It's 2024 now! Here are some personal musical highlights from last year:
GREATHUNTER shook up our live lineup a little bit with the addition of a new vocalist and new guitarist. We played many shows throughout the year. A new song will be available January 26th with many more new recordings in the works as we speak!
PALLBEARER INDUSTRY released our 3rd full-length ANTARCTICA RISING and, with MASSIVE support from Canadian Label WE, HERE, NOW; American label ECHODELICK; and UK label UP IN HER ROOM - this album saw a physical release on vinyl. WE, HERE, NOW also did a cassette release called ALIVE IN THE MILLS which compiles some of our "live in the jam room" moments, as well as some unreleased studio tracks. We played a couple of shows as well, one being a sweet spot on night two of JOHN WESTSHAVER's PSYCHFEST! An awesome night indeed! Much more to come in 2024.
COASTAL PIGS put out our second full-length album GLASS CRIME TERROR. An album comprising several years of recording sessions. Awesome to finally get it out there. We hope to hit the stage again in 2024.
CELLAR made our live debut a couple of times this year. Really fun to blast that stuff out. I survived (somehow).
HAMN played a show.
Nothing new from THE SUN THROUGH A TELESCOPE but many new songs in the works with a full-length to be released....sometime prior to December 31st of this year.
2023 also proved to be an excellent year for seeing some amazing concerts and gigs. To name a few - SKINNY PUPPY (final tour), BRUTUS (in New York City), THE CURE, THE WAR ON DRUGS, THE SMILE, MR. BUNGLE, IGGY POP, GODFLESH, CLAUDIO SIMMONETI'S GOBLIN (performing the SUSPIRIA score along with the movie), BOTCH + CONVERGE + CAVE IN (in Boston), and hometown heroes FUCK THE FACTS!
Anyways, here's all the music I loved that came out last year. As always, in no particular order:
1) KEN mode - VOID "More unrelenting ugliness and biting sarcasm from one of Canada's finest. As per usual, it's the reliable JESUS LIZARD-through-a-MELVINS-filter vibe being augmented by some excellent deviations - this time out: speedy hardcore, post-punk, and seldom-heard cleanly-sung vocals. But again, the core elements are here in full force and I find it fascinating that, while obviously they've evolved and improved over the years, they basically figured out the sound of the band from the very start. That's pretty damn cool."
2) OOZING WOUND - WE CATER TO COWARDS "This is one of those 'Ah Christ, why didn't I think of that?!?' albums. The ideas are simple enough and never really break any new ground but still manage to sound totally fresh. These guys have been pretty grindy in the past but on this release, they're tapping deep into the pre-NEVERMIND grunge vibe. Lots of TAD/BLEACH flavours to be had. The grindcore sound rears its head here and there as well."
3) FULL OF HELL / PRIMITIVE MAN - SUFFOCATING HALLUCINATION "An excellent collaboration yielding some truly murky results. Both bands have proven themselves to be absolutely relentless within their respective realms of extreme music. Melding all these elements together makes perfect sense. Grindcore meets sludge with some real tasty passages of super dark droning ambience. Nice and compact at 5 songs too! Not a wasted moment!"
4) ANCIENT TEETH - DEATHBED "Infectiously catchy grungegazing 90s style shit from a bunch of oldsters like myself. The bassist is JAHMEEL RUSSELL who used to play with KITTENS (and KEN mode). Also, the dreadlock guy from MONEEN is in there. Speaking of KEN mode, JESSE MATTHEWSON was bigging this album up when it came out, which is how I happened upon it. Probably listened to this album more than anything else this year (ie: more than twice)."
5) BIG BRAVE - NATURE MORTE "Some crushingly heavy stuff from this Montreal trio. I loved their last album and this one is just as good. Not a lot of riffing going on here, just huge and brutal chords. But really, it's the vocals that make this band exceptional. Beautiful and desperate. Often walking a tightrope between a lovely melody and a guttural scream. Bleak."
