Best of 2017. Albums 31-40

<<< 41 - 50

If you do yourself a favor and listen to all these albums mentioned below the only question to get stuck in your head would be "Who the fuck are in the Top30?'

40. Eladio y Los Seres Queridos "Historias De Caza" (p)Seres Queridos
"Cantares", the gallego-speaking set of cover versions that Eladio Santos and his team put out an year ago, was rather the step aside than the natural successor of his previous (brilliant) effort "Orden Invisible". Now we've got this natural successor, and it's brilliant as well with its beautiful songs and mellow chamber/folk arrangements.
SPTF

39. Villanueva "Zoo Para Dos" (p)Sony
Read full review

38. Futuro Terror "Precipicio" (p)BCore Disc
After the conventionally sounding "Su Nombre Real Es Otro" Futuro Terror return to the more complicated structures of their eponimous debut. I consider it the right step undoubtedly as, you know, who needs one more album of conventional punk rock when you can provide them with the punk rock with a twist instead.
BNDCMP

37. Xavier Calvet "Firebird" (p)BCore Disc
More of Joey Cape, or more of Greg Graffin? That was my only question when I learned about the Bullitt's frontman Xavier Calvet was going to release a solo effort. The truth is, none of them - it's like the third vertex of triangle. The songs are mostly acoustic and mostly upbeat, and regarding Xavier's songwriting abilities apparent via Bullitt's discs "Firebird" is absolutely no-lose choise.
BNDCMP

36. Blusa "K" (p)Nooirax/ 
"Toca Breakbeat, Perro!", the previous album of sevillanos Blusa, was a cinematic post rock masterpiece. Now a trio, Blusa absorbs programming and electronics (the entities completly absent on "TBP!") and cooks the record that is more intricate and more psychedlic than the predecessor. The tracks have no names, only numbers placed in no consecutive order. It's up to listener to capture the messages, meanings and images this music produces in his mind without the prerequisites given.
BNDCMP

35. Agoraphobia "Incoming Noise" (p)Dotbeat
'I want it to sound like a bulldozer, like Armageddon', Veruca Salt's Nina Gordon talked to producer Bob Rock during the recording sessions for "Eight Arms To Hold You" trying to square down her intentions on the guitar sound - this trivia came first to my mind when I pushed the play button. On "Incoming Noise" the guitars are realy sounding like bulldozers and/or Armageddon so the album fits perfectly for the role of the aforementioned "Eight Arms To Hold You" and L7's "Hungry For Stink" stepchild.
BNDCMP

34. Ultim Cavall "Records Del Kyoto" (p)Discos de Kirlian/ Emma's House
Read full review

33. Joe La Reina "Esas Nuevas Modas" (p)Subterfuge
It's a way more complicated record than "Bailamos Por Miedo" (quite complicated itself), and it needs more time to grow on you. As I had little time since its release date to fall for it, it climbed only to the 33nd place now. Being released, say, in August it could surely climb much higher than that.
SPTF

32. Vetusta Morla "Mismo Sitio, Distinto Lugar" (p)Pequeno Salto Mortal
I can't make my wrapped-up opinion on "MSDL". It somehow falls to pieces. Every given song is great - and some songs are really THAT great, you know. This is the step forward for the band for sure (some new tricks, some new directions) but as a whole it doesn't sound quite cohesive for my ear.
SPTF

31. Decurs "Incendio" (p)Subpost/ Krimskramz/ Dead Stallion/ Ojala Este Mi Bisi
The level of the Catalan hardcore/post hardcore scene is unbelievable. Decurs initially appeared as absolute nonames for me but it didn't surprise me at all that the album's great cos you may choose any album amongst the pool of Catalan post hardcore albums - and it would be equally great.
BNDCMP

21 - 30 >>>

#Sonorama20. Interlude. The 5 Years Rankings

As this was our fifth Sonorama (some kind of a jubilee) I'd like to select some best events we witnessed for these years.

Top10 performances on secondary stages (including Plaza del Trigo that should in no way be considered secondary):

10. Love Of Lesbian – 2016, Plaza del Trigo (concierto secreto)

09. The Handicaps – 2013, Red Bull

08. Sin Rumbo – 2013, Carson Camping

07. Igloo – 2013, Plaza del Trigo

06. Yo, Estratosferico – 2017, La Carpa Meetin Arts

05. La Habitacion Roja – 2015, Plaza del Trigo (concierto secreto)

04. Disciplina Atlantico – 2016, Burgos

03. Ninos Mutantes – 2014, Plaza del Trigo (concierto secreto)

02. Havoc – 2015, Burgos

01. Maryland – 2014, Plaza del Trigo. The best ever concert I witnessed in my whole fucking life.

Top5 discoveries:

05. Proyecto Solaz

04. The Bright

03. Bestlife (Under Your Seat)

02. Correos

01. Joe La Reina

Accidentally, all of them are of the year 2014. I hope this year's discoveries (Yoyo Banana, Tierra Vertical and Molina Molina) will enter the next rankings successfully passing the test of time.

