Let Me Introduce My Friends

I'm from Barcelona

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 20, 2007)
• Original Release Date: March 20, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Mute U.S.
• ASIN: B000MQ55GQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,781 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"We started this journey in the summer of 2005. None of us knew we would become a band," says the liner note in I'm from Barcelona's debut album, Let Me Introduce My Friends. For all their newness, Barcelona loves simplicity, singing about stamp collections, oversleeping, and treehouses--with lean guitars and drums bolstered by glockenspiel, ukulele, and well over 20 voices. Irresistibly sunny and numerically massive, Barcelona intricately weaves single-syllable choruses behind Emanuel Lundgren's chesty lead vocal, dizzying the ears. So many voices come to the fore that songs like "Treehouse" are unabashed tapestries of pop delight, exuberant and magnetic and chiming. The Swedish ensemble doesn't play the French horns and harps that mark Polyphonic Spree, but they do indulge every rock opera (as in Hair) inclination that can fit under their purview. Everyday's mid-summer here. --Andrew Bartlett

Product Description

U.S. EXCLUSIVE BONUS TRACKS! LET ME INTRODUCE MY FRIENDS is a collection of bubblegum classics filled with extravagant call-and-response backing vocals, shimmering pop spirit and youthful optimism.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 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 (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable!, August 4, 2007

By	Erika K. Mccombs "English Grad Student" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

My husband and I have been listening to I'm from Barcelona for awhile now. We love them... they have a sound unlike any other. The closest comparision I might make would be either Belle and Sebastian or The Boy Least Likely To - but that wouldn't be quite right. I'm from Barcelona is in a category of its own.

Recently, we saw them perform live. I didn't think I could like their music any more than I already did. I was wrong. Seeing I'm from Barcelona was the most exhilarating experience. This is band that you can expect amazing things from. And a band well worth the support.

4.0 out of 5 stars SUNNY 70s AM RADIO, November 1, 2008

By	M. Guerra "The Conductor of the Groovy Juice ... (Long Beach, California United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

SOUL BROTHERS AND SISTAS OF ALL HUES AND PERSUASIONS, FLAVOURS AND BRANDS...IF YOU LIKE THIS POP GROUP, YOU NEED TO TAKE A SPIN WITH BEULAH (GOOD MAN IS EASY TO KILL /GRAVITY BRINGING ME DOWN)!
JUST A DELICIOUS PIECE OF OF BLISSFUL POP A LA YUMMY! STEP RIGHT UP AND CHECK OUT THIS GROOVY NECTAR! I FEEL LIKE TAKING A DRIVE UP PCH...ANY TAKERS? THE BONNET'S DOWN SO BRING YOUR SCARF.
DOES THIS PAINT THE PICTURE OF WHAT YOU'RE GETTING WHEN YOU HEAR THIS GROUP? IF NOT, THEN CHEERS, DARLING, BECAUSE IT'S ALL THERE, CHAPTER AND VERSE.
The Conductor Of The Groovy Juice Symphony