Spotify list with my favourite records of 2013.

I've compiled a Spotify list with some of my favourite albums of 2013. The first 18 albums are in the same order as the top 20 of my end of the year list that I've posted here (the new My Bloody Valentine and Subrosa aren't on Spotify).

Enjoy!

2014 - A Look Ahead

So, we've just summarized 2013, no it's time to look a head!

Already it seems like 2014 is promising to be a really good as well in music. There are some albums that have been announced that I have high hopes for, and then there are some albums that haven't yet been announced but that I hope will get released,

Here are a few of the highlights to look forward too:
Tool - When will we see the follow up to the brilliant "10 000 Days"? Next year it will be eight years since the last album and the next album will be the fifth in the bands 20+ years career, they're not the most productive band to say the least...

Foo Fighters - It looks like Foo Fighters will release a new record next year, "Wasting Light" from 2011 was one of the best albums the band has released yet, and that is saying a lot!

Opeth - I haven't seen anytrhing confirmed so far, but a follow up to the 2011 release "Heritage" seems logical. It will be very interesting to see which direction Åkerfeldt takes his band on this one.

Mastodon - Mastodon is another band that I'm really anxious to see where they are headed with the next album. After the masterpiece of "Crack The Sky", they made a "little-bit-of-everything-album" with "The Hunter". A new Mastodon album is always something special though!

Iron Maiden - Do we dare hope for a new album in 2014? They probably won't have time to record it so maybe for 2015? And will this be the last album of their career?

Mogwai - Mogwai is one of the first albums to be released in late January. They just keeps getting better and better so this oughta be good!

Beck - It is always interesting what this man will come up with! The new album is set for a February release.

And there are of course tons of other great albums to be released in 2014. It looks like it could be a good year,,,

2013, top 5!

1. Deafheaven - Sunbather
I was trying really hard to put a record a head of Deafheaven's Sunbather this year. It's been really hyped and it tops a lot of end of the year lists. At the end of the day there hasn't been a hype more justified than the one about Deafheaven in 2013. What a masterpiece they have delivered. A few words written earlier.







2. My Bloody Valentine - M B V
My Bloody Valentine 22 years later... Who could have expected that they would return the way they did with M B V? I wrote a few words about the album in March this year.







3. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Mind Control
On my Instagram account, I wrote "What would The Beatles sound like if they would have been around today and played stoner metal? Well maybe something like this brilliant album!". I still feel that this is a perfect description of the record and the band.







4. Subrosa - More Constant Than The Gods
The most dynamic sludge/doom record of the year. A lot has been written in alternative press about the album and the band line-up, with two violins in the mix and three female singers. There are so many elements on this record a part from the typical heavy incredible riffage that is always apparent in a great doom record. You also have some folksy in slow parts as well which make this the best doom record of the year!

5. Russian Circles - Memorial
The most beautiful album of 2013!

2013, places 6-10.

6. Windhand - Soma
This album includes some of the coolest riffs of 2013. It's heavy and catchy doom with a finess and unlike Lumbar they really drag out riffs and songs which is a really cool thing! The closing track clocks in at over 30 minutes.







7. David Bowie - The Next Day
What a comeback!! This record exceeded all my expectations. I've already written about this album earlier when it was released.








8. The Body - Christs, Redeemers
This might be the most evil sounding record on the list. This album reeks of desperation from the first to the last second. You feel almost exhausted when you're done listening to it. I love the screaming vocals, I get the same feeling as I did when I heard Amenra for the first time last year.





9. Skogen Brinner - 1st
It's not often that I have these high hopes for a debut album. I'm not very good at discovering new bands early in their careers. I've got enough job to follow up all the albums that are released every year.

Skogen Brinner however, I've had the pleasure of following ever since they released their debut 7" "Pundarvarning", and after that the cassette EP "Fasornas Berg". On this record they presented five new songs and the other four are taken from the earlier releases. I wrote a blog post about this record earlier this year.


