Best Albums of 2015
selected by Siniša Miklaužić

20
Londiner <BR>“Sve te stvari čine se u pravu, ali nisu”

Londiner
“Sve te stvari čine se u pravu, ali nisu”

Londiner are a pop-rock band who’ve had some success with their singles. And deservedly, as their debut album, “Sve te stvari čine se u pravu, ali nisu”, which was released on the first day of 2015, includs some very good tunes which radio loves.

However, the hype around them apparently wasn’t large enough, and they are on a hiatus now.

♪♫ Listen: “Otkako ne rastem” + album stream

Londiner on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter.

19
Luce <BR>“U bojama” EP

Luce
“U bojama” EP

A lot of Croatian music journalists compare Luce with Adele. There are some similarities, but Luce is just at the beginning of her career, and these comparisons can be a burden for her.

Anyway, her first official release, “U bojama”, shows her at her best. Although there are only five songs on this EP, it’s enough to see how great a voice Luce’s got. We can expect a lot of great things from her in the future.

♪♫ Listen: “Možda mi

Luce on Facebook, YouTube + beehype.

18
Garage in July <BR>“Imaš li strasti?!”

Garage in July
“Imaš li strasti?!”

A garage rock band from Slavonija, Garage in July describe themselves as ‘swamp’n’roll’.

But in fact, they are a very good garage rock band influenced by The Sonics and The Stooges with some blues elements, as you can hear on their latest album “Imaš li strasti?!”.

♪♫ Listen: “Velika duša

Garage in July on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube.

17
Bebe na vole <BR>“Time Of The Great Depression”

Bebe na vole
“Time Of The Great Depression”

Croatia has a lot of great singer-songwriters, male or female. Last year the name of Adam Semijalac a.k.a. Bebe na vole jumped out!

His guitar plays blues, and his voice sing blues. Together with great songwriting, it makes “Time Of The Great Depression” one of the greatest albums of 2015.

♪♫ Listen: “The Great Fall” + album stream

Bebe na vole on Soundclick, Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube.

16
Skaut <BR>“II”

Skaut
“II”

“II” is Scout’s third album, but it should be second as most of the songs were written before they created their actual second album.

Because their label had the idea of how they should sound, they needed to do a more radio-friendly record with ballads, so these songs were postponed – and finally released last year. This is old school rock presented in a modern way.

♪♫ Listen: “Vjerujem

Skaut on Facebook.

15
Kozmodrum <BR>“Na Tragu Satelita”

Kozmodrum
“Na Tragu Satelita”

In Croatia, we only have two periods for releasing music albums. The first comes before summer, and the second is just before the end of the year, so most of albums come out in late December.

Kozmodrum have released their debut album recently, but it is definitely one of the albums that deserves bigger attention. Although a new band, Kozmnodrum consists of a group of experienced musicians and they know how to combine jazz, space rock, experimental and electronic in the best way.

♪♫ Listen: “Sirup People” + album stream

Kozmodrum on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube, www.

14
Them Moose Rush <BR>“Three π Two”

Them Moose Rush
“Three π Two”

Lots of people were sad because The Mars Volta split up. In Croatia, we have a band that is as good as they were.

Still very young, Them Moose Rush present themselves as a potential new The Mars Volta not only with their studio records, but especially with their live shows. They’ve got the right energy, craziness, and they have balls.

♪♫ Listen: “Redrum” + album stream

Them Moose Rush on Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.

13
Moskau <BR>“Dirty Ground”

Moskau
“Dirty Ground”

One of the most intriguing albums of the last year was definitely the latest effort of Moskau, an experimental band from Koprivnica who combine post-punk, noise and art-core.

Compared to their previous albums, “Dirty Ground” seems like a next level and makes Moskau one of the most intriguing underground bands you can find in Croatia currently.

♪♫ Listen: “Courthouse

Moskau on Bandcamp, YouTube, Facebook.

12
### <BR>“Svjetlo”

###
“Svjetlo”

Fourth EP from the band called ### is named “Svjetlo”. These guys from Sisak combine experimental music with noise and post rock, but for this album, they’ve started to implement some electronics as well.

In the end, we get very expressive instrumental album, one of the best from our underground.

♪♫ Listen: album preview

### on Bandcamp, Facebook.

11
Gretta <BR>“Boje i mirisi”

Gretta
“Boje i mirisi”

“Boje i mirisi” is the fourth album in Gretta’s career. They show they have learnt a lot during the recent years, including how to be commercial and successful, but we can still hear their characteristic sound.

A lot of critics call them Croatian Franz Ferdinand, and without doubt they deserve this nickname.

♪♫ Listen: “Malena

Gretta on Facebook, www.

