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2024-12-06

MUSIC 2024: TOP 24 live shows


Yay, impossible decision season has begun again!

Halvcirkel, Darsombra, Blues Pills, Clipping., Arthur Brown, Yīn Yīn, Myrkur, MessaSpidergawd, Fange, AsphyxBody Void, even Triptykon... I could go on and on and on with names of artists whose shows would be absolutely worthy best of the year material, but somehow still didn't make it into this selection of my favorite 12 club/solo shows + 12 festival shows of 2024.

The state of the world may suck, but except for a disappointing open air experience with King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard and missing several shows (P/O Massacre, Otay:onii, Bees Made Honey In The Vein TreeLili Refrain...) due to clashes with other tours, at least in regards of live music there has been little to complain about this year.

So here - cast in stone for all eternity (or at least as long as this servive isn't bought and spoiled by a certain kind of billionaire) - is for you my annual live music ranking:


TOP 12 CLUB/SOLO SHOWS 2024:



  1. I know, I know, somehow the Slovenians always seem to end up here. And always with a different kind of performance. It's not an automatic given though. Laibach's celebration of their most popular album in Copenhagen was great, but would have "only" made it to the third or fourth place on this list on its own.
    A couple of months later however their powerful display of Industrial Retrogarde mastery completely blew me away without any circumstances diminishing the experience. Perfection.



  2. What a tribute to Sean Reinert and Sean Malone! Cynic performed their legendary "Focus" album in full. And if you know only the smallest thing about how much this unmatched timeless masterpiece means to me, it should come as zero surprise to find this show so high up here, even though the sound could have been better. But with amazing musicanship, stellar songs and a packed room like here a show will of course survive that. The great Prog Death / Sci-Fi Thrash tour package with Obscura and Cryptosis was the icing on the cake.



  3. For a time they had been so formative for my musical taste, yet somehow I not only stopped following their discography, but also waited decades to finally see the German Experimental / Industrial icons live.
    The presence of Blixa Bargeld, his sonorous chanson voice, dental drill screams and humour, the incredible instrumentation and great songs, mostly from the most recent albums... Dang, am I happy that I could finally strike Einstürzende Neubauten from my bucket list!



  4. I love shows on the MS Stubnitz, I love the Canadian Noise Rock Droners Big|Brave. And when those two come together and give their best, what else can be the result than complete bliss?
    This might have been the best sounding Big|Brave show I've seen so far - and that means a lot, considering that includes several Roadburn performances.
    Ultimately I can only repeat what I asked myself before, bathing inside this sea of deep frequency: Is this how a baby blue whale feels inside the womb?



  5. An event intrinsically too large for me, with too much drama and bullshit inside the pit and the hyped support Jinjer being a rather sobering disappointmenting. Well, that last part had already been counterbalanced by a killer show from Death Metal titans Obituary, when the headliners hit the stage.
    Sepultura on their farewell tour - even with a young last minute drummer and me not being too familiar with most material past "Chaos A.D." - were an unpolished force going out with a spectacular bang!



  6. A mystical musical theater with drummers, dancers, shamans. A fantasy melange of Northern and Eastern European, Tuvan and Mongolian, New Zealandian and probably even Klingon traditions. A show you could disrespectfully call Wagner for mediaval market fans and LARP players. In truth however Heilung's show was a perfectly crafted, overwhelming  transcendent experience. Absolutely breathtaking!
    And seeing Zeal & Ardor as a support act was a more than welcome bonus.



  7. No doubt, 2024 was a Chelsea Wolfe year. With a strong focus on material from her new album "She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She" her long-awaited return to Europe became a stunning glimpse of Contemporary Goth heaven.
    And as if witnessing the court of the dark queen alone wouldn't have been enough, finally seeing the Icelandic trio Kælan Mikla as her support act was a great addition to this already magical night.



  8. Sometimes you had to ask yourself how only three people could unleash such an overwhelming inferno of Heavy Psych, fuzzy Doom and Post Metal. Or if it was just the ridiculous overkill of epileptic lights and videos.
    But then the answer was right there: This is Slift. And this French trio simply is a space force like no other right now.



