Highlights and Lowlights of 2018

Started by ConcreteMascara, December 14, 2018, 06:56:51 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

holy ghost

#15
I'll just list a few general things rather than poring over a concise list....

Highlights:

Sissy Spacek - I've enjoyed every record, CD and tape I've picked up and there have been a bunch. Probably my favourite current act. I feel like 2016 was full of awesome releases, 2017 was a bit more subdued and 2018 had so many awesome LPs. Haven't gone as much into the Daymare/Dotsmark discs yet though.

Body/Head - The Switch: Sonic Youth had some amazing moments and a lot of cringey shit but Kim Gordon and Bill Nace making wild guitar noises for 40 minutes I could listen to forever and a day. Really looking forward to seeing them in March.

Striations - Vietnamization. Worthy of all the praise it's getting. Zine was great as well.

New Forces - I picked up almost everything this year. I can't think of a bad release but the Wolf Creek, Mass Marriage, Personnage 77, Sissy Spacek LP, Blind Date - everything was great and NF and Oxen are the top tier of noise right now.

Oxen - I try to pick up everything they do and they were all winners. The Scalding Feast 2xCD was a great way to cap off the year. Being, Mason and Boar tapes are great.  

Incinerated - Lobotomize: does this count as a 2018 release since the CD-R came out in 2017? Whatever, it rips so friggin hard.

Portal - Ion: "they've still got it"

Himukalt - I recently picked up the "Knife in the Spine" LP after picking up the Co e October tape - really interesting stuff! Very diverse, high quality PE/Industrial. Definitely going to have to keep an eye out for more of her records.

Sleep - The Sciences/Leagues Beneath: great records, great gimmick of dropping the records on 4/20, great riffs, great live set over the summer.

Reissues:

Merzbow - Noisembryo and Pulse Demon were excellent. More of this classic era, please!!

Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica DLP on Third Man. Everyone loves to shit on Jack White but this is a quality reissue. Would have been nice if they did a standard press so those who aren't willing to drop $100 on it could get this remaster. Nice tote bag though.

K2 - The Switch - great record, really glad this was reissued.

Low points: Black/Death metal overall. Not a lot of interesting records and the scene seeems to be fully morphing into edgelord central. I know it's always been there but it just seems like insufferable a-holes are the norm rather than the 10% festering below the surface.

impulse manslaughter

#16
Some personal highlights:

LP/CD:
Vile Gash - Nightmare In A Damaged Brain
Solid Space - Space Museum (re)
V/A - Dutch Wave (A History Of Minimal Synth & Wave In The Netherlands)
Low - Double Negative
Hiro Kone - Pure Expenditure
Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto - Glass
Dedekind Cut - Tahoe
Mo*Te - Life In a Peaceful New World (re)
François Dufrêne ‎– Cri-Rythmes (re)
Genocide Organ - Mind Control (re)

EP:
Brian Eno w/ Kevin Shields - The Weight Of History
Welfare - Useful Toil
Geld - Soft Power
Primorje - Etymology
Old Tower - Drachenblut

LIVE:
S.H.I.T., Permanent Debt, Pressure Pact - Amsterdam
Puce Mary, John Duncan - Rotterdam
Shark Attack, Shipwrecked - Eindhoven
Cock Sparrer - Amsterdam
Cigarettes After Sex - Utrecht
Pan Daijing, Nocturnal Emissions - Rotterdam
Marissa Nadler - Amsterdam
Svartvit - Leiden

MOVIE:
Dogman
You Were Never Really Here

Lazrs3

#17
Lows -

Not seeing Ramleh in London.
Not seeing MK9 on the recent tour after I'd bought so much stuff over the year.


Highs.
Discovering S.T.A.B. Electronics. Buying Day of the Male and Born for Righteous Abuse.
Seeing Vomir.
Ordering stuff from Unrest productions.
Seeing Skullflower live, sitting at the front and getting  a face full of incense.
Active Denial demo.
Discovering S.C.U.M. FC from that mad live performance on YouTube and getting some tapes.
Moving house.
Reviewing loads of stuff on my blog.
New ANTICHILDLEAGUE tapes on OFR and Bacteria Field, best releases yet by ACL.
The latest issue of Special Interests, no reviews, but it is the best issue in ages.
STARK - Caveat Emptor (Obsessive Fundamental Realism) + the Purge Electronics (one Master) and Bagman (Nth Degree) recordings I got of Steve Bagman.
Finally getting a copy of the 2nd Nekrofellatio cd - Pesadilla En Una Noche Sin Estrellas (Death Continues Records)


GEWALTMONOPOL

Highlights:

Unrest being invited to Paris by Au-delà du Silence was a welcome break from the insular day to day of running a label. Great turn out as well. A magical and inspiring weekend!
Featuring as a live member of AM NOT for a second time.
Discovering Wroclaw!
All the other travels. Long may that lifestyle continue!

