Welp, here we are at the end of what we all pretty much collectively agree is maybe THE shittiest year in modern memory. The year was mostly defined by the covid pandemic and when I came to the full realization of what this would actually mean for us as a society I also realized how there would be some absolute incredible music that would come out of this experience.
Sadly the pandemic has crippled live music events to the point where they are basically nonexistent which means I will not be …

This year was a good year for music and I saw many of my favorite artists releasing very good albums. My honorable mentions list was big this year, so big in fact that I decided to ditch it all together for fear of being so inclusive that it wouldn’t do justice to the top ten that I chose with care to stand a head above the rest.
 
 
10. Volahn – El Tigre Del Sur [ Nuclear War Now! Productions / Iron Bonehead Productions ]
FILE UNDER: BLACK METAL / FOLK

El Tigre del …

1. V/A – Amplified Humans Festival 2xDVD [ New Forces / Skeleton Dust Recordings ]

FILE UNDER: HARSH NOISE / EXPERIMENTAL / INDUSTRIAL NOISE
I am old, and so this is how I prefer to experience festivals now. Fuck having to buy a plane ticket, travel all the way to a distant city only to spend countless hours holed up in a dingy club. Now I can appreciate the festival sights and sounds, energy and vibes all in the comfort of my living room. This DVD has really incredible quality featuring mixing …

I haven’t had nearly the time I wanted to dedicate both to creating and listening to music this year but I did my best – at least with the latter. Out of all that I heard – and there is certainly more I’m already seeing pop-up on other’s year end lists I need to check out – here are my favorites from 2017.

10. Isenordal – Shores of Mourning C60 [ Eternal Warfare ]
https://isenordal.bandcamp.com/album/shores-of-mourning
FILE UNDER: Cascadian black metal/pagan black metal/gothic metal
Incredible atmospheric black metal album from this Seattle-based metal band. Great …

We would like to introduce Headstone Brigade which is the new folk project of Egan Budd/Xiphoid Dementia with this free downloadable and streaming EP featuring covers and traditional arrangements of folk songs. Headstone Brigade’s sound can be described as neofolk or melodramatic pop with a sea shanty twist due to the main instrument of accordion being featured in almost all tracks. This free EP is a precursor to a full-length which is coming later this year on Brave Mysteries.
Please check out the EP Divine Vestiges over at Headstone Brigade’s bandcamp …

End of 2015.

Here are a few things created this year that I liked more than I liked other things.
No order of preference implied, though bias for the artists featured certainly is.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

-DEMO-
Nycterent – Imprisoned By Reflection, Last Mercy
I asked myself whether or not I could separate the compelling backstory behind the artist (which I’ll keep to myself) from the release itself since this tape is so sparsely adorned (it is a tour tape after all). Upon re-listening, it is evident that this is a powerful demo tape which stands on …

Way back in 1999 when I first started making noise I was contacted by Jonathan Kans who wanted to release some of my music. So it came to be that the first Xiphoid Dementia release was on L.S.D.Organisation for a 4 way split with Azoikum, Baal, and Quell. L.S.D.Organisation went on to create massively intricate releases of a very high quality for a formidable price. At some point it seemed things got too hot and heavy for Jonathan and he disappeared leaving several large orders unfulfilled. It’s a pity because …

Offering 1_1: Noise As An Appliance
“Tank Killer” by Man Is The Bastard…I first heard this song in high school through borrowing a couple of Man Is The Bastard CDs from a friend. It’s a 30 or so second juggernaut from the Sum Of the Brutality Of Men album released in 1991 that combines short, fast and loud hardcore punk with warped oscillations and high end filth. While not the first to combine noise with aggressive music like hardcore and metal, they were the first band I …

Baroke Misty Queens – Tacked Into It
[one-sided 6inch lathe cut with silkscreened b-side]

Auris Apothecary is a label that stands on its own, isolated from many scenes but especially from the main stream. It is the embodiment of “boutique” more than any other label today. Having received numerous releases for review from the label I simply couldn’t ignore the fact that what they are doing is something quite different. An emphasis on creative package design, carefully curated releases and most importantly; uniting the physical with the aural.
Auris Apothecary was introduced to …

NOISE WALLS HAVE BECOME SMALL
OUT OF HIS PITY FOR THE LAST MAN HATH GOD DIED
By clemon09
Noise walls have become small, and on it there hoppeth the last man who maketh everything small. His species is inexterminable like that of the ground-flea; the last man liveth longest.

“We have discovered happiness”- say the last men, and blink thereby…
Everything is intrinsically meaningless, but things can be extrinsically more or less meaningless, if not absolutely so. I call this their noisiness.
Social Drift’s somewhat bold idea is that nosiness has become a quality of …