среда, 18 декабря 2019 г.

The Best Of 2019. Honorable Mention

As usual, the main list of the best albums is prefaced by the Honorable Mention list.
This time the list consists of 20 albums that are too good to be abandoned but there are some reasons why they are not included into the main list. I’m still feeling sad I can’t write something about every album mentioned below due to time restrictions (as I would like to think) or the horrible truth about deterioration of my English skills (something I’d prefer to avoid thinking of).
Anyway, there are two bands that have decided to call it a day this year. The first one is Tom Boyle. “Mar De Fondo” was intended to be the first in the series of EPs set to release in 2019 but the band abruptly split instead. The next one is Tourmalet. IMHO, “Fausto” is not their strongest effort – but the band was great and it’s sad they ceased to continue.
Clara Plath is back from the maternity leave with the album that set the new direction for the band. If you can imagine acoustic goth rock – that’s what it sounds like. The material of “Oscura” is 50% old/ 50% new and that’s why this album is not in the main list. 
Regarding Delafe’s “Hay Un Lugar”, melodically it’s a great album but it’s too subdued. You know, the music sounds like all the main parts were deleted from the mix during the mixing process, and now you can listen only to the echoes and secondary undertones of what was initially intended to be music. 
The Birkins’ “You Are Not Alone” is a true gem. When I first listened to this 2-disc tribute to Bowie’s immortal masterpiece “The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars” my only emotion could be best expressed by that Futurama's Fry-starred “Shut up and take my money“ old meme. Look, they’ve got Jonathan Donahue in the mix!
And yes - Leon Benavente is in this section. 

En Septiembre «En La Constante Hay Un Bosque» (p)self-released BNDCMP
Grande Days «A Way To Collapse» (p)Elsa Records BNDCMP
Karabash «Societat Accidental» (p)Au! Records BNDCMP
Pauline En La Playa «El Salto» (p)self-released BNDCMP
The Night Animal «La Nocion del Impacto» (p)Orchard SPTF
Latigo Mantra «Diseccion» (p)Delia Records BNDCMP
Los Buges «Rendezvouz» (p)Discos Furia SPTF
Mad Robot «Punch Me, Kiss Me, Fuck You» (p)Endoftheworld/ Borx BNDCMP
Delafe «Hay Un Lugar» (p)self-released SPTF
Leon Benavente «Vamos A Volvernos Locos» (p)Warner SPTF
Blue Rodeo «Universo»/ «Vespertinos» (p)El Hombre Bala/ Los 80 Pasan Factura BND/CMP
Tom Boyle «Mar de Fondo» (p)self-released BNDCMP
Tourmalet «Fausto» (p)self-released BNDCMP
Power Burkas «Mai Nego L'Oci» (p)BCore Disc/ Famelic BNDCMP
Villanueva «Cuarto De Invitados» (p)Son Buenos SPTF
Clara Plath «Oscura» (p)Flor Y Nata BNDCMP
Birkins «You Are Not Alone» (p)El Genio Equivocado BNDCMP
Tucan «Maniacs, Fools & Jaguars» (p)MCR SPTF
Serpiente «Krizanteilu» (p)Humo BNDCMP
Tiger And Milk «Popular» (p)self-released BNDCMP


вторник, 17 декабря 2019 г.

The Best Of 2019. Top10 EPs and mini-albums

Starting this I don't feel good cos for the most part of the year I was pretty silent here. Was it the writer's block or any kind of fatigue (or I was just too lazy) - I didn't manage to maintain the frequency of the posting set by the previous years' experience. But it's the end of the year, and there's a tradition I can't avoid. So please find below 10 amazing albums too small to make it into the main list. I'm not pretty sure about the certain order so let's put it like this: these are the best short form releases of the year with neither particular order nor one and only number one. All of these are great.

AA MamaLlama Cuando Llegues” 
(p)Son Buenos 

ElodieBiologico” 
digital only release

I Am DiveKriegszeit” 
(p)WeAreWolves 

PararrayosRombos o Diamantes
(p)Edita La Servidumbre 

DewinterCold Like The Winter“ 
(p)Musarañas 

Les AtxesError Perfecte” 
(p)El Mamut Traçut/Hidden Track 

Moito!Ingenieria Inversa” 
self-released

NoiseedDark Matter
(p)El Hombre Bala

Walking LandsWe Live And Breathe On The Same Planet” 
(p)Beauty Fool 

Los MarcianosContra El Mundo” 
(p)Clifford 


понедельник, 23 сентября 2019 г.