Lows:

Low IQ colleagues finding new lows with which to torture those of us not in the single digit category.
When can I leave England next?
Först när du blottar strupen ska du få nåd, ditt as...

xdementia

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

https://youtu.be/icZywz4QhDw

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 board recordings of all the sets. I don't care as much about the visual quality - much of the video is grainy but noticeable is that most of the sets have multiple camera angles which are switched to in the editing. There are so many amazing sets here as expected like Aaron Dilloway, Kazumoto Endo, T.E.F. but there are also a ton of other excellent sets like that of Facialmess, Deterge and more.

2. Reutoff feat. Deutsch Nepal - Eating the Dust CD [ Self Released ]

https://deutschnepal.bandcamp.com/album/eating-the-dust

FILE UNDER: POST INDUSTRIAL / ELECTRONIC

Incredible collaborative album of electronic post-industrial. Relaxed and deep rhythms collide with Lina Baby Doll's haunting vocals to make for a head-nodding experience through dark passageways.

3. Lille Roger - Box Set 6xLP [ Cold Meat Industry ]

https://youtu.be/BymPz7LpO2I

FILE UNDER: DEATH INDUSTRIAL / POWER ELECTRONICS

The old is new again with this harrowing collection of death industrial staples from the 80s. If you aren't familiar with Roger Karmanik he is the man behind the infamous project Brighter Death Now. Yet Lille Roger was his project before the realization of BDN and it's clear that this material is a precursor of what is to come. Yet these songs have much more a "punk" structure although the style is in lo-fi industrial moods there are some guitar and bass riffs here and there adding a subtle post-punk flavor to a few of tracks. The term "angst pop" is even dropped as a descriptor of the material within but I think it's a bit off the mark. This is not accessible music by any means. But to those who can swallow the style, it's quite the delight!

4. Spiritual Front - Amour Braque (Luxus) CD/LP [ Prophecy Productions ]

https://spiritualfrontofficial.bandcamp.com/album/amour-braque-luxus

FILE UNDER: GOTHIC ROCK / NEOFOLK / MELODRAMATIC POP

I'll start by saying Spiritual Front is certainly not for everybody. They are an Italian band mixing neofolk, goth rock, country, and melodromatic pop music. Yet I found myself listening to this album over and over again this year and finally submitted to it's memorable moments and catchy tales of love, lust, and loss. Although the album does drift into circus territory maybe more than I would like at times the bonus tracks that come with the luxus version more than make up for that with minimal interpretations of some of the hits from the album and it's almost like a separate EP that is very effective.

5.  Rome - Hall of Thatch CD/LP [ Trisol ]

https://youtu.be/d1XBijZFn7g

FILE UNDER: NEO FOLK / GOTHIC FOLK

I saw Rome fans complaining online that they are starting to sound too much like modern-day Swans but I, for one, and totally ok with that! Although this album perhaps isn't as experimental and varied as other albums what it lacks in complexity it makes up for in straightforward driving anthems of struggle. Beautifully embracing the projects neofolk roots, yet forging forward with a more polished sound Rome really hits it home with this one.

6. Soaplands - s/t C16 [ No Rent Records ]

https://norentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/s-t-nrr68

FILE UNDER: PSYCHEDELIC POWER ELECTRONICS

Arguably this release is much too short but it is just so damn unique, emotional and haunting that it made the proper list. Psychedelic power electronics is what we have here delivered by these Boston boys. Seething synthesizers converging in harmonic washes of devastation ebb and flow into droning fields of psychedelia. An utterly unique sound which is very impressive.

7. To End It All - Scourge of Woman LP [ Scry Recordings ]

https://toenditall.bandcamp.com/album/scourge-of-woman

FILE UNDER: DEATH INDUSTRIAL / POWER ELECTRONICS

To End It All is a Seattle duo who creates densely designed monolithic structures of darkened death industrial. Extremely detailed and soaked with creative sound design while draped with haunting operatic female vocal performances. The LP is a culmination of almost 2 years of work with some of the material previously being released on cassette but it is their most complete work to date conceptually speaking. This is some of the most innovative heavy and dark industrial being made today.

