2013年 Dec 31日 Tuesday, 16:42

Spurred on by a discussion of the Year in Metal with my friend Mathromancer, I'm reflecting back on the year in music. Bear with some navel gazing as I stare into the musical mixed bag that was 2013, as well as look forward to what 2014 has in store.

Side A: An Overview

2013 was a year of tempered steel. In spite of some major discoveries in metal, a quick look at my charts reveals some bizarre backpedaling:

The year began with lots of Billy Joel during my annual S.A.D. fest. The Stranger helped me get through the winter doldrums, although it may be a long, long time before I put on 52nd Street again. I don't know how I feel about saying that "Billy Joel got me through a long winter one time", but I might as well feel honest. Thanks, Piano Man.

Speaking of creature comforts: a rekindled affair with some old favorites, nostalgia trip or spiraling upwards? Black Sabbath was my most listened-to artist of 2013 and I haven't even heard the new album. Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, and Green Day all appeared in the Top 30. All were what I'd call 'watershed' bands for me in my formative years, and still getting a lot of replay. What does this say about the idea of trying to relive youth through music? Are In Utero and Physical Graffiti still the revelatory albums I discovered when I was half my current age?

On the other hand, some new metal bands reared their heads to make for new and future watershed moments. Specifically, spazzoid Satanists Deathspell Omega might be the musical discovery of the past couple years. I can see a deep abyss that I'm happy to gaze into with these Frenchmen. Other portals (Gorguts, Ulcerate) might uncover similar depths in the near future…

Finding new light in old flames was a joy this year. Plenty of bands that I've followed for years yielded comebacks (Carcass, Queens of the Stone Age) or reached new pinnacles (Cult of Luna, Pelican, Church of Misery). Even better, I found myself in unexplored territory in bands' back catalogs and finding some new favorites along the way. I found something new to love in artists as diverse as Nasum, Boris, Neurosis, Thou, Botch, and Mr. Bungle. A lot of this is thanks to a few excessive record store binges, but it feels great to play catch-up with some artists that've been there over the years.

The year in live music was a weird one. I was strangely disappointed in Maryland Deathfest, as even some of my favorite acts fell short of my own lofty expectations. I shrugged at the reunited Quicksand, was bored by Bolt Thrower and even felt my eyes grow heavy at Sleep's MDF set. What the hell is wrong with me? Looking back at missed opportunities, I can't believe I stayed at home for Boris, Opeth and Baroness! How can this be?

Of the twenty or so shows I attended this year, only two (Carcass and Neurosis) left me truly speechless, although a headbangin' time was had at multiple nights with Weedeater and Speedwolf. I'm psyched I finally got to see Cult of Luna live, but balked at similar opportunities for Om and Queens of the Stone Age. If these decisions were any indicator, I predict a major change in how I approach live music (see Side D below).

Side B: The Hitlist

Although I'm still catching up with some of the strongest releases of the year–an annual birthday tradition, thanks to Amazon and Decibel's Top 40 list–I was able to construct a Best Of list for the year in new music. Consider this a working list; I'll probably be revising by the middle of January. In alphabetical order…

Favorite New Albums

Carcass: Surgical Steel Don't call it a comeback…but what else would do it justice? This juggernaut combines the best parts of Carcass' discography, including Swan Song, which I finally faced down in preparation of their MDF appearance. I find myself humming riffs from this album all the time. If more death metal bands put their focus on songwriting (and–gasp!–melody) instead of blowing it all on heaviness, the world would be a better place. At least we've got Carcass to fall back on. Welcome home, boys.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1YhxHLbqvM "Thrasher's Abbatoir"

Church of Misery: Thy Kingdom Scum My most-anticipated album of the year, and one that turned out to be a grower, not a shower. When my own hype had died down, I found a leaner and meaner Church to worship at. Psychedelic jams like "B.T.K." and "Dusseldorf Monster" show they've still got their acid stamps on the Japanese passports, too. Seeing them live at the Hi-Dive only cemented my love for these madmen, but the new album is a worthy addition to an already-excellent discography.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMQsd0VRhoA "B.T.K."

Cult of Luna: Vertikal This could've been the flop of the year. Just when I think I've moved past my NeurIsis obsession, this Swedish ensemble ropes me back in with what might be the best record of their career. After five years of silence, Cult of Luna finally emerged from their cave of atmospheric metal to find a dramatically shifted landscape. But this cinematic album, and its concept loosely inspired by Fritz Lang's Metropolis, felt as relevant and powerful as anything else I heard this year. A welcome surprise that was worth the wait.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkHSvwKgJQA "Disharmonia"

In Solitude: Sister I approached this album with caution, if only because their previous one had fallen short of the acclaim. As I found out, this album has a sinister side that undresses itself… slowly. And those choruses are undeniable! During downtime at a teachers' conference this fall, I found myself obsessively playing this while speed-reading Stephen King's Doctor Sleep; I'll never be able to disassociate the two. Fortunately, the Swedish rockers brought enough traditional doom and gloom to make this a soundtrack worthy of a surreal horror novel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz-6dg5CpgY "A Buried Sun"

Inter Arma: Sky Burial It was love at first listen with this melting pot of metal sub-genres. It's a rare feat to tastefully combine ingredients as diverse as sludge, post-rock and black metal, let alone incorporate acoustic interludes with any soul. But Sky Burial does just that, and in an incredibly cohesive soup. I was hooked by "'Sblood" via the Deciblog, but this entire album might go down as the best trip I took all year. A triumph, and I can't wait to see what's next.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSbbUPTdc0I "'sblood"

Queens of the Stone Age: ...Like Clockwork Truth be told, I'm almost embarrassed to include this on a list. Not because it's 'false', but because it's so much more FUN than any of my other favorite records. As someone who fell off the QotSA wagon around the same time Nick Oliveri did (welcome back, Nick!), this was a real treat. It's a glam rock record that doesn't try to be anything else. Filled with enough riffs, hooks and swagger to make any hesher shake a tailfeather, I have no shame in saying this was the soundtrack to my summer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjYZToXuJaM"If I Had a Tail"

Also rans:

Drcarlsonalbion - La Strega And The Cunning Man In The Smoke
Lord Dying - Summon the Faithless
Lorde -Pure Heroine
Orchid - Mouths of Madness
Pelican - Forever Becoming
Pissed Jeans - Honeys
Tomahawk - Oddfellows

Still excited to check out:

Altar of Plagues - Teethed Glory and Injury
Amon Amarth - Deceiver of the Gods
Anciients - Heart of Oak
Cathedral - The Last Spire
Ghost - Infestissumam
Gorguts - Colored Sands
KEN Mode - Entrench
Inquisition - Obscure Verses For the Multiverse
Subrosa - More Constant Than the Gods
Ulcerate - Vermis
Weekend Nachos - Still
Windhand - Soma

Favorite new records NOT released in 2013:

Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops
The Band - To Kingdom Come
Billy Joel - 52nd Street
Boris - [Feedbacker
Deathspell Omega - Paracletus
The Dead Girls - Fade In/Fade Out[/album]
High on Fire -The Art of Self Defense, Surrounded By Thieves
Love Songs - Another Guaranteed 40-Minute Music Set
Mr. Bungle - Disco Volante
Nasum -every CD I found used at Black and Read
Panopticon - Kentucky
Shania Twain - Greatest Hits (Diane Cletus pick)
Sleep - Jerusalem, Dopesmoker (Vinyl Nazareth edition)
Speedwolf - Ride With Death
Thou -every EP I found used at Twist and Shout

Side C: The Down Notes

2013 was a landmark year for music new and old. However, some of it simply wasn't up to snuff. Here's a look back at the disappointments…

Deafheaven-Sunbather I'm still waffling on this one, but the zeitgeist is just overwhelming. Somehow, this managed to be the most postively-revied album of ANY genre on Metacritic. Insane hype for a novelty record, in my opinion.

Kylesa-Ultraviolet Did not make an impression either way. Hate to feel so neutral about a band I once held so dear, but this record felt as bland as they come. If there's one thing metalheads despise, it's jesus–and moderation.

Quicksand - Reunion tour Consider this the Refused Party Program, Part Deux. Quicksand were one of my favorite bands in high school, and I sort-of wish I'd left them that way. The Bluebird show was so much heavy petting and no satisfaction. Glad I got them off the bucket list so I won't have to wonder what could've been…and yet…and YET…

Soundgarden - Reunion tour See above. See a trend? Chris Cornell has no business singing to packed arenas any more.

Venom - Maryland Deathfest set A legacy act, closing out America's biggest heavy metal festival…and what a joke! Why do adult music fans adore this band, again? I couldn't be bothered to stay for the whole set. Sad way to end a festival that, for me, had already had its share of disappointments. Learning from this and staying home in 2014.

Watain-The Wild Hunt I wanted to so badly to love this one, as I have their other LPs. Not bad per se, but just a little too lofty. Ballads slowed it down, but a lackluster finish kept it in the dirt. Where are the riffs?? More metal on their G.G. Allin cover flexi from Decibel than on most of this album combined. What happened, guys?

Side D: Moving Forward

Having hindsight on my side, I've spent the last week thinking about how my love of music has shifted over the years. Not only in superficial ways (favorite bands, budget, black t-shirts), but in more experiential ones, as well. And I don't think it's improved. For the past few years, I've noticed this nagging feeling that music doesn't 'feel' the same way, even though I'm probably listening to more new bands and attending more concerts than ever before. Is this an inevitable–and undesirable–consequence of getting older?

