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Space-pop and psychedelia? Ed Wood and Burt Bacharach? LE MANS and STEREOLAB? Science-fiction and lounge music? Stories about robots and magnificent orchestral arrangements? George Gershwin analogical synthesizers? Where have you ever seen such a cocktail? “Fantasías de Un Robot Psicodélico”, the debut album from MODULAR, Argentine duo founded by Mariana Badaracco and Pablo Dahy in 2000, pulls all this together and much more, in an experiment that identifies them as one of the most peculiar bands in recent years. Fruit of recovering some of the songs included on the four demos they’ve released over their more than nine years of existence, “Fantasías de Un Robot Psicodélico” is an exercise in spatial and colorful pop that is bright and optimistic and is the worthy heir of the Space Age Bachelor Pad Music led by Mexico’s Juan García Esquivel in the late fifties. Songs like “Perdidos en El Espacio”, “Playa Biquini”, “Hombre Hormiga” or “Flasheando” show their knowledge of science-fiction, B-series, the sixties’ spatial, psychedelic esthetic, the sophistication and elegance of Henry Mancini, as well as their mastery of arrangements, the analogical playfulness of bands as far in time but as close in spirit as THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THE HIGH LLAMAS or BROADCAST. They are the vertex of a personal and unique sound, addictive and simultaneously surprising and groundbreaking. And the thing is, we never imagined that a robot could have such incredible fantasies.

ER-272 The Lodger "I think I need you EP"

There are groups that believe that a song is still the greatest form of musical expression, and they reinforce this by releasing singles, like it was done in the 50’s. Nowadays, though, it’s an act of rebellion, but bands like THE CLIENTELE have successfully converted their collections of small vinyls into a myth in and of themselves, a precious object of desire of collectionists and pop lovers. THE LODGER are the biggest news in pop in recent years. With two incredible albums that already light up our shelves and that have made them a center of attention of both critics and the public, the quartet from Leeds led by Ben Siddall also made a place for themselves in the scene with three incredible singles (obviously impossible to find today), each released on a different independent label. “I Think I Need You” will be the fifth 7” of their career, the first with Elefant (of course, in a precious green color) and a new demonstration of their incredible ability to make beautiful pop melodies that are simultaneously full of happiness and timeless, and that has an attention grabbing trumpet presence. “We realized that we’d never released a ‘slow’ single before, so we decided that it was the perfect time to fix that” and here we have this mid-tempo rectification that is “I Think I Need You” and its fantastic and crystalline guitar arrangements. And for those who enjoy LODGER’s love of THE SMITHS, “I Can’t Stop” is one of those songs that you will beg on your knees for the DJ to play to brighten a Saturday night. “This Is Good Fortune” has one of those choruses that you need to remember every morning before getting on the bus that takes you to your daily routine, just to have a bit of sunshine every day, while “That Guy” is, as they themselves admit, the shortest song they’ve ever written, an explosive crescendo that barely takes a minute to blast. At Elefant we are deeply proud to collaborate in increasing the size of that object of desire we mentioned before, and that some of LODGER’s incredible compositions are now part of our catalog. Limited edition [Green Vinyl]

ER-271 Rose Elinor Dougall "Start/Stop/Synchro"

Who hasn’t jumped around like a lunatic, in their room or on the dance floor, with songs as incredibly addictive and fun as “Judy”, “I Like A Boy in Uniform”, “Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me”, “Pull Shapes” or “Tell Me What You Want”? Yes, THE PIPETTES are doubtlessly some of the biggest news of the last decade, for those of us who are fans of the girl-groups, and they’re one of the bands responsible for recovering that sound for millions of people who didn’t know how fresh, how nervy and self-confident, and how exciting the sound could be. Rose Elinor Dougall was one of the three voices that gave us all that energy and vitality. And we say “was” because last year she decided to dedicate herself to a solo career that, in the few months that she’s had it up and running, has only put out hits and brought fame for her surprising personality and her delicate and elegant pop. After her first single, “Another Version of Pop Song”, which was released last December, completely sold out, and after recording a session for Huw Stephens’ program on the BBC (Radio 1), it is a pleasure to announce that Elefant Records is going to release, on white vinyl, her second single, “Start/Stop/Synchro”, just a few months before the release of her debut album, “Without Why”, which is still in post-production. The single shows a cautious jump from the British toward an exercise in style, full of elegance and excitement, solid, but delicate at the same time, surprising and tremendously catchy. The A-side, with the title track, is an incredible, on the mark pop song that moves between the elegance and solidness of Jarvis Cocker and the evanescence and excitement of bands like BROADCAST or COCTEAU TWINS; it is a song like we haven’t heard in years. On the other side, “Static Saturday” is full of sweet naivety, evocative in its recreated ambiance of casiotone and whispered lyrics, between bossa and pop, made to narrate hours spent locked inside your bedroom. Produced by Lee “Muddy” Baker (remember that “Bone” that he wrote with Tim Booth from JAMES), there is no doubt that “Start/Stop/Synchro” will, at the very least, be as successful as her first single (single of the week in The Guardian, Metro and the U.S. magazine Wears the Trousers, as well as one of the fixations of Under the Radar), and will be an advance of what is, without a doubt, going to be on of the biggest items in music news this season: the discovery of the beauty of Rose Elinor Dougall’s compositions and voice. Limited edition [White Vinyl]

