In Memoriam: Legendary "Donald Gibb" Dies At 71

Donald Gibb, known for his iconic role as the brutish football player Ogre in the 1984 campus comedy classic "Revenge of the Nerds," has died at 71. His son, Travis, confirmed Gibb passed away Tuesday in Texas following health complications. Gibb's character, Frederick Aloysius Palowaski, was a key antagonist, part of the jock fraternity that tormented the "nerds" like Lewis Skolnick and Gilbert Lowe. 

 

Ogre and his teammates famously kicked the nerds out of their dorm after their own frat house burned down, setting up the film's central conflict. Gibb reprised his role in "Revenge of the Nerds II" and "IV." His extensive career spanned over 90 screen roles, including early appearances in films such as "Stripes" and "Conan the Barbarian," and TV series like "The A-Team" and "Magnum P.I."

 

In Revenge of the Nerds, Frederick Aloysius Palowaski, aka "Ogre" — along with a group of fellow college football teammates from the fictional Adams College — torment the nebbish freshmen Lewis Skolnick (Robert Carradine), Gilbert Lowe (Anthony Edwards), Booger (Curtis Armstrong) and their fellow classmates, dubbed “nerds,” under the guidance of the team’s coach, Harris (John Goodman).

 

The players, who lost their Alpha Beta frat house to a fire, kick the  "nerds" out of their freshman dorm at the beginning of the film. The group of math and computer whizzes, however, concoct a plan of revenge to put the jocks back in their rightful place – in the gym. Gibb also starred in sequels Revenge of the Nerds II: Nerds in Paradise in 1987 and Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love in 1994. The actor did not, however, appear in the 1992 TV movie Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation. 

 

Donald Gibb recalled in an interview with Youngstown Studio in 2025 that he landed the role of Ogre in Revenge of the Nerds thanks to the help of his friend, stunt coordinator Terry James, after he was initially told he looked too old to play a college student. As such, Gibb said, the casting director was pushing for a different actor to play Ogre. However, Gibb added, since Revenge of the Nerds director Jeff Kanew really wanted him for the part, James came up with a plan to give the actor another chance.

 

In all of a sudden, I get a call from my buddy and he says, 'If you can get down here, shaved, you know — get down here as fast as you can,' Gibb told Youngstown Studio. As such, Gibb told the outlet, he had shaved, but he also had "blood squirting out" of his face from close cuts and pieces of toilet paper to cover them up. After he cleared the mess away, Gibb said he went into another interview  clean shaven and they went, "Okay, he can play the college guy.”

 

Born Donald Richard Gibb on Aug. 4, 1954, in New York City, Gibb's first screen role came in an uncredited turn as a henchman in the Clint Eastwood action comedy Any Which Way You Can. The bit role in the Eastwood comedy was followed two more high-profile films where Gibb played uncredited roles: as a bouncer in the mud-wrestling bar in Bill Murray’s 1981 comedy Stripes and King Osric’s (Max von Sydow) bodyguard in the 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger fantasy adventure Conan the Barbarian.

 

Before landing the role of Ogre in Revenge of the Nerds two years later, Gibb appeared in a string of television guest roles in such series as Alice, Simon & Simon, Hardcastle and McCormick, The A-Team and Magnum: P.I. The same year Gibb hit paydirt with Revenge of the Nerds, he also appeared in the comedy Meatballs 2.

 

Amid his work in the Revenge of the Nerds sequels, Gibb appeared in dozens of more TV guest roles on such series as The Facts of Life, Hunter, Night Court, MacGuyver, Cheers, The X-Files, Boy Meets World, Seinfeld, Weird Science and Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, as well as the daytime dramas Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless.

 

Apart from the Revenge of the Nerds movies, Gibb appeared in such films as Bloodsport, Bloodsport 2, U.S. Marshals and Hancock. Gibb’s last credited screen role was in the 2026 sports thriller Hands. Gibb also has a role in the forthcoming horror film Burlesque Ghost Hunters, which does not yet have a release date.

