2022 SHORTLIST

If I were asked right now to choose a little time travel of just one night I would choose without hesitation the 5th of July 1984 to be able to attend the Xmal Deutschland concert at Cardiff New Ocean venue, Wales, United Kingdom and pay £3! . I find it incredible how this band has managed to grow so much on me over all these years. One day I will share the list of my favorite bands of all time, Xmal Deutshland will definitely be in my top 50.

You know?!? I always thought I was that guy with a slight but permanent depression and that sooner or later I would need professional help (an idea not ruled out for now...) but it seems that what I often feel are states of deep melancholy. Music plays a decisive role in these types of feelings and moods... and so, I started this post with Xmal because Fetisch [1983], Tocsin [1984] and Viva [1987] were the most listened albums in 2022, and I can tell in 2023 Xmal Deutschland fills my soul ( I don't have one but lets keep it ok?), repairs me, locates me in the world - it's raw, it's melodic, dark, wonderful. 

Equally extraordinary but on a completely opposite spectrum, a light, joyfull, engaging and powerfull one is the "Horizon Forbidden West OST". It's my album of the year! four composers, 142 songs and about 7 hours long of bright to dark, tribal and country to sci-fi, classical to electronica!! You have to play the game to fully get it I guess. I've spent 146 hours on the game to finish the main story and all the quests of HFW for the first time - cool story, lovely new caracters (Beta is way cool!), a tecnical and beautiful masterpiece! and man... maybe I'm old and it might seem off but I could not stop thinking of Sagan Cosmos/Contact, Jean-Michel Jarre, Princess Mononoke and Future Boy Conan while playing it, amazing stuff!!! 

Between Xmal Deutschland and the HFW OST is "Painless" by the creative and fantastic Nilüfer Yanya. I admire her so much, such a powerful voice in her subtle song arrangements, underrated and somehow dark . It's the second time that she builds and respects the structure of songs on the album (increasingly rare) as if we still listen to a vinyl record, side A and side B - a beginning, middle and an end, so cool!

BEST ALBUM

01. Joris De Man, The Flight, Oleksa Lozowchuk & Niels Van Der Leest - Horizon Forbidden West
02. Nilüfer Yanya - PAINLESS
03. Petrol Girls - Baby
04. Goat - Oh Death
05. PVA - Blush
06. Princess Chelsea - Everything Is Going To Be Alright
07. Wombo - Fairy Rust
08. Mattiel - Georgia Gothic
09. Julia Romana - Blood be Fluid
10. Jean Michel Jarre - Oxymore
11. Weyes Blood - And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow
12. Big Thief - Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
13. Dry Cleaning - Stumpwork
14. Melody's Echo Chamber - Unfold
15. La Femme - Teatro Lúcido
16. Essencial Logic - Land of Kali
17. ROSALÍA - MOTOMAMI
18. Ada Rook - Ugly Death No Redemption Angel Curse I Love You
19. Nova Twins - Supernova

20. Wet Leg - Wet Leg

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

01." Midnight Sun" - Nilüfer Yanya
02. "Sick and Tired" - Petrol Girls
03. "Second Chance" - The Flight [Horizon Forbidden West]
04. "In the Flood (feat. Ariana Gillis) - Oleksa Lozowchuk, Ariana Gillis [Horizon Forbidden West]
05. "Geheimnis" - Xmal Deutschland
06. "Polarlicht" - Xmal Deutschland
07. "Grapevine" - Weyes Blood
08. "Storm on the Rise" - Joris de Man [Horizon Forbidden West]
09. "Hikari" - Aja
10. "Jeff Goldblum" - Mattiel
11. "Everything Is Going To be Alright" - Princess Chelsea
12. "Sacatela" - La Femme
13. "The Cure" - Melody's Echo Chamber
14. "Begrad Mein Herz" - Xmal Deutschland
15. "Kim" - PVA
16. "The Forest" - Princess Chelsea
17. "Abalone" - PACKS
18. "Clowns" - Petrol Girls
19. "In Corpore Sano" - Konstrakta
20. "The Dealer" - Nilüfer Yanya
21. "Untethered" - PVA
22. "Moon" - Julia Romana
23. "Queens of Keesh" - Wombo
24. "999999999 IN A DREAM" - Ada Rook