8.Herz Juhning - Samsara CD [ Galakthorro ]

https://youtu.be/iWB56807FCs

FILE UNDER: INDUSTRIAL

As Haus Arafna continues to drift into more angst pop territory Herz Juhning continues to work in more aggressive and droning styles. Don't get me wrong, there are some dancefloor hits on this one but as an album it's varied contributions make for an excellent journey through the darkest corners of the mind.

9. Low - Double Negative CD/LP

https://lowtheband.bandcamp.com/album/double-negative

FILE UNDER: EXPERIMENTAL / ELECTRONIC / AMBIENT / INDIE

I used to listen to low back in the 00's but I haven't revisited the band for quite some time. I can't remember what piqued my interest in Double Negative but I was beholden to the over-compressed washes of digital distortion at first listen. Double Negative is to Low as Kid A was to Radiohead, except Low climbs much further out on the branch here into much more dangerous territory. Well it paid off. Imagine an indie rock album completely eviscerated to it's most extreme yet basic elements and you have this album.

10. Atrium Carceri & Herbst9 - Ur Djupan Dal 2xLP [ CryoChamber ]

https://cryochamber.bandcamp.com/album/ur-djupan-dal

FILE UNDER: DARK AMBIENT / NEW AGE

It's fewer and far between when I am really impressed with a dark ambient album but upon hearing this early in 2018 I knew it was going to a staple for the year. Beautifully layered synthesizers and spoken samples are composed into a soothing and dark soundscape that pays homage to Lustmord and Robert Rich's "Stalker" album. Dark ambient in the way I like to hear it.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

I'm going to cheat a bit this year because there was just too much damn good music that was released. It's really hard to pick only 10, especially in a year like this so the hell with it, I'm listing all the albums that really blew me away this year here:

Dave Phillips - Ritual Protest Music [ Urbsounds Collective ]
Sumac - Love in Shadow LP [ Thrill Jockey ]
Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses LP [ Sargent House ]
King Dude - Music to Make War To LP [ Van ]
Henrik Nordvargr Bjorkk - Metempsychosis CD [ Cyclic Law ]
Hide - Castration Anxiety LP [ Dias Records ]
Puce Mary - Drought DIGITAL [ PAN ]
Grunt - Castrate the Illusionist LP [ Freak Animal ]
Isenordal - Spectral Embrace C40 [ Self Released ]
Santogold - I Don't Want: The Goldfire Sessions DIGITAL [ Downtown ]
Inade - The Nine Colours of the Threshold CD [ Loki Foundation ]
Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want 2xLP [ Ipecac Recordings ]
Striations - Vietnamization C60 [ New Forces ]
Marathon - s/t C60 [ Divergent Series ]


TOP 10 LIVE PERFORMANCES:

Scott Kelly @ Slim's Last Chance Saloon

Boy Harsher @ The Biltmore Cabaret

Mass Marriage @ Vancouver Noise Fest VIII

Batushka @ Highline

Regosphere @ Black Lodge

Sistrenatus @ Lot 8

Hacavitz @ Convenant Festival

Bacillus @ Vancouver Noise Fest

To End It All & Vanessa Skantze @ Teatro de la Psychomachia

Pathogens @ Sub Station

Zeno Marx

This is why these year-end threads are such fun, if not downright necessary.  Too much.  Too much great stuff.

Quote from: xdementia on December 28, 2018, 10:39:57 AM5.  Rome - Hall of Thatch CD/LP [ Trisol ]

https://youtu.be/d1XBijZFn7g

FILE UNDER: NEO FOLK / GOTHIC FOLK

I saw Rome fans complaining online that they are starting to sound too much like modern-day Swans but I, for one, and totally ok with that! Although this album perhaps isn't as experimental and varied as other albums what it lacks in complexity it makes up for in straightforward driving anthems of struggle. Beautifully embracing the projects neofolk roots, yet forging forward with a more polished sound Rome really hits it home with this one.
Completely unaware of Rome.  Thank you.  This is very good.