ER-270 Single "Mr. Shoji"

There is no other group like SINGLE. Simply put, they have no equal. It is a group that is capable of constantly reinventing itself without losing its absolutely recognizable personality. This is a musical project that has no limits other than its own curiosity, concern and excitement about finding new paths. Sometimes intimate and beautiful, other times, like this song here, fun and danceable. “Mr Shoji” is the new song from SINGLE after three EP’s and an album that has placed Teresa Iturrioz and Ibon Errazin’s project in the sights of fans of the most innovative pop. In this new song, which is already a crowd favorite in their concerts, SINGLE come riding in on a contagious new synthetic rhythm that brings Jamaica together with Chicago. The ragamuffin and the blues unite in an incredibly natural way that is made stronger by the pop spirit that always fills their productions. In the best Jamaican tradition, the B-side of this vinyl single (the original pop format, which gives privilege to the songs and pays homage to the sound systems) is a dub version of the title track, in which Ibon Errazkin’s genius is even more noticeable. This is live, advanced and tremendously modern pop. Different from everything else, but without losing its familiarity. For the occasion, SINGLE asked the very Mr. Shoji to make the video-clip for the song name after him. Mr. Shoji is no other than Japanese DJ Rootsseker, who has been living in Spain for several years and has already collaborated with the group on the version of “Honey” included on “Pio Pio”, and with Ibon on the selection of reggae songs “Spanish Trojan Sound Box”, published by PIAS in 2003. The video-clip is made from photographs from here and there that Mr. Shoji himself took. We also want to separately mention the new and fabulous work of Javier Aramburu on the cover of this 7”. Aramburu, still new to album illustration work, keeps giving us the best of his paintbrush in his designs for SINGLE. This time it’s not a photograph of Teresa on the cover but, as it was on the album, a perfectly executed drawing, fun and beautiful at the same time. Like SINGLE’s music, really. Limited edition [Black Vinyl]

ER-269 Television Personalities "People think that we are strange"

Dan Treacy is back and he’s here to stay, as we can see by his intense musical activity in these last years. And here at Elefant we’re celebrating it with a new single that’s really a gift for our label. This limited edition vinyl can be seen as an unintentional ode to the nerd spirit, or an unforeseen tribute to the freak soul, from the perspective of a freethinking, spontaneous, rock n’ roll spirit that is the mind behind our beloved TV PERSONALITIES. So, the title track “People Think That We Are Strange” is an elusive call to flee from judgments (and prejudices), to let people express themselves and be themselves, just as they are and just as our protagonists do on this short and playful single of charming psychedelic pop, falling somewhere between the MODERN LOVERS of Jonathan Richman and the unpredictable craziness of PAVEMENT. The single is completed with the B side “A Glimpse of My Genius”, a hilarious improvisation that evokes a pop-punk drunk VELVET UNDERGROUND full of spontaneity, and even a wink to Lilly Allen! To reveal any more details would ruin the best surprise. Sink into the EP’s incredible lyrics as you let yourself float along with the galloping, unself-conscious riffs in an exercise that must be done at home, or in the bar, or lying in the grass… but always with the record player. Then who’ll say we’re strange?! Vinyl freaks of the world – Unite! Limited edition [White Vinyl]