Top5 of our fails:

05. 1st night of Sonorama 2013 when we tried to enter recinto ferial with our Canon D450 in the bag and they didn't let us go.

04. Our unawareness of conciertos secretos (2013) as there were nobody to tell us about.

03. Wrong place for Rufus T. Firefly (Plaza del Trigo, 2015) in the epicentre of watergun wars.

02. Never being present on all the accompanying events (breakfasts, visits to bodegas, tastings, etc.)

01. Totally missed concierto secreto that followed the aforementioned Rufus' performance - that one with Zahara, Xoel Lopez, Sidonie, Angel Stanich and others.

The Best Of 2014. Album #1 (and the post #100)

The fractured.

The sick.

The morbid.

The hysterical.

The ironic.

The balladesque.

The minstrel-like.

The haunted.

The dark.

The spooky.

The best album of the year is...

...01. Joe La Reina "Bailamos Por Miedo"

(p)Subterfuge

Ademas, it's my post #100 in this blog! I should clebrate this somehow...

Las Resenas Casuales. Joe La Reina "Bailamos Por Miedo"

Joe La Reina "Bailamos Por Miedo" (p)2014 Subterfuge

'Rusia es nuestra peste/Rusia es el fin'
This is a folk rock album, a certain kind of a folk rock album. In the world of folk rock albums this would be a bastard. The fractured, the sick, the hysterical, the ironic, the morbid, the balladesque. The Donostian quintet have created an album that is as unique as powerful and as strange as true.
Many things may look strange here, but everything is under control. Lucas Malcorra, the singer of the band wails, groans and bemoans like a Middle Age haunted minstrel (or like Robert Pollard under the influence) but never falls into pure 'stream of consciousness'. The somber athmosphere of "Bailamos Por Miedo" befriends it with the works of McEnroe, while the free-minded handling with the song structures puts it in the same category as Izal's more convoluted creatures (with Joe La Reina being much more somber and enigmatic). But what is the most definitive thing about this album - and here I must repeat the line that I wrote right after their performance in Sonorama - Lucas does not sing a song to you, he tells you a tale instead.

From the 'plague Russia' point of view I must admit that it's one of the best releases of the year, and definitely one of the most memorable.

The best tracks: Rusia, Huracan 2000, En Una Casa Junto Al Mar, Oh La Mía Pena


Joe La Reina in Subterfuge

#SonoramaRibera2014. The Report. Day 2, 14.08.2014. The good vibrations and everything like that

The second day of the festival had much to offer us. The Plaza del Trigo stage was fully dedicated to Subterfuge's 25th anniversary showing the present day of this definitive indie label. The band that was chosen to open the program of the day was The Bright. Built around the creative forces of Miryam Gutierrez (she) and Anibal Sanchez (he) the band plays tight and catchy songs within the spectre from alternative country tracks in the vein of Amy MacDonald to more rocking songs which have less in common with the 'classic' country sound. Their show was impressive and very positive. An hour later I met Miryam and Anibal backstage and asked them for a foto - they didn't decline my request. Nice people.

Me and The Bright

Right after the show of The Bright we successfuly managed to move our bodies through the crowd to Red Bull stage where the band Bestlife (Under Your Seat) was playing at that moment. The end of their set was interesting enough, I'd like to see their full performance if there'd be a chance. Then we decided to return to Plaza del Trigo but to drink a cup of calimocho before. In the bar where we intended to buy us a drink named "Tapas Copas Bar" Tanya asked a girl behind the counter for a permission to take a photo of her cos she was really nice and colourul. I mentioned that we're from Russia. Then it's revealed that this girl knows about my blog. It's unbelievable - to occasionally run into a person who knows about my blog! The only thing that still makes me worry: it seems like I didn't pay for the drinks correctly and underpaid to her 1 Euro or so. I'm sorry for that, really.

After such the pleasant encounter we finally returned to Plaza del Trigo being a bit high on calimocho and catched the second half of Bravo Fisher!'s show. This electronica-based dance rock band really made the whole squareful of people jump and dance to their songs, and were welcomed with the great enthusiasm. After Bravo Fisher! finalized their actuacion we stayed on the square waiting for the Joe La Reina. 

The Donostian band spearheaded by somber-looking vocalist/guitarist Lucas Malcorra issued their debut longplay called "Bailamos Por Miedo" earlier this year. I've purchased it via iTunes and now wanted to see how these songs would sound on live. Their stylistics I'd describe as art-folk. The songs of Joe la Reina are more like tales - with all these twists and turns and changes in dynamics and tempos. The band looked and sounded great. Especially their drummer catched our attention cos he was very into what he was doing.

