The Chief Commie music blog

Top Albums 2011

2011-12-31T14:07:00.001-08:00

2011 has really been a good year for new music. A handful of new releases (Doomtree, Panopticon, Ash Borer) completely blew me away and made the list without competition. But as I struggled to pare the list down to 20 I realized that this has been an exceptional year across the board. I'm still not entirely happy with some of the albums I had to leave off, but that's what top # lists are all about: sadness and regret. Anyway, like I said everything here comes highly recommended. There's obviously a lot of black metal here; that's just the style I keep up with the most now days.

Doomtree - No Kings

Minnesota hip-hop crew

Panopticon - Social Disservices

anarchist black metal

Ash Borer - Ash Borer

cascadian black metal

La Plebe - Brazo en Brazo

San Francisco-based mexican american punk

Primordial - Redemption at the Puritan's Hand

Irish folk metal

Welkin Dusk - Born Into a Dying World

blackened crust punk

Sims - Bad Time Zoo

rapper from Doomtree

Panopticon & When Bitter Spring Sleeps - split, Panopticon & Wheels Within Wheels - split 2

2 more great splits

Homestuck - Vol. 8

electronica (it's the, uh, soundtrack to a web-comic...)

Blood Ceremony - Living With the Ancients

psychedelic rock with satanic lyrics for some reason

Deafest - Through Wood and Fog

depressive black metal

Falls of Rauros - The Light That Dwells In Rotten Wood

folk black metal

Dornenreich - Flammentriebe

German black metal

Cloud Rat - Cloud Rat

thrashcore

Star Fucking Hipsters - From the Dumpster to the Grave

trashy, pop-y punk (also features Boots Riley on a track)

Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestial Lineage

cascadian black metal

Space Arcadium - Personal Universe

psychedelic trance

Tombs - Path of Totality

atmospheric sludge

Trap Them - Darker Handcraft

grindcore

Team Teamwork - Super Nintendo Sega Genesis

hip-hop video-game-sountrack mashups

Vestiges - The Descent of Man

2011-06-16T19:58:00.000-07:00

Artist: Vestiges
Album: The Descent of Man
Genre: Black Metal
Origin: USA
Year: 2010

There seems to be some disagreement on the intertubes as to whether Vestiges is a black metal band or a crust punk band or whatever. I'm not sure myself, but they are definitely a good band. This is a dense, full-force album with thoughtful atmosphere, not unlike Fall of Efrafa. And they're touring! Go give 'em some money!

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UPDATE: Vestiges contacted me with a link to their new split with Ghaust. Receive it here!

2011-03-20T17:57:00.001-07:00

Artist: Gamma Ray
Album: No World Order
Genre: Power Metal
Origin: Germany
Year: 2001

If your heart isn't already beating faster 30 seconds into "Introduction" you might have stone heart disease, because this is one of the greatest intros to any album ever made. Gamma Ray then proceeds to belt out 9 tracks of the best German power metal, finishing off with a ballad that I don't hate (a challenging task indeed). I don't listen to power metal as much as I used to, but Gamma Ray remains one of my favorites. Cry for freeeedom!

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The Glitch Mob - Drink The Sea

2011-01-24T19:33:00.000-08:00

Artist: The Glitch Mob
Album: Drink The Sea
Genre: Electronica
Origin: USA
Year: 2010

I'm not usually into glitch electronica, but The Glitch Mob blends the beats so naturally that I'm probably mislabeling them based on their name. It's smooth, energetic and exciting. This album would probably have made my best o' '10 list, except that I only heard it for the first time a few days ago. But this is quality music - enough to wake me from my long blogging slumber.

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Top Albums 2010

2010-12-24T23:39:00.000-08:00

This year I'm cutting my list down to 10 instead of 20. It felt more appropriate, though I'm not sure if that's because I haven't been putting as much effort into finding new music recently, or if there just really weren't as many awesome releases this year, or maybe I'm just feeling picky and leaving off a bunch of albums that I still like a lot and/or forgot about. Both Megadeth and Iron Maiden made new cds this year! Neither made my list - they weren't terrible or anything, just not top-10 material in my opinion.

(I'll try to use this as an excuse to actually post some new music soon too!)

Sigh - Scenes From Hell

This album takes everything that I liked about their previous full-length and gets rid of all the garbage, leaving a truly excellent avant-garde black metal album with a very strong brass section that I like even more than Imaginary Sonicscapes.

Menace Ruine - Union of Irreconcilables

The shockingly good Canadian duo return with an album that blends the psychedelic drone of The Die Is Cast with the black noise of Cult of Ruins, bringing the amazing vocals a little forward in the mix (which might be good or bad, I still go back and forth :) ).

Ludicra - The Tenant

San Francisco black metal with a bit of a post-rock feel. Shame on me for not listening to this band years ago.

Dessa - A Badly Broken Code

This actually includes a few songs I don't like, so it's a little surprising I'd find it solid enough to go this high on my list. But the songs that hit me hit hard, and the awesome Doomtree group concert probably influenced me as well. Dessa is America's best female rapper by far.

Nachtmystium - Addicts: Black Meddle Pt. II

I like this follow-up quite a bit more than Assassins. And I still think the title is a clever pun several layers deep, though I really wish the Pink Floyd reference wasn't the only thing anyone ever says about the band anymore. There are other psychedelic/progressive rock bands to compare to guys!

Kylesa - Spiral Shadow

Kylesa seems to be the most popular crust-rooted sludge metal band, and with this release I think I'd agree they deserve it.

Paper Tiger - Made Like Us

Doomtree producer Paper Tiger's first solo album; it's about what I'd expect, which is to say really great electronic music except for one or two only-OK vocal-centered pop songs.

Electric Wizard - Black Masses

Stoner doom metal heroes Electric Wizard still rock. So heavy, so fun.

Lazerbeak - Legend Recognize Legend

Doomtree's other producer also made an album this year, it is actually not at all what you might expect (unless you saw the Doomtree tour, which once again was amazing). He sings, he plays simple guitar riffs, it's all rather catchy.

Preface to the Dead Sea - Preface to the Dead Sea

Another crust-based, sludgy, post-metaly band; this one you probably haven't heard of if you aren't from Russia. But it's high quality, and wins the best new band name award!

Madness - One Step Beyond...

2010-10-29T07:56:00.000-07:00

Artist: Madness
Album: One Step Beyond...
Genre: Ska
Origin: UK
Year: 1979

OOONE STEP BEYOOOOOOND! Happy halloween you guys!

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Municipal Waste - Hazardous Mutation

2010-10-10T01:16:00.001-07:00

Artist: Municipal Waste
Album: Hazardous Mutation
Genre: Crossover Thrash
Origin: USA
Year: 2005

All I really have to say is if you like old-school thrash metal or hardcore punk, you'll probably really like this album (it's way better than their more recent albums, in my opinion). I just got back from their concert at Tankcrimes Brainsqueeze, where they played with Vitamin X and Toxic Holocaust. It was a lot of fun!

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Propagandhi - How To Clean Everything

2010-10-06T21:52:00.000-07:00

Artist: Propagandhi
Album: How To Clean Everything
Genre: Punk
Origin: Canada
Year: 1993

Propagandhi have become a classic of Canadian punk rock, pushing the skate-punk sound into more political territory. This early album is maybe a little less polished, but the production is solid and the lyrics have an odd juxtaposition of heavy-handed, self-righteous anarchism and not-taking-themselves-too-seriously silliness. The irony is laid on pretty thick with the oft-covered Ska Sucks (a ska song), Haillie Sellasse, Up Your Ass (a reggae song) and the painful I Want U 2 Want Me cover (the liner notes for this song say "we thought it was funny at the time" or something like that; don't worry, the rest of the songs on the album are great).

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Witch Hunt & To What End? - split

2010-09-19T20:46:00.001-07:00

Artists: Witch Hunt & To What End?
Album: Split EP
Genre: Crust Punk
Origin: USA & Sweden respectively
Year: 2008

Witch Hunt and To What End? are both female-fronted, aggressive punk bands that came together across the Atlantic for this brilliant split. Witch Hunt is influenced a bit more by '80s British anarcho-punk, while To What End? is straight-up Swedish d-beat. I also highly recommend This Is Only The Beginning..., a compilation of Witch Hunt's early recordings.

