Luna

Sometimes she's a terrible flirt
Causing mischief and mayhem wherever she can
Sometimes she's a woman that hurts
Sometimes she is a man

(Marc Almond)

De tus palmas al Abismo (or what happens when you listen to the new Extraperlo single all night long)

I spent the night listening to that new song from Extraperlo "De tus palmas al abismo " (Discos Doble Vida). I love how it sounds, dreamy and tender and a little lost. And how dramatic is the title! Being unable to sleep anyway, I felt free to imagine this Abyss that opens before you when the one you love stops holding your hand.

http://www.myspace.com/extraperlo

Waves in Love

Maelstrom

Edgar Alan Poe

...Because not being able to sleep properly produces monsters inside your head.

Adieu!

This Friday I am going to throw an earlier Autumn (remember that old Field Mice song?) party for those who are not yet ready to say goodbye to summer of 2009. It has been amusing, wild, crazy, dramatic, sweet and bitter but never boring. It wil always have a place in my heart and I hope in your hearts as well. So you are welcome to join me in dancing to The Beach Boys,Jens Lekman or Orange Juice and remembering (or imagining) warm nights under the stars, long walks by the beach, wild snogging behind rocks....all those things that make you feel a little bit nostalgic when September comes...Goodbye Summer of 2009!

Straydogs

I am currently in Athens, my hometown and I can´t help noticing again how many straydogs roam the streets of this city. You can see them every where-waiting outside restaurants and bars, crossing avenues when the light is green (yes, they actually do that a lot of them!) and sleeping lazily on the sun. You could think that it´s a pity that all those dogs have to live on the street without someone to provide them love and care but you would be surprised when saw how fat are some of them!
No wonder I wrote a song called straydog then. Since I was a kid I would always bring straydogs at our suburban flat. My parents were not always happy about it. Most of those dogs did not stay long...they would stay in our garden for a couple of weeks maybe, maybe longer, and then they would dissapear, never to see them again, leaving my heart broken. Two of those straydogs stayed longer: Timmy stayed for a year and a half and Mabrook stayed for...I do not even remember, something like 10 years. Sometimes they would go during the mating season and they woul leave me a ball of nerves...till they would re-appear, tired, thin, hurt and full of fleas but always willing to be part of the family again. Both of them were lost for ever during mating season. Instead of thinking that they travelled too far from home and got lost or even worst, that they got hit by a car, ate poison or died from general post-mating weakness, I prefered to believe that they simply found true love with some cute elegant bitch and that they leaved happily and free everafter, roaming the streets all day, chasing cats and cars, laying on the sun and barking at the moon.
I tend to get drawn by people who remind me of straydogs-people who have this hopeless and lost quality on their faces and personalities, people who give the impression that they do not go anywhere in particular. People who leave unexpectedly and return with a needy look on their face and offer affection but you should watch them out when mating season arrives. Sometimes I even get to think that maybe I am a straydog myself , lazy and wondering, looking for cats to chase and a moon to howl to.

Recently we did this videoclip with Manolo Vasquez. The song is from the first record. I post it here, with the lyrics, after having encountered dozens of happy straydogs yesterday. Their eyes were full of love, need , yearning ... and full of freedom as well. Well, at leat till Winter comes along, they will do fine . Then it will be a whole diferent story I guess. Who wants to be alone when days are cold and rainy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2GUOIK0nXs


When we met you had a straydog with you, tied on a leash
you asked me to take you home, I said I could not possibly do it
'cause my parents wouldn´t ever want
a straydog, filthy and full of fleas on their sofa
but I couldn´t resist your brown eyes
so I took in both of you, I took in both of you
through the back door

you were a straydog yourself
you were found in the park looking hungry and lonely and beaten up
I took you home, tied your wounds, gave you a warm bath and two arms
to hold you through the night
they say when a stray dog looks at you
in his brown eyes you can see his past, his gratitude
and unconditional love....and that's how you seemed to look at me
that's how you seemed to look at me
that's how you seemed to look at me.

I had finally a friend to spend the winter with
you liked to play a lot and lick my salty tears
I even put you in my bed, much to my parents complaints
but soon you turned out to be more of a capricious poodle
than a friendly mongrel and started showing your teeth!
I thought I'd found unconditional love but this straydog bit me hard
so I gave you a kick in the arse, so I gave you a kick in the arse
I gave you a kick in the arse and I let you go...

...but then we met again,after a long long time and once more
you were with a stray dog / you asked me to take you home I said no no, no I couldn't do it! 'cause my flatmates wouldn't ever want a dirty canine full of fleas in our home
but as far as I'm concerned, I'd still let you in
I'd still let you in through the back door ...through the back door....
through the back door...how could I say no to a straydog?
how could I say no to a straydog? how could I say no to a straydog?


have a beautifull summer everyone!

