Jac's First Half 2015
Well I'm a week and bit late but time constraints meant I had to catch up on a lot of the stuff I intended to check before July but here we are, hope you like you the list :) |
| 50 |  | Chapel of Disease
The Mysterious Ways of Repetitive Art
Death Metal |
| 49 |  | Ryuichi Sakamoto / Illuha / Taylor Deupree
Perpetual
Musique Concrete |
| 48 |  | Arcanoid
Insane
Techno |
| 47 |  | Sulphur Aeon
Gateway to the Antisphere
Death Metal - An improvement over their last album but still blighted by production issues, although not necessarily the same kind this time. |
| 46 |  | Viet Cong
Viet Cong
Post-Punk |
| 45 |  | Motorama
Poverty
Post-Punk |
| 44 |  | Steinbruchel
Parallel Landscapes
Ambient |
| 43 |  | Mount Eerie
Sauna
Avant-Folk |
| 42 |  | Graham Lambkin and Michael Pisaro
Schwarze Riesenfalter
Musique Concrete |
| 41 |  | Lotic
Heterocetera
UK Bass |
| 40 |  | Prurient
Frozen Niagara Falls
Industrial - Among the best he's ever done but I've never been a fan of Prurient, still very very good in it's own right though. |
| 39 |  | The Doppelgangaz
Parts Unknown
Hip-hop - Not quite as good as Peace Kehd but that's a pretty high bar to clear, really good. |
| 38 |  | Roman Flugel
Sliced Africa
House |
| 37 |  | Spectral Voice
Necrotic Doom
Death Doom Metal - Very nice production for a demo but still nice and raw with all the acoustics preserved. |
| 36 |  | Halshug
Blodets Band
Crust Punk |
| 35 |  | Chaos Echoes
Transient
Experimental Metal - Definitely one of the most interesting and unique albums I've heard all year |
| 34 |  | Malthusian
Below the Hengiform
Death Metal |
| 33 |  | Ahnnu
Perception
Plunderphonics - I've never been very big on this sort stuff but this album manages to break down some of the barriers that keep me from truly appreciating the genre. |
| 32 |  | Abyss (CAN)
Heretical Anatomy
Death Metal |
| 31 |  | William Basinski
Cascade
Ambient |
| 30 |  | Peste Noire
La Chaise-Dyable
Black Metal - Not quite as out of there as some of Famine's recent efforts but still very eccentric and entertaining. |
| 29 |  | Sumbu Dunia
Sister Nature
Musique Concrete |
| 28 |  | Conduct
Fear and Desire
Post-punk - Alienating post-punk with a strong post-hardcore vibe that I really need to revisit because this sounds like it'd be a grower. |
| 27 |  | Ondness
Them Corja
Electroacoustic - For some reason this keeps reminding me of that Digimon 2003 game that I had for PS1 when you'd go to some of the industrial maps in the North sector and it's really damn cool but I guess I'm a nerd so w/e |
| 26 |  | Faceless Burial
Demo 2015
Death Metal - Raw, uncompromising death metal with plenty of riffs. |
| 25 |  | Kerridge
Always Offended Never Ashamed
Dark Ambient - Like the sound track to a suspenseful disaster film. |
| 24 |  | Gay Kiss
Preservation Measures
Hardcore - Dissonant, multifaceted, detailed and brings the riffs what more do you need? |
| 23 |  | Aphex Twin
Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments Pt. 2
IDM - Excellent release as usual from Aphex and I really hope he puts out more experiemntal material in this vein because it's more interesting than Syro. |
| 22 |  | Obscure Infinity
Perpetual Descending into Nothingness
Death Metal - Riffs! |
| 21 |  | Pyrrhon
Growth Without End
Mathcore - Seems I'm in the minority when I say this is an improvement over The Mother of Virtues but this new streamlined (but still very chaotic) direction appeals to me. |
| 20 |  | Ozel AB
Crimes
House - Kind of sounds like it was recorded live in a small club which is probably why it's so easy to connect with. |
| 19 |  | Vril
Portal
Techno - As was the case last year with Objekt's album I don't really know how to describe what makes this so good it just is. |
| 18 |  | The Slow Death
Ark
