I've been pretty meh on new music from Deafheaven for a while (there's just too many other bands that do what they do but better IMHO), but I would really love to see this tour w/ Baroness and Zeal & Ardor
I was going to say that while I'm not certain Incinerate is SY's best song, but it and Pink Steam are easily in my personal top 5, and quite possibly #s 1 and 2.
Glad to see all the love for Rather Ripped, which was probably the first Sonic Youth album I ever enjoyed on its own terms rather than having to 'work' to enjoy it (like I did with "Daydream Nation" for example, even though I like it a lot more now). That said, not sure it's wise to somehow suggest he's responsible for breaking up Thurston and Kim's marriage, when as I understand it, TM is basically a cheating asshole.
Hell yeah, this is great news. Inter Arma is one of the greatest genre-defying metal acts around. They also absolutely crush live. Definitely looking forward to this!
To me, I've always loved James Blake for his individual songs, but I've struggled to enjoy his works as a whole. Even with the S/T, which I agree is his best album so far (having yet to hear Assume Form), I usually end up skipping to just focus on Wilhelm Scream, Limit to your Love, etc.
All of which begs the question: which are the 10 best James Blake songs? All I'm gonna say is that "CMYK" has to be a part of the conversation, or at least it's my personal favorite.
I picked the Voidz album just cause it has so many great songs, but if I had to choose just one song from it, it'd probably be "Leave It In My Dreams" though I could easily choose 5 or 6 others off that record. (I will also admit that Michael's essay played a not-significant role in it being my #1 non-metal AOTY.) It's always hard for me to pick just one song so I went w/ my same pick for song of the summer, "Screwed" by Janelle Monae.
That's great! If you like those, you should also check out the Anicon and Slaegt albums from this year (I'm listening to them now which is why they're on my mind :))
Yeah I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere - they were just touring the US this past Fall (I'm still pissed I couldn't get one of the 250 tickets they had available for their show in Cleveland!)
Yes it's very good and I'm also really glad it's getting all the positive press, those guys certainly deserve it. But honestly my first impression when I heard it was that everything I liked about it I had pretty much heard from them before. (Plus, like most doom in general, I thought it was too long. ) I can definitely understand why it deserves all the love it's been getting though, even if it's not one of my favorites this year.
You (and everyone else) should also get on that Chapel of Disease album toot sweet (if you haven't already) - I read it described as (by And Synn IIRC) if Entombed followed Amorphis's path into progressive metal, w/ Dire Straits guitar tones. (And if that doesn't mean anything to you, then definitely check those bands out!)
That's awesome to hear bloc - one of the reasons I appreciate you as a commenter is because of your open-mindedness and willingness to grow and explore!
Also, I meant to ask you this the other day in the overall AOTY thread, given your love for the Holy album - have you heard the new Vanishing Kids album "Heavy Dreamer"? If you're at all into heavy psychedelia and/or stoner rock, be sure to check it out!
Other Observations
-It's arguably now the best time to be a metal fan in history - incredible amount of great music out there, I'd originally thought this just for death metal but it goes for most genres (Death Metal and Technical Death Metal in particular, but also tons of excellent Black Metal and Doom). Lots of bands have been getting back together in recent years and putting out really good to great stuff (Judas Priest, Satan, Abhorrence, Sleep, Solstice, In the Woods... all had great releases in 2018 - Demilich is also in the studio, they're probably my most anticipated album for 2019). All of this also means the bar is ridiculously high for great bands to stand out from the rest, which is also why I feel like my list reflect more idiosyncratic listening preferences than what's the "best." (To even approximate what could possibly be regarded as "best" you have to distinguish by genre, or even sub-genre, which is why I have to make two AOTY lists, my "metal" and "non-metal" lists. It's hard enough ranking w/in subgenres, I find it practically impossible overall!)
-Year of great metal instrumentals: Mournful Congregation, Revocation, Uada, Wilt, Eneferens all had instrumentals on my "favorite songs" playlist
-Year of Æ death metal bands/albums: Aepoch and Aethereus both released solid tech-death albums, while Apocrophex's “Æternalis” and Gorod's “Æthra” were among my favorites, period
Good timing - I just finished my lists this morning!
