Kroda: Schwarzpfad (4.5/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Albums from 2011

#10 of 10

Year: 2011

Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal

Label: Purity Through Fire

TRT: 50:40

There's something very primal about Kroda. Hailing from The Ukraine, they incorporate a lot of the rich folk history of their country into their works, both through the instruments used and the lore reiterated. There's an undeniable beauty to their work, in both the cacophony and the quiet. This is a very memorable release with plenty of replay value.

01 Schwarzpfad I (First Snow)

02 Schwarzpfad II (Universal Provenances)

03 Schwarzpfad III (Forefather of Hangmen)

04 Schwarzpfad IV (Heil Ragnarok!)

05 Schwarzpfad V (Cold Aurora)

Search Amazon for Kroda

Other Lives: Tamer Animals (4.5/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Albums of 2011

#9 of 10

Year: 2011

Genre: Western Folk Dream Pop

Label: TBD

TRT: 40:16

For 12 was recommended to me for a compilation I was putting together. The compilation fell through, but I fell for this song, and immediately checked out the rest of the album. What we have here is a band that at times reminds me of Mumford and Sons, sometimes Bon Iver, maybe even a little Radiohead, yet their clear vision and western slant make their sound unique and refreshing. I doubt these folks will stay under the radar long, since they're currently touring with Radiohead (as well as being released on their imprint), which is good, because we need more high profile quality music on the airwaves.

01 Dark Horse

02 As I Lay My Head Down

03 For 12

04 Tamer Animals

05 Dust Bowl III

06 Weather

07 Old Statues

08 Woodwind

09 Desert

10 Landforms

11 Head East

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Blut aus Nord: 777 - The Desanctification

Joshua's Top 10 Albums of 2011

#8 of 10

Year: 2011

Genre: Experimental Black Metal

Label: Debemur Morti

TRT: 43:47

These longtime black metal jauggernauts are relentless. After a career almost old enough to vote, they're still not ready to give up the ghost. Instead they're turning up the intensity but releasing a three part series of albums for their ninth, tenth and eleventh full length offerings. This is the second in the series (with the third part due out in early 2012), and it is monstrously depraved. They've pulled a page from MoRT, and really upped the industrial sound of the drums, giving them a pummeling machinelike pulse, which enhances the eerie guitar atmospheres and schizophrenic vocals. They've given us yet another journey to hell, and I don't think we're coming back from this one.

01 Epitome VII

02 Epitome VIII

03 Epitome IX

04 Epitome X

05 Epitome XI

06 Epitome XII

07 Epitome XIII

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Nero: Welcome Reality (4.5/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Albums of 2011

#7 of 10

Year: 2011

Genre: Electro Dubstep

Label: Mercury

TRT: 61:05

This two man DJ group has been lighting up stages and playing sets all over the world for many years, so the expectation for their debut album was pretty high. But I don't think anyone thought this was the album they'd make. Instead of going for the "easy kill" by coupling some nasty drops with some glitch ambient intros (rinse/repeat), they wrote an actual album containing actual songs. You can tell they put a great deal of effort into these tracks, they're not just a handful of club-friendly wubs and wobbles. This album is like the best parts of Justice and Skrillex combined with Nero's own singunature production. The result speaks for its self. Glitchy grooves, catchy hooks and drops that are somehow more "wholesome" than "filthy". This is one that's going to be getting a lot of play from me for a long time.

01 2808

02 Doomsday

03 My Eyes

04 Guilt

05 Fugue State

06 Me and You

07 Innocence

08 In the Way

09 Scorpions

10 Crush on You

11 Must Be the Feeling

12 Reaching Out

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Rwake: Rest (4.5/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Albums of 2011

#6 of 10

Year: 2011

Genre: Atmospheric Sludge Metal

Label: Relapse

TRT: 52:48

It's nice to see a band mature their sound without losing sight of who they are, and these southern sludge lords are not fucking around. While not as primal or violent as 2007's Voices of Omen, it's hardly deserving of such a sleepy title. Rwake focus more on the atmospheric side of their sound this time around, but there's still plenty of aggression to be found, and plenty of vicious grooves to be had.

01 Souls of the Sky

02 It Was Beautiful But Now It's Sour

03 An Invisible Thread

04 The Culling

05 Ti progetto

06 Was Only a Dream

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Gem Club: Breakers (4.5/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Albums of 2011

#5 of 10

Year: 2011

Genre: Piano-driven Atmospheric Melancholy

Label: Hardly Art

TRT: 37:49

Christopher Barnes channels the essence of melancholy and brings to mind "slowcore" pioneers Slowdive, while Barnes' haunting vocals are reminiscent of the Norwegian band The White Birch. Using his voice and his piano (with occasional help from cellist Kristen Drymala), Barnes creates immense atmospheres that are at once arresting and engrossing. His lyrics captivate your imagination, and whether hopeful or tragic, they come across with a sense of urgency and honesty that is sorely lacking in music these days.

