Spanish music now: from Alicante to Zaragoza

Following our potted history of Spanish pop, our journey through the sounds of Europe continues as Trevor Baker introduces the current acts making waves in his adopted country

It was claimed a couple of years ago that Spain's relaxed attitude towards the illegal downloading of music could lead to the country becoming a "cultural desert". This is a prospect that might be greeted by some parochial English-speaking pop fans with a shrug. Acts such asAlejandro Sanz and David Bisbal sell millions in the Spanish-speaking world but their crossover appeal in the UK is mostly limited to cameo appearances on tracks by global titans such as Shakira and Rihanna.

However, there's always been more to Spanish music than Julio Iglesiasand his spiritual (and literal) heirs. If the UK had enjoyed a less conservative music radio in the 1980s, bands such as Alaska y Dinarama from Madrid's "La Movida" period could have replaced, or at least joined, the king of the crooners as Spanish pop cultural names to drop.

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Yet while pop's language can be universal, you probably do need to understand Spanish to get the most out of lyrical Alicante hip-hop starNach. Unsurprisingly, the acts that have started to cross the Bay of Biscay in recent years have placed less emphasis on their lyrics. Indie-dance kings Delorean and Zombie Kids sing in English, while the chant-like mantras of tropical-flavoured sound-collagist El Guincho are secondary to his inventive, colourful beats. Meanwhile the likes of acclaimed producer John Talabot and his labelmate Pional exist in a rarefied world of beatific house and techno, where words themselves would be a clumsy irrelevance.

Particularly outside the Costas and the Islas, though, Spanish music isn't all about clubbing. Many of the best modern bands come from cold, damp, postindustrial northern towns. Maybe that's why the excellent We Are Standard, from the Basque country, sound a bit like the Stone Roseson their new mini-album Great State. Elsewhere, Fasenuova, from rainy Asturias, make blackly sardonic gothtronica that would horribly confuse the clubbers in Lanzarote.

But it's Barcelona that is, as always, competing with Madrid to be Spain's cultural capital. Flamenco fusion band Ojos de Brujo have split up, but their spirit lives on in founder members Ramón Giménez and DJ Panko's new project Lenacay, while there are many other acts mixing Catalan rumba with flamenco, rock, ska and dance. Muchachito Bombo Infiernoand La Troba Kung-Fú are among the better known examples, but it's the extraordinary Concha Buika, who Almodóvar fans will remember from The Skin I Live In, who's the most memorable. There's also a whole scene of Catalan-language groups such as the folkie Manel and the gorgeously gloomy Animic, who've had success throughout the peninsula.

Barcelona's buzz has also attracted acts from around the world, such as intense French blues exile Edith Crash and Greek Magnetic Fields' fanEvripidis, whose flamboyant yet melancholic Abroad could strike a chord with the hardest-hearted listener. The British ex-pat community here,around 800,000, mostly live further south in the Costas Blanca and Del Sol but, as yet, only the Britpoppish Aardvark Asteroid from Elche have made a mark on their adopted country's music scene. But the question of whether or not to sing in English has often exercised the country's tastemakers. Madrid indie queen Russian Red's wonderfully chewy voice makes English a perfect choice for her, while Barcelona's popular Love of Lesbian used to sing in English too, until they realised that, as their terrible name suggests, they express themselves rather better in Spanish.

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Their success, along with that of Spanish indie godfathers Los Planetas, has helped pave the way for a scene that Spain's indie snobs have dubbed "inditex", implying that they're in reality they're as commercial as the all-conquering, Zara-owning retail conglomerate. This takes in a whole swarm of breezily melodic bands led by Lori Meyers and, more recently, Polock. The gloomier Vetusta Morla from Madrid are often included in this list too, mainly because their excellent Mapas album has made them the country's most popular alt-rock band. They, along with the brilliant Bigott, Guadalupe Plata, Furguson, Quique González andZa! were chosen to fly the flag for Spain at this year's SXSW.

If you want purist indie, though, you have to look towards either Barcelona labels Sones and La Castanya, or to Madrid-based stalwartsElefant Records, home to the popular La Casa Azul and La Bien Querida, as well as sharp indie-electro types Astrud. Many of these bands rail against the tyranny of Spain's 24-hour fiesta culture. The wonderful Doble Pletina's best song, for example, seems to be about being stuck in a noisy club and wanting to go home. They, along with the lovable Band A Part and Medelia have made pretty-girl-meets-sensitive-bearded-boy a genre all of its own, while the splendidly snotty Los Punsetes show that gleeful spite and childish smut will always have their place in indie, too.

It's a happy paradox that, while it's true none of these people can be making much money (Elefant boss Luis Calvo says downloading has scuppered the industry, and that music sales "are a joke") there are more bands than ever. Many, like Alicante's impressive Inquiro, are doing it for themselves, often supported by crowd-funding websites.

Any commercially astute crowd, however, might be better off funding one of the new breed of metal bands. Rock festivals such as Costa de Fuego and Sonisphere are thriving (the latter sold 90,000 tickets – up 20,000 from last year). Most of their acts are foreign but few of them are as good as Madrid's Soulfly-influenced Vita Imana, who make brilliant use of tribal drums and Spanish's guttural, inherently thrash-metal consonants.

Those throaty "j's" and growled "g's" have long found their truest expression in the music that's synonymous with Spain – flamenco. The sound made famous by Camarón de la Isla and Paco de Lucía has long been absorbed by numerous other genres but the likes of multinational Barcelona band Las Migas, as well as singers such as Encarna Anilloand Montse Cortés, are still taking flamenco in new directions while preserving its essential spirit. This is music with a sense of history and a useful reminder that, while Spain might be going through hard times at the moment, it's nothing compared to what it's been through in the past. Whatever happens with the economic crisis, or with downloading, Spain's not about to become a "cultural desert" just yet.

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Artist to watch – Bigott

With songs entitled Dead Mum Walking and Cannibal Dinner, Zaragoza's brilliant Bigott is a kind of Badly Drawn Beck. His surreal, colourful English lyrics deserve to be heard outside of his home country.

DJ to watch – The Zombie Kids

Best known in Spain for their massive hit Face, they also have their own Zombie Bar in Madrid and a Wednesday residency at Sala arena, where they've shared the decks with Skrillex and Diplo among others.

Key venue – Razzmatazz

This Barcelona club is where the Stone Roses played to 4,000 people recently, but it also has four smaller rooms that host everything from rock to techno.

Key club – Pacha

These days the original Ibiza institution doubles as the head office of a global chain, but it's still a crucial reference point in the world of house music.

Key hangout – Primavera Sound

Every year, this Barcelona-based festival acts as a summit for the best new alternative bands in the country, as well as major international acts.

• Trevor Baker is a journalist based in Alicante, Spain. He writes about music, travel and food for the Guardian and various in-flight magazines.