6) KHANATE - TO BE CRUEL "I'm sure everyone, like myself, assumed these guys were done for good years ago. So, another release from this band is an absolute gift. And the many intervening years have only served to season the respective players in their collective approach to space and emptiness. The restraint these terrifying men show is unreal. Which makes it all the more effective when everything lets loose. The ugliest sound imaginable to come from your basic 'rock band' setup. The beats and the riffs are few and far between. Mostly claustrophobic atmosphere. Bleaker."
7) GODFLESH - PURGE "It's pretty rare that a year will go by without JUSTIN BROADRICK making the list in one form or another (or several). Here, he seems to be reacquainting himself with his love of old school hip-hop, much the same way as these elements seeped into 1992's PURE. Music for ugly, greying dads to dance to. GODFLESH are a beautiful and special band and we are very fortunate that their story isn't finished yet. I had the good fortune of finally seeing them live for the first time earlier this year. The fact that the 24 hours leading up to the show involved circumstances that left me mentally and emotionally shattered and left my not being able to attend the show a serious possibility right up until the last minute made it that much more of an incredible and cathartic experience."
8) EMPIRE STATE BASTARD - RIVERS OF HERESY "Another album that I gave multiple spins over the course of the year. This is some kind of BIFFY CLYRO (I've never heard a note from this band) side-project that also features DAVE LOMBARDO on drums. It is some iteration of metal or hardcore but with different elements of noise and indie rock creeping in here and there. It is, at times, very beautiful and, at other times, like applying acid to one's eardrums. Having said that, I'm still not sure I'll ever check out BIFFY CLYRO."
9) JAMES PLOTKIN - THAESEA "JAMES PLOTKIN has been teasing this project, in a way, for a while now via his many IG posts that show him to have taken a serious deep dive into the word of modular synthesizers. Each post would leave me hypnotized with the amazing sounds squeaking out of my stupid little phone speaker. Suffice to say, when he announced a DOUBLE ALBUM full of these modular explorations, I made a purchase sight-unseen (or sound-unheard). So, what you get is almost 3 hours of squelchy electro-industrial goodness. Absolute ear candy for the likes of me."
10) CEVIN KEY - BRAP & FORTH VOLUME 9 "My one and only Patreon subscription belongs to this man and it pays for itself time and time again. CEVIN has got to be THE most generous musician out there when it comes to fan service. Case and point - I've been privy to the early SKINNY PUPPY demos that make up this release for couple of years now. It only made sense to compile them into yet another BRAP & FORTH compilation and I'm super glad he did it. The seeds of REMISSION and BITES are all over this stuff. Fascinating for a die-hard SP fan and probably pretty enjoyable even if you're not."
11) THEY GRIEVE - TO WHICH I BORE WITNESS "Ottawa's finest example of crushingly heavy drone-doom. This duo just keep getting better and better. An excellent blend of sluggishly slow riffs and beautiful ambient passages. Props have to be given to TOPON DAS who recorded, engineered, and mastered the album. He knows how to turn anything into a full-on aural assault."
12) LOUD AS GIANTS - EMPTY HOMES "As I said, it's rare that ole JK BROADRICK will only make one appearance on my end-of-year list. This project sees him collaborating with DIRK SERRIES (real name of VIDNA OBMANA) on some truly beautiful, ambient soundscapes. This basically sounds like the more uplifting side of JESU with all the vocals and heavy guitars stripped away. I like it - it's good."
13) SLOWDIVE - EVERYTHING IS ALIVE "An incredibly strong late-career release from this band which I know next to nothing about. They are one of the classic shoegaze bands from back in the day. That's about the extent of my knowledge of them. Anyway, who cares. This album is damned enjoyable! Why can't more bands stay consistently good decades after their inception? Is it that hard? It probably is. For LOSERS!"
14) THE BLOOD OF HEROES - NINE CITIES "The third full-length from this collective of producers, musicians, DJs, etc. after an 11-year gap. The first album had some involvement from BILL LASWELL (which may have been how I first became aware of this project). No sign of him here but most of the other constant contributors are present - SUBMERGED, DR. ISRAEL, ENDUSER, and JUSTIN BROADRICK (there he is again) along with a longer list of newer contributors. Cool mix of dub, electro, industrial, dancehall, drum n bass, ambient, etc. Lots of awesome flavours."