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The Empire Shall Fall - Awaken

2010-08-01T16:30:00.000-07:00

Artist: The Empire Shall Fall
Album: Awaken
Genre: Metalcore
Year: 2009
Origin: USA

This is a band with a frontman who's more famous for a band I couldn't care less about, Killswitch Engage. That certainly wasn't the reason I first listened to Awaken! I heard the track These Colors Bleed on a local college radio station's metal show that commonly plays this type of metalcore-type music, and I liked it a lot more than I usually do. I have to say that the breakdowns throughout the album don't do much for me, but most of the riffs are quite solid, both the clean and harsh vocals are really good, and the openly political lyrics are neat.

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2010-07-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I didn't want to be the kind of blogger who does this, but I just moved and started a new job, and so The Chief Commie is going on a bit of a hiatus. I'll start back up with my irregular postings whenever I'm feeling less busy and using my computer at home more; hopefully it'll be soon!

Doomtree - False Hopes

2010-06-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

Artist: Doomtree
Album: False Hopes
Genre: Hip-Hop
Year: 2007
Origin: USA

Doomtree is the hip-hop collective of P.O.S., Dessa and a bunch of other cool cats. They seriously are the best hip-hop artists in the world, to the point where I almost feel like they ruined other rappers for me. They have released a self-titled album now that is also very good (you should buy it if you like this stuff!), which they say is the music that really represents them. But I think this album might be their best collaborative work, despite being called False Hopes which is what they name a lot of releases that they think of as secondary.

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doomtree site

Astrix - Artcore

2010-06-22T14:23:00.001-07:00

Artist: Astrix
Album: Artcore
Genre: Psytrance
Year: 2004
Origin: Israel

This is the most well-thought-of release from Israeli psychedelic trance musician Astrix. It isn't innovative or anything, just good, solid, fast psytrance. Track 2 is a remix or collaboration or something involving Infected Mushroom, though I feel like the music picks up much more toward the second half of the record.

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Evangeli - ...In Sin

2010-06-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

Artist: Evangeli
Album: ...In Sin
Genre: Folk Black Metal
Year: 2006
Origin: Sweden

I've been posting a lot of black metal in a row, and I usually try not to do that... OH WELL. Evangeli is a band formerly known as Magog, which changed its name because of another more popular band by the same name, and I've been looking for this album since first hearing some Magog tracks years ago. This is the audio portion of a live CD/DVD that is pretty much the only thing Evangeli released before promptly breaking up, and it includes one of the old Magog tracks as well. Long explanation aside, this is what viking metal is to me. It doesn't have any of the battle horns or whatever (it is a live recording after all), but the song melodies really capture an atmosphere of glorified pagan violence.

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Menace Ruine - Union of Irreconcilables

2010-06-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

Artist: Menace Ruine
Album: Union of Irreconcilables
Genre: Black Noise
Year: 2010
Origin: Canada

It's the brand new album from Menace Ruine! If you're familiar with the duo's previous recordings, this seems like a middle ground between the noisy black metal on Cult Of Ruins and the psychedelic drone on In Vulva Infernum and The Die Is Cast. Geneviève's vocals are much more up-front in the production this time around, and I'm not yet sure if it's a good or bad thing. Menace Ruine is still one of the recently formed bands I'm most excited about.

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Fell Voices - Fell Voices

2010-06-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

Artist: Fell Voices
Album: Fell Voices
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2009
Origin: USA

Fell Voices is an atmospheric, "cascadian" black metal band that has only released one demo and this self-titled album. When I first heard the opening track I wasn't overly impressed, but then the second (and final) track came along and blew me away. Not that the first song is bad, it just took me a few listens to get it, while song 2 was love at first listen. The band is probably some flavor of anarchist, and they're from Santa Cruz (where I went to school), so that's something! I'm probably going to see them play in a few days with Ashdautas and maybe again later this month with Altar of Plagues.

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Birushanah - Akai Yami

2010-06-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

Artist: Birushanah
Album: Akai Yami
Genre: Doom Metal
Year: 2007
Origin: Japan

Birushanah is a sludge/doom metal band that gets the 'experimental' label for the strong influences from traditional Japanese music. The three long tracks on this, their only full-length release, are great. The bass player is a former member of Corrupted, so expect a similar feel.

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Orange Tulip Conspiracy - Orange Tulip Conspiracy

2010-05-22T14:33:00.001-07:00

Artist: Orange Tulip Conspiracy
Album: Orange Tulip Conspiracy
Genre: Experimental Rock
Year: 2008
Origin: USA (LA)

I usually try to avoid reposting albums that have already been offered by my blogging friends, but this is a great album that deserves more exposure. Orange Tulip Conspiracy is sort of a mashing together of the members of Estradasphere and Secret Chiefs 3. I like both of those bands, but this seems like a culmination of their musical ideas, avoiding some of the sloppiness and incoherency that went with their earlier experimentations. I guess arguably that could mean that this release is more 'tame', but I think that would be selling it short. Anyway, if you aren't familiar with these artists, it's a style created by jumping between (instrumental) genres - all kinds of rock, jazz, classical (and even some death metal) show up when least expected. And it's fantastic.

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Skarp - Requiem

2010-05-20T00:07:00.000-07:00

Artist: Skarp
Album: Requiem
Genre: Blackout Grind
Year: 2005
Origin: USA (Seattle)

Blackout grind? Yeah, it's a made-up subgenre, but I think it sounds cool and gives a hint of the band's atmosphere. Skarp takes a crusty punk song structure and drops the bottom out with mammoth heaviness you won't believe. The female vocalist is "singing like I'm from Sweden," with fitting harshness for a grind act. As you can see from the album cover this release has a somewhat silly theme of suicide, making this kind of like the punk equivalent of DSBM, though of course there are the usual anarchist lyrical themes as well.

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Twilight - Monument To Time End

2010-05-12T13:18:00.001-07:00

Artist: Twilight
Album: Monument To Time End
Genre: Black Metal
Origin: USA
Year: 2010

Twilight is a super-group of sorts (Leviathan/Lurker of Chalice, Nachtmystium, Isis), playing post black metal kind of how you would expect from the combination of those three parts. It's pretty dense and very good. But you probably already have it. Well if you don't, listen to it here!

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Alex Kresovich - Gold N' Fly 007

2010-05-02T23:38:00.000-07:00

Artist: Alex Kresovich
Album: Gold N' Fly 007
Genre: Hip-Hop mashup
Year: 2010 (I think)
Origin: USA (New York)

If you don't have nostalgia for the game, this post probably won't hold much interest for you. But it really is an expert production job, with the tempos and crescendos seamlessly matched. Of course I've played Goldeneye many times and it really brings back memories, but it's kind of amazing that these songs weren't made for this. The quality of the rapping is mixed, from those tracks that could stand on their own (Nas, Tech N9ne, 2Pac) to some really terrible rap by really terrible people (Lil' Wayne, 50 Cent). Admittedly it starts to feel a little repetitive after 22 tracks, but if the concept sounds interesting to you at all you should check this out.

Also, I'm not sure if Alex Kresovich was part of The Ocarina of Rhyme or Vinyl Fantasy VII projects, but they're pretty cool too and are linked from his website.

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Battlelore - The Last Alliance

2010-04-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

Artist: Battlelore
Album: The Last Alliance
Genre: Power Metal
Year: 2008
Origin: Finland

I guess this is Tolkien nerd theme month! Here's a fun power metal-ish album, with a good mix of clean female vocals and growled male vocals. It's not super deep content-wise, but it has some nice melodies. The biggest thing I think they should've changed about this album is to move the first track to the end, because it's so great that it kinda overpowers the following songs.

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Falls of Rauros - Of Stone And the Stars In the Sky

2010-04-23T19:56:00.001-07:00

Artist: Falls of Rauros
Album: Of Stone And the Stars In the Sky
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2007
Origin: USA

This is a great little two song demo from American folk/black metal band Falls of Rauros. Yes the name is awesome, but no you don't have to be a nerd to appreciate the music. Both tracks are largely instrumental, and the title-track especially is very good. The production could be a lot better, but it doesn't detract from the music too much for me.

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World's End Girlfriend - The Lie Lay Land

2010-04-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

Artist: World's End Girlfriend
Album: The Lie Lay Land
Genre: Experimental
Year: 2005
Origin: Japan

This album is a psychedelic style of post-rock that incorporates ambient electronic music and some jazz passages. Japan knows how to do experimental music right, and this album in particular is wonderfully beautiful to my ears. Headphones or a quality sound system are necessary to pick up on the depth of the music. It is probably different from the music you normally listen to, but I hope you will give it a try.

