Best Records and EPs of the Year 2021... so far

It's official. We have reached July, meaning half of 2021 is gone. Something that looks, feels and sounds surreal. Same applies to holidays and being fully vaccinated, forthcoming situations that seemed a distant dream not that long ago. So, in order to keep with the optimistic vibes, we are set to recover a Blog tradition that covid took us away last year (we weren't in the mood). Today we unveil our 25 best records and EPs of the year so far! The list is alphabetical and length is not an issue (proper ranks are reserved for December). Just the works we have enjoyed the most this past six months. Hope you like it (don't hesitate to suggest yours, always welcomed) and find plenty to listen (click on the links to do so). And stay tuned, our favourite songs from 2021 are about to arrive!

Bart & Friends- Tolmie Wild Thymes
Cassandra Jenkins- An Overview On Phenomenal Nature
Crowded House- Dreamers Are Waiting
Dinosaur Jr.- Sweep It Into Space
Dry Cleaning- New Long Leg
Full Power Happy Hour- Full Power Happy Hour
Holiday Ghosts- North Street Air
Joana Serrat- Hardcore from the Heart
Kiwi Jr.- Cooler Returns
Lucy Dacus- Home Video
Painted Shrines- Heaven and Holy
Pearl Charles- Magic Mirror
Quivers- Golden Doubt
Tape Waves- Bright
Teenage Fanclub- Endless Arcade
The Boys with the Perpetual Nervousness- Songs from Another Life
The Catenary Wires- Birling Gap
The Chills- Scatterbrain
The Coral- Coral Island
The Laughing Chimes- In This Town
The Reds, Pinks & Purples- Uncommon Weather
The Telephone Numbers- The Ballad of Doug
The Weather Station- Ignorance
Will Stratton- The Changing Wilderness
Wurld Series- What’s Growing  

More lists? Click on the years to check our 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 selections!

Best Records and EPs of the year 2019... so far

Last day of June, meaning half of 2019 is about to pass. To be honest, it's been a pretty shitty year so far for us and, among other, much bigger and personal letdowns, it has been a period of time in which we have clearly struggled to keep with our regular frequency of posts. But that doesn't mean we aren't listening to music. By no means. And to prove it, today we are unveiling our traditional 25 best records and EPs of the year so far! Albums are listed in alphabetical order (in December we will rank the final list) as, for now, we are just enumerating the records (don't care about the length either) that we have enjoyed the most during this six months. Endlessly open and ready for suggestions, as it always should be, we hope you like it, encouraging you to listen carefully. And stay tuned, our favourite songs from the fist half of 2019 are just around the corner!

Aldous Harding- Designer
Arista Fiera- Mi Defensa Personal
Bedouine- Birds Songs of a Killjoy
Better Oblivion Community Center- Better Oblivion Community Center
Business of Dreams- Ripe for Anarchy
Butcher the Bar- III
Desperate Journalist- In Search of the Miraculous
El Palacio de Linares- Largos Agotadores
Ex Hex- It’s Real
Fontaines D.C.- Dogrel
Holiday Ghosts- West Bay Playroom
I Was a King- Slow Century
Jeanines- Jeanines
Jenny Lewis- On the Line
Jessica Pratt- Quiet Signs
Julia Jacklin- Crushing
Seablite- Grass Stains and Novocaine
She Keeps Bees- Kinship
Stella Donelly- Beware of Dogs
Strand of Oaks- Eraserland
Swimming Tapes- Morningside
The Boy With the Perpetual Nervousness- Dead Calm
The National- I Am Easy to Find
The Stroppies- Whoosh!
Tiny Ruins- Olympic Girls

More lists? Click on the years to check our 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 selections!

Best Records and EPs of the year 2018... so far

Time flies and we have passed the equator of this year, which means that it's time to unveil our 25 best records and EPs of the year so far! As in previous editions, the list appears in alphabetical order (the proper, ranked, final list arrives in December) including the bands & artists that have been blowing our minds & ears the most in the last six months*. We hope you like our selection (you know, this is a work in progress) and we recommend you to stay tuned because our favorite songs from this first half of 2018 will be unveiled soon.

All at Once- Screaming Females
Asunción- Sr. Chinarro
Birds of America- Lake Ruth
Clean- Soccer Mommy
Every Little Thought- Hurry
God’s Favourite Customer- Father John Misty
Historian- Lucy Dacus
Hope Downs- Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
Horology- Red Red Eyes
Longwave- Dropkick
Lost and Found- En Attendant Ana

Lush- Snail Mail
Maps- Soft Science
Ocala Wick- Gobbinjr
September Love- Stephen’s Shore
Silver Dollar Moment- The Orielles
Sugar & Spice- Hatchie
Sunday Best- Martha Ffion
The Yetis- The Yetis** 
This Is Glue- Salad Boys
Tú Siempre Ganas. Parte 1. La Vida Adulta (Instrucciones de Uso​)​- Hazte Lapón
Where We Were Together- Say Sue Me
Wild Notion- Night Flowers
Years- Sun June
Vessel- Frankie Cosmos

More lists? Click on the years to check our 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 selections!

