Tiny record stores, old people dancing and the Pinker Tones

So on Saturday me and two other girls took a ramble through the old city of Barcelona in an attempt to find a vodafone store so I could fix my phone. It turned out to be broken beyond repair (thanks Steve... haha) but I got a new cute one for only 19 euros. On the winding way back to the dorm I came upon a tiny record store, about 3 by 10 feet, chock full of records in boxes. Of course I had to go in, where I was greeted by a very nice couple who spoke to me in English. I guess it's that apparent that I'm a foreigner... But anyways, I immediately found 2 boxes labeled dub and hip-hop and the first record I pull out is by People Under the Stairs. I exclaimed aloud how much I love this underground hip-hop group out of L.A. and the owner was like, oh yeah, I'm getting the new record in next week. I continued rifling through the boxes and came across something Madlib produced for Stones Throw Records, among others. I'm still astounded that such a tiny store could import all of this amazing music. Like, this stuff is hardly well-known in the U.S. and here is some random, 50-something Spanish dude who knows all about these artists! Needless to say, it made my day. I will have to investigate this store further sometime very soon.

Yesterday, Sunday, was an even more exciting day for music. The Pinker Tones, an electronic group based I believe in Barcelona, were playing at this free festival in Santa Coloma which is about 15 minutes outside of Barcelona. Me and my new friend Dan had been talking about going all week, and we recruited our friends Celia and Evie to come with us. So we get on the metro at about 10:30, and arrive at the place at 11. The band before the Pinker Tones was called Electronic Boy and I must say, the lead singer was the most flamboyant man I have EVER seen. The music itself was pretty pop-py techno but this band was all about the performance. The lead singer strutted around the stage, danced with the other band members (synth and dj) and at one point I believe he was wearing a cape. By far the best part of this concert was watching the people in the audience. Immediately in front of us were two old ladies and an old man dancing their hearts out. Kids were running through the crowd and everyone was dancing and really into the music. I just thought it was great that even though this music is clearly aimed at a younger demographic, everyone was participating in this community event and definitely enjoying it.

Finally at about 12:3o the Pinker Tones came on. We moved up, expecting the crowd to follow, but everyone pretty much stayed spread out-- which made us feel slightly awkward. However, I was definitely able to lose myself in the music. The Pinker Tones put on a really good show: the lights were cool, they projected sweet graphics on a screen behind them and the three members were all quite talented. They started off the show looking like a super futuristic rock trio, comprised of drums, bass and guitar. After this first song, they mostly resorted into doing whatever they do with their soundboards, turntables and computers. The result was some really wacky but awesome music. Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-9qmY5D1XU. At various points during the show, they included samples of MGMT's Electric Feel and, my personal favorite, Parliament. The whole atmosphere was really chill-- people were just grooving, dancing with their friends, and enjoying being outside on a summer night. Sadly, all the old ladies had gone home, but the show did go on. And on, and on. At one point we decided to check the clock and realized it was 1:50 and that we had class the next day at 9... we figured we'd better pull ourselves away and catch a taxi back to the city to get a few hours of sleep before Catalan class. For my first experience at an electronic music concert in Barcelona, the Pinker Tones were fantastic. I'd heard of them while doing preliminary research, so what better way to become acquainted with the music scene here than to see them first? This taste of the music scene has only made me hungry for more. I can't wait to see what this city really has to offer.