From a Goth standpoint, I've always felt that not enough credit is given to the Spain's early Goth scene and it’s somewhat obscure punk and pop music. We always talk about Joy Division, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and The Banshees, Killing Joke in the U.K., but the reality is that the U.K. wasn't the only place in Europe where a creative and obscure art school wave of music rose from the underground. Before The Batcave was even conceived, Madrid was spawning it’s own counterculture movement which spanned music, art, and film. This movement was eventually called La Movida Madrileña or “The Madrid Scene”.
La Gran Via, Madrid, Spain during the 1980s
The first stirrings of La Movida began in 1975 in the twilight of Francisco Franco's dictatorship, who had ruled over Spain since 1939. Freedom of thought and expression were repressed in favor of a unitary national identity upholding only those cultural artifacts Franco deemed purely Spanish such as flamenco and bullfighting.
It is unsurprising that The General's passing in 1975 ushered in not only economic growth in the country but also a wave of free thinkers in philosophy and art. Of course, with that newfound freedom musicians pushed by the socio-political outcry of punk rock, which was going strong in England, jumped headlong into the streets of the capital to shout their anti-status quo message. Spain's Punk scene grew up late in the period of the U.K. scene’s decay around 1979 during what’s now called the Post Punk era. Post-Punk had shifted the focus of Punk from a socio-political outcry, to a love letter to free artistic and aesthetic expressionism and contemplative introspection .
Post Punk ideals began pouring into the streets and nightclubs of Madrid and were the crucial building blocks of what we know today as “La Movida Madrileña”. So dubbed in 1980, the movement was a countercultural wave of freedom of expression, hedonistic exploration, and transgression of the social taboos of a Catholic authoritarian state. An all-out "coming out" of Spanish youth in every sense of the word. From generations who had never known a society outside of Franco’s regime, a new burning passion for freedom ignited in the streets of Madrid like nothing the country had ever seen.
Eduardo Benavente and Ana Curra from Paralisis Permanente
Goth was a notable outgrowth of La Movida, which sparked that creative experimentation in music through Post Punk like in England. Known as Sinister Punk at this time, Goth was pushed by those darkly inclined in their expressions. However, La Movida developed into as many genres as it’s Post Punk counterpart in England.
La Movida became Spain's response to New Wave and encompassed the same genres of music like Post Punk, Goth, Synthpop, EBM, Electro, and Pop/Rock in general. All of these musical styles shared the same stages in Madrid Clubs and concert halls. In particular, la Rock-Ola, which was in a sense like Madrid's Batcave, but was much more mainstream in nature. This resulted in all genres and styles exchanging influences and ideas. For example, Spain's goth pioneers Parálisis Permanente are not only known as the fathers of Sinister Punk in Spain but also as one of the most iconic Pop/Rock bands in the country. Parálisis Permanente in their short lifespan as a band became the canon backbone to which the majority of bands in Spain would model their style after.
It's because of this versatility that the music of La Movida Madrileña will always carry a somewhat somber and obscure Pop/Punk/Rock sound as there wasn't a huge distinction or division of genres and styles; it literally was a melting pot between all of these.
The legacy of La Movida is not just a brief flash in the pan, nor is it localized to a single country. The music lives on still in Spain and more notably in Latin America. Early during the movement, German record label BMG Areola exported the music to Latin America via a series of compilations in the mid to late 80s known as Rock En Tu Idioma. rock in your language. While it was just a marketing campaign, Goth embedded itself strongly in countries like Mexico, Argentina, and Chile; the message of La Movida still resonates today.
by DJ Seraph, with editing assistance and details on Latin America provided by Azy
La Rock-Ola
Here I have used my knowledge and years of reading about La Movida Madrileña to provide you a special 2 part Obscura Undead Mix in which the first part will give you a general overview of what this criminally underrated era consisted of from (1980-1989) on the more obscure side of things and the second part will exhibit some of the Goth bands that came after La Movida from the 1990s all the way until the 2010s.
Hopefully this compilation of tracks serve not only a trip down memory lane but also a little piece of history for the scene, as Spain has one of the greatest and most reputable contributions to Goth in the genre's history all thanks to those ideas born during La Movida Madrileña and you probably haven't even heard of it.
Seres Vacios performing at La Rock-Ola
Mix #1 Setlist
Decima Victima - Detras de la Mirada
El Ultimo Sueño - Perdido en el Tunel Del Tiempo
Paralisis Permanente - Quiero Ser Santa
Los Monaguillosh - Boca Sobre Una Araña
Seres Vacios - Los Celos Se Apoderan de Mi
Alaska y Dinarama - Lineas Rectas
Agrimensor K - Dos Ojos Negros
Kante Pinrelico - Soy Lesbiana
El Pecho de Andy - El Arrozal
Gabinete Caligari - El Arte de Amar
Niños del Brasil - Amor y Espinas
Aviador Dro - Selector de Frecuencias
La Mode - La Teoria de la Relatividad
Carmina Burana - 240 Dias de Mayo
El Ultimo Eslabon - Sangre Cristiana
Las Novias - Imaginate el Aire
Mix #2 Setlist
Los Paralitikos - La Bella Durmiente
Naughty Zombies - Hospital
La Peste Negra - Miedo al Anochecer
El Luto del Rey Cuervo - La Carroza Negra
Ancient Tales - The Ritual
The Eternal Fall - Always It’s the Same
My Own Burial - Stairs
Fatamorgana - La Atlantida
Indice de Inviernos - Desde La Fabrica
Antiguo Regimen - Los Ojos del Otro
Ciudad Lineal - Maquinas
Malefixio - Demonio-Aves
Los Carniceros del Norte - Veneno Para las Hadas
La Casa Usher - Carroña
Somos La Herencia - Plaza Dura
Eyaculacion Post Mortem - Tu Vienes de Negro y Nosotros Volvemos de Gris