25. "Blood be Fluid" - Julia Romana

BEST VIDEO LIVE ACT

2021 SHORTLIST

Present day, there is only one person in the entire world who would make me leave everything behind, run away in a Peugeot 505 convertible and speed along a desert road to the sound of her singing, the chat and her jokes - Kim Deal.

Last year I came across to a Colleen Green song for the first time "Deeper Than Love" - a simple and wonderful track from 2015 LP "I Want to Grow Up", an album that I've never heard before. But I got intrigued, this particular song was quite diferent from the rest of the album, I mean, it had minimalistic elements that weren't present in the other nice 8 to 9 Radio/Rock/Hatfield songs. Please remember that in 2015 I was all in to Suburban Lawns magic, my mood was not so great and open. To be fair, I've had probably heard that Green's record but didn't sticked with me. 

Now the best part - Colleen Green released her fourth studio album via Hardly Art - "Cool" on September 10, 2021 produced by Gordon Raphael. There was a gap of six years in the making but I believe most of the songs were recorded in 2019. Many things happened between that period of time, for instance one global pandemic... but hey, we get the message: don't rush... sometimes time can be a precious tool and can elevate Art to another level of greatness. I think this is the case, "Cool" is more focused, ironic, beautiful but also dark. I can say it out loud, this is my album of the year 2021.

Kim Deal is driving the Olive Green Peugeot 505 convertible, I'm on her side, we are listening to Colleen Green's new cassette. The song "Highway" is playing, we agree that music can be beautiful and simple, we hit the road, enjoy the landscape, cool!  

  

BEST ALBUM

01. Colleen Green - Cool

02. Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg

03. PACKS - Take The Cake

04. Audiobooks - Astro Tough

05. Wednesday - Twin Plagues

06. Rosa Vertov - Day In Day Out

07. Amyl and the Sniffers - Comfort To Me

08. Circuit des Yeux - -io

09. Wolf Alice - Blue Weekend

10. Olivia Newton-John - Physical (remastered 2021)

11. Squirrel Flower - Planet (i)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

01."Silvertongue" - PACKS

02."Scratchcard Lanyard" - Dry Cleaning

03."Highway" - Colleen Green

04."Proud Home" - Lily Konigsberg

05."Chaise Long" - Wet Leg

06."The Doll" - Audiobooks

07."Vanishing" - Circuit Des Yeux

08."Three Sisters" - Wednesday

09."Someone Else" - Colleen Green

10."Dreamsickle" - Wombo

11."Guided by Angels" - Amyl and The Sniffers

12."Snakes" - MIYAVI/PVRIS

13."Station station" - Miynt

14."Physical" - Olivia Newton-John

15."Days In Vain" - Rosa Vertov

16."Big Beast" - Squirrel Flower

17."Nothing personal" - Miynt

18."More" - Low

19."New TV" - PACKS

20."Over the Hill" - Buke & Gase

21."Stabilise" - Nilüfer Yanya

22."Wet Dream" - Wet Leg

My choice for best music video of 2021 is "Vanishing" by Circuit des Yeux - a bold music video, intense and beautiful. Superb editing and the song its like an heavy metal song without beeing heavy metal, so great!

But man, I can not leave another dark year away without mentioning the first pick for honorable mention of 2021 - Imagine Dragons x J.I.D. "Enemy" from the awesome animated series that ran on netflix this fall, you know: "Arcane". I believe the future of entertainment will never be the same from this moment on. The quality of the 3D/2D animation, the blending of the two tecniques and the strong storyline based on the characters from the League of Legends game are out of this world, I'm so amazed, I'm stunned really.

