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SINGLE is a unique, unprecedented projected; every step that Teresa and Ibon take is a sign of their unmistakable identity, and they even manage to stay away from any hint of predictability when they pay homage to other artists’ work.

And of course there is so much to learn from their drawing attention to “Io pomodoro”, and it is so appealing and surprising.“Io pomodoro” is the album that actress Lucía Bosé recorded in 1981 with classical composer Gregorio Paniagua; it is really a hidden gem, one which has been forgotten over time, a mix of inspiration and experimentation, of fleeting loveliness and volatility. A compilation CD of songs sung by actresses led them to the single that had come from that album, “Dime quién eres, desconocido vecino”, and from there they discovered the album itself. They were immediately fascinated and began incorporating it into their concerts, where they performed versions of the single, which led them to this small homage to the album, a limited-edition, tomato-red 7” that includes, in addition to the previously mentioned song, a revised version of “Nana de una sola nota”.

And as is to be expected, SINGLE resuscitate the songs in such a way that it is impossible to find any type of similarity with the original, and continue creating their own marvellous universe through the fantasies of other great artists. And so, “Dime quien eres, desconocido v [ Read more ]

Yeah, we know. We said that “Hoping and Praying” was going to be the last single from THE SCHOOL’s debut album, but the upcoming visit to Spain from one of our favorite British groups, to participate in the Nocturama and Contempopránea festivals, motivated us to recover a few little gems to share with all those fans that are waiting impatiently for those festival concerts.

So, this coming July 18th the new digital single with the main song “I love everything” will be released. The song is one of our favorites from “Loveless Unbeliever”, short, with a simple structure but an incredibly beautiful melody, those marvellous choruses and that bridge that opens the way through the song like rays of sunshine through black clouds after a storm. And for the B-side we have two big surprises. First, the “Hungry heart” cover that Liz’s group made for the Bruce Springsteen tribute called “Play Some Pool, Skip Some School, Act Real Cool”, (released by the label Where It’s At Is Where You Are and available online in our store) where they share the credit list with other names like THE WAVE PICTURES, ALLO DARLIN’, Darren Hayman, Harvey Willians, BUTCHER BOY and even Doug Yule (THE VELVET UNDERGROUND) collaborating with Jeff Mellin. The gang from Cardiff takes one of “The Boss’” greatest hits to their territory and turns it, even more, into an irresistible hit. Last (but not least), a [ Read more ]

Click here to watch the video-clip: http://www.youtube.com/watchcategoríav=IJgXk_W659Q&feature=channel_video_title[Special guest Paulita-PAPA TOPO] Directed by Lluís Prieto [Llaüt Digital]

Those sunny, azure-blue sky days are getting closer, those days of peace and revelry, days when the only thing you have to worry about is living and enjoying yourself. And we couldn’t think of a better group to listen to on those days than FITNESS FOREVER. The Italian group fronted by Carlos Valderrama has never needed the summer season to bestow a sunny strength and energy on their songs, as they clearly proved with their full-length, “Personal Train”, and their EP “Mondo Fitness”, but this time this time those feelings of extreme pleasure and hedonism are back and are stronger than ever, with songs made for those summer months, and which will be released on a red vinyl 7” single.

And what better proof of being carefree, of being in the mood for a party, than the song that opens this release: “Botellón”categoría The song has seventies Spanish-pop influences and the fantastic excesses of OS MUTANTES or Mohammad Rafi, a mutant himself, tremendously fun and lively. Long live the botellón!; it’s the perfect soundtrack for some new Quentin Tarantino-like craziness. After that, it’s time for two different versions of “Brasil”: on the first (the “Magic” version), the band from Valde [ Read more ]

At the end of June they’re going back to London to begin recording their new album. They will travel with José M Rosillo, who will be in charge of production for the album, where they will record in nothing less than the Konk Studios, one of the most legendary studios in the north of London that got the KINKS’ Ray Davies started at the beginning of the 70s. At first, the studio, near Davies’ neighbourhood, Mushwell Hills, was a private studio for the KINKS’ exclusive use but it opened years later to other artists so that they could enjoy the magnificent studio’s equipment. The list of groups that have recorded in the Konk Studios in recent years is as long as it is impressive, from THE ARCTIC MONKEYS to THE STONE ROSES, including ELASTICA, SUEDE, THE CHARLATANS, THE BEE GEES, BLUR, MANIC STREET PREACHERS, MASSIVE ATTACK, DEPECHE MODE, PORTISHEAD and SPIRITUALIZED, among many others. As the culmination of their London adventure, on July 7th and 8th, COOPER will play two live “going away” shows in England with two other bands they are friends with. Soon, we will have more information available about COOPER’s new album, which will be called, “Mi universe”, as well as about their recording process and their concerts in London.

