THE YELLOW MELODIES press kit
“Repertorio B”
“High”
“New identities” CD / LP
(Pussycats, 1998)
(Jabalina, 2000)
(Discos Imprescindibles, 2010)
Index: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Cover History Discography Songs in compilations “New identities” promo-sheet (Discos Imprescindibles, 2010) What media says about “The Championship Cup” (Clifford, 2008) Outstanding gigs Rider and Contact
THE YELLOW MELODIES: HISTORY
Foto: © Manuel Pérez
Line-up: Rafa Skam (Voice and Guitar) Pilar (Bass) Miguel Ángel (Drums) Mª del Mar (Keyboards, Flute)
-THE YELLOW MELODIES are an indiepop band from Murcia (España). They start making music at the end of the 90’s. They have released 3 albums (‘Repertorio B’ Pussycats, 1998-; ‘High’ -Jabalina, 2000-; and ‘New Identities’ -Discos Imprescindibles, 2010-), several singles and EPs in different labels (Cloudberry, Clifford, Bubbletone, Edition 59, Discos Imprescindibles,...), and their songs have been included in many compilations all around the world. -THE YELLOW MELODIES are: Rafa Skam (voice and guitar); Pilar (bass and backing vocals); Mª del Mar (keyboards, flute and backing vocals); and Miguel Ángel (drums). -They have played live more than 100 times, supporting bands such as EMMA POLLOCK (ex-THE DELGADOS), THE LADYBUG TRANSISTOR or THE PRIMARY 5 (exTEENAGE FANCLUB), and they have also played festivals such as Contempopranea, Lemon Pop, Easy Pop Weekend, Microsonidos, etc… They have taken part on TV shows, such as TVE’s Los Conciertos de Radio 3 / La 2. And they have also sold their records all around the world, from Japan to the US. -They have some videoclips shot: “Believe”, “The championship cup” and “You make me fall in love”, directed by Martin Ellerbeck; “I’ll never understand”, directed by Teo Kinema; and “New Identities”, “It’s only love” and “Mr Sand and Mrs Sea”, directed by Faustino Fdez., this last one awarded as the Best Video-clip in the Spanish Pop-Eye Awards of the independent music. -They have just released a new album, called ‘New Identities’, on the Discos Imprescindibles label, and also several singles have been released taken from this album.
THE YELLOW MELODIES: DISCOGRAPHY
“Repertorio B”
“High”
“Surprise”
(Pussycats, 1998)
(Jabalina, 2000)
(Jabalina, 2002)
Tracklist: 1. The Secret Garden 2. Success 3. Crazy Little Snowgirl 4. I Broke The Glass 5. Stupid Girl 6. Your Love, It Lies 7. Pretend 8. Somebody Finds Someone Somewhere Someday 9. Ireland
“The championship cup” (Clifford, 2008)
Tracklist: 1. She Says 2. That´s Just Me 3. Sí 4. It´s Not Easy 5. Let It Be Tonight 6. Brand New Way 7. Showgirl (The Auteurs) 8. New Emotions 9. The Kiss I Didn´t Give You Yesterday 10. She´s Really A Star
Tracklist: 1. Someone special 2. Waiting on 3. Surprise 4. Believe 5. Shooting star 6. All I want in my life
“Split 3” cd-single
“New identities ep”
(Cloudberry, 2009)
(Clifford, 2009) Tracklist: A side: A1. New identities A2. Another wasted day
Tracklist: 1. Mr Sand and Mrs Sea 2. Friday night
Tracklist: A side: A1. The championship cup A2. They’ll come true A3. The sunshine of our dreams B side: B1. Something that you do B2. I want to be with you B3. Mr. Sand and Mrs. Sea
B side: B1. Easy pop weekend B2. Sisters of mercy
“Found your smile ep”
“You make me fall in love” cd-single
(Bubbletone, 2010)
(Edition 59 - Vollwert, 2011)
Tracklist: 01. Found your smile (Sundae mix) 02. So. central rain
Tracklist: 1. You make me fall in love [Cherry Sounds mix] 2. Takin’ it easy 3. Little princess
“New identities” (Discos Imprescindibles, 2010) Tracklist: 01. New identities 02. My wedding 03. The championship cup 04. Found your smile 05. I’ll never understand 06. No more parties 07. So well together 08. Friday night 09. Keep away from me 10. The story of my life 11. It’s only love 12. You make me fall in love
“It’s only love” single
“I’ll never understand” single
“The story of my life” single
(Discos Imprescindibles, 2011)
(Discos Imprescindibles, 2011)
(Discos Imprescindibles, 2011)
Tracklist: 1. It’s only love (short version) 2. The World Cup
Tracklist: 1. I’ll never understand 2. Más fuerte que el viento
Tracklist: 1. The story of my life 2. Another no one
SONGS in COMPILATIONS
“New wave for your pretty face”
“Canción ligera”
(In The City, 1997) -Magic land -Love me true
(Pussycats, 1997) -Dad
(Rock Indiana, 1998) -No me imagino (Los Secretos)
“Cinta indiferente”
“Guía esencial de la Nueva Ola” “Mucho más que... Al Salir De Clase” (Pussycats / Get, 1999) -The secret garden
“Mascotas” (Jabalina, 1999) -Sí
(Fanzine La Indiferencia #7, 1999) -The secret garden
“Homenaje a la voz femenina”
“El sol sale para todos...”