ER-1142 La Bien Querida "Romancero"

LA BIEN QUERIDA’s album is one of the most anxiously awaited Spanish indie-pop albums in recent years. And it’s because the word fell in love with her demo (chosen by Mondo Sonoro as the best of 2007, highlighted in Rockdelux and listened to thousands of times on myspace, where their page is one of the most visited new artist pages). LA BIEN QUERIDA, which is to say, Ana Fernández-Villaverde, turned to David Rodríguez (BEEF) to record her debut (7 songs from the demo and 5 new ones), attracted to him for the marvelous creativity of his solo project LA ESTRELLA DE DAVID. Ana wanted to domesticate David’s stratospheric arrangements and cubist production toward clean sounds that fit better with the friendly environment of her beautiful songs. And she really did it. David’s inventive magic and Ana’s sweet melodies meld together to make an exclusive space in which flamenco, Arabian music, rancheras and even techno mix. They didn’t hold back at all (they work with the ORQUESTA ARAB DE BARCELONA, a flamenco guitarist, even Joe Crepúsculo on vocals). But those are only the colors of the songs, which do not distract from their principal component: a marvelous collection of exciting vocal melodies, with an overwhelming beauty and interesting lyrics that strip down relationships and bare feelings with moving sincerity. The album follows the harmonic line of LOS PLANETAS, the charming sweetness of LA BUENA VIDA and the contagious romanticism of FAMILY, but really it creates a unique space. Maybe the clearest parallel can be drawn with THE MAGNETIC FIELD’s monumental “69 Love Songs”, with songs that appear simple on the surface but have a highly defined character and artistic personality that escapes all styles, or maybe it brings them all together without us realizing it. And, as on “69 Love Songs”, what is truly important is the emotion that the songs transmit. “Corpus Christi”, “De Momento Abril”, “Santa Fe”, “El Zoo Absoluto”, “Bendita”, “7 Medidas de Seguridad”... it’s a chilling repertoire that can be enjoyed as much in the emotion-flooded open heart as in the detail-oriented head, paying attention to the musical details that fill the production. It is, without a doubt, a landmark album.

ER-1136 Corazón "Nuevo Futuro"

Their second album demonstrates a solid maturity. “Nuevo Futuro” shines with the fantastic production of Ibon Errazkin, who is responsible for other classic albums on the Elefant label like NOSOTRÄSH’s “Popemas”, Carlos Berlanga’s “Impermeable”, ANA D’s “Satelite 99” or the albums of SINGLE and LE MANS. Additionally, there are stellar collaborations from Teresa Iturrioz (SINGLE) and Malela Durán (NOSOTRÄSH, GRANDE-MARLASKA) on the choruses, or Rafael Guillermo of POP TOPS on the piano. Errazkin achieves a jeweled masterpiece with varied and distinct sounds and original textures, looking for spaces to make the songs special with details and extraordinary arrangements. But the best thing about the album are the twelve superb songs. The compositions are outside the limits of any one style, they are full of elegance and good taste – delicious pop with charming harmonies that could sound like standard light music with someone else’s voice. It’s all feeling, with beautiful and sincere lyrics. CORAZÓN dares to make classic melodic pop, bolero-pop and sentimental melodrama; they reinvent the artistic spirit of VAINICA DOBLE with their own originality and baroque arrangements and give us radiant soul-pop hymns worthy of LA CASA AZUL. It’s an album that will go down in history as one of the great classics of Elefant records.

ER-1143 Cooper "Aeropuerto"

