A Dark Orange Breeze
Assessing A Life Lived Across 41 Years Of Recorded Music
Apologies to those of you who assumed this new venture was going to be any less self-centered than the old blog. Submitted for your approval: yet another trip down my memory lane.
On April 25th, 2024 I will turn 41 years old. I decided on my morning run today (it’s Monday 4/22 as I type this sentence) I should look back over the last 41 years and choose my favorite album from each year I’ve been alive. Simple enough premise, right? I will be shocked if this newsletter is sent out before my birthday on Thursday.
Is now a good time to mention you should consider a subscription to Swan Fungus? The members only mix tapes have been pretty good thus far. I’ve got some fun “Interesting People” interviews in varying stages of completion. At some point I’ll make dumb merch you’ll never deign to wear. Or if you just want the free posts, that’s fine too! I love for those little serotonin hits when a new reader subscribes.
I can’t believe I’ve really committed to looking back at 41 years of music to pick one record from each year that is my favorite. This is as big a recipe for disaster as I’ve committed to in quite some time. Nevertheless, the premise intrigued me, so let’s see where this goes.
1983.
Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes (Slash): This is a fairly easy choice, actually. I could have gone with the Dicks’ Kill From The Heart or the Chameleons’ Script The Bridge if I sought street cred, but there’s no way I’ve listened to any album released during the year of my birth more than this one. I was introduced to it at summer camp in 1994, it was the first CD I purchased when I got home at the end of that summer, and my mint-condition LP is a prized piece of my record collection. It also boasts one of the most recognizable songs of the decade (“Blister In The Sun”) and every single song (yes, even “Good Feeling”) is a hit. No misses. The album holds personal significance as well, as it was a staple of my marathon training runs. Clocking in at a crisp 36-minutes, it was the perfect length for a mid-week 5k followed by my cool-down walk home.
1984.
The Replacements - Let It Be (Twin Tone): This was way tougher. The krautrock nerd in me wanted to choose Gottsching’s E2-E4 and there was serious consideration given to The Blue Nile’s A Walk Across The Rooftops, and there was less serious consideration given to Bathory. In the end, Let It Be edged out …Rooftops. I’d heard a few songs at various points in my life, but once I read Our Band Could Be Your Life it became obvious that this was a special record in need of close inspection. At one point in my OCD-driven adult life, I owned five copies of this record on vinyl because I needed to find one I deemed to be flawless. Much like the Violent Femmes, I once ranked Let It Be my sixth favorite record to run to when I was training. It managed to be fun, edgy, and kinda emo at the same time. You know what? I’m going to listen to it right now.
1985.
The Cure - The Head On The Door (Elektra): Okay, this one was tough. The Descendents, Crime + The City Solution, Kate Bush, Depeche Mode, The Fall, Mekons, and Jesus And Mary Chain all have some claim to this year. And that’s without addressing albums I’ve discovered more recently that are awesome. Like Pentagram, or Dif Juz. The Head On The Door is my favorite Cure record (sorry, later ‘80s fans) so I’m not ashamed of this pick at all. Hooks for days, brilliant imagery, lush arrangements, it’s gonna sound pejorative but if someone unfamiliar with the band wanted to listen to a Cure record and didn’t know where to start, I think this is the correct recommendation. I’m more than okay with this over Black Celebration. I’m sure I’ll revisit DM later.
1986.
Big Black - Atomizer (Touch & Go): Another tough choice. My first choice was Licensed to Ill, which I even wrote a blurb for before changing my mind. As much as I love Pleasure To Kill, The Colour Of Spring, and Sound Of Confusion…those just aren’t the right choice. If I’d chosen High Rise II or Virginia Astley’s Hope In A Darkened Heart you would (rightly) call bullshit. So I listened to both the Beasties and Big Black, and in my humble opinion I think it comes down to which record has aged better. Licensed To Ill sounds a little… silly, no? Maybe that’s not the right word. Plus, haven’t the Beasties kind of disavowed elements of their early work? Atomizer, conversely, is exactly what it is. An unrelenting sonic assault, challenging for outsiders, but rewarding for those who enjoy subversive lyrics juxtaposed to pummeling instrumentation.
