Compact Vinyl: Vinyl and CD on the same disc

The Compact Vinyl is a surprising format. There’s only been another release like this in the world.
One side carries a song in vinyl, which can be played on a turntable. The other side is a CD with the whole record, which can be played in a regular player.

The cover

The album cover photo was made in Asturias, Spain, but that’s not the biggest surprise. It’s a 1955 Cadillac Eldorado, and the incredible part of the story is that it belonged to Ava Gardner!

The songs

The title track, “Suitcase Full Of Dreams”, could be a trip on that Cadillac, through the red leaf forests of New England. There’s also a notable detail: it’s sung in both English and Asturian. Don’t be fooled by the soft beginning. There’s a lot of music and emotions ahead.

“Everybody Came To Your Party (But You Were Gone)” begins with some foot stomps in the wooden stage of sorely missed Ca Beleño (Asturias, Spain), drenched in tape echo. It’s a song about those who have gone, and those who stay to bid them farewell.

Another surprise: “Thirteen”, originally recorded by the legendary Alex Chilton-fronted band Big Star. It’s the first time we record a cover in the studio. A fantastic horn section, with Juan Flores and Miguel Herrero, is here to stay. We wanted to pay homage to Big Star creating a full-band, electric version of this song.

Finally, “Don’t Count Me Out”, the song that also appears on the vinyl side of the disc, and possibly our favorite. A battle cry and a celtic-soul mood that will take you to another era. The wood of the guitar and the metal of the horns. And our 1959 Hammond organ, brought from the USA to Spain by boat.

The album and the recording studio

This is the first album conceived from start to finish in our own recording studio, Satélite Estudios. We have custom-tailored the studio to our band, carefully choosing every piece of equipment in order to achieve the sound that we were looking for.

We take full advantage of both digital and analogue technology. Every mix goes through transformers and tubes, that “obsolete” tech that it’s still as current today as it was in the Fifties. And the recordings all start with the band playing together, face to face.

The album was recorded and mixed by Jorge Otero and Juanjo Zamorano, except the horn section recorded by Miguel Herrero at Acme Estudios. As is customary with our records, Jorge Otero is the producer.

Finally, we took a trip to Metropolis Mastering (London), to get the seal of approval of one of the world’s best mastering engineers: the legendary Tim Young. And, of course, to enjoy the pleasure of listening to our work in his spectacular, 2-metre tall PMC monitors. Such an experience!