NICK HUDSON - On The Eve Of Hope

Oh dear, Nick Hudson is already working on his next album and I haven't even covered the eighteen track epic he released this year?

NICK HUDSON - On The Eve Of Hope (lyric book + CD) (2025)

Of course it's not exactly news that the English singer/songwriter residing in Georgia (Caucasus, not US) is a highly productive artist. 2024: "Kanda Teenage Honey" 2023: "The Falconetti Stare" 2022: "The Cake Tasting Society OST" 2021: "Font of Human Fractures" ... It's hard to imagine that additionally to all that songwriting he's also active in other fields like painting or poetry.

Well, of course you can't really tell if poetry actually is a by-product, just texts without music yet. However that may be, for "On The Eve Of Hope" Hudson had a lyrical surplus, so this work is presented as a fourty pages book of lyrics about love, love to love itself and politics, plus a selection of original artworks and photographs.
(Please beware if - like me - you're triggered by printed lyrics differing from the recording! The record collector's wrong subtitle appears several times here.)

"Democracy, like love, requires maintenance, care and dedication" Nick explains in the foreword, "It is not merely something you arrive at to then leave lodged in stasis - both love and democracy are organic, shifting, porous; reflecting the energetic application of all parties in the service of keeping said entities in good shape." 

So that's the theoretical ground, what's the musical result?

In the past I've often found myself comparing Nick Hudson to other artists, usually some of the greatest in their game, whose personality he temporarily seemed to channel. On "On the Eve Of Hope" he's very much himself. The one influence, which clearly shines through not only in the fact that most arrangements are centered around piano, harpsichord or keyboard, but also in the amount of songs on an album, obviously must be Tori Amos.

It's a relatively spontanous album that doesn't explore stylistic territories as wide as on "Kanda Teenage Honey", but rather concentrates on sheer good songwriting. And damn, are the songs good! Every single one a captivating tale about rebellion, relationships or the spirituality of nature. How often do I have to stress what a shame it is that this man isn't a thousand times more known and famous? Anyone with a restraint to hold back a Folk Pop masterpiece like "Miracleproof" until the end of such a long work (with only an outro track behind it), should receive an "I Won Art" award in my book.

Hudson appears more focussed now, while still sounding far from too homogenic. The curveballs are still out there, even thow they are thrown with less extreme trajectories, remaining within his framework of Alternative Electro-Acoustic Contemporary Gothic Chamber Post Punk Art Pop - to summerize it in one handy term. All in all "On The Eve Of Hope" really balances its mass of creative output perfectly, a beautifully rounded piece without one dull moment. 

NICK HUDSON - Kanda Teenage Honey

My first encounter with Nick Hudson took place over eight years ago aboard the MS Stubnitz, when he supported Toby Driver. During his first song I was the complete audience. These facts already suggest that he's probably a pretty obscure artist.

On the other hand his band The Academy Of Sun's magnum opus "The Quiet Earth" is not only my most-played album on Bandcamp, but I already consider it a timeless classic and one of the finest things England has brought to the world in this millennium so far. Well, I also had to create its Discogs entry, even though I was a rather late buyer.

His solo work since then has been prolific  - among others considering of an album, an EP, a soundtrack and one of the rarest items in my whole music collection - and equally great.
The singer / songwriter / instrumentalist has channeled several music legends throughout his discography. And sometimes it feels like he could be among those greats. In reality however Nick Hudson is a prime example of an abyssal gap between deserved and actually received recognition. No, there could hardly be a greater walking antithesis to a star.

Welcome to "Kanda Teenage Honey", the latest self-released album of that queer dude with a Russia obsession, who moved from England to Georgia (the Eastern European one) creating his art between wandering in marvellous mountain landscapes and protesting authoritarian pro-Putin tendencies in the streets:

NICK HUDSON - Kanda Teenage Honey (CD) (2024)

Where even to fucking start? Unless I really have no better idea of how to tackle an album I usually try to avoid track-by-track reviews. This thing also has the same epic scale as "The Quiet Earth" with sixteen pieces between Chamber Pop, Post Punk, Alternative Avantgarde and so much more in over seventy-three minutes. So that's probably a lot of text...
On the other hand I find it hard to make overall observations which really encompass everything which is happening here.

Nah, I'm doing the lame track-by-track thing. But you know what? I'm just spicing this up with pure randomness by setting my player on shuffle:

2. "For My Silence" - The three-minute hit single? Given how this catchy straight-forward piano pop ballad is placed on the album it almost feels like a ruse, an intentional misdirection. Or just a very good song.

3. "Sky Burial While Alive" - An ominous intro with a narration of dictators being likened to planets transitioning into a creeping Swans groove until the beat stops for uneasy Ambient sounds, while the sonor vocals contemplate over state culture grants for assisted suicides. Cryptic, definitely not a hit, but doesn't need to be.

8. "Bardo" - Spoken words and a slow Ambient build-up for over two minutes. Then this eight-and-a-half minute longtrack explodes into wild angular Noise Rock before slowing down to a movement of treacherous grand piano before a final storm of let's call it Chaos Core. If you needed a prove that Nick Hudson is a long-time fan of Mike Patton and Mr. Bungle - here it is.

