Best of 2016. Honorable Mention #2

This could be the good Top20, but it's only 'honorable mention' because music-wise this was hugely successful year.

Previous entries:
Honorable mention #1
Top10 EPs and mini albums

A Por Ella Ray "Turista" (p)self-released
BANDCAMP
A Por Ella Ray is the new name for me (as well as for the most of us). They play music that has a lot of influences: Egon Soda, Los Piratas, Vetusta Morla - but the band definitely has its own face.

Brian Hunt "Love/Unlove" (p)self-released
LOVE UNLOVE
Two sides of this rare format (double EP) are divided by the mood. The 1st side ("Love") is sweet and sunny power pop/americana, while the other ("Unlove") is gloomy and painful experimental rock.

Familea Miranda "Radiopharm" (p)BCore Disc
BANDCAMP
Wordless psychotic hard-punching psychedelia born in the ovens of Bcore.

Holograma "Gemini" (p)Foehn
BANDCAMP
This album was released by Foehn Records. Listening to the Foehn's releases always adds +2 to your intellectual skills.

Joana Serrat "Cross The Verge" (p)Loose Music
SPOTIFY
The part of Joana's soul definitely lives somewhere in the Nashville suburbs and befriends the likes of Amy Stroup and Katie Herzig.

Julieta 21 "Alerta" (p)self-released
SPOTIFY
Another Sonorama'2016-inspired discovery for me. Good songs, rich sound - but I believe it could perform much better if it was a bit less polished.

Keiko "Within" (p)El Hombre Bala
BANDCAMP
Massively diversified double album (2nd half is instrumental) incorporates many genres of guitar music - from blues to abstract experimental guitar noodling. An adventurous listening.

Lazaro "Soles Y Pinguinos" (p)self-released
SPOTIFY
One more cool band to follow. I know nothing about them, and it's definitely my fault cos this album is almost entirely great.

Love Of Lesbian "El Poeta Halley" (p)Warner
SPOTIFY
Now I like this album much more than at first listen, when I liked just a couple of tracks. But I still consider some songs ("Cuando No Me Ves", for example) sent in the wrong direction. That's why LoL are not in Top50.

Marcos Cao "Oceano Caos" (p)Marcos Cao/Sony Music
SPOTIFY

The debut solo release of the former La Sonrisa De Julia frontman. Sweet and beautiful semi-acoustic songs.

Moriran Todos! "Saltar" (p)The Borderline Music
BANDCAMP
This album of the melodic danceable indie rock in the vein of The Right Ons is full of potential hits.

Nocturnos "Hemos Visto Lobos" (p)INUIT Produciones
BANDCAMP
The 2nd LP by Nocturnos cant't decide what to choose: to be the guitar-driven indie pop record ("Fantasia Liberal") or to be the fashionable indie electro album ("Rey Absolutista"). Despite this dychotomy the songs are great.

Postman "Life Can Change In A Moment" (p)Keroxen
BANDCAMP
It's the release #2 by the newly born Keroxen label. Postman (aka Abstract Groove) is one of the most prolific electronic producers of Tenerife. He explores mostly drum&bass/abstract techno/broken beats territories. Reminds me of my techno-infused university years. Funki Porcini, Plastikman, something like that.

Siloe "La Verdad" (p)Mushroom Pillow
SPOTIFY
This is the great album with great songs that stuck in the head for weeks, and there's only one problem: 75% of it sounds like Vetusta Morla. You know, EXACTLY like Vetusta.

Speaker Cabinets "Requiem For Atlas City" (p)Formula Free
SOUNDCLOUD
Loud, fast and furious dance rock from Barcelona. They say it's like the 60's psychedelia mixed with electronica beats, but you can easily recognize the influence of the multiple dance-related English bands from Jesus Jones to Klaxons as well.

Stay "The Mean Solar Times" (p)Rock Indiana/Picture In My Ear
BANDCAMP
With the help of Owen Morris and Andy Bell the Catalan psychedelic britpopers have recorded an album that is much better than the most of the contemporary British britpop.

Temas Incomodos "Alicia En Ningun Lugar" (p)RockCD
OFFICIAL SITE
This album of good-to-great songs lacks cohesion, as some tracks sound like if they were done by different bands.

The Lazy Lies "The Lazy Lies" (p)Right Here Right Now
BANDCAMP
Read this

The New Raemon & McEnroe "Lluvia Y Truenos" (p)Subterfuge
SPOTIFY
This record of double authorship wears the Ramon Rodriguez and Roberto Luzon identities on its sleeves and is able to add new colours to their well-known pallettes. But 'the slowest Raemon record and the fastest McEnroe record', as told by some reviewer in Spain, at times falls in between. 

We Were Heading North "We Were Heading North" (p)El Hombre Bala
BANDCAMP
The intelligent Canarian post rock's tiny healing protuberances will slightly touch the wounds of your soul.