10. Steve Earle & The Dukes (& Duchesses) - The Low Highway
Over the last few years Steve Earle has grown to be one of my favourite artists. I really love his post-millenial stuff, which is a bit different than the stuff he did in the 80s for example.

The Low Highway is no exception. He continues on the more stripped down sound, to me it sounds more honest. There is a great variety of songs on this album, both up-tempo country songs and beautiful down-tempo songs. In this beautiful mix it's the slow songs that stands out. "The Low Highway", "Invisible" and "Remember Me" are some of the best songs of 2013.

2013, places 11-15.

11. Jesu - Everyday I Get Closer To The Light From Which I Came
Oh how I love the sound of this album. The sort of post punk/rock stuff with the heavy doomy bass/guitars in the background. This sound builds the foundation of the album and sets the tone from the very start.

You wouldn't have expected a "happy" album from Broadrick's Jesu and luckily that is not he's intending on this record. Where for example Trent Reznor made a somewhat up beat (by NIN and Godflesh/Jesu standards), Broadrick stays on the gloomy road.




12. Chelsea Wolfe - Pain Is Beauty
This album is for 2013 what PJ Harvey's "Let England Shake" was for 2011.I hear a lot of similarities between the two records, mainly that this one is nearly as good as Harvey's last masterpiece and that is saying a lot! This is dark, doomy and dreasmy pop(?), that would be the soundtrack to your nightmare.





13. Wolf People - Fain
The band that released the greatest record of 2010 returned with another great release this year! This album is probably even better than "Steeple". However I think I expected something more, it's more of the same but slightly better which obviously makes it a great album, but for me it's not a contender for a top spot like the previous album was. And in all honesty there aren't a lot of records from 2010 that would end up in top ten this year...



14. Kylesa - Ultraviolet
I thought this was gonna be a contender for best album of the year, it didn't really reach that high though. This album is packed to the rim with sludgy riffs that'll make your ears bleed and there's a great dynamic throughout the record. The mix between Philip Cope's and Laura Pleasants' voices fits the music brilliantly. The band is coming to Oslo in January and I hope to catch the show!





15. Jonathan Wilson - Fanfare
Jonathan Wilson might be my discovery of the year, outside of metal. Best described, Wilson creates psychedelic folk rock inspired by some of the artists that make appearances on the records. These artists are David Crosby, Graham Nash, Roy Harper and Jackson Browne. To fit so many inspirations in one record it needs to be quite long, and it is... The album is nearly 80 minutes long and if I have any complaints about the album it is that it's a tad too long. However, there isn't a single track I would remove so maybe I'm all wrong...

2013, places 16-20

16. Bell Witch - Longing
Although released in 2012 I put it on my list as the vinyl was released in 2013. Some great doom releases this year and this is really one of them. The title "Longing" is really a great description of the music. There is a feeling of longing in the music throughout the entire record.






17. Pelican - Forever Becoming
Instrumental post-metal in the greatest of forms! Pelican released their strongest album yet with "Forever Becoming". A dynamic album that has anything you would like from an instrumental metal album without sounding pretentious. You've got your Mogwai melodies as well as some Mastodon like outbursts, a great combination!







18. Lumbar - The First And Last Days Of Unwelcome
Another one of those great doom releases of 2013! This is a short, hard-hitting and right to the point record. For a doom record to clock in at just 24 minutes is quite unusual, it's probably more usual that one song is of the same length.






19. The Dillinger Escape Plan - One Of Us Is The Killer
For me The Dillinger Escape Plan always deliver the goods, but since "Miss Machine" it's just been more of the same really. This album has been praised a lot, and rightly so, but there is always something missing from their albums I think. I can't put my finger on what it would be, maybe next album will fit my taste perfectly?





20. The National - Trouble Will Find Me
Maybe this album deserves a higher position on this list? For me it doesn't top the amazing "High Violet" from 2010. This might be a more even album, songwise. I miss the incredible highs that "High Violet" presented us with. Songs like "Bloodbuzz Ohio" and "Terrible Love" are among the best songs of the 00s.

End of the year list 2013.

