Mejores Discos Internacionales 2023

Mejores Discos Internacionales 2023

1The Lemon Twigs"Everything Harmony"
2Robert Forster"The Candle and the Flame"
3Lana Del Rey"Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Bl…"
4The Reds, Pinks and Purples"The Town That Cursed Your Name"
5Sufjan Stevens"Javelin"
6Oracle Sisters"Hydranism"
7PJ Moore & Co"When A Good Day Comes"
8Eddie Chacon"Sundown"
9RVG"Brain Worms"
10The Bathers"Sirenesque"
11PJ Harvey"I Inside the Old Year Dying"
12Yo La Tengo"This Stupid World"
13Wilco"Cousin"
14Alfie Firmin"Absentee"
15James Yorkston, Nina Persson & The Second Hand…"The Great White Sea Eagle"
16ANOHNI"My Back Was a Bridge For You To Cross"
17Lloyd Cole"On Pain"
18Lankum"False Lankum"
19The Coral"Sea Of Mirrors"
20Blur"The Ballad Of Darren"
21Belle and Sebastian"Late Developers"
22Teenage Fanclub"Nothing Lasts Forever"
23Dexys"The Feminine Divine"
24Dina Ögon"Oas"
25King Krule"Space Heavy"
26The Clientele"I Am Not There Anymore"
27Colored Lights"Colored Lights"
28The Lilac Time"Dance Till All the Stars Come Down"
29Sam Burton"Dear Departed"
30Slowdive"Everything Is Alive"
31Cut Worms"Cut Worms"
32Everything But the Girl"Fuse"
33Fred again.. & Brian Eno"Secret Life"
34boygenius"the record"
35Murray A. Lightburn"Once Upon A Time in Montréal"
36Peter Gabriel"I/O"
37Tough Age"Waiting Here"
38Amber Arcades"Barefoot on Diamond Road"
39Andy Shauf"Norm"
40BC Camplight"The Last Rotation of Earth"
41Blonde Redhead"Sit Down for Dinner"
42The Bluebells"In the 21st Century"
43The Brights"Oyster Rock!"
44The Church"The Hypnogogue"
45Fortunato Durutti Marinetti"Eight Waves in Search of an Ocean"
46Lachlan Denton"Furnishings"
47Mega Bog"End of Everything"
48The National"First Two Pages of Frankenstein"
49Panic Pocket"Mad Half Hour"
50Swans"The Beggar"
Mejores Canciones Internacionales 2023

