Shazamers' Blog

LOS PLANETAS - La Leyenda Del Espacio (2007)

Nearly unanimous, the Spanish press has chosen alternative favourites Los Planetas as the national album of the decade; and rightly so! There are very few bands that after fifteen years are able to up their game and reach a new career peak as they did with their seventh studio album.

‘La Leyenda Del Espacio’ (The Legend Of Space) was named as a reply to the late Flamenco singer Camaron’s masterpiece ‘La Leyenda Del Tiempo’ (The Legend Of Time), which will reach it’s the 30th anniversary of release in 2010. The record saw the band from Granada adapting the rock structure of most of its songs to different “Palos” - name of the different Flamenco subgenres - with amazing results; merging their former Anglo-Saxon heritage (a sound that often recalls Bob Mould circa Sugar, Spiritualized and many others) with the history of Flamenco-rock, traditionally rooted among Andalusia’s finest contemporary musicians.

Los Planetas have created a work of great relevance; one that expanded the boundaries of both leftfield rock and traditional Flamenco, plagued with classic moments such as ‘Reunion En La Cumbre’, ‘El Canto Del Bute’, ‘Alegrias Del Incendio’ or the collaboration with Enrique Morente on its closing track. It may only be of limited interest for anyone outside Spanish speaking countries, but it more than deserves full investigation from all.

Roberto Gonzalez Shazam's Music Of The Decade los planetas

As we approach the end of the 00’s, we’ll be running through some of our favourite albums of the past decade. This is by no means a chart, more of a chance for us to highlight some of the artists that have really shone through in the past ten years. There may be some albums you’re already aware of, but hopefully – in true Shazam fashion – we’ll help you discover some gems you may have missed. While we can’t make any guarantees about the quality of the next decade’s music, it’s safe to say the noughties has given us several stand out albums that will continue to be heralded as classics for years to come.

Firstly we’ll be looking at how five sharply dressed young men from New York managed to set the standard for guitar music at the start of the new decade and influence almost every indie band that was to come after them. Read more…

Jon Davies Shazam's Music Of The Decade The Strokes