The Glitch Mob: Drink the Sea (4.5/5)

Joshua's Top "Not Metal" Picks for 2010
#5 of 10



Year: 2010
Genre: Electronic Glitch-hop
Label: Glass Air
TRT: 59:33

I'd heard about this collective before, but never got around to checking out any of their sets. After touring extensively for several years, this is their first official release, and it was received with mixed reactions. Many were let down at the direction they pursued here, because it's apparently quite different from their live approach. Having not heard anything but this album, I came to the table with no expectations and no preconceived notions about what I was or was not going to hear. And if those opinions would have caused me to dislike this, then I'm quite glad of their absence, because this album is excellent.

Every track has something different to offer, and each song has a life and will of it's own, all coming together to form a blissful journey from start to finish. Glitchy electronics drenched in lush production and beats that are, at times, driving and at times simply walking in the background, marry to create arresting sonic soundscapes.

01 Animus Vox
02 Bad Wings
03 How To Be Eaten By A Woman
04 A Dream Within A Dream
05 Fistful of Silence
06 Between Two Points feat. Swan
07 We Swarm
08 Drive It Like You Stole It
09 Fortune Days
10 Starve The Ego, Feed The Soul

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Tobacco: La Uti (4/5)

Joshua's Top Five EPs from 2010
#4 of 5



Year: 2010
Genre: Wonky Glitch-hop Electronics
Label: Anticon
TRT: 18:39

A few new tunes and a few tunes off 2010's Meat Maniac, but re-recorded with guest vocals from other Anticon artists. This brief EP contains some of Tom Fec's best work, not in any small part due to the guest appearances; it just works. It works so well. I sincerely hope this is a taste of what's to come, because the further into Hip Hop he delves, the fresher and better his grooves seem to get.

01 TV All Greasy (Feat. Anti-Pop Consortium)
02 The Injury (Feat. Doseone)
03 Lick The Witch (Feat. Rob Sonic)
04 2 Thick Scoops (Feat. Serengeti)
05 Sweatmother (Feat. Height)
06 Unholy Demon Rhythms (Feat. Icicle Frog)
07 Lamborghini Meltdown (Feat. Zackey Force Funk)

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Zavoloka: Viter (4/5)

Year: 2007
Genre: Electronic Glitch Orchestration
Label: Kvitnu
TRT: 24:34

When this album came up in my listening queue, it had been some time since I'd acquired it, and I didn't remember anything about it or why I had picked it up in the first place. So when I imported it into my media player of choice, I was not pleased to see the pre-loaded tags associated with the album. The ubiquitous and criminally undescriptive: "New Age". I rolled me eyes and cleared the genre and re-tagged the album in the same manner I tag all my digital collection. The song titles did nothing to assuage my doubts, nothing but a variation on that well known pop culture phrase: “Breath In, Breath Out”.

In short, I was already pre-disposed to dismiss this album out of hand before hearing the first sound it contained. The tones of the brief first track seemed only to confirm my thoughts on the matter. But then I listened to the rest of the album, and completely changed my mind. Threw out every assumption I had so hastily made.

Kateryna Zavoloka is a Ukrainian musician, who is always looking for a way to push the boundaries of sound. On this release, she combines glitchy and experimental electronic beats with traditional Ukrainian folk instruments, such as the fiddle and violin, playing in a manner inspired by traditional folk songs from her home country.

The result is a very unique listen, reminiscent of Saltillo’s Ganglion, but darker and with more of the emphasis on the beats rather than the orchestrations, and with a less structured approach.

All in all, she’s created quite a satisfying little slice of digital pie...for a girl.

01 Inhale
02 Exhale
03 Inhale
04 Exhale
05 Inhale
06 Exhale
07 Inhale
08 Exhale
09 Inhale

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Tim Koch: Faena (4/5)

Year: 2006
Genre: Atmospheric Electronic Glitch
Label: Merck
TRT: 59:30


When I first got a hold of this release in 2006, it made an impression on me, and ended up barely missing a spot on my top ten list for the year.

