You won’t find much about hardcore-noise band Or, but they belong to a famous Czech underground label Silver Rocket – and that says it all. It’s enough to know that this record’s gonna be noisy.
“Jaro” is an amazing album combining the fury of hardcore punk with the atmosphere of the beginings of garage indie rock full of amazing bass lines, screaming vocals and dirty guitars.
♪♫ Listen: “Můry” + album stream
Or on Soundcloud, www.
Another debut on the Czech guitar scene is by a Prague-based indie band ±0 (plusminusnula). The album is a very straightforward mix of cold and dark post-punk influences with a typical heavy bass sound and long, spacey guitar riffs.
±0 is a band of architects and so is their music – sharp and precise. Together with bands Cold Cold Nights and Role they organize an intimate festival Miro, which takes place few kilometres outside of Prague and is one of the best DIY music festival in the Czech Republic.
♪♫ Listen: “Přehrada” + album stream
The debut album of the Berlin-based formation Fiordmoss was a long awaited record. Originally from Brno, the band members moved to the German capital and by that time were mostly known for their dark, minimal and atmospheric shows.
“Kingdome Come” perfectly captures the dark spirit of their music, mostly accompanied with downtempo beats, heavy, creepy synths and almost sci-fi aesthetics. It’s a perfect soundtrack to night spent in dark clubs of Berlin.
♪♫ Listen: “Motherland” + album stream
Wild Tides are another well-known Czech band, though this time they came out with something completely different. “Sbohem a šáteček” is their first record sang completely in the Czech language.
The album is a homage to Czech pop music from decades ago and captures the beauty of the Czech language, has some of the best lyrical moments we’ve seen in years and with its great instrumental mixture of punk, rock and folk is their best album to date.
♪♫ Listen: “Do voka drát” + album stream
Sýček came out from the scene around label Noise Assault Agency Budweiss in southern Bohemia, which is known for producing some cool noise records. Although Sýček’s sound is pretty heavy too, the record “I.” is more a hypnotic krautrock meditation.
The five-track album ends with a calling of a real crocker (sýček in Czech), which is also a reminder of the band’s effort to raise attention and save this endangered specie.
♪♫ Listen: “Rozcestí” + album stream
Sýček on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Facebook.
The debut album of a dream pop band Billow took a long time to finish. The members of bands Strangers in the City and Václav J broke up around 2009, but it was worth the wait.
“Maps” is a lo-fi acoustic record with synthetizers in the background and soft voice of the singer Lenka Slováková. It takes you somewhere back to the nineties and continues in the musical heritage of Mazzy Star-like intimate acoustic pop.
♪♫ Listen: “Long Drive” + album stream
The debut album “Feed Goals” of a Prague-based producer Barbora Polcerová aka Enchanted Lands is the biggest surprise of the year.
Six-track record full of long ambient drones, huge soundscapes, soft whispers and a wide variety of nature sounds was even praised by the British magazine The Quietus. The same magazine named the Czech label Genot Centre as the best tape label of the year 2017.
♪♫ Listen: “Trending Poetess” + album stream
Enchanted Lands on Bandcamp.
Veronika Buriánková and David Zeman, the duo Kalle from Tábor, are a well known name on the Czech scene, though their second album “Saffron Hills” is the definitive reason why you should check them out.
Intimate atmosphere together with fragile voices of both members and simple instrumentals bring a feeling of strong melancholy. At some points they even remind of the slowcore giants Low, though “Saffron Hills” still remains a very personal and one of a kind record.
♪♫ Listen: “Felid” + album stream
From a one-man project J of a singer and filmmaker Jakub Jirásek to its current four-member form, Cold Cold Nights represent a folkier side of the Czech indie scene.
“(The) Last Summer” is a record influenced by the first wave of indie emo American bands and brings back the nostalgia for the years of innocence and long summer nights spend with friends.
♪♫ Listen: “Joie” + album stream
Cold Cold Nights on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Facebook.
The debut release “Půl litru země” from an indie rock outfit Pacino took the Czech music scene by a storm and there’s no doubt that it’s the best Czech album of the year.
The mixture of dirty Dinosaur Jr.-like guitars, sharp garage sound and beautiful Czech lyrics takes you back to the 90s, though for the Prague/Orlová band it’s a massive step forward to the very top of the Czech guitar scene.
♪♫ Listen: “Kraj” + album stream
Pacino on Bandcamp.