Search - Spanish Prisoners :: Songs To Forget

The musical collective Spanish Prisoners, based in Brooklyn, NY is fronted by Leonid Maymind, songwriter, singer, and orchestrator. Born in Latvia, Leo emigrated with his family to New Orleans as a child. The music created by Maymind is as unique and varied as the cities where he has lived---and the journey embarked on all those years ago is apparent throughout. Using an expansive arsenal of instruments (ranging from banjo, accordion, dobro, wheezing harmonica, electronics, etc.) and an extensive cast of collaborators, Mayminds music conjures up the quiet anger of Neil Youngs On the Beach, the lyrical mysticism of Leonard Cohens Songs from a Room, Dylans oft-discussed Basement Tapes, and the pseudo-psychotic musings of Charles Thompson. This debut record contains songs that were mostly recorded alone in a meager basement studio in Columbus, Ohio late at night when the neighborhood was silent. Other songs were recorded with such analog luminaries as Jack Mckeever (Rufus Wainright ), Jim Diamond (White Stripes). One final song was recorded with Todd Tobias of Guided by Voices fame. While naming an album Songs to Forget may appear at first to be a common indierock form of self-deprecation---dont be fooled! The songs contained herein will not allow you to forget the music but, rather, time, place, and age; they stand their ground in a world of quick fixes and plastic synthetic futures.