Sonorama Ribera 2019. The Report

The fifth year in a row we come to Aranda a day prior to the start of the festival. This is because we love to soak up the atmosphere of the old town walking through the empty streets, sitting at the empty squares drinking wine, making photos at the empty Plaza del Trigo with the stage already built up. Avoiding any rush we purchase the food and drinks in the empty supermarket. We visit “La Cantinaccia” restaurant whose chief administrator Francisco we befriend – and it’s quite unattended as well. The next 5 days it would only serve for musicians and executives – but now, a day before the storm begins, it’s quiet and relatively unattended. The only place that’s not gonna change with the Sonorama virus breaking out and contaminating the area is our hotel “Kinedomus”. Samuel – the host and our friend after all these years – arranges such the calm and peaceful location that it appears like the perfect place to survive the fest. Just imagine: you’re jumping, you’re slamming, you’re running, you’re singing, you’re shouting, you’re freaking out for some like 8 hours in a row and finally you get totally worn out. Then you come to the place that is all about tranquility, and the only sound you can hear is the nature sounds. You sleep well and recharge your batteries for the new day challenges. The hotel offers the spa, the gym and the pool services but usually we have no possibility to use either of them due to the constant lack of time. At times we see other guests taking sunbaths at the pool between the morning and the night sections of concerts (yeah, ‘the morning section’ sounds like a joke as it lasts from 12 p.m to 17 p.m). But the locals are way more relaxed than us as they’ve got no urge to see as much performances as possible – the urge we’ve surely got. That’s because for the Spanish people Sonorama is one of the hundreds of festivals around. For us it’s the ONLY one. So we’ve got no time to rest. We can only change the clothes in between the sections and then direct our tired bodies to the new experiences.

***

Despite the list of actions we are taking on a regular basis, as compared to all the previous Sonoramas this Sonorama would stand alone. With six festivals behind our backs we’re getting in contact with many persons around – musicians or music lovers/festival goers. It’s quite usual for us to do all these greetings, embraces and hi-fivings while walking around. We could even get involved in a company of friends for some time and float on from stage to stage being surrounded by familiar faces and treated like the part of the team. But this time we would be going to be (with this ‘be’ being strictly emphasized) the part of the team from the very beginning – and throughout the fest. Gloria would arrive to Aranda from Benavente at Wednesday, the 07th. Eva would arrive to Aranda from Leon, and Oscar with his girlfriend Loreto would arrive to Aranda from Guadalajara at Thursday, the 08th. Tito would arrive to Aranda from Guadalajara at Friday, the 09th. This would be our main crew. 

As all these things have already happened, now I’d like to declare that finally we appeared like the members of the community apart from our previous image as ‘these strange Russians’ hanging around in solitude and fright-like state of mind.
Moreover, Rafa Tuñon & his friends came to Aranda at Friday and we spent some time with them just like an year before, so I expect this to be our tradition.

***

The next thing I’d like to declare is the following: my list of Top15 ‘smallest font size’ bands was a total winner. Every mentioned band was a stunner.
Presumido have perfectly kickstarted the festival. If their studio recordings are about “one part guitars/ two part synths”, the live performance had the opposite proportion – and it sounded great.
Ballena appeared as stylistic twin brothers of El Mato A Un Policia Motorizado from ‘the other side of the pond’ what was nice for me as I always adored El Mato
Crudo Pimento, whose mere existence could make any festival artistically viable cos they are different. Just different. “When you will talk about this later, please don’t call us indie rock” – Raul told to the people upon finishing the show. Not even gonna do this, Raul!
Igloo, our friends from Galicia Tanya and me were happy to reunite with. Our mutual opinion was it has been their best performance we ever beheld. Even without some live staples (“Gremlins de Ciudad”, “La Reina Ourensana”) being performed, this was the powerful and magnetic show.

Agoraphobia, the female four-piece that could make L7 jealous. This stage (Heineken, Plaza la Sal) was apparently too small for them, I believe they could set on fire much larger venue.

Invisible Harvey, the experienced singer/songwriter from Barcelona with his hi-quality songs. Prior to his performance I was a bit afraid of him being too subdued for such the large-scale festival like Sonorama – but Dimas Rodriguez fortunately dispelled all possible fears.
Echo. Initially we intended to see the performance of Australian Blonde as we liked them a lot but due to schedule complications (and the fact that some Spaniards are not so inclined to hurrying up, haha!) we arrived at Santa Catalina place right when the band walked out from its gates. We were like ‘Fuck it, who’s next up here… Wait, it’s Echo! Let’s stay here for them!’ And the young band nailed it. They made it worth it coming there even missing the show of the Gijon sound innovators completely.

