by Eva Sanchez Garcia and Rosa Vicente Merino

Madrid is the perfect place to have fun! There are plenty of places where you can dance, do some tourism, eat tapas, drink vermús, wine or beers… till early hours in the morning. Do not have any doubts about coming to visit us in Madrid: it truly is an ideal place to enjoy a short break. What is more: something has been going on at Madrid in the past months on the indiepop scene. Different collectives have put their efforts together and are managing to create something relevant regarding this music. These groups, most commonly formed by volunteers and friends who do it all just for the sake of music, are bringing more and more interesting bands to play to our city. At the same time, a lot of new and great local bands have come out, and they play live as much as they can, also with the help of the collectives mentioned above, to show everybody what they’re up to. Plus, a Popfest is being celebrated since 2011 on March every year. This all means that the city is buzzing with indie gigs every week. We’ve also got beautiful areas to walk around, plenty of art galleries, the indie spirit blooming in Malasaña, with its nice shops and second hand, vintage stores, the best bars and ‘terrazas’ for tapas… Just come over, take a walk and discover all that awaits for you in Madrid! ¡Bienvenido!

Drummers Club
Contra Club, 16 Calle Bailen, 10pm-6am
Drummers Club is formed by Paloma Cool Club and Pedro Cool Club, well known Spanish 60s and soul DJs that together with the best guest DJs from Spain and overseas bring you the best sounds in original vinyls only. They promise "a trip to the most obscure sixties sounds with rare soul, freakbeat, garage, psyche, R&B and much more in the wild and crazy night of Madrid."
(www.myspace.com/drummers_club)

Garaje Sónico
12 C/ san Andres (plaza 2 de Mayo), Madrid, Spain, 28004. Tues - Sat: 22:00 - 3:00.
Two rooms, one rock/punk and the other one with pop. Located in Malasaña.
(www.myspace.com/garajesonico)

La Vía Láctea
18 Velarde, Madrid, 28004. Mon- Thurs 19:30-03:00, Fri-Sat 19:30-03:30
From 1979, it is a point for the "movida madrileña". When there were no other place like this, all modern people came here. Located in Malasaña. All underground people in Madrid has been here. At the first floor, rock/alternative/indie; below, 50s, 60s, twist.

Club Zombie
Sala Heineken, 1 Princesa, 28008 Madrid
Weekly rock club, held every Wednesday.
(www.zombiestudio.es)

Low Club
Pirandello 1 C/ Martín de Los Heros ,14 ó C/ Princesa 3. Metro: Plaza de España
Ongoing program that includes residences by such names as Ed Banger and DJs of the likes of Boys Noize and Rex The Dog; from Felix Da Housecat to Steve Aoki and Ellen AllIen. All in all, a monthly review of the best artists on the international nightclub scene. Dancing in a very special place where the vanguard of the city dances in a hall with a kind of retro air. A Thursday every month there is a special event called Sal un Jueves al Mes with concerts.
(www.myspace.com/lowclub)

Club Elefant
The first Saturday of every month, Elefant records organises an event at Siroco venue, with two or more concerts of the bands that belong to the Elefant label and DJ sessions.
(www.facebook.com/#!/elefantclub)

Fotomatón
2 Plaza del Conde de Toreno. Metro: Plaza de España. Open From Wednesday to Saturday. 10:00 pm to 3.30 a.m.
They’ve got live gigs almost every day of the week and the best indie dj-ing, plus documentary and films projections to beat the Sunday blues. Bands that have played here are Wild Honey, Coffe & Wine, Clovis, Antonna, Boat Beam, Ameba, Ally Kerr, Kevin McGrother, Lois Casino, Rusos Blancos, Band A Part, Zipper, My Little Pony, At Swimm Two Birds...
(www.facebook.com/fotomatonbar)