  9. Even though the English Grindcore titans delivered a ferocious killer performance easily worthy of being listed here on its own, this has to be the show where I also include both support bands in the heading. Because with fellow Grinders Wormrot and Sludge devestators Primitive Man it was the perfect package deal, which made this insanely brutal night extra memorable. And the wild audience responce made sure my body remembered it for a while as well. Madness!



  10. Spoiler: Dool are one of two band you'll find in both this and the festival shows list below. Sorry, but I just couldn't resist! The feverish live performances of the Dutch Dark Rock group have been one of the most magnetic experiences on any stage for years and with almost the whole new album in the setlist this intimate club show was no exception. In hindsight I only should have stepped back into the third or fourth row to here significantly more of Raven van Dorst's fantastic vocals. 



  11. Happy Birthday to me! Normally I actually don't celebrate, but this year I did it in style by treating myself to an outstanding show of Korean Jazz vocalist Youn Sun Nah, accompanied by the also very unconventional piano player Bojan Z.. And while the singer's studio albums may have become a little too Pop and tame for my taste, this evening of her interpreting Nina Simone, Björk, Jefferson Airplane, Tom Waits and many more absolutely deserved the flush of standing ovations it got. 



  12. From a birth-day show to one in my birth-place in the northernmost North of Germany! It had been five long years since I had last seen Johanna Sadonis and her hard rocking merry band of Black Sabbath and Heart worshippers live - and it seemed unfathomable how I could have let it come to that. Their mission is not to reinvent the wheel, but when it comes to writing great straight Rock'n'Roll riffs and songs and performing them with a singer in the driver's seat, who just keeps getting better and better - you can hardly surpass Lucifer.





TOP 12 FESTIVAL SHOWS 2024:



  1. "What a super heavy wall of fuzztastic riffs, Psych lead guitars and tasty analogue synth and organ sounds! Full Earth turned the concept of Rock music into an elemental force, an earthquake and storm, shaking, levelling, pulling apart and flooding the room and everyone who was in it."
    That's what I said in my festival report. Or in other words: The extended version of Kanaan delivered what their debut album "Cloud Sculptors" had promised. And it was glorious!



  2. The Belgian collective entered the stage with fewer members than the previous time I had seen them. No second drummer and saxophone, which translated to less Tribal and Spiritual Jazz elements. Instead Neptunian Maximalism brought more Drone, Doom and Black Metal in an immersive larger than life ritual of primal sound, which made me completely loose my grasp on the flow of time.



  3. The return of Rebecca Vernon (SubRosa), performing one of my favorite albums of 2023 was a show I knew I could under no circumstances cut short, since missing the incredibly epic finale "The Truth" would have haunted me for the rest of my days. Lead by the singer (also on keys and guitar) and violinist Andrea Morgan The Keening's whole show was beautiful Gothic/Doom/Folk bliss.  



  4. They didn't have any bad intentions! Hedvig, Ellen and Ivar were just playing in a packed Jazz club - but as soon as the Norwegian trio started the roof caught fire and kept burning on for over seventy minutes. HMT definitely is the correct unit of measurement when it comes to determining the addictiveness of Heavy Prog / Jazz Rock. This Paradox show was an absolute blast!



  5. Ok, since Big|Brave already have a high position in my club show ranking, I could have easily saved this (or the other) spot for another artist, right? They even played the same show consisting of "A Chaos Of Flowers" songs, didn't they? Yes. Yes. But come on, the Drone was just so transcendent and blissful! There's no way around it, this band deserves the double honour. 



  6. Yeah, see Big|Brave! Same same. Dool just always deliver. The festival appearance was shorter than the club show later in the year, but both had similar as well as distinct qualities. With a strong focus on "The Shape Of Fluidity" the Dutch group once again proved to be an excellent reason to visit the prehistoric Balve Cave.



  7. Yin and Yang. Two days, two shows, two parts of an incredible whole. First the fearlessly drawn-out Tangerine Dream-inspired Ambient experience, then the murderous Progressive Death Metal inferno, which made the crowd go completely mental. No doubt, even before the release of "Absolute Elsewhere" Blood Incantation proved that they are a league and cosmos of their own.
     