Quote from: xdementia on December 28, 2018, 10:39:57 AM7. To End It All - Scourge of Woman LP [ Scry Recordings ]

https://toenditall.bandcamp.com/album/scourge-of-woman

FILE UNDER: DEATH INDUSTRIAL / POWER ELECTRONICS

To End It All is a Seattle duo who creates densely designed monolithic structures of darkened death industrial. Extremely detailed and soaked with creative sound design while draped with haunting operatic female vocal performances. The LP is a culmination of almost 2 years of work with some of the material previously being released on cassette but it is their most complete work to date conceptually speaking. This is some of the most innovative heavy and dark industrial being made today.
I particularly like, and was very surprised by, the Eric Wood/Bastard Noise-like vocals.  Another one I would have not known.  Thanks again.
"the overindulgent machines were their children"
I only buy vinyl, d00ds.

urall

Quote from: impulse manslaughter on December 25, 2018, 12:16:37 AM
LIVE:
S.H.I.T., Permanent Debt, Pressure Pact - Amsterdam

2018 was an all time low in live shows for me - but this was a good one indeed.

Probably forgetting a bunch but from the top of my head:

Infernal Coil - Within a world forgotten (Profound Lore)
Knelt Rote - Alterity (NWN)
Shredded Nerve - Final Vision (New Forces)
Christian Mirande - Scaled Deposits (Ascetic House)
Kali Malone - Organ Dirges 2016 - 2017 (Ascetic House)
Kjostad - Glacial Lake (No Rent)
Tomb Mold - Manor Of Infinite Forms (20 Bucks Spin)
Remnants - Marred By Time (Crisis of Taste)
Goddaughter - Goddaughter s/t (Prime Ruin)
Mercury Hall - Living Table (Joy De Vivre)
Blue Chemise - Daughters of Time (Students of Decay)
Moenen Of Xezbeth - Ancient Spells of Darkness (NWN)

xdementia

Quote from: Zeno Marx on December 28, 2018, 09:26:28 PMI particularly like, and was very surprised by, the Eric Wood/Bastard Noise-like vocals.  Another one I would have not known.  Thanks again.

Yea thanks for this thread. Been finding a lot of stuff off other people's lists here that is also great!

MyrtleLake

I'll give this a try...

* Skin Crime X Wilt, The Horror of Fang Rock LP and CD. Urashima.
Even given my eager anticipation of this release, it has improved in stature steadily since. The LP was initially unexciting to me; however, now it is my preference over the CD. The minimalist nature of all these compositions strongly benefit repeated listens. I can say with confidence this is one of my favorite releases this year. Wilt adds only enough—something which does not endear them to me in their solo works. Here they are excellent collaborators to the minimalist sound creaks, moans and pops provided by Skin Crime. Neither artist overwhelms the other. The movement in some tracks is so minor as to be missed on first listen. This is where I warmed over time. There are moods achingly slight and all the more unsettling for it.

* Contagious Orgasm
Hiroshi Hashimoto provided an ambitious, invigorated release schedule for 2018. Seven releases: 1 new full album, 1 older remastered album, 1 live recording, 2 collaborative tapes, 2 EP length cassettes, and making available a rare CDr release from 2000 on Bandcamp. As is customary, the musical styles vary. New releases, though, are revisiting his industrial beginnings and dirge-like atmospheres. For those that wandered away from attending to Contagious Orgasm in the 2000's due to his electronica forays, you would be well served to try White Lace Curtains in the Window (Modern Decadence) and his collaboration with Caligula 031 (Nil By Mouth / Elettronica Radicale Edizioni). Purple Light Section Corners Feel Different, the new full length on SSSM, centers around three long experimental compositions ("Exploration and Seeking" parts 1, 2, 3) that may satisfy as well. Not everything released this year was my favorite. The full output, though, is a certain highlight of 2018.

* Andy Ortmann Pataphysical Electronics 3LP Nihilist
Following releases on Tabs Out and Fag Tapes in 2017 and Perfect Law in March, Andy Ortmann completes his two hour opus on his own Nihilist label. The previously mentioned cassettes contain mostly reworked portions of this triple vinyl release. The conclusive album exhibits Andy's quirk and gift with editing, electronics and musique concrète while showcasing a jaw-dropping maturity in sound composition. The genre identifiers collapse somewhere between noise and mambo without demanding explanation or jarring confusion. The variety of sounds are impressive in their cohesive mending. Even if I do not personally find Pataphysical Electronics on the outer edges of left field, admiration in the term 'Experimental' has been restored for me.

