Jonathan's 2013 Musical Wrap-Up

This year has been rather stale for me. Sure, I´ve listened to dozens of both new and old records (with many of them reviewed here on Tzeeeac), however when it comes to awe inspiring releases I was hard pressed to find enough of them to compose a "List of the year". With that in mind, and also considering the three categories I´ve personally invented not so long ago, I give you the 2013 musical wrap-up, made up of only 3 LP´s (yes, I´m pretty much starting to like this number), one for each specific shenanigan.

First up, the ROTY Category:

Rogue Empire - Overlord

This beast took me completely by surprise. I don´t know if its the music itself or the fact the I wasn´t even aware of this particular genre, one thing is for sure: if you listen to this album, one might safely assume that your ganja loving hippie grandmother could very well turn into a metal head overnight. No small feat, I tell you! 

Full review here, just in case you happen to have missed it.

More on the blind side, the FOTY Category:

Protest The Hero - Volition

While every other member of Tzeeeac was busy composing their top ten, I was still trying to assimilate this fourth installment in the PTH saga, trying hard to figure out what they aimed to do with it. Turns out that after a gratuitously weak third album, these canadian proggers are still trying to follow in the footsteps of their excellent sophomore effort Fortress, and failing miserably while doing so. I don´t really care what other reviewers have to say, but if these guys don´t up their game and come up with something original next time, I fear they may be lost to me forever.

No review here, feel free to look it up yourselves.

And finally, the GETY Category:

Propagandhi - Failed States

Curiously enough, this age-old ensemble has eluded me until now and I can safely assume that this album would have caught the number one spot in the list from last year. But then again, I would be just short of stuff to post in this article, correct?

Full review here, and may it bother you in the same good way it did me.

And that´s it! The End, Fini, Sfarsit! 2013 is gone and may it be that this current year will catch me in a less grumpy and hopefully more appreciative mood.

And yes, that´s me on that motorcycle up there, in case you were wondering. I can barely walk and speak, yet I´m already writing better reviews than the rest of those old hipster members from Tzeeeac!

Marco's Top Albums of 2013

I've wasted more time doing this in Paint than writing the whole fucking article.

2013 has been a great year, both for me as a  reviewer and music in general. Despite not having listened to a whole lot of music because being a college drop-out is a time consuming state to be in and that nacho department from the grocery store ain't emptying itself,  it sure was diversified as fuck. Jazz, indie, electro, hip-hop, pop, hardcore, you name it.

So here are my favorite albums of the year, in a random order:

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

Daft Punk is the first electronic act I made contact with years ago and I couldn't wait for RAM to be released. I know there are other bands out there who do a great job and are full of potential, but let's face it: only Daft Punk has the gear, talent, vision and experience to create something like RAM. While Kraftwerk has pioneered electronic music, Daft Punk mastered it. From nostalgia-infused tracks like Giorgio for Moroder and The Game of Love, soul-crushing musical pieces like Instant Crush and Within to groovy, shakethatbootyish gems like Get Lucky and Loose Yourself to Dance, RAM is a welcomed fucking return from the french duo who have fortunately gotten over the barren creative period they were traversing.

Perturbator - Sexualizer EP

80's inspired synthwave concept album about a drug addicted porn star who goes on a killing spree, ends up in prison and discovers that his actions may be part of some kind conspiracy.  Are we having fun yet?

This Routine is Hell - Howl

How can I NOT feature the first hardcore act ever to leave an impact on me? I just couldn't. This fucking thing has been haunting me from the moment I pressed ''play'' for the first time and I still listen to it when I'm on my way to college or to do some boring bureaucratic bullshit. There's nothing like watching an overweight, middle aged secretary whose husband is gone on voyages for most of the year because she makes his life a living hell getting red-faced and screaming at some young attractive students who had the audacity to ask for her support in filling some important college-related forms while the lead singer of TRH is shouting some lyrics about corporate soullessness and mediocrity.

YC The Cynic - GNK

GNK is one of those albums whose meaning and message I haven't truly gotten a grasp of, yet I still enjoy it as if I did. The witty lyrics, impeccable flow and top-notch production make it a joy to listen to. I might go so far as to say that it's on the same level with Jedi Mind Tricks' The Psycho Social, but that would be like poking Jesus with a stick on a Sunday afternoon. Suffice to say, while they're both as heavy and cerebral as a hip-hop album can get, GNK achieves the same level of depth without being hard to digest.

Black Sugar Transmission - The Glamour Pantomime

Mixing high-pitched industrial sounds, glam rock, synths and distorted guitars with lyrics that focus on sexual depravity and drug abuse might not sound like a good idea in theory, but Black Sugar Transmission pulled it off masterfully. If I could summarize this whole soul sucking, paranoia inducing themed roller coaster of an album in only one word, that would be fun. Fun fun fun. It's colorful, charming and full of personality. Go check it out, you horse fuckers.