The band

The drummer

After the band started to disconnect the gear I noticed backstage Javier Ajenjo, a director of Sonorama and simultaneously the leader of the cool band Yani Como. 

Again we moved to Red Bull Tour Bus. The punk band Margot were playing there. Margot did not impress us so we stayed there to think it over where to move our feet, when my mobile phone told me that Facebook chat message just arrived. I should say that there was free access to wi-fi in the central part of Aranda. The message was from Javier Ajenjo. My legs almost refused to function. "Hi Mikhail", he said, "Do you have a mobile number to call you?" "Yes, I got one but it crushed" replied I - yes, earlier in the morning my mobile provider had disconnected me unexpectedly - "I saw you 5 minutes ago on the Plaza del Trigo backstage", I told to him. "Come here, I'm still here", he said.
I should put it clear - it was not some kind of an usual situation for me. Rather it was some kind of unbelievable. We met with Javier and all the cool nice people around him. It was visible that these guys really felt good about some strange bloke from hell knows where likes what they're doing. Now being in Moscow deeply drowned into post-fiesta depression I should say to all of you: my friends, I love you and everything you're doing!

Finally Javier asked us to be there again tomorrow by 2 p.m.

Meantime, back on Red Bull six-piece Proyecto Solaz played. They sounded cool, and I've ticked a checkbox against their name in my mind.

La M.O.D.A

In the evening we were a bit late and run like hell to catch La Maravillosa Orquestra del Alcohol (or simply La M.O.D.A), the band rom Burgos. They make music in the vein of Mumford & Sons but their version of bluegrass-based pop-rock is more driving and humorous. They were furious and funny onstage, and have shown the ability to catch the attention of anybody who even wasn't much into that kind of music.
After them we came to Future Stars stage to see Baden Bah! (I reviewed their new album called "Aleph" earlier). The show of this Salamancan indie (true indie) band was painfully underattended by the audience. The lack of people before the stage visually did not disturb the musicians, and they were playing for 15 of us like they're doing this for 200+ crowd. You may read in the review of "Aleph" what I think of their songs. To put it short: they're great.

Baden Bah!

When Baden Bah! ended up we started to float over recinto ferial between David Fonseca, Refree and the VIP zone where we were offered with good red wine (1 cup for 1 Euro) waiting for Ninos Mutantes. 20 minutes before their show we placed our bodies right at the security bars at Ribera del Duero stage. Right after we came here the mature women with the blue t-shirts saying "RAPHAEL" started gathering there. Yes, this year the organizers of Sonorama invited traditional pop crooner Raphael to the fest. Some said it was great business idea that could attract a lot of new attenders, some said it was a betrayal. I didn't lean myself to either of these rivaling camps - I just didn't know who Raphael was/is. Anyway, Ninos Mutantes made a performance that I described as "It was the best concert in my whole life". On my favourite song "Errante (Cancion Mutante)" (yes, deep inside my self I'm a good pop song loving guy) I almost broke my voice. The band was more rocky then on DVD "15 anos mutando" where they sounded like the Spanish Travis. The songs from new album "El Futuro" were cool on par with the earlier hit singles like aforementioned "Errante" or "Naufragos". The band finalized the show with the cover version of Raphael's "Como Yo Te Amo" making the bridge to what would come next.

Ninos Mutantes

We had no intention to see Raphael so to kill some time before Ivan Ferreiro we looked at Elefantes (another heroes of the past who returned to activity last year) and drank more wine in VIP zone.
Meantime Raphael came onstage.
It was a torment. Or fury. Or... I dunno. I'm not talking about his appearance onstage or his singing. No, I'm talking about the sea of people before the stage. I thought that the crowd of Xoel Lopez one year ago was huge. No - THAT was huge. Young people, mature people, old people - they all were mixed in one swirl of adoration. Me and Tanya were just sitting aside drinking wine and looking at that. To put it honestly, Raphael made a couple of steps from pop tradition towards indie rock world: he was supported by Miss Caffeina musicians, he sung with Alberto from Miss Caffeina, Juan Alberto from Ninos Mutantes... He even crashed a mirror with the chair.
Regarding the prolonged performance of Raphael the set of Ivan Ferreiro was delayed for almost a half of an hour. The occasional damage of this time shift was our inability to attend the Doble Pletina show in the Future Stars.
Ivan Ferreiro presented to us the same song set as it was on Contempopranea. But most of the songs were played a bit louder with more energy. So Ivan is one of my all time favourite musicians and for me he is always great. Especially having in mind that 14th of August it was his birthday - his band congratulated him in the end of the last song of the set.

Ivan Ferreiro

Under the bottom line, this day of Sonorama 2014 was absolute winner for us. The only disappointment for me was the missing show of Doble Pletina. All the rest was great.