Rocktrospectiva: The Return To The Form "Sugar Tax" Turns 35

Released on 7 May 1991 "Sugar Tax" was the 8th., studio album by the English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD.  It was the group's first studio album since 1986's The Pacific Age, and the first of three recorded without co-founder Paul Humphreys, who had departed in 1989. Featuring singer Andy McCluskey alongside a new line-up of musicians, Sugar Tax leans towards the then-prevalent dance-pop genre, with McCluskey's songwriting at times being influenced by the breakdown of his relationship with Humphreys. The album spawned four singles "Sailing On The Seven Seas", "Pandora's Box", "Then You Turn Away," & "Call My Name." 

 

Sugar Tax has provoked mixed responses from critics since its release, being described as both the equal of OMD's seminal Architecture & Morality (1981), and a "forgettable" entry in the group's catalogue. It nevertheless became one of the band's biggest commercial successes, peaking at number three on the UK Albums Chart. Sugar Tax is the only OMD album on which Paul Humphreys does not receive a songwriting credit. 

 

In the aftermath of the band's 1989 split, Virgin Records gave the OMD moniker to singer Andy McCluskey, while departing members Paul Humphreys, Martin Cooper and Malcolm Holmes named their new ensemble The Listening Pool. McCluskey dealt with anxiety about continuing as OMD, stating, "My name doesn't appear anywhere on the album. I was trying to hide behind the corporate identity of OMD because I was terrified that I was on my own because all I'd ever known was working with Paul and then Paul, Malcolm and Martin." His fears were assuaged somewhat by collaborating with new group members Nigel Ipinson and Phil Coxon. Stuart Kershaw, who would join the band as an instrumentalist in later years, co-wrote five tracks.

 

Recording took place at various studios in Liverpool and London. Andy Richards was enlisted as a producer but McCluskey elected to self-produce much of the record with assistance from Coxon and Jeremy Allom in engineering roles. The album is characterised by its extensive use of the Korg M1 workstation. 

 

About the tracks "Was It Something I Said" and "All That Glitters" were directly inspired by OMD's lineup split in 1989,while "Big Town" deals with coming of age in the music industry. "Pandora's Box" was inspired by silent movie actress Louise Brooks, and shares its title with the film Pandora's Box (1929), which stars Brooks in the lead role. "Neon Lights" was a cover of a Kraftwerk song, originally featured on The Man-Machine (1978). "Apollo XI" uses samples from Apollo space missions; a club mix was pressed on white label 12". "Walk Tall" utilises a choral sample from "Miserere" by Gregorio Allegri, and was originally titled "Coming to See You".

 

The record title Sugar Tax refers to the notion of everything sweet having a price, including relationships. The actual "Sugar Tax" track was not completed in time for the album's release, and was instead included as a B-side to "Then You Turn Away". The artwork was designed by Area with photography by Trevor Key, and features an oil sculpture.

 

The album met with mixed reviews on one way critices considered it as a classic OMD, and after a four-year absence marks a triumphant return... McCluskey has managed to distill all the best qualities of a 12-year career into a highly listenable album, a British pop at its finest loaded down with well-rounded synths and expressive vocals. On the other hand, several regarded the record by call it as an item that occasionally OMD managed to find the hypnotic pulse that once made the band tick. But it never really traces it to the dark soul that once set it apart.

 

Despite of that, "Sugar Tax" became one of OMD's most popular albums, achieving sales of three million copies by 2007, also it was the strongest OMD album in years and houses its fair share of career highlights."