* MNEM Hegonon 12" Sentimental Productions
On the other side of musical exploration, this release fascinates me. The song structure is simple, basic to an absurd degree, yet the sounds! Never mind the beautiful, glossy sleeve with perfect, evocative imagery. The vinyl itself is wonderfully cut—not that I have any standing to make that distinction. It seems to be clear and with very little surface noise and a little thicker than most. That is my impression. Everything about this release speaks to care and attention to detail. I can only imagine the special edition(!) The music can no more accurately be described than has been already:

Quote from: Baglady on July 10, 2018, 01:23:20 PM
Like waking up on an unmanned and antiquated, rusty old space craft heading nowhere in the middle of nowhere, in outer space, constantly getting stuck in space time loops. Or on abandoned equally antique submarine suddenly coming to life by itself in the Mariana trench.

spiritassembly

Great:
Autechre 'NTS Sessions' (Warp) - along with the Roland Kayn back catalogue this was probably about 75% of my listening this year. No one else is pushing sound architecture so far into the unknown presently. Yes, some of this still has noticeable 'techno' DNA, but only in the way that Fushitsusha has noticeable traces of Blue Cheer.
Autechre 'sinistrail sentinel' (Adult Swim/Warp) - excellent condensation of NTS into about 12 minutes, single of the decade.
Rudolf Eb.er 'Om Kult: The Ritual Practice of Conscious Dying' Volumes I/II (Schimpfluch Associates) - deepens the whole post-Brainnectar unnerving ritual sound, very uncomfortable atmosphere.
Eva-Maria Houben 'Breath for Organ' (Second Editions) - ultra-minimal work for cathedral organ, like the breathing of some unimaginable machine, needs loud playback to really feel it.
Kiyoharu Kuwayama 'Falsegraphia' (Lethe/KK) - excellent haunted factory sounds from the always-reliable KK, a little more layered than usual.
Okkyung Lee 'Dahl-Tah-Ghi' (Pica Disk) - recorded live in a mausoleum with excellent acoustics... Lee is the best solo improviser I've ever heard, much of what she does seems physically impossible, even when you are watching her do it.
Drew McDowall 'The Third Helix' (Dais) - his best work since Coil, beautifully detailed and quite unearthly.
MMMD 'Hagazussa' (Antifrost) - soundtrack to the (excellent) film of the same name, if you know MMMD/Mohammad already you know what to expect... maybe more of the same but when the same is this good it's hard to complain.
Nurse With Wound/TNB 'Changez les Blockeurs'/'Changez les Blockeurs And' (Dirter) - wasn't expecting much of this and was pleasantly (if that word can apply) surprised - Stapleton has lovingly boosted all the most irritating frequencies of the original and tripled the density. CD adds 25 more minutes of brain damage. The whole thing sounds more like TNB than TNB themselves, almost.
Dave Phillips 'Clearing' (Spalt-ung/Licht-ung)
Dave Phillips 'Ritual Protest Music' (Urbsounds Collective)
these two are also more of the same but up to Dave's usual impeccable standards, really excellently recorded for maximum visceral impact.
Jakob Ullmann 'Muntzers Stern Solo II' (Edition RZ) - Ullmann is doing just about the most interesting work at the quiet end of the spectrum right now and this is his most minimal yet, newcomers should probably reach for 'A Catalogue of Sounds' and expecially 'Voice, books and FIRE' first but if you're already a convert then you probably already know about this. Edition RZ is the best contemporary 'classical' label operating right now, no question.

OK to good:
Albedo Fantastica 'Culvert and Starry Night' (An'archives) - very eccentric work by Sachiko Fukuoka (Overhang Party, Kousokuya, Musik Atlach) and Keiko Higuchi, definitly not for all tastes but there's not much else like it.
Thomas Ankersmit 'Homage to Dick Raaijmakers' (Shelter Press) - heavy modular synth work, pretty intense, catch him live if you have the opportunity.
Antoine Chessex 'Subjectivation' (Fragment Factory) - heavy electronics w. processed sax, grim, relentless.
Cam Deas 'Time Exercises' (The Death of Rave) - if you like Roland Kayn you need to hear this.
The Eternal Chord 'Semper Liber' (Spire/Touch) - nice group collaborations for pipe organ, maybe a little overlong though
MMMD 'Andromache' (Antifrost) - Ilios & Veliotis adapt earlier Mohammad tracks for damaged pianos, nice.
Mayuko Hino 'Lunisolar' (Cold Spring) - first piece is good, second is not. still, good to have her back in operation
Jim O'Rourke 'Sleep Like it's Winter' (Newhere)
Jim O'Rourke 'Steamroom 38/39' (Steamroom)
- I prefer the Steamroom releases to the album itself which derived from them, O'Rourke is better when he focuses on one thing intently.
Anna Schimkat 'Spinhouse' (Fragment Factory) - if you thought Francisco Lopez's 'Buildings: New York' needed more aggression, this is for you. Fragment Factory is one of the best labels around at present, always top quality and uncompromising sounds.
Uruk 'Mysterium Coniunctionis' (Ici d'ailleurs) - sprawling psychedelic space music by Thighpaulsandra and Massimo Pupillo, highly immersive, somewhere between Cyclobe and Tangerine Dream's 'Zeit', maybe?
Alex Zhang Hungtai 'Divine Weight' (Non Worldwide) - the first four tracks are good but nothing special, the final title piece is an uncanny masterpiece which could have been released as a standalone EP instead.