I love looking at end of the year lists. I always get a lot of tips on records that I should get from these. So far I've bought nearly one hundred new records this year. It's been such a good year that I don't feel anywhere near complete on what records I want still that was released this year.

When I made a short list for a top ten or twenty list I came up with more than 40 albums, so it's been tough to decide.

Today I will present you the records that I would place between 21-40. I won't list them as there isn't really any idea to do it. The record I would put at the 40th place might end up on the 21 spot tomorrow and vice versa. I'm just mentioning these records as they are really good records that might would've ended up on a top ten list if it hadn't been for the imense quality of some releases this year.

Tomorrow I will list 20-11 and on Sunday you will get the top ten records of 2013.

In alphabetical order:
ASG - Blood Drive
Black Sabbath - 13
Carcass - Surgical Steel
Church Of Misery - Thy Kingdom Scum
Clutch - Earth Rocker
Cult Of Luna - Vertikal
Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance
Earthless - From The Ages
Esben And The Witch - Wash The Sins Not Only The Face
Fuzz - Fuzz
Inter Arma - Sky Burial
Jucifer - Something Russian...
Kadavar - Abra Kadavar
Kvelertak - Meir
The Ocean - Pelagial
Queens Of The Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
The New Alchemy - On The Other Side Of Light
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II
Vidunder - Vidunder
Vista Chino - Peace

These records are all part of the list. At which place will they end up, and can you name them all?

Organizing the record collection.

I got a couple of new cases yesterday. I've had a lot of records everywhere in the house at the moment because they don't fit in the cases I've got because they are full already. I've had to improvise with some beer cases and other things. Now I can put in all the records that haven't fit into the old cases into the system... the problem is how to organize? 

I'm having everything in alphabetical order at the moment but I have been thinking about organizing either by genre or by year... dilemmas of a record collector... 

Smashing Pumpkins - Aeroplane Flies High

Earlier this week I received this beauty! I bought it on Discogs. This release isn't that hard to find. What's so special about this one though is that it's still sealed! That's not too normal for a 17 year old release I think... 

This box set was re-released earlier this year and when a "rare" release like this is re-issued they either fall in price or increase even more. They fall in price as it's now available again for maybe a smaller price (the re-issue is quite pricey though...), or they increase in price as some collectors really want an original issue and are reminded of the record when the re-issue is out.

I've been wanting this box set for quite some time and as I finally found one that is sealed, I may still have to get one that is opened. I can't split the seal on this one! That's how a record collector thinks, and it's insane I know...

Deafheaven - Sunbather

I'm compiling a list of the best records of the year so far. I'll hopefully present it in a day or two. I'm listening to some of the records that I think have a good chance of ending up there.

Deafheaven's "Sunbather" is truly one of them! Such an amazing album. Much has been said about this album in alternative music press and it deserve every little piece of attention it gets. 

To best describe the music emotional black metal may be most fitting? The dynamics of the album are incredible, from brutal black metal parts to beautiful dreamy guitar parts that you almost can call shoegaze. By brutal black metal I don't mean in the vein of the "old" norwegian style, but this is something new(?).

Pelican - Forever Becoming

From Southern Lord comes one of the best releases so far this year, Pelican's "Forever Becoming".

This is Pelican's fifth album and it might be their strongest to date. They're an instrumental progressive metal band which might sound a bit boring but this is far from it! Why add a vocal if it doesn't enhance the music? Every instrument and every note is there for a reason.

The single from the album "Deny The Absloute" was the first song I heard and so far it stands out as the strongest point of the record, maybe together with the brilliantly beautiful closing track "Perpetual Dawn".

Southern Lord always put out a quality product, not only music wise, but the vinyl product. Heavy weight vinyl and beautiful gatefold sleeve. They deliver the goods as always! My copy is on orange and blue vinyl, it was the first version available and sold out the 500 copies fast on pre-order.

Instagram.

I suck at this blogging thing. I'm just terrible at updating it. There are so much stuff to write about that I don't know where to start....

