Friday, November 18, 2011

ULTRA, BRIAN LOPEZ'S DEBUT SOLO ALBUM, SET FOR RELEASE ON MARCH 6, 2012


ULTRA,
BRIAN LOPEZ'S DEBUT SOLO ALBUM,
SET FOR RELEASE ON MARCH 6, 2012

"MONTJUIC" VIDEO STREAMING AT

JT 

On March 6, 2012, Funzalo Recordswill release Ultra, the full-length solo debut from singer-songwriter-guitarist Brian Lopez.  The record will ship to AAA, Non Com and college radio in February.The 11-song collection masterfully fuses a modern sensibility with traditional instrumentation that draws equally from folk, classical and Latin influences. But ultimately, Ultra beats with a rock & roll heart.

Lopez's music has already elicited stellar reviews in the UK and Europe. He has also both played with and toured with Calexico and Howe Gelb and his band, Giant Sand. In addition, he fronts the indie band Mostly Bears.

While the eerie experimental touches of the foreboding "Under Watchful Eyes" and a chilling version of Echo & the Bunnymen's "The Killing Moon" make it clear that Lopez is very much product of these modern times, his music is also suffused with the timeless traditions of the border towns of the American southwest. The mournful "Where The Cold Winds Blow" evokes the desolation of the desert and the delicate "El Vagabundo" is punctuated with bursts of tambourine and accordion that would sound just as natural wafting out the windows of a cantina. The latter is one of a handful of Spanish-language songs that transcend language barriers with the sheer force of their feeling, culminating with the tour de force, "Leda Atomica," wherein Lopez's soaring English vocals are bookended by a striking narrative passages delivered in Spanish by Tucson-based vocalist/poet/painter Salvador Doran.

You can check out the video for"Montjuic," the exquisite album opener, at:


Born and raised in Tucson, Arizona (40 minutes north of the U.S./Mexican border), Lopez put himself through college on a classical performance guitar scholarship, graduating with a BFA in Music, and a double minor in Spanish and business from the University of Arizona.  During that time he had an opportunity to live in Barcelona, Spain for six months, an experience that had a profound impact on him culturally.  "People come to live in Barcelona from all over the world, nobody there is a native," he observes. "It's impossible not to have a greater global perspective after an experience like that." 
Lopez is currently headlining a month-long tour of France with Gabriel Sullivan and the French Cumbia Ambassadors.

The track listing for Ultra is as follows:

1.    Montjuic
2.    El Vagabundo
3.    Red Blooded Rose
4.    Under Watchful Eyes
5.    El Pajaro Y El Ciervo
6.    Maslow's Hierarchy
7.    Molly
8.    I Pray For Rain
9.    Where The Cold Wind Blows
10.The Killing Moon
11.Leda Atomica

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