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Totalt Jävla Mörker - Totalt Jävla Mörker

2010-03-30T22:58:00.000-07:00

Artist: Totalt Jävla Mörker
Album: Totalt Jävla Mörker
Genre: Crust punk
Year: 2006
Origin: Sweden

This here's some of the heaviest, most refreshing crust punk I've heard in a long while. Totalt Jävla Mörker are from Sweden (of course), and the lyrics are all in their native tongue, along with the band name: Total Fucking Darkness. From what I understand, the band's newest album is slowed down a bit, but this self-titled release is lightning fast, crushingly metallic punk in the best Swedish tradition. I would definitely recommend this for anyone who enjoys Martyröd or Wolfpack/Wolfbrigade.

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Ludicra - The Tenant

2010-03-17T17:29:00.000-07:00

Artist: Ludicra
Album: The Tenant
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2010
Origin: USA

Ludicra is a black metal band out of my local San Francisco. I've only heard this most recent release even though I'd seen their name around, and as I type this I'm kicking myself for not listening to them sooner. After only a couple listens I'm sure this album will make my top-releases list for this year. The vocalist is female, but mainly uses harsh vocals, and the guitar work is rather more progressive than I expected, though this might not be the case for the band's earlier albums. The band includes members of Wolves in the Throne Room, Agalloch, and Hammers of Misfortune. I would especially love to hear their 2001 split with The Gault, which is another San Francisco metal band that I highly recommend. Ludicra was supposed to be opening for Mayhem on their US tour this spring, but it looks like Mayhem canceled?

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Beyond Decay - Dropping the Bomb

2010-03-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

Artist: Beyond Decay
Album: Dropping the Bomb
Genre: Skacore
Year: 2008
Origin: USA

Beyond Decay play a mix of ska, reggae and hardcore, with rap thrown in on a song or two, which comes from the now-worldwide "crack rock steady" scene. I come across a fair amount of this style on the Internet these days, but this is an album that is executed much better than most (see No Cops For Miles as another very good, though less creative, example). Yes, the album cover is larger than my review, but it does look cool doesn't it?

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Fen - Ancient Sorrow

2010-03-07T16:12:00.000-08:00

Artist: Fen
Album: Ancient Sorrow
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2007
Origin: UK

I thought I should post this EP since I mentioned it in my top albums list this year. It didn't come out this year, it's just much better than Fen's newest album. I can't exactly say why I feel that way, but this one was more along the lines of atmospheric black metal, where the new album seems to be based a lot more on post-metal. I like black metal more than post-metal, but I'm not the type of person to disown a band for going vntr00; this release just seems more filled with emotion. Anyway, if you're into atmospheric black metal you've probably heard Fen, but if not you should try it out!

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The Morningside - Moving Crosscurrent of Time

2010-02-18T20:55:00.000-08:00

Artist: The Morningside
Album: Moving Crosscurrent of Time
Genre: Doom Metal
Year: 2009
Origin: Russia

This is an excellent melodic death-doom metal album. It's unusually technical at times, and the production is clear without losing that distorted doom metal feeling. My comrade Bart has posted an earlier album, which is also quite good.

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Hammers of Misfortune - The Locust Years

2010-02-15T17:50:00.000-08:00

Artist: Hammers of Misfortune
Album: The Locust Years
Genre: Progressive Power Metal
Year: 2006
Origin: USA

I can't believe I only recently started listening to Hammers of Misfortune. They're from San Francisco, and they include members of GWAR, Christ on Parade, and even Pansy Division! That's a strange combination, but it doesn't really hint at what the band sounds like, except that the music is also an interesting combination. It's power metal, or traditional heavy metal or some-such, but it's definitely progressive and there are folky parts and hints of something heavier. The melodies and the female vocals on this album are tremendous. It almost seems like the lyrics must be political somehow, from the song titles, but I haven't noticed anything overt.

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C.U.T.E. - Find a Place to be Safe

2010-02-13T12:36:00.000-08:00

Artist: Collapse Under the Empire
Album: Find a Place to be Safe
Genre: Post Rock
Year: 2009
Origin: Germany

More happy electro-post-rock from Collapse Under the Empire, released in the same year as Systembreakdown. I think I like the first album better; it feels more consistent in its style, whereas this sort of jumps around in unexpected ways. Don't get me wrong, that can be a great thing, and this album is a lot of fun. Thank you C.U.T.E., for making and sharing this release! collapseundertheempire.com

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Cobalt - Gin

2010-01-31T21:04:00.000-08:00

Artist: Cobalt
Album: Gin
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2009
Origin: USA

Gin is a progressive black metal album that really made the rounds on the Internets this past year. It is rather unique for the genre, and I'm not at all surprised it attracted so many new fans. The percussion in particular doesn't sound anything like you'd expect from a black metal band, and I've seen comparisons to Tool, which I don't want to get into, but that's just to say that this isn't just coming out of the black metal tradition. There's a lot going on in this complex recording, and I'm not sure I've even processed it properly yet, but I definitely recommend this download.

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Dub Guerilla - Dub Guerilla

2010-01-24T20:44:00.000-08:00

Artist: Dub Guerilla
Album: Dub Guerilla
Genre: Dub
Year: 2005
Origin: Germany

This album combines dub and jazz wonderfully. The instrumentation is impressive and the production is smooth, so that three trombonists feels like just the right number. If this album doesn't make you feel calm and happy with the world, I don't know what will.

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NOTE: MediaFire gave me a weird message. I downloaded it myself to test, and it all seems to be working, but let me know if there are any problems.

Gravy Train!!!! - Hello Doctor

2010-01-18T21:35:00.001-08:00

Artist: Gravy Train!!!!
Album: Hello Doctor
Genre: Electro-trash
Origin: USA
Year: 2003

"They're such a horrible band, they just get stuck in your head."
- a last.fm shoutbox comment

Gravy Train!!!! is a completely ridiculous electronic pop group from Oakland. Normally I don't think that anyone should ever be embarrassed about the music they listen to; if you don't think it's good music, why listen to it? But Gravy Train!!!! is pretty much a guilty pleasure no matter how I look at it. That quote is about right: the beats are thrown sloppily on top of explicit rapping about sex, junkfood, and more sex. But there's something that keeps me listening, I can't really say what! It's the same kind of sick enjoyment I get out of Hollaback Girl, only magnified.

Sippin' 40z - a sample of what the band is all about; because I think you deserve fair warning (also, this is one of their catchier songs and it isn't on Hello Doctor)

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Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick

2010-01-16T13:18:00.000-08:00

Artist: Jethro Tull
Album: Thick As A Brick
Genre: Progressive Rock
Year: 1972
Origin: UK

Jethro Tull is an amazing progressive rock band that hopefully everyone knows already. Aqualung is their masterpiece, but since my comrade Bart has already posted that one I'll share Thick As A Brick, which is also excellent but seems to be less well known. I suspect this is because it is really just one long composition broken into two parts to fit on a record. It's got some of Ian Anderson's trademark flute along with some occasional brass and a lot of great bass guitar parts. The album has a compelling concept about a young boy and his poem. This is from before the band's folk period (which is also quite good, I may post Minstrel in the Gallery sometime later).

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Disfear - Live the Storm

2010-01-12T22:04:00.000-08:00

Artist: Disfear
Album: Live the Storm
Genre: Crust Punk
Year: 2008
Origin: Sweden

Disfear has for years been one of the best bands and worst names in crust punk. Now they are playing it rock'n'roll style, but still with the d-beat (of course). This is for fans of Wolfbrigade/Wolfpack for sure. It may be more accessible than most crusty albums, but the energy on this recording is still unbelievable. It's intense, it's rockin', it will make you bang your head!

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Citizen Fish & AOS3 split

2010-01-01T23:06:00.000-08:00

Artist: Citizen Fish & AOS3
Album: TV Dinner/Conspiracy split 7"
Genre: Ska Punk
Year: 1992
Origin: UK

Citizen Fish is the ska offshoot of the Subhumans (UK), and after seeing them play 3 times, I think they are pretty cool dudes. It's kind of amazing how many songs they have about tv rotting our brains. AOS3 is a psychedelic punk band who really rock on their one track from this split; I would really like to hear their full-length albums. They take their name from Augustus Owsley Stanley III, a prominent Dead-head and the maker of much of San Francisco's LSD back in yesteryear. This is a short recording, but if you like punk and psychedelic rock you should definitely try this out.

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happy 2010!!!

Top Albums 2009

2009-12-21T21:39:00.000-08:00

Here are twenty albums I enjoyed from 2009. I heard (and liked) a lot of new releases this year. I think it was a slightly better year for music than 2008, and I have my hopes up for 2010 (flying cars and some new crust punk I hope)!
My top ten are filled in with several artists I already knew and loved coming back for more, along with some excellent new debuts.