Reissues/anthologies/archive recordings, etc:
Coil 'Wormsongs' (archive.org) - seems to be outtakes from the ElpH/Worship the Glitch period, quite ghostly, good to have this circulating.
Current 93 dreamt by Andrew Liles 'Like Swallowing Eclipses' - I normally can't tolerate Liles, who is a moderately talented engineer/sound designer but terrible composer, but these C93 remixes are really great, even more visceral than the originals at times.
John Duncan 'Organic' (États-Unis) - excellent, long-overdue rerelease of John's first LP from 1979.
John Duncan 'Riot' (iDEAL) - the best version of this classic record yet, completely remixed from the original 8-track master, in places like a totally new recording, mandatory!
Lethe 'Six Tables Sublimation' (Lethe/KK) - I was at the show this was recorded at, KK doing his dry ice on steel tables routine at the cavernous Darling Foundry, recording doesn't quite capture the room sound but it's nice to have this.
Mlehst 'Black Letter Ballad' Parts I/II (Mlehst) - this seems to be a comp of the various 'Black Letter Ballad' pieces scattered throughout the Mlehst discography but I don't know his work well enough to be sure - anyway it's nice lo-fi surrealism. Both parts were up on his now deactivated Bandcamp page earlier this year.
Roland Kayn 'Scanning' (?) - this has been circulating online recently, unsure of the provenance or how this was obtained as it was never released, but it is the ten-hour(!) piece recorded at the Institute of Sonology in 1982-83 immediately following the completion of TEKTRA. I only got this a few weeks ago so haven't had the time to really assimilate it but it is truly amazing, much more diverse in texture and structure than I expected, foreshadows the Electronic Symphonies that he would later do in the 90's.
Roland Kayn 'Simultan' (Die Schachtel) - this should have been CD instead of vinyl but the remastering is great and the sound is much better than the AGP transcription that had previously circulated. Much cruder than his later recordings, this (along with 'MAKRO I-III') would be the best introduction to Kayn's work for people into noise/industrial/PE - it was recorded in 1972 but totally anticipates MB, some of the more abstract Broken Flag things, early Merzbow, etc etc.
Merzbow 'Noisembryo' (Hospital) - not sure why this was on vinyl, CD would have been better (without remastering - the original still sounds perfect, much more dynamic than the brickwalled-to-death Relapse discs that came soon after), but its greatness can't be denied.
Eliane Radigue 'Oeuvres Electroniques' (INA-GRM) - Much needed, very well produced collection, some of the very finest electronic music ever made, but you already knew that.

Concerts:
Eliane Radigue + Quatuor Bozzini 'Occam Delta VI' w. Jakob Kirkegaard (playing Else Marie Pade), Fonderie Darling, Montreal
Keiji Haino w. Julia Reidy, La Sala Rossa, Montreal
Drew McDowall w. Group A, La Vitrola, Montreal

Yikes, that was long.
_____________________________________________________
JH/Kg.

PTM Jim

Highlights:
Releases. In order.

1. Nocturnal Triumph - The Fangs Of Miseries Past (Spectral Moon)
Second year in a row NT tops my list. Truly some of the best new black metal in the game. Best riffs, best atmosphere, well produced—yet not over-produced. Few things got as many replays this year.

2. Striations – Vietnamization (New Forces Noise)
Hands down the best PE album of 2018. While I like New Forces aesthetic, this really could have benefited from a larger presentation. Should have been a CD with a full color booklet of all the accompanying art that Mike made over the course of multiple years to coincide. We all know that would have been a money pit though, ha.

3. Geography Of Hell - Hiroshima 1945 / Nagasaki 1945 (Hospital Productions)
One of my favorite Hospital roster acts finally gets a vinyl treatment and it doesn't disappoint. Heavy as the bombs that inspired it.