 

Sugar Tax Track List:

 

1. Sailing On The Seven Seas

2. Pandora's Box

3. Then You Turn Away

4. Speed Of Light

5. Was It Something I Said

6. Big Town

7. Call My Name

8. Apollo XI" (instrumental, contains sample from JFK "Landing a man on the moon" speech and Apollo 11-related radio transmissions)

9.  Walking On Air

10. Walk Tall

10. Neon Lights (reworking of Kraftwek track from The Man-Machine

11. All That Glitters

Rocktrospectiva: The Fairly "Hard At Play" Turns 35

Released on 7 May 1991 "Hard At Play" was the 6th., studio album by the US rock band Huey Lewis and the News, the album spanwed three singles "Couple Days Off", "It Hit Me like A Hammer" & "He Don't Know," Hard at Play peaked at number 27 on the Billboard 200 pop albums chart and produced two top 40 singles, "Couple Days Off" and "It Hit Me Like a Hammer." Music videos were released for "It Hit Me like a Hammer," "Couple Days Off," and "He Don't Know."

Hard at Play was a return to the straight-ahead blues-inflected pop/rock that made Huey Lewis and the News superstars in the early '80s. Unfortunately for many reviewers and fans, the album wasn't strong enough or consistently as other albums such as "Sports", or "Picture This",  even thought,  the band rocked with a renewed vigor and a handful of songs, including the anthemic hit "Couple Days Off," were as catchy as their older hitsthis is arguably the band sole Rock record.

Many of the songs are heavily guitar based with Chris Hayes a good record for road trips with its rollicking rock, and despite the album was a fantastic collection of good songs except for "Don't look Back" or " Time Ain't Money", the album was big not so as "Sports" but definitely it has aged well. 

 

Hard At Play Track List:  

 

1. Build Me Up

2. It Hit Me Like A Hammer

3. Attitude

4. He Don't Know

5. Couple Days Off

6. That's Not Me

7. We Should Be Making Love

8. Best Of Me

9. Do You Love Me, Or What?

10. Don't Look Back

11. Time Ain't Money 

Rocktrospectiva: The Massive "Schubert Dip" Turns 35

Released on 7 May 1991 "Schubert Dip" was the debut album by the British rock band EMF, the album spawned four singles, featuring the worldwide hit single "Unbelievable" which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, "I Believe", "Children", & "Lies."  The name of the album was a pun on the name of the popular sweet sherbet dip and the 19th-century composer Franz Schubert. 

By the early nineties, everyone knew EMF (Epsom Mad Funkers), a name taken from a New Order fan club) that was the official version. But there was a song on the album called, precisely, EMF, in which the phrase "E! Ecstasy!, M! Motherfuckers motherfuckers" is repeated insistently, and in fact, that sounded much cooler than Epsom... we'll never know the real one, and also for their enduring and addictive hit "Unbelievable" and a promising career that placed them at the forefront of British alternative dance music.  Schubert Dip was a huge success in England, his native country, as well as in the United States.

EMF consisted of James Atkin on vocals, Ian Dench on guitar, Derry Brownson on keyboards and samplers, Zach Foley on bass, and Mark Decloedt on drums.  "Unbelievable" was part of their excellent debut album, Schubert Dip (1991). Upon entering the album, we found a blend of rock driven by Dench's excellent guitar riffs and techno, with samples featured in many of the tracks, in a way taking the banner of the most important movement to emerge years earlier in the British Isles, known as Madchester. 

"Unbelievable" was released as a single in Great Britain in December 1990, well before the release of Schubert Dip, and achieved considerable success, although it would gain even more popularity in the United States, reaching number one in sales in July 1991. The excellence of this "one-hit wonder" clearly overshadows the rest of the album, and it is certainly disappointing how a band capable of creating such an infectious melody were unable to maintain that level of success for the remainder of their career. 