July

Thursday, 7Cooper+ The J-Pegs + Paul Bevoir with the Family Way + Squire.London [uk]time: 8.30pm [Doors open] price: £6Dublin Castle94 Parkway, Camden Town

Friday, 8Cooper+ RigbyC [ Read more ]

This past June 20th, in the Casa de América in Madrid, the Independent Music Awards [UFI] were held. Here at Elefant we want to thank everyone who helped make it possible for us to win the prize for the “Best Independent Record Label” category.

Congratulations to all the winners, whom you can see for all the different categories here: http://www.premiosdelamusicaindependiente.com/11/

The trophy was designed by Olaf Ladousse, and this is especially exciting for us, since we admire him so much and are long-standing fans of his work as graphic artist, designer, musician, inventor and fanziner. The following is a description of the priceless instrument-trophy:

“Heir of a battery and a microchip emigrated from the plastic body of a toy accidently abandoned by a spoiled child, the doorag makes its way among tones and rhythms. Electric circuitry mutation via photoelectronic cells and a dancing spring, the instrument/trophy makes the Independent Music Awards ceremony more enjoyable, sensitive to the applause and outbursts. Created by Olaf Ladousse with his own hands, it is the fruit of his homemade experiments with empirical “circuit bending” electronics.”

ELEFANT bands in the UFI 2011 Independent Music Award Finals: TREMBLING BLUE STARS, THE SCHOOL, LUCKY SOUL, STEREO TOTAL

SINGLE: Best Pop Album and Best ArtworkASTRUD: Best Videoclip and Best Live PerformerPAPA TOPO: Best VideoclipTREMBLING BLUE STARS: Best International ArtistTHE SCHOOL: [ Read more ]

The main motivation and energy we have here at Elefant Records, and we hope for many of our followers too, is excitement. And really, listening to these new groups, refreshing and full of magic, and offering them an avid public, wrapping them up in a delicious package and getting them ready to stand on their own two feet is something that helps us understand, among other things, why we’re here.

And that’s what happens with these new singles that are now new releases in our collection. To start with, we have the fantastical synth-pop of MILKNAUT, a Galician duo who will drive fans of NEW ORDER, KRAFTWERK, RHEINGOLD, DAF, GIORGIO MORODER, TELEX, OMD and EL AVIADOR DRO Y SUS OBREROS ESPECIALIZADOS wild with their first single “Gumboots Girl”. Another single that will also form a part of this release is the debut from ULTRANOL, which is the stage name of Alberto Iniesta, making playful, carefree electro-pop that is fresh and unclassifiable, surrounded by a collection of casiotones, sequencers and synthesizers. NATURE SET is a British urgent punk-pop group characterized by having Reenie Hollis, the ex-bassist of THE LONG BLONDES, among their ranks. Stretched out guitars pushed by youthful melodies and energetic choruses. Finally, BAND Á PART is in the collection for a second time because we just couldn’t resist their precious songs of deliciously arranged, light, danceable pop, a cross between FITNESS FOREVER, SAMBASSADEUR and BELLE & SEBAS [ Read more ]

Here at Elefant Records we were sure that LA BIEN QUERIDA’s new album was going to be a total celebration. Anyone who doubted that Ana Fernández-Villaverde could repeat the huge surprise that “Romancero” was with “Fiesta” have forgotten their lapse and are now elegizing the new album. And those who have already heard the new album are as crazy about it as we are. At Rockdelux, where “Fiesta” is the album of the month, Nando Cruz says that the album “certifies that the debut album was the beginning of one of the most admirable projects of our time”. On the website Je Ne Sais Pop, they affirm that LA BIEN QUERIDA “has worked on and been more careful with the lyrics, and while they are more complex now they still maintain their capacity to be so personal and intimate that we can identify with them from the very first listen”. And those are just a few examples of the album’s incredible reception both from fans and specialized critics.