Metal 2018 (order is only approximate, except first and second):
Favorite Metal albums:
1.) Panopticon - “The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness” (BM)
2.) Chapel of Disease - “…And as We Have Seen the Storm, We Embrace the Eye” (DM)
-Slugdge - “Esoteric Malacology” (DM/TDM)
-Sleep - “The Sciences” (D/SM)
-Howling Sycamore - “Howling Sycamore” (AVM)
-Imperial Triumphant - “Vile Luxury” (BM/AVM)
-Outre - “Hollow Earth” (BM/DM)
-Apocrophex - “Æternalis” (DM/TDM)
-The Atlas Moth - “Coma Noir” (AVM)
-Thou - “Magus” & “Rhea Sylvia,” “Inconsolable,” and “The House Primordial” (D/S)
-Kriegsmaschine - “Apocalypticists” (BM/DM)
-Obscura - “Diluvium” (TDM)
-Monstrosity - “The Passage of Existence” (DM/TDM)
-Bosse-de-Nage - “Further Still” (BM)
-Horrendous - “Idol” (PDM)
-Eneferens - “The Bleakness of Our Constant” (BM/D)
-Gorod - “Æthra” (TDM)
-Paara - “Riiti” (BM)
-Psycroptic - “As the Kingdom Drowns” (TDM)
-Augury - “Illusive Golden Age” (TDM)
HMs: Satan, Led to the Grave, Wilt, Wake, Tomb Mold, Voivod, Verheerer, Khanus, Sargeist, Inferi, Spectral Wound
1. Around the Fur
2. White Pony
3. Deftones
4. Saturday Night Wrist
5. Adrenaline
6. Diamond Eyes
7-8. Gore or Koi No Yokan
This was a great festival review, and I'm definitely happy to see all the love for Saturday Night Wrist - Around the Fur and White Pony were obviously really important songs for me as a teenager (and two of the best hard rock/metal-adjacent/whatever albums of their time, period), but I also have a ton of great memories listening to the S/T and SNW. "Kimdracula" is just an amazing song. I don't think their output since those albums has quite kept pace, but they've never put out a bad album IMHO. Will definitely have to check out that B-sides album, totally missed that one!
"You Are Free" was exactly where I started, and then I went "Moon Pix" and "The Greatest" and I think that's precisely how to do it, and continue to work outwards. "You Are Free" IMHO is the bridge between her super sparse, ghostly earlier works (epitomized by Moon Pix and What Would the Community Think), while The Greatest is a really bold, more fleshed out and gorgeous beast. FWIW I think You Are Free is her best work, with Moon Pix and The Greatest slightly behind, but Cat Power is really an artist who rewards you for deep diving into her discography. Her imperfections are nearly as perfect as her perfections.
Wow, thank you for this. "Cross Bones Style" is one of my all-time favorite songs, due in large part to its unique rhythm - I had no idea of all the backstory. Cat Power and Dirty Three are both in the pantheon of all-time great and uniquely singular artists.
I'm suuuper excited for Muncie Girls. From Caplan to Belsize was easily one of my top-5 most-listened to albums in a year (2016) that was *stacked* at the top.
My first thought upon seeing this article was "I wonder what RJ has to say." Very happy you didn't disappoint!
FWIW I count myself as one of those who have always admired Deerhunter from afar, but could never quite "get into" them. For me I've always enjoyed their individual songs more than their albums as a whole (Agoraphobia and Nothing Ever Happened of course, and also Hazel St, Helicopter, He Would Have Laughed, etc.). I just don't find myself returning to their stuff all that often as other bands I really enjoy from the same time period. Now seems as good a time as ever to rediscover those early classics though!
'Got the Life' is an amazing song with an amazing music video. Never got into Korn other than that song and the handful of others that would pop up on TRL like Chris mentions here, but man I (still) love that song.
Yeah it's my favorite of the 3 eps so far. But I'm also very impressed at how all good all three of them are so far. Super excited for the full-length!
Funny you say that, I was recently thinking a similar thing. I was just talking to my brother about it being a pretty weak year for hip hop (which we agreed has a lot to do with the predominance of mixtape/soundcloud culture, which means a general lack of editing, and the resulting unevenness and inconsistency of quality), but I think the same could be said for a lot of music this year.
Metal, and death metal in particular is perhaps the big exception - there's a lot to be said for the claim that it's never been a better time to be a metal fan. Another exception is probably electronic/DJ music, where a lot of my favorite non-metal albums have been this year (AAL, DJ Koze, and Jon Hopkins, and upcoming The Field and Aphex Twin!). I also thought 2017 was a super strong year overall, for metal in particular, but pretty weak for electronic - but I think this also speaks to how hard it is to talk about "new music" as a whole, vs. talking more specifically about genres and particular albums/tracks that stand out. Anyway, I agree it will be a lot easier (and more fun!) to parse out a couple of years from now!
Not sure it's possible to overplay "Wolf Like Me" cause that song is pretty much perfect and one of the best songs of the 00s IMHO - but I agree that Dear Science, doesn't get nearly as much acclaim as it deserves, and I've always enjoyed it more as a whole than Cookie Mountain.
Yes I was there and it was amazing. Seeing Krallice and Panopticon in the same weekend was an absolutely amazing experience, not just two of my favorite bands ever but two of the greatest metal bands in experience right now. Also want to second the that Mizmor was an absolute highlight for me as well, and I was also really impressed by Mournful Congregation. A really great festival experience, the venue, the organization of the festival itself (how many shows run not just on time but *ahead of schedule*), and the people I had the pleasure of meeting and bonding with were absolutely A++++. I absolutely hope to be able to go again in 2 more years!
Agreed, was just gonna say that the last time they did a double-album it was my AOTY (2011!!!!). If it's even half as good as DCtL it will still be very good.
Precisely my thinking - all good things must come to an end. And seems like they are ending on a high note, which is always a good thing. What I'm hoping for is that this means we can get 2-3 separate projects from the various members, and at least 2-3 times more of the riffs!
Other contenders: 'Cool' by Soccer Mommy, "I Like It" by Cardi B, and also don't overlook that J Balvin album ("En Mi" and "Ambiente") or Dark Thoughts ("Psycho Ward").
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