It would be unfair to dismiss the album by saying it's "Unbelievable and 10 other tracks." Clearly, that song was the best, but there were others that are also very noteworthy. "I Believe," believe it or not, it was also a hit in the UK. Released after Unbelievable, it reached number three on the charts. Other remarkable favourites were"Travelling Not Running," and like many other tracks on the album, it started with vocal samples, although in this case, I can't place where they're from. Other outstanding track was the controversial "Lies", it was controversial because the first CD edition included a sample of Mark David Chapman (John Lennon's killer) reciting the first two lines of John Lennon's "Watching the Wheels," and Yoko Ono pressured for its removal, so all subsequent editions omit it. But putting aside the poor taste of including that fragment, the song is one of the best on the album, with simple yet direct lyrics: "You said too much, and what you said was a lie..." A short but clear message, isn't it?

Despite being a good album, "Schubert Dip" unfortunately it's outdated, like a product of its time today, and hasn't aged very well, despite several good tracks that remain excellent today.

 

Schubert Dip Track List:

 

1. Children

2. Long Summer Days

3. When You're Mine 

4. Travelling Not Running

5. I Believe

6. Unbelieavble

7. Girl OF An Age

8. Admit It

9. Lies

10. Longtime

11. EMF (Live at the Bilson)

Rocktrospectiva: The Outstanding "Walking Wounded" Turns 30

Released on 6 May 1996 "Walking Wounded" was the 9th., studio album by the English musical duo Everything but the Girl. The album saw the duo adopting a more electronica-based style, following the success of the remixed version of "Missing" from their previous album, Amplified Heart (1994).

Four tracks from the album were released as singles, including the drum and bass-influenced "Walking Wounded" and the house-influenced "Wrong", which became top ten hits on the UK Singles Chart, as well as the downtempo track "Single", which set Tracey Thorn's emotionally direct vocal against breakbeats, organ and strings, and "Before Today". 

Walking Wounded drews on downtempo, drum and bass, and trip hop music, "compressing the wide open space of those then-nascent sounds into a pop format" and marked a change in the duo's approach to writing songs. Ben Watt produced various instrumental tracks, while Tracey Thorn wrote lyrics after listening to the completed tracks. In producing the tracks, Watt utilised samples from "unusual" sources; the song "Single", for instance, sampled Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" and Stan Tracey's "Starless and Bible Black". Thorn later recalled: "We really believed in ourselves and that comes across in the sound. We'd finally got to the point where we realised what our strength was: the softness and warmth of my voice against urban beats; the warm and cold, the soft and hard contrast. We got it perfect on this record; it was our pop triumph."

Critics hailed the fusion of electronic and pop styles on Walking Wounded as "groundbreaking" and "at once abstract and immediate, untamed and accessible", while also crediting the "psychological resonance" of the lyrics for "putting EBTG way above the campiness of most neo-lounge acts."  others uncommon in pop music, and that Everything but the Girl's balancing of "tradition and experimentation" and "softness and bite" made Walking Wounded "more interesting" than the purely instrumental work of the duo's collaborators.

 

Walking Wounded Track List:

 

1. Before Today

2. Wrong

3. Single

4. The Heart Remains A Child

5. Walking Wounded

6. Flipside

7. Big Deal

8. Mirrorball

9. Good Cop Bad Cop

10. Wrong (Todd Terry remix)

11. Walking Wounded (Omni Trio Remix)

Rocktrospectiva: The Accomplished "The It Girl" Turns 30

Released on 6 May 1996 "The It Girl" was the second studio album by English Britpop band Sleeper. It was their most successful album, selling over 300,000 copies in the UK alone and featuring the top-20 singles "What Do I Do Now?", "Sale of the Century", "Nice Guy Eddie", and "Statuesque". The album was released internationally, with the US version having a different track listing and alternative photos in the liner booklet.

The album was recorded in London over the winter of 1995 and 1996 and production was helmed by Stephen Street. Much of the content of the album is autobiographical. "Lie Detector" was written about Wener's frustration with "how women are stereotyped and put into boxes, and not allowed to escape the way they were originally viewed

The album was well received by critics and helped solidify Sleeper's status as a key band in the Britpop movement. Although it lacks a standout track on the level of Smart's "Inbetweener," Sleeper's second album, The It Girl, was a stronger effort, suggesting that lead singer/songwriter Louise Wener could develop into a distinctive talent. 