BEST MUSIC VIDEO

Circuit des Yeux - "Vanishing" (Official Music Video)

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Imagine Dragons x J.I.D - Enemy (from the series Arcane)

cleopatrick - FAMILY VAN (Official Video)

2020 SHORTLIST

Hey, are you with me? Do you remember what I wrote a year ago?! ... oh yeah!. Well, if we got here so far it means that we are still alive and that is a good thing. If I am asked if I believe that things could still get worse, I'll say: yes, of course they do.

Three years ago a friend of mine gave up his PS3 console with The Last Of Us game on it for me try. It was the best thing a friend could offer, really - a breathtaking story with awesome, awesome gameplay! from that time on it was certain that I would play the part two of the game when it got out. In case you don't know I've been always a PC guy, but this year was the time to get a new PS4 Pro for the first time so I could play The Last Of Us part II that was finally released in June 2020.

I don't have words to describe The Last Of Us Part II. It's not only one of the best game I've played... with all the incredible graphics and the best gameplay of its generation; this game is special - very violent like life itself can be, not recomended for everyone for sure, but ultimately it's a game about loss - a condition that I’ve always identified with - a game with a sharp story in times of a global pandemic, it makes you think about your life and life in modern days with no clear or right answers.

This year my shortlist will be game OST only from games that I love, changed and are changing my life. Video Games are the present and the future of many many lifes on Earth, Its about time to credit the amazing work of all the artists in the game industry, specially the sound designers and composers that are way, way underrated!!!


SHORTLIST 2020

01. The Last of Us Part I & II (Original Soundtrack) - Gustavo Santaolalla & Mac Quayle
02. Horizon Zero Dawn (Original Soundtrack) - Joris de Man, Niels Van Der Leest and The Flight
03. Alien: Isolation (Full Soundtrack) - Christian Henson, Joe Henson & Alexis Smith
04. A Plague Tale: Innocence (Original Soundtrack) - Olivier Derivière
05. Rise Of The Tomb Raider (Original Soundtrack) - Bobby Tahour & Jason Graves
06. The BioShock Infinite (Original Soundtrack) - Gary Schyman
07. Alice: Madness Returns (Original Soundtrack) - Jason Tai, Chris Vrenna, Marshall Crutcher.
08. Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Original Soundtrack) - Brian D'Oliveira
09. Control (Original Soundtrack) - Petri Alanko & Martin Stig Andersen
10. Journey (Original Soundtrack) - Austin Wintory
11. Unreal (Complete soundtrack) - various
12. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Original Soundtrack) - David García Díaz
13. Dishonored 2 (Full Soundtrack) - Daniel Licht, Raphael Colantonio and Copilot Music + Sound
14. Hunt: Showdown (Original Game Soundtrack) - Port Sulphur Band
15. Quantum Break (Original Game Soundtrack) - Petri Alanko
16. Command & Conquer: (Red Alert Soundtrack) - Frank Klepacki
17. Doom Eternal OST - Mick Gordon
18. The Dig (Original Game Soundtrack) - Michael Land
19. Tomb Raider 4: The Last Revelation Soundtrack - Peter Connely
20. Quake 3: Arena (complete soundtrack) - Front Line Assembly, Sonic Mayhem and Bill Brown

2019 SHORTLIST

2020... I know, the darkest days are coming and the best way I found to not get into a panic spree and still get inspired to do things is by listening to the modern muses of the apocalypse aka Natalie Mering / Weyes Blood and Claire Elise Boucher / Grimes everyday... you see... even if the world collaps we can be at the end of it with our hearts full of love and some sort of hope.

