Spain. Hotbed of much. Beautiful people, beautiful place, charisma that affects both. A country with passion coursing through its veins. Finest purveyors of the beautiful game these days too of course. They’ve got a certain World Cup trophy and El Clasico’s to illustrate that. It boasts Madrid, Barcelona, countless other mesmerising places… Great place to live, great place to experience. Home of festivals galore, Sonar and Primavera to name but a few, while Barcelona boasts Razmatazz, a venue that is appropriately named by all accounts. With such venues and festivals etc, and what some maight call, ‘quality of life’, it is brimming with vibrancy, and a perennial go to destination. An epicentre of festivity? To say the least.
Indeed, while occasions like Sonar and holiday destinations like Ibiza have long proven to be meccas for dance and electronica lovers, Spain hasn’t really boasted the plethora of high end musical output that would be fitting for what the country offers in abundance. Despite a few minimal producers peeping their head above the parapet, there’s nothing of note that really springs to mind in comparison to its more illustrious European neighbours… It certainly doesn’t have anything that you could namely nail its colours to the mast for, or a signature scene to go with what we all associate with Barcelona, and the rest of the country.
That could be all about to change though. One sterling label seems to be intent on giving Barcelona a dance music identity that is as classy, cool and generally as brilliant as the city itself. The array of influences Barcelona has is evoking itself in the music that Hivern Discs, a Barcelona based label of passionate Spaniards, and the music they are producing and releasing. Indeed, Hivern seem to be quickly developing a reputation as a label that pick the best bits of every genre, stays faithful, mixes them in together to emerge with some extremely exciting and rich material thats palatable everywhere from club environs to dinner parties.
The folks at Hivern seem to have a strictly DIY ethic which lends itself to a passionate push to get their labour of love out there, and also show off what is simmering away nicely in the Barcelona scene at the moment. A nice combo. Its working well thus far, the way its going, Hivern may well become an important footnote in the development and further pronunciation of both Barcelona and Spain’s electronic/dance identity.
If this is going to be the case, they will need an ambassador, a sort of Dixon type representative of Innervisions equivalent. At the moment, there is one man who definitely fits that bill, and thats the richly promising John Talabot. As we veer headlong towards the summer, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to hedge a few bets on Talabot emerging as big name come August. An even better idea would be to dive into his range of sterling remixes first hand and discover just how top notch he is. He’s a producer who is already proving to be extremely consistent, and with an ear for the most emotive of floor fillers. He’s also probably the most impressive intro to see what Hivern are all about. Check out his link above, or indeed the extra one I’ve included here, a remix of Glasser’s ‘Learn’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA9qTtLQJ1U
Its a captivating rework and shows off the emotional capacity Talabot is capable of garnishing his work with, alluded to above. Serious Animal Collective - My Girls buzz going on too, just to get you motivated for the click through…!
The showcase mix is a fine mix in itself, let alone an intriguing introduction to the stable of various Hivern acts. They won’t reveal the actual DJ who mixed it due to the collaborative ethic they boast, but I’m fully sure it was John Talabot, so he can clearly put a set together too! Might have to prioritise checking him out during the Primavera jaunt, if at all possible! Enjoy:
http://ra4.residentadvisor.net/audio/lotm/1104-ra-lotm-hiverndiscs.mp3