Boogarins appeared like more consistent and cohesive band than many of their neo-psych peers. I made my friends (and friends of the friends) go to see them. We were all, like, ten persons with two packs of beer, so we won ourselves some clean spot on the grass and then enjoyed the concert sitting on the ground and drinking Mahou.
The Crab Apples, a photo reporter’s delight. If we lived in the world without digital photo cameras then it would be the hard show to capture for any photographer cos he’d run out of the daily stock of film within, say, 10 minutes of the action. Just add the really good songs and competent playing to the picture – and you’d get the idea of ‘must see’ event what it undoubtedly was.

Mostaza Galvez, whose performance I’d surely put into Top5 best concerts of the festival. The pure essence of what contemporary rock music should be: the great songs, the cool sound and – that’s probably the most important thing – ‘we’re doing this our own way’ approach. 

Basanta, whose pagan masks and competent songwriting impressed all the spectators. Really, two days after their show I overheard small talks in the crowd: “Have you seen Basanta? They were so cool!
Alexanderplatz. I didn’t expect him to use ‘more guitars less synths’ live approach. When we were about to enter Plaza la Sal, I even told my compañeras: “It doesn’t sound like Alexanderplatz!” But then we turned over the last corner and it appeared to be Alexanderplatz after all - and it sounded cool. There were some minor technical problems closer to the end of the show, but they didn’t spoil the impression.
Apartamentos Acapulco, the one and only Plaza del Trigo performance we managed to see this year. The powerful shoegaze with grandiose post-rock’y climaxes that could shake you to the bone. 
Niña Coyote Eta Chico Tornado, the perfectly synchronized interaction led only by the eye contact between Koldo and Ursula.

Additionally, I’d like to mention two more bands of small font size that impressed me much. The first one is Yoghourt Daze. This trio made me completely unleashed. An epic win for any 90’s rock music fan. The second one is Margaux. We saw only 4 songs of them (as we were away in the Church of Saint Mary for Joan As Police Woman performance) but it was apparent that the band deserved more attention. Later at night we met their frontman Javi Teral at Mostaza Galvez’ gig and talked a bit. Nice guy.

***

Along with Mostaza Galvez, IglooNiña Coyote Eta Chico Tornado and Yoghourt Daze, my list of the best performances also includes:
Berri Txarrak. By far the most impressive event we attended during this Sonorama. The legendary Basque band is going to close its activity this year, as it was announced in the very beginning of 2019. So every performance of Berri Txarrak is the last one: the last in Aranda, the last Asian tour, the last European tour… So it felt bittersweet to see this band playin’. They seemed like they were doing everything to make us miss them more. They were unbearably perfect. They looked and sounded like the best live act of the century.

Luis Brea. Frankly, I wasn’t familiar with his songs before this concert. For me it all looked like that: the man with visible anti-star approach walked out and within 5 minutes got the crowd at his knees. Then he grabbed us, smashed us, lifted us, put us down… «I wanna get all of his albums» - this was my only thought when Luis terminated his performance.
Luis Albert Segura. “I don’t get that idea of breaking up LA”, Tito pleaded while we were walking to the Castilla stage. “He and only he was that band, how could he break himself up? What’s the point?” Nevertheless, while Luis Albert changed the supporting band and switched to castellano, the music as well as stage presence stayed [more or less] the same. He surely is one of the best Spanish performers, and his shtick is still with him.

***

They’ve got that huge 6 m2 poster that says: “Follow the band of the moment” on a wall in Aranda. Kitai is the band pictured on this poster. The official Kitai’s Instagram account posted this with some wording like: “Hey, bro, have you seen that? We are the band of the moment!” addressed to Diego Ibañez, the frontman of the real ‘band of the moment’ Carolina Durante.
Frankly speaking, I’d sing “Cayetano” to myself while doing some work or walking on the street much rather than any Kitai’s song – just like many other people. But if we talk about music… It’s incomparable. Carolina Durante is the simplistic down-to-earth post punk band with jangling guitars and slacker attitude. Kitai is artsy - in the best sense of the word - quasi-metal rockers with full-blown shows and inclinations to virtuosity. Their drummer David is probably the best drummer of the scene #rightnow. Their bass player Fab is the Spanish Flea. And Alejandro, the frontman, is that kind of performer who can switch from a friendly kitten to Pennywise the Clown in a split second. Anyway, Carolina Durante have got that smash hit, and Kitai still haven’t. But I’m just curious if Kitai are eager to have it at all.
Before their show we were just dead. The fifth day of the festival lifestyle made its toll on us. I didn’t even manage to approach Ursula and Koldo from Niña Coyote Eta Chico Tornado who were walking along in 5 meters from us cos all what I could do was just sit on the ground.
We survived somehow the performances of Despistaos (who were just awful) and some rappers duo (awful as well). We kinda enjoyed the show of Dinero – as much as we could enjoy it in our ‘low batteries’ mode. But then Kitai came out and for the next hour we were alive again cos this band onstage was an unleashed beast splashing its energy all around. For an hour we forgot about our fatigue, we forgot about the fact that it was the last gig of the festival, the last laugh of the laughter, the last spark of the flame.
Now I’d like to call it “efecto Kitai”.