I'm certain I'm forgetting some important releases, and also I just like to hear other people's opinions, so you should all comment with your favorites! And if anyone would like to hear an album from my list, leave me a comment and I'll post it.

1. Panopticon - Collapse AND ALSO split w/ Wheels Within Wheels

more awesome anarchist black metal; both releases are ace, but I find myself listening to the split more than I thought I would

2. P.O.S. - Never Better

angry yet thoughtful underground hip-hop; about as good as Audition, which is to say excellent

3. Punch - Punch

hardcore thrash punk from SF; awesome female vocalist

4. Skagos - ást

a big hit among fans of atmospheric black metal; this band certainly deserves the underground attention they are getting

5. Cobalt - Gin

progressive black metal; with the hype I've seen I imagine this will make a lot of people's lists

6. Star Fucking Hipsters - Never Rest In Peace

sort of a pop-ier Leftover Crack/Choking Victim; this probably isn't as good as Until We're Dead, but the concert was pretty great

7. Rx Bandits - Mandala

progressive rock with hardcore and soul influences; they don't play ska anymore, but they're a better band for it

8. Martyrdöd - Sekt

more blackened crust from one of Sweden's best

9. YOB - The Great Cessation

the return of the sludge-doom metal masters; heavy heavy!

10. Nadja - Belles Betes AND ALSO split w/ A Storm of Light

two solid and listenable drone and post-metal releases

11. Mouse on the Keys - An Anxious Object

Japanese jazz-fusion

12. DödsÄngel - Helgrind

a nice Canadian one-woman black metal piece with some crust influences

13. Iskra - Bureval

blackened crust from Canada; this time with an emphasis on the black

14. De Silence et d'Ombre - Ascension

dense, atmospheric black metal from Germany

15. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - self-titled

indie pop shoegaze; This Love is Fucking Right!

16. Witch Hunt - Burning Bridges to Nowhere

anarcho-punk; I recommend the earlier albums more though

17. Oranssi Pazuzu - Muukalainen Puhuu

weird psychedelic black metal, with an astronaut on the cover!

18. Ilkim Oulanem - Iblisbilim

quality traditional black metal from Turkey

19. Intro5pect - Record Profits

more electro-dance-anarcho-punk from southern California

20. Wolves in the Throne Room - Black Cascade

more atmospheric black metal straight out of the North American forests (Fen was in this position, but I decided this album is better)

a handful of honorable-mentions:
Megadeth - Endgame
Sylvester Anfang II - self-titled
Sun of the Blind - Skullreader
Fen - The Malediction Fields
Sonic Boom Six - City of Thieves
Pensees Nocturnes - Vacuum
Celeste - Misanthrope(s)
Drudkh - Microcosmos
Fall of Efrafa - Inlé
Black Moth Superrainbow - Eating Us
Deafest & Cynd split

Weakling - Dead As Dreams

2009-12-15T16:09:00.000-08:00

Artist: Weakling
Album: Dead As Dreams
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2000
Origin: USA

I've been meaning to post this album for a long time, but it's difficult to write about. I'm not sure I even know how I feel about it. It's a brilliant album for sure, but you have to be in the right mood to handle the dark and hypnotic atmosphere, otherwise it can be downright hard to listen to. From Dead As Dreams, Weakling's only release, you can see where some of the more recent US black metal bands, such as Wolves in the Throne Room, got their dense atmosphere. But Wolves in the Throne Room took it in a more... light-hearted, I guess... direction, whereas Weakling is closer in some ways to the misanthropic feel of fellow San Francisco artist Leviathan.

All of the ID tags should be correct, though one of the files is misnamed: it should be "Desasters in the Sun". In general, if it looks like proper English it's probably not the correct track name.

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Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - Full Tension Beaters

2009-12-09T20:46:00.000-08:00

Artist: Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra
Album: Full Tension Beaters
Genre: ...
Year: 2000
Origin: Japan

I think the name pretty much sums it up. Really I have no idea what else to say.

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Ilkim Oulanem - Iblisbilim

2009-12-04T21:54:00.000-08:00

Artist: Ilkim Oulanem
Album: Iblisbilim
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2009
Origin: Turkey

Ilkim Oulanem is a one-woman black metal band from Ankara, Turkey. This EP is actually one of the better pure black metal albums of the year, above any Scandinavian releases I can remember from 2009. As far as I know, there's not too much of a Turkish black metal scene (I've listened to ...Aaaarrghh..., but wasn't much more impressed with their music than with the band name), but I think this album is a very nice (though traditional) beginning.

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Union Jack - There Will Be No Armageddon

2009-11-30T00:21:00.000-08:00

Artist: Union Jack
Album: There Will Be No Armageddon
Genre: Psytrance
Year: 1995
Origin: UK

There are two bands named Union Jack, and I like both of 'em! But this is the English psychedelic trance duo, not the French skacore band. In the best psytrance tradition, the music is made up of lots of interesting sounds, which are particularly great in the song Water Drums, which manages to make me think of instruments made out of liquid. It's calming music, as far as trance beats can be.

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Iskra - Bureval

2009-11-28T18:37:00.000-08:00

Artist: Iskra
Album: Bureval
Genre: RABM
Year: 2009
Origin: Canada

Iskra is a Canadian crust band that has leaned heavily black metal in the past, and is apparently focusing on the black metal aspect of their music even more in this recent release. The band takes its name from a Soviet newspaper, and is often brought up when people discuss the Red and/or Anarchist Black Metal scene. This album is just as furious and thrashy as the self-titled album, but I think I like this new one better, particularly since this drumming and a few of the riffs would fit in with any pvre kvlt Norwegian black metal band.

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La Plebe - ¡Hasta La Muerte!

2009-11-15T14:02:00.001-08:00

Artist: La Plebe
Album: ¡Hasta La Muerte!
Genre: Punk
Year: 2007
Origin: USA

La Plebe is a (primarily) Spanish-language punk band from San Francisco, who I only recently discovered when they opened for Star Fucking Hipsters, and played a very memorable set. They play punk music that is heavily infused with trumpet and trombone, but it is not ska at all, just good old fashioned punk rock with prominent horns. In fact I would compare it more with banda/mariachi style music, though really I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to Mexican music, and I enjoy this way more than the "traditional" Mexican music I've heard on the radio. The name means something like "the proletariat", I think, and the music is certainly political. The song Plebe por Vida is really fun, and I remember it being great at the concert as well.

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Essoupi - Aktiv Dødshjælp

2009-11-11T14:19:00.000-08:00

Artist: Essoupi
Album: Aktiv Dødshjælp
Genre: Dark Ambient
Year: 1999
Origin: Denmark

Essoupi is a brilliant and almost entirely unknown (at the time of this posting, 10 listeners on Last.fm) dark ambient project from Denmark. It's somewhat understandable that the band is unknown after recording only a single-track demo, but it's a damn good (and long) track. As you can probably guess from the silly picture, it comes at ambient music from the metal perspective, breaking into black metal riffs at one point.

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Janvs - Vega

2009-10-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

Artist: Janvs
Album: Vega
Genre: Progressive Black Metal
Year: 2008
Origin: Italy

After recent listenings, I've decided that Janvs' 2008 release, Vega, is one of the best albums from last year; I'm not sure why I neglected to include it in my listing. The lyrics seem to be more interesting than the average satanic black metal farce (from what I've read, I don't speak Italian), and they manage to incorporate progressive melodies and occasional clean vocals while still sounding like a (sophisticated) black metal band.

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Punch - Punch

2009-10-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

Artist: Punch
Album: Punch
Genre: Hardcore / Thrash Punk
Year: 2009
Origin: USA

Punch is a powerviolence/thrashcore/very-fast-punk band from my local metropolis, San Francisco. The female vocalist is extremely fierce, which accompanies the band's blistering speed and heaviness perfectly. The lyrics are of course quite important to the band, with vegan and feminist ideologies featured prominently in those that I read. I only came across this, along with the band's only previous release, the Eyeless EP, very recently, but I think this is definitely a promising young group.

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Hyatari - They Will Surface

2009-10-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

Artist: Hyatari
Album: They Will Surface
Genre: Drone / Doom / Sludge
Year: 2008
Origin: USA

Hyatari is a drone / doom metal band from West Virginia. The drone reputation comes mostly from the first album I think, since this one, their second, is sludgy doom and slow, melancholic rock that is far too melodic to be considered drone. The music is totally instrumental, but still emotional.

