Fangoria

Fangoria emerged as a charting indie electro-pop duo from Spain with multiple gold albums to their credit. Spanish-Mexican singer, DJ, guitarist, and television personality Olvido "Alaska" Gara fronts the project alongside bassist and keyboardist Nacho Canut; her vocals evoke a striking blend of Marc Almond and Annie Lennox. The pair formed after their earlier group Alaska y Dinarama, which had included Carlos Berlanga, disbanded in the late 1980s. They borrowed the moniker from the well-known American horror publication.

Their initial Spanish success arrived via the single "Hagamos Algo Superficial y Vulgar," which paved the way for the 1990 debut album Salto Mortal. Further regional traction followed with additional singles and the 1998 fan-club-only covers collection Interferencias. Collaboration with producer and multi-instrumentalist Carlos Jean began on Una Temporada en el Infierno and extended across three subsequent releases plus numerous charting EPs and singles, elevating their profile throughout Western Europe and Latin America. That partnership concluded with 2006’s El Extraño Viaje.

In 2009 Fangoria joined Warner Music España for the chart-topping Absolutamente, recorded with Neal X and Tony James; the album received the Spanish Music Award for Pop Album of the Year and earned gold certification. The 2010 retrospective El Paso Trascendental del Vodevil a la Astracana presented newly recorded interpretations of material first issued by Alaska y Los Pegamoides and Alaska y Dinarama. Co-produced by La Casa Azul and Jon Klein, 2016’s Canciones Para Robots Románticos demonstrated expanded songwriting and studio craft; its reception across Latin America and Europe led Spanish and Mexican critics to question why the duo had not achieved comparable stature in the United States.

Earlier history traces to 1977, when Alaska, Nacho Canut, and Carlos Berlanga launched Alaska y los Pegamoides, which became Alaska y Dinarama in 1982. The group gained prominence and influence amid La Movida Madrileña, the post-Franco countercultural surge, and scored lasting impact with singles such as “A Quien le Importa” and “Ni Tú Ni Nadie,” the latter serving as Spain’s Eurovision entry in 1985. After Berlanga’s departure in 1989 the remaining duo adopted the Fangoria name, shifted toward electro-pop while retaining occasional guitars, and issued Salto Mortal the following year. Experimental EPs Un Dia Cualquiera en Vulcano 1.0 and Un Dia Cualquiera en Vulcano 2.0 appeared in 1992. In 1997 Alaska and Canut co-produced and contributed to Berlanga’s Vía Satélite Alrededor De. The 2011 live set Operación Vodevil documented their performances, while 2013’s Cuatricromía reached the upper chart ranks, earned a Spanish Music awards nomination for Pop Artist of the Year, and supported the band’s first Mexican tour; the live album Pianissimo followed in 2014. Two covers projects produced by La Casa Azul arrived in 2019: Extrapolaciones Y Dos Preguntas 1989-2000 in February and Extrapolaciones y Dos Preguntas 2001-2019 in October, each containing a pair of new recordings.