What Is The What

For our last episode of the year, we decided to do a music-only mixtape with songs from all the bands who came on to the show to pick songs throughout the year as well as some of our host Maria Elisa's favourite discoveries of 2019, in no particular order. 

Tracklist:

MUJERES - Junto a Tí

BODEGA - How Did This Happen?

AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS - Got You

SURFBORT - Billy

SANDRÉ - No

LIFE - Good Health

B BOYS - Energy

VIAGRA BOYS - Worms

PREOCCUPATIONS - Decompose

DRAHLA - Twelve Divisions of the Day

NOV3L - To Whom It May Concern

OMNI - Courtesy Call

URANIUM CLUB - Who Made The Man?

PUBLIC PRACTICE - Foundation

FIDLAR - By Myself

DOWNTOWN BOYS - Fotos Y Recuerdos

JUAN WAUTERS - Guapa

This month's guest selectors are B Boys, a band from New York we've been raving about for the past few months because we can't get enough of their fast anthemic punk which we honestly believe can get anyone out of a funk. They recently released their second album on NY indie label Captured Tracks, an all-time favourite of this house. On the second half of the show, our host Maria Elisa gets to play more bands than usual and she does not miss the opportunity, going from fast Spanish punk to cold synthwave to bedroom indie to sleazy artpop without missing a beat. Full tracklist below.

LOS MARICAS - La Balada de Brauni 

B BOYS - Bad Decisions 

BONNY DOON - Lost My Way 

PILL - Piña Queen 

REXY - Alien 

FRANK OCEAN - Nights 

THE STREETS - Don't Mug Yourself 

MINOR THREAT - 12XU 

SANDRÉ - No 

LITHICS - Excuse Generator 

MICHAEL BEACH - Never Had Enough Time With You 

#1 DADS - Camberwell 

MEDIO MUTANTE - Tu Y Yo 

CORRIDOR - Pow 

THE PEEP TEMPEL - Neuroplasticity 

FAUX REAL - Second Sweat 

In this month's episode, our guest selectors LIFE and OMNI help us cover all the bases as we move from postpunk to screamo to dance anthems to old-timey soul to spacey prog rock and much more. Having recently visited Barcelona while touring their sophomore album A Picture of Good Health, UK four-piece LIFE pick two newcomers and two classics in the form of Newmeds, Slowthai, LCD Soundsystem and The Fall. From the other side of the ocean by way of Atlanta, Georgia, OMNI share a few of their all-time favourites and influences ahead of the release of their latest album "Networker," coming out on November 1st on legendary label Subpop. Our picks this month include fresh new music from Sharon Van Etten, Dry Cleaning and Sen Senra.

This month's playlist:

LOS MARICAS - La Balada de Brauni

LIFE - Good Health

NEWMEDS - Nobody’s Fool

SLOWTHAI - Doorman

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down

THE FALL - Hit The North

SHARON VAN ETTEN - Seventeen

DRY CLEANING - Viking Hair

SEN SENRA - Como El Fuego

OMNI - Courtesy Call

YELLOW MAGIC ORCHESTRA - Perspective

ROBERT WYATT - At Last I’m Free

IRMA THOMAS - Two Winters Long

CASS ELLIOT - Move In A Little Closer, Baby

DEPECHE MODE - Puppets

After the summer break we get ready for the new season with the help of Downtown Boys and Fidlar, who have picked a really fun and diverse selection of songs which go from dancey queer punk to bedroom synthpop to funk to punk to all the spectrum in the middle. We also get to hear cult sixties girlband She, and new songs by Tropical Fuckstorm, Abjects, The Chats and Priests. 

TRACKLIST:

LOS MARICAS - La Balada de Brauni

DOWNTOWN BOYS - Lips That Bite

BEVERLY GLENN-COPELAND - In the Image

VAGABON - Flood

LA NEVE - A Pretty Red

FUNERAL CONE - ABBA.C.A.B.

THE HAIREM - Like a Snake

TROPICAL FUCK STORM - Who’s my Eugene

PRIESTS - Youtube Sartre

THE CHATS - Pub Feed

ABJECTS - Aburrido

FIDLAR - By Myself

THE ANEMIC BOYFRIENDS - Fake I.D.

PURPLE/IMAGE - Living in the Ghetto

JOJI - Attention

PACHYMAN - Big & Easy

The New Normal line up isn't just latín flavour, autotune and high hats. Maria Elisa from What Is The What will be reminding us why PS still has the firmest grip on emerging alternative guitar music on her live broadcast this afternoon, from RPS Studios at ABX 10.  