4. Koufar - My Name Is My Name (No Rent)
I'm a little bias with this one because of my involvement, but it is incredible PE. Lengthy, but not tiring. Using special guests makes this diverse in style and structure and has the illusion of a rap album. Striations did the same thing with Vietnamization so maybe we should all start pooling our collective minds into full ideas as such. Proud to call these men my brothers.

5. Linekraft - 33 Purgatories (Zaetraom)
Yes, his performance at the Hospital fest was every bit as great as people have been saying (probably even better than can be fully explained). The full length on HOS is excellent, but I think this tape grew on me.

6. Akitsa – Credo (Hospital Productions)
Akitsa at their best. The riffs, the pride, the atmosphere. All things that are necessary in a good black metal release.

7. Concave / Convex - Victory Over Body (Breathing Problem Productions)
Excellent subject matter. Rusty has a keen wit to tackle true crime at it's peak. In this case the US gymnastics molestation scandal. Emeilia's vocal presentation is a breath of female power and submission simultaneously. My favorite of the BPP in-house projects.

8. Needle Exchange - Kill Em All With Fentanyl (Reanimated Miscarrage)
Best noisegrind I've heard in awhile. 1 part noise, 1 part grind. The way it should be.

9. Kjostad – Vermilion (Self Released)
Tape loops. Harsh Noise. Nature. Excellent, well-thought out packaging. Kjostad was very active this year and this was his best.

10. Najwyższy - An Orchestration In Shadows (Spectral Moon)
Another from Spectral Moon. Excellent black metal done right.

11. Various - The Pain Factory DVDs (Influencing Machine/Spastik Visuals)
It's amazing that these didn't get lost in time. So many essential 90s HN and PE heavy hitters gathered for many episodes on public access TV. This kind of thing cannot exist today so enjoy it here while you can.

12. Shredded Nerve - Final Vision (New Forces Noise)
Top 2 in Justin's output thus far. And at 60 minutes, this one couldn't be more worth your $7.

13. Various - Missing And Exploited Children (Breathing Problem Productions)
Bias on this one also due to my involvement, but there is a reason this one is on just about everyone's PE lists. Gathers 8 American PE acts on the top of their game all staying true to the comp's theme in their own way. We need more (good) vinyl comps.

14. Various/Goblin – Night of the Living Dead/Dawn of the Dead (Waxwork)
These are kind of reissues, but kind of not at the same time. They are the complete scores for each available for the first time. I've been waiting for these both because I refuse to pay for battered original copies for well over $100 each and they don't disappoint. Obsessed with the movie trilogy since a child, I always thought the music played a good role in why they were so successful and memorable. Day of the Dead is actually my favorite of the 3 as both a movie and soundtrack, but the OST for that one came out a few years ago.

Other:
Small tour with MBD
Getting a lot of weight off my shoulders with Fusty. Looking forward to 2019. Lots of vinyl and planning special packaging.
Hanging out with wife and dog a bunch
Finally seeing GO in LA
Linekraft @ Hospital fest
White Rhino Taxadermy @ Coaxial
Two collabs with Cloning in Pittsburgh


Lowlights:
NYC and Western Mass being crybaby chumps (not all of you, of course)
Tesco getting hopes up and refunding 10 days later.
People in general. Lighten up or just die already.

murderous_vision


"Tesco getting hopes up and refunding 10 days later"
On the Civilization set?


PTM Jim

Quote from: murderous_vision on December 31, 2018, 08:32:19 PM

"Tesco getting hopes up and refunding 10 days later"
On the Civilization set?

No, UmKhonto-We-SizWe

andy vomit

Quote from: PTM Jim on December 31, 2018, 08:06:44 PM

4. Koufar - My Name Is My Name (No Rent)
I'm a little bias with this one because of my involvement, but it is incredible PE. Lengthy, but not tiring. Using special guests makes this diverse in style and structure and has the illusion of a rap album. Striations did the same thing with Vietnamization so maybe we should all start pooling our collective minds into full ideas as such. Proud to call these men my brothers.


full support on the PE/hip-hop merging of ideas.
thevomitarsonist.wordpress.com
danversstaterecordings.blogspot.com

FEAR_GOD

I posted my favorites via Instagram but since then I changed shit up a bit. Some things dropped in the order other things rose up the ranks but these are my best of's:

Top 10 PE/Industrial releases of 2018

1. Kontinent-Pornography of Power *****
2. Detrimental Effect-Be My Enemy **** 3/4
3. Agonal Lust-Modern Atrocities **** 3/4
4. Interior One-Revenge Against Society **** 3/4
5. Serration-Machine Survival **** 1/2
6. Anenzaphalia-Magenta **** 1/2
7. Augere Concret-Cephalophore **** 1/2
8. Deterge- One For the Gipper **** 1/2
9. Control-Blood Will Rain ****
10. Linekraft-Engineering Analysis For Inner Death****

Honorable Mentions: Heretic Grail Discography, The Vomit Arsonist-Further, Striations-Vietnamization, Obsidian Needles-Coronal Mass Ejection, and Geography Of Hell-Hiroshima 1945/Nagasaki 1945.

