The Best Of 2015. 8x8

Hey! Beware! There's a guy  from the land far far away who takes our albums and makes lists of 'em! He's crazy!"

The previous entries:

11x11 (EP's)

10x10

9x9

La Maniobra De Q "El Dano Esta Hecho" (p)Clifford Listen/Buy

Moonflower "Round Trip" (p)Sello Salvaje Listen/Buy

Havalina "Islas De Cemento" (p)Origami Listen Buy

Correos "Seres" (p)Warner Music Listen/Buy

Jorganes "The Science Was Wrong Before" (p)El Hombre Bala Listen/Buy

Penny Necklace "Este Es El Disco De..." (p)self-released Listen/Buy

Bullitt "Sparks" (p)BCore Disc Listen/Buy

Autumn Comets "We Are Here/You Are Not" (p)Subterfuge Buy

• The first longplay of La Maniobra de Q evokes the spirit and soul of the most prominent years of shoegaze with the swirling guitars, multi-layered wall of sound and male/female dueling vocals. 
• Singing in English may not be the strongest skill of Maria Perez, but the ability to create the honest americana-tinged college rock songs successfully avoiding the not-so-innovative genres' cliches - definitely is.
• Lyrically based on "A Drunken Driver's Guide", the novel written by J.J. Cabezali (Manuel's father), "Islas De Cemento" is Havalina's heaviest album to date where the catchy tracks ("Luces", "El Reloj De Pulsera Con La Esfera Rota") are neighbours with the louder bombs like, for instance, neurotic shout-out "Donde" or the pure sludge "Cementerio De Coches".
• Call them punk ("No Creas Las Promesas", "Snobs"), call them powerpop ("Todo El Mundo Necesita Un Corazon"), call them alternative rock ("Como Si Fuera Ideal") but there's a fact about "Seres" which is hardly debatable - this album can offer something for everyone.
• Just let me copy/paste the sentence that I've written on Jorganes' "Science Was Wrong Before" half a year ago: "the beat, the scratch, multiple references in the range from Leftfield to Dilated Peoples, and a lot of good vibrations inbetween".
• With Manuel Cabezali (Havalina) and Victor Cabezuelo (Rufus T. Firefly) at the control panels these three chicks have created the beautiful, intimate, vulnerable and dreamy album I fell in love with from the first listen.
• The 'Interests' section on the Bullitt's Facebook page contains such names as Starmarket, The Promise Ring, Hot Water Music, Jets To Brazil and a bunch of other names that could make my heart go wild. So does the music of "Sparks" which is melodic, upbeat and extremely catchy.
• Eastbound from Appleseed Cast, northside to Silversun Pickups lies the territory of Autumn Comets. This way Smashing Pumpkins should have walked after their promising (but turned out senseless) reunion. But despite such the remarkable names in influences the Madrid-based band manages to create multi facet music with tons of guitars and lots of changes in dynamics without losing their identity.