We’re celebrating this success with the release of a limited-edition red-vinyl single (which will also have its corresponding digital release) that has one of the most outstanding and attention-getting songs of the album as its star, “Queridos Tamarindos”. The song is one of those on which Ana, now in the midst of tropical rhythms, once again shows us that almost no one beats her when it comes to speaking clearly and beautifully about matters of the hear [ Read more ]

Here at Elefant we are continuing our unrelenting mission to rescue material by the distinguished Nick Garrie, and if we spoke about a new single for “Can I Stay With You” a few weeks ago, now the time for “Wheel of Fortune” has arrived in this very special moment for the author of “The Nightmare of JB Stanislas”.

This coming Saturday, June 11th, as a part of the British festival Doune The Rabbit Hole, Garrie will be performing his admired debut album in its entirety, accompanied by Mike Heron of THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND and members of the British band TREMBLING BELLS, the psychedelic pop band led by Alex Neilson, with a line-up that will include string instruments, wind instruments and a rhythm section, in order to make the songs shine as much as possible with the arrangements that Eddie Vartan imagined them with in 1969. Without a doubt, this is an incredible and unique opportunity that will also have great festival-mates like THE VASELINES, TREMBLING BELLS, BMX BANDITS, Ally Kerr and Alasdair Roberts.

But that’s not all, because a curious and attractive deal has just been announced for this coming Christmas. Under the title “The Nick Garrie Gig Pass Christmas 2011” our star will give four concerts in the ski slopes of the Swiss city Gstaad, as well as the opportunity to ski with the man himself (there is a legend that says that Nick gave ski lessons to Paul McCartney himself on those very slopes). The first concert [ Read more ]

From 1st to 15th June the audience will decide who will emerge victorious in each category trough a vote carried out at:  http://www.premiosdelamusicaindependiente.com/11/index.phpcategoríadest=11

SINGLE: Best Pop Album and Best ArtworkASTRUD: Best Videoclip and Best Live PerformerPAPA TOPO: Best VideoclipTREMBLING BLUE STARS: Best International ArtistTHE SCHOOL: Best International ArtistELEFANT RECORDS: Best Indie Label

Los 33 de Radio 3 [Spanish National Radio]: Audience’s Choicehttp://www.rtve.es/radio/radio3/premiosufiElefant Bands:LUCKY SOULASTRUD& Col·lectiu BrossaPAPA TOPOSINGLESTEREO TOTAL

Here are the links if you feel like voting!

**Best Pop Album:

SINGLE “Monólogo Interior”Vote

**Best Artwork:

SINGLE “Monólogo Interior” Best Artwork by Javier AramburuVote

**Best International Artist:

THE SCHOOL Vote

TREMBLING BLUE STARS Vote

**Best Videoclip:

PAPA TOPO “Oso Panda” Directed by Lluís Prieto (Llaüt Digital) Vote

ASTRUD & Col·lectiu Brossa “La música de las supercuerdas” Directed by Jimmy GimferrerVote

**Best Live Performer:

ASTRUD & Col·lectiu BrossaVote

**Best Indie Label:

ELEFANT RECORDS Vote

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Goodbyes are always sad. And even more so when what you’re saying goodbye to is something you have been emotionally attached to for a long time. We imagine that many of TREMBLING BLUE STARS fans will feel something like what we are feeling right now, a mix of bitterness, for the arrival of the end, and also happiness, to be able to enjoy the new material from Bobby Wratten’s band. “Correspondence” will be the last EP from this British group that has so populated our catalogue for these last years, so much so that they have become emblematic of our label. The “Correspondence” EP will be released in digital format and also as a limited-edition, orange 10” vinyl.