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Anti-Flag / Bouncing Souls split

2009-10-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

Artist: Anti-Flag / Bouncing Souls
Album: split
Genre: Punk
Year: 2002
Origin: USA

It's Blog Action Day! I'm supposed to talk about climate change. So, ride your bike or walk somewhere today. And don't eat any meat today - the meat industry is one of largest human-created sources of carbon emissions. This shit matters! A small rise in sea-level from melting glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica will be devastating to the people in a poor, sea-level area like Bangladesh. Lives are at stake.

And here's a very nice ep from one of the greatest, most unashamedly political punk bands I know. And the Bouncing Souls side is ok. I will forgive Anti-Flag just about anything they do musically nowadays because this older material is so damn great. This release marked almost ten years of awesome, unmistakably unique punk albums from the band.

I should also mention that each band does a cover of the other on this split: The Bouncing Souls play Anti-Flag's "That's Youth" and Anti-Flag does The Bouncing Souls' "Freaks, Nerds, and Romantics". "Ever Fallen In Love" is also a cover of the original by the Buzzcocks and "We're Coming Back" was originally by Cock Sparrer (lots o' cocks here I guess).

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Yellow Machinegun - Bean Ball

2009-10-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

Artist: Yellow Machinegun
Album: Bean Ball
Genre: Crossover Thrash
Year: 2001
Origin: Japan

Yellow Machinegun is three overly cute Japanese women who play a surprising hardcore / thrash mix that will please fans of Municipal Waste and the like. I really like bands with an image that doesn't fit their scene. Sorry, no time for more of a review!

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Grouper - Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill

2009-10-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

Artist: Grouper
Album: Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill
Genre: Shoegaze / Ambient
Year: 2008
Origin: USA

Grouper is a one-woman band from Portland, Oregon making fuzzy, wavering, super mellow, and eventually catchy music. Dragging A Dead Deer... is continuing my recent trend of posting music listenable only through headphones - don't try to play this one through your laptop speakers. It's not exactly "song"-oriented music, but the track Disengaged is especially beautiful. It looks like she's gone huge recently (at least on Last.fm), which is a little surprising but certainly deserved.

I noticed that this has the same tag-things as the Nadja post, and I suppose the same kind of people would enjoy both, but they aren't quite the same. This one is much more acoustic and pop-y. I only use those tag-things to draw people who might be interested in a particular post anyway.

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Nadja - Belles Bêtes

2009-09-25T23:29:00.000-07:00

Artist: Nadja
Album: Belles Bêtes
Genre: Drone
Year: 2009
Origin: Canada

This is the latest (and my introductory) album by the Canadian drone duo known as Nadja. Sometimes drone can be like the noises your refrigerator makes when it gets old, and I admit that I've never been a big Sunn O))) fan. But this comes at the genre from a more relaxing, shoegazey angle.

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Trimonium / Plagued split

2009-09-07T18:58:00.000-07:00

Artists: Trimonium & Plagued
Album: split ep
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2007
Origin: Germany & Ireland

I originally searched out this album because it's the only release by Plagued, the one-man black metal project of Nemtheanga, the vocalist for the amazing Primordial and Void of Silence. I had never heard of Trimonium, despite having three full-length albums under their belts. Here each band provides one excellent 8-minute track of memorable pagan-style black metal. Of course Nemtheanga's voice is a haunting and wonderful highlight, though mostly in the traditional black metal growl. I could definitely wish for another Plagued album, and I think I will look into Trimonium's other works as well.

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Sylvester Anfang II - Sylvester Anfang II

2009-09-07T15:47:00.000-07:00

Artist: Sylvester Anfang II
Album: Sylvester Anfang II
Genre: Psychedelic Rock
Year: 2009
Origin: Belgium

This band is a bit of a mystery to me. Apparently this is a new offshoot of the original Sylvester Anfang, who I am unfamiliar with. They claim to play "Funeral Folk" music, but really it is more along the lines of ambient, psychedelic krautrock. For the most part it is not as creepy as the album art would lead one to believe, sort of like a more-accessible, less-droning Aluk Todolo. Thanks to the nice woman on last.fm for the recommendation!

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De Silence et d'Ombre

2009-08-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

Artist: De Silence et d'Ombre
Album: Ascension
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Year: 2009
Origin: France

This French one-man black metal act deserves more attention than it receives. He combines some of the ambient atmosphere from Darkspace with some of the tortured harshness of Smorzando and throws in a few more melodic moments to craft a very nice album. I think this release is actually a combination of the band's two demos, which gives the second half a different feel from the first, but both are excellent. Sorry for the large file-size; I promise it's worth it!

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Morne - Untold Wait

2009-08-23T19:58:00.001-07:00

Artist: Morne
Album: Untold Wait
Genre: Sludge / Crust
Year: 2009
Origin: USA

Morne is another crust band that plays atmospheric, sludgy music that is very reminiscent of Fall of Efrafa. The band-members hail from a notable crust-punk background, from bands such as Disrupt and Filth of Mankind, but they obviously have been influenced by post-metal just as much. This is a style that I think is really starting to take off, and I can't say I'm sorry.

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Fuckmorgue - Down Forever

2009-08-10T19:55:00.000-07:00

Artist: Fuckmorgue
Album: Down Forever
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2004
Origin: Canada

I almost didn't take this when I first saw it because of the band name and album art. But then someone mentioned crust influences, and it seems that at least one out of four interesting new black metal bands comes from Canada, so I gave it a shot. I was surprised in a very good way! It's grimy and harsh, but experimentally so. The vocals will probably turn some black metal fans off: she screams in a crusty but tortured voice - think somewhere between Detestation and Thorr's Hammer. The album and songs are rather short, and I like all of 'em, even Where He Goes which only has one repeated line to the lyrics.

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Dessa - False Hopes EP

2009-08-08T23:58:00.000-07:00

Artist: Dessa
Album: False Hopes EP
Genre: Hip-Hop
Year: 2005
Origin: USA

This post was partly prompted by my noticing that P.O.S. - Audition is by far the most downloaded thing I've posted here. Dessa is the sole female rapper in P.O.S.'s Doomtree collective, and who doesn't like a good femcee? She's into poetics (she seems to think of herself as a writer more than a musician), and her lyrics are similarly personal in nature to the P.O.S. album. I think there are somewhere around 12 cds titled False Hopes by the various members of Doomtree; the only other I've heard is the group release, which is quite good.

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Mouse on the Keys - An Anxious Object

2009-08-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

Artist: Mouse on the Keys
Album: An Anxious Object
Genre: Nu-jazz
Year: 2009
Origin: Japan

This Japanese jazz trio is fresh and exciting, though much more 'produced'-sounding than traditional jazz albums. In this case that adds as much in carefully crafted intricacies as it takes away in atmosphere. I'm pretty sure this'll make my top of '09 list. For fans of The Bad Plus, Happy Apple, Jaga Jazzist, etc.

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Encircling Sea - demo

2009-07-25T01:07:00.000-07:00

Artist: Encircling Sea
Album: demo
Genre: Sludge/Doom Metal
Year: 2009
Origin: Australia

This demo album consists of a single 48 minute track. It's a good 12 minutes into the song before the heaviness hits, which makes it rush through one's headphones all the more furiously. The song includes long ambient passages, and finishes up with a descent into black metal riffing. I haven't been able to listen to the whole thing in one sitting yet (maybe it should've been 2 tracks?), but it's great atmospheric, cerebral music.

Thanks to Encircling Sea for sending me this album! I like to promote underground artists on this blog, particularly those that want to be part of the music-sharing community. Of course I still only post music that I really like!

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Umbra Nihil - The Borderland Rituals

2009-07-24T22:47:00.001-07:00

Artist: Umbra Nihil
Album: The Borderland Rituals
Genre: Funeral Doom Metal
Year: 2008
Origin: Finland

Umbra Nihil did an awesome split way back with Aarni, one of the most interesting bands in metal, and I believe Master Warjomaa is also a member of Umbra Nihil. This is more doom-centric than I've come to expect from his influence, but still very much on the experimental end of metal. This is an album that would've made my top twenty of last year, except I didn't hear it until a few months ago.

In other similar sounding news, I had the chance to play Borderlands recently, and it's a fun multiplayer game! You should play it when it comes out. If you're into that kind of thing.

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Fall of Efrafa - Owsla

2009-07-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

Artist: Fall of Efrafa
Album: Owsla
Genre: Neocrust
Year: 2006
Origin: UK

Fall of Efrafa are a sludge/crust/post-metal band from Brighton. Apparently they are a concept-band about the mythology in the novel “Watership Down” By Richard Adams (which I haven't read). Anyway, the songs on this, their debut album, are epic and crushing in all the right ways, starting out with a simple and dark cello intro and building their marching army of sound as they head to the crash against rocks that is the self-titled final track. I also have the second album, and I guess the third is out now so I would love to hear it; I wonder, will they disband after the trilogy, or just let the 'concept-band' idea fade away.