“Georgy Girl 5”
(El Señor Guindilla, 1999) -Aeropuerto (Corazones Estrangulados)
(Jabalina, 2000) -Puedes llamarme -New emotions
(Fanzine Georgy Girl #5, 2000) -Showgirl (The Auteurs)
(Fanzine El Planeta Amarillo #2, 2000) -Let it be tonight
“Georgy Girl 7”
“10 años de espíritu Jabalina”
(Fanzine Georgy Girl #7, 2001) -She says
(Jabalina, 2003) -Someone special
“Entresemana”
(Sponge / Discos Mary Celeste, 2004) -They’ll come true -Mr. Sand & Mrs. Sea -The championship cup -I want to be with you
“Moderno pero español, vol. 5” “Acá está la cura. Tributo a The Cure”
“Entresemana (2ª edición)”
“Megatón yeye”
(Sponge / Discos Mary Celeste, 2005) -They’ll come true -Mr. Sand & Mrs. Sea
(Bon Vivant, 2005) -Change -Everyday is like today
“Hablame, decime algo, por favor!!!”
(Bon Vivant, 2005) -A silent place -Have you ever...?
“Bikini Beat, volumen 01”
“Pop a porter 06”
(Licor de Mono, 2006) -Play for today (The Cure)
(Bon Vivant, 2006) -Mr. Sand & Mrs. Sea -I want to be with you
(Bon Vivant, 2006) -Everyday is like today
“Volume 22”
“Christmas special”
“No quiero escuchar tu ruido”
(Series Two, 2009) -You make me fall in love (demo)
(Series Two, 2009) -Christmas time
(Licor de Mono, 2010) -The story of my life (acoustic demo)
“Fast forward: The World Cup goes indie” (Indiecater, 2010) -Vamos a ganar el Mundial
“Mercurio”
(Licor de Mono, 2008) -Mr. Sand & Mrs. Sea
“Cosmopoplitan, Volume 1” “Play on. A homage to Raspberries” (O Bosque - Woodland, 2010) -Magic land
(Clifford, 2010) -With you in my life (Raspberries)
Artist: THE YELLOW MELODIES Title: NEW IDENTITIES Format: CD / LP Record label: DISCOS IMPRESCINDIBLES Catalogue number: DIMP-002CD (CD) / DIMP-002LP (LP) Barcode: 8428846002736 (CD) / 8428846002743 (LP)
Tracklist: 1. New identities 2. My wedding 3. The championship cup 4. Found your smile 5. I’ll never understand 6. No more parties
7. So well together 8. Friday night 9. Keep away from me 10. The story of my life 11. It’s only love 12. You make me fall in love
THE YELLOW MELODIES are an indie-pop band from Murcia (Spain). They -who hadn’t released a “long play” since “High” in 2000-, have come back and nothing can stop them now! Invoking the spirit of the best pop times, they release on their own label an album called 'New Identities' (Discos Imprescindibles, 2010) which sounds like the perfect pop record. It is actually an excellent work, where an inspired Rafa Skam provides the songs with beautiful lyrics and melancholic melodies, getting a remarkable collection of stunning tunes. Their career is full of exquisite songs, and the ones in the 'New Identities' album honour the past but without anachronisms. They seek the echoes of the best indie pop hits of the 90s and make them back. However, they are inclined to the present and are encouraged about it; they are creative, gifted, bright and fresh, and build sophisticated charming pop with crystalline guitars and angelic backing vocals. 'New Identities' features 12 songs with an optimistic, positive and lively soul painted by colours, with sumptuous trumpets, flutes, clarinets, backing vocals, strings, synths… The lyrics deal with everyday life, love, desire… and the addictions that surround many human feelings. The album starts with "New identities", which was the first single and a magnificent song where the new identity of the band is stated. In "My wedding" the influence of Luke Haines and his AUTEURS is noticed; and "The championship cup" reminds to the best 90s britpop (PULP, ASH, MENSWEAR, BLUR, GENE,...). "Found your smile" tells us about the power of a sight, about magical moments near the beach,... while other songs report about the superficiality of some addictions. "No more parties" seems to bring to life to THE LIBERTINES, and "So well together" will make you dance until you get dizzy. The following song, "Friday night" invites us to have a party with Adam Green while listening to 7” vinyls by THE