Jury's Top Ten Records of 2013: #4

#4: Foals - Holy Fire

Clearly, Foals are the world's greatest new-new wave/alt-rock/white funk band on the planet, effortlessly blending vibraphone with string-synths, walking basslines and intricate math-rock guitar. I was trying to conjure up what many of the sounds in this remind me of, and I wracked my brain for ages, over many, many listens before I decided it was “the 80’s”. Totally in a good way, though.

Some other 2013 records:
Kylesa – Ultraviolet: I’ve always really enjoyed Kylesa’s music, just as much as I’ve always disliked Phillip Cope’s atonal, shouted vocals. Nothing’s changed; this is another collection of great riffs and quasi-psychedelic sludge ruined by Mr. Shouty.

Noye – Away: Reasonably accomplished fuzzed out and sometimes flanged sludge/hardcore, which I realize is a strange combination, but that’s how it sounds to me, with a really deep low end but mostly up-tempo. The vocals are acceptable (check the great wails on Hrimthur) but for all I know they’re singing in their native Russian. Quite promising but requires more variety.

Monday's BIG BOY

With a 25-save shutout over Los Angeles this evening's Big Boy is Antti Raanta.

                                                                 Tuo se, nartut.

Jury's Top Ten Records of 2013: #5

#5: Deafheaven - Sunbather

It took me awhile to ‘get’ it, and I was, at first, a bit put off by the shrieking black metal vocals, but the beautiful, soaring music manages to transcend any and all shortcomings. Alternating desperate torment & angst with wonderfully pretty or contemplative interlude pieces is a different way to break up the unrelenting AAARRRRGH. Frantically strummed guitars carrying gorgeous melodies remind me, strangely, of some old Unrest records. Extremely enjoyable.

Ilydaen – Digressions: Uninspiring, derivative post-rock, no better or worse than a hundred other similar recordings.

King Krule – 6 Feet Beneath the Moon: A hit-and-miss effort. When he hits, it’s original, dynamic, poetic and just plan terrific. When he misses, however, this bizarre bastard child of Shane MacGowan and Billy Bragg (no one knows who the mother is) is hardly listenable and, as this album is about 50/50 on the hit/miss ratio I find it more enjoyable to pluck a few tracks for playlists.

The Big Boy: Hawks vs. Avalanche

Here's your Big Boy from Friday's 7 - 2 win over The Mountain Scum.

Three goals and a helpie net this birthday boy The Belt for his part in the win.

                         He might still have to sneak into Sochi disguised as dessert.

Jury's Top Ten Records of 2013: #6

#6: Pelican – Forever Becoming: 

 Very, very good. I keep picking up little snatches of things that remind me of previous Pelican recordings which is just fine by me; I liked those recordings. A few tracks may well have evolved from the cuts on the Ataraxsis/Taraxsis EP. Not ground breaking and probably not their best record, but still a quite solid album nonetheless.

Some other stuff I heard:
Ewphoria – Ewphoria: Dissonant, quirky, slightly grimy (is that where the Ew comes from?), somewhat ambient at times and unexpectedly enjoyable. These mostly short tracks don’t overstay their welcome, and are reminiscent of a less-melodic but richer sounding Severed Heads with a dash of Bran Van 3000.
Gorguts – Coloured Sands: Impeccably played, hugely inventive, easily transcends anything resembling death metal, yet not as noodly or proggy as had been described to me. There’s a lot to like on this record, with fully committed vocals and some brutal percussion and, yet, many of the nine tracks sound an awful lot alike and, ultimately, fail to keep me interested. The classical-styled Battle of Chamdo is well executed but ridiculously out of place here.

