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We decided to start 1998 in a melancholic, nostalgic way. Well, we didn’t really, but anyway we had no choice as ANA D is specialized in those affairs. “Recordando” is one of her best songs, full of magic, cheap Farfisa-like organs and tiny, salty tears that will enchant your heart. Please listen to her first album, with crystal clear guitars by Ibon Errazkin by Le Mans. It´s a scream! But maybe we´d need some funny stuff right now. So let´s call THE FRANK AND WALTERS! This single includes two exclusive tracks, plus two acoustic revisions of songs from their long-awaited second album. And last but not least, here come LOS FRESONES REBELDES (The Rebel Strawberries!), the most exciting Spanish pop band in years! They´re currently causing a conmotion down here (we mean Spain, not cyberspace!) with their jingle-jangle, happy-all-the-time naïveness. So here´s a good chance to see what´s all the fuss about!
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The following 3-pack brought us songs by UNION WIRELESS, an experimental London-based combo which plays repetitive music enhanced by exotic instruments. The music from this single was composed to be part of a multimedia art exhibition created by several English artists. Interesting, innit? Anyway, we can never get too far away from pop soundz, so now we have THE SECRET GOLDFISH, fronted by ex-Fizzbombs singer. Does this name ring a bell, you C-86 mourner? Then you´ll heart will probably get out of its place when you find out its single features a wonderful cover of Shop Assistants´ classic “Somewhere in China”. Don´t miss it! And then there´s a single by FUGU, a very exciting surprise. FUGU is a young French pop genius in the tradition of lunatic visionaries like Syd Barrett or Gorky´s Zigotic Minci. He´s released a split with Stereolab and his first album is bound to appear. So listen to those three incredibly sunny pop odysseys included in this single and catch it now before he becomes famous all over the world. This was Bob Stanley´s fave single of the year, and Fugu’s next release was a split with St Etienne, each band remixing the other.
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In the fall we got a bit gloomier and melancholic, maybe it was the weather or something. We released three gloomy, atmospheric singles by MIGALA, HYDROPLANE and LAMBCHOP. MIGALA are one of the finest new Spanish bands around, some skillful creators of songs full of drama, nostalgia and experimentation. They´ve released several excellent albums in fellow label Acuarela, they are getting bigger and bigger in France, and they even recorded a single for Subpop singles club! We got jealous, and we managed to release a 7” with two of their best moments yet. HYDROPLANE (ex-The Cat´s Miaow) come from Australia, and they excel at weaving ethereal atmospheres close to Cranes or Cocteau Twins. Let your senses get trapped by the ravishing beauty of these John Peel favourites. And, yes, the LAMBCHOP we mentioned above are the LAMBCHOP you´re thinking about: the absolutely gorgeous nine-piece post country-soul orchestra from Nashville, TN. Kurt Wagner and co gave us two tracks that ended up in their celebrated “Nixon” album, but in different recordings, the ones here are exclusive for Elefant! The song titles and all the credits appear in Spanish as the band requested us to do, which has confused many of you into thinking Lambchop had recorded in español. No señor!!! But the songs are, as usual, 24-carat gold classics. One of the proudest moments in the history of Elefant.
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Then came winter. The coldest one in years. And we decided to warm ourselves by releasing a festive, colourful three-pack, including VACACIONES, METAL & CA and JACKSON. VACACIONES -the Spanish for “holidays”- are part of a new, burgeoning scene of Spanish pop band explosion. They´re young, they´re happy, their guitars jingle and jangle all the time, the girlie vocals are charming, they even cover Heavenly´s “Cool Guitar Boy” with lovely enthusiasm and Spanish lyrics. This is their very first single, and sure you´ll hear from them again. METAL & CA is quite a different affair. They were one of the first techno pop bands from Spain in the early eighties. As we are fans we decided to reissue four of their best songs, full of an endearing naïvete that everyone into Kraftwerk and cheap keyboards will definitely enjoy. And then there´s JACKSON, allegedly the brother of Wacko Jacko, Janet and the rest, but born in sunny Spain as a result of a summer affair of the patriach of such legendary family. The black sheep of the Jacksons plays white, homemade techno pop that won´t be as acclaimed as the works of the rest of the Jackson gang, but it´s definitely much cooler!!!