PIPETTES or THE LEMONHEADS, being a proper sixties song. The album is as well reminiscent to THE CHARLATANS in "Keep away from me" or to BELLE & SEBASTIAN in "The story of my life". There is also a cover of THE BEATLES' "It's only love", with excerpts from some THE YELLOW MELODIES’ old songs ("She's really a star", "Change"). The album ends with “You make me fall in love”, a ‘Frank Sinatra meets Stuart Murdoch’ song, and that starts and finishes with the relaxing sound of the sea. "New Identities" has been released by Discos Imprescindibles on CD and LP formats (the vinyl is a limited edition of 320 LPs). It has international distribution through Elefant Records, and it is also available on the best digital shops (iTunes, etc), and on www.yellowmelodies.com THE YELLOW MELODIES’ discography: -“Repertorio B” CD (Pussycats, 1998) -“High” (Jabalina, 2000) -“Surprise” MINI-CD (Jabalina, 2002) -“The championship cup” MINI-LP 10” (Clifford, 2008) -“Split” CD-SINGLE 3” (Cloudberry, 2009) -“New identities ep” SINGLE 7” (Clifford, 2009) -“New identities” LP / CD (Discos Imprescindibles, 2010) -”Found your smile ep” DIGITAL DOWLOAD (Bubbletone, 2010)
Discos Imprescindibles Att. Rafa Skam C/ Carlos III, 38 - 4º C 30203 Cartagena (Murcia) Spain Ph.: (+34) 636 / 74-93-53 email: rafaskam@gmail.com web: www.yellowmelodies.com/dimp/dimp.html
* If you need further information, photos or are interested in interviewing the band, do not hesitate to contact Rafa Skam at the address, email or phone numbers above * THE YELLOW MELODIES online: http://www.yellowmelodies.com http://www.myspace.com/yellowmelodies
What media says about ...
"THE CHAMPIONSHIP CUP” (Clifford Records, 2008)
“‘The Championship Cup’ sounds like a mix of THE KINKS of ‘68, THE BEATLES of ‘White album’ and PINK FLOYD era Syd Barrett, everything wrapped in current and fresh pop atmospheres” (Pop Thing) “After releasing albums in labels as Pussycats and Jabalina, these guys have spent six years with no releases; but now they have come back with one of the most exciting collection of songs in the last two decades. THE YELLOW MELODIES are a band of songs above all, and here you can find a brilliant selection of them” (Ángel Sopena. La Opinión de Murcia) ”Their latest album settles them as one of the most respected bands in the indie-pop scene” (Diego Soto. IndyRock) “Reminding us of the 60’s psychedelia and of the flower-power movement, ‘The Championship Cup’ is a remarkable work with gorgeous and colourful arrangements... chromatic modulations, sticky rhythms, all giving us a sensation of travelling around the world in a Vespa” Score 8/10 (Laura González. Popular 1 Magazine) “The best antidepressive treatment in six pills that come up their songs to the top” (Carles J. Lafuente. Era Magazine) “In these songs the muses that inspired THE BEATLES, THE ZOMBIES and KALEIDOSCOPE are back to life... Their tunes sound smart and simple at the same time, and full of enthusiasm... Amazing melodies that grow every time you listen to them until they get an outstanding position in every record collection” (Jordi Dalmau. Muzikalia) “They’ll come true” is as melodic as XTC tunes but with strong guitars that resembles to The Velvet Underground, and with a beautiful violin. “The sunshine of our dreams” is a kind of folk song with 60s atmosphere and a Beatles touch. “I want to be with you” is delightful as Galaxie 500 and full of gorgeous arrangements.” (Txema Mañeru. Paisajes Eléctricos) ”They keep that overstanding enthusiasm in the search of the perfect pop song... six songs where they insist of their love to the most shining tunes, not far away from psychedelic sounds, and faithful to the 60s british music” (Cristina V. Popchild) “...a 10’’ mini-lp with a beautiful design and a sparkling sound. Having such a great record in our hands, a pleasant sensation invades us when we put the vinyl in the record player” (360º de Separación)