15. "Bad Ghost Vs Good Boy" - Dear mannered people afraid of rainbows, you must be strong now, because this acoustic guitar ballad features references like "Helmut Berger in wanked-out underwear" or "Pink Kalashnikov clashes over River Phoenix' ashes". Yeah, I think this is an old man's gay jerk-off song. With a ridiculously good chorus for its tongue in cheek content.

13. "Catherine In The Curate's Garden" - A steady drone, an unsteady stumbling rhythm and a singer unphased by both pretending this was a beautiful six-minute Depeche Mode ballad. Weird yet intriguing.

5. "This Heat" - There cannot be a Nick Hudson release without at least one musical prayer to Tori Amos. A huge little piece for just piano and vocals.

11. "Seva" - Synths and strange noises. It's Ambient soundtrack time? Oh wait, there's Vsevolod Osupov citing a (Russian or Georgian?) poem. I'm realizing that there are a lot of tracks on this albums pose the question: What is this and why does it even work? I'm not even sure if every track actually works on its. This album is best listened to as an holistic experience.

10. "Unspent Youth" - Opening with a soprano guest vocalist and carrying on with keys, strings, classical guitar and Toby Driver on hammered dulcimer. This feels like floating through a sea of sounds between clerical, Folk and Classical.

9. "Hunters" - More piano goodness, this time with a choir. Only two minutes short this feels like an interlude between bigger compositions.

16. "Danube" - I wish I could elaborate further on the lyrics of this album. But to be honest Nick's writing is easy to recognize as being very witty, humorous and also touching at times, even with my casual non-native speaker's knowledge of the English language. But actually digging into the meaning in an at least medium profound capacity is a task going over my head with the time at hand... This is a not spectacular, but beautiful album closer, by the way.

6. "Hachiko" - The shortest song of all. Only Hudson's voice. Good that the man can sing.

14. "Ortolan" - "Stab your demoniac smile to my brain, Soak me in cognac, cunt and cocaine!" ... Ok.

15. "Archipelago" - If you want me to name one pinnacle of "Kanda Teenage Honey" it must be "Archipelago". This absolutely fantastic six-and-a-half-minute piano epic definitely is the pinnacle of Tori worship. Going logically along with that this reminiscence on passed lovers is also the most emotional and heartfelt track. A-game! Oh, and on a side-note relevant exclusively for all homophobic Vlads and Karens out there, because it doesn't even feel vulgar in context: Yeah, this has definitely the most graphic gay stuff in it. And if that bothers you here... I'm sure you didn't get Björk singing about every fuck she had on "Vulnicura" either. Better just stick to Kid Rock!

12. "In Praise Of Venerable Jorge" - A duet about silence, so let's go right to the next one...

1. "Khevsureti" - Finally the album opener! Wide björkish strings, just one repeated verse in which Nick Hudson once again channels his inner Holly Johnson. This indeed feels like the intro to a 12" maxi mix of a Frankie Goes To Hollywood ballad - until it takes a turn to more recent Avantgarde sounds.

4. "Hollow Man" - "Show me on the dolly - Is genocide your therapy?" Lyrically this song throws a drive-by Molotov onto the oligarch's daughter, dreams of all wars, conjures hurricanes and ends up in a Nuremberg cell. Between circular guitars, majestic Dark Rock and pristine piano just as much happens musically. One of those songs which have it all. Almost a summary of the whole album.

And now go listen to the damn thing yourself! It doesn't have to be in this order.


The only thing which sucks about my particular copy of this masterpiece is that the plastic tray part of my digipak didn't survive transport unscathed and makes me watch its unstoppable disintegration in slow motion now.

MIDYEAR TOP 15: my favorite albums of 2024 (so far)

Same procedure as every July: Here's a spontanous selection of my fifteen favorite albums of the year so far. No distinction between studio and live releases - and only stuff which I have on vinyl, CD or cassette. Expect some of these to appear again in my more elaborated list at the end of the year - but don't be surprised if they're in a different order or some have disappeared!

The order ultimately doesn't matter anyway, because even if this list was twice as long, I would still highly recommend every single album on it! 

1. FULL EARTH
   Cloud Sculptors
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. KAMASI WASHINGTON
   Fearless Movement
   
   
   
   
   
3. SLIFT
   Ilion
   
   
   
   
4. SEAN ONO LENNON

   Asterisms
   
   
   
   
5. AGUSA

   Noir
   
   
   
   
6. LOUSIE LEMÓN
   Lifetime Of Tears
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. DOOL
   The Shape Of Fluidity
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. SOLAR TEMPLE & DEAD NEANDERTHALS
   Embers Beget the Divine
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. NICK HUDSON
   Kanda Teenage Honey
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. CARPET
    Collision
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. CHELSEA WOLFE

    She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She
    
    
    
    
12. IVAN THE TOLERABLE TRIO
    Infinite Peace
    
    
    
    
    
    
13. MONOVOTH
    Pleroma Mortem Est
    
    
    
    
    
    
14. ZAÄAR
    Musique Cryptique (Live In Liège)
    
    
    
    
    
    
15. TUSKS
    Gold
    
    
    
    
    

cassette craze chronicles XXIX feat. ANTON RIPATTI & ASTERMIR MARSHENKULOV, EFFLUENCE, NICK HUDSON, REVEREND KRISTIN MICHAEL HAYTER and WHERE MERMAIDS DROWN

Omg, he's playing with that kaleidoscoping lense again! Sorry notsorry, can I have a little fun with my phone, now that my Digital Harinzemi toy camera is gone? And let's also focus on the actually important things = more tapes in my collection! And believe me, this edition of the cassette craze chronicles contains some really big, important (as in album of the year contender) and rare new treasures!