After revisiting it a great deal of late, it startles me how much more I like it now as opposed to then. Very lush textures composed of interesting electronic beats, with a warm and inviting atmosphere accented by a healthy dose of glitch. Brings to mind Telefon Tel Aviv, or a more ambient and less spastic Autechre.

it’s a great album to listen to start to finish while driving or performing some other task.

01 Introduct
02 Distantamount
03 Ellermanstraat
04 Groove 90
05 Take The Stairs
06 Attery Bop
07 Intensive Porpoises
08 Blue And Grey
09 Shalike
10 Macrome
11 Gulf Streams
12 Seven Ate Nine
13 Kilteroff
14 X_To_M
15 Truth Sinks In
16 Waiting Room
17 Cutcut

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Nine Inch Nails: The Slip (4.5/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Non-Metal Albums of 2008
#3 out of 10


Year: 2008
Genre: Electro Glitch Rock
Label: Null Corporation
TRT: 43:47

Trent Reznor has come a long way since the days when he would force fans to wait 5 or more years between records. With Year Zero released a mere two years after With Teeth, following that a year later with Ghosts I-IV. And then scarcely two months after the digital release of Ghosts, Reznor springs another full length album, The Slip.

There’s a rumor circulating the internet that The Slip is a closer view at the “Great Destroyer” of Year Zero. While I can certainly see the similarities, and with a little creativity connect the dots between the two, I would tend to think the stories are related in content and context, but not actually one and the same.

With this release, Reznor combines the raw energy of Pretty Hate Machine with the polished intensity of Year Zero, rounding it out with the commercial appeal of With Teeth. While I wouldn’t say this is anywhere close to his “strongest” album, it has a strange addictive quality to it. Whatever issues I may have with the pacing and flow (towards the end of the album), I just can’t stop listening to it. And the higher the volume, the better the experience.

01 999,999
02 1,000,000
03 Letting You
04 Discipline
05 Echoplex
06 Head Down
07 Lights in the Sky
08 Corona Radiata
09 The Four of Us Are Dying
10 Demon Seed

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Clark: Turning Dragon (4.5/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Non-Metal Albums of 2008
#4 out of 10 (tie)


Year: 2008
Genre: Electronic Dance Glitch
Label: Warp
TRT: 46:35

Combining schizophrenic glitchy electronics with big beat dance floor beats, Chris Clark has created the perfect amalgamation of experimentation and control. Unashamedly Infectious and unabashedly catchy, it’s hard to name an album that’s more fun to audit.

01 New Year Storm
02 Volcan Veins
03 Truncation Horn
04 For Wolves Crew
05 Violenl
06 Radiation Clutch
07 Ache of the North
08 Mercy Sines
09 Hot May Slides
10 BEG
11 Penultimate Persian

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Flying Lotus: Los Angeles (4/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Non-Metal Albums of 2008
#9 out of 10


Year: 2008
Genre: "Trip-Hop"
Label: Warp Records
TRT: 43:17

I regrettably neglected this album for quite awhile, but from the first listen I knew it would be getting hours of play. People call it “trip hop”, but I’m not really familiar with the ins and outs of this genre. All I know is that I adore the atmosphere created by the static-drenched glitchy beats, so warm and inviting and fresh upon each new listen.

01 Brainfeeder
02 Breathe . Something/Stellar Star
03 Beginners Falafel
04 Camel
05 Melt!
06 Comet Course
07 Orbit 405
08 Golden Diva
09 Riot
10 GNG BNG
11 Parisian Goldfish
12 Sleepy Dinosaur
13 RobertaFlack (feat. Dolly)
14 SexSlaveShip
15 Auntie's Harp
16 Testament (feat. Gonja Sufi)
17 Auntie's Lock/Infinitum (feat. Laura Darlington)

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65daysofstatic: The Fall of Math (4.5/5)

Year: 2004
Label: Monotreme
Genre: Post Rock Electro Glitch
TRT: 43:45

These Englishmen know how to rock. Taking the Post Rock formula of crafting songs with constantly building tension and intense climaxes, and intensifying it with some very interesting electronics and glitchy static. Sort of sounds like Mogwai's doppelganger patching it's music though The Matrix. Or, imagine The Sound of Animals Fighting playing a Pelican cover show, with a sound system possessed by Autechre.