But before you scroll down the lists I would like to mention some of my all time favourite bands and their recent releases like Salad, Sleeper, Belly, Juliana Hatfield and Pixies dear Pixies... I don't know if it's only me or I'm getting old (ok... we all are!) or what...but I was expecting much more from the amazing bands that shaped my likings and made me who I'm in terms of music nerd that I am. I'm not saying they now suck, they don't, everything from them is cool... but there is something wrong with their new stuff that I can not explain. I wanted them to redefine the music again, that's what I really wanted or wish! can we keep creating any sort of art form and get better and better by collecting years of experience?!? I believe so...

Now this...

Weyes Blood, man! what can I say... Natalie Mering is the perfect example of an artist that is getting better and better without loosing the primal medieval/gothic/dark identity of hers. We can still find notes from the two thousand eleven "The Outside Room" album in the outstanding new album but in a subtle and evolved way, its amazing... so, "Titanic Rising" is my obvious choice for album of 2019, in fact I can assure that this masterpiece is the best album I came across in the last thirty years... is that good!!

BEST ALBUM
01.Titanic Rising - Weyes Blood
02.Miss Universe - Nilüfer Yanya
03.Providence - Shannon Wright
04.Satis Factory [2019] / Mattiel [2017]  - Mattiel
05.Lawn Memory - Wild Firth
06.Small Mercies -  Pixx
07.Stay On Your Mind - Miynt
08.House of Sugar - (Sandy) Alex G
09.U.F.O.F. / Two Hands - Big Thief
10.Any Human Friend - Marika Hackman
11.Amyl and the Sniffers - Amyl and The Sniffers
12.Dust, Fierce, Forever - Kap Bambino

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
01.Wild Time - Weyes Blood
02.These Present Arms - Shannon Wright
03.Disgrace - Pixx
04.Nevermind - Wild Firth
05.Keep the Change -  Mattiel
06.Not - Big Thief
07.Paralysed - Nilüfer Yanya
08.Andromeda - Weyes Blood
09.That’s Not My Real Life - Cherry Glazerr
10.Erase - Kap Bambino
11.Some Mutts (Can't Be Muzzled) - Amyl and the Sniffers
12.L'Hawaïenne - La Femme
13.Gretel - (Sandy) Alex G
14.4ÆM - Grimes
15.Venus - Molina
16.The One - Marika Hackman
17.The Idiot - Miynt
18.Daylight Matters - Cate Le Bon
19.Lark - Angel Olsen
20.In Your Head - Nilüfer Yanya
21.No Trace - Carla dal Forno
22.Can't Go On Like This - Native Harrow
23.Count Your Blessings [2017] - Mattiel
24.Everyday - Weyes Blood
25.Forever - Kap Bambino

BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Every music video by Mattiel I've seen is awesome and stands out from the rest because: 1. is not too much (simple story if any) 2. match the music so well like a 1985 Chrysler Fifth Avenue hitting the desert road and finally 3. because Mattiel Brown is cool like Kim Deal just that!... the best music video is "Keep the Change" a clip that glorifies the power of the centre in a 21:9 ratio in such a subtle way that every art student should watch it at least ten times before start any art work envolving composition. The colors on the video are amazing and the editing so natural and effective, beautiful!



Shot and directed by Matthew Addington and Alimzhan Alan Sabir
Produced by Mattiel Brown
First AD and Set Design by Remy Ciuba
Edited by Mattiel Brown

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

2018 SHORTLIST

no time for explanations, just a list, my list... for best album, best song and best music video of 2018.



BEST ALBUM
01. Audiobooks - Now! (in a minute)
02. Red Ribbon - Dark Party
03. The Breeders - All Nerve
04. Loma - Loma
05. Audiobooks - Gothenburg EP
06. Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel
07. Kristin Hersh - Possible Dust Clouds
08. Lithics - Mating Surfaces
09. Goat Girl - Goat Girl
10. U.S. Girls - In a Poem Unlimited
11. Various Artists - The Bedroom Tapes [Compilation (1980-1991)]
12. Eleanor Friedberger - Rebound
13. Wimps - Garbage People
14. Malena Zavala - Aliso
15. Forth Wanderers - Forth Wanderers


