LISTMANIA 2023 Archives - NO CLEAN SINGING

LISTMANIA 2023 WRAPUP

LISTMANIA 2023 1 Response »

Nov 142024

(written by Islander)

I can hear you asking, “Why the hell is a post about 2023 year-end lists popping up in November 2024?” A valid question. And the answer is: Because I fucking forget to do this when I was supposed to do it.

Well, I only partly forgot. You probably don’t remember, but in December 2023 and January/February 2024 I was wholly consumed by a project for my fucking day job, so consumed that I didn’t have time to put together my usual list of Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs for 2023, and didn’t have time to do the “WrapUp” post for our annual LISTMANIA series. When time eventually did become available, that’s when I forgot.

I only remembered yesterday, when launching this year’s LISTMANIA orgy with a copy/paste of Decibel‘s Top 40 list for 2024. And even though probably no one else but me has remembered that I never did the 2023 WrapUp post, it gnawed at me, like weevils in the grain-sack of my head. Begone you weevils! Here’s the WrapUp, 10 months late. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2023: A POSTSCRIPT FROM SEB PAINCHAUD (TUMBLEWEED DEALER)

LISTMANIA 2023 No Responses »

Apr 262024

(As we have for a long stretch of years, we again included in our 2023 Listmania series an eclectic year-end list of records selected by Seb Painchaud from the Montréal band Tumbleweed Dealer. You can see it here. But turns out the list was incomplete… and so it continues today with a dozen more recommendations.)

Here we are yet again. Some of these I missed, some of these I kept off the AOTY list for brevity, and honestly one of these I just kinda forgot to put on when I wrote up the list.

Let’s keep this short I’ve got a teams meeting in 8 minutes. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA 2023: TO THE TEETH’S “LIST OF LISTS”

LISTMANIA 2023 13 Responses »

Jan 202024

We are basically finished with our 2023 Listmania series, having concluded with DGR‘s five-part series of lists last week.

What’s still missing is our annual “wrap up” post, which provides links to every 2023 list we posted from our staff writers and other contributors and guests.

That wrap-up has been delayed due to Islander’s temporary absence, but the delay allowed us to discover another list that has found its way into our Listmania series in previous years.

This particular list is a mathematically calculated “List of Lists” that amalgamates lists from a variety of online zines in order to create a Top 50 list. Continue reading »

DGR’s… HELL I DON’T KNOW, HERE’S SOME MUSIC FROM 2023: 10-01

LISTMANIA 2023 7 Responses »

Jan 122024

(It’s the final countdown… of DGR‘s top ten records of 2023)

I feel like I’ve lit a fuse leading to a powder keg with this one because as of this writing I’ve finally sent in the other four chunks of this year end list, meaning I can no longer hide behind lethargy and malaise and actually have something of a deadline to answer to.

I am a fucking idiot.

The final block of albums is going to have a lot of familiar names from years past. As much as I picked on groups for playing it a little too close ot home earlier on in this tome, there were just as many familiar names that did manage to either add something new or excel in a style that they’d been honing for some time.

I don’t think there will be too many shocking choices here or ones out of left field. There’s a solid Grind block, a small chunk of Black Metal – both venom dripping, melodic, and hybridized into something meaner – a wall of Death Metal that you’re likely used to by now and one oddball that I think is basically right in line with my personal aesthetic.

So let’s kick this last bit downhill and see what sort of rubble it picks up along the way.

DGR’s… HELL I DON’T KNOW, HERE’S SOME MUSIC FROM 2023: 20-11

LISTMANIA 2023 2 Responses »

Jan 112024

(Here we are with DGR‘s penultimate post of the week)

Every year these take a lot out of me. I’ve always said that it gets easier as you get closer to the end but this year that hasn’t been the case.

I’ve been terrified to repeat myself and so I comb over this stuff again and again to make sure that you’re not seeing the same turn of phrase to often. I know I’m slowly turning into a sentient jar of mustard as I get older but at the very least I don’t want it super obvious that I don’t language no good more these days.

This block is where a lot of the heavy hitters lay, not in terms of critic-bait or the ones that are shared on a lot of people’s lists – though I’d hazard about half of the bunch here are popping up elsewhere since I am a simpleton – but because the music may be some of the punchier stuff I’ve included thus far.

We’ve also got the much vaunted “watch DGR describe a bunch of music that he lacks the vocabulary to do so!” bit, which is always fun as those have often felt like I’m attempting to ride downhill with a plastic trash can lid as a sled and the amount of control suggested therein.

The party – and the cheap shots at my fellow writers [someone’s forgotten that I have editorial control – Andy] – continues tomorrow and I’ll finally send this damned thing off with coins over its eyes to pay the ferryman.

I’ll see you then. Hopefully.

