Article by KevW
Quite charmingly, Bristol's Agarimo refer to themselves as "Spanglish" due to two brothers in the band being of Spanish heritage and the fact they now live in the UK. In fact, the name "agarimo" is actually Galacian (a language mainly spoken in north-west Spain) for "in the shelter of". Quite what the feel the need to hide from they don't say, but they really have no need, because the music they make is inventive and effective. Agarimo may have just released their first music under this name in the summer, but the same formation has previously graced these virtual pages as wave n400, with the name change coming because two of the band no longer live in the UK.
If you follow the music word closely, you may have spotted that the Official Charts Company is now launching a prog chart alongside other genre-specific charts such as dance and indie. Granted, someone should probably have thought about doing that around 1970, but better late than never. Current bands that qualify (the rules are a little hazy) include Flaming Lips, Tame Impala and Public Service Broadcasting. You may not consider them classic prog, but I guess certain elements are to be found. Agarimo, you would imagine, should qualify themselves, particularly when the first track on this single, 'RRRun ~ Miña fermosa nena', is an eight-minute odyssey through rock, electronic and experimental sounds that stirs up an often unsettling atmosphere, especially when the strange chanting begins. It's an impressive piece. The shorter 'Miña fermosa nena' is a similar style, whereby bass is used as something of an anchor for which the spangly guitars and weird and wonderful vocals and electronics are tied to. There's a groove here too which gives this perhaps a slight edge when comparing the two songs. These guys are doing what they want and doing it well, and you can't ask for more than that.
Agarimo's website
Stream or buy the single
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