BEST ORIGINAL SONG
01. Red Ribbon - Your Car
02. Loma - White Glass
03. Audiobooks - Gothenburg
04. The Breeders - Nervous Mary
05. Forth Wanderers - Not For Me
06. Lithics - Excuse Generator
07. Daughters - The Reason They Hate Me
08. Grimes - We Appreciate Power
09. Kristin Hersh - Lax
10. Red Ribbon - Destroy
11. Courtney Barnett - Nameless, Faceless
12. Audiobooks - Mother Hen
13. U.S. Girls - Pearly Gates
14. Loma - Black Willow
15. Red Ribbon - Idiot Orange
16. Wimps - Mope Around
17. Goat Girl - The Man
18. Buke & Gase - Derby
19. Melody's Echo Chamber - Shirim
20. Malena Zavala - A Vision That's Changed
21. H.C. McEntire - Quartz in the Valley
22. The Breeders - Dawn: Making an Effort
23. Death in Vegas - Honey
24. Nine Inch Nails - Shit Mirror
25. The Breeders - Metagoth
26. Kristin Hersh - Fox Point
27. Audiobooks - Friends In the Bubble Bath
28. Princess Chealsea - The Deer With The Golden Lights
29. Adrianne Lenker - Symbol
30. Audiobooks - Dance Your Life Away


BEST MUSIC VIDEO

ROSALÍA - MALAMENTE (Cap.1: Augurio)


honorable mentions:

Goat Girl - The Man


Loose Tooth - Keep On


Grimes - We Appreciate Power (Lyric Video)


Phantastic Ferniture - Fuckin ‘n’ Rollin


Forth Wanderers - Not For Me

2017 SHORTLIST

Two thousand and seventeen, one more shared first place for two... Marika Hackman and Scandal.

1982, eight years after the Carnation Revolution in Portugal, there wasn't much radio playing in my house. The hipe was on the big TV - Grundig Super Color,  brought by my father on Christmas of '81. At that time the foreign music videos were scarce on portuguese TV: Olivia Newton John, Duran Duran, Kim Wilde, Human League, Donna Summer, ABBA and a few more.

Plus, Portugal was on the verge of something new, a musical scene was finally on but performed by portuguese bands. To be fair, nothing really amazing happened with our local bands but at least we found ourselves - bands like Heróis do Mar, António Variações, Xutos e Pontapés and Madredeus! helped us find a "modern" identity.

Maybe this explain why a song like "Goodbye to You" from Scandal was never broadcast in the Portuguese television in those days. On the other hand, Columbia Records never stopped believing that Portugal was a Spanish province with marginal impact on sales of Vinyls. Also very strange is the fact that this particular EP from Scandal never had the success it should have had at least in Europe.

Once more, the funny part is that I reached the song for the first time on youtube (again) this year, and I can say now: "Goodbye To You" is a underrated masterpiece from the 80's, Patty Smyth a typical American voice, slightly hoarse but unusualy powerful and sweet. And the music video is like a wikipedia of the 80's ...so damn cool.

By knowing my benchmark for the perfect record: "Surfer Rosa" by Pixies and "Pod" by The Breeders, I sometimes imagine what would have been Patty Smyth's career with another kind of band supporting her and her music worked by Steve Albini!

This also helps what can be said about Marika Hackman, her promissing career and the new album. I wonder if her next creative work could be produced by Steve Albini?! ;) ... ok very subjective! Still, "Im Not Your Man", is my choice for best album of the year! all the songs on this album are so beautiful and subtle. Some of her songs have a tiny little bit of a grunge mood in it and that's super cool!

2018, Marika Hackman will be playing live in Portugal on 06/01/2018 supporting alt-J, I bet there are few portuguese fans out there right now but i'm sure this will gonna change soon.

