And so ends 2011. If I’m honest, I didn’t find as many great albums as I did last year, but found a lot of good ones. Here are the best:

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10. Russian Circles – Empros

Genre: Post-rock
Russian Circles continue to do what I love about them. Three guys – guitar, bass and drums – playing music that allows each of them space, each of them moments to shine, while keeping perfect harmony throughout. Nothing superfluous is added, it’s just great musicianship. And hey, this one even has a song with vocals in it!

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9. Mamaleek – Kurdaitcha

Genre: Black metal, experimental
This is an interesting one, that’s for sure. Two brothers from San Francisco take black metal guitar effects and vocals, and use them to create something closer resembling post-rock. It’s strangely disturbing at times thanks to it’s creepy keyboards effects, blurry production values, and offbeat instrumentals. This is an album bound to divide opinion but I’m firmly on the positive side, great stuff.

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8. Jacaszek – Glimmer

Genre: Electroacoustic
A recent acquisition, but one that left an immediate impact. Glimmer has a beautiful fusion of orchestral classical instruments and electronic augmentation. The effect is like decayed music – compositions that were once busy and grand, but now have been eroded by the steady grind of time.

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7. The Mountain Goats – All Eternal’s Deck

Genre: Folk, indie
The brilliant storytelling folk-dude John Darnielle returns with another strong effort, tackling a wider variety of themes than the other Mountain Goats albums I’ve had the pleasure of listening to. While it lacks a cohesive concept, the album’s peppered with catchy songs and lyrics really go after the listener and make them pay attention.

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6. Wolves In The Throne Room – Celestial Lineage

Genre: Black metal
This is the most atmospheric and varied that I’ve heard WitTR. There’s a lot of bleak soundscapes built with mournful guitar effects, and the heavier sections seem more reluctant to just jump straight into tremolo riffing. The slow, heavy, mystical closer Prayer For Transformation is the highlight for me.

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5. Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow

Genre: Alternative
Australia’s just getting into Summer, but album can still bring on the chill of Winter. Kate Bush‘s latest has seven slow songs, mostly ballads, with snow as a common theme. The music is as gentle as a pure white landscape. It would be higher on the list without the Elton John collaborative song, but Stephen Fry’s vocal contribution is welcome.

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4. Low – C’Mon

Genre: Slowcore, alternative
Since I initially wrote about this album, it’s grown on me further. C’mon is a slow and melancholic rock album, driven largely by simple guitar melodies. Sparhawk and Parker share vocal duties, but both have a croon to give emotional power to the choruses and lend real sincerity to the beautiful lyrics.

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3. Steven Wilson – Grace For Drowning

Genre: Progressive rock
Spanning two discs, track times up to twenty minutes in length, and the blending of a vast number of genres and tones, this is an epic album. Wilson’s complete creative control has allowed for music that wouldn’t be possible within Porcupine Tree, music that arguably suits his lyrics and themes even better. The guitar and piano work is not only stellar, but quite versatile. It can swing between ambient interludes and jazzy breakdowns with ease.

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2. Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972

Genre: Ambient
This is the best work I’ve heard from Tim Hecker. Ben Frost was brought on for engineering duties on this album, and that’s perhaps why there’s a noticeably harsher and darker tone to Hecker’s thick electronic ambience. This is a great spectacle of destruction in slow motion, and essential listening.

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1. Giles Corey – Giles Corey

Genre: Black folk, low-fi
A haunting folk concept album about a man driven to near suicide while researching an enigmatic historical cult leader. It resonates with a sense of despair that pitiful at times, confronting at others. The production adds a ghostly quality to the whole mix, with the occasional booming percussion stamping all over the crippled vocals with an aura of doom. Apart from this brilliantly executed concept and mood, it must be said that there is simply not a weak song to be found here. My favourite of the year, and a classic.

I’ve had a few stretches where I just haven’t felt like writing anything, or have been unsatisfied with what I’ve produced. Usually these go past, and I find something I’m excited to promote or write about. However, that lethargy has been pretty heavy lately, and I’m finding having to critically analyse and write about music is chipping away at my enjoyment of some of it.