In this episode we move from the fast-paced anthemic punk of B Boys to the introspective sounds of Bonny Doon via lots of new and not so new releases from bands across the spectrum: Uranium Club, Shopping, Omni, Goat Girl, The Coathangers, Kevin Morby and Spanish newcomers Melenas. We listen to the lead single of Barcelona band Mujeres' latest EP, "Romance Romántico", and as guest selector of the day, their bass player Pol Rodellar picks three of his current favourites. 

Playlist:

B BOYS - EnergyURANIUM CLUB - Who Made The ManSHOPPING - Shave Your HeadOMNI - Sunset PreacherGOAT GIRL - Cracker DroolTHE COATHANGERS - StasherMELENAS - Ya No Me ImportaMUJERES - Romance RománticoJUAN WAUTERS - A VolarCHARNEL GROUND - Playa De TiclaSPIRIT WAS - Olive Branch & Brown DoveROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER - Talking StraightKEVIN MORBY - No HaloDOLLAR BAND - Too SensitiveBONNY DOON - Long WaveYOUNG MARBLE GIANTS - Searching For Mr Right

In this episode we have two very special guests helping us bridge that space between the melancholy of winter and the spunk we need to get out of that cold funk. Let's call it our special February mixtape. 

On Side A we have a few crushers picked by Canadian band Preoccupations' drummer, Wallace, including Cindy Lee, Orville Peck, cctv and a second appearance by our own favourites NOV3L. On Side B we get to shake off the funk with some punk as picked by Dani Miller from Surfbort, including Viagra Boys, Suburban Lawns and Amyl and the Sniffers. 

As for the bonus tracks, we've got tracks by three newcomers picked by yours truly: Basque post-punk band Vulk; a mega fresh release by UK six-piece Black Country, New Road; and human tree trunks of noise Snapped Ankles. 

LOS MARICAS - La Balada De Brauni

CINDY LEE - The Last Train’s Come and Gone

CINDY LEE - Always Lovers

ORVILLE PECK - Dead of Night

CCTV - We Belong

PREOCCUPATIONS - Decompose

NOV3L - Natural

VULK - No Muscle

BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD - Athens, France

SURFBORT - Billy

VIAGRA BOYS - Sports

SUBURBAN LAWNS - Janitor

AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS - ‘70s Street Munchies

SNAPPED ANKLES - Rechargeable

For our last episode of the season before the summer break, we found it fitting to invite two of the bands that we played on the very first episode to pick some of their favourite songs for the show. Brooklyn's Bodega picks an eclectic selection which includes their guitar player's very new project, The Wants, as well as contemporary classics like Deerhunter or US Girls and a rather lesser-known song by The Who. On the other hand, we got Amyl & The Sniffers, who have become one of our "house bands" after having a song in every episode of this season, to give us some of their own favourites just before playing an extremely sweaty, intimate secret gig in one of Barcelona's best independent venues. We close the show with some of our own picks, including newcomers Squid, Fontaines D.C. and Viagra Boys, as well as the comeback single from Bleached and a classic 1980 tune from UK band The Soft Boys. 

TRACKLIST WITW05:

1)LOS MARICAS - D.S.M

2) BODEGA - Bodega Birth

3) THE WANTS - Ape Trap

4) DEERHUNTER - What Happens to People

5) U.S. GIRLS - Rosebud

6) THE WHO - Odorono

7) AMYL & THE SNIFFERS - Got You

8) C.O.F.F.I.N - White Dog

9) POWER - Electric Glitter Boogie

10) GRIM RHYTHM - Animal

11) TOTAL CONTROL - Love Performance

12) SQUID - Houseplants

13) FONTAINES D.C. - Too Real

14) VIAGRA BOYS - Worms

15) BLEACHED - Kiss You Goodbye

16) THE SOFT BOYS - Insanely Jealous of You

In this first episode of What Is The What we listen to freshly-released tracks from Cherry Glazerr and NOV3L, revisit some 2018 releases from Marbled Eye, Aliment, Mothers and BODEGA and discover an old favourite by 70s punk band Disturbed (not to be confused with the metal band by the same name). Representing South America we have Colombian band Los Maricas opening the show and a killer demo by Brazilian psych-punk band DUPLO. NYC newcomers Public Practice share a couple of songs by bands that have influenced their sound and Downtown Boys provide a killer closing song with an amazing cover of a cover.