Certainly, her melodies and hooks are uniformly better this time around, ranging from the bouncy "Sale of the Century" to the sighing melancholy of "What Do I Do Now?" Wener's lyrics continue to be underdeveloped and simplisitic, but her hooks usually make that tendency easy to ignore. The It Girl was an even stronger album is a clearer, more focused production. Although the sound of the album changed subtlely throughout the course of the record, the overall effect is numbingly similar. The rhythm section lacks drive and the guitars lack balls -- they blend together into one dull grind. Out of all of Stephen Street's productions.

It was a tremendous and consistently accomplished album with a broader palette of influences that was released at the perfect moment when britpop was at its peak of popularity. 

 

The It Girl Track List:  

 

1. Lie Detector

2. Sale Of The Century

3. What Do I Do Now?

4. Good Luck Mr. Gornsky

5. Feeling Peaky

6. Shrinkwrapped

7. Dress Like Your Mother

8. Statuesque

9. Glue Ears

10. Nice Guy Eddie

11. Stor Your Crying

12. Factor 41

13. Click...off...gone

Rocktrospectiva: The Cohesive And Consistent "Wild Mood Swings" Turns 30

Released on 6 May 1996 "Wild Mood Swings" was the 10th., studio album by English rock band the Cure. The album charted at number nine on the UK Albums Chart, staying on the chart for six weeks, and number 12 on the US Billboard 200 and spawned five singles "The 13th", "Mint Car", "Strange Attraction" & "Gone!". However, the album was the lowest-selling Cure album in 12 years, and it marked the beginning of a downward trend in the Cure's future album sales.

The album saw the band explore various styles, similar to their double album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (1987), incorporating jangle pop with "Mint Car" and "Return", jazz with "Gone!" and mariachi with "The 13th". Robert Smith said the album title came from the fact that "Lyrically and musically, we cover more stuff than we have done in the past." The album exhibits jarring track placements, which contribute to the erratic and eclectic nature of the material, from lighter poppier songs to introspective, darker material.

The album saw various different changes towards the way the band approached recording their songs, such as the prominent use of computers and music software like Cubase, as well as live strings and brass instrumentation. It was also the first album released since drummer Boris Williams left the band for personal reasons in 1994 while guitarist Porl Thompson also left the group in 1993 to look after his children and joined English rock band Page and Plant.

Smith felt at the time that the previous line-up that had made Wish (1992) had "really done as much as we could. In some ways, in the back of my mind, I was slightly unsure as to what we could achieve, because we all knew each other so well. So the fact that it all kind of fell apart was a good thing. It was one of those haphazard, serendipitous things that worked in our favour."

However, Smith found it difficult to replace Boris Williams as he felt he was "a phenomenally good drummer," and found "replacing him was the most difficult thing. Not only did we have to find someone who would fit, who would get on with us and understand what the Cure is about, [he] also had to be as good a drummer as Boris, and it took months finding someone." Jason Cooper, formerly of the band My Life Story, replaced Williams on drums in 1995, answering to a Melody Maker advertisement made by the band anonymously with the brief "…famous group requires drummer – no metal heads…" Prior to Cooper's recruitment, other potential drummers included Ron Austin (The God Machine), Mark Price (All About Eve), and Louis Pavlou (Pink Turns Blue). All three drummers ultimately appeared on Wild Mood Swings. Perry Bamonte replaced Porl Thompson as the group's lead guitarist, leaving Roger O'Donnell, who returned in 1995 after leaving in 1990, to fulfil keyboard parts.

The album marked the first time the band did not work with David M. Allen as a producer since Japanese Whispers (1983). Robert Smith feared "that nothing new" would happen, had they worked with him again, saying: We've never really needed anyone to help on the creative or artistic side" and opted to get Steve Lyon, due to his younger age and his lack of "any preconceptions about the group.

