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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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 »

LISTMANIA: AXEL STORMBREAKER’S TOP 15 DARK-HORSE RECORDS OF 2023 NO ONE GIVES A CRAP ABOUT

 LISTMANIA 2023  6 Responses »
Jan 032024
 

(Axel Stormbreaker returns… with a vengeance? This year’s Dark-Horse list pays tribute to Bruce Willis and to the original Die-Hard Trilogy.)

Hey there, your favorite hero’s back, Edgelord Superfvvcker. You know, just once, I’d like a regular, normal Christmas with eggnog, a fuckin’ Christmas tree, and a little turkey. But, nooo, no love for mr. Stormbreaker. All I gotta do is crawl around in this filthy tin can till its rust seeps into my overly exhausted patience.

That being said, I’ve been feeling very sad and a bit dry, hence why you haven’t been reading about any of my absurd recommendations. But it’s the end of the year, I do love lists (Yippee Ki-Yay), so maybe I should put in some effort for all you weird-looking freaks out there. What I give you is my ultimate Top-15 Dark-Horse List of 2023’s Records No One Gives a Crap About. Or what bands I’ve been digging lately, ones hopefully truly worthy of your support.

And yes, of course I watch the original Die Hard trilogy every Christmas. What kind of question is that? Big fan of Moonlighting too. I’m an old fuck. Continue reading »

NEILL JAMESON WON’T SHUT THE FUCK UP: BEST OF 2023

 LISTMANIA 2023  1 Response »
Jan 022024
 

(Today we present the fifth and final installment of Neill Jameson‘s 2023 year-end list. You can find the first four Parts by hitting this link and scrolling down.)

See the subtle change in the title? I’m building a narrative, I’m told that’s a good idea in writing. As far as I can tell (from constantly Googling myself), I’ve been doing year-end lists here since 2014. Initially I would only pick a few records each year, mostly because I was trying to shed light on things that other people may not have noticed throughout the year, which would grow somewhat each year until we made it to 2018, one of the most miserable years I’d had in a moment, and it showed in the lack of anything approaching enthusiasm in my writing. But once 2019 hit, it was like something opened up in me and I was actually interested in seeking out new music, the closest to approaching being passionate about anything I’d been in years. And from there I haven’t slowed down. 

I understand that these lists are read for a variety of reasons, to see if your band was in it, to disagree with it, to tell me I’m either an SJW cuck or a nazi, or (and this is the lowest number) to actually seek out new music that might interest you. Regardless of your reason, I hope you’ve found something you’re looking for out of this. I don’t really want to hear about it either way.

These were my favorite releases of the year not covered by my Invisible Oranges list, which was all album based. There’s a few here too, sure, but this is mostly EPs, demos etc. Not a lot of surprises if you’ve read any previous years. This will probably be wordy, even for me (“long winded” is another description I’ve read about myself) Enough from me, here’s the list: Continue reading »

DECKARD CAIN’S MALADIES OF THE EAR – 2023

 LISTMANIA 2023  6 Responses »
Jan 022024
 

(For the years 2012 through 2015 an NCS supporter from India who went by the name deckard cain contributed some interesting year-end lists that we posted as part of our annual Listmania series, and he reviewed songs and albums for us too during that same interval. Then he drifted away, but returned with a year-end list in 2021, then drifted again, and returns once more with another very interesting 2023 list below.)

Greetings all!

These year-end lists are indeed great spaces to think through the year that was. Personally, it was a year of tumult. Moments of happiness of being able to spend time with family after many a year of living abroad were great and so were deeply harrowing experiences of loss and unwarranted suffering. Nothing new here! For life always gets back at us all with a sense of pendulous certainty.

Going full elegiac on the state of the world is beside the point. But the albums on year-end lists? Well, they fit in as signposts, reflective of one’s state of mind then, linking them in turn, to events and feelings. Perhaps a version of chronologically mapping your emotional states. And to that end all these records mattered one way or another, whether as anodynes to one’s pain, as chasers downed after moments of elation. and everything in between. In no particular order or rank and…..and as the last of the Horadrim says: Continue reading »

NEILL JAMESON CAN’T SHUT THE FUCK UP: A 2023 LIST IV

 LISTMANIA 2023  1 Response »
Dec 292023
 

(One of the perennial highlights of our year-end LISTMANIA series are the articles Neill Jameson has contributed, and we’re very happy that he’s doing so again this year. This one is the fourth of five Parts we’ll be publishing. You can find the preceding parts if you go here and scroll down. To be clear, Neill wrote the title of this feature himself.)

I guess one of the (many) hypocritical things I’ve written over the years is how I shit on others for having huge end of year lists yet here I am with fifty things that were released in the last twelve months that I want to share with everyone.

But there’s a few things to consider here, the first being the sheer magnitude of music being recorded and released every day. I can compare it to getting ready for a colonoscopy, you can’t believe how much shit keeps coming out. And, to continue the charming metaphor, most of it is absolute liquid shit. So keep that statistic in mind, my fifty is equal to my ten or twenty a decade ago, adjusted for inflation.

My second point is that those other lists are mostly dreck.

I’ve been working on myself this year and practicing self-care. You can tell it’s working. Here’s the next batch: Continue reading »

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