TupperWare Bar
26 C/ Corredera Alta de San Pablo. Metro: Tribunal.
Mon - Wed: 21:00 - 3:00; Thu - Sát: 20:00 - 3:30; Sun: 20:00 - 3:00
Indie sessions, pop, rock, 60’s, indie new bands...don’t miss the decoration of the club!! Open 365 days. It was their 15th anniversary at 2010, it is a rock temple post Movida. At the beginning it was a place for the Madrid underground. Decoration related with pop, kitsch universe. It was one of the first locals (together with Maravillas, that dissapeared) playing indie pop music.
(www.facebook.com/Tupperwarebar)

Nasti
33 Calle de San Vicente Ferrer
Thu de 23:00 a 5:00 / Fri de 1:00 a 6:00 / Sat de 24:00 a 6:00
DJ-sessions all night long, live gigs every weekend…. Great music, plenty of style and loads of fun, at the heart of Malasaña. The place to be after 3am (so try to get a bit earlier to avoid the queue!). Their nights can be very different depending on the collective that organizes the event or the DJ.
(www.facebook.com/pages/EL-NASTI)

Picnic
1 C/ Minas. Metro: Noviciado, Plaza España. Mon - Thu: 17:00 - 1:30; Fri:17:00 - 2:00; Sat: 16:30 - 2:00; Sun: 16:30 - 1:30
From September 2008. Pop, rock, indie, folk, clássic 80s y 90s, soul, 60s. Dinners, coffee, drinks, music, and free gigs of new bands.
(www.facebook.com/pages/Picnic)

Ocho y Medio
13 C/ Mesonero Romanos (esquina 34 Gran Vía). Metro: Gran Via. Fridays: 1:00 - 6:00
From 2000. Funny place for dancing all the night. DJ sessions, concerts. DJs and bands that have placed here are: The Ting Tings, Franz Ferdinand DJ set, Arctic Monkeys DJ set, Lady Gaga, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Those Dancing Days, Stereo Total, Ladyhawke, Delorean, Joe Crepúsculo, Astrud, Chico y Chica, L Kan.
(www.myspace.com/ochoymedio)

Rock and Roll Radio Club
44 C/ Barquillo, Madrid, Metro: Alonso Martinez, Thursday, Friday, Sáturday: 22:00 – 06:00.
Gigs and jam sessions in this live music venue.
(www.rockandrollradioclub.com)

Costello
10 C/Caballero de Gracia, Madrid
Nice place to listen live music. Coctails, picture and cinema expositions, two floors.
(www.costelloclub.com)

Moby Dick
5 Avenida del Brasil, Madrid, Spain, 28020
Mon - Weds: 21:00 - 4:00, Thurs - Sat :21:00 - 5:30
Some bands who played here recently are: Girls, Richard Hawley, Loveninjas, Micah P. Hinson, Liars, Irene, Ladybug Transistor...
(www.myspace.com/mobydickclub)

El Sol
C/ Jardines, 3 28013 Madrid, Spain.Wed-Thu 11pm-5am; Fri-Sat 11pm-6am
Medium size venue. Bands that have played here include Stereolab, Neil Hannon, Camera Obscura, Dominique A, At Swimm Two Birds…
(www.elsolmad.com)

Neu! Club
100 C/Galileo
Neu Club has been programming concerts of bands and artist as Micah P. Hinson, Casiotone For The Painfully Alone, Suburban Kids With Biblical Names, Momus, Joanna Newsom, Saturday Looks Good To Me, Dean And Britta, The Clientele, Templeton, Wild Honey. This club will be finishing their activities next June 2012, after fantastic 5 years doing their best for live music in Madrid.
(www.neuclub.es)

Siroco
3 Calle de San Dimas
Reggea, hip hop and dance live shows alongside rock gigs. The likes of El Guincho have played here.
(www.siroco.es)

Caracol
18 C/ Bernardino Obregón, Madrid
Everything from metal to dub and funk in this venue, although the focus is primarily on metal. Laibach and Funeral For A Friend have played here.
(www.salacaracol.com)

Heineken
1 Calle de la Princesa, 28008 Madrid
All-purpose live venue. Best Coast, The Ravenonettes, Bill Callahan, Tricky, The Wedding Presents, etc, have played here.
(www.salaheineken.com)