So here’s the deal, the blog will stay up until the end of the year, because I can’t resist doing a best-of-2011 list. After that, there probably won’t be any more updates. I may take the blog down overall, just so netlabels don’t waste their time trying send me something (I always appreciated it when this did happen, thank you).

So that’s that. Cheers.

-Scott

Year: 2011
Genre: Ambient

John McCaffrey sits in a Melbourne church – an ‘outsider’ surrounded by cold and ancient theology. He’s fascinated by the images that surround him, and the deep emotions they mean to so many; comfort, shelter, and closure, just to scratch the surface. Over the course of an on-site three hour recording session, he expresses his fascination through piano and organ recordings. For The Tired And Ill At Ease is the result of these recordings, dissected, rearranged and layered through electronic editing and effects.

Immediately, the dreamy mood stands out to me as this album’s strength. It’s not hitting the same emotional note, there’s clearly many different reflections and feelings at play here. Sure you feel a sense of wonder and tranquillity, but there are harsher edges to the sound, triggering perhaps a sense of pity, confusion or longing. A listener could easily lay their own emotional interpretation over these gentle soundscapes, but I found them extremely fitting and complementary to the album’s backstory.

While mood and atmosphere are the main players, it’s an admittedly ‘light’ listen overall. As I mentioned, it is the result of a relatively short recording session, and the music is sparse and minimal. It certainly has it’s place, but subsequent listens aren’t going to uncover much which isn’t immediately accessible. I also found the song titles a little blunt (such as ‘I Say Get Used To It’ and ‘My Sympathies Go Out To You’), but this hardly degrades the music itself.

For The Tired And Ill At Ease comes in a vinyl package that would have me considering a purchase even if I hated the music. There are 200 hand numbered packages containing an A2 poster, a photo booklet, a letter pressed CD, a bespoke print as well as the vinyl itself. The art has an aged look seems focused around statues, moss and other church related images.

You can hear a few sample tracks from For The Tired And Ill At Ease on Soundcloud.

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múm – Green Grass Of Tunnel
Reminiscent of a childhood dream, this gentle song carries a feeling of peace and wonder like few others.

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My Bloody Valentine – Sometimes
Far and away my favourite from the shoegaze masters, probably because it’s a bit more low tuned than they tend to be, with vocals that sound a little more matured.

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The National – Friend Of Mine
While I tend to prefer the songwriting of later National, I really like Berninger’s vocals from this era. He sounds more pronounced and emotional. It’s demonstrated really well here.

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Neurosis – Watchfire
Watchfire, like much of Neurosis’ catalog, has the sound of metal that’s been beaten, bruised and broken. It sounds like it even hurts to play.

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Neutral Milk Hotel – Oh Comely
No one can sing their heart out quite like Jeff Mangum. For the most part, it’s an eight minute acoustic guitar song about a girl, but with a low-fi tinge, a trumpet climax and a human soul full on display.

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New Order – Crystal
This blend of traditional rock instruments and electronic layers and effects somehow made one of the catchiest songs I’ve ever heard. That instrumental breakdown in the second half is the stuff of legend.

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Nine Inch Nails – And All That Could Have Been
From towards the end of that golden era of NIN, this is so pained and beautiful that it’s still capable of giving me clamps in my chest.

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Nirvana – About A Girl (Unplugged in New York)
There’s a real sense of grit and earnestness to this slower live performance of Nirvana’s best (no arguing) song.

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Nobuo Uematsu – To Zanarkand
I remember learning the right hand of this song by brute force years ago (I have no piano training).

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The Ocean – Killing The Flies
When a heavy band puts out an album exploring their heavier side… it’s going to be heavy. Killing The Flies is relentless and violent, but it’s hooks are just as constant and powerful as the raw onslaught of sound.

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Philip Glass – Pruit Igoe
This is what pure grandeur sounds like. Though it feels “big”, I think there’s also a sense of unnerving about it, like something ultimately monstrous is happening.

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Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
I will not disgrace this song with comment.

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Portishead – Roads
There simply aren’t enough adjectives at my disposal to convey my feelings towards the vocal performance in this song.

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Protest The Hero – Blindfolds Aside
Protest The Hero have a sound that’s frantic and unpredictable, but very intricate. It’s perfected here.

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Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
ಠ_ಠ

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Radiohead – Pyramid Song
My pick of Radiohead’s extensive and brilliant work, characterised by that slow off-kilter piano, and those hauntingly beautiful but equally cryptic vocals.

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Shearwater – The Snow Leopard
This song leads you in with a soft piano melody, but each new instrument only injects more power and carries it further. It never gains speed, or gets heavy, but certainly becomes very strong.

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Sigur Rós – Starálfur
Something about the Icelandic and the strings in this one just feels spiritual and majestic. It also has one of the most moving closures to a song I’ve come across.

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Skinny Puppy – Testure
Not their densest by any stretch, but and extremely listenable song that characterises so much that’s great about this band. The beat is powerful, the rhythm of the synthesizers and vocals shift around it constantly, and the lyrics are grim, highly descriptive, but jumbled and raving.

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Slint – Don, Aman
For me, this song has such a perfect take on social anxiety/social phobia. The story it tells portrays the emotions involved so well, and the music feels constantly on edge.

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Sufjan Stevens – I Walked
Sufjan took a bunch of electronic noises that don’t feel like they quite belong together and somehow merged them into a coherent pop-ish song.

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Sunn O))) – Alice
CAN YOU HANDLE THE TROMBONE OF DOOM?

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Swans – Helpless Child
Gira croons some of my favourite lyrics, melding dependence, hatred and love, before the song grows violent and crashes over and over again. One of the greatest things I’ve ever heard, it regularly leaves me shaken.

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Talk Talk – After The Flood
Talk Talk are masters at creating minimalistic music with gentle intensity. Here there’s a gorgeous use of keyboards in particular, that creates a bed of fuzz for Mark Hollis’ signature vocals to rise and fall from. Absolutely sublime.

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Tangerine Dream – Rubycon Part 1
Rubycon is an epic that has that mystical 70s synthesizers glaze to it. All those effects reminiscent of distorted animal noises and natural wonders make this feel like a soundtrack to the history of nature.

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Tim Hecker – Hatred of Music
It turns out that Tim Hecker under the eye of Ben Frost is an incredible thing. This is a electronic ambiance with a sinister and destructive edge.

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Tool – Lateralus
The song that maths built. Even more amazing is that underneath all that obscure Fibonacci structuring is still an incredible and powerful song.

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Torche – Face The Wall
Torche slow down, and let their trademark guitars breathe and stretch, creating more of a shoegaze atmosphere. Combine that with powerful but steady drumming and clean vocals smothered under the haze, and you have something really special.

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Tori Amos – 1000 Oceans
While it may seem overly dramatic on its face, this song just has too much power, I always get caught up in it. The slight muffling of most of the instruments really give an atmosphere of sleep and dreams, but I’d say it’s closer to a coma.

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The Vines – Winning Days
A love left over from my teenage years, which still holds up. There’s something Beatle-like about the vocal harmonies.

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Wu-Tang Clan – Triumph
Nine amazing rappers in top form. That opening verse by Inspectah Deck is one of the bets things ever.

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X Japan – Art Of Life
A thirty minute hard j-rock opera of mental crisis and growth. Every band member is in consistently stellar form for the entire duration. And don’t even get me started on that eight minute piano solo of insanity.

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Yoko Kanno and Origa – Inner Universe
Fitting for a Ghost in the Shell soundtrack, Yoko Kanno’s music teems with electronic life, while Origa’s operatic voice reassuring us to the presence of humanity. Away from the context of the series it’s still an amazing song.

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dredg – The Canyon Behind Her
I’m not completely sold on dredg, but this song is one that really shows there’s a very talented band in there somewhere. Powerful stuff.

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Einstürzende Neubauten – Feurio!
Those crazy Germans are at it again, banging their home-made instruments and rambling in a language I don’t understand.

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Envy – A Will Remains In The Ashes
The slow burn harshness of this song is awe inspiring. Envy expertly walk a fine line between beauty and abrasiveness that’s no better demonstrated in this 10+ minute epic.

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The Fall – The Classical
I love this upbeat tempo, coupled with lyrics that swing between impenetrably bizarre to outright offensive. Mark E. Smith is a grand showman.

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Foetus – Suspect
“Grand high exalted ruler, my kingdom for a horse. I know an even quicker way than a Mexican divorce” – Need I say more?

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Franz Schubert – Ellens Dritter Gesang (Ave Maria)
This song can be interpreted and performed so many ways, but my favourite is the version in Fantasia. Few songs carry a greater sense of beauty and peace.

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Frédéric Chopin – Prelude, Op. 28, No. 15
A work of art that’s gone down in history as exactly that. In my mind it’s the perfect piece to complement being trapped indoors while listening to the rain.

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Fuck Buttons – Race You To My Bedroom/Spirits Rise
This sounds like techno that’s blue-screen’d. There’s a perfect balance of thick ambiance, with a synth melody struggling to pierce through.

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Giles Corey – Blackest Bile
I love how every instrument is expertly engineered and tweaked to add to the mood, from weakening the vocals, muffling the guitar, and making the percussion resonate like the devil’s footsteps.

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Godflesh – Christbait Rising
There’s plenty to love hear, from the forceful and raw attitude of the vocals, the rumble of that low tuned bass, and the mechanical and powerful drumming.

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Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Blaise Bailey Finnegan III
I love the passion and conviction in this song’s monologue, which the band exploits masterfully with strings, piano and much more.

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Gojira – Ocean Planet
I love Gojira’s wonky beats and thick riffs, and here they seem more powerful than ever. There’s a neck-breaking climax at the end which uses some whalesong, it works.

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Goon Moon – Apple Pie
Experimental … stoner… folk.. maybe? Whatever it is, it’s undeniably infectious, with lyrics that are hard not to love.

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Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood
This has a rap verse I pretty much know backwards at this point, and it’s supported by that delightful off-beat horror music.

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GZA – Swordsman
In my opinion, and many others, this man is one of the greatest lyricists in modern music. His wordplay, rhythm and imagery and something to behold.

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Have A Nice Life – Bloodhail
I love the sound of Have A Nice Life music, everything seems to blur and echo, and that signature percussion adds an atmosphere of despair. This song in particular has vocals akin to emotional blood-letting.

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James – Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)
My taste changes so often it’s a bit ridiculous, but this is a song I’ve loved for quite a few years. A beautiful rock song that wears big emotions on its sleeve.

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Janelle Monáe – Cold War
I don’t know what to say, I’ve never been an R&B fan, but this is an amazingly catchy and thoughtful song.

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Jeff Buckley – Hallelujah
If this rendition doesn’t move you then I guess you don’t have a pulse.

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Joanna Newsom – Kingfisher
The best effort I’ve heard from this harpist and quirky vocalist. She shows a masterful use of string instruments, tempo and mood.

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Johann Pachelbel – Canon In D
A bit of a cliché choice, it’s been overdone in weddings and jewellery commercials, but I can’t help it. It’s far and away my favourite piece of chamber music and maybe my favourite song overall.

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Johann Sebastian Bach – Air On The G String
Every time I’ve seen this song in film it’s been in the context of murder or death. It certainly does have that sort of vibe to it, very tragic and beautiful.

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Kashiwa Daisuke – Stella
This song is enough to convince me that Kashiwa Daisuke is one of the greatest music minds around today. He is simply a master of digital manipulation and sampling, and if that idea makes you scoff you need to listen to this.

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Keiji Haino – Koko
The Japanese guitar maestro produces a thirty minute epic of gentle guitar drone, multi-layered to perfection. By the time those soft vocals come in I’m already lost.

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Khoma – The Guillotine
Such a great use of throaty bass effects and violin. A plodding song with a great heavy climax.

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Koh Otani – Epilogue ~Those Who Remain~
An extended rendition of the orchestral Shadow Of The Colossus theme that’s equal measures triumphant, reflective and heavy hearted. A very appropriate musical eulogy to the events transpired.

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Low – Words
Gentle, slow and emotional, with vocals by Sparhawk that glaze the song with a sense of hopelessness. One of those songs that always makes me stop what I’m doing and listen.

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Mark Hollis – A Life (1895-1915)
So gentle it’s barely there, but incredibly beautiful. When that piano comes in my breath just goes.

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Massive Attack – Teardrop
That heartbeat, those lonely piano notes, that amazing voice. A perfect song.

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Mastodon – Capillarian Crest
One of the greatest metal breakdowns I’ve ever heard, just when you don’t think it’ll get more energetic, it does, and does again.

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Melt-Banana – Shield for Your Eyes, a Beast in the Well on Your Hand
Madness, but not to the point of losing structure or glossing over instrumental skill. This song had me at that first bassline.

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Moderat – Out Of Sight
It’s hard to put my finger on, but there’s something sad about this song’s use of thick beat, light synth effects and gentle vocals. Electronic music really has the power to be as beautiful as anything acoustic.

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The Mountain Goats – No Children
A song that makes the disintegration of a marriage sound terrifying and utterly destroying.

Year: 2011
Genre: Post-industrial, electronica

When Skinny Puppy reunited around a decade ago, some apprehension on the band’s musical direction would have been understandable. While they were certainly paving the way for many bands in the eighties and early nineties, the scene had long since moved on. The band hadn’t released an album since 1996′s The Process, and even that effort felt a bit uncertain (understandable given the circumstances surrounding its creation).

What actually happened post-reunion surprised all of us, with the band undertaking what would truly become a new and distinct phase of their careers. Cevin Key and Ogre had clearly both grown as artists in the time the band lay dormant, and brought a thirst to creating a whole new style of music to the Skinny Puppy table. If nothing else, this was a move to be respected. Not content with rehashing material in the vein of their old success with a modern production glaze, Skinny Puppy have actively been pursuing a completely different style of music than they were some decades ago.

Ultimately though, these recent exploits have seen some patchy success. However, their previous effort Mythmaker showed signs of it all starting to artistically click into place. It was evident these guys were onto something, there was an amazing modern band in there somewhere, such as in tracks like daL, PasturN and jaHer. HanDover has the potential to really define this phase of the band and be their strongest effort since their reformation. Does it meet these hopes?

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The answer to that is tricky, both yes and no. It sees a positive evolution in their style, but ultimately feels a little underdone.

Skinny Puppy’s recent sound tends to draw on an exceptionally large pallet of electronic sound and effects, incorporating elements of dance, post-industrial, electronica and even breakcore. HanDover has them pushing this sound further into the realm of the bizarre than the band has been in a while. Even fans may initially find some of the material on here “just weird” at first listen, such as the offbeat ramble of Brownstone or the epileptic flurry of beats in Noisex. Even with some of the more conventionally structured material, there’s plenty to enjoy here. Icktums, one of the livelier tracks, has earned my favoritism on this album with its dense but energetic soundscape and expert lyrical rhythm.

Moments like those mentioned are great, but they’re unfortunately often balanced out by some underwhelming lyrics (Ashas) or instrumentation that feels a bit empty (Gambatte). I can’t help but feel like HanDover could have really benefited from a month or two of extra polish. It may be the band’s most experimental release in some years, but it’s arguably also their roughest executed.

HanDover is bound to be a bit divisive. I could imagine fans who have found the band hard to get into since their reformation actually enjoying this more than their previous two efforts. Personally, I see it as a bit of a step down in quality from Mythmaker, but a step forward in style. It stands as a worthy addition to this band’s demented discography.

HanDover is available from Amazon in both CD and digital format.

A few points first. To keep it fresh throughout, there is no repetition of artists. Also, this list is not ranked, that would be maddening. I’ve just kept it sorted by artist. This is part one of three.

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a-fei – Exit Song
To whoever did the drumming on this exceptional instrumental post-rock piece, you can have me anyway you want me.

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Agalloch – Falling Snow
From 0:00 to 9:38 this is just perfectly composed (admittedly clean) black metal with folk influences. The final few minutes is some of the greatest headbanging fodder you’ll ever hear.

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Akira Kosemura – Light
I can’t think of an instance of downtempo pop that is more pleasing to my ears than this sweet tune.

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Akira Yamaoka – Room Of Angel
A true master of atmospheric soundtrack composer shows his equal proficiency in fleshed out theme music. This is vulnerable, malicious, creepy and peaceful all rolled into one.

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The Angelic Process – Dying In A-Minor
Thick with feedback and even thicker with distress, one of the most haunting songs I know.

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The Antlers – Two
Without listening to carefully, you wouldn’t pick this lively indie tune’s true nature as a emotionally crushing account of seeing disease destroy a loved one. Those vulnerable vocals and powerful keyboard chords really do it justice.

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Aoife – The Best Is Yet To Come
A stunning and dynamic vocal performance, with gentle tribal themed instruments, it makes you feel the chill of Shadow Moses.

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Arcade Fire – Rebellion (Lies)
I love this song’s marching beat and vocal intensity. Oh and don’t get me started on those violins that come in during the climax.

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Bark Psychosis – The Loom
This is exactly the kind of post-rock I love, nothing is here that doesn’t need to be, every instrument has its space, and it’s all just beautifully put together.

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Beastie Boys – The Sounds Of Science
The lyrics alone are enough to love this fun rap track, but the catchy rock beat, the flow and tempo shifts, and the energetic vocal performance just elevate this into classic status.

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Ben Folds Five – Brick
I only just found out this song is about an abortion, I always thought it was just a break-up song. Exceptional lyricism, subtlety and earnestness.

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Between The Buried And Me – Ants Of The Sky
This song has so many of my favourite riffs ever, and it’s so tightly composed and satisfying for a thirteen minute track. Easily one of the greatest songs I’ve experienced live.

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Biosphere – Kobresia
Some foreboding and mystical ambience, sounds almost like the voices of ghosts.

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Björk – Bachelorette
I’m not that acquainted with Björk’s work but that rich piano and strings soundscape of the verses in this song gives me chills.

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Boards Of Canada – Pete Standing Alone
Still the song I immediately think of when I think ‘electronica’.

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Boredoms – (star)
Holy crap can you hear those drums? Can you hear them? It’s like a stampede coming.

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Brian Eno – 1/2
There’s something about technology in the 70s and 80s that made ambient music so alien and dreamy, this man is the master of that domain.

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Burial – Homeless
I’ve never seen the bleak, graffiti-ridden concrete streets of London but this artist, and especially this song, makes me feel I have.

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Burzum – Det Som En Gang Var
Varg makes you feel like you’re next.

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Butthole Surfers – Who Was In My Room Last Night?
This is chained pretty hard to the 90s, but one of the most purely fun guitar songs I know of.

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Clint Mansell – Requiem For A Dream
This is the sort of soundtrack music that can make a match of lawn bowls look like the landing at Normandy.

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Coil – Batwings (A Limnal Hymn)
John Balance puts forward one of his most haunting and beautiful verses and vocal performances, with ambiance bathed in sorrow.

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Converge – Homewrecker
Converge at their best, playing music so violent and wild they sound like they can barely control it.

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The Cure – Close To Me
Not much explanation needed, everyone knows this song, and so they should.

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Cynic – The Space For This
Cynic are brilliant at showing great technical proficiency but also a perfect amount of restraint with it. A lot of work clearly went into this song on all instrumental sides, but it doesn’t sound busy, just harmonic.

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Daft Punk – Veridis Quo
The main melody of this song is one of the more beautiful things this duo have ever produced, yet it still has that catchy house feel they seem to have an unconscious knack for. Their most underrated song, and their best, in my opinion.

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The Dandy Warhols – Godless
Dry, melancholic, and country-esque with an shiver inducing trumpet melody.

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David Bowie – Ashes To Ashes
Spacey keyboards, a great bassline, and very versatile vocals – there isn’t a moment in this song I consider less than brilliant.

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Dead Can Dance – Xavier
Sounding like it belongs in a gothic fantasy kingdom, this is an intense song with epic verses and crashing waves of keyboards.

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Death – 1,000 Eyes
This song belongs in a death metal textbook somewhere on how to do everything right. My favourite part is the breakdown at the end, where the double kickdrums are the last thing to fade out.

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Dissecting Table – Least Mean Square Algorithm For Personality Alteration
Like a steel mill going ballistic, this is a very harsh and abrasive stretch of industrial/noise.

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Dr. Octagon – 3000
There’s not a whole lot to this song; it has a simple backing track, and no real chorus to speak of. What makes it great is Kool Keith’s sheer mastery of verse and flow.

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Part 1

This game fucking owns, mostly.

It’s a rhythm game where you have to save your town’s concert hall with your “music powers”. That just means a bunch of levels conducting well known pieces of classical music, clearing songs to get more people on your side.

You have three tasks during gameplay. You have to hit the right tempo (the speed which you push one of the face buttons), play each beat at its correct volume (how hard you push the button), and bring in new instruments (directional buttons). It’s tricky, but it makes sense and you really do feel like you are controlling the music.

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I’d love to see this remade, perhaps as a downloadable game. Here are my ideas for Mad Maestro Encore.

What they should keep:

• The colossal tracklist from a wide range of composers inclucding Mozart, Brahms, Wagner, Beethoven, Liszt, Mussorgsky, Schubert, Dvořák, Tchaikovsky and more. Does there exist a game with a more impressive classical music soundtrack?
• The goofy Japanese story and aesthetic, complete with shoddy localisation. Let’s keep the charm, shall we?

What they should add:

• Support for the wii-mote or playstation move. Have the player keep time with a method that’s actually rooted in (simplified) conducting theory.
• Allow the player to control volume on a continuous scale. Instead of three discrete levels of pressure, shift control to an analog stick so we can perform smooth increases or decreases in volume.
• Record an actual orchestra for the soundtrack, the music in this game sounds like a bunch of keyboards. Lets have something that ready does the compositions justice.
• Get a new visual style, because quite frankly this is one poor looking game. Try a cel-shaded cartoony design, maybe.

Year: 2011
Genre: Drone, shoegaze, ambient

I wouldn’t feel right writing about this two track EP in a room with any lighting.

Everything I can hear in Hushed Bloom suggests to me music that is dying. The title track is permeated with sombre echoes, a drum beat that barely kicks with life, and a foggy atmosphere of overwhelming gloom. Hushed Bloom is a beast, lying with weathered breath on the side of the road, no longer even aware of the elements that have decayed him to this state. So it’s a bit bleak, quite frankly, but if that’s not what you’re after, move away from Life In The Dark.

The second half, Comadeth, feels even more reserved and muted. Almost like a wake to the transpirings of the first half, cold and without vocals (eerily, there is a buried voice sample). It’s a more ambient offering, consisting entirely of faded drones and effects. And so the life of our metaphoric beast ends not with a cry but with a barely audible whimper.

Hushed Bloom won’t be changing the world, but it’s a thoroughly impressive 20-30 minutes of atmosphere, somehow as gentle as it is relentless. It’s available from the digital section of Sunyata Recordings’ store for £2.

Year: 2011
Genre: Folk, indie

Random Acts displays a flair for genre-hopping that caught me off guard. Towards the end of the sweet folky opening track Indelible, I was sucker punched when the climax roared in with a choir-like effect. I was wearing a smile when my head snapped back from the recoil though.

From there the album progresses very pleasingly, with the occasional lashing of wild ingredients. Thankfully, despite the electric guitar, the tribal percussions, the radio-style monolgue, the album never loosens its grip on its decidedly homey feel. You never feel too far from the foundation of the songwriting talent – warm acoustic guitar and earnest vocals.

#6 Nostalgic

Random Acts Of Kindness Have Saved Lives is a free download from If This Is A Man‘s Bandcamp page. I do love those.