1987.
Spacemen 3 - The Perfect Prescription (Glass): This was my first no-brainer, but then I decided to double check just to see what else came out this year. That made the decision much harder. Dinosaur Jr., Big Black, The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Cure, Go-Betweens, The Bats, Butthole Surfers…thankfully I’m not a fan of Music For The Masses or this would have been an even tougher choice. Nevertheless, I stuck with my gut and picked Spacemen 3. A beautiful, minimalist concept album that focuses on a drug-induced trip from ascent to brutal comedown. What commences with bright and optimistic opener “Take Me to the Other Side” ends uneasily with the desperate finale “Call the Doctor.” The first time I heard The Perfect Prescription I felt like a lousy drug addict. It’s Trainspotting for your ears.
1988.
Talk Talk - Spirit Of Eden (Parlophone): Okay, this was the first actual crisis I’ve encountered making this list. Surfer Rosa would have been my choice if I was still in high school. Fade Out would have been the choice during my college years. Hey Judester or Twelve Point Buck would have been the post-collegiate, pre-Los Angeles choice, and more recently I’ve been enamored of 16 Lovers Lane. Spirit Of Eden has some ineffable quality those other records lack that I simply can’t render with words. It’s so much more ambitious than its peers, its atmosphere is so hauntingly beautiful, it really does stand apart from the pack.
1989.
Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever (MCA): Allow me to make my first bold selection of this list. There are a number of reasons I think this is the wrong choice for this year. If you put five records in front of me and told me to pick one…and those five records were Doolittle, Floating Into The Night, On Fire, Daddy Has A Tail and Full Moon Fever, there’s a pretty good chance I pick the other four first. Alas, this album is so embedded in my subconscious I can’t possibly ignore it. I first heard this cassette in the back seat of Peter Cohen’s car on the way to Shea Stadium to watch the Mets. I remember vividly how six-year-old me had never heard anything it before, and when I got home I wanted to talk to my mom more about Tom Petty than the Mets game (!!!). I think it was the first cassette I ever asked my parents to buy for me. It was very informative of my early music tastes. There’s even an argument to be made that if I hadn’t been overexposed to tapes like Full Moon Fever, Storm Front, and Steel Wheels, Nirvana wouldn’t have hit as hard two years later when my mom bought me Nevermind.
1990.
Depeche Mode - Violator (Mute): I don’t want to do this anymore, guys. Why do I have to choose between Violator, Frigid Stars, Bellybutton, and Nowhere. Mostly this was a choice between Jellyfish, one of my favorite bands of all time, and Depeche Mode, one of my favorite bands of all time. So you can see why this choice was tough. I almost want to call it a tie. Alas, that’s not the mission I set out on when I devised this dumb, self-centered post. So yeah, Violator. The best album in the band’s illustrious career, one of the defining albums of the decade, and — for lack of a better word — a masterpiece. Bellybutton has the melodies, and in a kind of tongue-in-cheek way I adore it (also this is MY list! I can pick what I want!)…but Violator is a completely different beast.
1991.
Slint - Spiderland (Touch & Go): I’m ready to throw my arms up in defeat. How the hell am I supposed to pick a favorite between Nevermind, Loveless, and Spiderland. There are even arguments to be made for Laughing Stock and Pearl Jam’s Ten, which was the first CD I ever owned and first album where I memorized all the words to every song. All that said, Spiderland is as close as I can get to having a desert island disc. It never gets old. In 1991 Nevermind turned me from a kid who listened to Tom Petty and Billy Joel into a kid who listened to Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, and Soundgarden. It happened years later, but Spiderland turned me from a kid who listened to Smashing Pumpkins into…well…me.
1992.