Top Harsh Noise of 2018

1. Wince-Bullets For German Radio *****
2. Worth-The Steps *****
3. Wince-The Older Generation **** 3/4
4. Body Carve-Guts In Red Plastic **** 3/4
5. Bacillus-Serial Infector **** 1/2
6. Striations-Trauma Code ****
7. Primordial Wound-Research Byproduct Disposal ****
8. Blind Date-Open Trap ****
9. Skin Graft-Afflict ****
10. Cooter-Besmirched For Bedwetting ****

Honorable Mentions- Facialmess-Eastern View, Cackle Car-Idling 1, Shredded Nerve-Final Vision, and Sentenced-Extinguishment.

Top 10 PE/Industrial/Noise/Experimental splits, singles, comps, misc of 2018

1. Mania/Deterge-Lay Waste/Future of Pulse *****
2. Am Not-Unpunished : Appendix *****
3. Wonderland Club-Pageant **** 3/4
4. Deterge/Heretic Grail-Split **** 3/4
5. V/A-Missing and Exploited Children **** 1/2
6. FFH-Zyklon and Leather **** 1/2
7. V/A-A Group Of Sexual Perverts 2 **** 1/2
8. Soaplands-S/T **** 1/2
9. V/A- Before Man Was, War Waited For Him **** 1/2
10. Alfarmania-The Waiting Grave: Live In Finland 2015/2017  ****


Top 10 Metal/Hardcore/Other Shit I Barely Listen to of 2018

1. Vile Gash-Nightmare In A Damaged Brain *****
2. Jesus Piece-Only Self *****
3. City Hunter-Deep Blood *****
4. Sect Pig- Crooked Backs **** 3/4
5. Akitsa-Credo **** 3/4
6. Archgoat-The Lucefarian Crown **** 3/4
7. Cadaver Dog-Dying Breed **** 1/2
8. Sissy Spacek-Trash Staging **** 1/2
9. Vein-Errorzone ****
10. Pig Destroyer-Headcage ****

Top 10 best Hip Hop releases of 2018

1. Roc Marciano-RR2: The Bitter Dose *****
2. Benny The Butcher-Tana Talk 3 *****
3. Pusha T-Daytona *****
4. The Hermit and The Recluse-Orpheus *****
5. Westside Gunn-Supreme Blientele *****
6. Roc Marciano-Behold A Dark Horse **** 3/4
7. Dark Lo and V Don- Timeless **** 1/2
8. Westside Gunn-Hitler Wears Hermès 6 **** 1/2
9. SmooVth and Giallo Point-Medellin II: Don Fabio **** 1/2
10. Conway The Machine-Blakk Tape **** 1/2

Honorable mention:
Earl Sweatshirt-Some Rap Songs, Freddie Gibbs-Freddie, Benny The Butcher & 38 Spesh-Stabbed & Shot, Freddie Gibbs, Curren$y & Alchemist-Fetti, Conway The Machine-Everybody Is F.O.O.D. 1 & 2, Dark Lo-Bucketlist, Benny The Butcher-A Friend Of Ours, Knowledge The Pirate-Flintlock, and Roc Marciano & DJ Muggs-Kaos.

Top Live Shows of 2018

1. Genocide Organ-LA
2. Genocide Organ-San Francisco
3. Deterge-LA
4. Anenzephalia-LA
5. Striations-San Francisco
6. Merzbow-Oakland
7. Anenzephalia-Oakland
8. Prurient-Oakland
9. Dagger Lust-Portland
10. Wonderland Club-LA

Top Labels of 2018

1. Unrest Productions
2. Breathing Problem
3. Fusty Cunt
4. Gutter Bloat
5. New Forces
6. Slave Chandelier
7. Bacteria Field
8. Endangered Species
9. Hospital
10. No Rent

Highlights
The release and reception of two of my most important records I've been apart of:

Koufar-My Name Is My Name
Terror Cell Unit-Psalm 137:9

Lowlights
The Bay Area is a cesspool.