After three new singles (two sold out their printing instantly, after remaining at the top of the sales lists for several weeks) and five more years, Alejandro Díez’s third album as the front man of COOPER arrives. These new full-length dates with the group are going to become those necessary moments of reflection and inflection in a career that is propelled forward by songs like rockets headed out of this stratosphere. Songs cooked on a slow flame, far from the rules of the industry but close to the passions of the public that is so loyal and inspirational to a pop genius, after over 20 years playing our stages, back then as the front man of LOS FLECHAZOS. This compilation of songs, now that they’re all together, and with the added bonus of indispensable new songs (“Hyde Park” is amazing, maybe the most direct and uncontestable hit Alejandro has written since COOPER began, “Lisboa” is a delicious psychedelic rara avis within the artist’s discography, “El Sueño” is a marvelous version of an early NACHA POP and “La Edad de La Inocencia” is a new cinephile reference, this time to the Martin Scorsese film, set to a power-pop rhythm) offers the vision of an artist who celebrates compositional maturity, with a sound close to the classics (THE BYRDS, THE HOLLIES, THE ZOMBIES…) as well as to contemporaries (TEENAGE FAN CLUB, VELVET CRUSH, WEEZER…) and who sees his musical career more than ever as a journey, with thousands of marvelous moments still to come, like “El Círculo Polar”, “Canción de Viernes” or “Un Dia de Furia”, to name a few, have been recently. And the only thing that’s certain, as Alex himself explains in the album-liner notes, is that there are still many ports to visit, many places to discover, many spaces to inhabit. And if these are the songs that promise to accompany us in our journey, we can do nothing but spread our wings and go with him to the pop paradises. Release Date: March, 23rd 2009

ER-1141 Cola Jet Set "Guitarras y tambores"

It has been a long wait, but we can finally enjoy the new, long-awaited album from COLA JET SET; it is the second in their career and their first with Elefant. The time, in addition to definitively solidifying the line-up of Ana (LA MONJA ENANA), Felipe (LOS FRESONES REBELDES, LES TRÈS BIEN ENSEMBLE), Joan, Alicia and Cristina (LOS FRESONES REBELDES), has also allowed the group to purify its sound, bringing it closer to a classic pop with clear sixties influences (Jackie De Shannon, THE RONETTES, THE BYRDS...) but they have also enriched it with small stylistic intoxications that came up along the way: soul, disco, psychedelic pop, soft-pop… Because of all this, the album is classic pop through and through. Its melodies and arrangements are inspired by the greats of the genre. Its freshness and vitality take charge on an album full of emotions. But above all, pop isn’t itself if it isn’t perverted by other styles, other influences, other horizons. Let’s celebrate, then, that COLA JET SET have come back to stay and to definitively be one of the best pop groups in Spanish that has come out of this country. There´s a limited edition of this album for vinyl lovers. [Pink Panther colour vinyl]

ER-267 Helen Love "Calm down dad"

We’re in luck - HELEN LOVE are back! Our favorite Bubblegum-disco-punk group is better than ever and they have a splendid collection of new songs that half the planet is going to go crazy over. “Calm Down Dad” is the first advance single from the flaming new album, “Stick It”, that will soon be released on Elefant Records. While we’re waiting for that moment to arrive, and to ease the long wait, we have this appetizer with three great songs. “Calm Down Dad” is pure energy, catchy indie-punk-pop that talks about the differences between a father and his daughter. She wants to have fun, go out at night, sleep with a boy, dress up like a vampire without being looked at strangely at home, travel the world, try new things and even sing like Kate Nash, but with a more working class accent. Like a mix between Jilted John and THE WAITRESSES, on this limited edition, orange colored vinyl single HELEN LOVE jump from punk to pop to indie, with realist, sarcastic and fun lyrics. The melodies are as sweet as candy, but an orange flavored candy that’s as bittersweet as real life. The single is finished off with two fast-beat, punk-pop songs. “John Peel Roadshow” talks about how to work up enough courage to give your demo to a radio show host. HELEN LOVE, loved and supported throughout the years by John Peel, recorded a “Peel session” in 1997, which was, for them, one of the high points of the group’s history, as was the summer afternoon on which John Peel, after playing “Does Your Heart Go Boom”, said with a sardonic laugh, "That's HELEN LOVE... the sarcastic bastards"'. “Candeelips” closes the advance single with a sweet story about a boy with the sweetest and most desired lips in the neighborhood!!!. Limited edition [Orange vinyl]

ER-268 BMX Bandits "The Bmx love e.p."

