ZA! + Perrate to release collaborative album, Jolifanto; listen to second single ‘La Milonga’

Wonderful news from one of our favourite outfits, Catalan high-energy duo ZA!. They have joined forces with Andalusian Flamenco singer Perrate for a collaborative album. Entitled Jolifanto, it is a meeting of minds between two powerful musical forces from distante corners of Spain, who embrace experimentalism and radicalism. Rooted in the Dadaist spirit, Jolifanto takes its name from Hugo Ball’s seminal phonetic poem Karawane, which was first recited at the Cabaret Voltaire in 1916.

Jolifanto arrives on March 22nd through Lovemonk and they have unleashed a new single called ‘La Milonga’. Epitomizing the bold fusion they have in store for us, ‘La Milonga’ begins with Perrate’s raw and stripped-back vocals and guitar before seamlessly transitioning into a vocoder-laden exploration, aptly described as “an Iberian Lemon Jelly for the enlightened”. Perrate comments:

“I don’t care what the most radical traditionalist minds may think of this or any other work I do. This is my time and I intend to live it according to my way of feeling and living flamenco – my ancestors had a lot to do with the birth of this culture, and each of them created according to their feelings and their time. And I do the same.”

Take a listen to ‘La Milonga’ below.

Mixtape #145


Rosin de Palo are double bassist Samuel Azorín and drummer Mario Vidal, two incredible and adventurous musicians who have been shaking up the music scene in their native Spain and elsewhere. Classically trained, and drawing from wildly divergent genres such as funk, jazz, hard rock, dub, pop and electronica, Rosin de Palo’s music is wild, joyous, free, exhilarating and incredibly fun. The pair have earned a reputation for their scorching, visceral and powerful live performances. Last year they released their stellar debut, Lo que dura un recreo, which made it our Album Picks of 2022. So we're thrilled they put together this mix for us, unfurling nearly an hour of musical treats. Enjoy!

  1. Los Manises – La Encanta [Montgri]
  2. Mainline Magic Orchestra – Xumba Xumba [Public Possession]
  3. Playback Maracas – Las Palmas [El Segell Del Primavera]
  4. toe – Music For You [Machu Picchu Industrias / Topshelf Records]
  5. Battles – The Yabba [Warp]
  6. BADBADNOTGOOD – Lavender [Innovative Leisure Records]
  7. TNGHT – Clever Pants [Warp / LuckyMe]
  8. Compay Segundo – Lágrimas Negras [Gasa / Nonesuch]
  9. ZA! – Súbeme el Monitor [Gandula / Discorporate Records]
  10. Vampire Weekend – Finger Back [XL Recordings]
  11. Difícil Equilibrio – Reacción en Cadena [Difícil Records / Musea]
  12. Acácia Maior – Catá Borré [Tabanka Records]
  13. I Monster – Heaven [Dharma Records]

ZA!’s new album Pachinko Plex out this Friday

High-energy duo ZA! have been garnering something of a cult following in their native Spain, owing to their ecstatic and unpredictable live shows and the wild experimental nature of their music spanning genres far and wide. Two years removed from the release of Loloismo, the pair are dropping its follow-up, Pachinko Plex, this Friday. Entirely self-recorded in their practice space, the record sees Spazzfrica Ehd and Papa duPau, the two multi-instrumentalists who make up ZA!, embrace and experiment with new sounds and instruments. “The band breaks free of the guitar and the amps to focus on electronic textures, synthesizers, randomized computer loops and drums processed live through triggers”, describes the album’s blurb. “The result generates an equally forceful and polyrhythmic style, but unclassifiable, highly influenced by their tours in Japan and Mozambique.”

For a taster of the what they’ll be throwing at us, check out their single ‘Ochate’. It comes with a fitting kaleidoscopic video, originally fruit of a collaboration with Berlin-based visual artist LASAL during a recent residency at Keroxen in the Canary Islands.

Pachinko Plex is co-released on May 11th through ZA’s own imprint Gandula as well as A Tant Rêver du Roi (France), Valve (Australia, Fun in the Church (Germany, Austria Switzerland), The Audacious Art Experiment (UK), Lovers & Lollypops (Portugal), Moorworks (Japan), Keroxen (Canàries).

Mixtape #70 by Za!

Spazzfrica Ehd (drums/keyboards/vocals) and Papa duPau (guitar/trumpet/samples/vocals) are the restless pair behind the experimental punk outfit Za!. Hailing from Barcelona, their euphorically inventive music defies conventions, seamlessly blending so many different genres that we would quickly run out of space trying to list them here. And the good thing is we don't have to since this month's mixtape, put together by the band, is probably the best illustration of the duo's far flung influences and disregard for boundaries. Enjoy the ride!


More…

ZA! drop video for ‘Badulake’, plus UK tour starts this week

ZAHaving just released their new album, Loloismo, and with a UK tour kicking off this week, Spanish experimental punk duo ZA! are offering a video for the album’s phenomenal lead track ‘Badulake’. ‘Badulake’ means cornershop in Spanish, which is the location picked for the video, as the band explains:

“The video is shot on a store near Spazzfrica Ehd’s apartment, owned by Rustem, a very nice neighbour that has a motto in life: “FÁCIL, FÁCIL, FÁCIL” (easy, easy, easy). He’s the main actor in the video. When we were acting as “the robbers” on the end of the video, 6 REAL & armed policemen entered the store to stop us: a neighbour saw the scene from his apartment and called the cops!”.

Watch the video below, directed by Jordi Castells & Aitor Garay.


ZA! are hitting the road this week for a string of UK shows including DIY Space For London on 12th February. Check all their stops below:

11th February – Sticky Mike’s, Brighton
12th February – Matinee show at Folkestone Quarterhouse
12th February – DIY Space For London, London
13th February – The Harp Restrung, Folkestone
17th February – Secret show TBA
18th February – MK Gallery, Milton Keynes
19th February – Delius Arts and Cultural Centre, Bradford
20th February – Picture House Social, Sheffield

Loloismo is out now via Sheffield DIY collective The Audacious Art Experiment and Hot Salvation Records.