  8. I don't think anyone was really prepared for how intensly her show would hit them right into the feels. Australian Experimental Noise artist Uboa performed in the middle of the audience, an intimate Electronic set of calming Ambient with an eery undercurrent, which directly corresponded with the physical and mental exhaustion of the crowd, so close to the end of four festival days. The air of the room was thickened with palpable pure emotion. No other show this year even remotely felt like this.



  9. Irish Folk is not a genre I'd normally ever expect ending up in this list. But Lankum's take is of course very special. Their profound, earnest approach, their vocal pitch perfection, mesmerizing instrumentation and haunting Drone made this 013 Main Stage show one the highlights of Roadburn 2024.



  10. Desperate, mourning, scornful and annihilating. Dymna Lotva singer Nokt Aeon lived through it all as a bleeding saintess of peace amongst a raging Post Black Metal storm. The exile Belarusian band  impressively delivered what one of the finest albums of 2023 had promised.



  11. Hey! Finally a chance to see them outside of the Netherlands! Temple Fang, who have released multiple live albums, yet only one studio EP so far are without a doubt a band made for the stage.
    The mastery of their timeless Psychedelic Prog/Blues/Heavy Rock epics will always take you beyond the stars. Hamburg, which they graced exclusively with brand-new material, witnessed no exception from that rule.



  12. Cirith Ungol's abbreviation CU stands for CULT.  Them headlining the ten year anniversary party of the German Deaf Forever print magazine on their farewell tour was my last chance to finally see the influential Heavy / Doom / even Proto-Death Metal legends in the flesh. The band around eccentric shrill singer Tim Baker played a frenetically celebrated show which fired classic after classic and also allowed post reunion material to shine.

    The king is dead, long live the King of the Dead!







Greetings from Jazzelux and London! with the COLIN WEBSTER LARGE ENSEMBLE. MARTINA VERHOEVEN INVITES and SPINIFEX


It's December, but somehow I'm not even in a hurry to compile my 24 favorite albums of 2024. I think I'm already at peace with postponing this particular end of the year list to some point in January, because there are still so many candidates to consider.

In Jazz Fusion and adjacent genres alone I'm still taking in so much amazing stuff. So let's jump right to a crazy banger that only just been unleashed...






SPINIFEX - Undrilling the Hole (CD) (2024)

The Netherlands-based international sextet Spinifex is back with one more hour of all the stuff they're great at, except singing, which was a one-off excursion in 2022. (And ultimately "Spinifex Sings" still remains the more sensationally unique album, if we're going to make this a competition.)

And that was the easy part of this little review, because these guys are just so... much. Tasty horn sections, dirty guitars, smooth or explosive bass, creative drums, coming together in a rollercoaster ride through Jazz history between Bop and Core, with a lot of fat Fusion and brain-tickling Avantgarde inbetween. All seven tracks are filled with fiery ideas turned into complex arrangements.

I don't know how exactly you undrill a hole, but maybe that's just a riddle supposed to soak your mind, so you're at least minimally prepared to cushion the aural overstimulation ahead. Luckily this is the kind of overload which will only give you headaches if you're allergic to trumpet, saxophones and uneven bars. For friends of Fusion, Free Jazz and weird noises beyond however "Undrilling The Hole" should be nothing but a sparkling fountain of joy!








COLIN WEBSTER LARGE ENSEMBLE - Second Edition (CD) (2024)

Comparably spectacular, but in a different way is the eight members strong Colin Webster Large Ensemble, which just blasts into relentless Free Jazz fury with everything at its disposal. That includes three saxophones plus trumpet / flugelhorn, drums, bass, guitar and electronics.

The title may be a little confusing. Even though the beautifully minimalist  cover is quite similar and the tracklist reads identical with just "Set One" and "Set Two", this is not a second pressing of their 2023 debut "First Meeting", but actually a new recording of two more shows, one year later at the same location in London.
We have a different bass player in the band now, but other than that this obviously is an if you loved that you will also dig this situation. And if the Freest, most improvisatory Jazz is not for you, this certainly won't convert you. Your loss, because the ensemble's sound is immensly rich and full, and the recording adequately transports the power of their performance.