* the list comprises releases from January to June 2018
** although it was originally released in 2014, we have included it here as we have discovered them thanks to the 2018 re-release by our friends at Discos de Kirlian

Best Records and EPs of the year 2017... so far

Here we are again, half of the year has almost passed... Which means it´s time to unveil our list with our 25 best records and EPs of the year so far! According to tradition, the albums and EPs are listed in alphabetical order, as the proper ranking will arrive at the end of 2017, as usual. Hoping you enjoy these amazing selection of great music (the year has been quite good to date, and what´s ahead looks exciting) so we recommend you to stay tunned, because, for starters our favourite songs of this six months are about to be online very soon!

Aimee Mann - Mental Illness
Alexandra Savior - Belladonna of Sadness
Apartamentos Acapulco - Nuevos Testamentos
Chastity Belt - I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone
Danny de la Matyr - Crybaby
Desperate Journalist - Grow Up
Fazerdaze - Morningside
Ghost Transmission - Echoes
Hazel English - Just Give In/ Never Going Home
Hurray for the Riff Raff - The Navigator
Kevin Morby - City Music
Land of Talk - Life After Youth
Novella - Change of State
Priests - Nothing Feels Natural
Renaldo & Clara - Els Afores
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - The French Press
Rose Elinor Dougall- Stellular
Slowdive - Slowdive
Stutter Steps - Floored
The Bats - The Deep Set
The Courtneys - The Courtneys II
The Fireworks - Dream About You EP
The Magnetic Fields - 50 Songs Memoir
The Mountain Goats - Goths
Últim Cavall - Records de Kyoto

More lists? Click on the years to check our 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 selections!

* Note: Currently listening to Fleet Foxes, Ride, She Sir new albums or the terrific EP from We. the Pigs... pretty sure some of them are "fated" to be on the Best Of lists at the end of the year...

Best Records and EPs of the year 2016... so far

Half of the year 2016 is about to say bye. So, it's time to honour one of the Blog's favourite traditions: gather the 25 best records and EPs of the year so far (until half June). As we did in previous years, the albums and EPs are listed in alphabetical order (because the complete, final list ranking them arrives when the year ends). Hoping you enjoy these great albums/EPs* as much as we do! Stay tuned, our favourite songs of this six months of music coming next!

Algo nos va a pasar- Espíritusanto
Breaker EP- Phosphene
Canciones Populistas EP- Nacho Vegas
Crystal Cafe- Witching Waves
Cut and Paste- Oscar
Everybody’s Dying to Meet You- Flowers
Fading Lines- Amber Arcades
Fall Forever- Fear of Men
La Puerta Giratoria- Invisible Harvey
LNZNDRF- LNZNDRF
Lost Time- Tacocat
Luck or Magic- Britta Phillips
Minor Victories- Minor Victories
Next Thing- Frankie Cosmos
Postal- Chicharrón
Psiconáutica- Linda Guilala
Psychopomp- Japanese Breakfast
Red Returns EP- Desario
Resort- Tuff Love
Séance for Something EP- Pale Lights
Some Other Places- California Snow Story
Split Milk- Pete Astor
Up to Anything- The Goon Sax
WALL EP- WALL
We. the Pigs EP- We. the Pigs

Click on the years to check our 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 selections!

* Note I: Currently listening Mitski's "Puberty 2" and Margaret Glaspy's "Emotions and Maths" which seem fated to be on the list.

** Note II: Technically speaking, 'Canciones Populares' by Nacho Vegas came out digitally on December 2015. But as the physical release arrived this past January, when I heard it for the first time, it has been included (love it too much not do it).

Best Records and EPs of the year 2015... so far

Here we are once again, half of the year is already gone. So, honouring one of the Blog's favourite traditions, and after a very tough decision, here are, in our opinion, the 25 best records and EPs of the year 2015 so far (until half June). As we did in previous years, the albums and EPs are listed in alphabetical order (the complete, final list will arrive when the year ends). Hoping you enjoy these great artists as much as we do!* Stay tuned, we are working on our favourite songs of this six months of music!

Apparitions- Ghost Transmission
Beat the Champ- The Mountain Goats
Beta- El Lado Oscuro de la Broca
Carrie & Lowell- Sufjan Stevens
Desperate Journalist- Desperate Journalist
Everything Else Matters- Pinkshinyultrablast
El Despertar- Reina Republicana
Goon- Tobias Jesso Jr.
Holding Pattern- The Treasures of Mexico
I don't want to let you down - Sharon Van Etten
I Love You, Honeybear- Father John Misty
Jekyll Island- Surf City
Love is love - Skittle Alley
MCIII- Mikal Cronin
Melbourne, Florida- Dick Diver
Murder Shoes - Murder Shoes
No Cities to Love- Sleater-Kinney
No One's Coming to for Us - Trust Fund
Oh, Rompehielos- The New Raemon
Overeasy EP - Diet Cig
Pure American Gum - American Culture
Range Anxiety- Twerps
Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I just Sit- Courtney Barnett
Switch Me On- The Fireworks
Wild EP - Young Romance

Click on the years to check our 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 selections!