Jury's Top Ten Records of 2013: #7

#7: Voivod - Target Earth

In this first album without any input from the late Denis "Piggy" D’amour Voivod demonstrates their will and skill to press on without one of the most innovative guitarists in the history of forever.  Dan Mongrain steps in and admirably maintains the distinctive Voivod sound without aping Piggy. On a few tracks, particularly Mechanical Mind you can hear parts that sound as Piggy would have played ‘em but then they swerve off into entirely new areas, adeptly blending new and old. While this is not the greatest Voivod record it's also far from their worst, with only a few filler tracks. Of special mention is the work of prodigal bassist Blackie, whose efforts are as interesting and innovative as ever.

Also heard:
Consciousness Removal Project – Tacit: Certainly capable but entirely uninteresting.
Corrosion of Conformity – Megaladon: It’s remarkable how much can be achieved with an echoey, overdriven SG. A delightful, squonky, southern-fried, psychedelic, paranoid 20 minutes.

Tonight's Big Boy

With two goals in a dominating 5-2 win over New Jersey, tonight's Big Boy is The Sharp Dressed Man.

                                       A Double-Windsor makes his neck look fat.

Jury's Top Ten Records of 2013: #8

#8: Cult of Luna - Vertikal

Cult of Luna have emerged from the long shadows of Isis, Neurosis et al with this wonderfully original record in which they continue their solid goth-inspired post-rock.  This time around, though, they include trip-hop elements (The Sweep), spacy keyboards and flanged guitars (Synchronicity), indie rock-inspired ring modulators (In Awe Of) and some adventurous vocals (I: The Weapon and Passing Through).  Some of the tracks are perhaps overlong; respites are built into these longer tracks but even that becomes monotonous, as you become too aware of a buildup-bombast-break pattern.  Even so, Vertikal is easily their best effort, yet.

Also heard & subsequently rejected:

Barrow - The Depth (EP) Poor, generic black/post metal with weak vocals.
Black Oak Decline – vaguely psychedelic post-metal with some refreshing elements but, oddly, less than the sum of its parts.

Jury's Top Ten Records of 2013: #9

#9: Anciients - Heart of Oak

Accomplished, well played,  with a good balance between growling vocals & strong, clean vocals.  There are many epic moments with several parts that were reminiscent of Mastodon's more proggy moments.  I was also strangely reminded of an early Durutti Column record on parts of cuts like Raise the Sun.  My only complaint would be that many of the riffs that drive the songs are similar, or of a similar tone.  Still, it's a very enjoyable record and really, is everything I’ve hoped The Sword would amount to but have always fallen just short of.  Among my favourite tracks, oddly, are the two bonus tracks which, admittedly, are a little different than the rest.

Also considered:

417.3 – 2  Very capable instrumental post-rock.  Not always dazzling but possessing enough fine moments  to set it apart.  Diabolically hard to find any info on these mysterious Russians with the band name and CD title being numbers.

A Shelter In The Desert - Maze of Memories: Plodding, dull, unimaginative post-rock.

Jury's Top 10 Records of 2013: #10

I'll count these down periodically as the year grinds down to its inevitable close.

#10: Wintergatan - Wintergatan

Entirely cheerful, tinkling, music made with non-typical instruments, like accordions, homemade music boxes, improvised player pianos and, presumably, whatever else is lying around.  Occasionally, they resort to straight-up synth pop but, for the most part, this record sounds like how I would imagine the soundtrack to Scandinavian children’s stories to sound like.  In some ways, this is music to be seen more than to be merely heard, as watching the musicians juggle instruments and somehow keep everything in sync is part of the full experience.

 

Also considered:

Dillinger Escape Plan – One of Us is the Killer: It’s fine but the squonk/rage/spaz bit is wearing a little thin.  The whiny “melodic” vocals that appear here & there are irritating.  Top musicianship not ruined but definitely compromised by the vocals.

Soilwork – The Living Infinite: It’s okay but, with only a few exceptions, each song pretty much sounds like the last, which is pretty tough sledding on a double-album.

 

Big Boy: Hawks vs. Predators

 On merit of a sick top-shelf backhand goal in The Hawks' 3-1 win over Nashville, Mr. Mouthguard is tonight's Big Boy.

                                           The head may or may not be to scale.