Strange parentheses

Strange parentheses Lp(Archives, 2018) Composición, producción y mezcla: Pepo Galán.Masterización: Taylor Deupree.Fotografía: Brian Young.«Samoa»Piano: Sergio Díaz De Rojas.Strings: Reyes Oteo.Trombone: Carlos Rodríguez.Lyrics: Marisa Ares.Voice: Sita Ostheimer.«Bleeding Eyes»Voice Sampler: Sita Ostheimer.«U Broke Me»Lyrics and Voice: Roger Robinson. «We look back and watch scenes of films that we have lived intensely and that have left marks in our lives, small traces that make up our life story. These vital traces are part of the germ of «Hard education», new ep by Pepo Galán in which he revisits a time before the discovery of new sounds, more electronic sonorities that created new paths through which Pepo Galán transits to the present. Starting from a variation in his current method of composition and creation, Pepo Galán creates tenuous and mysterious environments with the help of field recordings and analog instruments until he reaches sounds close to a dark techno that celebrates times of discovery and sonic epiphanies. Spanish composer Pepo Galán lands on the exquisite imprint Archives with a follow-up to the acclaimed Human Values Disappear.This time, the artist steps out of his comfort zone to create a record that melts the boundaries of ambient music, challenging our preconceived notion of how a drone record should sound. Part of the charm of Strange Parentheses lies in its seamless blend of genres, quickly shifting from early day Kranky sounds (Dead fish on the shore, In a Straight Line) to more glitch-inspired pieces (High Seas Tempest, Almost Alone in this Life). However, the biggest strength – and surprise – of the album lies in its delicate use of vocals. For this endeavour, Pepo recruited the talented German choreographer Sita Ostheimer, who brings her impressive vocal range to three of the album’s tracks. Sita’s symbiotic performance adds a newfound intensity to the mix, echoing the emotional resonance of artists like Grouper or Julianna Barwick. These refined sounds become palpable in the album’s centerpiece, S a m o a, a song that starts off with a delicate Sonic Pieces-inspired piano, gradually evolving into a soul-crushing ballad. Here, Pepo builds a wall of guitar and string sounds around Sita’s vocals, transporting us to a state of mind that is equal parts melancholic and blissful. This gravitational pull between darkness and hope acts as a guiding light throughout the rest of the album, eventually landing on a high note with the tear-jerking sounds of U Broke Me. By the time the pitched-down vocals fade away, it is safe to assume that Pepo Galán has produced another exquisite record, one that rivals the heights reached by Human Values Disappear, confirming him as one of the most exciting artists to watch in our modern ambient landscape.» (Carlos Maquieira) Volver a discografía Comprar

All of a sudden

All of a sudden (Pepo Galán + Max Würden) Lp (Unknown Tone Records, 2018) Composición, grabación y producción: Pepo Galán y Max Würden. Masterización: Südblock Studios. Cover: «Tree of life» (Christine Nguyen, 2016). It was a rainy day in October when the mail man knocked on Max Würden’s door. He had ordered an album from El Muelle Records in Malaga, Spain, but when he opened the package it didn’t contain only Pepo Galan’s album «Stranded», he found a bunch of CDs in there, published by the same label. What a pleasant surprise, and it turned out to be a true cultural survival kit just in time for the following grey weekend full of rain. Having never actually met in person they came to realize that they already followed each others musical projects online for years, a vivid exchange ensued peaking with a question if they shouldn’t work together on an album. 30 minutes later Pepo had sent his first idea, and Max started working on it right away. Musically the two artists had found each other. They immersed themselves so deep into the tracks that at the end neither one of them was able to tell who exactly contributed which sounds to their album «All of a sudden». They also found commonalities in their work processes. Both like to incorporate cassette tapes like Max’s album «Retour» (Kompakt 2016), and they also like to experiment with guitars and other string instruments which form the musical spine for «All of a sudden». Volver a discografía Comprar

