The Best Music You've Listened to This Year?

[Alex]

On that, I have a disliking for any bands whose members believe they should be dressed in a particular way to stand out.

I hate Slipknot too

 

[CK]

New Discoveries
Union of Uranus
Calvary
These Arms Are Snakes
Bongripper
Explosions in the Sky
Mos Def


New Releases
Soulfly- Conquer
Mastodon- Crack the Skye
Devin Townsend Project- Ki
Chimaria- The Infection
Gojira- The Way of All Flesh
Empire of the Sun- Walking on a Dream
Gallows- Grey Britain
and theres probs lots of others I forgot.

 

[Alex]

Union of Uranus
Calvary
These Arms Are Snakes
Bongripper
Explosions in the Sky
Mos Def

I feel a small pang of pride that I introduced you to these bands

Rediscovering the awesomeness of maudlin of the Well. This new album is well up there for one of my favourite releases this year.

 

[CK]

Yeah listening to it now. its on my list already.

 

[Edley]

On that, I have a disliking for any bands whose members believe they should be dressed in a particular way to stand out. Just fyi. Also, what genres are those in?

Agreed, but if you like the gothenburg (melodic swedish metal) sound at all, marionette definitely has it. It doesn't hurt that they've had talent like Fredrick Nordstrom and Simon Exner doing the mastering on their last two records.

Skyfire is progressive swedish metal, with some gloom thrown in.

Callisto is finnish post-metal with an obsession for the end of days.

I still kind of wade my way through a lot of stuff. Back in teh day I listened to Alice in Chains and NiN kind of exclusively, then one day a friend told me about Opeth which led to hearing Akerfeldt talk about the awesomness of Steven Wilson. From there I found Porcupine Tree right as In Absentia was coming out and I haven't looked back since.

It's not that American music is bad per se, I just think the vast majority of good, creative song writing and musicianship going on the last decade is in Scandanavia.

 

[Ⓐaron]

I wouldn't say the "vast majority" of talented bands are in Scandinavia, but they do have a disproportionate amount to the size of their population - like, way more than you'd expect. I have this theory that it's because countries with more socialist economies (like pretty much all of Scandinavia) have a higher standard of living and thus there's moar time for their citizens to focus on the arts. I definitely think I listen to a lot more continental European bands than Anglo-American ones, but with artists like Panopticon, Wolves in the Throne Room, Akercocke, A Forest of Stars, Isis, Mastodon, Weakling, Krallice, and others popping up throughout the last decade, Anglo-American metal is a lot more respectable than it was a decade or so ago.

 

[Cthulhu]

The problem with Amurcan metal (and non-Scandinavian like Spanish, Italian etc) is that the country is lacking in grimness and frostbite, . I'm guessing that the environment and culture has a lot to do with it, too.

And fyi, I know of no good music coming from the Netherlands (or Belgium, for that matter). I only kinda like the band Bløf, but they're also popular and on the radio all the time, ergo, meh. I should DL them btw, just for awesome.

I've got about... two or three Dutch BM bands on my iTunes list, and both of them are pretty meh. There's only another punk rock band I can think of (Heideroosjes), and another very local punk rock band(ish) called Kramtried (barbed wire) starring the sons of a teacher I had in grade seven, whose biggest hit so far is a Frisian song called 'Skyte' (shitting):

 

[Ⓐaron]

As far as Dutch metal is concerned, Ayreon's The Human Equation is pretty awesome, fyi. Though also insanely cheesy.

 

[CK]

Ayreon is pretty good imho. Also cheesy lulz.

I don't really like the themed stories but the way everythings put together is amazing.

 

[Alex]

Ayreon's alreet I think. Nothing to go over the moon about, but very good easy listening metal.

 

[Cthulhu]

fyi, I had some random listens of Marionettes (not their latest, couldn't find it), but it sounds pretty good, .

Also, I think I listened to Ayreon once, but I can't be sure. Might also have been some other similarly-named band, plus I've already deleted it. And I never heard of it, ergo, meh.

 

[Alex]

I'm rediscovering how much I fucking love Pelican. All of their albums. Really.

 

[CK]

New dillinger album is due out at by the end of the year. Do want.

 

[Alex]

Just heard that there's a new Circle Takes the Square album coming out this year. Could be quite awesome, their last effort was very hit and miss but when it hit it very, VERY much to the point.

 

[Harley]

Elephant Shell - Tokyo Police Club

Best indie.

 

[Alex]

Now would be a good time for me to collect my assorted feelings about Parallax. The band thats been rocking my head for the past week and is a serious contender for some of the best music I've heard this year. It would be in my Top 3 albums of 2009 if it wasn't for the fact their Mediums and Messages album was released in 2005 afaik.

The band is getting increasingly special to listen to for me really. It's one of those ones whose message gets stronger and more coherent every time you listen to it. It sounds like a crazy mishmash of Shai Hulud and Dillinger Escape Plan without actually sounding too much like either band. Metallic hardcore played very well, with the lead singer Blake Donner (who tragically died a month or so prior to the album's release) being the real driving force behind the music, and the passion that he pumps into the inspiring, intelligent lyrics on every song is what has got me hooked on this band.

But yeah, anybody with the slightest interest in the genre should rly look into getting ahold of this CD anyway you can. Last Anthem Records is selling this inspiring album for $1. Hell, plus international shipping I'm getting ahold of it for as little as $10 This is music that desperately needs to be heard.

 

[Harley]

Set Your Goals have a new album coming out.

As do Brand New, and if its as good as fork and knife I'm gonna lose my shit.

 

[Alex]

Set Your Goals have a new album coming out.

WANT

 

[Edley]

Holeee shit. Tuomas Saukkonen just blew my head off. I am a new fan of Black Sun Aeon.

http://www.myspace.com/aeonoftheblacksun

 

[Ⓐaron]

Mattias Olsson has confirmed that Änglagård are recording a new album, btw.

edit: actually it sounds like a good chunk of it's already recorded. Hopefully it gets released this year.

 

[Alex]

The National, the guys that made Boxer in 2007 are releasing a new album this year. Should be a pretty slick operation considering what a hidden gem Boxer was.

Pales in comparison to the fact that Rival Schools are back in the studio and making a new album though. omfg.

 

[CK]

I'm saying this now. These Arms Are Snakes are the best thing i've heard this year. Next would have to be Bongripper.

 

[CK]

Starkweathers first album Crossbearer is awesome, finally got my hands on it today.

 

[Bex]

Just downloaded the Flight of the Conchords album.

Oh my god.
BEST ALBUM I'VE LISTENED TO THIS YEAR. It's so catchy and hilarious.

 

[CK]

Just downloaded the Flight of the Conchords album.

Oh my god.
BEST ALBUM I'VE LISTENED TO THIS YEAR. It's so catchy and hilarious.

I lived in the same town as them.

btw Electric Wizard is another good thing i've gotten into this year.