Every year I'm trying to cover the pool of the albums as vast as possible but every time there are some great albums that appear afterwards. The albums below were released in November/December when the most of the poll was already completed. The part of me feels guilty for not including them in the Top50 but the other half of me feels happy for that because to include the new ones in the list means to throw some other great albums off the list what could be quite unfair to the albums that were accompanying me for the most part of the year. Nevertheless, ignoring them completely would be sort of a crime.
Paciente Cero "La Constante de John Doe" (p)self-released
Rhythmically this record – as intense as introvert – stands both legs in contemporary neo prog in alt-rock wrap-up. You know this over-the-top sound most common for the neo prog bands – Paciente Cero sounds more stripped-down than that, more down-to-earth. What they’ve got instead is the possibility to broadcast the clean emotions rare for usual prog rock. Whatever the frontman Rafa Tuñon sings about (you’d call them ‘socially oriented’ based on the lyrics) you can feel with the tips of your fingers that he really cares. The rhythm section (Marco Pedroza and Julian Jimenez) is astounding. The only guitarist Hector Baladron has got the tough task and he does the best in making the band sound truly natural.
Possible place within Top50: 20 - 30.
Lula "Vida Salvaje" (p)self-released
The Comunidad Valenciana rock scene mainstay Patricia Escoin started her career back in the 80's as a singer for Los Romeos and never disappeared for long since. Now she fronts both indie rock trio Lula and power pop quartet Los Amantes. The latter’s “Open 24 Hours” longplay was good but the new one by Lula is something really special. The thick sound, the strong melodies, the nice guitar work plus the Pat’s voice which I consider one of the sweetest female voices in rock worldwide (maybe Veruca Salt’s Nina Gordon is the closest reference).
Possible place within Top50: 10 - 20.
Berri Txarrak "Infrasoinuak" (p)Only In Dreams
In August of 2015 we were on the round trip clockwise through the Spanish north and had a brief stay in Bilbao. Amongst the pre-selected places for mandatory visit there was the record store Power Records. In the shop I was searching through the records when the shopkeeper came to me and asked: “Are you going to purchase this one?” pointing the finger at Berri Txarrak’s triple LP “Denbora Da Poligrafo Bakarra” in my hands. “Sure”, said I. “Ooh, you might’ve said nothing more, you are my men!” he said smiling.
I’ve never been a huge fan of the Basque power trio (imagine Bob Mould’s Sugar on speed), rather I always was some kind of ‘interested in’. But “Infrasoinuak” is the turning point when I could call myself a fan. I somehow missed the album at its release, so once when I learned of its release I purchased it via iTunes and in the next couple of hours I listened to it three times in a row. I went goosebumps in the process. I went completely mad sporadically playing air guitar with one hand and air drums with another. Melody-wise it’s a huge record. It’s not so colossal in size as “Denbora…” was, but it’s hard, it’s fast, it’s way more melodic than anything they’ve done previously.
Possible place within Top50: 01 - 10.