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Kakistocracy - Cast Aside Your Chains and Dance

2009-06-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

Artist: Kakistocracy
Album: Cast Aside Your Chains and Dance
Genre: Crust Punk
Year: 2004
Origin: USA

kakistocracy n. - "Government by the least qualified." As you would expect with a name like that, the band plays anarchist punk with crust heaviness and dual-vocal technique. They come from the South of the US, which seems to give them the motivation to kick even more ass than their Northern counterparts.

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C.U.T.E. - Systembreakdown

2009-06-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

Artist: Collapse Under the Empire
Album: Systembreakdown
Genre: Post-Rock
Year: 2009
Origin: Germany

Have some happy electro post-rock. C.U.T.E. were gracious enough to email me with their latest album, showing a cooperation with the music listening/sharing community that I truly appreciate. I've only given the album one listen so far, but it's some quality post-rock music, and I have the feeling I'll be listening to this one rather often. Although the album is entirely instrumental, based on the band name and album title I'd say the band leans anarchist, or at least anti-authoritarian.

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Comus - First Utterance

2009-06-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

Artist: Comus
Album: First Utterance
Genre: Psych Folk
Year: 1971
Origin: UK

Comus took folk rock in an almost frightening psychedelic direction in the 1970s. The band used a wide variety of instruments, and sometimes tried to incorporate animal sounds into the music. I really like the drumming and the violin parts, and the male and female vocalists fit the music quite well, though I am sometimes glad I don't understand all the lyrics. Akerfeldt of Opeth is apparently a fan, having named My Arms, Your Hearse after a line from the song Drip Drip. I find the album cover both disturbing and reminiscent of the artwork for The Court of the Crimson King, this album (First Utterance) being much more frantic and dark.

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The Broadways - Broken Star

2009-06-03T21:45:00.000-07:00

Artist: The Broadways
Album: Broken Star
Genre: Punk Rock
Year: 1998
Origin: USA

I think this is what happens when sociology students form a band at university (...though I'm just guessing about the Broadways). The album features musically upbeat punk rock with serious intellectual (but still all punk-angry!) lyrics. I first looked into this band when I saw they had a song about Jonathan Kozol (read Amazing Grace, it's a very powerful account of the terrible inequalities in US schools and communities). It's an enjoyable album sort of along the lines of Propagandhi and Good Riddance.

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Secrets of the Moon - Antithesis

2009-06-02T20:03:00.000-07:00

Artist: Secrets of the Moon
Album: Antithesis
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2006
Origin: Germany

On this album, Secrets of the Moon play rather dense, progressive-ish black metal. It's thrashy and seems somehow more connected with the scandinavian music than the likes of fellow germans Lunar Aurora. I have an earlier album from this band as well, Stronghold of the Inviolables, which seems to have higher reviews on metal-archives, but I enjoy this particular release far more.

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some non-metal on the way for those with finer tastes!

Deafest & Cynd split

2009-05-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

Artist: Deafest & Cynd
Album: split
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2009
Origin: USA

I really don't know anything about these two bands, except that they play nature-lovin' black metal with a depressive tone. Coniferous by Deafest is the stand-out track in my opinion. This album is nothing groundbreaking, but it's some quality underground music.

Sorry the description isn't better, I'm sick. :C

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Black Moth Super Rainbow - Eating Us

2009-05-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

Artist: Black Moth Super Rainbow
Album: Eating Us
Genre: Psychedelic
Year: 2009
Origin: USA

This is the newest release from Black Moth Super Rainbow, a modern psychedelic rock band. The music is laden with enough obviously-synthetic fuzziness to earn the electro tag from me, but to quote the last.fm page, "all are lovingly played by real people with real hands." The melodies can take on a strange melancholy, but it's the sadness of losing one's way in a confused and stoned haze rather than a feeling of anything really depressing. It's really chill, somehow indie-based music, and I recommend it to any post-rock fans.

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Wes Montgomery - Full House

2009-05-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

Artist: Wes Montgomery
Album: Full House
Genre: Jazz
Year: 1962
Origin: USA

Wes Montgomery might just be the greatest guitarist jazz music has ever seen. His trademark thumb-plucking technique and wonderful solos make this one of my favorite jazz recordings. Normally I wouldn't appreciate the inclusion of several takes of the same song, but with Wes each track is a unique delight.

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The 241ers - Murderers

2009-05-10T16:51:00.001-07:00

Artist: The 241ers
Album: Murderers
Genre: Folk Punk
Year: 2008
Origin: USA

The mysteriously named 241ers (some New York thing I guess?) were formed from members of the Stockyard Stoics among other underground punk groups, which is probably what first got my interest. They play acoustic folk-punk though, with the angry-drunk vocal stylings and anarchist lyrics that make the genre work for me.

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Wrath of the Weak - Wrath of the Weak & Persse

2009-04-20T20:57:00.000-07:00

Artist: Wrath of the Weak
Album: Wrath of the Weak
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2006
Origin: USA

Minimalist, fuzzy, dense, intriguing black metal. For fans of Paysage d'Hiver, Darkspace, Lurker of Chalice, Weakling, Wolves in the Throne Room.

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EDIT: by request, here's Wrath of the Weak's new ep!

Artist: Wrath of the Weak
Album: Persse
Year: 2009
Origin: USA

I finally listened to this new EP, and I am enjoying it a lot. It seems to focus a lot more on the repetitive, ambient drone aspects, similar in some ways to Menace Ruine, though without the vocals and more of a black metal foundation.

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Gorguts - Obscura

2009-04-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

Artist: Gorguts
Album: Obscura
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Year: 1998
Origin: Canada

This album is filled with technical weirdness and wankery to the max. It's one of the more unique death metal releases I've come across, and though it seems like it is somewhat influential, I don't think anybody has done something quite like this since. The note progressions are unintuitive and jarring, but I can't help thinking there is a complex mathematical order to the music. I really think everyone should at least have the experience of listening to the song The Faceless Ones - it just might be my favorite death metal song ever written. 9 metal-archives reviewers gave this album an average of 93%.

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Mephiskapheles - God Bless Satan

2009-04-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

Artist: Mephiskapheles
Album: God Bless Satan
Genre: Ska (-punk)
Year: 1994
Origin: USA

Satanic ska! God Bless Satan has become one of my favorite ska (-punk) albums over the last couple years. The song-writing is excellent and very horn-focused, and the lyrics are humorous and sung with a unique voice. Many of the songs give me the urge to get up and dance to the swingin', blazin'-fast rhythms. All the tracks are catchy and fun, but Doomsday stands out as my favorite ("wu-wu-wu-wu-what's this button for?").

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Thy Light - Suici.De.Pression

2009-04-08T00:08:00.000-07:00

Artist: Thy Light
Album: Suici.De.Pression
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2007
Origin: Brazil

The first and only release thus far from the one-man Brazilian black metal band, Suici.De.Pression's title should give anyone familiar with suicidal/depressive black metal an idea of what to expect. This is traversing the same musical ground as Coldworld and Nae'blis (whose music I've posted here already), with chilling atmosphere created through the combination of acoustic passages with black metal riffs. These riffs aren't quite the traditional Burzum-esque black metal fare though, as they take on an almost technical edge at times. I hope Thy Light is working on a slightly more polished album as we speak.

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The Pinstripes - The Decay

2009-04-05T23:00:00.000-07:00

Artist: The Pinstripes
Album: The Decay
Genre: Ska
Year: 2007
Origin: USA

The Pinstripes play 2nd-wave "two tone" ska (with some 3rd-wave I guess... I dunno, it's one o' those waves) how you might expect, but with more punk energy and sometimes politically conscious lyrics. It's a really groovin' album, definitely one of the best ska releases I've heard in recent years. The sax, trumpet and trombone are all excellent and prominently displayed. If you like older ska like the Specials or horn-centric music in general, I think you'll like this a lot. To quote the band's myspace, "sounds like: GOOD".

band site

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Dreams of the Drowned - Thanatotropic Principle

2009-03-27T17:42:00.000-07:00

Artist: Dreams of the Drowned
Album: Thanatotropic Principle
Genre: Experimental Black Metal
Year: 2009
Origin: France

The band noticed my earlier post with the demo and kindly pointed me toward the new release, which they uploaded yesterday. As they put it, it's "not a full length yet but a true release indeed!" Anyway, I'm happy to share and promote music of this quality, and I hope the band receives more recognition with this release.