Whenever the British saxophone player and Belgian guitarist Dirk Serries encounter each other, you can expect magic to happen - and "Second Edition" certainly is no exception.

Speaking of Serries...








MARTINA VERHOEVEN INVITES - Martina Verhoeven Invites (CD) (2024)

... he can also be found on another live album alongside his wife Martina Verhoeven (on grand piano) as the part of an even larger ensemble of ten players, which includes the Large Ensemble members Colin Webster (alto sax), Andrew Isle (drums), Cath Roberts (baritone sax) and Charlotte Keefe (trumpet) as well.

With Martina's piano, Tom Jackson on clarinet and Tom Ward on bass clarinet however, the two performances immortalized here develop a different, playfully whirling flavour, at times building up to downright orchestral magnitude.
There's no way for me to describe all the shifts, dynamics, dramatic ups and downs and instances of magical communication in these two improvisations of twenty-six and forty-three minutes length.

Even though ten people in full Avantgarde Free Jazzploitation mode is a lot, it is obvious that everyone knows everyone and they've all made music together in countless different constellations before.

This one quite likely is among the most maximalist gatherings of this circle - a breathtaking journey, which hardly could reward the listener's attention more. 
 







2024-12-03

LAIBACH - The John Peel Sessions

Yes, it's already time for another Laibach review!

So is "Alamut" finally being released? A dozen people could appearantly buy it as a double CD set by Mute Records back in Augsut, but now it's... postponed? I have no idea what's up with that. Especially since there is a complete product out there. Has there been any news about this? Weird.

So meanwhile we keep getting stuff we weren't waiting for nearly as much, but can hardly say no to either. Like this Black Friday vinyl version of the two legendary John Peel radio sessions, which had been broadcast by BBC in 1986 and 1987.


LAIBACH - The John Peel Sessions (Marble Grey vinyl LP) (2002/2024)

So far these sessions were only officially released over twenty years ago on CD by Strange Fruit (which also happens to be the title of a recent Laibach EP; everything is connected) - and that one didn't make it from my Discogs wishlist into my collection yet. So even though I came too late to pre-order this item to the only record store close enough to pick it up personally, I thankfully was able to grab one of the remainders online afterwards.

With a new cover artwork, liner notes and the records marbled in statuesqe grey the release instantly satisfies on the visual side. The sound is also good - within the parameters of what can realistically be expected. Even though the six songs have been remastered you can't really expect a modern sound standards - but hey, it's listenable enough. And of course the aggressive vibe and raw energy  of this document is more important than misplaced audiophilism. Which indeed is a word I just made up, I know.

The first side (1986 session) begins very forceful with the Slovenian classic "Krvava Gruda - Plodna Zemlja", continues with the most obscure track "Krst" and ends with an early version of "Life Is Life", which didn't add "Opus Dei" to the title yet and also sounds somehow cruder and has a slightly less accessible arrangement than the later studio version. But just that glimpse into the evolution of one of Laibach's greatest hits is what makes this so interesting.

The 1987 session on side B continues with two more "Opus Dei" songs, bass and guitar-heavy versions of "Leben-Tod" and "Transnational" - in this spelling without the hyphen. It ends with "Krvoprelitje", also known as "Ti, Ki Izzivaš" in a version which also sounds quite different than in earlier and later performances and recordings. 

Is this a crucial album to understand Laibach? No. However it shows an important step in the band's connection with England and Mute. And of course it's also just Vier Personen playing great noisy, alienating 80's Avantgarde Industrial shit.







2024-12-01

LAIBACH + SILENCE - White Christmas

#firstSundayinAdventreview

A nuisance? An annoyance? A harassment? Christmas music seldom falls into other categories than those three for me. So me actually buying a Christmas music release is a very rare occasion. Boris made me do it with their Shoegaze cover version of "Last Christmas". And now it's Laibach's turn!


LAIBACH + SILENCE - White Christmas (download) (2024)

Not even a month ago Laibach released the deep and bleak digital EP "Strange Fruit". And a look at the colour scheme and graphic details on the cover of this new EP already shows that the two conceptually belong together.
And just like with "Strange Fruit" Laibach and their long-time collaborators Silence easily overcome any doubt of them being able to succesfully tackle the recontextualization of the material.

