Records of the Week: Inner Space, Vainica Doble (Wah Wah Records)

Last week I got two newies from Barcelona's ever-reliable Wah Wah Records (cheers for that Paul!). Usually I'd just post my Record of the Week, but this week there were two of them. Both of these pretty much made my week. I won't upload vinyl rips of these as both are still in print (they've just come out, in fact). So support a great label by purchasing them. I urge you to check them out.


AGILOK & BLUBBO - The Inner Space


This is the first time this music has ever been released, so extra points to Wah Wah Spain for sorting it out. It was originally the score to the German film of the same name (circa 1968) composed by the dudes who would later go on to become the seminal Kraut band, Can (at this time ex-students of Karlheinz Stockhausen having a go at the emerging acid rock scene). This bad boy has got it all: Jazzy work-outs, spacey freak-outs, German chants, fuzz guitars, some brilliant flute work, and ethnic music influences. A must for any Can completist.


Vainica Doble - (S.T.)

This is the self-titled 1972 debut of Spanish pop duo Vainica Doble. Carmen Santonja and Gloria Van Aerssen met while at art school and went on to write songs and jingles for film and Spanish telly. They made a name for themselves and eventually recorded this album with Spanish rock band Tickets as their backing band and a children's choir. It's a very dreamy and pastoral psych-folk record. By this time Santonja and Aerssen started getting heavilly influenced by prog-rock and the Mothers of Invention. The lyrics are whimsical and surrealist at times, albeit with a "head in the clouds, feet on the ground" sort of attitude (themes are often about the mundane and the ordinary, which would in turn influence pretty much any of the Spanish indie pop bands of late 90's Elefant Records). Another recurring theme is dreams, and the music and lush arrangements certainly gives it that quality. It's nostalgic and reminds one of another time and place, one that we've only experienced in dreams. It's got other hippie-isms such as themes of astrology, escapism and child-like fantasies. I wonder if Juana Molina is aware of this record...
You can stream one of the album highlights here.

Wah Wah Records website.