Let Me Introduce My Friends [Import]

I'm from Barcelona | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 12, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Mute/Interpop
• ASIN: B000H80LWM
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #583,415 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Oversleeping

2. Collection Of Stamps

3. We're From Barcelona

4. Treehouse

5. Jenny

6. Ola Kala

7. Chicken Pox

8. Rec & Play

9. This Boy

10. Barcelona Loves You

11. The Saddest Lullaby

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most delightful albums of 2006 -- an utter gem, September 11, 2006

By 

Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Let Me Introduce My Friends (Audio CD)

I find it almost impossible to feel anything but delight when I listen to this album. Trying to explain why it is so great is far difficult than just playing it for someone and showing them why it is so great. On one level, the songs are inconceivably simple. A song about the various countries the singer owns stamps from? How could that possible be anything to unlistenable? Yet, "Collection of Stamps" is an irresistible delight. What about a song about a treehouse of which group leader Emanuel Lundgren sings in a continuously repeated lyric:

I have built a treehouse
I have built a treehouse
Nobody can see us
'Cause its a you and me house

OK, those are not great lyrics, but the song is almost indescribably joyous, with a huge chorus singing along with Lundgren. It almost reminded me of those old Coco Cola commercials where a group of people on a hillside wanted to teach the world to sing.

I'm From Barcelona is a band I have been unsuccessful in finding much about. They are not from Barcelona (though perhaps some members are); they are from Sweden. I know that it is a 29-member collective led by singer/songwriter Emanuel Lundgren. He would seem to play about the same role with this band that Stuart Murdoch does for Belle and Sebastian. Lundgren is the defining presence in the band. Although he is literally backs by a choir of voices on every song, he takes the lead on every song. Also, most of the songs bear the clear stamp of a truly unique songwriter. So although this is a huge band, Lundgren dominates throughout. For those who wonder if the band sounds Swedish, I can state that they sound like they could be from anywhere. Lundgren himself sings in perfect English, without the tiniest hint of an accent.

I would love to know if the band's name has any reference to the John Cleese/Connie Booth comedy show FAWLTY TOWERS. In that show one of the recurring jokes involves confusion surrounding their Spanish waiter/bellboy Manuel. Whenever he is either confused or makes a mistake or is wrongly blamed for something that is in fact innkeeper Basil Fawlty's fault, Basil inevitably says, "Don't mind him. He's from Barcelona."

I wish I could communicate how wonderful these songs are. And on such improbable subjects! For instance "Rec & Play" talks of making one's own mix CD, one that will be from here on be your favorite album. I've mentioned "Collection of Stamps" already. But even songs not on quirky subjects are superb, such as "Oversleeping."

Who do these guys sounds like? I find it almost impossible to compare them to anyone. The closest I can come is perhaps to San Francisco's Beulah, but then only to their very early work. And Beulah was never as quirky as these guys. The music has some of the same effect that both Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura have, in that all of them simply make me very, very happy when I listen to them. I do think that Bell & Sebastian fans will flip over this album.

My favorite album of 2006 so far has been Howe Gelb's 'SNO ANGEL LIKE YOU, but this now emerges as a very close second. I almost feel like they are now my friends and I'm going to do my best to introduce them to everyone I know.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I am from Barcelona!, March 20, 2007

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Let Me Introduce My Friends (Audio CD)

Fawlty Towers fans are going to recognize the name of I'm From Barcelona -- that's what the waiter Manuel always says to explain odd stuff: "I am from Barcelona!"

But their debut album "Let Me Introduce My Friends" is nothing like Spanish music. Instead, this lovable, enormous Swedish band sounds sort of like a cross between Architecture in Helsinki and the Polyphonic Spree -- sunny, twinkly, shimmery pop music.

It opens with Emanuel Lundgren drawling, "Daaaaaaamn!/Oversleeping again/Daaaaaaaaamn!/I can't believe I did it once again." He then describes what he'll have to do to "make it on time." It's a mundane topic for a pop song, but it's framed with a sparkling pop tune full of catchy guitar, twinkly xylophone and the occasional bell chime.