Best of 2016. Honorable mention #1

To put it clear, it was a busy year. I rarely posted to this blog cos for the most of 2016 I was suffereing the writer's block but I never put myself out of the discource. So I spent a lot of time listening to the new records and a lot of money purchasing the new music - both physically and digitally. I've listened to 300+ albums - more than in any previous year. So now I'm not that easy-minded guy who tried to select 30 good records out of overall 55. Now the task is way too complicated.
Initially my aim was to select 50 best albums and say 'enough' but the more I dove into the more I felt like this aim is indistinguishable. There's huge amount of albums that didn't make it to the main Top50 list, but it would be the greatest injustice if their names were not pronounced. Respectively I've corrected the plan and added 40 more albums (that in sum with Top10 EPs and the main Top50 list will give us the amount of 100 albums in total). That's why the 'Honorable Mention' section is so wide this time. I've decided to divide the whole section onto two tiers only to keep the posts readable. There are no certain places within the tier as well as certain differences between the albums from the different tiers. All the albums within the tier are presented in alphabetical order (by band name). So you could presume all these 40 albums are allocated to the place #51.

Atlantic "1976" (p)self-released
BANDCAMP
This band is the other side of one of my last year's favourites - Moonflower. And this incarnation (fronted by Josep Bartual instead of Maria Lopez) is equally great.
*walks around singing along to "...no pueda superarmeee..."*

Amaro Ferreiro "Biologo" (p)A Records
SPOTIFY
Please omit the fact that Amaro's creative abilities are often overshadowed by the stature of his elder brother. The main thing about "Biologo" is that you can listen to these songs without imagining them being sung by Ivan.

Chicharron "Postal" (p)Prenom
BANDCAMP
Very warm and beautiful indie pop/slowcore album by a Galician band. Low and Yo la Tengo influences are on the sleeve.

Como Vivir En El Campo "CVEEC3" (p)El Genio Equivocado
BANDCAMP
The freak folk pop trio is strangely attractive and beautifully quirky as ever.

Delbosque "Interferencias" (p)self-released
BANDCAMP
The burgeoning dreampop/shoegaze wave meets southern psychedelia.

Doctor Lobo "Metodologia" (p)self-released
BANDCAMP
The Valencia indie rock/dreampop quintet fronted by Pablo Naharro makes the big step forward since their 2014's mini album "Reiniciar".
"Mastered by Manuel Cabezali" is the trademark.

Fiera "Aljarafe" (p)Humo
BANDCAMP
The experimental duo from Sevilla makes minimalistic and uncomfortable noise rock/electro that causes dependence in high doses.

Kill Kill "Reacciones A Distancia" (p)Miel De Moscas/Gran Sol
BANDCAMP
The Spanish Black Keys with digital effects.

KUVE "Kuve 3.0" (p)EO! Musica
SPOTIFY
This work reminds me of the last efforts by Zahara and The Bright.

Lecciones De Vuelo "Caza" (p)self-released
BANDCAMP
Lecciones de Vuelo play quite original mix of shoegaze and twee with distinct elements of post punk. For me, some melodic decisions are questionable - but mostly the band is good at what they do.

Los Amantes "Open 24 Hours" (p)Lucinda
BANDCAMP
The new power pop band fronted by Pat Escoin follows the pattern of any other band fronted by Pat Escoin: melody, high voltage energy, 'take no prisoners' approach. The voice of Pat is the national treasury.

Malandromeda "Os Corenta E Oito Nomes Do Inimigo" (p)Matapadre
BANDCAMP
The alternative form of hip hop from Galicia is something like the median of Delafe and Malaspecto.

Matoll "Matoll" (p)Repetidor Disc
BANDCAMP
All I know about Matoll is that they play the 90's indie rock. This album is a good reason to learn more about them.

Noiseed "Almost Human" (p)El Hombre Bala
BANDCAMP
The catchy Canarian-born electro-industrial with aggro elements (mostly in vocals).

Novedades Carminha "Campeones Del Mundo" (p)Ernie Producciones
SPOTIFY
Their best record by far. Been way too simplistic before, now Novedades Carminha have got that cool vibe that makes the heart beating harder.

Odio Paris "Cenizas Y Flores" (p)Mushroom Pillow
SPOTIFY
[At times] the lightweight drums' sound, [at times] beautifully jangling guitars and [at times] thick layers of synths give this record the possibility to cover the vast spectre of genres.

Parade "Demasiado Humano" (p)Jabalina Musica
BANDCAMP
Probably the best Parade album.

Pinocho Detective "La Vida Privada de..." (p)Delia
BANDCAMP
The angles of this record are too rounded to produce really strong emotions, but it's beautiful and pleasant anyway.

Solletico "Erra" (p)self-released
BANDCAMP
The twee/indie/folk pop band from Madrid released the new album pretty quietly, and it came relatively unnoticed. But it's warm and beautiful enough to be the good companion to the glass of whisky and a twist of good grief.