New drawings

We need more Summer Parties

Everyone knows I cannot get enough of summer parties. So here is the poster of one that I am throwing this Friday at Plastico Bar in Barcelona.

Give Paris one more chance

This Thursday I am playing alone at Pop In in Paris. It is a pitty that no-one from the band is here , not even Marisol who had been with me last year...but...it is sunny outside (the other time was gray November) plus there are sales (If only I had the money!) and my friends Jeleton are here.
I have always been in love with Paris. Since I was a kid I used to read some books my mom had, full of color pictures of the City of Light. I would study the map thoroughly and I would memorise all the famous monuments and their location. I still remember some things; don´t ask me where this boutique or that cool hangout is but I can tell you about a dozen of churches, palaces and parks. All those things I would imagine as a kid: a young Luis XIV looking out of the windows of Louvre, the biggest palace in the world, being discusted of the dirty, infected city and planning to move out to Versailles. Elegant perfumed aristocrats wearing powdered wigs and meeting at Comedie Francaise, seducing and plotting like in "Liaisons Dangereuses" . The mob of Parisians taking in the fearfull Bastille prison. The bohemian absinth-drinking Paris of Baudelaire , Rimbaud and Toulouse Lautrec (and not the one we saw at that rather naff movie called Moulin Rouge). The Catacombs below the Opera, where the Phantom would reign. Paris in the 20´s, Paris in the 30´s, 40´s, 50´s, 60´s, jazz, chanson, Edith Piaf and Gilbert Bécaud, the existentialists, rive gauche, subterannean bars, Coco Chanel, YSL, Dior, sidewalk cafes, Bonjour tristesse, Au bout de suffle, Bande a part, Juliette Greco, Truffaut, black turtle necks, Gainsbourg, B.B, Francoise Hardy, France Gall and the story goes on and on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjNkrlLiJQg

Writing this, it is getting dark. I am going out soon and the Paris lights will engulf me and injectme some of their magic...ok, enough with all this dreamy shit, I guess I will just go down the corner, at Pop In, to hang out with Denis and Alex and drink.
So I guess I´ll give Paris one more chance, as Jonathan Richman had once sung...The home of Piaf and Chevalier must have done something right to get passion this way...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ68UD_I5KY

bisoux!

This is our new video "Abroad" directed by Jordi Cussó. One sunny Sunday we took the van (with a beautiful, old and totally out of tune piano in it) and went to the woods and fields just by Montserrat mountain in Cataluña. The day was gorgeous and the poppies were in full bloom. Some friend of mine told me that the poppies have a strong opium connotation...well...hmmm...I will just say that those red-and-black flowers offered a splash of drama-and-passion on the otherwise green world that surrounded us that day. Like blood drops on a floral mantle maybe.
Hope you enjoy watching it as much it as we enjoyed making it.

http://blip.tv/file/2242310/

Gracia (I heart maps)

A healthy dose of pain IV

Hombre caminando

This is the trailer of a short film for which I have composed and performed the music alongside Marisol Simó (vocals) and Mark Ribera (vocals, musical saw).


http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=578337000#/video/video.php?v=101083843065&ref=mf

HOMBRE CAMINANDO

Con VÍCTOR MASÁN

Dirigido JORDI CUSSÓ
BSO EVRIPIDIS AND HIS TRAGEDIES
Director de fotografía BORJA LÓPEZ
Animaciones BAYARRI

You made a monster out of me

El señor Pestañas

A healkthy dose of pain IV: Stuff I´ve found

It is funny how you end up finding things you had forgotten they even existed. My personal belongings are piled everywhere in my room and on (and below) my desk. They form layers and layers that were constructed continiously through time. That makes cleaning up an experience that resembles an excavation. I found some relics today. Three drawings I had done on found papers while bored at work or at class. They belong to happier although maybe less exciting times. The koala and the Ferret area recurring themes of course.
Those drawing made me sigh twice , they were my healthy dose of pain for today...and then life goes on I guess. Until the next excavation.

A healthy dose of pain III

All those summer parties

Primavera Sound festival is about to happen once more. Four days left and we will be roaming at Forum Park in Barcelona like animals of prey. And this fills my heart with the sweetest anticipation AND fear at once. Why should be that way?