15) SPIRIT POSSESSION - OF THE SIGN... "A fun mix of first-wave black metal (these guys have the CELTIC FROST thing down pat - there's no shortage of 'UGH!!!!' to be had on here), second-wave black metal, and a variety of other sounds for seasoning. All from a band consisting of only 2 members (I assume there's a DARKTHRONE type dynamic happening here as far as who plays which instrument)! The vocals are constantly drenched in delay which adds a chaotic element that you don't often hear in metal. I love the dry production too. The drums sound like DRUMS (not a typewriter)."
16) MIDWIFE & VYVA MELINKOLYA - ORBWEAVING "A tasty little something from the FLENSER label. This is shoegaze taken to a pretty extreme level. Drums/beats are few and far between. Every vocal sounds like it's coming through a dying kitchen radio. Songs consist of 1 or 2 parts/lyrics repeated over and over for 5 - 12 minutes apiece. Very cool, very soothing, almost mesmerizing. The shoegaze equivalent of WILLIAM BASINSKI's THE DISINTEGRATION LOOPS? Sure, why not?!"
17) GEL - ONLY CONSTANT "I love this style of latter-day hardcore that just never lets up with the bulldozing. GEL do it exactly right. Compact songs chock-a-block with brutal riffs and excellent, pissed-off vocals overtop. It's no surprise this band is gaining some serious ground these days. They get it!"
18) THE PSYCHOTIC MONKS - PINK COLOUR SURGERY "I allllmost passed this band by due to their TERRIBLE name. My friend sent me their KEXP performance and I was hovering over the X button to close the window when the bass synth line from CRASH kicked in and got my strict attention. From there, it was a buffet of post-punk, post-rock, electro-industrial, artsy-fartsy, foo foo Frenchy fun! There's something for everyone here - whether you're a fan of THE JESUS LIZARD or DEUTSCH AMERIKANISCHE FREUNDSCHAFT!!! Ya just can't lose!"
19) TEENAGE WRIST - STILL LOVE "By all rights, I should hate these dorks. I probably would if I spotted them walking down the street. But damn if they don't know how to write a catchy tune! All set within a grunge-gazing cadence that is sure to put the hook right into Mr. Leigh Newton! Thanks fellas, I appreciate it."
20) THE DIRTY NIL - FREE REIN TO PASSIONS "All of the above basically applies to this album too. Additionally, I was in no hurry to check it out as their previous album was a HUGE letdown for me. Fortunately, they figured out how to bring it again. And nobody's perfect. All is forgiven."
21) BORIS / UNIFORM - BRIGHT NEW DISEASE "I never would have put these 2 bands together but it made perfect sense from the first note! UNIFORM's guttural noise rock blends perfectly with BORIS (in full on stoner/doom mode, that is). It's almost like flicking a switch between the 2 bands several times within each song. Also, I lied - BORIS isn't fully in stoner/doom mode here. There are a couple of excellent poppy/electro moments on here, complete with super catchy vocal hooks to really lift things up."
22) KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD - PETRODRAGONIC APOCALYPSE; OR, DAWN OF ETERNAL NIGHT: AN ANNIHILATION OF PLANET EARTH AND THE BEGINNING OF MERCILESS DAMNATION "Now that's a friggin' album title! Unsurprisingly, this is KG in heavy metal mode. No matter what style of music these guys put their hands to, however disparate, they manage to enliven the proceedings in a very unique way (ie: super-proggy, so-good-they-actually-piss-me-off). Lots of speedy, razor-sharp riffs flying around on here. Lots of cool, shout-along choruses too (GILA! GILA! GILA! MONSTER! WOO!!!). Excellent!"