01 Twins

02 Breakers

03 Lands

04 Red Arrow (John)

05 I Heard the Party

06 Black Ships

07 Tanager

08 252

09 In Wavelengths

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Leprous: Bilateral (5/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Albums of 2011

#4 of 11

Year: 2011

Genre: Progressive Metal

Label: InsideOut

TRT: 58:05

Leprous' last album, Tall Poppy Syndrome, really impressed me, so my expectations were very high for this one. And apparently they were up for the challenge. They really took things up a notch. Everything they did right on TPS, they improve upon. Vocalist Einar Solberg is particularly impressive. His performance on TPS is excellent, but there are several points during this album that my jaw literally dropped. These guys are the real deal, and they're raising the bar for progressive metal in spectacular fashion.

Also I don't usually bother making "best songs" lists for any given year, but gun to my head, I'd probably have to say my favorite track from 2011 is Forced Entry.

01 Bilateral

02 Forced Entry

03 Restless

04 Thorn

05 Mb. Indifferentia

06 Waste of Air

07 Mediocrity Wins

08 Cryptogenic Desires

09 Acquired Taste

10 Painful Detour

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Wolves in the Throne Room: Celestial Lineage (5/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Albums for 2011

#3 of 10

Year: 2011

Genre: Atmoblamet

Label: Southern Lord

TRT: 48:51

Wolves in the Throne Room will always hold a special place in my blackened heart, because they are the band that unlocked black metal for me, and it has since become one of my most-listened to and favorite genres. After the release of the straight-forward and mostly mediocre Black Cascade, I feared they had lost their touch. Yet again, I'm happy to be wrong in such situations.

Celestial Lineage gets back to the incredibly well constructed atmospheres of their first two albums, and some how, some way, makes them more vast and full-sounding than ever. In addition, there are some absolutely magnificent riffs to be found here. While that's always been the case, they're much more prominent on this album. Specifically (and you know I don't like singling out tracks), Astral Blood is one of the most black plague infectious tracks I've ever heard. I spent several weeks humming guitar parts (much to the chagrin of my wife). And when I got it on vinyl...let's just say Side C has gotten many many times the play the rest of the album has. I think I must have picked up the needle and started it over maybe 12 times in a row that first day. I would highly recommend picking up the LP if that's something you're in to.

01 Thuja Magus Imperium

02 Permanent Changes In Conciousness

03 Subterrenean Initiation

04 Rainbow Illness

05 Woodland Cathedral

06 Astral Blood

07 Prayer of Transformation

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Blue Sky Black Death: Noir (5/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Albums of 2011

#2 of 10

Year: 2011

Genre: Atmospheric Instrumental Trip-hop

Label: Fake Four

TRT: 62:41

While they started their career solidly in the realm of instrumental hip hop, over the past couple albums they've been moving more and more in the direction of washed out electronics and trip hop. They've also become more interesting as they mature their sound. Noir is like a warm day on the tail end of summer. Everything seems calm and laid back, but you just have a feeling that a storm is brewing on the horizon, and you can't shake your sense of unease. Like a hallway where there's enough light to keep moving, but not enough to see what's at the far end. Blue Sky Black Death prowls in those shadows, waiting.

01 Our Hearts Of Ruin

02 Sleeping Children Are Still Flying

03 And Stars, ringed

04 To The Ends Of The Earth

05 Farewell To The Former World

06 Falling Short

07 Gold In Gold Out

08 Where Do We Go

09 In The Quiet Absence Of God

10 Where The Sun Beats

11 Starry

12 Fire For Light

13 Swords From Driftwood

14 Sky With Hand

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Arms and Sleepers: The Organ Hearts (5/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Albums of 2011

#1 of 10 (Album of the Year)

Year: 2011

Genre: Ambient Electronic Soundscapes

Label: Expect Candy

TRT: 41:01

This duo from New England showed up on my radar sometime shortly after their second full length Matador was released in 2009. I liked it and checked out their first album, and liked it as well, but it wasn't until late in 2010 that I really started to get into their sound. That's what they do. They create lush and layed soundscapes that appear simple on the surface, but become more intricate as you start to pay attention to and pick up on the subleties. When I saw them in April of 2010, The Organ Hearts was slated for release about a month later. After they opened their set with the first three tracks from the new album, the anticipation became palpable, and I bought it the day it was released.

This is their best release to date. Everything I love about their previous releases is here, but magnified. At first blush this seems to be the most minimalistic and ambient material they've created, but as you become more familiar with the music, more and more things begin to pop out at you. Over time, listening to this album becomes like watching a time-lapse video of a mountain meadow as it transforms from winter to spring, and the flowers bloom from the frozen ground.