For 3 days and nights I am going to live the same old story over and over again: I will be out of my head , with friends, watching concerts, drinking heavily, dancing and forgetting that the world outside Forum keeps spinning. For 3 days my life will be almost ideal, a real work of art coloured with music, love and drama. Yes, you´d better watch out you poor indie pop kids: Primavera Sound is not for the faint of heart! In fact, as far as I am concerned, the Forum Park and its special "geography" is the perfect setting for movie-like scenes: I have fallen terribly in love swinging with someone under the stars and I have fallen out of love on the concrete ground. I have said hellos on a grassy slope and I have waved goodbyes outside the bathrooms, I have snogged on the grass like a teenager and I have cried like a baby behind the reeds. I have gone out of my head, ecstatic, dancing to Jens Lekman or whoever, surrounded by my best friends or I have felt lost, dizzy and completely alone, without being able to watch any concert. Oh, I am sure all you festivals goers know the score already. You can spend hours wondering around, doing practically nothing, wasting your time...but then, sometimes, even going to pee can be a wonderful adventure straight out of a children´s book!
Another year then....another year of fun fun fun and tears of course. Emotions ride high, especially when you feed your poor body with molotov cocktails and weird combinations of substances instead of sandwiches and fruits. And there are plenty of songs to make a soundtrack and underline the best and the worst moments. So cry baby, cry and let those tears be tears of joy or infinite sadness. Summer is on its way. Old lovers are fading fast although they still can make your day a little bit greyer. And new loves are on their way.
I think of Catharsis, a vital element of the Greek tragedy. Primavera Sound can give you even this sense when it starts raining at 5 in the morning and you still dance heroically to some old rock 'n´roll song. Or when you tell someone who doesn´t love you anymore that you will never forget him but you will let go because what´s the use in trying?
Three days of absolute fun and then a week of the bluest blues. Every year is the same story. And still we do it. Even when I make calculations and the sum of the embarrassing moments is too high , I still believe it was worthy. My friends from Athens will be there, my friends from Alicante, Valencia, Madrid will be there, my Barcelonian friends will be there...and you, with those sunglasses , your tired face and THAT empty stare...I am pretty sure sure that you too will be there...dancing and kissing. All those summer parties, OUR summer parties, nothing could make them fade away...

All those summer parties that we used to share
I can hardly recall a thing,
that surely means that I was there
dancing and kissing
you don´t know what you`ve been missing
all those summer parties that we shared
no-one could make them fade away

with our fists in our pockets moving nervously
with a spring in our step and our dancing shoes on
we waited for this all winter long and nobody can stop us now

night is falling quickly stars above our head
the sea-breeze cooling our faces ,
noone dreams of going to bed
so give me more of those screwdrivers
and if i go and overdose
they´ll say it was for the sake of sex n drugs and rock n roll
what a shame...

killing time on the grass before the next concert begins
my friends look pretty though slightly dazed
they laugh at this stupid grin on my face
and then Jens comes on stage
and then the Black Lips come on stage
and then the Vampire come on stage
and my head explodes!


let´s twist again like we did last summer
clap and shout and shake it all out , it´s the time
to dance the night away

all those summer parties
left you with an empty stare
8 am trembling with your shades on
that surely means that you were there
dancing and kissing
and poor thing you´re already missing
all those summer parties
now let´s catch the bus before we colapse and try not to miss our stop!

...till next weekend!


you can listen and download the song free here:

http://www.barcelones.com/cancion/

xx

new album tracklist

This is a rough sketch of the new album´s tracklist. The songs are not in the definite order but...you may get an idea!

A healthy dose of pain II

A healthy dose of pain

EVERY TIME YOU FELL TOO DAMN SECURE
EVERY TIME YOU FEEL TOO FULL OF YOURSELF
TAKE A HEALTHY DOSE OF PAIN
IT WILL GROUND YOU AND MAKE A BETTER MAN OF YOU
CARESS SOFTLY YOU GRANDFATHER´S BERET
REMEMBER HOW HE USED TO TAKE YOU IN HIS ARMS
SING YOU SONGS AND SLIP MONEY IN YOUR POCKET
EVERY TIME YOUR MOM AND DAD WOULDN´T WATCH
AND HOW MANY TIMES YOU WENT TO SEE HIM IN THE HOSPITAL
JUST ONCE!
THIS HEALTHY DOSE OF PAIN WILL STRAIGHTEN YOU UP


EVERY TIME YOU FELL TOO DAMN SECURE
EVERYTIME YOU FEEL LESS HUMAN
TAKE A HEALTY DOSE OF PAIN
IT WILL GROUND YOU AND MAKE A BETTER MAN OF YOU
TAKE A LOOK AT YOUR PARENTS FACES
NOTICE THE LINES THAT ARE FORMED UP THERE
EACH ONE STANDS FOR EVERY NIGHT THEY´VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU
WITH ALL THE LIGHTS ON
NOW YOU KNOW YOU DON´T HAVE TOO MUCH TIME LEFT
TO GIVE THEM ANY MORE SHIT…

TAKE A LOOK AT THOSE PHOTOS THAT YOU TOOK
WITH YOUR LOVER ON THE SUMMER OF 2000
HE LOOKS SEXY AND BOY YOU DO LOOK HAPPY!
BUT WHERE IS HE NOW?