But we’re not going to lick our wounds; we’re going to cherish the joy that listening to these new songs brings us. The EP opens with a house specialty: a remix by Robert Hampson (one of Bobby Wratten’s biggest heroes, front man of bands like LOOP and MAIN) of the songs “Half-Light” and “Outside” (an instrumental version of “Outside Looking Elsewhere”), from their recent “Fast Trains and Telegraph Wires”, into one single song called, “The Light Outside”, and which makes the band’s passion for hazy, evanescent atmospheres clear. “Between Stations” is a brief instrumental piece where the more delicate, precious side of the Brits shines through. “Sunrise on Mars” is a true de [ Read more ]

After more than twenty years on the musical panorama, Elefant has released a few albums that have been marked as “special”, “unique” and “inimitable” in the history of Spanish pop. One of those albums is, without a doubt, “Popemas”, the third album by the Asturian group NOSOTRÄSH. Their one-of-a-kind perspective about song writing, like small snippets of half-finished songs, stripped of bridges, choruses and verses, reduced to their most essential condition, the melody, with lyrics written on loose scraps of paper, notebooks, napkins, even bus tickets, dazzled us all. That album released in 2002 is today a point of reference for so many artists, and of course, for the public and the critics, both here in Spain and elsewhere (John Peel played “Arte”, “Gloria”, and more of the group’s songs on his historic BBC program and always declared himself to be an unconditional fan of NOSOTRÄSH). It was the best album of the year for numerous specialized publications and even the prestigious RockDeLux named it the tenth best album of the decade, in a special edition of the magazine in which David Saavedra highlighted “a work of art that, for its bravery, clarity of ideas and inspiration, seems very hard to beat”. They solidified all of that on some of the most prestigious stages, from the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim to Primavera Sound.

What’s more, the album had an ex [ Read more ]

Yes, “In the morning we'll meet” is the most complicated and ambitious album that Giorgio Tuma has come across. When you deal with the musical fantasy that is hiding behind his notes, it is impossible not to evoke that colossal work of Brian Wilson’s, “Smile. Today, that figure of the song-writer as a goldsmith who pampers his melodies and arrangements with the meticulousness of a watch-maker needs to be reclaimed and dignified, and figures like Giorgio Tuma are indispensible in that process.

An album that, like all good trips, has come into being all around the world (countries like Canada, Norway, The U.S…. have seen these songs grow), to ultimately point straight towards home as the final destination. As the author himself admits, “In the morning we’ll meet” is an album of folk-jazz sung in English, but watered with typically Italian melodies, on which childhood and memories work as an emotional motor. And because we couldn’t expect anything less, the figures of the great Italian composers appear on the scene: Alessandro Cicognini, Nino Rota, Piero Piccioni, Piero Umiliani, Ennio Morricone, and singers like Luigi Tenco, Piero Ciampi and Lucio Batisti stop by to keep the references we already know like Stan Getz, Vinicius de Moraes, Brian Wilson himself, Chet Baker, Maurice Ravel and Nick Drake company.

But beware: don’t confuse the ambition of a project with the density and complicatedness of its sound. Nothi [ Read more ]

ASTRUD have returned to the forefront of the national music scene through the main door. It’s not for nothing that they’ve been highlighted in all the best-of lists from the last year, and they’ve made rivers of ink run thanks to their reinvention with COL.LECTIU BROSSA to create that inexplicable and indescribable “greatest hits” that was “Lo Nuevo”. Their live shows are giving people a lot to talk about again and that video that Jimmy Gimferrer created for “La Música de las Supercuerdas” confirmed ASTRUD’s quality as an inimitable group, capable of questioning everything, breaking down pre-established conceptions in order to totally reconstruct them and remodel them from a totally different pop perspective, which has won the admiration of the intellectual crowd, the skeptical crowd, the anarchist crowd… They have everyone at their feet.

And yes, as with all “greatest hits” albums, a lot of us missed those songs that we wished were there but weren’t. Well, this coming April 25th, a new digital single from the Catalan band is going on sale, and it will include the already released version of “Lo Popular”, with its absolutely incredible lyrics, its folkloric roots and its modern and powerful form. And the B-side will have the version that, with COL.LECTIU BROSSA, registered one of their biggest songs, “Hay Un Hombre en España”. Irreverent, wild, original, [ Read more ]