We proudly present you an outstanding record: the first solo album by Ibon Errazkin, known so far as being the guitarist and composer of Spanish band LE MANS.
Ibon started his career in AVENTURAS DE KIRLIAN, a band that obtained a mythical status in Spanish indieland. Their eponymous album, released in 1989, turned out to be one of the most influent bands in the last decades: their trail can be still traced in many of the new Spanish pop outfits.
Afterwards the band would change their name for LE MANS, and they would start a long and fascinating career, releasing four sensational albums: “Le Mans” (1993), “Entresemana” (1994), “Saudade” (1996) and “Aquí vivía yo” (1998); all of them overflowing with coherence and good taste. In LE MANS’ music -mainly accoustic and relaxed- you could trace elements of jazz, Brazilian bossa-nova music and tons of elegance, in a moment when those ingredient were not as easy to find in pop music as today. But the real outstanding thing in LE MANS was their ability to create a new thing out of these influences, always avoiding to being a mere copycat of their idols. They were also the first in Spain to make dance remixes of their songs, as the 1995 mini-album “Zerbina” testifies. In any case, their music was most of the times based on the gently strummed moods of Ibon’s guitar.
Unfortunately the band split in 1998, just when their name was beginning to sound more than familiar to pop aficionados, not only in our country: their albums were released also in Japan and the States, obtaining enthusiastic reviews and becoming probably the best known Spanish band all over the world in the nineties.
Despite LE MANS was Ibon’s main project during the last decade, we shouldn’t forget to mention other of his many musical activities: between 1990 and 1996 he fronted DAILY PLANET, an instrumental outfit with many influences of bands with a fragile sound, such as FELT or ORANGE JUICE; they released an album (“Romance”) plus several singles. He’s also part of INSTRÜMENTAL, a project more oriented towards experimental dancey music. Besides, Ibon included a song (“Expo Tenerife”) in Mike Alway’s prestigious “Songs for the jetset” compilation, under the aka SOUTHAMERICAN GETAWAY.
With Javier Corcobado and Ana D he produced the debut album of the latter, “Satélite 99” (1997), in which he also took part as musician and composer; in fact, his guitar is more than present throughout the whole album. He accompanied Ana D as a guitarist in her first stateside tour in October 1999. We must also say Ibon will soon produce the new album of Carlos Berlanga, one of the most respected and popular pop composers in Spain.
All these previous works could serve as a hint to imagine the direction followed by Ibon Errazkin in his first solo album; but anyone that has payed attention to his career would have detected a noticeable penchant for changing and going ahead, for experimenting and looking for -and most of the times finding- new paths and ways of expression for his musical ideas; so nobody should be too surprised to find out this album is completely different to all his previous works, LE MANS included.
In “Ibon Errazkin” there’s little place for pop, leaving place for a lushy cocktail of influences, as tasty as unusual: reggae, country, rock, folk, jazz, even hip hop... but not in a clichéd, stereotyped way of course! everything here is quite more subtle than that. All these labels and styles are only starting points to create new sounds and even new genres. Songs in this album are characterized by unpredictable, surprising musical developments: each song is a small microcosmos full of passages and ins and outs, full of arrangements that surprise at first listening and enrapture in the subsequent listenings.
Ibon was not alone in this journey: he was very well accompanied by the guitar of Murky, the drums and harmonica of Guillermo Monje (both are members of PATRULLERO MANCUSO); by the drums and doo-rag pedals of Olaf Ladousse (SOLEX) and by the piano and moog of Antonio Galvañ (PARADE). Not to forget the trumpet of Luis Miguel Congosto and the trombone of Javier Leal, omnipresent through the whole album, giving shape and warmth to Ibon’s imaginative arrangements. There’s also room for subtle samples, as varied and unpredictable as Ibon’s record collection: from JEFFERSON AIRPLANE toCharlie Mingus, from Bowie to SHOP ASSISTANTS, all of them fitting perfectly in the puzzle, with no stridences at all.
The album is composed by eight songs; six of them are written by Ibon: “Ramadán”, “Verano en la villa”, “Fiesta”, “Fanfarre”, “Madrid rock” and “Esplín”. The other two are cover versions, very free recreations of the originals: “Vitamin A” is a song by Baba Brooks which ends up deriving in “Silver Dollar” by Tommy Mc Cook (both of them from SKATALITES). Whereas “Nu creative love” is taken from Don Cherry´s “Symphony for improvisers” and it’s based on a beautiful guitar motif, while the rest of intruments gently slide over it; seven minutes of pleasure, the ideal way to finish the album.
It’s not easy to pigeonhole “Ibon Errazkin” in any category or style; what’s really easy is to surrender to its richness and inventive. One of the most intelligent, precious and unclassifiable albums of this year. A record that will make history.