EFFLUENCE - Sarmat (2022/2023)

Déjà vu, Mesdames et Messieurs! I have been writing about this beautifully chaotically apocalyptic Deathjazz atrocity before. So if you're interested in my thoughts about this abhorrently lovely mammoth track, let me kindly reroute you to my digital Bandcamp Friday haul of last April!

The cassette edition, which has been released in the meantime is nothing spectacular, but it's what you'd except. And it's nice to have a real item with the great artwork now. To make purchase, shipping and taxes more worthwhile I bought "Sarmat" together with other stuff including one more tape. So we'll return to this amazing batshit crazy band later in this post!

REVEREND KRISTIN MICHAEL HAYTER - Saved! (2023)

Hallelujah! While the cancellation of her final continental European tour as Lingua Ignota still hurts a little, I'm glad that Kristin Hayter is at least back with a new album, now under her - extended - real name. [Yes, I wrote this paragraph before the surprise release of the final Lingua Ignota live album yesterday.]
And oh boy am I glad that I listened to the album online before I spun the tape, because otherwise I would have been furious about my player devouring it, as tempo and volume of the opening track "I'm Getting Out While I Can" are glitching horribly - and do so on purpose.

"Saved!" is a very minimal and low-fi album, almost exclusively performed with vocals and prepared piano (meaning chains and bells being placed inside) and recorded in high-fidelity actually, but then run through various degrees of copying on tape recorders of uneven functionality and further manipulation to emulate age and decay.

Contentwise the newly anointed Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter presents us with both a continuation of "Sinner Get Ready" and a radical change of perspectice at the same time. Interestingly she still maintains the moving, chilling, shocking effect of her music. It just doesn't come from the weight of her processing deeply traumatic personal experiences anymore, but from a more ambiguous place.
And while the concept is simple - performing traditional and original worship songs in a seemingly historical sonic setting as fervently and intensly as possible to find out if they will eventually work - it isn't that easy to pin down what it actually means. My personal view as an average Northern German atheist is already unable to cope with the creepy intensity of standard American religiousness. Which makes it hard to determine where realistic Appalachian practice ends and artistic exaltation begins - or the other way around.

"Saved!" is a play. If it was a completely earnest display of Kristin actually turning to Jesus, the dissasociation through the low-fi production wouldn't have been necessary. Or is this really her completly serious special way of trying? It is a weird experiment.
In any case the album is no mocking or critique of religion per se. Even though a lot of its content is heavily uncomfortable - especially her speaking in tongues is downright horrifying to behold -, all this still is just a presentation without judgement. There are even some passages which reflect a rather beautiful healing process - at least if you imagine them outside of the eery indoctrinated gospel of the whole and understand the album as an allegoric vehicle, as the translation of an actual experience into the language of hardcore Christianity.

Whatever the whole truth may be, one thing is for sure: This album is utterly intriguing. On paper I shouldn't even have much motivation to even listen to this. But in reality it's of course fueled by the magnetic mind, musicality and presencee of Kristin Hayter, thus transcending my capabilities of written explanation. And just being executed so goddamn good! There's no chance to resist.

You may have guessed from the way "Saved!" was produced that I'm very happy with choosing its tape version instead of vinyl or CD, because I think this is actually the most fitting and authentic media to represent this work of art. And for the Reverend's and the Perpetual Flame Ministries' benefit I want to assume that the writing on the back cover, which is too tiny even for ants, was never actually meant to be readable.

WHERE MERMAIDS DROWN - Live Reminisce Tour 2023 (2023)

This tape surely will be a lot easier to digest for most people - at least if you can live without sung vocals. It's also yet another déjà vu, since I've already seen the Post Rock band twice and reviewed two of their studio releases this year. So concerning this particular genre Where Mermaids Drown have really become the main actors of 2023 for me. And I'm not complaining about that. But of course there's really nothing new for me to add about their majestic instrumental music at this point.

So what about this release? The title of the tape, which is limited to twenty-five handnumbered copies, says it all: These are recordings from the first European tour of the French quartet. The sound quality is flawless and successfully captures the spirit of their live presentation.

One special thing the band did was that they involved the audience by holding short interviews with visitors before the show, which even the band members themselves would hear for the first time during the ambient fade-out of the final track "Statues Learn To Weep".

NICK HUDSON - That Falconetti Stare (2023) /
ANTON RIPATTI & ASTERMIR MARSHENKULOV - Son#11 (2023)

But now let's get to something rarer! Not only do even fewer copies of this cassette exist, but half of its content hasn't been released in any other form at all yet, so other than Nick Hudson himself only one or two handful of people have heard "The Falconetti Stare", a collection of thirteen songs recorded between 2014 and 2021. Piano, acoustic guitar and occasional strings are the favored instruments, the vibe could be called Baroque Poetic Sunglasses in the Night Singer/Songwriter Contemporary Timeless Gothic - unless that's a little bit too long for you. But then you cannot fact-check my review properly for the time being anyway.