Joy Eslava
Old theatre that now houses concerts and gigs.
(www.joy-eslava.com)

Circulo de Bellas Artes
42 Alcalá. Metro Bco España/ Sevilla
Expositions, coffe, theatre, cinema, gigs…
(www.circulobellasartes.com)

Circo Price
35 Ronda de Atocha, 28012 Madrid
A permanant circus theatre that also hosts live shows. Bon Jovi, The Human League, etc, have played here.
(www.teatrocircoprice.es)

La Riviera
Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto, 28005 Madrid. Metro: Ppe Pío.
Just for concerts and gigs.
(www.salariviera.com)

Truman
3 C/ Santa Teresa. (Metro Alonso Martínez).Fri-Sat from 23:00 to 03:30.
(www.facebook.com/TrumanSC)

Wurlitzer Ballroom
12 Calle de las 3 Cruces, Tusday to Sunday, 22.30-5.30; Friday and Saturday till 6:00
Free, cheap drinks, people come here when the other bars are closing, so go before that to avoid to wait.
(www.myspace.com/wurlitzerballroom)

Tres Cuartos
34 C/ Jesús del Valle. (Metro Tribunal)
Indie, tecno, pop, electrónica, 80s, in this bar located in Malasaña. Cheap drinks, thematic parties.
(www.tres-cuartos.com) .

Lolina Vintage
9 Calle del Espíritu Santo.
Cafe serving teas, coffees, cakes, with 60s music and lovely decoration over two floors.
(www.lolinacafe.com)

Home Bar
30 C/Fomento, Madrid. Metro: Pza España. Fri, Sat: 23:00-3:30
This bar is set up as a tribute to Depeche Mode, with decoration and a soundtrack to suit.

Freeway Bar
7 Calle San Vicente Ferrer. Malasaña. Tues-Sat until 3am.
Cool indie bar in Malasaña.

Up Beat Discos
6 Calle del Espíritu Santo
Soul, jazz and reggae at this stylish modernist hang out.
(www.upbeat.es)

CD Drome
6 Pozas, Madrid
Pop, rock and electronica at this CD store. There's also a CD Drome branch in Barcelona.
(www.cddrome.com)

Radio City
1 Plaza de los Guardias de Corps, Madrid.
Very special record shop, with a fantastic taste in CDs and vinyl.
(www.radiocitydiscos.com)

Big Mama
22 Calle del Divino Pastor
Named after Big Mama Thornton, this shop specialises in soul, blues, gospel, funk, and hip hop.
(www.bigmammacdshop.com/tienda.html)

Rotor Discos
40 Calle Gran Vía, 6? 1
Techno, electronica, ambient, house, industrial and more.
(www.rotordiscos.com)

Fnac
28 Calle de Preciados

Discos Melocotón
10 C/ Salud

Toni Martin Discos
18 Calle Martín de los Heros
Established in 1976, this shop covers country, blues, pop, world music, soul, Americana and more.
(www.tonimartindiscos.com)

Escridiscos
4 Calle Navas de Tolosa, Madrid.
From 1977. During the 'Movida Madrileña', this shop was the one that imported all new wave and punk new stuff from UK. Many Madrid bands used to visit the shop to buy this imported things and to bring their own LP's to the shop for selling. LPs and 7". Oldies, Sixties, Progressive, Psychedelic, American, Indie, Spanish Pop and Indie Pop.
(www.escridiscos.net)

Metralleta
Plaza de las Descalzas
One of the first second hand record stores of Madrid. Subterranean shop, located in a parking, you can locate rare stuff here.All types of music.Vinyl, seven inches, CDs, even cassettes and VHS. Selection of collectors’ LPs and many CDs starting at just €1.
(www.discoslametralleta.es)

Discos Babel
5 Calle de Costanilla de Los Ángeles
Good selection of punk, rock'n'roll, garage, blues etc, on vinyl.
(www.discosbabel.com)

Bangla Desh
5 Costanilla de los Ángeles
From 1982. Specialises in second hand viny and seven inches.
(www.bangladeshdiscos.com)

Portobello Discos
12 Calle Espíritu Santo
Second hand vinyl, CDs, cassettes, VHS.
(www.portobellodiscos.es)

La Gramola
4 C/ Postigo de San Martín
Vinyls, seven inches, even cassettes and VHS. All styles. All music lovers should visit this store.

