Mine are super predictable, but (in no order):
Run The Jewels
XTEP (don't sleep)
Tomorrow's Harvest
Long.Live
Surgical Steel
Rephlex EDM A2
My 1st Chemistry Set
Old
Street Eagles
That's about it. Not super stoked on last year. Looking forward to checking out the shit on y'alls lists tho.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Saturday, January 25, 2014
My Top 10
Okay, I suppose I'll take a crack at this. I'm just going to do top 10 tracks of the year rather than albums, since apparently I'm too ADD to listen to full albums anymore, and there just haven't been that many full-lengths to get me too excited of late. So in no particular order:
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Your top 10 for 2013
C'mon, y'all, lez do this. No pondering / overconsideration; it's just us.
I'll embarrass myself first.
10 - Surgical Steel by Carcass
Yes, it's that good. Yes, I will be going to see them when they come through. Even though I didn't really like that Gorguts record all that much. Yes, all that review stuff that says "it's like Swansong never happened" is at least 95% correct.
9 - Sunbather by Deafheaven
This record deserves some but not all of the accolades heaped on it this year. I like black metal and shoegazer, so this is right up my alley, but I can see why a lot of black metal purists are butthurt about it. Then again, those people are dicks.
8 - Black Friday by Big Black Cloud
Portland band. This label (Eolian Empire) has been releasing all sorts of good heavy stuff this year, most of which I liked, notably Honduran's Street Eagles. Black Friday is so manic, noisy, dissonant, but still punk... I feel like Sonic Youth were never really all that punk. They were always an art band; if they'd been punker, this may have been what they would have sounded like.
7 - Summon the Faithless by Lord Dying
Another Portland band. These dudes are resurrecting pure thrash but throwing in just a little bit of stoner metal on top of it. Tight as hell, riffs are enormous, fun as shit to watch. I like the sound of their demo a little more than this record (less "produced"), but this is still a damn fine metal record.
6 - Soma by Windhand
Holy shit this is heavy doom. Probably the heaviest doom since Dopethrone. Really. There's a real sense of dynamics and wisdom to this record, unlike a lot of doomy bands going right now. Contrasting example: We are Here by Blackout. That record is good, but Soma just blows it out of the water. No contest. The Blackout record feels like a sludgy doomy record that's good and raw, but at the end of it you don't feel like they really told you anything; they're just riding a wave of FUCK YEAH. This record feels like it told you something at the end.
5 - mBv by My Bloody Valentine
Yeah, there's a little bit of nostalgia factor here. The first side of this just makes you feel all warm and cuddly like Loveless has returned. For a record built up as much as this... that's pretty impressive. Unfortunately the DnB shit on the second side is pretty cringeworthy, otherwise this would have been higher.
4 - Manifest Decimation by Power Trip
This band sounds like Chuck Schuldiner playing tastefully short guitar solos and singing while backed by Hell Awaits-era Slayer (but with better songwriting). This should make you want to run not walk to their bandcamp page.
3 - Tomorrow's Harvest by Boards of Canada
After living with it for a while, I think this manages to recapture a lot of the wonderment and haziness of Music Has the Right without resorting to the same sonic exact palette. It's a different sort of feeling than Music Has the Right, though. They've grown up with us? The last 25 minutes of the record are some of their best shit ever, I think.
2 - Abandon All Life by NAILS
This is, no question, the heaviest band out there right now. Period. It's a sonic assault that still holds up to multiple listens. It's insanely well-crafted. I could write a lot more effusion regarding how crazy awesome this band is.
1 - Circumambulation by True Widow
Shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who's been looking at my tumblr. I am fully head over heels for this band and have been for about 2 years now. They kept the essence of what makes them good, but evolved it subtly. This record is creepier than their others, in a good David Lynch kind of way.
Honorable mentions: General Dome by Buke and Gase; Amen by Death Engine; Run the Jewels; EDM B2.
Kickass rereleases: Touch and Go reissued almost the entire Big Black catalog on vinyl (no Atomizer or Songs About Fucking, but everything else).
I'll embarrass myself first.
10 - Surgical Steel by Carcass
Yes, it's that good. Yes, I will be going to see them when they come through. Even though I didn't really like that Gorguts record all that much. Yes, all that review stuff that says "it's like Swansong never happened" is at least 95% correct.
9 - Sunbather by Deafheaven
This record deserves some but not all of the accolades heaped on it this year. I like black metal and shoegazer, so this is right up my alley, but I can see why a lot of black metal purists are butthurt about it. Then again, those people are dicks.
8 - Black Friday by Big Black Cloud
Portland band. This label (Eolian Empire) has been releasing all sorts of good heavy stuff this year, most of which I liked, notably Honduran's Street Eagles. Black Friday is so manic, noisy, dissonant, but still punk... I feel like Sonic Youth were never really all that punk. They were always an art band; if they'd been punker, this may have been what they would have sounded like.
7 - Summon the Faithless by Lord Dying
Another Portland band. These dudes are resurrecting pure thrash but throwing in just a little bit of stoner metal on top of it. Tight as hell, riffs are enormous, fun as shit to watch. I like the sound of their demo a little more than this record (less "produced"), but this is still a damn fine metal record.
6 - Soma by Windhand
Holy shit this is heavy doom. Probably the heaviest doom since Dopethrone. Really. There's a real sense of dynamics and wisdom to this record, unlike a lot of doomy bands going right now. Contrasting example: We are Here by Blackout. That record is good, but Soma just blows it out of the water. No contest. The Blackout record feels like a sludgy doomy record that's good and raw, but at the end of it you don't feel like they really told you anything; they're just riding a wave of FUCK YEAH. This record feels like it told you something at the end.
5 - mBv by My Bloody Valentine
Yeah, there's a little bit of nostalgia factor here. The first side of this just makes you feel all warm and cuddly like Loveless has returned. For a record built up as much as this... that's pretty impressive. Unfortunately the DnB shit on the second side is pretty cringeworthy, otherwise this would have been higher.
4 - Manifest Decimation by Power Trip
This band sounds like Chuck Schuldiner playing tastefully short guitar solos and singing while backed by Hell Awaits-era Slayer (but with better songwriting). This should make you want to run not walk to their bandcamp page.
3 - Tomorrow's Harvest by Boards of Canada
After living with it for a while, I think this manages to recapture a lot of the wonderment and haziness of Music Has the Right without resorting to the same sonic exact palette. It's a different sort of feeling than Music Has the Right, though. They've grown up with us? The last 25 minutes of the record are some of their best shit ever, I think.
2 - Abandon All Life by NAILS
This is, no question, the heaviest band out there right now. Period. It's a sonic assault that still holds up to multiple listens. It's insanely well-crafted. I could write a lot more effusion regarding how crazy awesome this band is.
1 - Circumambulation by True Widow
Shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who's been looking at my tumblr. I am fully head over heels for this band and have been for about 2 years now. They kept the essence of what makes them good, but evolved it subtly. This record is creepier than their others, in a good David Lynch kind of way.
Honorable mentions: General Dome by Buke and Gase; Amen by Death Engine; Run the Jewels; EDM B2.
Kickass rereleases: Touch and Go reissued almost the entire Big Black catalog on vinyl (no Atomizer or Songs About Fucking, but everything else).
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