It's end-of-the-year list season. The "big one" with my favorite albums and concerts of 2018 is already done, so here comes the appendix with the best of other musical stuff.
While compiling it I realized that it really was an album-centric year for me. I obtained so few 7" or 10" records, split releases or download-only stuff, that it would be silly to make lists of any of those categories. So the whole thing is a rather short one this time.
To compensate I've thought about reviving the cheerful disappointments section, but despite being the longest text here that actually didn't generate too much solid content either.
The final part of this post is just a look back on what little my own experimental duo was doing this year.
TOP EP:
DARK BUDDHA RISING - II
Droning. Mystical. Colossal. Judging from the playing time this work may count as an EP, but the sonic reality is that Dark Buddha Rising rolls over your senses like a cosmic giant.
TOP 3 live recordings:
- BELL WITCH - Live At Roadburn 2015
Watching Bell Witch open Roadburn 2015 with their genius duet take on funeral doom still counts as one my most imprinting concert experiences in recent years. So to finally get this show as a crushing record is the best addition to the two special 2018 Roadburn shows I could ever imagine - and another worthy tribute to the late Adrian Guerra. Worship the shit out of this!
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Yes, the music is as insane as the title. This Turkish / Japanese free jazz / noise rock cooperation is definitely among this year's most borderline crazy advantgarde shit releases. Also - to make things even weirder -, don't confuse this with previous year's studio album of the same name, which is comprised of totally different compositions!
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Even though I already own the studio album and have witnessed the very last of those rare shows for it at Roadburn, I still got my fingers on this live album, which once again features the stellar collaboration of Swedish post metal force Cult Of Luna and Julie Christmas. Some vocal arrangements may remain unperformable, but the live setting adds so much energy and so many layers at other places, that it has become my most listened-to version of "Mariner".
TOP reissue:
While the first-time vinyl release of Swans' "Die Tür Ist Zu" may be of more exclusive content, I have to go with this 10 year anniversary reissue of Earth's already timeless and legendary masterpiece here. I had this on CD, but not only for the bonus track the vinyl is an upgrade. So much fuller and richer... It's almost like discovering a whole new record for me.
When has western psychedelic desert doom ever sounded cooler?
When has western psychedelic desert doom ever sounded cooler?
Disappointments 2018?
I don't know about any huge disappointments... Has any band or artist fucked it up big time? Nothing severe comes to mind.
Of course bands are disbanding. Norway's advantgarde metal specialists Virus are a huge loss that comes to mind immediately.
And then there's the never-ending "Laibach Revisited" story. The release has grown into a big, extremely promising box set, which I already have pre-ordered and payed for, but it has been postponed from September to spring 2019. While it is a bit annoying, the reason is that they are still adding additional stuff like a whole extra album. So that's fine with me.
I'm significantly more pissed that my vinyl copy of "The Sound Of Music" still hasn't found its way to me. Fucking Christmas.
I'm significantly more pissed that my vinyl copy of "The Sound Of Music" still hasn't found its way to me. Fucking Christmas.
Bruce Dickinsson outing himself as a Brexiteer, that was a shame. Well, he's rich. But yeah, that's not really music-related. And if we're going in that direction, the world has become way too absurd to do it justice here.
I guess my major general complaint is that the year goes by so fast, with so many albums which I still haven't bought or listened to yet. I mean, you still need some time to process all of it, right?
Of course I cannot blame Dead Can Dance, Florence + The Machine, Obscura, Sons Of Kemet etc. for me not having purchased their albums yet.
On the other hand just a little pinch of scepticism about the musical direction can hold me back for a long time - as seen with Khemmis, who after two great works are now maybe too traditional metal / hard rock for me? Don't know, I should really take a listen.
Same goes for Janelle Monae, who has finally delivered a successor to 2015's "The Electric Lady", but ditched her Cindi Mayweather persona. "Dirty Computer" has at least some good tracks on it, I know, but I'm having a hard time adjusting to the aesthetics of those modern pop royalty productions... The same thing made me avoid previous year's Kendrick Lamar album.
Damn.
DRUTURUM activities:
And finally a brief look back on my personal activities with Druturum.
Due to the concept of exclusive shows itself and occasional difficulties to find rehearsal time, our tour schedule will always be easy to oversee, that's for sure. At the moment we're patiently working on "Druturum V: Wayfarer", but it will still take a while until we can confirm a date and location.
This year in May we've played two very different shows. For more background information follow the links to the respective bandcamp pages (english) or posts in this blog (german)!
Due to the concept of exclusive shows itself and occasional difficulties to find rehearsal time, our tour schedule will always be easy to oversee, that's for sure. At the moment we're patiently working on "Druturum V: Wayfarer", but it will still take a while until we can confirm a date and location.
This year in May we've played two very different shows. For more background information follow the links to the respective bandcamp pages (english) or posts in this blog (german)!
(stream/download/liner notes on bandcamp /blog post HERE!)
(stream/download/liner notes on bandcamp / blog post HERE!)
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