The track "Club America", was inspired by a summer trip in 1994 that Smith had to New York with Perry Bamonte to watch the Football World Cup. After playing football with electronic band Depeche Mode and Daryl Bamonte, brother of Perry who would go on to work with the Cure shortly after, they all went clubbing. Smith admitted to playing "up to it then and awful lot more than I should have, and on the plane home, I wrote the song, because I was trying to, like, explain it away to myself. It's ironic, you know. I've had this photo taken with these celebrities, and I was there, and I did that, and I was full of self loathing! And that song is not anti-the girl in the "canary feather dress," it's actually anti-me because I was part of it." Rolling Stone noted Smith's put-on deeper voice on the song, citing borrowed "vocal tricks" from David Bowie and Iggy Pop, while also describing the sound as "upbeat" and that its sound invoked the "jaded thrills of nightclubbing in the American fun house." The song "Treasure" is inspired by the Christina Rossetti poem "Remember". Smith felt that the most personal songs on the album were "Want" and "Bare".

Initial recording began around the end of 1994, with just Robert Smith and Perry Bamonte. Simon Gallup fell ill shortly before the band scheduled to record and Boris Williams left the band the day before they began recording, and other members had yet to be found. The following year Roger O'Donnell and Jason Cooper would be hired.

The band settled in St. Catherine's Court, a Tudor house that was owned by actress Jane Seymour at the time, and were the first band to record there, since she began renting it out as a film set and recording studio since 1992. Other bands and musicians who would record there include Radiohead, for their acclaimed album OK Computer (1997), Robbie Williams and New Order. The band themselves would return there for the initial 1998 sessions of the follow up album Bloodflowers (2000).

Alongside many other changes to the band's working methods, they opted to use live brass instruments and string quartets in their songs. something that had previously not occurred in their recording processes. Strings would see use most notably on "This Is a Lie", which started out as a song based around an acoustic guitar played by Perry Bamonte. Smith recalled, "when I started playing around with it, it evolved into a string piece on the keyboard. I always had in mind that we'd be using strings, right from the very outset." He said recording in the house helped as "there was an instant atmosphere" for the string quartets. The band chose Audrey Riley's string quartet for the album as Smith felt she was "very aware of recording for contemporary pop" and that he had difficulties with previous musicians.

Smith said the band also used an Indian orchestra, a jazz quartet and Mexican trumpet players, and clarified "Everything on the album is real. In the past, I would have tried to keep it in the family, so to speak, and tried to attain a realistic sound through emulation or simulation. Now I feel much more comfortable having people around who are really good musicians."

The whole band were given much more input on the songs, allowing their ideas to be tested for inclusion "no matter how silly it was". Smith felt at the time, "It was the most fun I've ever had making a record, actually; it was brilliant. And that's why it took quite a long time, 'cause no one wanted it to stop. It was really good fun. We were paying for ourselves to live together in a house and make music, so why should we stop? Why should we go home?"

The mastering of the album was complete at Metropolis Studios, London with Robert Smith alongside Ian Cooper, who was suggested to Smith by producer Flood. This made for the first time Smith would be directly involved with the mastering process, which was due to his frustration towards being absent on the band's previous albums' mastering.

The album received a mixed response from critics that described the album as "a potent and sweeping dissertation on melancholy and tentative dreams denied", calling it "consistently compelling", on the other hand some other reviews called that the band were "not even close to losing its creative edge" and praised the lighter tone of the album compared to the band's earlier output, writing that "the group sounds remarkably accessible. 

 

Wild Mood Swings Track List:  

 

1. Want

2. Club America

3. This Is A Lie

4. The 13th

5. Strange Attraction

6. Mint Car

7. Jupiter Crash

8. Round & Round & Round

9. Gone!

10. Numb

11. Return

12. Trap

13. Treasure

14. Bare

New Music: Do Things My Own Way (Cornelius Remix)

           

Sparks finally has shared "Do Things My Own Way (Cornelius remix)" after the legendary duo Sparks returned last year to Japan with four performances scheduled, they released in addition on the Japanese edition of "MAD!" a remix of this track by Cornelius now available for fans worldwide.  