* Note: Still have to properly listen The Catenary Wires's "Red Red Skies" and the forthcoming Day Ravies "Liminal Zones" which, considering what I have listened so far, seem fated to be on the list.

Best Records of the Decade So Far

As promised, and following the Best Spanish Records, here are our Best Records of the Decade So Far, with our 60th favourite albums released within the first five years of the decade (2010-2014). As you can imagine, it has been a tough one to make, leaving out many records we love is SO painful. Anyway, just enjoy it & stay tuned. We are working on a spectacular list with our Best Songs of the Decade So Far (we love playlists too!)

60, Say Yes!- The Hi-Life Companion
59. You Love It Here- I Was a King
58. Sugaring Season- Beth Orton
57. Tall Tall Shadow- Basia Bulat
56. Build a Rocket Boys!- Elbow
55. Siesta- The Zebras

54. Sky at Night- I Am Kloot
53. The Luxembourg Signal- The Luxembourg Signal

52. Colour of the Trap- Miles Kane
51. Cold- Be Forest
50. Release Me- The Like
49. The Fool - Warpaint
48. The Soft City- The Soft City
47. Bang Goes the Knighthood - The Divine Comedy
46. Torres- Torres
45. Desire Lines- Camera Obscura
44. Cape Dory- Tennis
43. The Coldest Winter for a Hundred Years- The Wild Swans
42. Are We There Yet?- Sharon Van Etten
41. Sealed with a Kiss- Alpaca Sports
40. Evans the Death- Evans the Death
39. Atlas- Real Estate
38. Only in Dreams- Dum Dum Girls
37. The Double EP: A Sea Of Split Peas - Courtney Barnett
36. Canines- Shrag
35. Veronica Falls- Veronica Falls
34. Sweet Heart, Sweet Light- Spiritualized
33. Alps - Motorama
32. Moth- ExLovers
31. Over the Bluffs- The Holiday Crowd
30. Loveless Unbeliever- The School
29. Collapse Into Now- R.E.M.
28. Ride Your Heart- Bleached
27. Kill My Blues- The Corin Tucker Band
26. Oshin- DIIV
25. Without Why - Rose Elinor Dougall
24. Heart of My Own- Basia Bulat
23. A Year with the Very Most - The Very Most
22. Trouble Will Find Me- The National
21. What we lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood - The Mynabirds
20. Choose Your Own Adventure- Arts & Leisure
19. Europe- Allo Darlin'
18. The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
17. Always- Alvvays
16. Hospitality- Hospitality
15. Between the Times and the Tides- Lee Ranaldo
14. Heaven- The Walkmen
13. The King is Dead- The Decemberists
12. Suck It and See- Arctic Monkeys
11. Personal Record- Eleanor Friedberger
10. Silence Yourself- Savages
9. Loom- Fear of Men
8. Honeyblood- Honeyblood
7. Wild Flag- Wild Flag
6. Teen Dream - Beach House
5. Rips- Ex Hex
4. Days- Real Estate
3. Let England Shake- PJ Harvey
2. Tramp- Sharon Van Etten
1. High Violet - The National

Best Spanish Records of the Decade So Far

With the end of 2014, half the decade has now gone, so following the proposal of several magazines   like Pitchfork or NME, we have been thinking about our favourite records of the decade so far (2010-2014), and after a thoughtful deliberation here are the results (let's face it, we love making lists). First of all, the Best Spanish Records of the Decade So Far! 15th albums that, in our opinion, are the highlights of five years with great music in our country. Hope you like it! And stay tuned, the international list is going to appear very soon! 

15. Soundtrack for a Winter's Tale - The Bright
14. Los Últimos Bañistas - Los Últimos Bañistas
13. Reina Republicana - Reina Republicana
12. Disco de Autoayuda para Mutantes - Las Ruinas
11. Escapar con el Anticiclón - Manos de Topo
10. Nihil Obstat- Disco Las Palmeras!
9. Lost Album - Coach Station Reunion
8. Fuerteventura - Russian Red
7. A Farewell to Youth - When Nalda Became Punk
6. Técnicas Subversivas - Grushenka
5. De lo Concreto a lo General - Doble Pletina
4. Fuerza Bien - Mee and the Bees
3. Fruits del Teu Bosc - Renaldo y Clara
2. La Foto Fantasma - Cosmen Adelaida

1. El Mundo Se Va a Acabar - Pauline en la Playa