Els Amics De Les Arts

Heavily inspired by French film director Jean-Luc Godard, Els Amics de les Arts' fusion of Spanish folk, avant-garde pop, and electronica with pun-laden lyrics and ironic humor has helped them to become one of the Catalan music scene's most critically acclaimed outfits. Formed in Barcelona in 2005, the band, which consists of lead vocalist Eduard Costa, guitarist Joan Enric Barceló, bassist Ferran Piqué, and pianist Dani Alegret, released its debut album, Catalonautes, in the same year, and slowly became a word-of-mouth success thanks to several appearances at various Catalan festivals. Roulotte Polar and Castafiore Cabaret followed in 2007 and 2008, respectively, but it was their 2009 fourth effort, Bed & Breakfast, that gained the most attention, winning both the Enderrock Critics' Best Album and Radio 4's Best Catalan Album of the Year awards. In 2011 they received their highest level of mainstream exposure when they appeared with Spanish actor Q**m Gutiérrez in an advertisement for Estrella Damm. ~ Jon O'Brien, Rovi