DGR’s… HELL I DON’T KNOW, HERE’S SOME MUSIC FROM 2023: 30-21

LISTMANIA 2023 No Responses »

Jan 102024

(We’re half-way through the week and half-way through DGR‘s round-up of his favourites from 2023)

Part three is where this list starts to journey up its own ass a little bit [Starts? – Andy].

In between my penchant for Death and Grind truly starting to show itself here, you’ll notice a lot of the critical favorites that’ve been going around maybe poking their heads up.

I don’t consider myself truly in touch with “the scene” as a whole – I’ve happily ensconced myself in a comfortably corner here – yet occasionally one or two do land on these far shores and get noticed.

This one has a couple of odd blocks to it – you’ll see them right about the time I call them out – there’s multiple forms of insanely dumb on here as well as insanely smart, and if you like some high peaks and some low, guttural valleys, I think I’ve got a pretty even spread on this part of the list.

Thirty or so is where things start to harden a little more when it comes to exact number placement so now you can start your arguing as if what’s written here is written in stone. Just remember that stone can be blown up too.

DGR’s… HELL I DON’T KNOW, HERE’S SOME MUSIC FROM 2023: 40-31

LISTMANIA 2023 5 Responses »

Jan 092024

(DGR continues his run-down of his favourite releases of 2023)

This segment is an intriguing one for me because you start to see a few of the EPs I enjoyed throughout the year popping up.

I’ll go deeper into why I didn’t split them out as I come across them but alongside all of that noise there’s a bunch of the weirder and more challenging works of my year.

There’s hooks and power-choruses to be found for sure but some these groups are going to make you work to get there.

This is also where a lot of my old favorites find themselves – its like how I have a fondness for Mountain Dew, I know what one tastes like and I know that I still whole heartedly enjoy a particularly good one – since they’re known factors and did very good versions of their sound.

They deserve to be highlighted and rewarded for that even as I explored elsewhere for much of 2023 as I think I did hit a bit of a breaking point when it came to having simply good additions to a group’s overall discography.

The next edition should be equally exciting if I ever get up to fighting my way through it as I think there’ll be a lot of interesting names there – though I assure you its none of your favorites, so stop asking.

DGR’s… HELL I DON’T KNOW, HERE’S SOME MUSIC FROM 2023: 50-41

LISTMANIA 2023 1 Response »

Jan 082024

(DGR is doing his own mini-takeover of the site this week, counting down his top 50 albums of 2023)

To put things exceptionally bluntly I didn’t know if I was going to do a year end roundup this time.

Things have been exceptionally tough at home in regards to personal family matters and it’s been difficult to try to build up the will to do much of anything.

It’s an ongoing process that will likely be that way for a long fucking time.

However, I think that my reason for doing these remains the same because it does allow me to send the year off in a funeral pyre – though it’s not the only one I’m lighting this time.

AXEL STORMBREAKER’S TOP 15+1 DARK-HORSE NOMINEES OF 2023: MIND-FUNK EDITION

LISTMANIA 2023 No Responses »

Jan 072024

(We’ve already presented a 2023 year-end list of “Dark Horse” records compiled by Axel Stormbreaker, but the ones he left out to make the list more digestible kept chewing on him to be observed, and so now we have this supplement.)

So, here’s what didn’t make the final cut of my 2023’s Dark-Horse list. As you may have guessed, any reasons vary in each and all circumstances. There’s some stuff I found out about after I compiled my final picks. And then there are some comps / EPs I had to exclude for the sake of homogeneity. And there’s also the issue about artists who either sound commercial, or end up too popular to be considered a current part of the underground.

Plus, shoving 30+1 albums from every possible genre down your sore throat in one go seems kinda unproductive. Being a labor worker who sleeps with Sharon Stone, while remaining clueless he’s an international spy whose not-so-Mexican girlfriend is waiting for him on Mars to overthrow an evil government makes more sense comparably… especially after watching the said movie. The latter is a brilliant work of exaggerated science fiction. The former, plain madness, simply put.

So, there you go. Another list of odd records that sound cooler than your band. This time I’ll have to adjust my style to the music described, or not. But since this article’s dedicated to Total Recall and its Mind-Bending Edition, you should expect to raise an eyebrow or two on more than one occasion. Continue reading »

LISTMANIA: A 2023 END OF YEAR LIST FROM DANIEL BARKASI

LISTMANIA 2023 12 Responses »

Jan 042024

(After a considerable absence, we welcome Daniel Barkasi back to NCS, with the following 2023 Top 20 list to start, and more to come.)

Well, well, well, it’s been a minute. Well, other than an interview that meant the world to me with Serge of Selfgod in 2022, it’s been seven years. Why so long? Well, as the cliche goes, life happens. Burnout, mental health, huge life changes, job stuff, and many other things can derail the time and drive to write about all things heavy. No, the earth’s gravitational pull is just fine (I hope), and yes, get used to dated references and bad puns. Get used to that, or don’t, and detest my Seinfeld-obsessed self. Your call! Continue reading »

Older Entries