***

For the first time ever I was eager to see some international acts in Aranda, namely Joan As Police Woman and Deacon Blue.
I was a fan of Joan Wasser since… I don’t remember when. Back in the first half of the 90s she played violin (along with providing occasional backing vocals) in the indie rock combo The Dambuilders. So my fandom of hers dates back to this period. To see Joan performing in the Church of Saint Mary you should pay 5 Euros additionally, so no friends followed us there. But we paid this additional cost to dive into perfection, and it was well worth it. This was just amazing. In the middle of the set I found myself about to start crying. I turned my head to Tanya and saw my wife struggling to not let the tears run down her face. Even the big man right in front of me tried secretly to brush away the tear – but I noticed that anyway… I hardly could talk when we met Joan during meets & greets after the concert, but I managed to express our feelings to her saying something like “I don’t believe in god but now I would like to praise him for your existence” – and it was the truth.

The night before I was granted with the chance to fulfill one more ‘teenage dream’ cos the Scotland’s finest Deacon Blue were set to perform at Escenario Aranda (the 2nd main stage). Deacon Blue is the kind of band I never dared to think of mere possibility of seeing them live. It wasn’t even a dream for me cos it was like ‘Ok, let’s meet a dinosaur, find a pirate’s chest of gold, see Deacon Blue performing’ a kind of possibility. The entire concert I was smiling like a fool standing there in the first row right before the security fence. I felt myself young cos this band was the important part of my youth.

***

In addition to the above mentioned I’d like to emphasize the following bands whose performances deserved the attention and the kind words to be said upon them.
The Levitants. We were too far (and this ‘too’ was more like ‘tooooooo’) to fully enjoy their show but even from the farthest point of view their strengths were apparent.
AA Mama. We managed to catch only the first song of their set before leaving for Australian Blonde (the mission incomplete, as you’ve already known) but it was such a good song. So their upcoming album is in the list of the most anticipated albums of the year for me.
Javiera Mena. They’ve got vibe, they’ve got sound, they could make you dance to even if you never intended it (like me who just wanted to make a couple of photos).
The Rebels. Tito made us see them, and for good reason. This band plays grunge and does it great.
Crystal Fighters. Basically I'm not a huge fan of their albums but live they are the top tier entertainers.
Nadia Alvarez. The 'contemporary Nashville country rock' musician with the pack of good songs.





суббота, 3 августа 2019 г.

Sonorama Ribera 2019. 15 'Small Font Size' Bands

I have to admit that I’m not familiar with the most part of the ‘minuscule font size’ bands from the Sonorama 2019 line up. So I’ve tried to listen to them in brief to frame the opinions. Anyway, it didn’t make me to come to any certain conclusion apart from to act by circumstances on location cos I liked those like El Verbo Odiado, Meridian, The Rebels, St Woods or Division Minuscula – but hardly to the point there I could build some plans upon them and, moreover, surely recommend them to other people. Now I’d like to declare the following: I will certainly try to see the aforementioned bands cos chances are they are cool. 
Anyway, the main ‘small font sized bands’ list is as follows (in alphabetical order).

Agoraphobia – they’re young’ they’re loud, they’re upbeat. They’re the Galician chicks that take the L7’s legacy and bring it into the 21st century better than Donita Sparks & Co do themselves.

Alexanderplatz – Spain is brimming with the high quality bands that crossbreed indie pop with indietronica. This one is the project of the former Klaus & Kinski Alejandro Martinez Moya

Apartamentos Acapulco – the potential successors of Los Planetas not only by location but also by contents.

Ballena – I think their album “Navarone” was nice. So I eager to see how it may sound live.

Basanta – the Spanish take on ‘occvlt rock’. A nice try, as far as I can see.