Loungerie II - Devaro

I have already talked about this into great detail so I won't repeat myself. It's a great psych, funk, jazzy kind of indie album with some elements of post-rock thrown into the mix just to confuse you more. They've ditched the rap segments, upped the production values and delivered a more focused and mature album. More!

Tumbleweed Dealer - Tumbleweed Dealer

Tumbleweed Dealer is kind of a grower for me because I didn't enjoy it when I first heard it. At all. I found it to be boring and superficial. It really bummed me out because I'm a big fan of stoner-related media and I needed some good stoner music running in the background while I was calculating how much money I needed to score some decent weed for me and my friends. But as time went on and the workload for college got heavier along with the stress associated with it, I came to appreciate Tumbledweed Dealer for what it truly is: a bluesy picturesque trip through the hot, inhospitable southern swamps and Saharan Desert. It's the kind of music you would expect a lizard to listen to while relaxing on a rock under the burning sun after a hard day of fucking his pretty lizard-wife.





Justin Timberlake - 20/20 Experience

Sexy album, sexy beats, sexy rhythms, sexy Justin. He's not the first mainstream musician to go for this noire aesthetic (see Christina Aguilera and, to a lesser extent, Fergie) but he sure is the first one to do it right. Having gained such a negative connotation, I feel guilty even to include him into the mainstream category.  I mean, come on, 10 minute long pop songs?! Madness! No fillers? Also unheard of. What more can I say about 20/20 that hasn't been already been said? Get over your preconceptions and give it a try. You'll have a blast, I can guarantee for it.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Arcade Fire - Reflektor

clipping. - midcity

Whores - Clean

Samsara Blues Experiment - Waiting For The Flood

Action Jackson - Miami System EP

Local Natives - Hummingbird

The Knife - Shaking the Habitual

ASAP Rocky - Long. Live. ASAP

Dropkick Murphys - Signed and Sealed in Blood

Inspectah Deck and 7L & Esoteric - Czarface

Ghostface Killah - Twelve Reasons to Die

Placebo - Loud Like Love

Chester's Best Albums of 2013

So here's the deal: I haven't listened to shit this year and now it's come back to bite me in the ass. There's a flurry of amazing black metal, death metal, doom metal, sludge metal, crust, drone, post-rock (and any combination thereof) albums released this year and I haven't gotten the chance to properly listen to most of them. I'll chuck the ones I can remember at the end of the list, with the promise of getting into them later. The actual list consists of 10 albums I have been listening to over and over this year, in alphabetical order. These are the ones I'm absolutely obsessed with, my personal cream of the crop. See you in 2014!

Arctic Monkeys – AM

Well, I may have been a bit rash in my review earlier this year. As long-time friend and occasional TZEEEAC reader OSD pointed out (while screaming and flailing his arms around in frustrated anger), this one’s a grower. While I’m still not crazy about certain songs, AM has definitely wrapped itself around me and I can safely hail it as another triumph for the Arctic Monkeys. It’s full of catchy, memorable songs, ranging from soft, sentimental ballads like I Wanna Be Yours and Fireside to rock-out-with-your-cock-out anthems like R U Mine and all the way to hip-hop flavored late-night tunes like Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?. There’s no stopping these guys!

Deafheaven – Sunbather

The absolute kings of Marco black metal, Deafheaven have taken the entire underground by storm with their sophomore album, Sunbather. It’s a monster of an album, flawlessly executing and perfecting the formula of shoegazing post-black metal or whatever the fuck you wanna call it. Emotional, introspective lyrics snarled over meditative yet aggressive guitar riffs and some of the best drumming I’ve seen in a while, plus wonderful cover art and a highly charismatic lead singer – Deafheaven have it all and it’s no surprise Sunbather has received unanimous praise. It’s just that good.

Ghost BC – Infestissunam

The highly-anticipated second album by Ghost enthralled me with its lush melodies, luxuriant atmosphere, stellar production, insanely catchy songs and some of the most memorable choruses I’ve ever heard. There’s not one bad song on this record (although there are two kinda boring ones…), in fact, most of them are excellent and they bring out the best in Papa Emeritus II’s brilliant voice and the Nameless Ghouls’ knack for writing some of the best pop-rock tunes around. Come together for Lucifer’s son!

Ghost BC – If You Have Ghost EP

It was high time Ghost gathered their amazing covers on one release because I almost feel that their covers are better than their own songs. Even though I’d rather they include the Beatles “Here Comes the Sun” cover  (strangely missing from this EP) instead of yet another boring  live rendition of Secular Haze that nobody cares about, If You Have Ghost is a lovely collection of covers of songs by Roky Ericson, ABBA, Army of Lovers and Depeche Mode and I don’t feel bad in the slightest for having two Ghost releases in my end-of-the-year list. Truly, if you have Ghost, you have everything!