I'll hopefully get to it soon... in the meantime, please follow me on instagram where I'm better at updating stuff:

http://instagram.com/vionylrichie

Queens Of The Stone Age - I Appear Missing.

Finally Queens Of The Stone Age release a song from their upcoming album "Like Clockwork". This song is called "I Appear Missing" and it's a really cool song. Makes me really wanting more. I can't wait for the album!

RIP Jeff Hanneman

At the moment I'm playing Slayer's thrash masterpiece "Seasons In The Abyss". This I do in honour of the tragic news of Jeff Hanneman's passing today.

Slayer was, probably together with Entombed, the first "real" metal band I started to listen to, nearly 15 years ago. I've seen them three times since then. Twice with Jeff and once without. Seeing the intimidating trio of Hanneman, Araya and King shredding their riffs and with mister Lombardo behind them beating the hell out of his drum set are some of my greatest concert experiences.

Rest In Peace Jeff Hanneman!

A busy summer!

This summer will be pretty awesome! I have quite a few great shows to look forward to.

In June I'll see Neurosis for the first time, two weeks after that Iron Maiden plays in Stockholm on their "Maiden England" tour, one week after that there is the Slottsfjell festival here in Tonsberg and late in July Smashing Pumpkins are coming to Oslo!

The biggest act for me at Slottsfjell is without a doubt, Converge. I consider all four of these bands to be among my, maybe, top ten favourite bands so it'll be an incredible month!

And as if this isn't enough we also have tickets for the Black Sabbath show in November. Quite the year 2013...

Skogen Brinner - 1st

This might be the best record of 2013! I've been a fan of Skogen Brinner for quite some time now and I have the two releases prior to this debut album, a cassette EP and a 7" single. On these two releases there are five songs (six if you include the cover of Black Sabbath's "Electric Funeral") and four of these are also on the album, this means five new songs.

"1st", which is the name of the album, is packed with cool fuzzy riffs. Most of the songs would stsnd strong as single tracks and they tiw together really well to get that album feel.

I wrote about the cassette that it was the perfect combination of Black Sabbath and Pugh Rogefeldt (I've seen this beeing mentioned a lot in other reviews as well) and it's still a fitting description. One of the greatest bands of all time and one of my favourite Swedish musicians, "1st" couldn't be better!

I must also mention that this album is released on Subliminal Sounds, a label that always delivers incredible stuff!

Record Store Day

Yesterday was the annual Record Store Day all over the world. The Garden was of course participating in the celebrations and we had an incredible day in both of our stores. It exceeded all of our expectations.

This year there were an insane amount of releases. I only got one for myself... I got the new single from David Bowie. It's a double A-sided with the songs "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" and "Where Are We Now", both taken from his brilliant last album "The Next Day".

There were a few releases more that I wanted, the re-issue of At The Drive-In's "Relationship In Command" and GZA's "Liquid Swords" in a really cool new version with a chess game and other stuff. We weren't able to get these in our store though. Hopefully they can arrive at a later point.

Two records to look forward too.

The two greatest albums of 2010 were Wolf People's "Steeple" and The National's "High Violet". This year they are both releasing follow ups to their previous masterpieces. I have great expectations for both of these.

Here's a video for the first song from Wolf People's upcoming album "Fain"


I still haven't found a new song from The National's new album titled "Trouble Will Find Me" but they have released the cover:

David Bowie - The Next Day LP

David Bowie - The Next Day

Finally I got my hands on the new Bowie vinyl on Saturday. The vinyl is not supposed to be available until the 29th of March, but a glitch at the Norwegian distributors saw them send out all pre-orders to Norwegian stores. So it's not officially for sale for little over a week.

Oh, how I looked forward to this record as soon as I heard the news about it in January. Since then I've listened to the two songs that were made available. First it was "Where Are We Now?" that is one of the stronger tracks on the album, not the best one though I think. In February "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" was released and it wasn't as good as the first single on the first few listenings but it grew.

