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воскресенье, 3 декабря 2017 г.

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 >>>

среда, 2 сентября 2015 г.

Sonorama Ribera 2015. The Report. #4 Sonorama Is Life

The last day of Sonorama is usually the one you start to feel yourself exhausted. The hotel lobby was all quiet at 10.45 am even though it was full of young people - just because the young people was totally worn out. For me and Tanya, we were quite brave, but somehow we made our biggest mistake making the decision to come to Plaza just in time to see Rufus T. Firefly at 2 pm. This decision ruined our morning session almost completely cos when we came to plaza we were forced to face one simple fact: even the tiny streets that adjoined the Plaza del Trigo were already overcrowded. We did our best trying to find the appropriate place to see Rufus but occasionally we appeared at epicenter of water pistols war. The people closest to us was more interested in shooting themselves by water than in listening to the band, so we spent more time avoiding from the water drippings than looking at the stage. The footage was troublesome as well. Victor Cabezuelo and his pals were great anyway. Live they sounded even better than on "Nueve", the album that made it to the very top of my year 2015 's top list. One of the most heartfelt moment of the festival was when Victor changed the lyrics of the song "(escribe aqui el nombre de la persona a la que mas quieras)" and sang "Si al final moriremos igual, yo prefiero morir en la Plaza del Trigo" (if we're going to die anyway, I prefer to die on the Plaza del Trigo) instead of "Si al final moriremos igual, yo prefiero morir ahora mismo contigo". 
Rufus T. Firefly

When the Rufus show was over we felt like there was enough time to find ourselves the better place for today's concierto secreto, so we decided to step back to escape the water wars. It was another totally wrong decision as what we managed to get finally was the place from where we could see nothing that was happening onstage. Was it Xoel? Was it Zahara? For God's sake, what is going on there? Was it... who was it, really? It was bad, it was really really fucking bad to stay pretty close to something important having absolutely no idea what is it. So we turned our backs and paved the roundabout way to Red Bull stage where Willy Naves were performing. They sounded interesting so we stayed there until the performance was finished. We noticed JuanMa behind the bus and talked a bit to him ("Supersubmarina? Oh no, I walked away to sleep").
Willy Naves

Our next stop should be the Carson camping stage  where the post rock band Blusa was schediled to perform. I contacted their drummer Antonio and, unfortunately, he revealed to me that the performance of Blusa was cancelled due to the injury of the band's bass player. The second disappointment of this morning.

For the last night of Sonorama we came to recinto ferial right at the start of Zahara's performance. Zahara Gordillo Campos tours with her latest album "Santa". Also she presented some songs from the previous albums like "Lenador Y La Mujer America" from "La Pareja Toxica" but 90% of the set was dedicated to "Santa". Onstage we could see some familiar faces - Victor Cabezuelo (Rufus T. Firefly) on synths and Ramiro Nieto from The Right Ons on drums (two days ago he played drums for Tulsa). The performance was concentrated mostly on the personality of Zahara much like the shows of Garbage are concentrated mostly on the personality of Shirley Manson or the shows of Blondie are concentrated mostly on the personality of Debbie Harry. So the impact of other musicians was some kind of shadowed by the anthropomorphous fountain of feminine power. When she was dancing, when she was playing acoustic guitar, when she was playing drums, when she crossed the security border and entered the crowd - all eyes were on her. Even Tanya who initially was kinda sceptic on Zahara summarized the show with the words "very bright, very smart, very talented girl!"
Zahara

One of the first bands to appear on Sonorama 2015 lineup were Mercromina (the legendary shoegazers from Albacete returned to activity the last year). In contarst with Zahara their show was built around the sound rather than on the visual side. The musicians were static, and the rich and deep guitar reverb along with the trademark baritone of Joaquin Pascual were the only dominants of the show. For the song "En Un Mundo Tan Pequeno" Joaquin's daughter Angela came onstage to sing the lyrics with her dad. As Mercromima is one of my Top10 bands it was the pure pleasure for my ears to be there.
Joaquin Pascual (Mercromina)

Then we rushed to VIP zone to find some palce to behold the performance of Xoel Lopez. Xoel was alone onstage. Two years ago he was supported by the full band, but now there was just Xoel and nobody else. Though I don't quite like the "Paramales", his latest effort, he is - and always will be - on the very top of my favorite musicians ever, so it was no way for me to miss his show. 
Xoel Lopez from afar

Nevertheless in the middle of his set we went off to see Havoc on Burgos stage. And this came out as one of the best decisions ever made by us because we appeared to attend one of the best performances of this year's Sonorama. Initially we planned to catch a song or two and then come back to Ribera stage for the final part of Xoel's performance, but these plans had never come true.
Havoc (initially PLV Havoc) was not lucky enough to have the timeslot which wouldn't coincide with the Xoel's (less lucky were only Berri Txarrak who were set to perform in the same time with Vetusta Morla) so the crowd before the Burgos stage wasn't any substantial. That was better for me as in seconds I went crazy and needed some space around to jerk and jump quite freely. When Havoc finished the set with the trippy version of "Cazador De Ballenas" it was almost physically painful to stop cos I wanted more of this energy, more of these catchiest of songs. Surely the best gig of the fest along with Dorian and La Habitacion Roja's concierto secreto.
Havoc