Medicine - Shot Forth Self Living (Creation): I was kind of tempted to put New Miserable Experience here but I’m trying to be serious. As good as 1991 turned out to be, 1992 wasn’t nearly as bountiful when it comes to Evan-approved albums. Slanted And Enchanted, Honey’s Dead, Cunning Stunts, In The Presence of Nothing…some classics were released that year but none of them are as formative as those mentioned in previous years. I think, given these options, I’d go with Medicine. I liked to call them the American My Bloody Valentine when trying to hype them up to friends. It’s not the worst comp I’ve ever offered the world.
1993.
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream (Virgin): I toyed with picking Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) or Doggystyle here, but in the end I settled on the Pumpkins. It makes the most sense. I listen to it more than those two, and certainly more than Fake Train, Souvlaki, or even In Utero. It would be disingenuous to pick like, Palace Brothers or Seam or Brainiac. I love those records, but the truth is Siamese Dream was my favorite album at that time, it was my favorite album for a long time, and I still listen to it today. It wasn’t something I discovered in 2006 or 2016, it’s always been a fun listen. In Utero might have an argument as I wore that tape out from repeated listens, but I think this is the right pick.
1994.
Jeff Buckley - Grace (Columbia): I get the feeling the further I go with this exercise the harder these choices are going to get. As technology improved, the world became more connected, and access to new music grew exponentially. There are probably ten choices from 1994 I could have made, which at some point have been described as, “My favorite album ever.” Usually to impress a woman or someone in my industry. White Birch, Illmatic, Crooked Rain Crooked Rain, Diary, Ill Communication, Weezer, Parklife, Definitely Maybe…that doesn’t even get to the one-rung-lower tier highlighted by Shellac, Built to Spill, and Melvins, all of whom released career-defining albums that year. Grace rises above all those in my humble opinion. It was an album — like Spiderland — that quite literally changed me. It immediately resonated and has stuck with me ever since.
1995.
Elliott Smith - Elliott Smith (Kill Rock Stars): Would I have discovered Elliott Smith had I not fallen in love with Grace? Yes, probably at some point. But it might not have clicked the same way had I not shifted my attitude towards “singer-songwriters,” whom for far too long I thought of as inferior. Dylan was a songwriter. Elton John, Van Morrison, Bryan Adams. They were songwriters. Jeff Buckley — and especially Elliott Smith — changed that for me. Pearl Jam might have been the first CD I ever learned all the words too, but this was the first album I learned all the chords to every song. And in some sense I think that heightened my opinion of it. Anyone could play those songs, even me. But not everyone could make those simple chords so gut-wrenching, so effective, so brooding and beautiful.
1996.
Weezer - Pinkerton (DGC): Being a freshman in high school and hearing Pinkerton for the first time is an almost indescribable experience. It felt like reading your own journal entries sent to music, or a slightly-buzzed late night conversation with a friend about the social and sexual frustrations of being in high school that only you and your friends could understand or relate to. It’s no wonder this has become the band’s most revered album, and spawned a generation of imitators. It also happens to be quite timeless. I can’t really listen to a lot of things I loved in high school anymore, but I’ll make exceptions for this and a few others.
1997.
Spiritualized - Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space (Arista): Originally I had Ok Computer here, with a thank you note to my old camp counselor Colin from Scotland, who introduced me to Radiohead, Blur, Manic Street Preachers, Pulp, Ash, and Supergrass in the summer of 1997. And I wanted to stick with that choice, because if it weren’t for that introduction I wouldn’t have asked my mom permission to see Radiohead on their next US tour in 1998, a show that Spiritualized opened. Plus, this list is supposed to be my favorite records. This might be my single favorite record of all time. It’d be dumb to pick Radiohead over it, even if — at the time — I liked Radiohead more. Nah, it’s Spiritualized. I could also argue I’d take the entirety of their recorded output over Radiohead’s, but I’ll save that for another time.
1998.
