Acanthus
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Last Active 05-17-15 1:16 pm
Joined 09-06-10

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11.22.13 Full Disclosure: Chipotle10.01.13 Afi Live 2013
06.29.13 Quit My Job 05.08.13 My Free (dj) Time.
04.01.13 Restaurant Work Sucks Sometimes02.22.13 Artists That Could Use A Change
01.06.13 Building My Desktop + Dota 212.24.12 My 2012
11.19.12 Thanksgiving Week Digs10.27.12 Going Through Dir En Grey
09.05.12 Some Recent Digs08.26.12 Acanthus Gets A Phone
08.13.12 Things I Hate (Breaking Bad Edition)08.11.12 Who Likes Drum And Bass?
08.05.12 Music That Kickstarted Your Love08.01.12 Soundcloud, I Am Not Impressed.
07.28.12 Fav. Music Videos07.21.12 Spicing Up My Sets
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Acanthus: Strange 2011

Here's some of the highlights of my year, which has been both bad and good. New artists wowed, old artists let me down, etc. List is divided into Industrial (used as a broad term), Other, and Bad.
1Industrial


55% of my pie chart
2Unter Null
Moving On


Why I had stayed away from Miss Null is quite beyond me, but this album
(the deluxe edition) was like an emotional shockwave. Filled with female
angst, a nice use of classical influences, and some fast BPM's made me fall
in love with this album - anyone who ever went through an emotional time
with a friend or with a breakup should feel right at home.
3Die Sektor
Applied Structure In A Void


This year found Die Sektor moving from the harsh sounds of their "youth"
and into something a bit more laid back. If this changed put off some of you
I must say you're missing out, go check out "Dissector" for an excellent
example of what this album has to offer.
4[:SITD:]
Icon:Koru


Harder hitting than past albums but still enjoyable, SITD really have made
quite an album. Containing an entertaining mix of German and English
vocals this album blew me away - an excellent album for the dancefloor too
I might add.
5Dance or Die
Nostradamnation


"4 3 2 1" is the reason I looked into this album, and for a band that took a
10 YEAR break it's quite an accomplishment. Sadly the album isn't all like
that track, but it's good nonetheless.
6Acretongue
Strange Cargo


Cover art can grab me like no other, and this has gorgeous artwork. Inside
the music is pretty good too, a bit laid back for most club nights but great to have on while you do stuff around the house or drive. The debut it a bit
better, but sadly wasn't released this year.
7SAM
Brainwasher


The ProNoize record label has earned much love from me, and this album is
the main cause. Filled with a sound that I've not been able to find
anywhere else and a style that I adore SAM took over my decks as well as
my hard drive quite quickly - if you ever need to make someone dance but
they don't like industrial ProNoize and SAM are your friend.
8Phosgore
Warhead


Phosgore debuted with Domination, but Warhead see's the DJ turned
producer truly gain his footing. It's fun, catchy, signed to ProNoize, and
doesn't sound like generic aggro-tech anymore - win's all around.
9Haujobb
Dead Market


The first Haujobb EP in years featured some great remixes as well as some
catchy albeit downtempo tracks. It was nice to hear the band go in a new
direction, his synth lines and layers are masterful here.
10Imperative Reaction
Surface


Another E.P. but this one is far more club-friendly. Imperative Reaction
released their best track as the single from their upcoming self-titled and
then handed it over to some fine artists to get mangled and fine tuned for
the listeners pleasure. Tracks 4-7 are all killer imo
11Haujobb
New World March


More Haujobb? Yes. The new album dropped quietly and is really really
slow, killing almost all energy the E.P. might of had whatsoever. It's good,
but nothing more than great at times.
12CygnosiC
Fallen


The debut was wonderful... sadly this is more of the same. The same tricks
only a bit more polished great the listener, but coming from a relatively unknown artist this isn't a bad sophomore release at all.
13CTRL
Make Things Right


VNV Nation, Seabound, and Assemblage 23 had an orgy - CTRL was the
result. Make Things Right is catchy, upbeat, a wonderful futurepop outing
into the world of downtrodden VNV-esque laments and beauty.
14Encephalon
The Transhuman Condition


While these Canadians might have taken years to get out of the "we've
only one E.P." stage the result isn't too terrible, in fact it's rather good.
Sadly the sound from their E.P. is replaced by the group dipping their foot
into multiple genre's - if you ask me they had their sound nailed with
Drowner.
15Binary Park
Worlds Collide


Another new artist, and again they are subtle and QUIET. However well Binary Park do this it really isn't anything new, rather it's just "good"
16 Blutengel
Tränenherz


After years of being "so-so" Blutengel once again gains their stride and
crafts a truly wonderful album (deluxe edition is a marvelous listen straight
through, all 33 tracks). This really blew my mind, and had me singing lines in
German for days after.
17Binary Park
The Deviated


7 months after their debut Binary Parl come back with a 10 track E.P..... and what a comeback it is. Filled with new found energy and a great vocal
direction this surpasses the debut in everyway, go check this out first.
18Acylum
Karzinom


Acylum once again delve into madness, and I love it! Once again the deluxe
edition proves the master, all those extra tracks give the listener even
more of a look into the dark that is Karzinom.
19Tüchters Letztes Gefecht
Unbelehrbar


While not found until recently the cover art drew me in and the album never
let me go. THIS IS GOOD. Like, really good. A debut shouldn't be this good,
I'm in love with this.
20 Other


The rest of whatever
21Mahria
S/T Cassette


The female vocals on this are the draw for me, otherwise it'd come off as
rather bland. Really glad I looked at this album, also I'm the guy who put
them on youtube so yeah, \m/
22Peter Murphy
Ninth


Ah Peter Murphy, you came back and brought your roots with you. A
delightful explanation of why he is The Godfather of Goth.
23Arafel
For Battles Once Fought


Released early in 2011 I never grew tired of the delightful mix of metal and
folk this album had to offer - I can still be heard humming the pirate diddy
from the opening track on occasion.
24Dammerfarben
Im Abendrot


Quiet, German, cool artwork, this album hit all the right spots and was my
companion threw many a stroll on campus. Rec'd to my German teacher too,
not sure if she gave it a listen but at least I tried.
25The Birthday Massacre
Imaginary Monsters


Remixes were horrible assaults on the originals, the B-sides however are
the real reason this is here - Chibi love, Chibi love.
26The Chemical Brothers
Hanna: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack


I swear I end up playing this once a day since I saw the film. One of the
better OST's this year, it also is fun to use in a club for short
interlude/beauty purposes.
27Reso
Ishimura


I followed the first Dead Space religiously, so this was a fun E.P. for me. It's
quite good, if short, and though I might not get anything else by the group
this at least will garner some love.
28The Bad


Ugly, Traitors, Tease, etc
29VNV Nation
Automatic


Thinking of this album still makes my hackles rise, this could have been so
good. I don't want to see them on this tour anymore, I'd rather just listen
to Judgement and be depressed at how large a liar Ronan and the bands
hype machine truly are.
30Imperative Reaction
Imperative Reaction


After claims of re-inventing, and this being the deciding IR album, it really
was a flop. The single saw the potential, but it was squandered in bad
levels and generic "been there, done that" lyrics.
31Aesthetic Perfection
All Beauty Destroyed


...
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