After almost four years of preparation (looking for bands, selecting songs, etc... including the steal of the master and starting it all over), at last it’s published the expected tribute album to FELT. A particular homage that ELEFANT RECORDS wants to pay to FELT, no doubt one of the most important bands of the eighties, though I personally think that Lawrence is, has been and will be one of those strange musical genius you can rarely find in a lifetime. Eighteen bands have joined the label to celebrate this singular band and they come from different parts of the Pop Planet to bring us back certain songs that should never be forgotten. Not much more is to be said, here is the record to remember one of the greatest bands in the POP history.

INVOLVED BANDS:

USURA (Spain)
VENUS PETER (Japan)
HULLA HOOP (Usa)
LE MANS (Spain)
SPRING (France)
EVERGREEN DAZED (England)
RED LETTER DAY (Germany)
YEAH JAZZ (England)
THE PEARLY GATEGRASHERS (Australia)
ACID HOUSE KINGS (Sweden)
VICARAGE GARDEN (England)
WHITE TOWN (England)
AUTOMATICS (Spain)
HOME AND ABROAD (England)
DAILY PLANET (Spain)
CLARK SPRINGS (England)
LOS PLANETAS (Spain)
PENELOPE TRIP (Spain)

“I remember that in my first, and shallow, listenings of the FELT records, I had the evil theory that said band was only a cover-up to hide such illustrious characters. By instance, I was convinced that the guitar player of their first formation, who made himself been called Maurice Deebank, he wasn’t other than Tom Verlaine under the influence of a big dose of tranquilizers and discovering us their, until then, unknown classic education. That the keyboards player that used to sing as Martin Duffy in their second stage, was the veteran Al Kooper playing with all kind of ancient musical key-machines. And their singer, and leader, a Lawrence, the one who tried to convince us that he had no surnames, was in fact nothing less than Lou Reed himself. Of course, one knew perfectly that they worked in the New York area and that the idea of them being an English band was nothing but a deception built up by the correspondent label. A clumsy and useless move to outwit because, How could we believe that the most New Yorker band of the eighties were English? Nevetherless, my theory came down in really no time. And not only because of the discovery in a British weekly of a picture of the band (in which I realized at once that any simmilarity between Lawrence and any other human being was nothing but a mere coincidence), but for the extreme peculiarities that I was finding. I was feeling the more intrigued everytime by the complex personality of the leader. That arrogance he showed (“I’ll soon be a star”, he said), that particular despisal for the record business (“Today I publish an Lp just with instrumentals, tomorrow I record a la Satie and maybe later I’ll take on a pop album”), even the titles of their songs (“Everyone I like is dead”), the devotions he showed in his songs naming his favourite characters (Gaudí, Richard Hell, Tom Verlaine) or making covers of their work (Dennis Wilson), and his complex and crazy words, going from the great (“I’ll be the first person in History to die of boredom”) to the autobiographic (almost always written in the first person and with references to unknown places and people) were increasing my interest, that eventually became fanatism. Because, probably, FELT won’t be remembered in History as an innovative band, but as per their particular idiosyncrasy. The one that was both useful for the creation of original sound landscapes, as in the intriguing “Space blues”, and for creating an apocaliptic ode to modern art, as in “The final resting of the ark”. Lawrence gave so much of himself that his songs ended up as real sentimental trips. Even today when I listen to his confessions, I can’t help feeling a bit shamed by his frankness. Never before a name fitted so much a band. FELT, past of to feel. Maybe I should have started by that and I could have saved a lot of lines, couldn’t I?.