Pastora were a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

/ Catalan electronic group from

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, consisting of Dolo Beltrán (

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

), Caïm Riba Pastor (

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

synthesisers A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

and

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

), and Pauet Riba Pastor (programming and visuals.)

Origins

After studying

visual The visual system is the physiological basis of visual perception (the ability to detect and process light). The system detects, transduces and interprets information concerning light within the visible range to construct an image and buil ...

and digital arts and multimedia, the brothers Pauet and Caïm Riba Pastor formed the group as an audio-visual project in 1996. As a duo, they released the experimental electronic albums "Trip show audio visual tecno simfonic" (1998) and "Cosmossoma" (2000) with the latter featuring their father Pau Riba, a famous Catalan rock artist from the 1970s. However, neither album achieved commercial success. In 2000, to strengthen the project, they added former professional

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

Dolo Beltran as vocalist and songwriter and abandoned the experimental efforts in search of a more accessible sound.

Breakthrough

The group achieved their breakthrough in 2004 with the track "Lola" reaching the Spanish top ten. The eponymous parent album "Pastora" achieved commercial success the following year, blending

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

, Spanish guitars with

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

beats. The album also contained the hits "Mirona", "Lunes" and "Mentira". Both the album and its follow-up earned the trio a gold record. After a two-year gap, the group returned in 2006 with the album ''La Vida Moderna'', a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

backed by Pauet's striking and often

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

videos. The album earned the trio a 2006

Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

nomination for Best Alternative Music Album. The first single to be taken from the album was "Desolado" which reached number 1 on the Spanish radio playlists chart and also became the most requested song on Spanish music stations. 2008 saw the release of the "Circuitos de lujo" album which was seen as a change in musical direction from electronica to a more

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

direction. Following a remix album, ''Pastora RMX ED'', in 2009, the band returned in January 2011, with their fourth studio album featuring Dolo Beltran. The album ''Un viaje en noria'', was described as "eclectic and fun, fusing electronic sounds with acoustic instruments."

Split and Beltrán solo album

In May 2017, Beltrán released a solo album, ''Copilotos'', and revealed that the Riba brothers had decided not to continue with the Pastora project.

Discography

Chart positions shown are for the Spanish charts.

Singles

*''Lola'', 2003 #13

Albums

*''Pastora'', 2003 *''La vida moderna'', 2005 #15 *''Circuitos de lujo'', 2008 #10 *''Pastora RMX ED'', 2009 #71 *''Un viaje en noria'', 2011 #5 *''Una altra galàxia'', 2012 #57 Pastora means shepherdess, the female counterpart of the Spanish term pastor. Pastores means a group of shepherds, male and female, who tend to their flock in the field. In the Bikol Region, this refers to the band of singers and dancers during the early and middle part of the 20th century who roamed the streets in colorful costumes and props spreading Christmas cheers in front of houses with their Spanish villacicos and their prepared song and dance program they called velada.Nasayao, Eden K. (2000).''The bikol Pastora''. Legaspi City: Bicol University.

References

External links

*Pastora at All Music []
Pastora concert, Todomusicaymas
Photos from Bilbao concert in 2007
Group biography
{{Authority control Spanish electronic music groups Musicians from Catalonia Musical groups established in 1996