Tucan Morgan "Moon Cabaret Rooms" (p)self-released
BANDCAMP
Read this

Best of 2016. EPs and mini albums

There's a lot of people around who tell us creating lists is stupid. Fuck'em. Creating lists is cool indeed, and it always gonna be cool. So I'd like to start my regular year-end ranking process from the EPs and mini albums Top10. It wasn't any easy to confine the strict 10 out of multiple items of the great music in shortened formats. I was forced to strip out the extended plays of such cool bands and musicians as The Trunks, Lua Gramer, Nuria Graham, La Maniobra De Q as well as the pack of Canarian delegates Ponyboy, Cumbia Ebria, Edui Bercedo and Noiseed.

Let's talk a bit about the structure of Top10. Geographically it covers vast territories from Galicia (Bestlife) to mainland southends (Murciano Total, Apartamentos Acapulco) through metropolitan area (Pasavento, The Levitants, Disciplina Atlantico) and then to Baleares (The Prussians), African enclave Ceuta (Higinio Orduña) and Canary Islands (Estratega Pencherjevsky, San Borondon).
In terms of acquaintance there are 3 bands that could be labeled as 'Sonorama discoveries' (Disciplina Atlantico, The Prussians, The Levitants) - I was learned about their existence but never listened to them before I saw their names on the Sonorama 2016 poster. 3 more bands (Pasavento, Higinio Orduña, Apartamentos Acapulco) are totally new to me while the other 4 are 'the old pals' (Bestlife, San Borondon, Estratega Pencherjevsky, Murciano Total).
Genrewise the list could be divided onto two large 'umbrella brands' of contemporary rock music - indie rock and electro, but it can be easily structurized further to the lesser particles. Of the 'electro' albums the one of Higinio Orduña is the foggy indietronica/ folktronica, while other two are inclined to synthpop (Murciano Total) and futuristic slo-mo techno that perfectly fits for sci-fi movies' soundtracks (Estratega Pencherjevsky). Of the 'indie' albums Apartamentos Acapulco are pure and perfect dreampop - this year is really the year of dreampop for me. San Borondon are the sunny bright power pop with catchy tunes and lo/fi sound. Disciplina Atlantico are the noisy post-punk band whose sound is as energetic as icy-cold. I really want more from them in 2017 as their eponimous 4-song EP is the good appetizer with these stop/start dynamics and masterful use of upbeats. For two 'The …s' bands there's some kind of strange situation. First I saw The Levitants performing on Sonorama's Burgos stage they seemed like the Spanish version of The Foals to me, but studio recordings are far from this impression. Otherwise, The Prussians didn't sound like The Foals onstage, but from the laptop speakers their "Kerala" EP sounds much in these British indie stalwarts' vein.
My dearest Bestlife (Under Your Seat) have added the new elements to their music so the sound pallette (yes, I use this cliche for the first time this year) of "Invincible Anymore" is quite diverse - from the Paul Weller'esque power pop "She's A Whisper" to grunge-laden rocker "As If I Needed Someone". Being compared to their previous "Taking You Back Home" EP the new mini album sounds like the improvement or the logical progression, and it's really interesting what will they do on the next effort.
Pasavento. This Madrid-based four-piece explores the sound I adore the most: the mixture of the 90's post-shoegaze britrock with hardly distinguished but tasty touches of intelligent 00's post-post-hardcore (The Jealous Sound's "A Gentle Reminder" is the best reference to what I'm trying to describe by the newly invented term 'intelligent post-post-hardcore'). All six tracks of "Tuvo Su Momento" are perfect, but they could be even better if they were ten (or twelve).

10. The Levitants - "Coimbra" (p)self-released

BANDCAMP

09. Higinio Orduña - "La Cuesta Del Recinto" (p)Discos Imaginarios

BANDCAMP

08. Estratega Pencherjevsky - "Conache" (p)self-released

BANDCAMP

07. Apartamentos Acapulco - "Justo Y Necesario" (p)Discos Imaginarios

BANDCAMP

06. Murciano Total - "Enquinias" (p)El Genio Equivocado

BANDCAMP

05. The Prussians - "Kerala" (p)GreenUFOs

SPOTIFY

04. San Borondon - "POP!" (p)self-released

BANDCAMP

03. Disciplina Atlantico - "Disciplina Arlantico" (p)Limbo Starr

BANDCAMP

02. Bestlife (Under Your Seat) - "Invincible Anymore" (p)self-released

BANDCAMP

01. Pasavento - "Tuve Su Momento" (p)self-released

BANDCAMP

Best of 2016. Compilations of Foehn & El Hombre Bala

Below you may find the links to the annual compilations of Foehn Records and El Hombre Bala Records. Both labels celebrate their anniversaries this year (15 years and 5 year, respectively), and for the frequent readers of these pages there's no secret these compilations are the delight for your ears.

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