Rosalía (Post-Flamenco Art-Pop From Spain)

this album is just great

yeah, aoty for me so far but idk if it's bc it's just that great or bc my expectations were so low

I wanna go to her show here but I think even the cheapest tickets are $100+

what the fuck

Yeah even in Mexico her ticket prices are through the roof.

F*cking Money Man

based on ticket prices i’ve seen this year actually seems pretty reasonable. at least you know she’s gonna put on a show

Well she’s at least doing something very unique on the genre and pushing it in a fresh direction. Her international success is great if it pushes more artists to be more experimental on a genre that risks so little.

That said as someone who has a club in the biggest fair in the world (feria nacional de san marcos) this album is way too experimental and melancholic lol, we haven’t been able to play her new album to a good response yet.

You can check steve aoki’s instagram and the building that says FVL! that’s us.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cca-jDdO-dn/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

wow, moka - that's awesome!!

They're advertising her DC show via a credit card company ads on tv here in the Washington DC area, and tickets are about $100

Thanks sean!

After 12+ years doing this I’m feeling like I’m getting too old for it lol. I’m seriously considering early retirement from the club scene, probably just stick to less hectic sort of scenes. It’s a great business but super stressful in this scale.

this album is way too experimental and melancholic lol, we haven’t been able to play her new album to a good response yet.

i feel like "bizcochito" could be mixed into something, right?

i've decided my favorite moment on the album is "sakura," which is probably the most el mal querer-like, but there's a lot to love here and something new to latch onto with each listen.

Long English-language interview. The interview's ok but not on her level; she's really fucking smart.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFOp-G04jw8

Took me a few listens to hear, absorb, and appreciate everything going on on this album -- it's ridiculously cool. Opener "Saoko" really sets the tone; here, let's put a jazz piano interlude in a 2:17 pop song that interpolates a Wisin & Daddy Yankee track.

I'm warming up to Motomami, especially on the strength of G3 N15, consecutive to the fun Bizcochito and the fragile feminine beauty and preciousness that contrast her vulgar vocals on Hentai in the middle of the album. The apparent sketchiness of the short songs hide flashes of brilliance, and the fragmentation and attention to detail at least keep you on your toes, even if the overall result is still not totally convincing me. There is a lot more flamenco influence than I thought at first... so I actually see some kind of continuation with El Mal Querer now, even if we are far from a thesis on a medieval romance.

I also like the way her vocals detach themselves completely from the background many times

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQiGqGMT8i4

video not available in my country :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2ESxHKuSOk

new single is fun

most definitely!

my favourite single of hers in quite a while

Like it as well. Previously performed as Lao Lao as part of her reggaeton medleys.

no loessless anywhere :(

amazing song

there’s a deluxe version of Motomami out, which includes the new single, a remix and a live version, plus a few new songs, of which “Aislamiento” sounds like the highlight on first listen.

her show that she's doing on tour right now is incredible. 90 mins straight thru, mostly motomami songs w/ some others peppered in & a really chic but fun set design. i'm hard pressed to think of many current artists who provide the same combination of experimentalism w/in the context of pop, pure raw vocal & performance talent, and modernist visual/aesthetic sense.

seeing her this Friday, v excited

j0rd otm

She's in DC tonight & alas I have a conflict and can't attend.

you should de-conflict because that show was one of the best large-scale shows i've been to in recent memory

Still bummed I had to miss it. Have checked out some video clips on IG that show her impressive choreography, vocals, music, etc

David Byrne email--

A few days ago I went to Rosalia’s concert at Radio City and was knocked out! I had seen her before at Webster Hall some years ago, along with Caetano Veloso. She’s not strictly Afro Caribe, like most of these tracks, but she sort of fits right in. Her roots are Flamenco (she’s from Spain), but she’s evolved and broadened her scope and now she kind of does it all but still pulls out the duende stuff as a soulful reminder. Her show had very innovative staging consisting of 8 dancers and a video cameraperson on stage. They mostly perform on a giant seamless which acts as a stage for the video screens. Making the video become part of the show. She seemed to be wearing no makeup- other than a little lipstick. Possibly because with all the sweating it might have become a mess? Her presence was very sincere and heartfelt - unusual for a pop show like this.

late pass but i was lured in by the promise of el guincho and it paid off. this album is dense and catchy and diverse and clever and fucking great. wasn't expecting a straight up experimental work but wow!

welcome, forks

i like the album too, do i get a welcome

i liked el mal querer a lot but then cooled as she became a megastar. didn't know she was working toward something as complex and fully baked as this; it's executing on the same level of difficulty as lamar and beyonce.
plus: Vistoso Bosses!

i agree w/ your assessment, her pivoting away from superstar collaborations (lead single aside) for an experimental and deeply idiosyncratic album is prob the most pleasant surprise in music this year for me. you should check out her interviews in NYT & pfork where she talks about her creative process

will look

I have seen a few Spanish language memes in Instagram stories critical of Spain raised Rosalia getting more attention for incorporating reggaeton and Bachata and other Latin American styles than artists who have long been using those styles from Latin America/Caribbean /Iberian locales , but those grumblers seem to be more the exception

"don't culturally appropriate reggaeton!!" has to be one of the funnier takes available

I found her interviews fascinating, as I find interviews with other really intelligent artists with a real grasp on what they're doing and why. I don't enjoy listening to the album, because the music just isn't for me (and I say the same about Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé) but the work is undeniable.

I'm listening to the bonus tracks, nothing very remarkable but fun and shows the wider sonic palette she was using. One thing I like is how close many songs stay to a song hummed to oneself, and the real distance between her and the background (is there a name for this ?). I like the punched percussion on two songs that sounds like a typewriter. If you close your eyes and have some fantasy, Chiri sounds a little like a Spanish version of Björk's Medulla.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gONN93t5aPg
Rosalía - Chiri

Re:her artistic process. It's crazy how anytime I relisten to a song from this album, I like it more. And it's like she made the album that way.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/rosalia-motomami-hentai-cultural-influences-1234642989/

Interesting interview with her. She explains how much research and thought goes into her work and gives credit to many others. The article’s author addresses the discussion of a white artist from Spain having success in the Black created genres of bachata and reggaeton ; and sees her performing in Puerto Rico

Re:her artistic process. It's crazy how anytime I relisten to a song from this album, I like it more. And it's like she made the album that way.

― Nabozo, Thursday, 8 December 2022 13:22 (one month ago) link

“LLYLM” is really fucking good

it is. i like it a lot more than “despechá” personally