Mejores Canciones Internacionales 2023

1Depeche Mode"Ghosts Again"
2The Reds, Pinks and Purples"Ghosts Again"
3The Lemon Twigs"In My Head"
4Oracle Sisters"RBH"
5RVG"Midnight Sun"
6The Beatles"Now And Then"
7Blur"Barbaric"
8The Reds, Pinks and Purples"I Still Owe You Everything"
9Robert Forster"The Roads"
10Lankum"Clear Away in the Morning"
11BC Camplight"Kicking Up a Fuss"
12PJ Moore & Co"Good Until Gone"
13ANOHNI"It Must Change"
14Lana Del Rey"A&W"
15Big Thief"Born For Loving You"
16Belle and Sebastian"Juliet Naked"
17Amber Arcades"Diamond Road"
18Teenage Fanclub"Tired of Being Alone"
19The Apartments"Something to Live For (2023 Remaster)"
20bar italia"Jelsy"
21Blonde Redhead"Snowman"
22The Bluebells"Stonehouse Violets"
23boygenius"Emily I'm Sorry"
24The Brights"Waiting"
25The Church"A Strange Past"
26The Clientele"Lady Grey"
27Cut Worms"Ballad of the Texas King"
28Daughter"Be On Your Way"
29Devendra Banhart"Fireflies"
30Dexys"Coming Home"
31Eddie Chacon"The Morning Sun"
32Everything But the Girl"Nothing Left To Lose"
33James Yorkston, Nina Persson & The Second Hand Orchestra"Hold Out For Love"
34Golden Hours"Japan on My Mind"
35Gonzalez Smith & Jay Gonzalez"She's My Girl"
36Jessie Ware"Begin Again"
37Jonathan Wilson"Ol’ Father Time"
38King Krule"If Only It Was Warmth"
39Kitty Fitz"Malibu"
40Kristin Hersh"Dandelion"
41Lloyd Cole"On Pain"
42Mac DeMarco & Ryan Paris"Simply Paradise"
43Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band"Ciao Ciao Bambino"
44Marc Almond & Mike Garson"My Death"
45Marta Del Grandi"Chameleon Eyes"
46Mega Bog"Cactus People"
47The Milk Carton Kids"All of the Time in the World to Kill"
48Model Shop"Six Day Sunday"
49Mull Historical Society"Anaglypta"
50Murray A. Lightburn"Dumpster Gold"
51The National"The Alcott (feat. Taylor Swift)"
52Neil Young"Before and After, Pt. 1: I’m The Ocean/Homefires/Burned"
53Nicholas Krgovich"Coyote"
54Panic Pocket"Mad Half Hour"
55Peter Gabriel"I/O (Bright-Side Mix)"
56PJ Harvey"A Child's Question, August"
57Red Pants"Crimson Words"
58Rickie Lee Jones"Here's That Rainy Day"
59Sam Burton"My Love"
60Slowdive"chained to a cloud"
61Spice World"Decorated Boy Scout"
62The Coral"Child Of The Moon"
63Sufjan Stevens"Will Anybody Ever Love Me?"
64Summer Salt"Carry On"
65Swans"Paradise is Mine"
66Tough Age"Give It a Day"
67Van Morrison"Shakin’ All Over"
68The War and Treaty"The Best That I Have"
69Wilco"Sunlight Ends"
70Yo La Tengo"Miles Away"

Mejores Canciones Internacionales 2022

1Father John Misty“Q4”
2Wilco“Bird Without a Tail / Base of My Skull”
3Big Thief“Simulation Swarm”
4Anna B Savage“The Ghost”
5Cass McCombs“New Earth”
6Andrew Bird“Make a Picture”
7Regina Spektor“Raindrops”
8Beth Orton“Fractals”
9The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness“The Stars Go Round”
10Black Country, New Road“Snow Globes”
11Air Waves“Wait”
12Pete Astor“English Weather”
13Arcade Fire“Age of Anxiety II (Rabbit Hole)”
14Arctic Monkeys“Perfect Sense”
15Belle and Sebastian“Working Boy in New York City”
16Bobby Oroza“Passing Thing (feat. Cold Diamond & Mink)”
17Bruce Springsteen“Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)”
18C. Duncan“We Have a Lifetime”
19Calexico“Then You Might See”
20Elvis Costello & The Imposters“Trick Out The Truth”
21Fortunato Durutti Marinetti“Everything Is Right Here”
22Courtney Marie Andrews“These Are The Good Old Days”
23Craig Finn“The Amarillo Kid”
24Ducks Ltd.“Sheets of Grey”
25Field School“Jennifer Valentine”
26First Aid Kit“Out of My Head”
27The Reds, Pinks and Purples“I Should Have Helped You”
28Florence + the Machine“King”
29The Hanging Stars“Rainbows in Windows”
30Iron & Wine“Like Patsy Would (feat. Sima Cunningham & Macie Stewart)”
31The Jazz Butcher“Never Give Up”
32Josh Rouse“City Dog”
33Kendrick Lamar“Mother I Sober (feat. Beth Gibbons)”
34Kevin Morby“This Is a Photograph”
35King Hannah“Foolius Caesar”
36Kiwi jr.“The Extra Sees the Film”
37Kurt Vile“Flyin (like a fast train)”
38Lambchop“His Song Is Sung”
39The Light Music Company“Borchester Echoes”
40The Lightning Seeds“Sunshine”
41Marina Allen“Or Else”
42Marissa Nadler“Seabird”
43Martin Frawley“This Is Gonna Change Your Mind”
44Melody’s Echo Chamber“Looking Backward”
45Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band“Grace and Eddie”
46Model Shop“Lucky”
47Nilüfer Yanya“midnight sun”
48Nina Nastasia“Go Away”
49The Orchids“Didn’t We Love You”
50Panda Bear & Sonic Boom“Livin’ in the After”
51Paul Heaton & Jacqui Abbott“Too Much For One (Not Enough For Two)”
52Pearl Charles“Givin’ It Up”
53Rachel Love“City Girl”
54The Reds, Pinks and Purples“Summer at Land’s End”
55Weyes Blood“It’s Not Just Me, It’s Everybody”
56Robert Forster“Tender Years”
57Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever“Bounce off the Bottom”
58Slack Times“Carried Away”
59Sondre Lerche“Special Needs (feat. Felicia Douglass)”
60The Soundcarriers“Wilds”
61Suede“She Still Leads Me On”
62Suggs & Paul Weller“OOH DO U FINK U R”
63Sun’s Signature“Underwater”
64SZA“Kill Bill”
65The Weather Station“Endless Time”