Rocktrospectiva: The Shiny "Mad About You" Turns 40

Released on 5 May 1986 "Mad About You" was a song performed by US singer Belinda Carlisle. It was written by Paula Jean Brown, James Whelan and Mitchel Young Evans, and produced by Michael Lloyd for Carlisle's debut solo album, Belinda. The song was released in 1986 as Carlisle's debut solo single after leaving the Go-Go's, peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, number one on Canada's RPM 100 Singles chart, No. 9 in Australia, No. 67 in the UK, No. 23 in New Zealand and No. 19 in Italy. 

Paula Jean Brown, who joined the Go-Go's as bass guitarist following Jane Wiedlin's departure, co-wrote the song with Jim Whelan, and Wiedlin and Charlotte Caffey sang back-up vocals. "Mad About You" was one of a few songs being considered for the fourth (unrecorded) Go-Go's album. The Go-Go's split, and "Mad About You" and two other songs co-written by Paula Jean Brown ended up on Belinda.

The music video was directed by Leslie Libman. It features Andy Taylor of Duran Duran and Carlisle's husband, Morgan Mason. During one scene she dances to a vinyl LP of Yma Sumac's Mambo!. The outdoor scenes are largely set in or near Palisades Park in Santa Monica, California.

The single's B-side, "I Never Wanted a Rich Man", was also included on Carlisle's first long playing work. The extended version of "Mad About You", originally on the A-side of the 12-inch single, was then included on the album compact disc re-release by Virgin in 2003. 

Mad About You Track List:  

7-inch single

• "Mad About You" (single mix)
• "I Never Wanted a Rich Man"

12-inch single

• "Mad About You" (extended mix) 
• "Mad About You" (single mix)
• "Mad About You" (instrumental mix)

Albums: Montaña

 

Released last January, "Montaña" the band's 9th., studio album which arrives as a nod to the success achieved throughout their two decades-long career. This ten-track production reflects on the path the band has traveled to move away from conventional structures and foreground a refined technique and emotional clarity that transcends contemporary trends. This new material is presented as an exercise in ascent and contemplation, where the band moves away from conventional structures to prioritize technique and an emotional clarity that transcends current trends

The musical production of Montaña features the sonic vision of a large musical team: a sum of diverse talents resulting in the elemental fusion of producers who contributed their perspective and texture to each stage of the album. Fernando Boix was behind the production of the track "16", which delves into a sonic exploration reflecting on personal evolution over time. Meanwhile, Dan Solo collaborated on the track "Corre", where the initial inspiration comes from the cult film Run Lola Run. 

The exploration of identity and feminine roots takes center stage in tracks like "Drama" and the title track "Montaña," both produced by Ulises Lozano, who helped delve deeper into experimental vocal textures. The album's closing track and central focus arrives with “"Ahora," a collaboration with Dr. Shenka from Panteón Rococó produced by Julián Bernal, which functions as a profound dialogue about maturity and the passage of time. 

 

The album is rounded out with tracks such as "EZ Boy," "Las Dos Juntas," "Demasiado," "Lago de Sal," and the international collaboration with Mehdi Nitsh on "Anoche Vi / Pour t’oublier," elegantly navigating between electronica and introspective pop. It's worth noting that Montaña is not just an auditory experience; the album is supported by a comprehensive visual narrative comprised of ten audiovisual pieces created by video artist JP Celis, which accompany the listener from beginning to end.

 

Montaña Track List:

 

1. EZ Boy

2. 16

3. Drama

4. Ahora

5. Corre

6. Las Dos Juntas

7. Demasiado

8. Anoche Vi/Pour T'Oublier

9. Lago De Sal

10. Montaña