23) JEREMIAH CHIU - IN ELECTRIC TIME "This release kind of came out of nowhere. Basically the result of Spotify playing similar music to the album I had been listening to once it ended. A collection of incredibly tasty improvisations utilizing a collection of vintage synthesizers at some crazy synthesizer museum in LA. It basically sounds like if APHEX TWIN spent a day conducting the 1960s era BBC orchestra."
24) ANDRE 3000 - NEW BLUE SUN "Okay, this was an absolute shocker to me and I can only assume I'm not alone here. Nothing against the guy or his music at all but my gut reaction to 'you should check out the new ANDRE 3000 album!' is almost always gonna be 'pass'. 'Hey Ya' is great and everything but, what do I care? However, when someone says 'you should check out ANDRE 3000's new FLUTE album!'.....okay, sure. Even at that, I was expecting it to still be at least remotely in the realm of a rap album. But no, this is full-on instrumental, experimental jazz a la ALICE COLTRANE or HERBIE HANCOCK* (*70s) with not one vocal to be found and only 2 of the 8 songs clocking in at under 10 minutes. Some seriously enjoyable sounds with layers upon layers of instruments, all played very freely (I'm assuming a lot of improvisation took place). A ballsy move, to say the least! Well done, Mr. 3000."
25) DAVE LOMBARDO - RITES OF PERCUSSION "A very cool album from a drummer who is so much more than your average thrash metal musician. As fantastic as some of his drumming is on the early SLAYER albums (the overplaying in the choruses of the song Seasons in the Abyss is beyond ridiculous), I think it was when he started playing with FANTOMAS, BLADERUNNER, and DJ SPOOKY (to name a few) that his drumming really started to develop. This album is most likely the end result of the wide variety of artists he's been playing with over the past couple of decades. It's basically the soundtrack to a non-existent movie. Heavy on the percussion, sure, but lots of other elements at play here. It almost comes off like a darker version of MARTIN DENNY style 'exotica'."
26) FULL OF HELL / NOTHING - WHEN NO BIRDS SING "An awesome melding of 2 fantastic bands who sound nothing alike. And yet, in many indirect ways...they do? Shoegaze meets grindcore? You betcha! This is beauty and brutality constantly vying for attention. Nice and compact at 6 songs, all within the 5 minute range. Every tune is a standout! Great!"
27) VERSTÄRKER - JENSEITS "Oh cool! A German band with a German name doing a modern take on classic German motorik....oh, they're from Kentucky. Cool. But seriously folks, this album rips. These Kentucky boys have got it! Excellent, spaced-out, droned-out jams. Love the production too. It sounds like they're all playing in a giant room together. Are we sure they aren't German?"
28) FIDDLEHEAD - DEATH IS NOTHING TO US "I guess you'd call this hardcore or maybe even emo, I'm not too sure. It's extremely catchy and very 'from the heart'. I found myself constantly coming back to this album. So many memorable parts that I wanted to hear again and again. Boston band, described as a 'supergroup', which probably means a few or all of them were in PIEBALD at some point."
29) SLOW WHITE FALL - FLOOD "This came out on JUSTIN BROADRICK'S AVALANCHE RECORDS label so I was more than inclined to give it a shot. He is the man, after all. Glad I did because this is a fantastic release that ticks many different boxes all at once. Industrial, ambient, experimental, post-punk, even some metallic elements here and there! Some dark and aggressive stuff counterpointed by spacious textures of gorgeous drones. Rock on!!!"
HONOURABLE MENTIONS - FANGE, GREAT FALLS, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, TIM HECKER, MUTOID MAN, BARONESS, BETTER LOVERS, TEENAGE DAZE
I believe I talked shit about THE SMILE in last year's sign-off. Well, I was dead wrong. Their album is fantastic and they were amazing to see live. Whoopsies. If I would have heard the most recent OTOBOKE BEAVER album when it came out last year, it definitely would have topped my list. Looking forward to seeing them in Montreal in a few months. I finally managed to delve into some bands that were on my "permanent backburner" - YO LA TENGO, GALAXIE 500, KRAFTWERK, WIPERS, WIRE. Every single thing is available at all times so there's no excuse. Happy new year!
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