Funeral Doom Metal - Sort of gives me a worship vibe in places except it's not as "kill yourself and pray you're not remembered" kinda dark, the female vox are definitely the cheery on top and without them this wouldn't be nearly as good. |
| 17 |  | Jasmine Guffond
Yellow Bell
Ambient - Found out about this thanks to JT's review and for that I thank him because this beautiful as I expected something endorsed by him to be, listening on open-backs is a must. |
| 16 |  | Vorum
Current Mouth
Death Metal - Just some no-frills Finnish death metal with hard riffs n stuff. |
| 15 |  | Big Blood
Double Days II
Psychedelic Folk - Ever so slightly campy but still very charismatic folk, it's sister album (Double Days I) is very good as well but this is significantly better imo. |
| 14 |  | Sean McCann
Ten Impressions For Piano And Strings
Ambient - Absolutely beautiful soundscapes with a scrupulous attention to detail and if it doesn't move you then you have no feelings and suck a lot. |
| 13 |  | Jose Gonzalez
Vestiges and Claws
Indie Folk - Jose Gonzalez just has a knack for extracting maximum poignancy out of such a bare-bones set-up, this album is no exception. |
| 12 |  | The Soft Moon
Deeper
Post-punk - Not exactly the most original album I've ever heard but that doesn't really phase me when the content is this good. |
| 11 |  | Gurun Gurun
Kon B
Psychedelic Folk - Completely unhinged, most-assuredly drug-addled freeform folk bullshit that seems to be getting panned a little but I don't know why because this is lovely. |
| 10 |  | ENA
Divided
Dark Ambient - First two tracks are more techno but after that it dissolved into a suffocating nebula of perpetual suspense, really good. |
| 9 |  | Axis of Light
L'appel du vide
Black Metal - If you think Nattens Madrigal is harsh then you haven't heard this, obviously. |
| 8 |  | Abyssal
Antikatastaseis
Blackened Death Metal - Huge improvement for the one man band (technically speaking). Having an actual drummer definitely helps which makes me wonder if there was any stylistic delegation on his part because the song-writing has improved tenfold. |
| 7 |  | Rutger Zuydervelt
Sneeuwstorm
Ambient / Drone - It's crazy how this guy manages to maintain atmosphere and your interest with a perfectly fluid singular track spanning over 30 minutes. This album can be either engaging or peripheral depending on what kind of experience you're after, or the level of attention you dedicate to it at any time. |
| 6 |  | Misthyrming
Söngvar elds og óreiðu
Black Metal - So cold that it burns, the opening track is probably the most intense thing I've heard all year. |
| 5 |  | Hiatus Kaiyote
Choose Your Weapon
Neo-soul - Smooth and eclectic with ample replay value, this album serves as a reminder that I really do need to delve into soul a lot more than I do ( which is like, not at all :/ ) |
| 4 |  | Kendrick Lamar
To Pimp a Butterfly
Hip Hop - There's nothing to say about this album that hasn't already been said, except I will say I that I enjoy it far more for the beats, instrumentation, lyricism, Kendrick's tongue-in-cheek wit and production than I do the message behind it. |
| 3 |  | Ad Nauseam
Nihil Quam Vacuitas Ordinatum Est
Technical Death Metal - Will be dismissed as Gorguts/Deathspell Omega worship by many but Nihil Quam is a superb and surprisingly unique take on an established sound, do check. |
| 2 |  | Fraufraulein
Extinguishment
Electroacoustic Improv - Absolutely stunning collaboration between Anne Guthrie and some other dude I've never heard of, therapeutic musique for the soul and mind~ |
| 1 |  | Howls of Ebb
The Marrow Veil
Blackened Death Metal - Incredible mini-LP from a band that I now consider to be among the best DM bands to have debuted this side of 2010, spooky, fucked-up, Lovecraftian goodness. |
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