This is very beautiful material however, with delicate instrumental performances and smooth vocals, probably my favorite quieter album with male lead vocals of the year. So I'm glad that the multidisciplinary English artist residing in Georgia (the European Georgia that is) now could send me one of those precious tapes - even though getting my personal digital copy means a little bit more work than usually in this case. I'll even have to redo it, because I fucked up the volume on the first try. Now look how I am so privileged and yet such a whining crybaby!

Those forty minutes of unreleased songs are also only the first half of this split tape. The B side contains seven more tracks of the Georgian collaboration of guitarist / singer Anton Ripatti and multi-instrumentalist Astermir Marshenkulov on keys, strings, winds, guitars... well everything except drums I guess. And the couple of instances where we get programmed drums indeed fall a bit flatter than the rest of this album. They are still listenable though.

Not the same, but in undeniable spiritual brotherhood to Nick Hudson, whose art also graces the tape's cover, the duo refuses easy categorization, but moves somewhere between almost-Folk ballads, Eighties Art Rock, Electronic Wave and Neoclassical influences. And in this case you can also check this out - and buy digitally - for yourself on Bandcamp.

Even though I don't fully understand what this album wants (the language barrier might be a part of that), it's a good listen. I especially recommend the last track, which mainly consists of eleven minutes of slowly growing, beautifully sad and hopeful piano and guitar meandering.

EFFLUENCE - Liquefied (2022/2023)

And now we're completing the circle! While being in the hot honeymoon phase with newly discovered music it's an almost impossible task to determine whether the current butterflies will last and if the work will actually proof to a classic on regular rotation. But even with the competition of Reverend Hayter - if there is one album among these cassettes which will undoubtly be as artistically valuable in decades as it is right now, it must be this latest release by Effluence.

"Liquified" is one of the best concept albums of all time. Yes, I said it and I'm not joking!

Of course I didn't say it is an exceptionally deep or complex concept. The cover artwork, song titles like "Mix", "Blend", "Chop", "Dice", "Mince" and pseudonyms like Ice Crush, Nikki Mix or Kitchenaid G are already explaining the whole thing completely: What happens when you put humans into a giant blender and use all programs of the kitchen machine to liquefy them?

That's really all it is. But boy, the execution is so incredible perfect! It's a quick twenty minute inferno of Free Jazz, Grindcore and Death Metal (the Bandcamp tags also read annoying and blendcore), which somehow has all the right bubbling, whisking, chopping, pulverizing sounds to graphically sell each and every step of the process.
"Liquified" may seem like a fun silly hyper-brutal short album. And yes, that's still the most fitting classification for what I would normally call an EP - just given the genre and how overwhelmingly much is happening here in the time. So it will surely be easy to underestimate it for many listeners. But come on, the skill and sonic imagination behind this is just incredible!

This is the kind of mind-bending yet still easily understandable Avant-Garde you can justify putting close to Naked City's "Torture Garden" in your collection. Über-delicious ultra-addictive whatthefuckery. One should film a cooking tutorial with this as the soundtrack.

BANDCAMP FRIDAY December 2022 feat. BORIS, LINGUA IGNOTA and NICK HUDSON

Is this the last one? It's the last one this year, that's for sure. Whether Bandcamp Friday will return in 2023 - we don't know yet. In truth it probably doesn't matter as much as one would think. Because even on any regular day, when a small part of the earnings go to the site, it's still always a good thing to support any artist on Bandcamp. And people know this by now, right?

That being said I still used the occasion to strike a couple of releases from my wishlist. Two physical items, which will or won't be featured on this blog later and these three digital only treasures:

LINGUA IGNOTA - Katie Cruel (2022)

This single already came out in February, but somehow I hadn't been in the mood or was lacking the attention for it back then, I can't remember. The artwork gives away that this five minute song belongs to the "Sinner Get Ready" cycle and could very well be an outtake from the album. Over minimalistic piano, droning organ and other noises Kristin Hayter's rendition of this folk traditional once again lets her grave voice shine in mesmerizing yet eery glory. Very powerful!

NICK HUDSON - The Cake Tasting Society OST (2022)

The criminally unknown singer/songwriter/multiinstrumentalist Nick Hudson (The Academy Of Sun) has scored an obscure little feature film called "The Cake Tasting Society" and its soundtrack (released in July) is an intriguing parade of bursts of synth noises, piano, strings, guitar, siren vocals and chorals. As it lies in the nature of the work, I would only count a couple of these fifteen tracks as full "real" songs, but due to the short lengths of  these mostly very experimental pieces, the release always remains listenable without dragging. And anyone who already knows Hudson might recognize the "Procession At Insect Eye Level" motif from another release. Strong avantgarde compositions in a very distinct artistic voice.   

BORIS - fade (2022)

Hey, finally something brand-new! Japanese prolific multi-genre heavy rockers Boris have suddenly dropped the third album of their 30th anniversary year - and it's a full-on drone one! The shoegazy "W" of course had a lot of deep rumbling bass frequencies, too. "fade" however is a humfest in the tradition of Sunn O))) and early Earth. And Boris' own explorations of the genre of course. Its six tracks add up to over an hour of delicious ultra-heavy drone in slow-motion riffs or almost no riffs at all, with fantastic crunchy textures and just a couple of thin light rays of hope on top. A beautifully brutal celebration of vibration. Drone metal bliss at its finest. 

