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Thursday, January 2, 2014

BEST MUSIC OF 2013

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

"From The Ages" by EARTHLESS

Who needs to spend 200000 to book a trip to space when you can spend 20 for a vinyl that will take you there?
Cosmic rock created by three amazing musicians who take no prisoners. Nobody jams quite like them as they throw everything into the mix from Sabbath to Hendrix via Hawkwind to create a mind bending trip. Guitarist Isaiah Mitchell embarks on voyages to the stratosphere and the rhythm section is happy to follow instead of acting like an anchor. Just check out the side projects these musicians are involved with: Howlin Rain, Golden Void, OFF!, to name a few.
You'll sail away from the light of this world on this trip, baby...
                                                      Earthless may not be of this earth after all...




"Shrine Of New Generation Slaves" by RIVERSIDE

Mariusz Duda has finally made his masterpiece! The Polish (neo)prog band show superlative musicianship in this eloquent statement that lifts them away from the shadow of Porcupine Tree.
"I could be foreign forevermore to your neverland.
One little brick then another and I will build that wall anyway.
You can find me there rested and calm without mask.
This is where I'll stay."
Waters tore down a wall to find his sanity. Duda builds one to find his. One of the sharpest thinkers ever, Robert Anton Wilson,
spoke of the validity of many realities re one subject and here is
                                                      proof. Mariusz Duda, take a bow...




"Push The Sky Away" by Nick Cave

This is Nick Cave the impressionist rather than the narrator/ storyteller. An artist still evolving, still searching for new forms of expression. Kudos to collaborator Warren Ellis.
Nick Cave ages like wine, really...









"Pelagial" by THE OCEAN

A post metal band based in Berlin with an unusual concept. There is the instrumental version which explores the layers of the ocean and the vocal which explores the human inner psyche. "Awsome" doesn't even come close...









"Exodus Of The Deemed Unrighteous" by Lincoln Durham

It's raw, it's got soul, it's dark, it's poetic. LD has recorded a brilliant second LP that nods to the old blues masters (Johnson, House and especially McDowell) with the modern twist, urgency and edginess of Waits and Cave.
And he can play the slide that the devil himself...







"Sky Burial" by INTER ARMA

Try counting the sub genres included in this affair and you'll stop count by the passionate inventiveness of these musicians. There is ISIS and NEUROSIS in there but there is also room for FLOYD along with a dozen other metallic distractions in a furious amalgam that leaves the listener gasping with awe.
This is experimentation that actually leads somewhere...







"Tall Tall Shadow" by BASIA BULAT

A more mainstream(ish) choice, perhaps? Where everyone is salivating about Lorde, I prefer the immediacy of the canadian singer songwriter's voice. Deceptively, her songs sound simple but she is stupendously talented and her unique delivery may sound strange and awkward to some ears. Not mine, though...








"Sunbather" by DEAFHEAVEN

American Black Metal was widely considered as a joke until the emergence of Deafheaven. And they can not be categorized as black metal anymore. They have widened their canvas to include post rock melodies and other influences to coexist with their black metal without sounding "sellout". They sound "aural revolution"!
Deafheaven explore the dynamics between absolute zero and earsplitting mayhem...







"Fisherman's Box" by THE WATERBOYS

At last, all the sessions from the most creative and enlightening era in the life of Mike Scott. Overflowing with soul....






"Sound System" by THE CLASH

It's the Clash, that's all! Come to think of it, they could've chosen to record more London Callings through the 80s but they chose to evolve as musicians and writers. Having witnessed them live, the energy emanating from the stage is still, to this day, unparalleled.
UNPARALLELED!!!




"Shakerism" by HEYMOONSHAKER

I usually don't go for music in compressed electronic form. It is not the way I enjoy it. But this human beat box blues duo make stirring music that will not pass by unnoticed. Fabulous raspy Waitslike vocals. Never thought I would ever say this, but check this YouTube
clip.