BEST ALBUM
01.(Ex aequo)  Marika Hackman - I'm Not Your Man  /  Scandal - Goodbye To You EP (1982)
03. Melkbelly - Nothing Valley (2017)
04. Sneaks - It's a Myth (2017)
05. Stacian - Person L (2017)
06. Death In Vegas - Transmission (2016)
07. Pale Honey - Devotion (2017)
08. Big Thief - Capacity (2017)
09. The Organ - Grab that Gun (2004)
10. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun (2017)
11. The Weather Station - The Weather Station (2017)
12. Nadine Shah - Holiday Destination (2017)
13. Wolf Alice - Visions of a Life (2017)
14. Twin Peaks: Limited Event Series Soundtrack by Angelo Badalamenti & VA. (2017)
15. Psycho Tropical Berlin - La Femme (2016)
16. Deerhoof - Mountain Moves (2017)
17. Aldous Harding - Party (2017)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
01. (Ex aequo) Marika Hackman - Good Intentions / Scandal - Goodbye To You  (1982)
03. Marika Hackman - Round We Go
04. Pale Honey - Why Do I Always Feel This Way
05. Melkbelly - Off the Lot
06. Sneaks - Look Like That
07. Stacian - Volx
08. The Breeders - Wait in the Car
09. U.S. Girls - Mad As Hell
10. Marika Hackman - Boyfriend
11. Buke and Gase - Seam Esteem
12. Aldous Harding - Horizon
13. The Weather Station - Thirty
14. Scandal - Win Some, Lose Some (1982)
15. Marika Hackman - Time's Been Reckless
16. Death In Vegas - You Disco I Freak (2016)
17. Weekend Wolves - You
18. Big Thief - Shark Smile
19. The Organ - I Am Not Surprised (2004)
20. Wolf Alice - Beautifully Unconventional
21. Mourning Sound - Grizzly Bear
22. Chelsea Wolfe - Vex
23. Deerhoof - Slow Motion Detonation (ft. Juana Molina)
24. La Femme - Saisis la corde (2015)
25. Chromatics - Shadow
26. Sleigh Bells - Rainmaker
28. Nadine Shah - 2016
29. Death In Vegas - Consequences of Love (2016)
30. Oddnesse - Somewhere Somehow
31. Stacian - Telephony
32. Wolf Alice - Don't Delete the Kisses
33. Black Marble - Frisk
34. Woods - Love Is Love

BEST MUSIC VIDEO
Nowadays music video directors often forget the essence of a music video, I mean, it should be about the music and the artists who plays it, isn't that right?  Besides that, I do like a fierce editing music video with good lighting that enhances the song and the band... cool, and so the best music video of two thousand and seventeen goes to Wolf Alice - "Yuk Foo" ...punk lives!

2016 SHORTLIST

I will not recap one year of music because it's a hard task to do. I'm lazy, my english is bad and there are plenty of places where you can find usefull feedback of bands and discover what's new... but there always be a list in this blog and I would like to let you know the albums I enjoyed the most this year.
 

BEST ALBUM
01. Front Row Seat To Earth - Weyes Blood   /   Lido - Th'  Faith Healers  (Ex aequo)
03. Fanfare In The Garden: An Essential Logic Collection - Essential Logic
04. The Hope Six Demolition Project - PJ Harvey
05. The Magic - Deerhoof
06. The Bells - Kornél Kovács
07. Crab Day - Cate Le Bon
08. New View - Eleanor Friedberger
09. Imaginary Friend - Th'  Faith Healers
10. Mystere - La Femme
11. How to Dance - Mount Moriah