MUSIC 2021: TOP 21 albums

Yes, in anticipation of the coming year (20+22=42) all signs are on silly numerology here. So after my 7 favorite live shows, 7 favorite live albums and 7 favorite non-album releases, it's only consequent to present my top 21 albums of the year now, to make the number which explains everything, 42, full again. But since 21 really isn't that much for this category, I've coupled each position with one more or less fitting extra recommendation. So yeah baby, we got 42 again.

The general rules are: This is my own fucking personal ranking, so no whining is allowed. It's only about albums which I already own in some form. It does not include reissues (my favorites are the first vinyl version of Brian Ellis's "Quipo" and the 25th Anniversary Edition of "Relaxing With..." The Heads), unless there hasn't been a physical release before. Following that logic also all releases, where I'm still waiting for my copy (I'm looking at you, Rostro Del Sol, Zaäar, The Lovecraft Sextet...) aren't considered until next year.
And of course there's also stuff still coming in now, which is just too late to the game.

As always - and most important: Music shouldn't be a competition anyway, so after the first couple of places the order really doesn't matter much and could be different on any day depending on my mood. So with all that being said, here are my...

TOP 21 ALBUMS 2021:

1. AD NAUSEAM - Imperative Imperceptible Impulse
   
   
   
   It's already hard to be more death metal than the Italians Ad Nauseam. But it's close to impossible to push the genre into more unique, unheard territories of dissonant avant-garde than they do on "Imperative Imperceptible Impulse". Armed with their very own tuning, tons of dynamics and brutal virtuosity they created a sick masterpiece that makes most other metal albums look like elevator music in comparison. Listening to this double album might risk your sanity, but I prefer to imagine that it rather stimulates my cerebral receptiveness. A gift that keeps giving!
   
   
   
   
   
   One other boundless, yet in its loyalty to the core idea of the genre still somehow astonishingly pure death metal release of comparable magnitude is "Poison Palinopsia" by Qrixkuor. It consists of just two mammoth-tracks, over twenty-four minutes each, which fly by like a swarm of puking winged demons.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. SENYAWA - Alkisah
   
   
   
   Rooted in folklore, drone and unbridled experimentalism, amplified by self-build string, percussion and noise instruments and the exceptional vocal presence of Rully Shabara, the Indonesian duo Senyawa conjures a timeless spirituality and primal heaviness. While this music couldn't be more singular, its distribution is manifold, as "Alkisah" has been released in dozens of alternative versions by various labels all around the globe. The CN Edition by WV Sorcerer Productions, which includes a bonus CD with well-made remixes is a perfect package inside and outside.
   
   
   
   
   
   Senyawa also recently released their second (so far only digital) album of 2021. "Membaladakan Keselamatan (Ballads for the Survivors)" features acoustic reinterpretations of songs from previous albums and proves that even reduced to only acoustic guitar and voice the band's music is still incredible impactful, heavy, amazing.
   
   
   
   
   
3. LINGUA IGNOTA - Sinner Get Ready
   
   
   
   The day has yet to come, when I will write something about Lingua Ignota and feel that I have done Kristin Hayter's art any justice. Even after dialing the obvious noise and brutality from "Caligula" down on her new wrath opus "Sinner Get Ready" and replacing it with a more naturalistic, folkloristic sound that sometimes even includes pure, pristine beauty, the way she channels heaviest themes and personal experience into profound, emotionally touching (if not even oppressing) art, is just one of a kind. A mercilessly uncompromising and unforgiving gospel that cannot leave you indifferent.
   
   
   
   
   

   Fans of Lingua Ignota should also check out "Mausoleum" by the Latvian trio Pamirt, whose singer Kristiāna Kārkliņa does not only remind of Hayter, but also takes notes from Jarboe, Anna von Hausswolff and Chelsea Wolfe. Their debut is rather short, but a grand and theatrical work of art nonetheless.  
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. ÅRABROT - Norwegian Gothic
   
   
   
   Kjetil Nernes, Karin Park and their family are living in an old church (which also works as recording studio and photo / video location) in the Swedish countryside. Rock'n'roll is their religion. On "Norwegian Gothic" their band Årabrot is redeeming everything this premise promises - and more. Recruiting help from members of Motorpsycho, Zu and Jaga Jazzists, as well as cellist extraordinaire Jo Quail they created nothing short of a dark noise rock / post punk masterpiece, filled with hits and creative surprises -  a carnival of the 80s, 90s and ultimately timeless rebellion.
   
   
   
   
   
   Oh well, fuck my no re-issues rule! There's no way of honouring "Norwegian Gothic" without uttering Karin Park's last solo album in the same breath. "Church Of Imagination" is equally as sprawling and intriguing, while speaking a different musical language of artistic pop with chamber, gospel and alternative rock elements. With "Omens To Come" it even features the original version of Årabrot's "Feel It On".
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. SONS OF KEMET - Black To The Future
   
   
   
   They have done it again - the Sons Of Kemet are absolutely on fire! Fueled by the ongoing oppression and injustice people of colour keep facing "Black To The Future" is burning with urgency. Armed with two drumkits, tuba and saxophone, the Sons and guests like Moor Mother and Joshua Idehen continue their fight against the pain of the African diaspora and explore Black identity with a spectacular mix of bebop, funk, hip hop, Carribean and tribal music. Especially when the vocals halt for most of the second half of the double album, the musical storytelling gets spectacularly strong.
   
