Hidrogenesse is a

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

pop band whose members are Carlos Ballesteros (singer) and Genís Segarra (synthesizers, also of

Astrud Astrud is a Spanish pop-rock group from the city of Barcelona which formed in the second half of the 1990s. Composed of Manolo Martínez and Genís Segarra (also in electronic band Hidrogenesse), they have met with a degree of critical and commerc ...

Influences

HIDROGENESSE is an electronic duo formed by Carlos Ballesteros and Genís Segarra in Barcelona in the late 1990s as a conceptual pop act. From their early steps since today they have done synth-pop, ceremony ballads, kraut- and glitter rock, 90's dance-music, french musique and fake rock’n'roll. According to them, their most significant influences are Sparks, Kraftwerk,

Deee-Lite Deee-Lite was an American house and dance music group formed in New York City. The group's best-known single is "Groove Is in the Heart", which was released in 1990 from their debut studio album ''World Clique'' (1990), and was a top-ten hit i ...

, The Associates (the Mac in '' Eres PC eres Mac'' stands for their lead singer, Billy Mackenzie), The Smiths and Morrissey,

The Magnetic Fields The Magnetic Fields (named after the André Breton/Philippe Soupault novel '' Les Champs Magnétiques'') are an American band founded and led by Stephin Merritt. Merritt is the group's primary songwriter, producer, and vocalist, as well as fr ...

, Saint Etienne, Pet Shop Boys and British eccentrics like

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...

and

Luke Haines Luke Michael Haines (born 7 October 1967) is an English musician, songwriter and author. He has recorded music under various names and with various bands, including The Auteurs, Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder. Career ''New Wave'' Haine ...

. They are also influenced by 70's music like German bands La Düsseldorf,

Neu! Neu! (; German for "New!"; styled in block capitals) were a West German krautrock band formed in Düsseldorf in 1971 by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother following their departure from Kraftwerk. The group's albums were produced by Conny Plan ...

and

Harmonia In Greek mythology, Harmonia (; grc, Ἁρμονία /Ancient Greek phonology, harmoˈnia/, "harmony", "agreement") is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Rome, Roman counterpart is Concordia (mythology), Concordia. Her Greek op ...

and UK glam acts as Gary Glitter and

The Glitter Band The Glitter Band are a glam rock band from England, who initially worked as Gary Glitter's backing band under that name from 1973, when they then began releasing records of their own. They were unofficially known as the Glittermen on the first f ...

History

1996-2002

Although they have been together since 1996, they didn't release anything until ''Lujo y Miseria'' compilation in 1998. In year 2000, they released their first single " Así se baila el siglo XX", a smart, cynical approach to the new millennium through the inventions of the 20th century. What came next, in 2001, was '' Eres PC, eres Mac'', another EP that shares with the previous one their weird sense of humour. It contains a cover of "Technical (you're so)", by

, band they are devoted to. One year later, their first album, '' Gimnàstica passiva'', was released. It consists of ten songs where they quote Spanish poet

Luis de Góngora Luis de Góngora y Argote (born Luis de Argote y Góngora; ; 11 July 1561 – 24 May 1627) was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet and a Catholic priest. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered the most prominent ...

("Góngora"), state their worship towards the

Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

family ("Kurt, Courtney, Frances Bean and me") or remember "1987", where their beloved Smiths and

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

ceased existing, and started new exciting things as samplers and club culture. ''

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

'' is also an album by

The KLF The KLF (also known as the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, the JAMs, the Timelords and other names) are a British electronic band formed in London in 1987. Bill Drummond (alias King Boy D) and Jimmy Cauty (alias Rockman Rock) began by releasing ...

. A five-year break followed, when they wrote and planned a new album.

2007-2011

In 2007 they released their second album, '' Animalitos'', recorded with drummer Alfonso Melero from Spanish band Hello Cuca. It features glam rock beats, fuzz guitars, analog synthesizers and saxophones riffs. Twelve songs about pets, wild beasts and social animals, including "Disfraz de tigre" and "Caballos y ponis". Seventies production, sing-along tunes and some krautrock inspired mantras. The release of the new album '' Animalitos'' was followed by a Spanish tour. In 2008 they have released another album, '' Bestiola'', influenced by early German electronica and featuring reinterpretations of old songs, covers and instrumental tracks. That release was followed by their first tour in USA and México.

Hidrogenesse versus The Hidden Cameras

In 2010 Hidrogenesse collaborated with Canadian band ''

The Hidden Cameras The Hidden Cameras are a Canadian indie pop band. Fronted by singer-songwriter Joel Gibb, the band consists of a varying roster of musicians who play what Gibb once described as " gay church folk music". Their live performances have been elabora ...

'' releasing "Hidrogenesse versus The Hidden Cameras" a minialbum of re-made/re-modelled versions of The Hidden Cameras songs from the album '' Origin:Orphan''.