Bedhead - Transaction De Novo (Touch & Go): This was the first toss-up I’ve had in a while. I had a blurb written for How It Feels To Be Something On in which I spoke about struggling to choose it over In The Aeroplane Over The Sea. But then I looked at my record collection and realized I skipped Head Trip In Every Key. And now here I am tossing those albums in the rubbish bin of history to claim Bedhead as my favorite album of 1998. But also let’s take a moment to laud the Kadane Brothers for crafting a perfect album that has more than stood the test of time.
Note: there seems to be some confusion about when Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy released I See A Darkness. His Bandcamp says 1998, Wikipedia says 1999. Who knows!? Anyway, it’d probably be #1 in 1999 and #2 in 1998 so I’m shouting it out separately just to bring attention to this weird little quirk.
1999.
Tarentel - From Bone To Satellite (Temporary Residence LTD): This started the era of my life where I had friends in college, who would come home and report what shows they’d seen or what albums they’d heard from friends, none of which I had been exposed to yet. In 1999 I was still listening to what I liked from the previous two or three years, but this is when outside influences really started to open my eyes. I never would have heard of Tarentel without friends like Ian playing their CDs for me. It was transformative. This record is so good. In a pre-EITS, pre-Godspeed world, this was my impression of post-modern rock music. It allowed those bands to really blow my mind. Tarentel’s sound shifted towards the experimental but the quality of their records never diminished. “For Carl Sagan” still rocks.
2000.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven (Constellation): I flirted with making this White Pony but my conscience got the best of me. That record might be more fun to listen to (as is Dopethrone, Rated R, XTRMNTR, 1000 Hurts), and there are some very serious contenders as well (The Sophtware Slump, Ghost Tropic, Internal Wrangler, Heartbreaker, The For Carnation…), but GY!BE is the choice for me. I still have memories of walking around Burlington in the winter of my freshman year of college, “Gathering Storm” the soundtrack to the cold grey world around me. Seeing them live for the first time was revelatory. It’s one of the most chaotic, stunning, painful, wonderful records released during my lifetime. Maybe the most. I don’t know. Catch me on the right day and it is.
2001.
Beulah - The Coast Is Never Clear (Velocette): In one of the most painful social interactions of my adult life, I was chatting with Shephard Fairey at work one day, and asked him about how he ended up contributing his art to this record — which I am deeply fond of — and he said something to the extent of, “Oh. I don’t really remember. I do a lot of art.” I’d even brought my copy of the record to work with me that day in the hopes that he might sign it for me. I kept it in my bag and went about my day. If you haven’t already, read my interview with Bill Swan about Beulah. Then listen to this record. Then stick around, maybe I’ll reach out to him for another interview…
2002.
Nina Nastasia - The Blackened Air (Touch & Go): This will probably be my most controversial pick because I’m picking against Oceanic, Mclusky Do Dallas, Didn’t It Rain, and Abilene’s Two Guns Twin Arrows, an album so good I’ve written multiple think-pieces about it through the years. I was driving down to El Segundo this past weekend and I put on The Blackened Air, and was talking to Christine about Nina’s life and music, and special it is and how much I love it. In the pantheon of singer-songwriters she’s right up there with L. Cohen, Townes, Jason Molina, and Elliott Smith in my eyes. She’s had a remarkable career. Her Peel Sessions are the stuff of legend. If you haven’t heard the one with Huun-Huur-Tu as her backing band I’ll try to post it in the near future. For subscribers only, of course.
2003.
Songs: Ohia - The Magnetic Electric Co. (Secretly Canadian): As if by design, my next pick would be the aforementioned Jason Molina. In a weird coincidence, I played this album on the way home from El Segundo on Saturday. I vacillate between this and The Lioness as my favorite of his records, but considering “The Big Game Is Every Night” has become my favorite Molina composition, this one gets the edge. It’s also when he finally shed all this weird comps to Will Oldham and struck a more folk-rock/Americana group sound that fit his style perfectly. Hell, after this one he stopped performing as Songs: Ohia and started performing as MEC. If you haven’t heard it before, stop what you’re doing and listen to “The Big Game Is Every Night.” You’ll see.
