel Hernandez is sure to remind someone of Leonard Cohen or "Tindersticks"), all of this "explodes" into the sound of rain outside or footsteps in an empty house.
In 2002, "Emak Bakia" recorded an EP with cult American singer, ex-vocalist of "Come" Thalia Zedek (in winter this year, Thalia visited Moscow; her concert was organized by Artemy Troitsky) and member of "Piano Magic" Miguel Marin. This year, the long-awaited third album of the group was released. On November 29, at the "16 Tons" Club, "Emak Bakia" will present an audiovisual performance based on the material of this album. The disk "Frecuencias de un rojo devastador" (“Frequencies of a Devastating Red”) became a kind of dedication to conceptual albums of the 70s (for example, David Bowie's “Ziggy Stardust”). This is a retro-futuristic satire. A story about a gigantic red ball "Akai Boru" - the first in a series of the latest-generation satellites intended to surround the Earth. Major corporations and monopolies create "Akai Boru" to maximize control of life on the planet. A lone hero saves humanity from total surveillance by blowing up "Akai Boru".
The giant satellite-ball looming over the city is depicted on the album cover. A product of technology and a symbol of the oversaturation of the world with information, "Akai Boru" resembles the red disk of the sun we have come to see on the Japanese flag. The satellite's name also has a pseudo-Japanese origin, and there is a song on the disk in pseudo-Japanese. Journalists have repeatedly tried to ascertain the "secret" meaning of this allegory from the group, but the musicians simply smile and remain silent, giving us the freedom to interpret.
The story about the red satellite is "told" by "Emak Bakia" through a variety of diverse musical compositions and fragments, and the album as a whole could be called a "modern post-rock opera". How exactly this fable will be staged at "16 Tons" is still a matter of speculation... It is known that at their live performances, "Emak Bakia" uses video projection, two computers (as synthesizers and samplers), electric guitar, and Korg MS-2000 keys.

Vega Dreams and Club "16 Tons" present:
November 29, Saturday, 23:00
Emak Bakia (Spain). One exclusive performance in Moscow. Post-rock, electronic.