The album was released for various streams and such long before I heard it the first time. I wanted to wait until I got my hands on the vinyl. Obviously I wasn't quite patient enough to do that. I gave it a few listens on Spotify last week and since Saturday it has been on the record player almost non-stop. However I had to put "Aladdin Sane" on the record player yesterday as my father had made a  notice that the brilliant song"You Feel So Lonely You Could Die" on "The Next Day" was the "Drive In Saturday" of 2013. He was quite right. And it is a good measure for this record. It actually measures up to a lot of the stuff Bowie did in the 70s, and that is saying a lot! Some of that material are among the greatest albums of all time.

A record that really lived up to my high expectations, from one of my all time favourite artists! Now I'm just hoping for a tour, or at least some shows in Scandinavia or the UK, so I get the chance to see him live.

My Bloody Valentine - m b v vinyl

Yesterday it finally arrived, 22 years after the last album was released. My Bloody Valentines new album arrived in the mail!

I wrote a short blog about the album after the first listen a month ago.

When I wrote that blog I was perhaps a bit negative as I was hoping for some more material like the earlier stuff the band did, pre "Loveless". I still think that "You Made Me Realise" and some songs on "Isn't Anything" are the best songs the band has made, whereas "Loveless" is arguably the best album they made.

I've been listening to the album a lot the past month as I got a free download when I pre-ordered the vinyl and it has grown and grown. It's a perfect progression in the band's career and it is amazing how it is possible to pick up like this where you left of over 20 years ago. It feels like an album that was released just a couple of years after "Loveless". They are not in anyway repeating themselves but they are still on the path which started with some (in MBV terms) pretty straight forward material in the early days where started to experiment some on "Isn't Anything" and then with "Loveless" they went all out, with was possible at the time. I've read somewhere that Kevin Shields record the guitars for the album and then put effects, after effects, after effects and finally erased the original guitar tracks, so that it's actually the least guitar based guitar based album ever, if you know what I mean?

Side A on "m b v" it's pretty as straight forward as you could expect from My Bloody Valentine today, it's beautiful soundscapes and you can sense some sort of melodies, not as clear as on "Loveless" but just as beautiful. The B side gets really experimental with almost drone parts and repetitive drums and guitar loops that will get your girlfriend ask "are they finished soon?". Oh, how I wish it wouldn't! But it does eventually, after 46 minutes of musical beauty. I still feel the album finishes incredibly strong with the six minute monster "Wonder 2".

Nine Inch Nails

In honour of today's news that Nine Inch Nails are now officially "active" again I'm playing their 1994 masterpiece "The Downward Spiral".

In a "note" Trent Reznor explains about some extensive touring plans for 2013 and 2014. I haven't yet seen the band perform live, so I hope I get my chance on this tour. And let's hope for a new album as well!

To sell, or not to sell?

I use Discogs.com as a database to keep track of my collection. What's really good about Discogs is that it's also a marketplace where you can have wish list and easily buy the stuff you want, as long as there is a seller who has it.

Last night I got an offer on this item:

It's the first demo tape from Amon Amarth. The offer I got was quite big, $180. I'm not really a collector of Amon Amarth it's just a cool item that I got when I bought a small collection of demo tapes some years ago. Selling it would would give me money to buy more vinyls so maybe I will?

Torche - Harmonicraft

It becomes more and more evident that 2012 was a brilliant year, record wise. I'm having a hard time putting a best of list as I have at least 20 albums that I want on a top ten spot...

Torche's "Harmonicraft" is one of them. This is really another one of those incredibly interesting bands that you can't put into one genre. There is equal parts Baroness, Mastodon and Foo Fighters, to name a few. I would probably call it sludge-pop.

It's a really cool vinyl edition with a lollipop coloured slip mat and the album is presented on a clear vinyl.

My Ljudkassett collection

This is a picture of my complete collection of Ljudkassett releases so far.