01 Another Code Against the Gone
02 Install a Beak in the Heart That Clucks Time in Arabic
03 Retreat! Retreat!
04 Default This
05 I Swallowed Hard, Like I Understood
06 The Fall of Math
07 This Cat Is a Landmine
08 The Last Home Recording
09 Hole
10 Fix the Sky a Little
11 Aren't We All Running?

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Telefon Tel Aviv: Fahrenheit Fair Enough (4.5/5)

Year: 2001
Label: Hefty
Genre: Electro Glitch IDM
TRT: 40:56

While not as "pure" as Autechre or Venetian Snares, Telefon Tel Aviv serves up some very good IDM with a healthy dose of glitch and electronic meanderings in 9 perfectly crafted songs. Glitch has to be one of my favorite things to listen to, whether it's paired with another style of music, or left on it's own. It's just so fresh and fun and interesting. In my opinion, it's the future of electronic music.

01 Farenheit Fair Enough
02 TTV
03 Lotus Above Water
04 John Thomas On The Inside Is Nothing But Foam
05 Life Is All About Taking Things In And Putting Things Out
06 Your Face Reminds Me Of When I Was Old
07 What's The Use Of Feet If You Haven't Got Legs?
08 Introductory Nomenclature
09 Fahrenheit Far Away

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M83: Digital Shades Volume I (4.5/5)

#8 out of 10
Non-Metal Album of 2007

Year: 2007
Label: EMI Music France
Genre: Electronic Ambient Glitch
TRT: 35:39

Not a "typical" M83 album, but the first in a series of electronic ambient albums to be released under the moniker. Digital Shades Volume I is an incredibly dense and indellibly beautiful journey. It's warm and atmospheric, remaining on the outskirts of conscience, while at the same time, when allowed, dominating the senses. A balanced mesh of Harold Budd's melodic flow and Brian Eno's knack for textured soundscapes. While not eclipsing either artist, this cd still delivers fulfillment listen after listen. I look forward to hearing the subsequent installments in this serise.

01 Waves, Waves, Waves
02 Coloring the Void
03 Sister (Part I)
04 Strong and Wasted
05 My Own Strange Path
06 Dancing Mountains
07 Sister (Part II)
08 By the Kiss
09 Space Fertilizer
10 The Highest Journey

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Nine Inch Nails: Year Zero (5/5)

#4 out of 10
Non-Metal Album of 2007

Year: 2007
Label: Interscope
Genre: Industrial Glitch Pop
TRT: 63:42

If you are not aware of the Alternate Reality Game preceeding this album, immediately go to www.ninwiki.com and read up on it, as it's one of the coolest things I've ever taken part in. The album also makes a lot more since when put in context with ARG. To be honest, I was not a big fan of the album at first. It took me several months of listening for it to really click, but click it did. The album follows people living in a distopian future-world where the government and the church are essentially one entity, where global warming has made most of the world unlivable, and the government is putting sedatives in the water and chips in it's "citizens". Again, to full appreciate and understand the album, you need to follow the ARG from start to finish to put everything in perspective. There are rumors of a Year Zero movie, which would be quite an undertaking (David Lynch, perhaps?), and a follow up album both being in the works, so keep your eyes peeled.

01 Hyperpower!
02 The Beginning of the End
03 Survivalism
04 The Good Soldier
05 Vessel
06 Me, I'm Not
07 Capital G
08 My Violent Heart
09 The Warning
10 God Given
11 Meet Your Master
12 The Greater Good
13 The Great Destroyer
14 Another Version of the Truth
15 In This Twilight
16 Zero-Sum

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