A melancholic piano, eery synths and faint war noises define the musical backbone of the piece. The duet between the low rasp of Milan Fras and the exceptional dramatic vocals of Boris Benko has been tested many times and is implemented  in touching perfection here.

Once again Laibach interpret the song with the global situation in mind, as an outlook on what more and more Christmas celebrations will look like in the future. In the credits they emphasize that the song had been written by a Russian Jew, who didn't even celebrate Christmas and who dedicated the song to his three-weeks old son who died on Christmas Day. Considering this it probably is no wonder that it immediately feels like something much more substantial than just a jingle for a commercially charged holiday.

The second track "Silence Night" is a different, more ethereal version with less focus on the vocals, which leans more towards the experimental Synth Pop of Silence.

"White Christmas" is a surprisingly profound, beautiful EP, especially if you understand it as the B side to "Strange Fruit". 






2024-11-29

OTTONE PESANTE und OBEY COBRA live auf der MS Stubnitz, Hamburg (27. November 2024)


Alter, was für ein Pisswetter! Zum Glück ist Ende November ja keine Open-Air-Saison. So pitschepatschenass wie ich Mittwoch Abend auf der MS Stubnitz ankam - obwohl ich zum ersten Mal seit bestimmt anderthalb bis zwei Jahren eine "richtige" Jacke angezogen hatte, statt mit Fleece, Hoodies, Longsleeves und Pullovern zu zwiebeln -, hätte dies gewiss eine schlimme Erkältung nach sich gezogen. Zum Glück wurde der Unterwasserhinweg zum in der Elbe liegenden Schiff auch mit einem angemessen tollen Konzert belohnt.



OBEY COBRA

Den Anfang machte das walisische Quartett Obey Cobra mit einem rhythmisch hypnotischen Mix aus Post Punk, Noise Rock und Industrial. Hätte ich nicht vorher gesehen, dass die Band mit Rocket Recordings arbeitet, dann hätte ich es vermutlich erraten können, so sehr passte hier die Faust aufs respektive Auge. Schöner Lärm, geile Drums, passender Agit-Gesang. Ja, alles schon sehr britisch irgendwie... und ebenso ganz schön gut.








OTTONE PESANTE

Das italienische Brass-Metal-Trio Ottone Pesante hatte ich hier ja bereits im März 2022 gesehen, so dass ich wusste, was mich erwarten würde. Ihr großartiges neues Albem "Scroll of War" verminderte meine Erwartungshaltung, ein Spitzenkonzert zu erleben, natürlich auch nicht gerade.

Und was soll ich sagen: Der mit Riff-Posaune, Lead-Trompete und wahnsinnigen Killer-Drums vorgetragene Mix aus Black-, Death-, Post-, Doom-Metal, Jazzcore und Drone überzeugte wieder auf ganzer Linie. Zusätzlich zur beeindruckenden Performance der drei an sich machten Loops und Samples den Sound noch fetter. Auch der mystisch ergreifende Gesang von Lili Refrain in "Battle of Qadesh" wurde so beigesteuert, während die gelegentlichen Extremgesänge von Trompeter Paolo einfach direkt ins Instrumentenmikro gekrächzt wurden.

Ottone Pesante bleiben einfach eine Band, die man gesehen haben muss. Auf Papier vielleicht eine bekloppte Idee oder maximal ein kauziges Special-Interest-Projekt, doch in der Ausführung so direkt zugänglich und unterhaltsam und doch kreativ und anspruchsvoll. Wenn man schon ein derartiges Nischengenre begründet, dann sollte man auch wissen was man tut. Und Junge, Ottone Pesante wissen bescheid! Nö, da kann Ska als Partymucke mit Bläsern für mich niemals mithalten.

Und dass die Schiffsakustik mit Bläsern besonders gut kann, muss ich wohl auch nicht noch einmal betonen. Wahrscheinlich mein letztes Konzert dieses Jahr - und es war ein würdiger Abschluss!