I've mentioned this brilliant new label a few times earlier. I was lucky enough to just have discovered the band Skogen Brinner when they were to release a cassette on the newly started label Ljudkassett. This release was the labels first and it was released simultaneously with number two, "Too Fast For Ove" by Massgrav. I was impressed by the two first releases so I decided to buy the next one as well. And that I'm really happy about! The third release was by the band Goat which grew extremely fast last year and eventually ended up releasing one of the most praised and best albums of the year. Since the cassette was a limited release of only 100 copies it has increased insanely in price. I got it for under 100 SEK and if you want it today it seems to cost at least five times that, for a cassette!

Since then the label has had a steady flow of quality releases in more or less any genre, which I find to be great! I have been lucky to not miss out on any so far, some of them seem to sell out within a day or two. The last one I actually bought while I was in my bosses office, waiting for her to set up for a meeting we were supposed to have. Luckily for me I got the Salem's Pot cassette as it was soon sold out.

I'm looking forward to more great releases from the label and I'll hopefully be able to get my hands on every single one of them!

Sacramentum - Far Away From The Sun

Sacramentum - Far Away From The Sun

I remember when my friend Daniel played this record to me back when we were living and studying in Hultsfred. I was really into death metal back then and had only briefly listened to bands like Dissection. He played a lot of this stuff to me and this record is one of the best from that time.

It is Sacramentum's debut originally released in 1995 just when Swedish death and black metal reached it's peak (if it just hasn't already). It was recorded by the infamous Dan Swanö who was responsible for a lot of great records at the time.

The music is best described as a blend of death and black metal with a melodic touch. The comparisons with Dissection is inevitable.

This record stands out as one of the best in Swedish extreme metal, but unfortunately it hasn't got the attention it deserves. Maybe now with this re-issue finally seen a release?

My Bloody Valentine - M B V

This morning My Bloody Valentine released their new album, entitled "M B V".

It was released digitally and to stream on Youtube. I pre-ordered the vinyl which also comes with the CD and an imidiate digital download. This is the first album they release since"Loveless" which was released in 1991(!). I've only had the chance to listen to the album once, but it sounds promising! This album sounds more "Loveless" than "Isn't Anything", I was maybe hoping for some more "IA"-stuff...

The closing song "Wonder 2" was the song that made the most impression on me on the first listen.

Swedish punk compilation needs your support!

One of the scenes that are closest to my heart is the Swedish punk scene and the sub scenes connected to it. I did collect some punk stuff earlier when I was living home in Sweden. I got in touch with a lot of cool people and when I was living close to Stockholm it was easy to go to concerts as well, good times!

As of late it's been easier to "re-connect" with the Swedish punk scene due to some small labels that have poped up lately.

Recently I heard about a project that Mikael Sörling is running. I know him as a punk writer in the Swedish metal/punk magazine Close-up Magazine, and he has his own blog at sirling.blogspot.com. He's compiled a list of songs from Swedish punk bands that he's looking to release as a double vinyl. He needs some support a head of this release. I've "donated" for two copies, one for The Garden and one for myself. So if you like the Swedish punk scene, please support! I'm really looking forward to this release.

2013

It's time for an update!

We're well into the new year and I have some stuff to update you on. This post will just be a few different "shorts", and I'll hopefully have more posts in the coming days. A "best-of-2012-list" is a must as well, so expect that soon!

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Graveyard's "Lights Out" was the first album I played in 2013, on new year's day. It really is a great album and it will probably end up on that 2012-list...

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These two are probably the ones to end up on the top spots.... Swans - The Seer and Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind

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I've bought myself a new record player. It's a Pro-Ject Debut E. I'm very pleased with the Pro-Ject player I've had for a few years so I decided to get one more as I need to have record players on each floor in the appartment.

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It's been a slow month so far "record-buyin-wise". I'm trying to have a month without buying any records, and I've succeeded so far. I can't remember the last time that happened, must be some years ago. Let's see if I actually can wait until February to pick up the latest vinyls in the picture disc series from Iron Maiden for example...

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And last, but far from least... What a year we have a head of us! David Bowie AND Black Sabbath... Need I say more!?

I really love the first song of Bowie's upcoming album:

That's it for now!