The songs that follow are in the same mold -- the lyrics are about confusion, chicken pox, broken hearts, stamp collecting, and finding a spot for the perfect treehouse. And the songs wrapped in them are just as charming: folky pop, driving guitars, twee little sugarpuffs, shimmery bell-augmented pop, and the sprawling orchestral sound of "Olakola."

"Let Me Introduce My Friends" is basically pop for people who like bands with a slightly sugary sound, but a pleasant melody as well. "Let Me Introduce My Friends" is basically all sunshine, spring grass and childlike fun -- very charming.

You can't really single out any band members, since there are almost thirty of them, but the instrumentation is nicely polished and solidly played. The songs are wrapped in unstoppable swirling riffs, banjo, solid percussion, sweeps of wobbly and/or sputtering synth, rattling bells and what sounds like a xylophone.

Lundgren has a nice smooth voice, although at times he sounds a bit like he's singing a nursery rhyme. The lyrics are a bit short and simplistic, but they do admittedly sum up the childlike enthusiasm of the music ("You know I can't believe I'm telling everyone that I know/That every stamp in my collection is a place we could go!").

"Let Me Introduce My Friends" has rather simple songwriting, but deliciously twee pop and some solid, catchy tunes. Nice, unpretentious fun.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most delightful albums of 2006 -- an utter gem, October 6, 2006

By 

Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let Me Introduce My Friends (Audio CD)

I find it almost impossible to feel anything but delight when I listen to this album. Trying to explain why it is so great is far difficult than just playing it for someone and showing them why it is so great. On one level, the songs are inconceivably simple. A song about the various countries the singer owns stamps from? How could that possible be anything to unlistenable? Yet, "Collection of Stamps" is an irresistible delight. What about a song about a treehouse of which group leader Emanuel Lundgren sings in a continuously repeated lyric:

I have built a treehouse
I have built a treehouse
Nobody can see us
'Cause its a you and me house

OK, those are not great lyrics, but the song is almost indescribably joyous, with a huge chorus singing along with Lundgren. It almost reminded me of those old Coco Cola commercials where a group of people on a hillside wanted to teach the world to sing.

I'm From Barcelona is a band I have been unsuccessful in finding much about. They are not from Barcelona (though perhaps some members are); they are from Sweden. I know that it is a 29-member collective led by singer/songwriter Emanuel Lundgren. He would seem to play about the same role with this band that Stuart Murdoch does for Belle and Sebastian. Lundgren is the defining presence in the band. Although he is literally backs by a choir of voices on every song, he takes the lead on every song. Also, most of the songs bear the clear stamp of a truly unique songwriter. So although this is a huge band, Lundgren dominates throughout. For those who wonder if the band sounds Swedish, I can state that they sound like they could be from anywhere. Lundgren himself sings in perfect English, without the tiniest hint of an accent.

I would love to know if the band's name has any reference to the John Cleese/Connie Booth comedy show FAWLTY TOWERS. In that show one of the recurring jokes involves confusion surrounding their Spanish waiter/bellboy Manuel. Whenever he is either confused or makes a mistake or is wrongly blamed for something that is in fact innkeeper Basil Fawlty's fault, Basil inevitably says, "Don't mind him. He's from Barcelona."

I wish I could communicate how wonderful these songs are. And on such improbable subjects! For instance "Rec & Play" talks of making one's own mix CD, one that will be from here on be your favorite album. I've mentioned "Collection of Stamps" already. But even songs not on quirky subjects are superb, such as "Oversleeping."

Who do these guys sounds like? I find it almost impossible to compare them to anyone. The closest I can come is perhaps to San Francisco's Beulah, but then only to their very early work. And Beulah was never as quirky as these guys. The music has some of the same effect that both Belle & Sebastian and Camera Obscura have, in that all of them simply make me very, very happy when I listen to them. I do think that Bell & Sebastian fans will flip over this album.

My favorite album of 2006 so far has been Howe Gelb's 'SNO ANGEL LIKE YOU, but this now emerges as a very close second. I almost feel like they are now my friends and I'm going to do my best to introduce them to everyone I know.