Rock & Roll Circus
4 C/ Conchas
Indie, Power Pop, Sixties, Oldies. Vinyl and CDs. The name of the shop is taken from the Rolling Stones LP and movie. More rock oriented than pop oriented although you can find rare pop stuff also. Owner friendly with very good knowledge of what he is selling.

Casbah Records
19 Calle Cava Alta, 28005 Madrid.
Rare and deleted soul, funk, jazz, library and exotica.
(www.casbahrecords.com)

Sun Records
8 Plaza Santo Domingo, Madrid
(www.sunrecords.net)

Commercial Records
78 Calle Palma, Madrid.
Punk, garage-trash, post-hardcore, post-punk, industrial, noise rock, neo psychedelia, doom metal or post-rock, indiepop. Vinyl, CDs, EPs, music books and DVDs.
(www.commercial-records.com)

Espacio UFI
Plaza Matute, 12. Madrid.
200m2 - around 18.000 spanish references and more from 4AD, Cargo, Chemical Underground, Cooperative, Domino,Drag City, Fania, Far out, Freméaux, Harmonia Mundi, K7, Matador, Mute, Pias, Putumayo, Soul Jazz, Too Pure, Wall of sound, Warp and World circuit.

La Integral
León 25 Madrid.
Located in ‘Huertas’ area, La Integral is a shop where you can find some products of independent designers, artists and labels, from Madrid. You can find there CDs, LPs, EOs, cassettes, fanzines, and also some other nice and pretty things of independent designers.
(www.laintegral25.com)

Discos Khurcius
C/ Concepción Arenal, 4 - 2ºExt. Dcha. Madrid.
New CDs and vinyl. All styles: Jazz, soul, pop, rock, metal, punk, reggae, electrónica, world music.
(www.khurcius.es)

Cuervo Music
C/ Velarde,13. Madrid.
Vinyls, CDs, expositions.
(www.cuervomusic.es)

Zipper
Madrid's answer to Talulah Gosh - short, sharp fuzzy pop songs and lots of fun.
(www.myspace.com/grupozipper)

Band à Part
Super perky tweepop duo. Not to be confused with the five piece Madrid metalcore band The Band Apart.
(www.myspace.com/bandaparte)

Wild Honey
Gorgeous Clientele-style noise from this super cool duo.
(www.myspace.com/wildhoneysongs)

Lois Casino
Pristine jangle pop from this female-fronted, Sarah Records-influenced outfit.
(www.myspace.com/loiscasino)

Capitán Sunrise
Suave indiepop fivesome.
(http://capitansunrise.bandcamp.com)

Los Autocratas
Fuzzed up indiepop five piece.
(www.myspace.com/autocrataspop)

Raul Querido
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone-style electronica from this solo artist.
(www.myspace.com/septiembreberlin)

Tiger & Milk
Named, we assume, after B&S's debut album, this acoustic quintet sport bizarre hats and facial make up in their live You Tube videos.
(http://tigerandmilk.bandcamp.com/)

Hazte Lapón
Sonic Youth and Pavement influenced college rock from this fivesome.
(www.myspace.com/haztelapon)

Alborotador Gomasio
Lovelorn acoustica.
(www.myspace.com/alborota)

Ingenieros Alemanes
Elegaic post rock.
(www.myspace.com/losingenierosalemanes)

Hola A Todo El Mundo
Somewhere between Fleet Foxes and Arcade Fire, this six piece offer expansive Americana.
(www.myspace.com/holaatodoelmundo)

Russian Red
Pseudonym of indiefolk songwriter Lourdes Hernández, often called the Spanish Feist.
(www.myspace.com/russianready)