10
Sleepyheads <BR>“The Swirling Thoughts Of…”

Sleepyheads
“The Swirling Thoughts Of…”

Sleepyheads have a great name for a band, and they have a very good debut album as well.

“The Swirling Thoughts Of…” combines various influences from British indie rock, and the result is very melodic and dreamy.

♪♫ Listen: “Sunday” + album stream

Sleepyheads on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube.

9
ESC Life <BR>“Access All Areas”

ESC Life
“Access All Areas”

They had a tour with Hüsker Dü’s Grant Hart as his backing band. Hüsker Dü, Grant Hart and Bob Mould are their main idols.

“Access All Areas” is the best power pop album of the year, and shows them as one of the most promising new acts in the Croatian scene.

♪♫ Listen: “Bad Influence” + album stream

ESC Life on Bandcamp, Facebook.

8
Ha Det Bra <BR>“Societea For Two”

Ha Det Bra
“Societea For Two”

Ha Det Bra was a band with a great potential in the ’90s, but life had separated them.

After almost twenty years, they started to play together again, and finally finished their comeback album. “Societea For Two” is noise at its best.

♪♫ Listen: “Sleeping With The Werewolf

Ha Det Bra on Facebook, www.

7
F5 <BR>“Organik”

F5
“Organik”

“Organik” is a great comeback of the experimental pop-rock group F5. After several years in hiatus, they released several singles which finally formed the core of their new record.

This album doesn’t have any flaws, except it’s a little bit too long. But as long as its great music, it really doesn’t matter if there’s too much of it.

♪♫ Listen: “Prevruće

F5 on Facebook, YouTube + beehype.

6
Žen <BR>“Jantar”

Žen
“Jantar”

Audio-visual collective Žen released one of the best indie albums of the year.

We already introduced them with dreamy single “Kraj početak“, but the whole album “Jantar” maintains the same quality as this mellow song.

♪♫ Listen: “Kraj početak” + album stream

Žen on Bandcamp, Facebook, www + beehype.

5
Kandžija i gole žene <BR>“Nema labavo”

Kandžija i gole žene
“Nema labavo”

Currently, Kandžija is the best hip-hop artist in Croatia. This album was released in the middle of December, but you can find “Nema labavo” on all Croatian top lists for the best albums of the year.

But actually, is one of the best rap albums in the recent history of Croatian music. Kandžija knows how to intrigue his audience with provocative and satiric lyrics, and his band Gole žele (Naked Woman) provides much more than a great arrangment for his words.

♪♫ Listen: “Đuro

Kandžija i gole žene on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.

4
Chui <BR>“Third Sun From The Stone”

Chui
“Third Sun From The Stone”

Chui is one of the best-kept secrets in Croatia. While their first two albums were great ones, their latest effort also had a couple of hits, so everyone is going crazy about Chui.

I’m glad about it. They are really a unique group mixing multiple influences from electronics to free jazz improvisation. On “Third Sun From The Stone”, they collaborated with the rapper Fil Tilen for their biggest hit up to date.

♪♫ Listen: “Okrenuli smo leđa suncu

Chui on Soundcloud, Facebook, YouTube.

3
Vlasta Popić <BR>“Kvadrat”

Vlasta Popić
“Kvadrat”

One of the best albums of the last year was released at its very beginning. Even before, everybody liked Vlasta Popić, although their first album’s lyrics could seem a bit childish. But music was energetic indie/noise pop.

On their second and possibly their last album for now (they split up several months ago), called “Kvadrat”, their sound grows even bigger and more serious.

♪♫ Listen: “Maštanje” + album stream

Vlasta Popić on Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube + beehype.

2
Hari & Fat Sons <BR>“Songs For Bad Weather” EP

Hari & Fat Sons
“Songs For Bad Weather” EP

Although this is only an EP, “Songs For Bad Weather” is still a precious collection of beautiful acoustic Britpop songs. The name of this mini-album couldn’t be better, as these songs will raise your spirit.

Hari & Fat Sons went through a difficult period in the last year – the band’s drummer past away several months ago. Their latest video, “Whale”, is dedicated to him.

♪♫ Listen: “Whale” + album stream

Hari & Fat Sons on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube, www.

1
Šank?! <BR>“Naša stvar”

Šank?!
“Naša stvar”

There is an old saying “punk is dead”, but in the last several years in Croatia we could hear a lot of great punk bands with even better albums. Šank?! is one of the best examples.

Powerful, with socially engaged lyrics and energetic shows, they are one of the best acts in Croatia. And in my opinion, they also released the album of the year 2015.

♪♫ Listen: “Naša stvar

Šank?! on Facebook.