Rafael Escote in 1989's starry Aldebaran

Moving further into the eighties always can occasion regret.  Of course, after the epic Catalonia, we could not expect perfection here, or even quality.  There is much less advanced progressive composition than earlier-- after all, this is more than a decade after the second Gotic record.  A general idea of the music can be had by the acoustic piano and bass solo track called Balada D'en Lluís:






Of interest is that the second part of side b comprises a 15-minute long composition called Baixos Per A Un Ballet (Suite), with of course several parts.  This was somewhat disappointing to me on account of the overrepresentation (admittedly, not a surprise) of the bass.

http://www.discogs.com/Rafael-Escot%C3%A9-Aldebaran/release/5832540

Gotic Keyboardist's Coses in 1977: Ara Es Dema

Spare information from rym:

Catalan folk rock based on piano/organ, acoustic/electric guitar and sometimes string arrangements, melodious songs, good vocals & harmonies, they were part of the political movement to get the Catalan people more rights, they sang also in Catalan.

From Discogs:

Spanish trio from the late 70's, they played quiet, serious folk-rock largely based on piano (or organ) and acoustic guitar with soft string arrangements.  
Personnel:
- Jordi Vilaprinyó - keyboards, vocals
- Jordi Fábrega - acoustic & classical guitar, vocals
- Arthur Bernstein - acoustic & electric guitar, vocals
Discography:
- Via Fora! (1976)
- Ara es Demá (1977)
- Perquè no s'apagui l'aire (1978)

Of course for our purposes what is notable is that Vilaprinyo was the keyboardist and presumably mastermind behind Gotic as we can see here:

Spanish progressive rock band of the 1970s. Their history goes back to the schooldays of Jordi Vilaprinyó and Jordi Martí who started as the organ and drums duo "Jordis" initially inspired by the music of Emerson, Lake and Palmer. After the group expanded, adding influences from Genesis, Yes, and "Zeleste’s layetana music" they arrived at a multicultural cross-polination of styles, and eventually Gotic was born in 1976. The band only released the one album during their lifetime, a delicate instrumental progressive rock outing featuring flute, keyboards/synthesizers and folk inspired elements. They also recorded a second album, of which tape copies exist, but the band split in 1978 before it was finished.

(That second album can be found all over the place online, and is STRONGLY recommended.)


Returning to this offering, we have exactly what was described above, with less progressive than the masterful Gotic, but nonetheless quite enjoyable folk-rock.  Listen to this stunningly beautiful track, Una Mica da Mort:



There are a few notable and original features to attend to here.  First of all notice the diminished chord arpeggios that intro on electric piano, passing into flute and fake strings backed by acoustic guitar-- creating tension and then quite abruptly releasing it.  Subsequently in the stanza, note how the traditional lyrics start with a normal melody, but as it progresses more vocalists join in until we have a complete triad moving up to the last chord, which, surprisingly, in the falsetto region, moves still higher, before resolving back down onto the tonic.  Quite an astonishing perhaps never before heard melody, and the plaintiveness of the subject clearly shines through.  But the song's surprises don't end there, after this chorus section and following the pleasantly gentle electric guitar soloing, the electric piano of Vilaprinyo proceeds to create a gorgeous little instrumental passage with small scale figures atop minor seventh chords.  How I'd love to understand the lyrics, as I don't doubt they are beautiful too.  Clearly this it the most Goticlike track: pay attention to the flute solo in the very middle of the song.  
Btw the record that followed, in 1979, was to me disappointing, as was the more simplistic previous effort, Via Fora.

Really, music this beautiful as I've said before, is like magic.

The great Gotic:

Catalonia from Spain, 1981

I was puzzled as to why this album was in such high demand until I realized on reading the band information bassist, Rafael Escote was in my favourite Spanish group, Gotic.  For those like myself who have pretty much memorized their brilliant masterpiece "Escenes," Rafael wrote the compositions "La Revolucio" and the last track, the story of the drop of water.  On the other hand, keyboardist Jordi Vilaprinyo was in the band Coses throughout the seventies, and was responsible for my favourite tracks...

Back to this release, which is rounded out by the following musicians in addition to Escote: Angel Pereira on percussion, Lluis Vidal on piano and Antonio Peral on saxes; there are hints of the old Gotic magic but here we are delving deeply into slightly Hispanic-inflected complicated and composed fusion, winding beautifully into remote and reflected chambers of acoustics, flashes of gorgeous scenes and memories of beautiful emotions, cascading like a technicolor dreamscape after an unsettled night... or imagine the fresh insomniac feeling of falling in love (so long long ago for me) and being filled with the ups and downs fighting for your soul and that feeling of high-focused attention making you look at the world like a crystal, a geode full of light...

Check out the ultra-chromatic lush romanticism of the Sueco in America, with hints of Debussy or Ravel in the rich red and lingering vintage:





These composers really knew their stuff!  Whilst the most Goticlike track is the Lorelai: with its diatonic majesty of stepping stones in whole tone chords:





Apologies for the poor quality of the rip, btw.

Finally, notice that Escote later teamed up with Max Sunyer for the fusion superband Pegasus, which put out quite a few records.  Those are of course a little more disappointing in general, at least to me, being with both feet in the slick decade of the 80s.

But this stands out as a true fusion masterpiece with the passionate and hot spirit of the country from which it came.  Aren't we spoiled with treasures already?