2004.
Isis - Panopticon (Ipecac): I feel like I just re-assessed my thoughts on the music of 2004 (oh wait, I did). I spoke very highly of that Mono record — which is fantastic, their best, and holds up quite well — but I’m pretty sure if I could re-order the list now, I’d put Isis at the top. Not only is Panopticon one of the best, heaviest slabs of post-metal ever put to tape, it might even be more grandiose than its predecessor, Oceanic.
2005.
Dead Meadow - Feathers (Matador): I wanted to throw everyone for a loop and pick Nine Horses’ Snow Borne Sorrow, but that would be disingenuous. Boris’ Pink was the pick for a while, just edging out the self-titled Serena-Maneesh record, but then I started thinking about this record, and man it’s so good. When I was having anxiety issues during my last semester in college I would hum the melody to “Let It All Pass” to calm myself down. “Let it pass,” or “Let it all pass” was the mantra I learned in therapy to help talk myself down from panic attacks. So, yeah. I sang that song to myself A LOT through the years. Side note: Steve Kille passed away a few days ago, and although I didn’t know him well he was always incredibly nice when he’d come into the record store. He loved to chat about his band, or bands he was working with through Xemu Records, and whenever I bumped into him at shows he recognized me and would say hello. He was one of the good ones, and will be missed.
2006.
Jasper TX - I’ll Be Long Gone Before My Light Reaches You (Lampse): It turns out 2006 was a really weird year with nothing that truly stood out as a masterpiece. On my blog I called Boris’ Pink the best of the year but it was first released in Japan in late 2005 so technically that was inaccurate. I could have gone with Zelienople’s Stone Academy or Psychic Ills’ Dins, or even The Drones’ Gala Mill which has become one of my favorites of the aughts in recent years. The Jasper TX record marked a huge shift in my consumption of music because it was an Aquarius Records recommendation. I recently wrote about the impact AQ had on me, so it’s only fitting that something unique they hipped me to remains — to me — one of the best records released during my lifetime.
2007.
White Hills - Glitter Glamour Atrocity (White Hills Music): Oh, how much ink I’ve spilled espousing the greatness of Dave W. and Ego Sensation. This was the one that started my love affair with White Hills. I had read about it online, and then I saw them open for Titan at that infamous show at Lit Lounge, and the rest is history. Searing, mesmerizing space rock to help you ascend to a higher plane. Yes, I will continue preach the gospel White Hills ‘til my final breath.
2008.
U.S. Christmas - Eat The Low Dogs (Neurot): I read something on Facebook recently from Nate Hall, a hint of news on the U.S. Christmas front. This would be exciting, as their last proper studio album was in 2011. Eat The Low Dogs recalls the best Hawkwind had to offer with synthesizers, theremins, constant whirring effects…a heady/heavy good time. By the way on the blog my favorite album from ‘08 was the Harvey Milk one. I didn’t know Have A Nice Life at the time, but Deathconsciousness is a solid option as well.
2009.
Vic Chesnutt - At The Cut (Constellation): This was a tough one. I could have gone with Zelienople (again), or one of the fifty Emeralds albums from 2009, both of which would have been very on-brand for me. Same goes for Bong, Grouper, any of those old Swan Fungus favorites. Vic Chesnutt didn’t even make my Top 100 list at the time, but it’s a remarkable record. Backed by members of A Silver Mt. Zion and Godspeed You! Black Emperor (plus Guy Picciotto!), the songs here are bleak, fragile, and striking.
2010.
Chelsea Wolfe - The Grime And The Glow (Pendu Sound Recordings): Yup, this is where the Chelsea Wolfe obsession began. It was actually tougher than I thought to pick a favorite from this year because there were strong contenders like Emeralds (again), The Body, Arp, Ufomammut, Oneohtrix Point Never, Alcest, and Year Of No Light. Was there a better run of albums at this time than Wolfe’s? This album, Apokalypsis, and Unknown Rooms were all released between 2010 and 2012, and all were album-of-the-year contenders on the old blog. Wild.