BEST ORIGINAL SONG
01. Generation Why - Weyes Blood
02. Love Song - Th'  Faith Healers
03. Alkaline Loaf In The Area - Essential Logic
04.  Do You Need My Love - Weyes Blood
05.  Septembre - La Femme
06.  Heart Fog - Th' Faith Healers
07. The Wheel - PJ Harvey
08. The Thirst - Shannon Wright
09. Learning To Apologize Effectively - Deerhoof
10. Shut Up Kiss Me -  Angel Olsen
11. Two Versions of Tomorrow - Eleanor Friedberger
12. Search for your love - Gulp
13. Wonderful - Cate Le Bon
14. Blackstar - David Bowie
15. Dorothy - Kevin Morby
16. BB - Kornél Kovács
17. Kept - Crystal Castles
18. Real Love - Big Thief
19. Death - Weekend Wolves
20. Adieu au Dancefloor - Marie Davidson
21. The Order Form - Essential Logic
22. Fast Moving Cars - Carla Dal Forno
23. Night Owl - Metronomy


BEST MUSIC VIDEO
There are two kind of cool music videos: the weird/alternative ones with a Volvo and a girl and there's the ones with a Mercedes instead... making us believe this is a badass/gangster music video but in this case the girl is not wearing any gold, just a shiny silver wig.

You guessed it, the best music video of 2016 goes to:



honorable mentions:

2015 SHORTLIST (?)

December, there is no list for best album or best original song of 2015, yep sorry...  of course... there are a lot of fantastic music albums, ep's and song picks from this dark dark dark year of mine - Shilpa Ray, Courtney Barnett, Julia Holter, Deerhoof, Jenny Hval, Beach House, U.S Girls, Lower Dens, Sleaford Mods, Faith No More, Rosa Vertov, Mount Moriah, Sleater-Kinney, Grimes just to name few, but 2015 will be forever known as the year of one of the great discoveries on youtube - Suburban Lawns - a post-punk/new wave band formed in Long Beach, California, back in the late 70's. Their sole and unique album released in 1981 by Suburban Industrial, I.R.S. Records was like a kick that traveled through time (delorean?!) and just hit between my legs. This full-length is a real pre-Sugarcubes "life's too good" album without Björk but with an quite exquisite, intriguing, underrated lead vocalist: Susan Mclane aka Su Tissue and supported by Frankie Ennui (Richard Whitney), John Gleur (John McBurney), Vex Billingsgate and Chuck Roast (Charles Rodriguez). This year a redux version with four extra tracks was released by the label Futurismo. Suburban Lawns lives!

So... BEST ALBUM of 2015?!

01. SUBURBAN LAWNS - 'S/T' redux  (CD Digipak / LP Lawn Sprinkler / LP Flying Saucer, 2015 Futurismo nº12)

the nineties portfolio

an outdated portfolio, ideas that could have been something more than ideas, a simple tribute to a dog.

2014 SHORTLIST

I've been following Weyes Blood since "The Outside Room" album.  At that time I got so impressed by the haunted songs and her youtube live performances that I had to include this obscure album in my list of the ten best of 2011. This year was no surprise seeing some influential music sites pushing her up after the new release "The Innocents", finally! - an album so rare and special that no one should live without taking a listen, seriously. Now I'm eager to follow Weyes Blood in a tour next year with a full band?! through Europe including Portugal ...yeah!!!

BEST ALBUM
01. The Innocents - Weyes Blood
02. Season Sun - Gulp
03. Nikki Nark - tUnE yArDs
04. La Isla Bonita - Deerhoof
05. Shriek - Wye Oak
06. To Be Kind - Swans
07. Under Color of Official Right - Protomartyr
08. Burn Your Fire For No Witness - Angel Olsen
09. Pisces - Pisces
10. Courting Strong - Martha

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
01. "Hang On" - Weyes Blood
02. "Biker Gone" - Kim Deal
03. "Seam Esteem" - Buke and Gase
04. "Clean And Serene" - Gulp
05. "She Loves Us" - Swans
06. "Exit only" - Deerhoof
07. "Requiem For Forgiveness" - Weyes Blood
08. "Time of Dark" - tUnE yArDs
09. "Paradise" - Wye Oak
10. "Forgiven/Forgotten" - Angel Olsen
11. "Love Letters" - Metronomy
12. "Winter Horse" - Pisces
13. "The Root" - Kim Deal and Morgan Nagler
14. "Come & See" - Protomartyr
15. "Seasoned Sun" - Gulp
16. "Bubble in My Bloodstream" - Martha
17. "Mayor/Surveyor" - Shellac
18. "Nettlevest" - Secret Jane
19. "Call Across Rooms" - Grouper
20. "Then I Will Love You Again" - Laetitia Sadier

BEST MUSIC VIDEO

honorable mentions:

raw

summer field, Portugal.

