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Brought together by their love of simple melodies, 16mm films, cartoon doodles, and experimental pop music, Balún was formed in 2002 in San Juan, Puerto Rico by José and Angélica. Their sound is one of soft and sweet rhythmic sound collages- simple guitar riffs, subdued glitchy beats and sounds of bells, strings and accordion accompanied by Angelica's child-like dreamy singing. Her singing is reminiscent of the type of quiet, low voiced song a child absent mindedly sings to herself while engrossed in drawing or making a princess' crown out of field flowers. The product of the soundscapes created by Balún is one of nostalgia, or better yet, daydreaming. It's music to listen to when you've realized you've wandered into an unfamiliar place but you don't mind that you're lost.

In 2006 the band released their first album "Something Comes Our Way" (Brilliante records) after years of self-releasing CD-Rs and MP3-EPs on various labels such as Obervatory Online and their own label Sgulp! Discos. The band’s first album received critical acclaim from various media outlets such as Allmusic.com, Textura, The Big Take Over, The Tripwire, and Flavorpill. In 2007 their "EP Collection" was re-released worldwide under Expansion Team. Since then, the group has released new songs on different compilations appearing with artists from all over the world such as B. Fleischmann, Lullatone, Fax, Montag, I Am Robot and Proud, among others, and have done remixes for the groups Miou Miou, Arturo en el Barco and Genji Siraisi.

The band moved to the United States in 2006 and has performed on venues around the country and festivals/parties such as Decibel Fest, Pop Montreal, Nacotheque and Pulsewave with artists like Vampire Weekend, Headlights, Tujiko Noriko, minusbaby, and Barbara Morgenstern. They have also collaborated with illustrator Tatiana Arocha on a short film for the DVD series PSST! and with Puerto Rican experimental theater company Y No Había Luz. They are currently working on their upcoming EP and on their second album.

DISCOGRAPHY

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"Something Comes Our Way" (Brilliante 2006)



"An EP Collection" (Sgulp! Discos / Expansion Team 2007)



"Snol EP" (Brilliante 2006) Buy it at the iTunes store.



While Sleeping EP" (Observatory Online 2004) FREE DOWNLOAD

Full discography and compilations (some of them are free!)

"Balún's debut CD is a swirling mix of lo-fi electronics and old-school instruments that puts to rest the idea that all indie electronic music sounds the same...On Something Comes Our Way, Balún has created a very fine record, one that will appeal to lovers of both sad indie pop and inventive electronic music." - 4/5 Stars ALL MUSIC GUIDE

"...Balún may be from San Juan, but conventional Latin influences escape the Puerto Rico trio ontheir quiet debut full length, 'Something Comes Our Way'. Constructing the kind of Teutonic soundscrapers destined for Morr Music's catalog, Balún makes fragile dioramas out of mutated electronics and muted acoustics..." - XLR8R

"...José Olivares, Angélica Negrón, and Andrés Fontánez spin wide-ranging variations on electro-acoustic pop in a style that recalls Yesterday Was Dramatic – Today is OK and simultaneously allows room for bleepy arcade sounds and synth-pop...Balún's material gets a considerable boost from rich, multi-hued arrangements teeming with violins, accordions, dusty pianos, bells, melodica, and guitars in addition to the usual electronic touches." - TEXTURA

"This Puerto Rican electro/acoustic band presents a dreamy mix of mellow, minimal music that brings to mind seductive Stereolab songs, nonboring atmospheric soundscapes—and the best children's music... It's this playfulness that makes Balún's multi-instrumentalists stand out from other blippy keyboard-sounds-and-breathy-vocals acts." - TIME OUT CHICAGO

"...Balún makes dreamy, twinkling electro pop. The classically trained musicians use barely-there guitar motifs, mournful accordion swells, and delicate glockenspiel melodies to sculpt gorgeously glitched-up, densely layered arrangements that recall the ethereal, brooding magic of Múm or the "lead-guitarlessness" of shoegaze heroes Slowdive... " - FLAVOR PILL CHICAGO

"...Something Comes Our Way is much more than your typical run of the mill bedroom pop, it's brilliantly crafted, intricate, twinkling, and certainly raises the bar for future indie electronic music..." - CRACKERS UNITED BLOG