Returning to VIP zone to take some wine and to meet JuanMa for the last time here we were attracted by the sounds from Castilla Y Leon stage where Bigott was performing. As for Arizona Baby I've never liked his albums at all. But live he caught my attention pretty easily cos he sounded more cohesive, more guitar-driven and less quirky and psych. Instead of sounding synth-laden psycho pop he sounded rock. And it was cool. then we met with JuanMa and he encouraged us to see his friends Eladio Y Los Seres Queridos so in 5 minutes we returned to Burgos stage. And Eladio Y Los Seres Queridos were fantastic too. The name of the band was familiar to me as I had been noticing it here and there for years, but I never heard their songs before. So the band became one more discovery for us.
Eladio Y Los Seres Queridos

The next stop was the show of Correos on Castilla y Leon. The Basque band recorded the new album "Seres" here in Aranda. The show was a mix of the new songs and the old ones. As I purchased "Seres" on iTunes right at the moment it was issued we already knew all the songs. Energetic as ever, Correos confirmed their status as uprising and unmistakably catchy band.
Correos

The next show should be some kind of apex of the festival. Vetusta Morla gathered the largest crowd before the Ribera stage. Spending time with Correos we had no chance to get closer to the stage so for Vetusta we returned to VIP zone. In VIP zone I noticed Mikel Izal and asked him for the photo. He didn't decline. It was nice because Izal is one of our favorite bands.

What should I say about Vetusta Morla... Vetusta is Vetusta. I suppose, to stay on the first line before the stage on their concert could be the fantastic experience - but to get there we should skip Correos and probably most part of Eladio, that was no way. So we watched Pucho from afar. On the tiny dancing zone within VIP zone I went mad dancing and shouting out the lyrics of "Valiente", "Cuarteles de Invierno", "La Deriva", "El Hombre del Saco"... And maybe it was even better because how could I dance before the stage being pressured by all these bodies around... Anyway. I shouldn't be asking for more as all that I already got was great.
Vetusta Morla

Devastated, we came down to the ground and stumbled at Castilla Y Leon to look at Neuman. So we looked at Neuman whom I like alot but my feelings were cut short at that moment. Then we looked at Sidonie from afar as the sea of people before them was as huge as before Vetusta Morla. And then abruptly Sonorama 2015 ended up for us. For the final time we came to VIP zone just to take our final cups of wine cashing out the funds drawn to our NFCs. We were as happy as killed by the necessity to live again our everyday lives starting from the next fucking gloomy morning. Right at the ladder we run into Correos. I quickly captured the attention of Fermin Bouza with my classic "Fermin! Por favor una foto con dos fanaticos rusos!" and we took a photo together with all of them. The guys were smiley and nice.

What should I say to wrap up my report... "La vida es lo que pasa entre Sonorama y Sonorama", says the slogan of the festival. In fact no. No, life is not what passes from one Sonorama to another Sonorama. Sonorama is mere life. And what passes between Sonorama and Sonorama is just something that passes from life to the next life.

Sincerely yours,
Mikhail, el ambassador del rock espanol en Rusia

понедельник, 15 декабря 2014 г.

The Best Of 2014. Albums 2 - 3

03. Rufus T. Firefly "Nueve"
(p)LagoNaranja
It was an absolute shock. At the moment when music stopped I got stuck with my mouth open and my mind totally blown out. It was not an intention, but this album crawled through my system like a venomous reptile. Call it psychedelic pop, call it space rock, call it everything you want to, but this quintet from Madrid suburbs has created an album which is deep, smart, obscure, blurry, diverse and coherent, absolutely controlled and wide as space all at once.

The thing that speaks for itself: "Nueve" was produced and mixed by Manuel Cabezali from Havalina, the man who rarely makes a fault.

02. Vetusta Morla "La Deriva"
(p)Pequeno Salto Mortal
From the moment I heard "Golpe Maestro" for the first time I was pretty sure that this album is going to be the champion. I wrote a review in English, a review in Russian as well as the first attempt of the history of Vetusta Morla in Russian. I saw no alternative for the most part of the year. And the only thing that finally made "La Deriva" a runner-up is as follows: the album that made it on the very top really came as a surprise while "La Deriva" has shown the highest level of the band but it was no surprise at all. 


вторник, 8 апреля 2014 г.

Las Resenas Casuales. Vetusta Morla "La Deriva"

Vetusta Morla "La Deriva" (p)2014 Pequeno Salto Mortal


I suppose that after the computer game "Los Rios De Alice" minimalistic instrumental soundtrack that Vetusta Morla released the last year no one really knew exactly what to expect from the band on their third studio album. The continuation on its predecessor "Mapas" ideas? Something new? If so - what new? Now it is clear that one of the possible correct answers is 'the new details'. Really, in terms of general direction while being much more diversified rhythmically "La Deriva" stands not so far from band's astonishing debut. But though it starts like a twin brother of "Un Dia En El Mundo", the first album of Madrid-based sextet led by charismatic singer Pucho, what follows next may surprise the listener. Not only because at least one song - "Fiesta Mayor" - is definitely something Vetusta Morla have never done before. Not only because "Golpe Maestro" is the fast rocker-type of song which is rare in the band's back catalogue. And definitely not because they have changed their trademark font on the cover. But the first and the third albums of the band are divided by 5-something years, and these were very busy years - which means new experience, new knowledge, new tricks and methods. And the band have learned the lessons. You almost feel the difference in the tips of your fingers but it's hard to explain where this difference really lies in. Maybe in new drum sequences. Maybe in new sounds. Maybe in new instruments used. Maybe in none of the aforementioned.
In comparison to "Mapas" which deserved more thinkful listening and which had its own fire inside but this fire was rarely visible, "La Deriva" (which means 'leeway') uses more accessible and easily understandable approach. The fire of "La Deriva" is not hidden, it's here right in your face.

The best tracks: La Grieta, Fuego, Golpe Maestro, Cuarteles Del Invierno