At Elefant we are congratulating ourselves on the release, for the second time, of the exclusive 7” of one of the most vital and active groups of the Scottish pop scene. Duglas T. Stewart put together a handful of unreleased songs in this item that marks the sepia tinted memory of the most elegantly poppy seventies, led by the piano, evoking the halo of composers like Burt Bacharach or Henry Mancini and artists like Dusty Springfield or Françoise Hardy. From the new version of “Our Secret Life” in French, rebaptized here as “Quand il n'y a plus d'amour” (with the French adaptation by Nick Garrie) to the closing gem of the EP, a version of “Hopelessly Devoted to You” that Olivia Newton-John sang in “Grease”, on of our favorite films, which Duglas deliciously recreates with the collaboration of the Scottish band THE ATTIC LIGHTS. The single is completed with two very recent recordings, the unreleased “I Can Wait Forever”, intimate folk pop marked with elegant melodies and vocals, and a version of “You Don’t Want to Be My Girlfriend, Phoebe” by MY LITTLE AIRPORT. When Duglas received MY LITTLE AIRPORT’s album, published by Elefant, he fell instantly in love with the song. He played it live a few days later and soon after decided to record it in the studio, the magnificent result of which is here. A precious collection of songs with the indelible stamp of one of the most gifted minds in pop of the last 25 years at the controls. As always, Duglas, it’s a pleasure. Limited edition [White Vinyl]

ER-1139 Fitness Forever "Personal Train"

FITNESS FOREVER is a surprising Italian quartet that is making its full-length debut with "Personal Train", a marvelous pop album that draws together an immense quantity of influences with marvelous taste, the work of musicians who have an extraordinary ability with the fibers of the most precious and elegant pop: from modern points of reference like LA CASA AZUL (Guille is one of their most unconditional fans), CINERAMA, THE HIGH LLAMAS, Richard Hawley, BELLE & SEBASTIAN, THE POLYPHONIC SPREE or even LE MANS, to other classics like Bacharach, Michel Legrand, THE BEACH BOYS, THE COWSILLS, THE FREE DESIGN or Gladys Knight, and last but not least, the Italians: Rita Pavone, Ennio Morricone, Nico Fidenco, Gino Paoli, Piero Umiliani or Mina. All of this comes together in a huge album whose composition (in the style of the songwriters of the sixties, after hours in the studio) kept them locked in the studio for more than a year putting it all together, achieving an album that is full of life, full of grand pop melodies and marvelous arrangements with the utmost care in every detail. It's one of those albums that each time you listen you discover new shades and sounds, and that introduces us to Carlos Valderrama, a name that we will probably be hearing a lot in the coming years, who is capable of bringing together classic sounds with vision. And as you know, exercise: it's highly recommendable for the pop spirits. Here you have your personal trainers. There´s a limited edition of this album for vinyl lovers. [White vinyl]

ER-1140 Nick Garrie "49 Arlington Gardens"

“49 Arlington Gardens” is the album that musical history uses to pay its dues to Nick Garrie. There are many reasons for it to be so. The marvelous recording sessions in Scotland, sponsored by Ally Kerr and that included such great names as Norman Blake (TEENAGE FANCLUB), Francis McDonald (NICE MAN, TEENAGE FANCLUB, BMX BANDITS), Duglas T. Stewart (BMX BANDITS) producing, and Duncan Cameron (DELGADOS, TRAVIS, TRASHCAN SINATRAS) as sound engineer, with the still less famous DOGHOUSE ROSES, Spain’s Sandra Belda Martínez (CALIFORNIA SNOW STORY, SUPERÉTÉ), Rachel Allison, Iona McDonald and many other musicians from the Scottish indie pop scene. An astonishing collection of great compositions, with gems like “Twilight,” “Le pont Mirabeau,” “When Evening Comes” and “When the Child in You,” and a deeply romantic song like “Lovers,” written with Francis Lai (responsible for such historic soundtracks as “A Man and A Woman” and “Love Story”). The fact that “The Nightmare of J.B. Stanislas,” the cursed disc released in 1969 that barely saw the light of day and that today has become a collector’s item, is receiving this small moment of glory that it was robbed of by chance when it was first released.. And above all, a singer-songwriter, Nick Garrie, with a precious voice full of solemnity and a classic pop feeling, in the best sense of the word, enjoying a moment of brilliant inspiration. It’s one of those discs that sees the light of day thanks to the support of a new generation of musicians, admirers of the British singer-songwriter. It’s an honest, intimate, elegant, precocious disc that maintains a marvelous balance between arrangements and melodies. Just under thirty minutes of dreamy compositions, of pop and tight folk that deals humbly and candidly with human nature with the surprising element of juvenile fantasy that is “The Clockmaker". There´s a limited edition of this album for vinyl lovers.

ER-1137 Giorgio Tuma "My vocalese fun fair"