This album continues the trend found in the demo, including a cover of Coiled In Wings by avant-garde legends Ved Buens Ende. The music is sludgy post-rock, hectic hardcore and blackened rock all bundled nicely in an avant-garde package. I wouldn't call it shoegaze, but those of you on that bandwagon will find something to like as well. Overall it's another unique and rockin' release from Dreams of the Drowned.

band page

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Fullmoon Bongzai - Noisense

2009-03-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

Artist: Fullmoon Bongzai
Album: Noisense
Genre: psychedelic electronic black metal
Year: 2008
Origin: Greece

Look at those goats. And that logo. "A voodoo beach party celebrating the unholy." You know you have to have this album. Fullmoon Bongzai is a one-man band from Greece, who takes after Aarni by claiming several fictitious band members. The song-titles make it seem like a parody-act, but musically it's quite unique and interesting. The album delivers a harsh psychedelic experience with ambient black metal (that might be closer to noise actually) and well-integrated electronic sounds. All vocals on the album are sampled, which gives a little bit of a disjointed feel between tracks, but there is a cohesive atmosphere throughout the album. In summary, if you like weird stuff check this out.

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Conflict - There's No Power Without Control

2009-03-25T20:01:00.000-07:00

Artist: Conflict
Album: There's No Power Without Control
Genre: Anarcho-punk
Year: 2003
Origin: UK

This is the comeback album from British anarcho-punks Conflict after 10 years of hiatus - which might have something to do with apparently being banned from performing in the UK after inciting a riot. This album is heavier and features better production than their old work, and it's catchy enough that I find myself singing it out of the blue every once in a while. The dual male-female vocals complement each other very well when present, and Conflict's favorite lyrical themes of anarchism, police abuse and animal rights make a strong appearance. There's also a pretty sweet ska beat on The Hidden Hand. Also, I've gotta say that is one of the coolest album covers I have ever seen.

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Odious - Mirror of Vibrations

2009-03-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

Artist: Odious
Album: Mirror of Vibrations
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2007
Origin: Egypt

Odious is an Egyptian black metal band taking a large influence from middle eastern music to accompany the usual european melodies. I definitely recommend this for fans of Melechesh or middle-eastern folk music. I think this is an influence that has been underutilized in metal, so I was really excited to hear Odious doing something novel with it.

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Munruthel - Aquarius' Epoch

2009-03-20T21:14:00.000-07:00

Artist: Munruthel
Album: Aquarius' Epoch
Genre: Folk Black Metal
Year: 2006
Origin: Russia

Munruthel is yet another Russian pagan black metal band, but this one is definitely above the curve. I call it black metal, which is definitely there, but you'll also hear a lot of folk and even power metal melodies (weird, I know!). It's good times, but I should mention that I cringed when I first listened to the album: why so hooked on the battle samples?! argh!

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A.P.P.L.E. - Plutocracy = Tyranny & Exploitation

2009-03-17T00:49:00.000-07:00

Artist: A.P.P.L.E.
Album: Plutocracy = Tyranny & Exploitation
Genre: Punk
Year: 1988
Origin: USA

A.P.P.L.E. helped define Peace Punk by merging elements of British anarcho-punk, a la Crass, and 1960s San Francisco rock, Jefferson Airplane-style. The result is quite different from both influences, I think, but very enjoyable. The lyrics have that punk kick (and gratuitous profanity), with the 1960s influence giving them more of a peace-and-love message than most anarcho-punks. This album incorporates a few (very good) songs from an earlier ep, A Sensitive Fascist is Very Rare.

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P.O.S. - Audition

2009-03-09T21:36:00.000-07:00

Artist: P.O.S.
Album: Audition
Genre: Hip-Hop
Year: 2006
Origin: USA

P.O.S. is a rapper from Minneapolis. He started out his music in a punk band, and the influence can still be heard, but now he makes intelligent but angry underground hip-hop. The main thing that stands out is that his beats are sometimes crafted from chugging metal guitars (and is that double-bass I hear?). He's also a part of the Minneapolis-based Doomtree collective, which I also recommend to hip-hop fans. This was requested, but I have definitely been listening to (and posting) a lot of hip-hop recently; five years ago I never would have guessed!

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Panopticon, Wheels Within Wheels split

2009-03-06T20:42:00.000-08:00

Artists: Panoption, Wheels Within Wheels
Album: It's Later Than You Think
Genre: RABM (Red & Anarchist Black Metal)
Year: 2009
Origin: USA

I've gotta say, I'm excited about this one. Panopticon starts things off with an excellent acoustic track featuring banjo and mandolin. I think it's great to hear a metal band drawing on American folk-music traditions, though this isn't a metal song by any means. The black metal kicks off from there with fuzzy atmosphere and compelling riffs on a song in memory of anarchists murdered by the state for fighting for workers' rights. Wheels Within Wheels is a new band on Lundr Records, the label run by A from Panopticon. The packaging calls it "crushing blackened doom", but I think it's more like blackened drone/post-rock. Either way, it makes for an excellent second half to the split, and I also look forward to more from this band.

tracklisting:
1. Panopticon - ...speaking...(collapsed version)
2. Panopticon - the ghosts of haymarket square
3. Wheels Within Wheels - begining
4. Wheels Within Wheels - white light rains down on...

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buy the cd - mine is hand-numbered copy #11/100, and it comes with a cloth patch (this makes the punk inside me very happy)

K'naan - The Dusty Foot Philospher

2009-03-02T22:52:00.000-08:00

Artist: K'naan
Album: The Dusty Foot Philosopher
Genre: Hip-Hop
Year: 2008
Origin: Canada

K'naan is an African-Canadian rapper, originally from Somalia. His vocal style is unique (in my limited hip-hop experience anyway), giving me the feeling that he is just having a conversation. This leads me to think he doesn't take himself as seriously as most rappers, though his rhymes are excellent and his beats fresh (and he does give the occasional trash-talk). A lot of his music relates to Africa and being a refugee, with an insightful global perspective. Musically he also has a lot of rock/pop leanings on this album, particularly with the amazingly catchy If Rap Gets Jealous.

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Orcustus - Orcustus

2009-03-01T12:14:00.000-08:00

Artist: Orcustus
Album: Orcustus
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2009
Origin: Norway

Orcustus is a Norwegian black metal band consisting of members from Gorgoroth, Enslaved, 1349, Carpathian Forest, etc. Apparently they released a demo years ago that I haven't heard, but I just listened to the 2009 self-titled full-length debut, and it's a beast! It's very thrashy and intense, and I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys the olde-tyme Norwegian black metal sound. That's some bad album art right thur.

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In other news, A from Panopticon visited my blog (yay!), and he let me know that a new split with Wheels Within Wheels is now out and available here. So I ordered a copy and I'll have it up for you guys when it arrives, but you should buy it as well! It's limited to 100 copies, so you'll be picking up on kp (kvlt points) at the same time.

Jarost Marksa - We the People

2009-02-26T10:34:00.000-08:00

Artist: Jarost Marksa
Album: We the People
Genre: RABM (red and anarchist black metal)
Year: 2008
Origin: Russia

Jarost Marksa means "Fury of Marx" in Russian, and this is the most 'traditional communist'-leaning black metal I've heard. This three track EP concludes with a cover of Sacred War by the Red Army Choir, a song about World War II. Between the sickle-and-hammer and the World War II reference, I was a little worried this would be Stalinist-authoritarian in nature, but the lyrics are very much about self-liberation through revolution and it seems the band members met in an anarchist commune, so all my fears have been assuaged. The music is pretty raw in the underground black metal tradition, but there seem to be melodic complexities that keep it interesting for me. I'd recommend Panopticon over this one, but I think it's still a good find. I look forward to Jarost Marksa's future releases!

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No Cops for Miles - A New Diction

2009-02-21T15:24:00.000-08:00

Artist: No Cops for Miles
Album: A New Diction
Genre: Ska-core
Year: 2008
Origin: USA

California punk/riot-ska band No Cops for Miles is clearly influenced by Choking Victim and the resulting "Crack Rock Steady" scene, but I feel like they bring something fresh to the songwriting. The production is fuzzy and DIY-tastic, and the album is very short, but worth a listen if you're interested in this style.

