debut

plastic d'amour ~ debut (siesta records, 2002)

alberto and blanca, from madrid, form the plastic of love. he is a well known architect and also writes songs for other bands of siesta catalogue such as las escarlatinas, cristina georgina and bel divioleta; she is a (very pretty) journalist and in plastic d'amour she takes care of the lyrics.
they make fresh pop music with influences from 60's french pop (most of the songs are sang in french) but i should say that their music wanders through various directions. this is their first album and it's bucholic, calm and relaxing. they have two more albums 'olivia' and 'nicolás'.
here the songs are more based on slow guitars, dreamy piano and jangly bass with few effects and the subsequent works are filled with more heavier guitars.
emotional, melodically rich and bouncy tunes without being obvious is what they do best. add to that nostalgia and fragility and you'll be right in the center of their world, slowly floating above green fields full of yellow flowers.




01. la ficelle
02. the funny thing
03. petits suicides
04. dimanches
05. sirenes
06. charol

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canapé ep

puntapié ~ canapé ep (independent, 2006)

i wasn't sure about what i was going to post today but after i read that puntapié is no more i had to tell you about them.
two boys from valencia (again, valencia!) that in 2 years recorded playfull homemade electropop/technopop with naive-funny-cute lyrics in spanish. in fact, it seems that spanish bands have a natural ability of writing clever lyrics talking about robots, and being in love with a robot or your tv set, sometimes with another human being and about having babies. and even when writing about being in love with another person they're don't use the obvious metaphors and situations.
this is their only release. 5 songs with uplifting beats, claps, keyboards hooks and sometimes flirtations with acid music. all of them are true hits with addictive lyrics and awesome melodies that can (should!) burn the dancefloors around the world.
puntapié about puntapié: "...chocolate in the face, sticky sillyness and apologies to heterosexuality in high heels are our trademark..."



01. quiero estar contigo
02. enamorado de mi tv
03. amor amargo
04. mi novia es un robot
05. tener un bebé

distant drummings

the brilliant mistakes ~ distant drummings (aunt mimi's records, 2008)

you don't need a great knowledge to distinguish good pop songs. specially when it comes in form of consistent guitar hooks, playfullness and unpretentious (yet thoughtful) sincere lyrics. well, that's the case of the brilliant mistakes.
hailing from nyc, this trio makes music since 1994 and since then play rock songs with classic pop melodies and a beautiful work combining a wide range of instruments that goes from vintage keyboards, hammond b3 organs, wurlitzer, pedal steel guitar to banjo, strings, horns and timbales...
their sound is a mix of country, americana and folkpop with the best 60's sunshine pop. among their influences are the beatles, kinks, beach boys, aimee mann, harry nilsson,simon and garfunkel...
delightful tracks sometimes happy, sometimes bittersweet. always catchy. the album was recorded in the heart of manhattan but it will take you to small towns where time seems to pass slowly and the days are always full of sun and blue skies.





01. the day i found my hands
02. monday morning (sky above you)
03. becoming
04. good year for a change
05. the circles not broken
06. water falling down
07. the words
08. time in the night
09. let's pretend
10. wake up your heart

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live at monokrom, kalmar

gentle touch ~ live at monokrom, kalmar (bootleg, 2005)

this is a very special post. it's an unreleased mini-show recorded in gentle touch's hometown. it was recorded at monokrom, a youth center with recording studios, music classes, café, rehearsal rooms...
gentle touch is a swedish band that plays melancholic songs with straight beats, melodic guitars and a strong 80's synthpop mood... so that's exactly what you'll find here.
they have an ep (gentle touch ep, 2006) and a full lenght album (in memory of savannah, 2008) released by songs i wish i had written.
i couldn't find any information about this bootleg so, if the dates are right, it was one of their first recordings. 'fascination' is a song that, later, would be part of the ep... here the guitars are heavier and the song faster.
there's also three never released songs: intrumental and shoegazy 'streak2m'; 'last dance' and 'our capital', both (almost) ballads with beautiful keyboards and strong beats.
and finally two really awesome covers: 'words' by low and 'the winner takes it all' by abba. i risk to say that they are the highlights because they brilliantly give their personality to the songs.
an intimate recording that will make fans of gentle touch happy and even emotional and a great way to know their music, in case you don't know it yet.
for those days when you get into a time machine and go to any given saturday with gray skies in the 80's.

ps: 'the winner takes it all' was actually taken from another bootleg recorded live at stagnelius, also in kalmar. don't know what stagnelius is (a bar? a club? a school?) so, if someone from sweden knows, please let me (us) know.



01. streak2m
02. last dance
03. our capital
04. words (low cover)
05. fascination
06. the winner takes it all (abba cover)

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fantastic smile

individual ~ fantastic smile (junk records, 2008)

after 3 demos, individual released their first full lenght album making addictive indiepoprock inspired by classics. they are from valencia in spain but the last thing you'll find are spanish influences: their references are mainly british and american groups... belle and sebastian, hefner, the wedding present and r.e.m. might be among them.
the album is intense as a whole. uplifting. with songs that require less beauty and more freedom when it comes to dance. and you'll find a catchy chorus in every song.
the two guitars create a very interesting work in all tracks because there's a non-stop, rich (in melody and rhythm), sometimes psychedelic dialogue between them.
individual is another great example that the scene in valencia is one of the most prolific and to pay attention in spain. sometimes jangly. sometimes pure indie rock. most of the times danceable. always catchy and up.



01. think to smile
02. we can do it
03. kind, not fantastic
04. attention guys
05. kerouak
06. the hell is yours
07. the glow
08. go waste
09. 100%
10. meanwhile
11. honestly feel

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