   
   
   
   
   A much more traditional, yet still vivid and exciting take on jazz can be heard on "The Space Where The Uncontrollable Unknown Resides, Can Be The Place From Which Creation Arises" by Work Money Death. The two longtracks "Dusk" and "Dawn" are perfect homages to the spiritual masters Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra and John and Alice Coltrane.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. EMMA RUTH RUNDLE - Engine Of Hell
   
   
   
   You can call the instruments of Emma Ruth Rundle's minimalistic acoustic album piano and guitar, but in truth she's playing directly on our heartstrings. Mostly recorded in complete live takes "Engine Of Hell" is her most vulnerable, purest and bravest album to date. No other album on this list has captivated me inside a repeat loop and made me neclect the rest of my collection for weeks like this channeling of Emma's inner Tori Amos.
   
   
   
   
   
   Speaking of Tori, whose impact on my taste cannot be overstated, since there are at least four albums noticeably influenced by her on this list alone: with "Ocean To Ocean" she added a wonderful new gem - which in comparison to Emma's album is rather maximalist - to her now sixteen studio albums strong discography. Outstanding as ever!
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. CYNIC - Ascension Codes
   
   
   
   After the passing of both Sean Reinert and Sean Malone it seems like Paul Masvidal pulled off an almost impossible miracle with this new Cynic album. While "Ascension Codes" surely carries the sentiment of tribute, eulogy and solace, the new age / alien genesis themed concept work doesn't bind itself to the past at all, but instead bravely thinks forward and explores new territories within and beyond the band's established cosmos. Just like Cynic has always done. But in a scope - filled with just so incredibly much music - noone could have ever dreamed  of. Rest in peace, Sean and Sean!
   
   
   
   
   
   Albeit I haven't come across anything even remotely similar to Cynic, I feel that this is the right place to point at the also very progressive, genre-defying and spiritually charged masterpiece "Har" from the Romanians Dordeduh, who have widened their palette of influences far beyond black metal and folk into all thinkable directions.
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. KING WOMAN - Celestial Blues
   
   
   
   Doom metal album of the year? Thanks to Kristina Esfandiari that's an unusually easy choice for me. Not only due to her stunning vocal performance, which seems more rooted in grunge and shoegaze than in metal, King Woman's "Celestial Blues" has a luring quality which makes you voluntarily follow her Lightbringer / outcast Eve persona to the darkest pits of the underworld. In a very relative way by the standards of the genre every track on this crushing album is a compact, downright radio-friendly hit, an unheard yet still eerily familiar hymn of doom and gloom.
   
   
   
   
   
   It takes two bands to come close to King Woman's addictiveness. So dial up the oppressive riff power and let your ears be blasted by Jon Davis' (Conan) other, equally devestating Ungraven and the  masters of shared doom split releases, Slomatics, who present themselves in the most epic Khemmis shape here, on their mighty as fuck untitled split album!
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. WANG WEN - 100,000 Whys
   
   
   
   How are Wang Wen doing this? You're always thinking that the Chinese almost-instrumental band has already reached post rock perfection, but then they keep proving that there's still room to grow with every album. The morriconisms of the guitar and keyboard licks and the glorious horns, trumpets and flutes alone are the stuff of dreams. Dipping into prog, jazz, latin influence, shamanistic chants and whatever they please at any given moment, but always keeping accessibility and a coherent uplifting spirit in focus, they finally recorded their perfectly wonderful, ultimate masterpiece with "1000,000 Whys". Well, at least for now, I guess.
   
   
   
   
   
   If you know my post rock monumentalism favorites, it won't surprise you that I can't say Wang Wen without also gushing about their better known Japanese half siblings Mono, who followed up an career-encapsulating live album with a studio release ("Pilgrimage Of The Soul"), that shows that they still have some new tricks up their sleeve, while never once loosening their special grip on your primal emotions.
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. 夢遊病者 - Noč Na Krayu Sveta
    
    
    
    "This is Alice Coltrane and Toby Driver having a raging black metal baby. This is Mansur torturing Mono in hell. This is ambitious and beautiful, a piercing bliss so bright, it burns the eyes out of your skull." I doubt that I could summarize this chaotic thunderstorm of infinite instruments and styles under the umbrella of ritualistic black metal any better than I already did. Even though "Noč Na Krayu Sveta" is a rather short border case between EP and full album, the Russian/Japanese/American project 夢遊病者 proves itself as one of the most creative forces in (and far beyond) metal today.
    