Weyes Blood

I like guesses, so at this point of the year I can say The Innocents by Weyes Blood will be my album of 2014 (wow... It still amazes me I'm living the year of 2014 when it's written down!!).

The Innocents will be out October 20th, can't wait...

DAY 7&8 September

If you like to walk this is the party...

jack

The Summer of 2014 is certainly one of the darkest and minimalistic of my history. I'm trying to keep focused and in times like these I can't stop remembering a quote from Francis Bacon:

"In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present."

Hey! It's Summer... let's party and hear some fine music!

Chris Glass: Why Design is Awesome

Photo by Chris Glass

 This amazing picture recently published at Stereogum led me to Chris Glass PRO/personal site and to his cool and inspiring presentation about design-happiness-life and with which I can identify a lot of myself. Check it out:

soundcheck

São Pedro de vir à corça is a special place near the village of Monsanto. One of the latest examples of Romanesque architecture in Portugal remains isolated between boulders, Holm oaks and Cork oaks. The surrounding area, located at the foot of Monsanto Monadnock is the ideal venue for a modern pagan concert!

the path

the path, a photo by lo.am on Flickr.

São Pedro de Vir à Corça, Portugal

private land

private land, a photo by lo.am on Flickr.

Beira Baixa, Portugal

2013 SHORTLIST

As you might know, in 2012 I've made a revelation so there is no surprise - General Dome is my favorite full-length this year. It is a very special album as well as Buke and Gase one of the best bands around, period. One note to the fact that in this list, every album I have chosen is headed by female singers and this is something unusual in the truly boring end-of-year lists proposed by the specialised press, don't you think?
Fierce girls, fierce!


BEST ALBUM
01. Buke and Gase - "General Dome"
02. Cate Le Bon - "Mug Museum"
03. Chelsea Wolfe - "Pain is Beauty"
04. Throwing Muses - "Purgatory/Paradise"
05. The Debauchees - "Big Machines and Peculiar Beings"
06. Thalia Zedek Band- "Via"
07. Shannon Wright - "In Film Sound"
08. Mount Moriah - "Miracle Temple"
09. The Knife - "Shaking the Habitual"
10. My Gold Mask - "Leave Me Midnight"
11. Tanya Donelly - "Swan Songs 1-4"
12. Camera Obscura - "Desire Lines"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
01. "Contortion in Training" - Buke and Gase
02. "Jack" - The Debauchees
03. "Miracle Temple Holiness" - Mount Moriah
04. "Sisters" - Cate Le Bon
05. "Sick" - Chelsea Wolfe
06. "Winning Hand" - Thalia Zedek Band
07. "Opiates" - Throwing Muses
08. "Raging Lung" - The Knife
09. "Amethyst" - Happy Hollows
10. "Lie Lied Lies" - Melt Banana
11. "Tax the Patients" - Shannon Wright
12. "Troublemaker" - Camera Obscura
13. "Reflektor" - Arcade Fire
14. "In Our Babylon" - My Gold Mask
15. "No Face" - Savages
16. "Making Light" - Tanya Donelly
17. "What Goes Boom" - Pixies
18. "Proof Of Life" - Marnie Stern
19. "Buried Plans" - Minor Alps
20. "Pure O" - Violet Clark

BEST MUSIC VIDEO

 honorable mentions:

blue screen of death