2011.
Giles Corey - Giles Corey (Enemies List): This might be the first choice I’m not 100% sold on. I could have gone with Grouper, or Chelsea Wolfe again, or Tim Hecker, William Fowler Collins, Kurt Vile, or A Winged Victory For The Sullen. I had Psychic Paramount’s II as my favorite on the blog. Once I heard this album for the first time I was hooked, though. It’s up there with some of the more depressing albums I’ve ever heard, and I’m not sure it’s supposed to be funny like Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy is. So, yeah, with song titles like “I’m Going To Do It” and “Nobody’s Ever Going To Want Me” aren’t for everyone.
2012.
Panopticon - Kentucky (Handmade Birds): I almost went with Billy Woods’ History Will Absolve Me because of recency bias, and I was tempted by Frank Ocean, Felix, Pallbearer, Zelienople (again!), Shearwater, and even Dead Can Dance. Kentucky introduced me to a whole new realm of metal and for that I am eternally grateful. Oh, man. The Paul Buchanan album was also 2012 wasn’t it? This year in general was way better than I anticipated. But yeah, bluegrass black metal. Whenever someone tells me all metal sounds the same, Kentucky is where I point them. I haven’t had a lot of people come back to me telling me they didn’t like it.
2013.
Deafheaven - Sunbather (Deathwish): There were a couple other options I could have gone with here like Nick Cave, Haxan Cloak, Skagos, and Russian Circles, but nothing really captured the spirit of my 2013 like Deafheaven. At the time, post-metal wasn’t exactly a novel concept anymore, but this record felt inspired not only by bands like Weakling and Wolves in the Throne Room, but by ‘90s alternative bands such as Hum and the Cranberries. That is what helped it stand out at the time, and it definitely inspired a lot of bands putting out similarly-inspired records today.
2014.
Ben Frost - Aurora (Bedroom Community): The first time I heard Ben Frost (By The Throat) I knew I was had stumbled upon something special. Since then he’s become one of those artists whose entire recorded output I need to own. I mean, you don’t have to look far to see the influence he’s had on how I think about electronic/experimental music. In terms of the album itself, whereas By The Throat felt more calculated, Aurora is more primal and spine-tingling. I love it.
2015.
Trapped Within Burning Machinery - The Fifth Element (Black Voodoo): Every time I listen to this record I want to go back and amend my old Top 100 from 2015. I criminally underrated this record at the time, and it has become one of my favorite all-time post-metal/doom metal records. The last I heard from Trapped was in 2017 when I saw them live down the street in Highland Park. On that night they played a song called “Abysswalker,” which was inspired by a character from the Dark Souls games. I figured at some point a new concept album would appear based on that game series, or video games in general, or something. Sadly, they’ve gone silent since a Facebook post in 2021.
2016.
Cult Of Luna & Julie Christmas - Mariner (Indie): This was a very tough one, with Atrocity Exhibition, Blonde, Teens Of Denial, Still They Pray, Marked For Death, and Love Streams all having legitimate claims to being my favorite of the year. In fact, I had Teens Of Denial pre-filled before I started digging deeper into my record collection for alternate choices. I subbed in Marked For Death before finally remembering Mariner came out that year. Speaking of which, I pre-ordered the new Julie Christmas record last week and I have a feeling it will be ranked pretty high on my year-end list this year.
2017.
Bell Witch - Mirror Reaper (Profound Lore): I don’t know what was going on my life in 2017. I think I was between jobs for a while, then I started working in this office with a bunch of 25-year-olds who were my superiors, and there was a lot of general chaos and upheaval. Somehow this ended up with me being obsessed with the new Migos record and phoning in the rest of my investigations into the best new music of the year. Otherwise I would have paid much closer attention bands like Cloakroom, Less Art, Cavernlight, Dvne, and Couch Slut. Mutoid Man’s War Moans was a top 3 album of that year, and I ranked it 30-something because I was stuck in a cubicle hearing Gucci Mane, Lana Del Rey, and Kendrick Lamar on repeat for half a year. That said, Mirror Reaper is an enormous, brilliant, heartbreaking, earth-shattering slab of music.