    
    
    
    
    Sentient Ruin Laboratories released more than one other album deserving to be recommended here, but the most important one is probably "Abominion" by the US blackened industrial death doom metal war machine Abstracter. This relentless, destructive, pessimistic onslaught develops a vortical atmosphere which pulverizes you and inescabably sucks the remaining particles into the void.
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. JÜ - III
    
    
    
    The third album of the Hungarian trio Jü has a truly complex premise, as it interprets traditional music from Eastern Europe, Northern Africa and Southeast Asia by drawing lines from psychedelic prog and math rock to experimental jazz fusion, from phase "Red" King Crimson over Mr. Bungle to Javanese gamelan music. And that doesn't even describe half of the experience, which also includes enchanting and insane guest vocals and electronic ambient noises. Few albums of 2021 blow over faster than "III" - and even less are a purer joy to spin.
    
    
    
    
    
    If especially the atmosphere of Jü's opening and closing tracks speak to you, you should immerse yourself in the already third album from The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation mastermind Jason Köhnen's trio Mansur. The improvisations on "Minotaurus" drone with a foundation of bass and electronic sounds, over which oud and Martina Horváth's voice levitate to the furthermost mystical heights.
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. MOTORPSYCHO - Kingdom of Oblivion
    
    
    

    I've stopped trying to fathom how Motorpsycho are doing it a long time ago. The Norwegians are putting out these huge sprawling subgenre-defying rock (double) albums so fast that there's just no other way than to feature the band in these rankings almost every single year. And "Kingdom of Oblivion" is a complete work in all respects: Music, lyrics, artwork, gatefold design, quality of the transparent disc... everything about this double album is just as top class as their "Gulvåg" trilogy.
    
    
    
    

    

    If you dig Motorpsycho and love instrumental rock, you should also check out "Ding Dong, You're Dead!" by their fellow Norwegian country(wo)men Hedvig Mollestad Trio. It's an explosive mix of jazz, prog, funk, metal, experimentalism and hard rock that is guaranteed to kick your ass and brain!
    
    
    
    
    
    
13. NICK HUDSON - Font Of Human Fractures
    
    
    
    "The Quiet Earth" by The Academy Of Sun was one of the greatest albums of 2020, but that's obviously no reason for Nick Hudson to rest on his laurels, as his solo album impressively proves. Between experimental synth pop, post punk, chamber sounds and grand piano art rock "Font Of Human Fractures" glistens in new facettes on each track, among which especially the multi-layered epic "Ballad of K69996 Roma", the glorious Exuma cover "Dambala" and "Come Back When There's Nothing Left" with Nick's transatlantic buddy Toby Driver as guest vocalist stand out.
    
    
    
    
    
    Speaking of Driver: His band Kayo Dot has also released a fantastic new album. "Moss Grew On The Swords And Plowshares Alike" was recorded by the line-up of the predeccessing group Maudlin Of The Well and is a sentimental throwback both within his autarkic musical cosmos and the bigger picture of the genre. Yet of course it's still as unparalleled and  forward-thinking as any piece of avant-garde gothic death ambient black etcetera metal could ever wish to be. 
    
    
    
    
    
    
14. MONG TONG 夢東 - 台灣謎景 Music from Taiwan Mystery
    
    
    
    One of the most enigmatic albums of this year weaves Taiwanese folk and field recordings together with ambient drones and noises, experimental electronic music and a pinch of psychedelic rock. The interplay of modernism, tradition and anachronism which builds the mosaic of "Music from Taiwan Mystery" is utterly fascinating. A strange story, which I don't even come close to deciphering, yet it still transfixes me from beginning to end.
    
    
    
    
    
    Mong Tong have released a second album in 2021, but since my physical copy hasn't arrived yet, I'm using this space to highlight another outstanding WV Sorcerer release: "Míng Míng" by Otay:onii (aka Lane Otayonii, singer of the shoegaze band Elizabeth Colour Wheel) is an impressive and thrilling artistic statement between Björk and Dead Can Dance, brutal electro noise and Chinese tradition.
    
    
    
    
    
    
15. LANA DEL REY - Chemtrails Over The Country Club
    
    
    
    Yes, the pop music slot on this list is reserved for Lana Del Rey once again. The songwriting, instrumentation, production... all the creative decisions which had to be made and on top of everything of course the absolutely flawless vocal performance are all pretty much perfect on "Chemtrails Over the Country Club". Even the featured guests hit the nail on the head again, so I'm actually more convinced now than back in April that the organic, dreamy, nostalgic folk ballad appeal of this is once again a perfect summation of how great pop music can actally be.
    
    
    
    
    
    Even though her albums never suffer from too short playing time, Lana Del Rey had enough stuff up her sleeve to release a full second album with "Blue Banisters". It sounds more deliberately washed-out (like "Ultraviolence"), sees more daring experiments and and at the same time feels even more nostalgic than "Chemtrails", because the lyrics are more autobiographic and several of its songs had been written years ago, but didn't find the proper place to be released before.
    
    
    
    
    
    
16. BIG|BRAVE - Vital
    
    
    
    How do you break down music to its most minimalistic and brutal core while still keeping it engaging? Big|Brave are amongst those bands who have found and perfected the formula. The Canadian drone rock trio smashes you with guitar noises which can only just be called riffs at all, demonstrating an ever-growing mastership in the application of pauses and sounds - and still finding room for subtleties in this confined space. Robin Wattie multiplies the impact of "Vital" with a devastatingly emotional, raw vocal performance and heavy personal lyrics.
    
