Power Burkas "Llarga Vida Al Taranna"

Power Burkas "Llarga Vida Al Taranna" (p)2016 BCore Disc

A couple of weeks ago we were sitting on a couch in the hotel room in Barcelona. We were drinking wine and listening to the local radio station iCat.cat via the plasma TV set giving ourselves the rest after daylong walk through the streets of the beautiful city. There was a program called Songhunt on the radio, and there was some band presented in this program. This band caught my attention but I couldn't realize the name so I shazamed a track and discovered that the band's name was Power Burkas. Then I searched for the name in facebook and it was revealed to me that Power Burkas had just released their new album through the BCore Disc label. I was like 'Holy fuck, we've just visited BCore store, we've just visited Ultra-Local record store - I remember this sleeve, I saw this album in both stores! If I only knew, if I only learned of them before!'

The band delivers highly energetic and overtly melodic amalgamation of punk, power pop, hardcore and 1st wave emo. The full-throttle shout-outs ("Potser", "Atzucac" and "20") befriend slower tracks ("Senat", "Gerard Quintana") here along with growndbreaking numbers ("Miracles del Passat", "Pares Fills I Nets"). At their funnier side they remind me of the 90's independent combos such as Camber and Knapsack while at the most hard-punching moments you may recall Melvins or even Fudge Tunnel.

Overall, Power Burkas have managed to absorb the best features of the labelmates Cuello and Nueva Vulcano in adition to fellow countrymen Las Ruinas and Juventud Juche. The first contender to the Banda Revelacion prize of this year.

The best tracks: Sangoneres, Ferralla, La Missio De L'home Es Ser Patro, Miracles Del Passat

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BUY/LISTEN on BCore Disc bandcamp page

Kasparov vs Deep Blue "Flare"

Kasparov vs Deep Blue "Flare" (p)2015 self-released

The post-rock band Kasparov vs Deep Blue made its debut two years ago with the nameless EP that contained the track that almost made my year 2014 - "Big Eyes", the song with the catchy tune, massive guitar sound and the athmosphere that brings you somewhere in between the first album of A Jealous Sound and Trail Of Dead's "Worlds Apart". Now the Buraglese post-rockers return with their first full lenght release to show their abilities in the broader format.
To put it short, it doesn't contain the hit comparable to "Big Eyes" - but it's the only complaint to "Flare". The more important is that Kasparov vs Deep Blue evidently get quite close to my all-time international faves Failure in terms of sound pallette and controls over it. The album sounds really great, the well-balanced and perfectly nuanced guitars interact with the touches of the 'message-from-the-outer-space'-sounding synths to the wonderful results, and it can bring your head far away from where you are. So please don't listen to this album in the headphones while travelling if your way to the certain point implies multiple junctions or connection stations, cos in the end you may find yourself somewhere in the place you've never intended to arrive to.

The best tracks: Buzz Aldrin, Cold Distance, Same Moon, Wish

LISTEN/BUY/DOWNLOAD

Kasparov vs Deep Blue - Buzz Aldrin (Estreno MondoSonoro) from Kasparov vs Deep Blue on Vimeo.

Best of 2016. Top10 albums of Q1

The 1st trimester of 2016 is gone, so it's time to prepare the first top list of the year, isn't it?! Exactly! Now, while we're still waiting for the new slabs by Leon Benavente, La Habitacion Roja and Sr. Chinarro, there's enough to embrace apart of them. The new albums of Belako, Triangulo de Amor Bizarro, Full, Miss Caffeina, Grises, Hinds, Love Of Lesbian are already out - and you know what? None of them is in my list!

10. Niño Burbuja "El Futuro No Existe" (p)self released

09. Tucan Morgan "Moon Cabaret Rooms" (p)self-released

08. We Were Heading North "We Were Heading North" (p)El Hombre Bala

07. Odio Paris "Cenizas Y Flores" (p)Mushroom Pillow

06. Parade "Demasiado Humano" (p)Jabalina Musica

05. Kasparov vs Deep Blue "Flare" (p)self released

04. Power Burkas "Llarga Vida Al Taranna" (p)BCore Disc

03. Sorry Kate "Haven Hood" (p)Foehn

02. Trinidad "Karma" (p)El Hombre Bala

01. Viva Suecia "La Fuerza Mayor" (p)Subterfuge

Tucan Morgan "Moon Cabaret Rooms"

Tucan Morgan "Moon Cabaret Rooms" (p)2016 self-released

After two EPs (the first one was produced by Brian Hunt, the second was mastered by Manuel Cabezali) the metropolitan band Tucan Morgan has released their first longplay - this time produced by Charlie Bautista. With the creative efforts controlled/fine-tuned by such the renowned persons it's apparent that the band is worth a listen, and after I picked up this album once (quite occasionally) it became apparent to me that the band is worth more than just one occasional listen. 

Despite quite old school country/blues approach (at times it seems like Tucan Morgan would perfectly fit for some motorcycle gang saloons lost in the prairie) this music has a room for fantasy, there is enough space to think these songs further. A good feature for cinematography.

The best tracks: "Ghost", "Move On Fast", "All Is Going Well", "Plateau"

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Trinidad "Karma"

Trinidad "Karma" (p)2015 El Hombre Bala

The Replacements. Sebadoh in their rawest (more Eric Gaffney and Jake Loewenstein, less Lou Barlow), Zuzu's Petals (the long-forgotten 90's band of Paul Westerberg's ex-wife Laurie Lindeen), Scout Niblett on speed. Lo-fi? No, mostly it's no-fi. Fuck Wavves, fuck Hinds. It's the real spontaniety and the real honesty transmitted to this world through the mind and soul of the real riot grrrl. This album is mindblowingly fucking cool.

The best tracks: Puto Retrasado Emocional De Mierda, Autoengano A Terceros, Love Song #2, El Jardin Del Gatillazo

FREE DOWNLOAD

The Best Of 2015. The One And Only #1

See also:

11x11 (EP's and mini albums)

10x10

9x9

8x8

7x7

6x6

5x5

4x4

3x3
2x2

With this last post of the year I'm going to tell you what album is on the top of the list. I could make some kind of secret, or a prank ("Hey! It's PXXR GVNG!!!") out of it, but it's apparent that the best album in Spanish rock music this year is Pumuky's "Justicia Poetica". According to this blog, it was on the very top since the day it was presented to public, and nothing in this world could put it down.

Pumuky "Justicia Poetica" (p)2015 Jabalina Musica Listen/Buy

The Best Of 2015. Editor's Pick

See also:

11x11 (EP's and mini albums)

10x10

9x9

8x8

7x7

6x6

5x5

4x4

3x3
2x2

Dorian "Diez Anos Y Un Dia" (p)I*M Records Buy Listen
Igloo "Igløø2" (p)Ernie Producciones Listen/Buy

Before the name of the one and only best album of the year 2015 is revealed I should declare two more albums that really made my year. In fact, for me and my small family these are the most played albums at home or in our car (or in a car rented while travelling by Spain). It is my decision to put them in the separate category as the songs they contain (mostly) aren't new. But these are not the compilations in the pure sense of the term because every old song is rethought, remade and refaced. In other words, both bands made some kind of the cover versions of their own songs in a way which was apparently different to these bands' modi operandi.  So I have no idea how to treat these albums in terms of categorization.
Anyway, this is not the most important thing about "Diez Anos Y Un Dia" and "Igløø2". The main thing is that Igloo and Dorian sound absolutely natural in the new found formats and it gives an additional dimension to their art. Which means that if they were already three-dimensional before this, then now they are the tesseracts.