Robert Forster – “Songs To Play”

Alcanzar la categoría de clásico es algo al alcance de muy pocos artistas. Por otra parte poner la etiqueta de clásico a alguien hay veces que tiene un sentido peyorativo, no es el caso de Robert Forster, el se ha convertido en un auténtico clásico. Parece imposible que nada de lo que haga salga mal. Ya conté cuando hablé de “16 Lovers Lane” lo mucho que me gustaban The Go-Betweens y lo grandes que me parecían Grant McLennan y Robert Forster, sus líderes y fundadores. Por desgracia Grant McLennan falleció hace ya diez años y ya nunca habrá mas discos de The Go-Betweens, a él le dedicó su amigo y compañero Robert Forster su disco de 2008 el excelso “The Evangelist”. Siete años más hubo que esperar para que se editara, este “Songs To Play”, el que hace el sexto en su carrera en solitario. Recuerdo que la primera vez que lo escuché, pensé en Johnny Cash, no sé , quizás algo en la manera de cantar de Robert en “Learnt To Burn” , la primera canción del disco, me sonó al gran Cash. Para cuando terminé de escuchar “Let Me Imagine You” ya sabía que aquel disco era lo mejor que había escuchado en todo 2015 y aún me quedaban por escuchar “A Poet Walks”, “Love Is What It Is” o “Disaster In The Rain”. Una maravilla de principio a fin. Un clásico.

There was silence

things we didn’t know

There was romance

 

where I couldn’t go

 

Please don’t tell me

let me dream and guess

Please don’t tell me

let me dream and guess

 

I missed the ballet you directed

Was it a big success?

Let my imagination move those figures around my head.

 

Are you in Paris, deep in trouble. Yes?

Is the memoir finished

let me dream and guess

 

I heard you went shopping

And bought such beautiful things

Let me get my calculator and add up the cost of all those things.

 

let me imagine you

I find it sweeter

let me imagine you

Sufjan Stevens – “Illinois”