    
    
    
    
    Big|Brave also released a collaborative record with The Body this year, and surprisingly it's not the complete eardrum obliteration one could expect from this constellation. Instead "Leaving None But Small Birds" is their very intense and sincere take on English / American folk and country traditionals. In my mind this album completes a triumvirate, whose other parts are the ranks 3 (Lingua Ignotas) and 6 (Emma Ruth Rundle) of this list.
    
    
    
    
    
    
17. NAOKO SAKATA - Dancing Spirits
    
    
    
    Ok, technically speaking, especially in a world which unvoluntarily questions the parameters defining a live show,  you could also count Naoko Sakata's "Dancing Spirits" as a live album, since it's just the Japanese pianist purely improvising seven pieces, recorded inside a church in Gothenburg. The profound moods, ideas and virtuosity flowing out of her fingertips into swirling, rousing, moving pictures beyond the parting lines between contemporary classical music, jazz and whatever drives her in the moment, make this records one of the most stunning  experiences of the year. I keep discovering something new every time I immerse in it.
    
    
    
    
    
    Since I don't have anywhere else to go from "Dancing Spirits", the only link to this recommendation is the common ground of improvisation. And the Danish freeform fusion rock ecstatics Mythic Sunship are exceptionally, explosively good at it. More krautish than ever, again sporting Søren Lyhne Skov's power saxophone, "Wildfire" does its title more than justice.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
18. NADJA - Luminous Rot
    
    
    
    There's a good handful of drone albums, which would rightfully deserve to be featured here, but since I'm feeling that I've neclected metal in this whole thing a little too much, I'm just going with the most metal one. Besides Nadja's "Luminous Rot" is also actually the most magnetic monster of that bunch. A formidably crushing beast of droning sludge / drum computer industrial metal and shoegaze, which cites from basically all phases Godflesh and Jesu have ever been through and adds a strong influence of the last White Hills albums. I strongly recommend the Japanese CD version, which features a worthwhile bonus longtrack.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Ok, since we're already in the business of referencing industrial-ish greats, let's not omit the odd fact that this list is missing some Laibach, who sadly didn't get any of their recently promised studio works ready yet. Their metal countrymen Noctiferia (plus guests like Attila Csihar and David Vincent) however released an appropriately reconstructive cover album called "Reforma - Tribute To Laibach", which is pretty damn awesome.
    
    
    
    
    
    
19. KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD - Butterfly 3000
    
    
    
    Does anyone still count how many albums König Muskelmagen und der Eidechse Zauberer (their name on my German version of "Schmetterling 3000") have put out at this point? Among the shapeshifting catalogue of the psych madmen from Down Under this one stands out with a very specific - and over its whole runtime very consistent - sound. Weird time signature psych rock meets sugary dream pop meets synth loop electronics. The result is dunked in almost obscene sweetness, but oh it's so fucking good! Addictive.
    
    
    
    
    
    Of course "Butterfly 3000" is not the only King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard work of 2021! "L.W." is equally as great and only doesn't get the spot in the ranking, because the successor of 2020's "K.G." is just not as completely original, being already the third full album of their microtonal explorations. It is however arguably the the most diverse and ultimately best one of that lot.
    
    
    
    
    
    
20. SULA BASSANA - CV Sessions
    
    
    
    In current times recording a bedroom album while being stuck at home isn't exactly a unique selling point. Luckily Dave Schmidt's "CV Sessions" - even though they reflect the zeitgeist with a lot of ominous and brooding atmospheres - can confidently stand on their own without the context of the outer circumstances. The golden thread of this double album of elektrokraut jams is the use of modular synthesizer loops - which are connected via CV cables. The result is much more varied than the concept suggests and even in its darker moods developes soothing hypnotic qualities.
    
    
    
    
    
    One double album is something, two double albums in one year are certainly something more. "Loop Station Drones" is the spiritual sister of "CV Sessions" with a similar idea, but the subtle difference that these improvisations are based on effect loops. The quality of both is pretty much on par.
    
    
    
    
    
    
21. AGUSA - En Annan Värld
    
    
    
    Once again the gorgeously extravagant psychedelic prog rock of the Swedish intrumental band Agusa just brings a big happy smile onto my face. Even though some darkness has crept into the two 20+ minutes longtracks, it's still a gloom which remains part of the big escapist fairytale, through which organ, guitar and the wonderful unmistakable flute are leading us. This music just let's me feel like a little round-eyed, big-eared child discovering everything in the world for the very first time again. And like that small boy deep down I know only one convincing explanation for what I'm experiencing here: magic!
    
    
    
    
    
    There are certainly a lot more deserving albums of both the psychedelic and the progressive kind out there, but I feel that the most exciting work to conclude this with is the gathering of Conny Ochs, Sicker Man and Kiki Bohemia under the moniker Trialogos. On their adventurous debut "Stroh Zu Gold" every single track explores a different flavour of kraut, while also wandering beyond that realm. Even though you should eat neither straw nor gold, this couldn't be more delicious!
    
    

So that's a wrap! 2021. Of course I feel bad for a bazillion albums that didn't make it, but this already too long as it is, haha. Here are the previous parts:

MUSIC 2021: TOP 7 live shows

MUSIC 2021: TOP 7 live albums

MUSIC 2021: TOP 7 non-album releases

And here's a YouTube playlist with most of all that stuff: