We invited artists, labels and publicists to tell us which records or artists they’ve personally enjoyed over the last twelve months. Danny Marshall‘s picks below. Baptists‘ latest album, Bloodmines, is out now via Southern Lord.
Waingro – Mt. Hood (Self Released)
“Waingro is my favorite band in Vancouver. While all of the musicianship on this album hauls, it’s really the guitar playing that gets me. Part of that is knowing that the solos that appear on the record probably weren’t painstakingly slaved over in the studio – Brian Sepanzyk does all of it and more when they play live – truly just an amazing player. Love these guys.”
High on Fire – Luminiferous (eOne)
“The last two High on Fire albums sound so fucking good. I mean, I’m a sucker for Kurt Ballou’s recordings in general, but he and HoF are kind of the ultimate combo – who else is going to make the drums sound that thundering!? The thing that I love most about this one is the amount of full speed ahead parts – HoF seems to like that snare-on-one-and-three feel when they open up, but on Luminiferous they REALLY move a few times with a bit more forward momentum than I feel they have had on the last couple of albums. It would be a crime to listen to this at a low volume.”
Halshug – Blodets Bånd (Southern Lord)
“Often with bands of this style I’ll love an album at first, but then kind of forget about it for whatever reason, but once in a while, an album like this comes along!!! I love it – love how pissed it sounds, love the songs themselves, and love how stressed out it makes me feel. Really, really hope to see these guys live at some point.”
Ajax – Ajax (Static Shock)
“Even though it will probably only take as long to listen to this record as it does for you to read these few sentences, it carries as much weight as any good full length record in it’s style. Do these guys have a full album, or just these short ones they keep putting out? If there’s a better punk band out there, (I won’t believe you, but) please tell me!!! Another musical group that I really hope to see play live.”
Metz – II (Sub-Pop)
“A noisey, kinda heavy, catchy-as-fuck record. If you’ve seen them live, you probably picture their drummer wailing away the whole time you’re listening to this, too. Also really makes me want to go buy a bunch of Fender stuff. I think the internet said they’re doing something-or-other in some capacity with John Reis, so there’s a reason to be excited for the otherwise bleak, depressing future of the planet.”
Sumac – The Deal (Sige/Profound Lore)
“This music coming to life and having the privilege to play with these guys have definitely been highlights of this past year. This is just such a neat record for so many reasons – it’s both super pretty and totally terrifying, and, most interestingly to me, is technical music presented in a very non-exhausting way. Having really been turned on to out-there heavy bands around the turn of the millennium, getting kinda burnt on confusing music and craving some basic structure was inevitable for me, so hearing these three present some pretty weird shit in an extremely exciting way was really fucking cool. Their take on “heavy” sounds are great, as well – Aaron Turner’s guitar tone, to me anyway, sounds more like a Shellac record on 33 than I feel most people would go for to get a “heavy” sound, and it rules. Plus, it’s Brian Cook from fucking Botch. Oh, and Nick, too – he is a good drummer, that’s for sure.
I could go on and on about this one – the songs are unreal, the playing is fucked… basically, if you didn’t like this album, you probably just didn’t hear it right.”
Sweet Cobra – Earth (Magic Bullet)
“I probably listened to this the most out of any album this year, so I guess that means it’s my # 1. Again, it was the Ballou production qualities that drew me to this at first, but these songs fucking kill. These guys must have so much fun writing and playing this stuff. I love how the bass is the boss, giving the guitar the freedom to just wang away and be textural and really come in for some weight when it’s needed. This stuff really reminds me of earlier Young Widows, and sometimes like the Constantines on steroids. This pulls together so many elements from a bunch of different styles and is still a totally cohesive collection of tunes. I’ve been a little obsessed with it, and it’s been very inspiring.”