Comformity declaration

Comformity declaration Lp (Seattle Dott, 2018) Composición y grabación: Carlos Suero y Pepo Galán. Artwork: Pepo Galán. Comformity Declaration is the first album of songs born from an alliance between two well known friends of us, Pepo Galan and Carlos Suero. This is a collaboration record that surprise since minute one to the listener us it doesn’t reflect what the composers had published before, maybe, and us the name of the album reads; it is a declaration of comformity between both musicians in order to reach a point of middle land, between the electroacoustic ambient from Pepo Galan and the more heavy electronics from Carlos Suero. This piece of work feels like a trip to a obscure destination but with a longside running that let us see the existence of a light at the end of it, like in a road movie style, with reflections of rhythms playing along with physicodelic passages confronting very quite melodies, dirty guitars and catchy synthesisers. Volver a discografía Comprar

Human values disappear

Human values disappear Lp(El Muelle Records, 2017) Masterización: Taylor Deupree / 12K Mastering.Artwork: Jenna Murphy / Velvet Black Pixel. Existe una frase que se pronuncia con mucha rotundidad en la actualidad: “vivimos tiempos duros”. Para Pepo Galán, esa sentencia es una definición del mundo en el que nos encontramos. «Human values dissapear» contiene, desde su título, una declaración de intenciones por parte del artista, ofrecer una personal visión del mundo que nos rodea cuya metáfora idónea sería un barco que viaja a la deriva para acabar hundiéndose, poco a poco, ante la acción y permisividad de sus pasajeros. Con todas estas reflexiones, Pepo Galán realiza un tratado sociológico y emotivo de nuestro contexto, un viaje hacia recovecos emocionales donde rara vez nos sentimos cómodos, entre la frustración y la congoja pero que, en algún momento, se atisba una pequeña parcela de esperanza, una isla donde poder convivir gracias a los valores que un día se perdieron. Volver a discografía Comprar

Hanabi

Hanabi Ep (Hiss Noise Record, 2017) Composición, masterización y cover art: Pepo Galán. Volver a discografía Comprar

Arrástrame mar

Arrástrame mar Lp (Nova Fund Recordings, 2017) Composición, masterización y art cover: Pepo Galán. Volver a discografía Comprar

Stranded (Pepo Galán + Gärtner)

Stranded (Pepo Galán + Gärtner):«Stranded» LP(El Muelle Records, 2017) Composición, grabación y masterización: Pepo Galán y Gärtner. «Stranded» parte de dos puntos de vista semejantes. Pepo Galán, desde una costa y Gärtner, desde otra orilla distante.Entre los dos experimentados músicos obran un nutrido grupo de composiciones donde el tiempo tiene la potestad de detenerse y poder apreciar las maravillas que le puedan rodear, desde un amanecer al resguardo de una bahía hasta la ingravidez vivida dentro de una fosa marina.Y todo ello, bajo un manto tejido entre la melancolia y la inquietud, entre un recuerdo en blanco y negro y el suspense porque ese recuerdo vuelva a ser vivido. «Stranded» es un viaje a cuatro manos para el oyente, una conjunción de estados mentales similares que acaban en una obra orgánica que capta la atención de oyentes afines a los viajes sin movimiento. Volver a discografía Comprar

Aokigahara Jukai (remixing «In the forest»)

Aokigahara Jukai(Remixing «In the forest») Lp Remixes(El Muelle Records, 2017) Post-producción: Pepo Galán.Masterización: Südblock Studios.Arte: Meneh Peh. Album de remixes del tema «Aokigahara Jukai» compuesto por Pepo Galán y remezclado por Christian Haro, Structweird, Carlos Suero, Erissoma, Jaula, Lee Yi, Gärtner, Circular Dope y Poolar. Volver a discografía Comprar

Hidden noise

Hidden noise Ep(Caballo Perdedor, 2016) Producción: Pepo Galán. Volver a discografía Comprar

Think of something else

Think of something else Ep (EMR Stranded, 2016) Composición, grabación y diseño: Pepo Galán. Volver a discografía Comprar