Looks like you have Gerard Cosloy's attention now, too:
http://www.cantstopthebleeding.com/hillbilly-baiting-war-on-drugs-baiting-mark-kozelek-sadistic-ingrate-or-simply-true-to-himself
The way I see it, there's no reason to hold the music hostage when her fans almost definitely want to hear new music. It's not like it's impossible to promote the album once it's been released. I understand that waiting and promoting more means more units are sold in the first week and they look better. However, that's really the only thing I see that they get out of delaying the album release: a bigger number. To me, that's an FU to the fans. If I were her, I'd be pissed that I couldn't share my my music with my fans.
You should probably mention that Joe Walsh produces his band, especially since that's mentioned in the article you've linked at the end of the article. As selfish, idiotic, and hilarious as I think this is, stating that connection would at least put this in much better perspective.
First, Hopscotch is held in various venues in downtown Raleigh, so it's not really your typical festival atmosphere. Second, The venue he made the comments in is an 800 capacity theater. Having actually been at the show, I felt the crowd was relatively upbeat for Mark Maguire's set beforehand. It honestly just felt like a joke blown out of proportion. That being said, people were still talking a decent amount and it was annoying, so this discussion is still merited in my opinion. Overall, his show was still good.
I'm gonna repost the short list here because for whatever reason my last comment is awaiting moderation...
Honestly, the biggest problem I have (if you can call it that) is that there’s no one that comes even close to what HoF is doing in terms of sound AND quality.
Mantar – Two piece from Germany, has a little bit or a garage feel. The vocals seem to fall into a shouting more punk style.
Kyuss – The pre-cursor to Queens of the Stone Age (Songs for the Deaf is essential, as well). John Garcia’s vocals are awesome.
Usnea – If you like the doom sound (YOB), but heavier vocals, these guys are much newer. They also go into black metal at times. (I'm guessing this isn't your jam, but I really like it)
Actually, I'm probably in a similar boat to you. I only like a few metal bands here and there, but they kind of cover a variety of black, death, doom, etc. I can't really say what will make me like or dislike any given band other than vocals. I have been worming up to some more stuff recently, though. Honestly, the biggest problem (if you can call it that) is that there's no one that comes even close to what HoF is doing in terms of sound AND quality. The following is in order of how much I think you'd like it compared to HoF, with the last two just being things I like.
YOB - Well, I don't need to say much about it.
Mantar - Two piece from Germany, has a little bit or a garage feel. The vocals seem to fall into a shouting more punk style. Not as melodic as Matt Pike, but something enjoyable. They only have one album and it came out earlier this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0uKLpRq8SU
Kyuss - The pre-cursor to Queens of the Stone Age (Songs for the Deaf is essential, as well). John Garcia's vocals are awesome. If you're not already familiar with them, they basically started what is known as desert rock. There's a lot of jammier aspects to it, but it's a lot of fun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVnMrZ--3Qo
Harakiri for the Sky - They're black metal, the vocals aren't my favorite, but they're worth the rest of the music to me. If black metal isn't your think you can ignore this. That being said, they have a cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" and it's worth hearing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vspsVmq0sI
Usnea - If you like the doom sound (YOB) and can deal with throatier, growlier, screamier vocals, these guys are much newer. They also go into black metal at times. (Full Disclosure: I used to see one of these guys old bands play shows all the time, so I'm completely biased.)
This list has been edited a bit, but I have more if you deem my suggestions worthy.
I'm no journalist, but High on Fire is my favorite band, so, in order of how they were released (assuming you're going to get Death is this Communion) I will try to explain the differences. The bottom line is that all of the records are good and you should just buy them all. Anyway, here goes:
-Art of Self Defense is probably their "softest" record. But it's the first after Sleep, so maybe you could consider it a transition. I still love that album. It gets right to the point and the aggression is immediate. The Southern Lord Reissue makes
-Surrounded by Thieves has some great songs, but I honestly don't like how the recording sounds.
-Blessed Black Wings is probably the closest peer to Death is this Communion. It has that dirty sound while still being well recorded (Steve Albini's work).
-Snakes for the Divine is wonderful, but the production is very polished.
-De Vermis Mysteriis is probably their best sounding record ever, the drums are just amazing and the songs are punishing from beginning to end. Recorded by Kurt Ballou from Converge if that means much to you.
For my money, I'd get De Vermis Mysteriis and Death is this Communion if you had to start somewhere. That being said, if you're pre-ordering YOB from relapse, it's probably easiest to get Blessed Black Wings and DitC as they were both released on that label.
I think a lot of it has to do with the track ordering, too. "Marrow" definitely benefits from being last.
"Nothing to Win"... Honestly, I'm trying to think of things to say about this album and I really can't think of anything more than you've already said. It's just that good.
OH. FUCK. YES.
Also, if you can only listen to one track, make it the last one, "Marrow." It will just rip your emotions out and tear them to shreds. DO IT.
You caught me. I will freely admit to never having been to one of their festivals. But from a pure economic standpoint, I do think there is an overload.
I think it'd be perfectly okay for them to be gone. In the US alone we had over 800 festivals. There's too many. Look at what happened with Moogfest in Ashville, for example. The two companies split and tried to make two festivals, one of which cancelled and now Moogfest is biennial. They saturated the market.
Not every festival can be a winner. Let's just accept that and let the bad ones die.
For what it's worth, I snooped around and found it. I'll third the AOTY comment. I've gone through it three times now and by the end I've just been sitting there mind blow, "whoa."
P.S. if you're going to get vinyl pre-order now, it looks like Relapse has only pressed so many copies.
The way he says, "ALL PARTIES INVOLVED IN THIS ICP GLASS DILDO CASE CAN SHOVE ONE UP THEIR ASS," implies that he should also be participating in this activity because technically he is involved.
HELL YES!! There's basically no way you could like High on Fire and not Dopesmoker. It's definitely not as continuously pummeling as HoF, but I really enjoy how it ebbs and flows as a track. It has some very intense moment followed by some room to breath and back again.
I might also try The Art of Self Defense by High on Fire. Matt Pike's vocals aren't necessarily the cleanest, but there's a lot of melody that comes through in my opinion. As someone who prefers clean vocals for the most part, Matt Pike kind of strikes the perfect metal balance where it's rough but there's still some clarity.
And since I mentioned High on Fire, I should probably mention Holy Mountain by Sleep, which also features Matt Pike on guitar, but a different vocalist.
I'm not a huge fan of this list, but honestly, his albums are all so good that it really doesn't matter. XO would be my number 1, for the record.
Unrelated, but has the color hand vs. the rest of Elliott Smith being black and white on the cover of Figure 8 ever bothered anyone else?
It's really interesting to see your guys own personal tastes rather than just another top 50 list. Thanks for sharing!
Also, thanks for putting this in list for so I don't have to click through 50 pages of a slide show!
In that sense, aren't most reviews a "premature" evaluation? Very rarely do we get a review of something weeks or months after it's been released.
And Stereogum has actually been doing mature reviews lately. All of the albums that are turning 10 and 20. You never know what somethings legacy is going to be at the beginning.
Great list!
A couple of these are on the Live at the Old Quarter and are very much worth listening to. I wish you guys had included references to those recordings.
As Jenga mentioned above, I really like the Dan Deacon idea of actually making your phone a part of the show. It takes all of the pretentiousness out of asking you to not use it and instead adds another aspect to the show.
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