The Council of Europe warned in 2019 of the setback that Galician has suffered in the last decade. A wake-up call that led to a multitude of protests. But to realize that Spain is not taking full advantage of its cultural and linguistic richness, it is not necessary to travel to Strasbourg. It is enough to turn on a musical radio station and verify that the presence of songs in Catalan, Valencian, Galician or Basque is, in the best of cases, residual.
A situation that, curiously, does not correspond at all – both in volume and quality – with the musical production in recent years in the different co-official languages and, particularly, in Galician.
The letter of Goose Gayego (Verto), with his review of many of the topics attributed to Galicia, serves as an introduction. “I love the songs but it’s a shame they are Galician”, sings the duo from Santiago de Compostela. For this reason, on the eve of the Day of Galicia, this has been the first song that has sounded in the section of Fire and Thumbtacks in the A Vivir de verano.
Indie, rap, cumbia and folklore
But there are many more interesting bands. One of the most interesting, Malandrómeda, has become a clear reference for projects that combine urban music with Latin rhythms and folklore: Boyanka Kostova, Ortiga, Tanxugueiras, Arousa Vice, Caamaño & Ameixeiras, Baiuca …
There are also a lot of indie guitar maker proposals: Oh! Ayatollah, Grande Amore, Ataque Escampe, Berta Franklin, Terbutalina, Familia Caamagno … A group in which Bifannah can also be included, although they sing in Portuguese.
Some great references of music in Spanish made in Galicia, like Iván Ferreiro, Xoel López, Novedades Carminha or Triángulo de Amor Bizarro, they have also published some songs in Galician, attracting new audiences.
The best moment in your history?
Is music in Galician living the best moment in its history? Isa Cea, from Triángulo de Amor Bizarro, believes that “we are living a great moment in Galician music, with many bands opening up to new styles”, but she also remembers that Galician music has “a long history”, Of which the “combative and anti-Franco folk bands of the 70s” stand out, such as Fuxan Os Ventos, which was reprisal and had very little media support. but it has played a fundamental role as a reference.
“Music in Galician is living a fairly good time and it shows in the diversification of themes and genres,” says Cibrán, from Boyanka Kostova. “People are understanding that singing in Galician is not a handicap and that has allowed many proposals to emerge that enrich the cultural scene.”
Very good proposals
“I am not the one to affirm if the music in Galician is living its best moment because my knowledge in the history of the music of Galicia is quite limited”, says Lucas, from Néboa. “But there are very good proposals with which, in addition, we identify ourselves: Baiuca, Oh! Ayatollah, Grande Amore” …
“I don’t see many disadvantages to singing in Galician”, adds Chicho, member of Boyanka Kostova and soul of Ortiga. “It doesn’t close doors for you. In fact, it opens them for you. And if there is pop in Finnish, English and Spanish, why not in Galician”.
Of course, in order to progress and assimilate new trends, it is also convenient to look back, adjust the rear-view mirror of history and reflect on the starting point, recognizing its virtues and also its defects. A metaphorical burning that Íñigo Renedo assumes in the Fire and Thumbchets section of A Vivir de verano:
kill the father: the soft ones
ÍÑIGO RENEDO
There are things that cannot be denied, and one of them is that ‘The Sharpener’ is an almost perfect song. The Suaves knew it and that is why they also immortalized it in Galician.
It was not the only nod to their land, they also enveloped the Galician anthem in noise … but I have not come here to speak well of a group, I have come to remind you that this black cat with sharp teeth became disheveled over the years. Dirty rags among them, news of sexist violence and that phrase in which his followers shout ‘They don’t even know one of Los Suaves’ in fan mode with nostalgia and homesickness.
But what we really have to reproach Los Suaves with is the spirit that it infected. The beers in the air and the jostling at concerts weren’t the worst, what we really have to reproach them is that because of them today in our country there are still 60-year-old metalheads.
Sweaty, decadent and dark club music, remained to be remembered at the end of the festivals. Maybe we don’t even know one of Los Suaves … but they still don’t know that their Dolores is no longer called Lola, now her name is Dolores de hip.
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