I’m still devoted to the ‘solo performer or a band’ standard regarding the selection for the main Top50 list but the truth is, if I wasn’t that stubborn the list would be topped by a compilation. One of these compilations below.
That said best release of the year. Four bands (Gaf Y La Estrella De La Muerte, Conjunto Podenco, Pumuky, Saletile), two tracks per band. The perfect combination of four different approaches united by the commonly shared vision that only Canarians (and the Gaf bandleader/ Keroxen co-head Mladen Kurajica) can share. Gaf's "Watashi Wa Tako" is the best track I have listened to this year.
The indie label No Aloha Records has started its activity with this quite unexpected tribute to late American singer-songwriter - and this is that rare tribute where every cover version reflects simultaneously the persons of both author of the song and the musician who reimagines it.
The huge 52 track tribute to one of the most critically acclaimed indie bands of the world. No surprise at all that this attempt was taken by the [world's best] record store Ultra-Local Records well-known for its friendship ties with Yo La Tengo. There is a suggestion that this comp says more about Spanish underground than of the Hoboken three-piece.