AND IF THAT´S NOT ENOUGH

LISTEN TO ALL THOSE MIXTAPES THAT GOOD FRIEND OF YOURS
GAVE YOU BACK IN THE NINETIES
YOU HAD PLANS OF CROSSING EUROPE BY TRAIN
AND GROWING UP TOGETHER
IF ONLY YOU HAD UNDERSTOOD , IF ONLY YOU HAD UNDERSTOOD
HOW SAD SHE WAS
SHE´D STILL BE IN YOUR LIFE NOW….

YOU´RE THE LATEST ADDITION IN ALL THOSE THINGS THAT MAKE ME SIGH
I CALL YOU UP FROM TIME TO TIME
JUST TO FEEL THE DISTANCE IN YOUR VOICE
IT´S THEN I KNOW THINGS DON´T WORK OUT ALWAYS HOW WE´D WANT
BUT THIS HEALTHY DOSE OF PAIN GIVES ME STRENGTH….

TO CARRY ON!



HEALTHY DOSE OF PAIN GIVES ME STRENGTH TO CARRY ON
HEALTHY DOSE OF PAIN GIVES ME STRENGTH TO CARRY ON
HEALTHY DOSE OF PAIN GIVES ME STRENGTH TO CARRY ON
HEALTHY DOSE OF PAIN IT MAKES OF ME A BETTER MAN FOR SURE

Why do lovers break each others´ heart? part III

Our Love was a Tsunami

OUR LOVE WAS A TSUNAMI
IT WAS BORN IN UNKNOWN DEPTHS
AND CAUGHT US ON THE BEACH ONE MORNING
THE SEA JUST SLIPPED AWAY
EXPOSING ALL THAT WET SAND
WE RUN TO PLAY AND LOOK FOR SEA-SHELLS
THEN WITH A MONSTRUOUS ROAR
THE SEA CAME BACK
DARK THUNDERING TERRIBLE………

BUT WE WERE SKILLED SURFERS
AND RODE THE TIDAL WAVE
WE RODE IT INLAND
AS IT WAS DEVASTATING
AND TOTALLY ERASING
WHATEVER THAT HAD EVER BEEN BEFORE THE DAY WE MET
WE ROSE ABOVE THE HOUSES
ABOVE THE TREES AND HIGHWAYS
HOTELS, DEPARTMENT STORES
AND IN BETWEEN CHAOS AND DISORDER
WE SAW THE FACE OF GOD
AND HE WAS MAD YES HE WAS MAD
BUT STILL WE THOUGHT THAT WE COULD KEEP ON RIDING
FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES

IF ONLY WE HADN´T FORGOTTEN
THIS WAS NO COMMON WAVE
IT WAS THE GREAT TSUNAMI
AND THE SEA JUST SLIPPED AWAY
AS SUDDENLY AS IT HAD EMERGED
AND LEFT BEHIND JUST PAIN AND DEATH
AND EVERYWHERE THERE ´RE TRACES
OF OUR VIOLENT LOVE
BUT WHERE IS THE LOVE ITSELF?
OH I GUESS
IT WENT BACK TO THE UNKNOWN DEPTHS
WHERE IT HAD BEEN BORN
AND LEFT US ALL ALONE
LOOKING FOR TRACES
OF THE LIVES THAT WE HAD BEFORE THE DAY WE MET
AND IN BETWEEN
CHAOS AND DISORDER
WE SAW THE FACE OF GOD
AND HE WAS MAD, YES HE WAS MAD
BUT NOW WE GOT THE HABBIT TO LOOK FOR WAVES TO RIDE

FOR THE REST OF OUR LIVES!

Why do lovers break each others´ heart? part II

Why do lovers break each others´ heart?

Ls make the world go round...

I started growing plants again
So I´ll have someone to care for
But they don´t last too long in my hands
Somehow they all dry out and die slowly

Love lust and loss
these dry leaves remind me of
Love, lust and loss
And that you don´t come round here no more

What if we were last year´s favourite couple and
we had our fair share of heads turning when we´d kiss
what if I raved so much to my mom about you
Soon darker times would land upon our hearts

Love, lust and loss
Both-way betrayals would loose our knots
Love, lust and loss
now we are walking different roads

I found an sms I hadn´t erased goddamn
It said you were at work, tired, in need of sleep
I didn´t make me shed a tear they´ve all run dry
But it surely made me heart skip a beat
Love, lust and loss….

Somehow I got used to live without you
But I must confess I have my low moments
When I miss terribly your arched eyebrows
Your perfect teeth and your small soft hands

That couldn´t keep us together!
Love, lust and loss
They couldn´t keep us togeteher
Love, lust and loss
They couldn’t hold us together
They were just too small
we weren´t made for each other after all

Your baby doesn’t come around here no more
Your baby doesn’t come around here no more
so I´ll just water my plants
and let go…

those Ls make the world go round after all