2018.
Anna Von Hausswolff - Dead Magic (City Slang): Going back through my archives this year was tough because there wasn’t one stand-out record I fell in love with, just a lot of very good albums. Panopticon, Tim Hecker, Khemmis, Yob, Tropical Fuck Storm, Shame, and Saba could all be considered favorites depending on which day you catch me and what my current mood is. Dead Magic is full of sonic wonder, easily the best AVH record yet. It sounds like a cross between Swans, the Dead Can Dance album Anastasis, and Kate Bush.
2019.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Ghosteen (Ghosteen, Ltd): On the other hand, 2019 was packed to the gills with all-time greats. Honestly my favorite would be a toss up between this, Aldous Harding’s Designer, Billy Woods’ Hiding Places, the Purple Mountains record, Mizmor, White Ward’s Love Exchange Failure, Lingua Ignota, Cult of Luna, or Greet Death. These albums are all still fresh enough to be in heavy rotation on my Apple Music library. My choice of Ghosteen is because that record pretty much took my breath away the first time I heard it. I wrote at the time, “I don’t think it’s hyperbole or short-sighted to argue that Ghosteen might be the most powerful, compelling, masterful album [Cave] has recorded. Whereas Skeleton Tree almost felt like too much — I’ll admit it’s a bit too uncomfortable and personal for me — Ghosteen approaches tragedy not as something that is not uniquely his but as something uniquely human. No one goes through life unscathed. We all experience loss, no one is ready for it, we all grieve and cope in different ways. We may not overcome it, but we all experience it.”
2020.
Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full and The Helm Of Sorrow (Sacred Bones): Emma and Thou sound like they belong together. She’s never sounded as confident, or as heavy, and her voice set against Bryan Funck’s screech is a perfect pairing. Man, that pandemic half-year was a weird one.
2021.
Arab Strap - As Days Get Dark (Rock Action): I maybe could have chosen Kowloon Walled City or Dave here, but the pure unadulterated happiness I felt marinating in a new Arab Strap record still hasn’t really worn off. In fact, I’m so excited about the soon-to-be-released I'm totally fine with it 👍 don't give a fuck anymore 👍, I just paid $60 to pre-order the signed variant from Assai in the UK. With lyrics as clever and hilarious and gross and brilliant as ever. With the same bubbling of unease and dread beneath the grimy surface. This record soars with the best of what these guys have ever written.
2022.
Mizmor / Thou - Myopia (Gilead Media): Again, we’re not that far removed from 2022 so my previously-reported favorite record of that year remains my favorite today. What could possibly be better than a collaboration between two of the most successful purveyors of blackened doom metal? There’s no world in which this pairing could not work, and the fact that it exceeded my expectations is a testament to just how monumental this slab of extreme heaviness is.
2023.
Lucinda Chua - YIAN (4AD): As I wrote just a couple months ago, “To my complete lack of surprise, YIAN remains the most striking, beautiful, and powerful record of 2023. Yes, you read the right. More powerful than even Panopticon, Milanku, and Horrendous. A wall of sound doesn't always have to be filled with feedback or distortion, sometimes it can be a glowing voice rising above vibrating strings and Rhodes-ish keys, forcing your attention on it, pleading for you to listen. It's obviously an immensely personal record, but it's never uninviting. Somewhere in that haze of reverb-drenched vocals and minimalist arrangements is an entry point for you to join in the process of self-reflection. Upon reaching the final strains of "Something Other Than Years" it feels as if something in you has changed. Hopefully you're not parked on a side street somewhere crying your eyes out (if you are though, feel free to get in touch). Hopefully it resonates with you as much as it does for me.”
2024.
TBD