(NCS staff writer DGR makes the third ex-TNOTB writer of the day whose year-end list we’re rolling out. Read on… )

Ah, 2013 draws to a close, and you know what that means right? Its time for DGR to unleash his massive list of bullshit what he done liked in 2013! This year is no different, of course — I cut a bunch of categories out in order to streamline the madness somewhat, yet still managed to create a massive clusterfuck of words. I tend to write my stuff for folks that are trapped at work, so I do apologize for anyone who is glancing at this thinking that it’ll be a quick fifteen=minute read — because there is a fucking ton of music on this list.

It almost looks like if you put out a disc in 2013, then I probably liked it, but that’s not the case… mostly because I didn’t listen to a lot of music in 2013, and I even give those folks some credit at the very bottom. If you haven’t heard many of these releases, then I am happy to expose you to them, and if you have and enjoy them already and are just validating your opinion through your chosen NCS cipher, hey, let’s pop a champagne bottle and celebrate our excellent taste over the other jackbags that claim to write for this shitshow.

I’ve actually included some non-metal breathers as well, for those of us who may be suffocating under the weight of all this heavy metal. Let the chaos begin! Here is my list of Shit What I Done Liked In 2013 (thanks byrd for the title!), beginning with the honorable mentions. Continue reading »

While continuing to post our own year-end lists of 2013’s best metal as chosen by our staff and numerous guest writers, we also continue to make room for lists published by selected ‘zines and so-called “big platform” web sites with dramatically larger audiences than metal-only sites like this one. This morning one appeared that we’ve been waiting for: Pitchfork.com’s list of “The Top 40 Metal Albums of 2013”.

Pitchfork has been around since 1996 and now boasts “a fiercely loyal audience of more than 5 million unique visitors each month”. Metal is only one of the genres of music to which Pitchfork devotes attention (and certainly one of the smallest in terms of audience), though because of Pitchfork’s size it has been the platform for many significant metal song and album premieres this year. Its Top 40 list was compiled by Pitchfork editor Brandon Stosuy as part of his ongoing Show No Mercy column. Whatever else you may think of Pitchfork’s main musical coverage, I think Show No Mercy is worth reading.

Stosuy’s list includes explanations for the top 25 picks, plus sample songs, and you can go HERE to check out all of that. Via that same link you can also see the lists assembled by current and former Pitchfork contributors Grayson Currin, Drew Daniel, Kim Kelly, Andy O’Connor, Hank Shteamer, and Zoe Camp.

After the jump, I’m just going to embed the Top 40 list itself, with a few thoughts. As always, we encourage you to leave your own reactions in the Comment section. Continue reading »

(In this latest installment of our year-end LISTMANIA series, we welcome a guest writer who goes by the name doGbreath, with a different kind of list.)

This is my playlist.
There are many like it, but this one is MINE.
Without me, my playlist is nothing.
Without my playlist, I am nothing.

Ah, the mighty playlist. Conveyor of taste, provocateur. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

It’s the purest form of democracy, the art of music. You consume what you like and everybody else can swing. It’s purely subjective, an invitation to judge a book by it’s cover, but with the advent of the Internet and world-wide constant and immediate access, we as humans have taken communication deeper, to a more fundamental level. We speak to each other through music. Words have become passé.

The meme is king, social media is queen, and the playlist is the joker and fool, always speaking truth to power. Oh, your pop diva bullshit act just sold ten million albums? Fuck you, I have a thousand bands here that actually play instruments, have better production than your pseudo-teen bitch, write riffs that rip your face off, AND bang hotter chicks than her as a recreational sport back in their home countries. Their albums will live forever, while your flash-in-the-pan pop construct will fade into obscurity the instant the publicity train stops to refuel. I listen to shit that’s more melodic than their melodies, listen to lyrics and vocal delivery with more emotion than they can photo-shop and auto-tune, and ingest imagery and artistry through cover art that stretch the imagination into places that horrify the general public. That’s fucking art people, in all it’s contentious forms, defined. Continue reading »