Fortunately, I found solace in my fellow metalheads. Specifically, this excellent blog piece by Invisible Oranges editor, Doug Moore. The succinctly titled 'Don't listen to everything' has some valuable advice for a man who makes at least part of his living my exposing his ears to an obscene amount of music. He likely plays and reviews more music in a month than I do in a year, so it makes sense to hear him out. In a nutshell, Moore heeds us to ignore our compulsions and prioritize quality of experience over quantity. Here, here. A particularly resonant paragraph hits dangerously close to home:

Underground metal fans tend towards obsession and completism by temperament. Finding awesome new metal gives an addictive rush. We cherish breadth and depth of knowledge, and we prize physical signifiers of this knowledge; witness grown men (and they’re usually men) bragging with unreasonable pride about their demo tape collections. We also prize narrative intelligibility in our areas of concern, as all humans do — we want to be able to make sense of our little world. And because many of us are obsessive completists, we often want to experience all of it, too, or at least as much of it as is relevant to us.

Resolution #1: Spend more time with music

This idea seems obvious, but its relevance is less self-explanatory. As someone who divides a 90% of his day at work with teenagers and at home with a loving (but decidedly non-metallic) significant other, 'me time' is at a premium. Finding ways to enjoy music on my own is step one to reconnecting. I anticipate more long-distance runs, walks with Bathory, studio time and fewer carpools, nights out, and tv marathons. If I'm going to make time to really enjoy music, time for other things will have to be cut.

Resolution #2: Take more risks

As people age, most of us start to shelter ourselves with familiar comforts. At the closing year of my 20s, I'm no exception when it comes to taste in art, including music. The plateau is comfortable! But some of my favorite musical discoveries of the past year have been impulse buys, surprise opening acts and other unexpected bounties. Conversely, my biggest disappointments this year were from canonical artists, reunion tours and new releases by old favorites. It's never too late to open one's mind to new experiences. Pushing my boundaries for what good music can be should presumably result in one thing: discovering more good music.

Resolution #3: Don't believe the hype

Following Public Enemy's lead on this one. 2013 was the year of being disappointed by over-hyped bands and albums. The media's priapism over albums like Sunbather made me convinced I had to hear that album…only repeated listens eventually led me to realize the emperor had no clothes. It's strange what a 9/10 review can do to a man's impulse control.

I've always been careful about who I trust for recommendations, but even Decibel has led me astray a few times before. Determined to learn from this mistake, next time I'll be more careful to look before I leap, or in my case, stream the album before I run out and buy the damn thing. 2013 was the year I embraced a 'try it before you buy it' attitude with these amazing advances in streaming technology (have you guys heard of Youtube?!), and it's something I need to do more often.

Resolution #4: Embrace the experience, not the object

I'm one of few people I know who still acquires physical albums. My music collection is one of the few physical possessions I take pride in, but this pride comes at a significant upkeep cost. This is to say nothing of a slowly growing vinyl collection!

As my tendency to prioritize the collection before the music it contains increases, my quality time with each record has been diminished. So instead, I'll limit myself to a certain number of albums per week. Even better, a discrete budget for new music will help me contain my record store binge shopping. The outcome? Hopefully a deeper knowledge and enjoyment of each album.

Resolution #5: Enjoy the music, compulsively

My final self-imposed guideline is especially appropriate for this medium. Since joining last.fm in 2007, I've noticed a sharp change in how (and even why) I listen to music. It's silly, but I've maintained this profile with the attention of a Japanese garden. Deleting scrobbled songs, playing a digital copy along with a vinyl album, even dedicating a decommissioned iPhone for undocumented songs…it's madness. These behaviors are the furthest things from music enjoyment. Instead of memorizing lyrics or song titles, I've memorized my own charts. We have met the enemy, and his name is narcissus.

This compulsive appetite for music has always been my trademark–and one I certainly inherited from my father–but technology has allowed these behaviors to spiral out of control. If I'm going to get back any of that adolescent thrill of discovering new tunes, this has to change. So instead of fretting over which songs I've played, I'm going to spend my time actually hearing the songs themselves. My projection of self might be more blemished, but my inner self will be a hell of a lot happier. And that's the kind of narcissism I can get behind.

The same sort of ascetic attitude should be taken when considering live music. This year, I lamented the shows I skipped, and was dissatisfied by all but a handful of concerts I actually attended. The greatest example was Maryland Deathfest, or in hindsight, a $1000 trip to see Carcass and Melvins. Both of which will be coming back to Denver in 2014. Well, regrets, I've had a few…

This sinking feeling could be a case of 'the grass is always greener', but my strong suspicion is that it's the decision behind these concerts that led to disappointment. Most of the shows that were a letdown were either a.) reunions of 90s bands or b.) acts I'd seen multiple times before. I think exercising more consideration will make for fewer, memorable shows, rather than a smattering of experiences that run together.

Bonus Tracks: Final Spin

As I said before, 2013 was a year of tempered steel for me. New friendships, experiences and chance encounters made a strong impression. Familiar faces and comforts either gathered dust or, in a few cases, flat-out disappointed. It was a year to think about the big transitions in life, especially with all the changes that await in 2014. I'm looking forward to the new year with unrivaled antici…

…pation. The least I can do is try to make sure the soundtrack is one worth listening to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RarLHOzJiLg