Kazi Ploae - Silent Regis EP

By far my favorite Romanian rapper (out of the few I actually have a deep passion for) and definitely the brightest one in the underground scene, Kazi Ploae has crawled out of his grave once more and teamed up with acclaimed producer Silent Strike to deliver one of the best hip-hop releases of the year. The Silent Regis EP mixes Kazimir’s intricate, intelligent lyrics and flawless vocal delivery with Silent Strike’s ambient-infused electronic backdrops into five tracks that I’ve been listening to over and over for the past… 10 months? Holy shit! If there’s one must-listen Romanian release of 2013, this is definitely it.

FREE DOWNLOAD COURTESY OF BANANA SOCIETY

Locrian - Return to Annihilation

Highly atmospheric electro/drone/black metal that evokes terrifying visions of worlds forming and crumbling, with tons of textures, noises, horrific shrieks and minimalistic drumming – in a word, Locrian. Their new album might not be as haunting as The Crystal World, but it’s an excellent release by these noise-mongers, nonetheless. Cool videos, too.

Modern Life Is War – Fever Hunting

I’ve never even listened to these guys before, but Modern Life Is War hooked me instantly with their energetic brand of hardcore punk, chock-full of memorable riffs, tight drumming, great vocals and inspiring lyrics. I’m gonna listen to Health, Wealth and Peace forever. 

Perturbator - Sexualizer EP

"Meet Jimmy, an actor on the set of his new blockbuster film: "Sexualizer". Jimmy is a porn star, and unfortunately for him, a drug addict. Ever since Jimmy's agent hooked him up with a new strain of Angel Dust, his grip on reality has started to slip. When the tension is too high and the girls are too hot, Jimmy can't help but start brutally killing anyone who gets in his way. But when Jimmy is caught and ends up in prison, the line between reality and drug-induced fantasy begins to blur, and he soon discovers that all of his actions may have been part of "Sexualizer" plot..." 

This description sounds fucking amazing, but the best part is the music totally lives up to the expectations. Perturbator really outdid himself this time and conjured five tracks of 80s-inspired synthwave that’s been on heavy rotation since the day it was released. C’est magnifique!

Touche Amore - Is Survived By

Another well-known hardcore punk band I wasn’t aware of until Volo introduced me to it, Touche Amore has quickly become one of my favorite bands ever. Why? Well, because 1) they play some of the best melodic hardcore around; 2) the emotional, instantly-relatable lyrics might actually prompt you to make some changes in your life and 3) they are just a bunch of sweet boys singing, touring, laughing and having fun together. I can definitely get behind all these positive feelings!

Umberto – Confrontations

Umberto aka Matt Hill moves away from his giallo-inspired soundtracks and into hard sci-fi territory with Confrontations and pulls it off without breaking a sweat. I’ve been listening to this since it came out back in February and I still listen to it on the reg. Music to get abducted by UFOs to!

OTHER GREAT SHIT/HONORABLE MENTIONS/STUFF I HAVEN'T LISTENED TO PROPERLY:

Occultist - Death Sigils
An Autumn for Crippled Children - Try Not to Destroy Everything You Love
Valerinne - Arborescent
YOUTH CODE - YOUTH CODE
Wreck And Reference - No Content
All Pigs Must Die – Nothing Violates This Nature
Altar Of Plagues – Teethed Glory And Injury
Nails – Abandon All Life
Katechon - Man, God, Giant
Aosoth - IV: Arrow In Heart
Leucosis - Leucosis
Torture Chain - Mutilating Astral Entities
Fister - Gemini
Nightslug - Dismal Fucker
The Body - Christs, Redeemers…
Bottom Feeder - Grinding Teeth
TesseracT - Altered State
Russian Circles - Memorial
Hope Drone - Hope Drone
Sun Worship - Surpass Eclipse
Malthusian - MMXIII
Leprous - Coal
Samsara Blues Experiment - Waiting for the Flood
This Routine Is Hell - Howl
Death Grips - Government Plates
No Omega - Shame
Horseback - A Plague of Knowing
Clipping - midcity
Whores - Clean
Enforcer - Death by Fire
Pissed Jeans - Honeys
Echo Park - Deluge
Oathbreaker - Eros|Anteros
Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Mind Control
Kadavar - Abra Kadavar
Church Whip - Psychedelic Nightmare
Blockheads - This World Is Dead
Cloud Rat - Moksha
Rotting Christ - Κατά τον δαίμονα εαυτού
Rotten Sound - Species at War
Portal - Vexovoid
Njiqahdda - Serpents in the Sky