cof cof is alex cuadrado and ana analogica, an eletro-duo from valencia, spain. the first thing that caught my attention about their music was their intelligent and witty lyrics. i found them on last.fm in 2007 and their first ep 'cuadralogica' was an easy to fall electro pop that among other things, talked about a certain illegal imigrant coming from another planet called 'aurelia'. all the songs were sang in spanish. after that came 'who said party?', a 9 song ep that caught the attention of the blogosphere and caused some buzz around the group (indeed the album is flawless! amazing songs from beginning until the end). switching from spanish to english, their songs kept their witty perspective on life and among the subjects were parties and drinks, infections on a saturday night, the desperation of having a hard disk broken and invitations to drink some bleach (i know i'm being dirty/but i'm a bitch, bitch, b b b b b bitch). the same song, called 'dirty tricks', has a funny 'critic' for not being successful while madonna, taking an abba's loop, reaches the top of the charts. that was 2008. after 'who said party?', the sound of arrows invited them to create a remix for their hit single 'm.a.g.i.c.', and in 2009 they released 'safari' a 5 song ep that, in my opinion, isn't their best musical moment. but a song that you really, really have to listen from it is 't-shirt', played on a tenori-on. yesterday 'to the future ep' was released: 3 songs full of their geek references and infectuous beats (and with ana's voice more polished than ever...) awesome return!
today, we're having the heart-sick groans day here at the blog! It's a celebration of three boys in sweden making (always) sweet and (sometimes) funny indie pop with an incredible sense of melody. they're the kind of band that when i listen to, i feel like screaming so the whole world would know about them. i'm very happy to say that we have this megacombo today: all their three releases (that you can also download for free at their bandcamp), their (awesome) videos and an interview with johann. enjoy as much as i do/did!
01. starting from the beginning: when the band started and where does the name come from? the band started in late november 2007, we thought we were just gonna hang out but then we came up with a couple of songs and recorded them just for fun. the band name was made up by Martin, who had and still has a recurring dream where he sees "heart-sick groans"-posters glued on walls an lamp posts. we thought it would help us in some way..
02. you seem to be funny guys. i feel that from either, the songs and blog posts on your myspace. what motivates and influences you? there's a lot of things that influences us, recently we've been listening to a lot of trad jazz and old swedish fiddle tunes. marin has been into a lot of house music. besides from music we read as much as we can, hemingway, miller, anais nin, jan fridegård and sture dahlström.
03. so far you've released two ep's and a single. all of them are available to download for free on your bandcamp (great site!). what's your opinion on music distribution nowadays? blogs are friends or enemies? blogs, magazines and radio stations are good friends of ours! knut on eardrumsmusic is the one who has helped us the most so hats of to knut!
04. melodically, your songs are extremely rich... the first ep has a more romantic feeling while the last is a bit more upbeat and happy. could you talk about the making of your songs? how are they recorded, conceived... we do most of the stuff together, music, lyrics and melodies. we try to make the songs like movie scenes, a vision. something that flashes by and hopefully stays in the mind of the one who hears it. we've got our own little studio with old recording equipment that's hardly holding together. the studio is located out in the country side, in an old barn that is haunted by one of henrics ancestors. but usually his mumbling doesn't get on tape.
05. it is impossible not to talk about your videos too. they are brilliant! do you guys get involved on concept, idea or do you leave that for someone else? 'three day blow' seems to have quite a production behind it (it has a choreography! how awesome is that!?). the idea behind 'streetlight chase' is equally awesome! i mean, a ghost playing ice hockey? could you talk a bit about them? haha the videos. well for 'three-day blow, henric was working for a couple of weeks as a teacher in denmark. so he used that time for shooting the video. street-light chase - who haven't thought of how funny an ice-skating ghost would look. we shot it at henric parents farm in one evening and it was great fun.
now the traditional questions of the blog...
06. do you get to live of music or have another job? we have'nt made a penny on our music, i actually think we're getting even poorer by doing it. i am working as a chimney sweeper, henric is working at a car wash, martin is teaching sky-diving.
07. any song you'd like to cover? yeah something by edmundo ros, lou christie or ante sundin.
08. name the perfect place and time to hear your music. i guess that would be early in the morning, first day of the skiing trip. almost sober, watching the sunrise and feeling the heat. knowing that there's gonna be a party the same night, in the log cabin where the sweetest girls are staying.
09. recommend something you've been listening lately. the tallest man on earth, a good pal of ours! or "if my car could only talk" by lou christie.
10. anything else you feel like saying? i think we've decided to make twenty songs and see where it would lead. so we got a few more songs to record. right now it would be fun to do some touring. we're planning to release a single this spring with two new songs.
now's time to hear some music!
oh, i can do a number of things (08.2008) 01. the season for us 02. i suppose i've shocked you 03. a bell of bronze 04. i pray sir, can you read?
halloween special single (10.2009) 01. hey army of undead, now we're coming for you
gentlemen, if you ain't right, get right! (02.2010) 01. three day blow 02. suddenly molly 03. in a small kitchen song 04. after being awake 05. streetlight chase 06. you look like rain 07. why she wanted to stay at home
the procedure club ~ beko 09 (beko digital single label, 2009)
another beko release filled with fuzzy guitars and lo-fi recordings... the label is really mastering the art of building a solid catalog of independent bands making lo-fi songs with a foot on electronic/ambient, another on the best elements of indie pop melodies and a hand in shoegaze guitars. the procedure club are adam and andrea, from new haven. on this single, you can here both singing (one in each track) while playing awesome guitar hooks. 'early hospital' has a melancholic mood with the killer combination of sarah records and c86 with the jesus and mary chain drum beats. 'your fat body' is more like a twee tune with a gentle indie pop vocal (thanks to andrea's sweet, mellow, whispery voice). powerful and gentle at the same time.
delafe y las flores azules ~ espiritu santo (video)
once there was a group called facto (marc barrachina) delafé (oscar d'aniello) y las flores azules (helena miquel). a trio from barcelona making music mixing hip hop, beats and indie pop. facto left the group and a few days ago delafe and las flores azules released their first album as a couple/duo called 'delafe y las flores azules vs. las trompetas de la muerte. the first single is called 'espiritu santo' and if you're experiencing the first warm breath of summer, this song is the perfect soundtrack.