Boogarins – for me, this Brazilian band is the most anticipated one (along with Javiera Mena) from ‘the other side of the pond’.

The Crab Apples – the great female band from Barcelona. I narrowly missed them last year in Primavera Sound as I observed Xavier Calvet’s performance inside the MACBA building right when they played exactly outside.

Crudo Pimento – a band impossible to categorize. They exist in the universe of their own and create the music of their own. 

Echo – a couple of years ago we caught them playing in acoustic format at the MeetinArts tent – and it was kinda gutwrenching cos the voice of Carmen Alvaredo was so powerful. It’s interesting what they sound like now.

Igloo – the friends, nuff said. 

Invisible Harvey – one of the most unexpected artists of this edition of Sonorama. The Catalan singer/songwriter (a resident of El Genio Equivocado) represents the kind of artists that are rare birds in the large events.

Mostaza Galvez – genre-wise I dunno really what they are playing but they are definitely not bland. In fact, they are the exact opposite to ‘bland’.

Nina Coyote eta Chico Tornado – the personified hurricane, that's what they are. The psychedelic/ garage/ sludge duo from Basque Country. 

Presumido – arguably one of the hottest synth pop bands of the moment. 

Rayo – one more female band playin’ loud music in this list. Seems to be great.

среда, 1 мая 2019 г.

Las Ligas Menores "Fuego Artificial"

Las Ligas Menores "Fuego Artificial" (p)2018 Discos Laptra/Sonido Muchacho
The mostly (namely 4/5) female band from 'the other side of the pond' (namely Buenos Aires, ARG) created the ideal C86 album without - as far as I can see - ever intending it. The songs cover the vast spectre of influences from The Cure's "Three Imaginary Boys" to the Courtney Barnett's finest "Sometimes I Sit And Drink, And Sometimes I Just Sit" through all these possible Brit-related shoe-, post- and nu-gazes, echoes, bunnymen and teenage funclubs. The main thing is that you're not gonna split these songs onto the components so solid they are. The album as a whole sounds natural, and it - as far as I can see - is natural (with particular emphasis on 'is'). 

BNDCMP
FCBK

P.S. It's funny how the best things don't generate much words (this is called "left me speechless").

воскресенье, 31 марта 2019 г.

Selvatica "Macumba"

Selvatica "Macumba" (p)2019 Discos De Kirlian
If the album only managed to sustain the qualities of the first three tracks this would be the album of the year. I almost started my review with: "And while the country is desperately waiting for the debut Carolina Durante slab, the Album of the Year is already here". These tracks - namely "Quien Es La Sombra", "Solo Llueve En Mi Casa" and especially "Reino De Papel" - are the fast, sonorous, effervescent, ultra-melodic songs. But as the album flows by further it deviates from its initial course set by these amazing pieces and intrudes the air space of Her Majesty the Diversity with inclusion of saxo and tropical rhythms. There's nothing wrong with it and I really like saxo within the indie rock song context. So, all the subsequent tracks are good in their own right but as a result of the stylistic digressions the overall impression gets somehow blurred.

среда, 27 марта 2019 г.

Peepshow "Como Hacer Una Bomba Atomica"

Peepshow "Como Hacer Una Bomba Atomica" (p)2018 Polar Records
Peepshow is the rock formation from Valencia that’s got family ties to (i.o. shares the drummer German Garcia with) another local combo En Septiembre that appeared to be one of my last year’ discoveries.
I started to get familiar with the band from the first video filmed for this album: “Nuevo Imperio”. The song sounded like it could fit to the last Dorian’s album so initially I thought Peepshow was one of these electro rock bands. Recently it revealed that sound-wise this danceable song had little in common with the rest of the album. Musically – apart from the aforementioned “Nuevo Imperio” – two main influences are easily distinguishable (or at least they seem distinguishable for me personally): the Nacho Vegas’ narratives and Viva Suecia’s guitar-fueled sonic grandeur. The band’s modus operandi is when a song starts with the subtle arrangements over the slow-paced drum beat, gains up and then blossoms into the epic-like space rock crescendo midway. 
The lyrics are bittersweet, sarcastic and rather biting regardless of the matter the frontman Uve Martinez is singing about: the social issues (“1999”, “Nuevo Imperio”), or the indie music mythos (“Gente Normal”), or the human intercourse (“Como Hacer Una Bomba Atomica”).
The production qualities are additionally complementing already top-notch album, the band sounds really big. In the world better than ours they could make a considerable splash with it.