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Dreams of the Drowned - Demo

2009-02-21T14:29:00.001-08:00

Artist: Dreams of the Drowned
Album: Demo
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2008
Origin: France

Dreams of the Drowned play black metal with surprising hardcore / post-punk influences. Solstafir did something (a tiny bit) similar with Masterpieces of Bitterness, which I might post later, but it was much more traditional in terms of black / viking metal. I love black metal bands that are doing things I've never heard before. The band plans to release a full-length in 2009, and I look forward to it.

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Revocation - Empires of the Obscene

2009-02-17T20:22:00.000-08:00

Artist: Revocation
Album: Empires of the Obscene
Genre: Death Metal
Year: 2008
Origin: USA

Revocation comes up big with this debut album, a very thrashy death metal release. As you may know, I'm not big into death metal unless it has something special going for it. And this band does, with brilliant songwriting and thrash riffs that should really make anyone wonder why people buy that monotonous crap from Cannibal Corpse and the host of other generically br00tal death metal bands.

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Kaki King - Everybody Loves You

2009-02-13T23:04:00.000-08:00

Artist: Kaki King
Album: Everybody Loves You
Genre: Instrumental Rock
Year: 2003
Origin: USA

Kaki King is a guitar wizardess unlike anything you've seen (watch this to see what I mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDmth1YZI7k , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbJnwk3GBiM), and she doesn't succumb to wankery (maybe it's a gender thing?) but writes quality songs instead. She also has songs about the LGBT experience, which always counts as a plus for me. At least on this album she's the only musician.

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The 3rd and the Mortal

2009-02-13T19:51:00.000-08:00

Artist: The 3rd and the Mortal
Album: Memoirs
Genre: Doom Metal
Year: 2002
Origin: Norway

The 3rd and the Mortal play very experimental doom metal; in the case of this album it is very jazzy, with some electronica parts as well. The female vocals are great, and they fit the downtempo music as well as the poetic male spoken-word. I've heard that this band was a big influence to the multitude of Nightwish-esque female-fronted gothic metal bands, and I can believe it, but The 3rd and the Mortal are way outside the box compared to those bands. I like this one a lot more than Painting on Glass, which is the only other 3atm album I've heard.

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Top Albums 2008

2009-02-13T14:55:00.000-08:00

Here are twenty albums I enjoyed from 2008. There were tons of good albums this year, but not very many that I would call brilliant - 2007 had more of those. This made the ordering very difficult, so it is still very approximate (in some cases arbitrary).

I'm certain I'm forgetting some important releases, and also I just like to hear other people's opinions, so you should all comment with your favorites! And if anyone would like to hear an album from my list, let me know and I'll post it.

1. Menace Ruine - In Vulva Infernum AND ALSO Cult of Ruins AND ALSO The Die is Cast

unique drone and ambient black metal. 3 albums in one year; how prolific!

2. Panopticon - Panopticon

awesome anarchist black metal

3. Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle pt. 1

very good sludgy metal. Not much black though.

4. Toxic Holocaust - An Overdose of Death

crossover-style oldschool thrash

5. Boris - Smile

it's Boris.

6. Slug's Revenge - Revenge is Never a Four Letter Word

anarchist folk music played at a punk tempo

7. Revocation - Empire of the Obscene

thrashy death metal that actually makes me enjoy death metal

8. Orange Tulip Conspiracy - Orange Tulip Conspiracy

instrumental experimental rock/fusion that's actually quite interesting. Also has the best album cover of the year.

9. Keny Arkana - Desobeissance

more excellent revolutionary French hip-hop. Not quite as passionate as Entre Ciment et Belle Etoile

10. No Cops For Miles - A New Diction

riot ska, short but very good

11. Satumnaisuus - Kaleidoskopedelia

very trippy Finnish psy-trance

12. Black Anvil - Time Insults the Mind

really good black thrash; not afraid give a Megadeth style solo

13. A Forest of Stars - The Corpse of Rebirth

black metal with very nice use of violin

14. Dreams of the Drowned - Demo

interesting addition of hardcore elements to black metal

15. Cynic - Traced in Air

neat melodic death metal

16. Quest for Blood - Quest for Blood

weird japanese folk black metal with a prominent manic, improvised flute

17. Coldworld - Melancholie

beautiful, depressive black metal

18. Draconian - Turning Season Within

gothic doom metal done right.

19. Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill

acoustic shoegaze/ambient/drone

20. K'naan - The Dusty Foot Philosopher

African-Canadian hip-hop

EDIT: I have now listened to Torche - Meanderthal (sludge, doom metal), and I think it deserves a spot in my list as well.
EDIT EDIT: Ufomammut, Gojira, Genghis Tron, and probably others I'm not remembering also deserve honorable mention.

Oi Polloi - Fight Back!

2009-02-02T21:32:00.000-08:00

Artist: Oi Polloi
Album: Fight Back!
Genre: Oi!
Year: released in 1994, but the material was recorded in 1986
Origin: Scotland

This is a rerelease of songs from a couple splits from 1986 by anarcho-punk/oi! band Oi Polloi. The band was very interested in working class unity, particularly in mending the conflicts between punks and skinheads, the band having members identifying with both groups throughout the years. As well as being antifascist they have also supported direct action in response to environmental issues. More recently it seems they have started singing in Gaelic, but these songs are all English. The tracks on this album are all very catchy chant-along stuff with the energy you'd expect from an anarcho-punk band.

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Kauan - Lumikuuro

2009-01-31T16:11:00.000-08:00

Artist: Kauan
Album: Lumikuuro
Genre: Folk/Doom
Year: 2007
Origin: Russia

Kauan plays folk influenced music with doom metal tempos and psychedelic melodies. It goes between typical doom heaviness and a lot of acoustic music. Despite the loads of folk-infused metal music, this album feels very fresh to me. It probably would've made my top 10 of 2007 if I'd heard it soon enough.

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Beatrik - Journey Through the End of Life

2009-01-30T20:17:00.001-08:00

Artist: Beatrik
Album: Journey Through the End of Life
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2002
Origin: Italy

The songs are all easily distinguishable, which is something lacking in a lot of black metal music. But I wouldn't exactly call Beatrik melodic black metal because it seems largely in the "atmospheric" camp. For some reason I didn't get this music at first, but I can't really see why; maybe I was just in a bad mood when I gave it a first listen. I suppose it could be called rather depressive, but I find the melody and atmosphere quite pleasing.

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P.S. I re-uped Planet Smashers - Unstoppable because it was missing the first track.

Toxic Holocaust - An Overdose of Death

2009-01-28T22:48:00.000-08:00

Artist: Toxic Holocaust
Album: An Overdose of Death
Genre: Thrash
Year: 2008
Origin: USA

Olde-school crossover-styled thrash with harsh vocals is what you get from Toxic Holocaust. At first the name and album title were just corny enough to keep me from listening to this new release, but it now makes my tops of 2008. It's the kind of music that causes involuntary neck spasms as you drive to work at your dead-end job. Yeah I'm talking to you, Mr./Ms. I-wish-it-was-the-80s-forever. Get a haircut!

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Dave Brubeck Quartet - Time Out

2009-01-28T21:48:00.001-08:00

Artist: Dave Brubeck Quartet
Album: Time Out
Genre: Jazz
Year: 1959
Origin: USA

This is one of the jazz albums everyone should have. It's all about experimenting with unusual time signatures, but it ends up with seven very compelling pieces. I only started listening to Dave Brubeck fairly recently because I went to the University where he's from and I thought I should find out what the excitement was all about. I was pretty much blown away, and now he's one of my favorite jazz musicians.

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In Memorium - From Misery...Comes Darkness

2009-01-18T23:04:00.000-08:00

Artist: In Memorium
Album: From Misery...Comes Darkness
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 2003
Origin: USA

In Memorium plays above average black metal; sometimes it's doomy, usually it's aggressive. For how long this album's been out, I'm rather surprised it isn't more popular. It kicks off on a strong track with Ravenslaughter. I don't have much else to say about it right now. Enjoy.

band site

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PS: I re-uploaded Pagan's Mind - Celestial Entrance, since the old file seemed to be corrupted.

Morning Glory - The Whole World Is Watching

2008-12-11T23:48:00.000-08:00

Artist: Morning Glory
Album: The Whole World Is Watching
Genre: Melodic Punk
Origin: USA
Year: 2003

Morning Glory is the side project of Ezra from Leftover Crack. It is just about the most melodic an album can be while still feeling entirely like rough-around-the-edges, street punk. This is partly an affect of the low-tech recording and production, and partly just a matter of attitude (with songs like "Gimme Heroin" and "School is Bullshit" you know these guys aren't going mainstream anytime soon). In any case, this album is catchy as hell. The last few tracks are off The Suicide Singles.

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