Sufjan Stevens, es un tipo que cuando editó su tercer disco, “Michigan” (2003) dijo que tenía un proyecto (como yo con #undiscoaldía) de editar un disco por cada estado de los Estados Unidos de América, este “Illinois” (2005) fue el segundo de ese proyecto (aunque más tarde reconoció que, como dirían mis hijos, se había tirado un triple y el proyecto no era tal). “Illinois” es una obra grandiosa, 74 minutos (73:59 para ser exactos) de puro placer musical, una delicatessen pop (puede que folk) con Sufjan Stevens en plan artista renacentista, componiendo, produciendo y tocando un montón de instrumentos. Adicionalmente se hizo acompañar de una sección de cuerdas y un coro, todo ello para convertir al álbum en un clásico instantáneo. “Illinois” está en mi top 10 particular de discos del siglo XXI, al lado de otros clásicos ya, como el “69 Love Songs” de The Magnetic Fields o “Funeral” de Arcade Fire y si el disco está en esa lista Sufjan Stevens también es uno de mis favoritos de este siglo, porque “Illinois” no es flor de un día, todo lo contrario, de hecho su último disco “Carrie & Lowell” fue mi segundo disco favorito del año pasado solo detrás del enorme Robert Forster. Y si hablamos de canciones en el disco hay que hablar de “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”, la historia del asesino en serie tristemente conocido como el payaso asesino, de la preciosa “Casimir Pulanski Day” y como no de la enorme “Chicago”. Un discazo por el que no pasará el tiempo.

I fell in love again
All things go, all things go
Drove to Chicago
All things know, all things know
We sold our clothes to the state
I don’t mind, I don’t mind
I made a lot of mistakes
In my mind, in my mind

You came to take us
All things go, all things go
To recreate us
All things grow, all things grow
We had our mindset
All things know, all things know
You had to find it
All things go, all things go
I drove to New York
In a van, with my friend
We slept in parking lots
I don’t mind, I don’t mind
I was in love with the place
In my mind, in my mind
I made a lot of mistakes
In my mind, in my mind

You came to take us
All things go, all things go
To recreate us
All things grow, all things grow
We had our mindset
All things know, all things know
You had to find it
All things go, all things go

If I was crying
In the van, with my friend
It was for freedom
From myself and from the land
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes

You came to take us
All things go, all things go
To recreate us
All things grow, all things grow
We had our mindset
All things know, all things know
You had to find it
All things go, all things go

You came to take us
All things go, all things go
To recreate us
All things grow, all things grow
We had our mindset
(I made a lot of mistakes)
All things know, all things know
(I made a lot of mistakes)
You had to find it
(I made a lot of mistakes)
All things go, all things go
(I made a lot of mistakes)

ó https://itun.es/es/YuGJt
Bonus. La portada original del CD, de la que soy poseedor y que aparece aquí, incluía un dibujo de Superman, pero DC Cómics no dio su permiso y en ediciones posteriores aparecen unos globos en su lugar.
Bonus 2. Christina Rosenvinge y los tricantinos Vetusta Morla hicieron una brillante versión de Chicago para un Día de la Música hace unos años. Aquí la tenéis

Mejores Canciones Internacionales de 2015

1Tame Impala"Let It Happen"
2Villagers"Dawning On Me"
3The Decemberists"Cavalry Captain"
4Father John Misty"The Night Josh Tillman Came To Our Apt."
5Jamie xx (feat. Romy)"Loud Places"
6Dominique A"Éléor"
7Robert Forster"Let Me Imagine You"
8Matthew E. White"Rock & Roll Is Cold"
9Paul Weller"I'm Where I Should Be"
10Kendrick Lamar"King Kunta"
11Travis Bretzer"Lady Red"
12Sufjan Stevens"Should Have Known Better"
13Alabama Shakes"Guess Who"
14Tobias Jesso Jr."Can't Stop Thinking About You"
15Beach House"Space Song"
16Daniel Knox"Blue Car"
17Marc Almond"The Pain of Never"
18Natalie PrassBird Of Prey"
19Sleater-Kinney"No Cities To Love"
20Stornoway"Get Low"

Mejores Discos Internacionales de 2015

1Robert Forster"Songs To Play"
2Sufjan Stevens"Carrie & Lowell"
3Natalie Prass"Natalie Prass"
4Dominique A"Eleor"
5Kendrick Lamar"To Pimp A Butterfly"
6Jamie XX"In Colour"
7Beach House"Depression Cherry"
8Stornoway"Bonxie"
9ToBias Jesso Jr."Goon"
10Paul Weller"Saturns Pattern"