Today I've tried to count up the money I spent on purchasing the new music this year but quickly understood it was an impossible task. And what is more important - it was totally senseless. No matter how many Euros it took - it was the best investment ever. However many hours I spent listening - it was the best thing I could do.
Previous entries:
Top50. Albums 11-20Top50. Albums 21-30
Top50. Albums 31-40
Top50. Albums 41-50
Top10 - EPs and mini albums
Honorable mention #1
Honorable mention #2
10. Joan Colomo "Sistema" (p)BCore Disc
...Joan sounds absolutely organic and natural in every direction and every land he steps on...
09. Poomse "This Is How We Fail" (p)Espora
'Less dramatic, more Centro-matic' I wrote on "This Is How We Fail" 3 months ago, and I wrote it for the following reasons: 1) the new album doesn't contain such tragedy-filled tracks as "Daily Bread", and 2) the sound of the album is so perfectly shaped that you almost can imagine the room where it was recorded - the same thing as for Denton, TX uncrowned lo-fi kings' records (though Poomse are quite far from lo-fi now). I'd consider this album less obscure in comparison with "Poomse vs. the Kingdom of Death" and in many aspects more refined, so to speak.
08. Atencion Tsunami "Silencio En La Retaguardia" (p)Records Del Mundo
These men are the chameleons. If you ain't familiar with Records del Mundo family, I'm going to tell you they are same people who created the astonishing "Sillas Voladoras" under the name Incendios and "Pensamiento de Paz Durante Un Ataque Aereo" under the name Paracaidas last year. These projects differ considerably one from another in everything but the team. Different names, different genres - the band is the same. "Silencio En La Retaguardia" is the most unpredictable work of the troupe. Visually both legs in contemporary danceable indie rock, Atencion Tsunami manage to jump 3 miles higher what you may think about while seeing 'contemporary danceable indie rock' tag.
07. Lost Tapes. "Let's Get Lost" (p)Mushroom Pillow
I thought it could be just some good companion to La Habitacion Roja's "Sagrado Corazon" LP when I ordered the latter from the Mushroom Pillow online shop. I had a fear that the single LP might be damaged while travelling 4000 km alone and felt like I needed to choose something more to add some durability to the mail package. So I've chosen the debut album by LHR guitar player Pau Roca's side project LostTapes. All hail the small momentary decisions! This record doesn't even try to hide its influences but wears them proudly instead. Post-shoegaze Cool Britannia's (The Boo Radleys, Wedding Present), the 2000's indie pop (The Radio Dept.) along with the evergreen classics (New Order and Tears for Fears) are mixed in this palette to produce the colours of unique brightness and rare authenticity.
06. Sr. Chinarro "El Progreso" (p)El Segell De Primavera
...the melodic intuition of Antonio is flawless, and we can only pray for this perfection to be prolonged on the subsequent Sr. Chinarro releases...
05. Sorry Kate "Haven Hood" (p)Foehn
...during the first couple of tracks you have to adjust your mind and auditory nerve fibers to embrace the sound, and then sound embraces you...
04. Trinidad "Karma" (p)El Hombre Bala
...lo-fi? No, mostly it's no-fi. Fuck Wavves, fuck Hinds. It's the real spontaniety and the real sincerety transmitted to this world through the mind and soul of the real riot grrrl...
03. Berlina "Desertico" (p)Grabaciones A Montones
"Desertico" made me to dive into the dreampop whirlpoop this year. It may remind you of Catherine Wheel, it may remind you of Rufus T. Firefly, it may remind you of Havalina (it's no surprise it is co-produced by Manuel Cabezali) - with all components in right proportions and right places. "Desertico" is about the textures and thin atmospheres, about slow moves and 'where would they cruise at within the next seconds?' wonderings. "Desertico" is like the puzzle. Just try to solve it.
02. Linda Guilala "Psiconautica" (p)Elefant
With the shiny melodies and a lot of segues that interconnect these shiny melodies into one solid blast of noise pop/shoegaze majesty, with the stunning hooks you will be humming for months, with the wall of sound and the intricate guitar work the Galician band took a giant leap ahead on the new release. It's a conceptual album, and its name probably relates to drug consumption (I don't really know, but for me the word 'psychonaut' is a romantisized synonym for 'junkie'). Initially I wasn't up to listen to it because I thought it might be some kind of psychedelic indie pop. But then I decided to listen to literally EVERYTHING, and it turned out to be really great with all these aforementioned shiny melodies, stunning hooks and the wall of sound that could make Kevin Shields proud.
01. Viva Suecia "La Fuerza Mayor" (p)Subterfuge
The last night of Sonorama'2016 I placed my feet at the first line before the Carson Сamping stage, and from my left side there were three cheeks who looked like, you know, classic teenage Love Of Lesbian fans. For my eyes and ears Viva Suecia were far from overwhelming popularity due to the fact the music of Murcia-based quartet is introspective and slow-burning and visually has no connections with the pop side of the world. And it was kinda real surprise for me to see these gurls beside me knew all the verses and all the names of bandmembers. And they were not alone! It was a real surprise to see this band ready for crowds as I thought Viva Suecia could be just the subject of a small cult following. Now the band is seemingly one step before the indie sub-world stardom, and I hope they'll take this step without making concessions and the major pitch, roll and yaw corrections.