Los Punsetes
Five piece influenced by The Church, Wire, Beat Happening, The Kinks, Joy Division, The Byrds, Spacemen 3, Television Personalities, The Chills, etc.
(www.myspace.com/lospunsetes)

Ultranol
Named, we also assume, after the Blur b-side, this Madrid band offer poppy electronica.
(www.myspace.com/ultranol)

Alaska y Dinarama
Now defunct Spanish electropop band.
(www.alaskaydinarama.com)

La bien querida
Pop romantic Ana Fernández-Villaverde.
(www.myspace.com/labienquerida)

L Kan
Soul-influenced indie pop.
(www.lkan.com)

Clovis
Spanish music collective formed in New York by Fino Oyonarte and Cristina Plaza.
(www.clovis.es)

Bla
Electropop duo best known for "Yo Soy Como Portugal".
(www.last.fm/music/bla)

Burning
Springsteen-eque rock.
(www.burningmadrid.com)

Derribos Arias
Eighties post punk band.
(www.myspace.com/derribosarias)

The Secret Society
Post rock trio.
(www.myspace.com/lasociedadsecreta

Live In the Living
Periodically there are scheduled concerts in the living rooms of people's houses. More info about next plans here:
(www.liveintheliving.nl)

Madrid Popfest
Madrid Popfest is a new festival that is celebrated each year (approximately by mid of March). In its first edition (2011), eleven different bands played: Zipper, Los Autocratas, Horowitz, The Orchids, Allo Darlin´, Band à Part, The Blanche Hudson Weekend, Cola Jet Set, Aias, Fred i Son and Tender Trap.
(http://madridpopfest.com)

Pacific Street
Pacific Street is Miguel and he loves music and organizes gigs of the bands he loves and who are not easy to be seen in Madrid. He has brought to our city artists/bands like The Bats, Momus, Amor De Dias, The Just Joans, Harvey Williams, The Felt Tips, Northern Portrait, Butcher Boy, Go Kart Mozart. Check here his planned gigs, and if you are lucky, you will see one of our favorite bands in Madrid!
(www.facebook.com/#!/pacific.street)

La Fonoteca
La Fonoteca is a collective focused in documenting information about Spanish bands. They do this through their website and also with their very much visited blog. They also have a label in which they release songs by new national bands, and organize concerts for them at least twice a month. You can check the last updates from this fantastic collective here:
(http://lafonoteca.net/)

Matadero Madrid
Plaza de Legazpi, 8. Metro: Legazpi (Línea 3).
It is a live and creative place for arts. Focused to support the culture of today and of the future. Check the web for further info about expositions, cinema, live music…
(www.mataderomadrid.org)

La Tabacalera de Lavapies
DIY Social center located in the old tobacco Factory from Lavapies. Info about the expositions, conferences, trainings, etc.
(www.latabacalera.net)

La Casa Encendida
La Casa Encendida is a social and cultural centre. It houses tranings, workshops,and also cinema, expostitions, concerts, theatre.. You can obtain all the info about the daily activities here:
(www.lacasaencendida.es)

Aplasta Tus Gafas de Pasta/Discos Calabaza
Aplasta tus Gafas de Pasta are a collective formed by people focused in helping mainly local bands that are starting. They have a web page that they use to promote these bands with interviews, releasing eps with their songs, organizing gigs, sessions and parties. Also, as a complementary activitie of this collective, a new small label has born in Madrid called Discos Calabaza. With noise pop, shoegaze influences, they have released their first reference in February. They also program parties and concerts.
(aplastatusgafasdepasta.blogspot.com)
(discoscalabaza.blogspot.com)

Gramaciones Grabofónicas
Gramaciones Grabofónicas is a Madrid label that started its activities in 2006. They have released CD, CD-R, LPs for some Madrid bands like Ataque de Caspa, Antonna, ¡Pelea!. They also program concerts and sessions in some Madrid clubs.
(gramacionesgrabofonicas.com)

If you'd like to recommend a club, bar, record shop, band or any indie delight for inclusion in the Indie Travel Guide, please email us. If we've included a link to your band/shop etc, it would be lovely if you could link back to us. Thank you!