Manel is an indie pop

Indie pop

Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...

 band from Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

 who sing in Catalan

Catalan language

Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...

. They released their first album in 2008. They describe their musical style as a synthesis of pop and folk music

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

. Critics have linked their style to that of other Catalan-speaking musicians such as Pau Riba, Jaume Sisa

Jaume Sisa

Jaume Sisa is a Catalan singer-songwriter, who defines himself as Galactic.His most famous work is the song Qualsevol nit pot sortir el sol from his eponymous album, released in 1975....

, and Antònia Font

Antònia Font

Antònia Font is a Majorcan band, formed in 1997. They are characterized by their festive music and their humorous and fantastic lyrics. The group's creative universe includes elements such as outer space and astronautics, combined with themes from everyday life...

.

History

The members of Manel met while attending Costa i Llobera school in Barcelona. They first came to public attention as finalists in the 2007 Sona9 music competition, in which they were awarded the Premi Joventut. With the prize money they were able to cover the production costs of their debut album, Els millors professors europeus (The Best European Professors), whose title alludes to a lyric of the song Pla quinquennal. The album, recorded at Estudis Nòmada 57 between June and October 2007 and produced by Discmedi, was released the following year to critical acclaim. The Catalan magazine Enderrock pronounced it the best pop-rock album of the year. In its issue of January 2009, Rockdelux

Rockdelux

Rockdelux is a popular music magazine published monthly in Spain.Rockdelux was first published in November 1984, and since then has accumulated over 200 editions, celebrating its 200th in October 2002, when it released a list of the 200 greatest international albums of all time, according to the...

 described it as the third best Spanish album of the previous year, while the magazine MondoSonoro rated it the seventh-best.

The video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 for Dona estrangera, directed by Sergi Pérez Mañas, was awarded the prize for best video at the 2008 Cinemad festival.

Apart from the songs featured on Els millors professors europeus, the group's repertoire includes cover versions of No t'enyoro by Els Pets

Els Pets

Els Pets is a Catalan pop rock band with lead singer, composer and guitarist Lluís Gavaldà from the village of Constantí . Joan Reig plays drums and Falin Cáceres bass. At present, the band has the collaboration of the musicians Joan-Pau Chaves , David Muñoz and Brad Jones...

, La Tortura

La Tortura

"" is a Latin pop-reggaeton song performed by singers Shakira and Alejandro Sanz. It was recorded for Shakira's sixth studio album , released on June 7, 2005...

by Shakira

Shakira

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...

, and Common People by Pulp

Pulp (band)

Pulp are an English alternative rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker , Russell Senior , Candida Doyle , Mark Webber , Steve Mackey and Nick Banks ....

.

Their second album, from which two songs (Aniversari and Boomerang) were released in February 2011, went on sale on 15 March 2011 titled 10 milles per veure una bona armadura. In ten days, it became the best-selling album in Spain.

Members

• Arnau Vallvé: vocals, percussion.
• Martí Maymó: vocals, bass, double bass, clarinet, recorder.
• Roger Padilla: vocals, guitar, banjo, melodica, mandolin, ukulele.
• Guillem Gisbert: lead vocals, ukulele.

Discography

• 10 milles per veure una bona armadura (2011)

1. Benvolgut, 4:15.
2. La cançó del soldadet, 3:57.
3. El gran salt, 3:21.
4. Boomerang, 5:07.
5. La bola de cristall, 4:11.
6. Aniversari, 4:29.
7. Flor groga, 3:57.
8. Criticarem les noves modes de pentinats, 6:06.
9. El Miquel i l'Olga tornen, 3:39.
10. Deixa-la, Toni, deixa-la, 6:22.

• Els millors professors europeus (2008)

1. "En la que el Bernat se't troba", 4:19.
2. "Avís per a navegants", 2:46.
3. "Ai, Dolors", 3:19.
4. "Pla quinquennal", 2:58.
5. "Roma", 3:45.
6. "Captatio benevolentiae", 4:19.
7. "Nit freda per ser abril", 4:21.
8. "Al mar!", 3:28.
9. "Els guapos són els raros", 3:38.
10. "Dona estrangera", 3:59.
11. "Ceràmiques Guzmán", 3:23.
12. "Corrandes de la parella estable", 7:15.

External links

• Official site Biography and reviews Manel se va de fiesta mayor. Diario El País (August 20, 2009)