Art exhibition

In 2010 Hidrogenesse recorded '' Moix'' a song based on an excerpt from a travel book of ''

Terenci Moix Terenci Moix (; real name Ramon Moix i Meseguer; 5 January 1942, in Barcelona – 2 April 2003, in Barcelona) was a Spanish writer, who wrote in Spanish, and in Catalan. He is also the brother of poet/novelist Ana Maria Moix. Life and work ...

'' 'Terenci del Nil' as a part of their participation in the art exhibition 'Genius loci' of ''

Fundació Joan Miró The Fundació Joan Miró ( ; "Joan Miró Foundation, Centre of Studies of Contemporary Art") is a museum of modern art honoring Joan Miró located on the hill called Montjuïc in Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain). History The idea for the foundation ...

'' in Barcelona 2011. Hidrogenesse created an installation with funerary statuettes and different found objects as a parody of archeological museums. The whole project is a tribute to ''

''.

Alan Turing Tribute

In May 2012, they released a tribute album to

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical co ...

, ''Un dígito binario dudoso. Recital para Alan Turing'' ("A dubious binary digit. Recital for Alan Turing"), a recital that debuted in their opening shows for

2012 Spanish tour. The album has had great critic and public acclaim, selected "Record of The Year" by

Rockdelux ''Rockdelux'' is a Spanish music magazine. History and profile ''Rockdelux'' was first published in November 1984, and celebrated its 200th anniversary in October 2002, when it released a list of the 200 greatest international albums of all tim ...

magazine and winning The Best Electronic Music Album in the Independent Music Awards. Its eight songs are about Turing's life and work. The first song "El beso" ("The Kiss") says: "this song is a kiss to wake Alan Turing up" and then it goes on about teen tragedies ("Christopher"), computer love ("Love Letters"), contradictions between public and secret affairs ("Enigma"), and ends with a history of the world as told by our computers ("Historia del mundo contada por las computadoras").

Hidrogenesse as producers

Hidrogenesse have remixed songs by La Bien Querida,

Javiera Mena Javiera Alejandra Mena Carrasco (born June 3, 1983) is a Chilean indie electropop musician living in Lavapiés, Madrid. She started her musical career in the Chilean indie music scene in 2001, and achieved wider success after the release of h ...

, Fangoria,

Los Punsetes Los Punsetes is a band currently residing in Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is t ...

and others, and have done some production work for their label Austrohúngaro (girl group

Feria In the liturgy of the Catholic Church, a feria is a day of the week other than Sunday. In more recent official liturgical texts in English, the term ''weekday'' is used instead of ''feria''. If the feast day of a saint falls on such a day, the ...

) and other collaborations (with Spanish act

Single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

). In 2012 Hidrogenesse have produced ''Vigila el fuego'' by female riot-folk singer-songwriter Lidia Damunt and ''Rock'n Roll'' by Spanish duo Espanto. In 2014 they produced

's album "Rea", considered "Best Album of the Year" by magazine

Remixes

*'' Algora'', 'Poesía anti-vértigo' *'' La Bien Querida'', '9.6 French hot-dog remix' and '9.6 Rendevouz Americain' *''

Fangoria (band) Fangoria are a Spanish electropop duo, consisting of Olvido Gara (a.k.a. Alaska, main vocals, occasional guitar), and Nacho Canut (keyboards, occasional bass guitar). Fangoria have sold 1 million records worldwide since 1989. History In 1977 ...

'', 'Lo poquito agrada y lo mucho enfada (versión Vedette por Hidrogenesse)' *''

'', 'Mono y galgo' *'' Espanto'', 'El última día de las vaciones' *''

'', 'Luz de piedra de luna'

Discography

*"Así se baila el siglo XX", CD-Single (2000) *''Eres PC, eres Mac'', EP (2001) *''Gimnàstica passiva'', CD-Album (2002) *''Animalitos'', CD-Album (2007) *''Bestiola'', CD-Album (2008) *''Hidrogenesse versus

'', CD Mini-Album and 12" Vinyl (2010) *''Single: Vamos a casarnos/Hidrogenesse: Llévame a dormir'', Split 7" Vinyl Golden Greats #1 (2011) *''Un Dígito binario dudoso. Recital para Alan Turing'', CD-Album (2012) *''El artista'', 3 songs 7" Vinyl (ValeVergas, México 2013) *''Hidroboy'', 7" Flexi-disc (Austrohúngaro, 2013) *''Roma'', CD/LP Album (Austrohúngaro, 2015) *''Most'', CD Compilation (Austrohúngaro/Laptra, 2015) *''No hay nada más triste que lo tuyo'', 7" single (Austrohúngaro, 2016) OST "Distancias Cortas"

External links

Official siteRecord companyArt exhibition "Moix"Hidrogenesse on Music Industrapedia
{{Authority control Musical groups from Catalonia Spanish musical groups