“Rafa Skam and his crew come back without decepting us: addictive tunes in a fresh psychedelic atmosphere” (Daniel Miralles. Ruta 66 Magazine) “Their british style is better reflected than ever before, keeping the freshness they have always had” (Ana Berrocal. La Opinión de Málaga) “Here there is a catalogue of beautiful melodies, keyboards drawing orchestral arrangements, shiny guitars, and also moments of furious guitars” (Anywhere. Festivalesderock.com) “Six songs of sparkling pop with psychedelic rays” (Mandarina Magazine)
THE YELLOW MELODIES: OUTSTANDING GIGS Years 1996-1997 16-10-97 Final of Murcia Joven Contest ´97 – Murcia Parque (MURCIA), with Popstal, Amalthea, Rockcinante and Juan Perro Year 1998 12-3-98 Villa de Bilbao Contest – Bilbo-Rock (BILBAO), with Sueters and Bliss 16-5-98 Festimad Mercado Festival. Círculo de Bellas Artes (MADRID), with In The Dark, The Matadors,… 21-8-98 Jumiyeah! Festival – Polideportivo (Jumilla – MURCIA), with Sexy Sadie, La Habitación Roja, Mercromina, Undershakers, Ross and Amphetamine Discharge 11-9-98 III Lemon Pop Festival – Murcia Parque (MURCIA), with Spring, Chucho, Cecilia Ann, Selenitas, Intronautas, Second, Schwarz and Hello Cuca 17-9-98 Festival del Sol (Mula – MURCIA), with Fangoria, Undershakers, El Niño Gusano, Ross, Art School,… Year 1999 9-7-99 Ice-Cream Pop Festival - Magic (BARCELONA), with Flirt, Vacaciones and Les Tres Bien Ensemble Year 2000 29-11-00 Gig in the National Spanish Television and Radio 3 (MADRID) Year 2001 27-7-01 CONTEMPOPRANEA Festival (Alburquerque - BADAJOZ), with Los Planetas, Cooper, Los Fresones Rebeldes, Cecilia Ann, Vacaciones, Los Magnéticos, Ellos, Galáctica, Nude, Bloomington, Left Brothers, Niños Mutantes, Happy New Year, Super 8 and L-Kan 6-9-01 Festival LEMON POP (MURCIA), with Me Enveneno de Azules 26-10-01 Mundaka (MURCIA), with Astrid 3-11-01 Black Note (VALENCIA), with The Ladybug Transistor Year 2002 27-7-02 CONTEMPOPRANEA Festival (Alburquerque - BADAJOZ), with Vacaciones, Saloon, Astrid, Astrud, Fangoria, Deluxe, La Habitación Roja, Sidonie, Nosoträsh, Universal Circus, Nude, Pauline en la Playa, Carrots, Me Enveneno de Azules and La Monja Enana 16-11-02 Intromusica party. Siroco (MADRID), with Zipper Year 2004 18-11-04 Super 8 (MURCIA), with The Shake Year 2008 14-3-08 MICROSONIDOS Festival (MURCIA), with Emma Pollock (ex-The Delgados) 17-5-08 MICROSONIDOS Festival (MURCIA), with The Primary 5 (ex-Teenage Fanclub) 20-9-08 CÁCERES POP ART Festival (CÁCERES) Year 2009 23-7-09 CONTEMPOPRANEA Festival (Alburquerque - BADAJOZ), with The Wedding Present, Lacrosse,... 3-9-09 LEMON POP Festival (Murcia), with Klaus & Kinski, Alondra Bentley, Ross, etc... 5-2-09 EASY POP WEEKEND Festival (Andorra - TERUEL), with The Ladybug Transistor, Nick Garrie,... Year 2010 19-2-10 MICROSONIDOS Festival. 12&Medio (MURCIA), with Northern Portrait, Corsage,... Year 2011 11-3-11 MICROSONIDOS Festival. 12&Medio (MURCIA), with The Tamborines,...
THE YELLOW MELODIES: RIDER BACK-LINE: -1 Drum kit with a standard drumset configuration: Bass drum, Snare drum, 1 rack tom and 1 floor tom, cymbals) -1 Bass amplifier (tube preferred) -1 Guitar amplifier ‘VOX AC-30’ or similar -2 Keyboard stands -Keyboards: Nord Electro 3 / 76; and Roland SH-101 -Flute
RIDER: -P.A. depending on the venue -Mixer -1 Reverb CH. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
INSTRUMENT Bass Drum Snare Drum Tom 1 Floor Tom Ride O.H. H.H. Bass Guitar VOX VOX VOX Flute Keyboard L Keyboard R Mono synth
MIC D 112 SM 57 SM 57 SM 57 Condenser Condenser Condenser DI Box SM 57 SM 58 SM 58 SM 58 SM 57 DI Box DI Box DI Box
STAGE PLOT: BASS AMP
DRUMSET GUITAR AMP
2 KEYBOARDS VOICE
VOICE
‘THE YELLOW MELODIES’ contact: Address:
Phone: Email: Web:
Rafa Skam C/ Carlos III, 38 - 4º C 30203 Cartagena (Murcia) Spain (+34) 636 / 74-93-53 rafaskam@wanadoo.es rafaskam@gmail.com www.yellowmelodies.com www.myspace.com/yellowmelodies
VOICE
FLUTE