01 Kepesh

02 Tusk

03 I Sing the Body Electric

04 The Afternoon Child

05 A Smile in Sofia

06 Antwerp

07 Serie Noire

08 Reprise

09 Yesterday's Child

10 Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

11 Atelier

12 Airport Blues

Buy Arms and Sleepers merch from Big Cartel

The Marshmallow Ghosts: The Mashmallow Ghosts (4/5)

Year: 2009

Genre: Spooky Indie Rock

Label: Graveface Records

TRT: 11:36

The Marshmallow Ghosts is a bit of a revolving door band made up of Graveface Records artists from Black Moth Super Rainbow, The Appleseed Cast, Dreamend, and who knows who else.

This was released as a super-limited edition 7", with a a song on each side. The record is simply hypnotizing as it spins, especially in the dark (glow in the dark records? we truly live in a miraculous world!).

It's a fun little collaboration, and it's good tunes too! The first track is my favorite, as I feel it captures perfectly that creepy/something is around the corner/am i going to die? feeling without being overt or cheesy. It's the perfect soundtrack for a night out Trick or Treating, or to give the room an eerie yet whimsical tone.

I'm looking forward to hearing their new full-length, hope it's as strong as this brief release.

01 Shrieks

02 Creaks

Purchase The Marshmallow Ghosts from Graveface Records

Mal Etre: Torment (4.5/5)

Year: 2010

Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal

Label: Kunsthauch

TRT: 49:39

Production quality in black metal is an extremely touchy thing. There's a fine line between "great atmosphere" and "this sounds like fucking shit". This one man band from Switzerland finds the perfect balance. Washed out and hazy, dark and ominous, beautiful and memorable. Sad, gloomy, tortured, depressive...I could go on and on. Just imagine The Cure playing black metal in a mountain forest covered in fog.

01 Vie Impure
02 Forest
03 My Funeral
04 Unblessed Beings
05 Sad Day
06 Son Ame Saigne
07 October Falls

Purchase from The End Records

The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World to Come (4/5)

Year: 2009
Genre: Singer/Songwriter Indie Folk Rock
Label: 4AD
TRT: 43:08

In my youth, lyrics were very important to me, as important or more so than any other part of the composition. At some point in my musical journey, their importance dropped off dramatically. I think it was a combination of growing up and also being exposed to more and more great music with terrible or lackluster lyrics.

The Mountain Goats joins the elite few bands/artists that remind me what a joy it is to actually dwell on a songs' content in addition to its sound.

On this album, John Darnielle takes the inspiration for each song from a different bible verse, and tries to transpose the scriptures meaning into a context relevant to our current world. Some of these are extremely poignant and thought provoking (such as the utterly soul-crushing Matthew 25:21), and some leave you with a quirk of a smile at how he drew the connection (the slightly creepy and off-the-wall Genesis 3:23), but all of them make you stop and think, the seed verse adding an entirely new level of depth to the already well written songs.

Darnielle has been releasing albums under The Mountain Goats moniker for twenty years, and I'd been told numerous times in the last six or seven that it would behoove me to check him out. Well better late than never, and I'm giddy with excitement to dig into the breadth and depth of his massive back catalog. Don't make the same mistake as I did, listen to this immediately.

01	1 Samuel 15:23
02	Psalms 40:2
03	Genesis 3:23
04	Philippians 3:20-21
05	Hebrews 11:40
06	Genesis 30:3
07	Romans 10:9
08	1 John 4:16
09	Matthew 25:21
10	Deuteronomy 2:10
11	Isaiah 45:23
12	Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace

Search Amazon for The Mountain Goats

Jamey Johnson: The Guitar Song (4/5)

Year: 2010

Genre: Progressive Country

Label: Mercury Nashville

TRT: 1:45:33

I'll be the first to admit that I'm far from an expert on country music. Outside of a Johnny Cash, I've never really been impressed by what I've heard from the genre. So when NPR was reviewing this album last year I was dubious, but intrigued. And when they played Lonely at the Top, I immediately tracked down the album for further investigation.

While The Guitar Song is a sprawling release, covering two discs and close to two hours, it's remarkably consistent in quality. Sure there's a few tracks here and there that cross into the twang, honky-tonk and "good 'ol boy" stylings that initially caused me to dismiss the genre outright. But for every one song like that, there's two or three that are poignant, earnest and refreshingly down to earth. Tracks such as the aforementioned album opener, Can't Cash My Checks, Good Morning Sunrise, et cetera, are frank, honest (sometimes painfully so) and you can sense that Johnson is in this to exercise his own demons, and any fame or fortune that might come along with that are merely added bonuses.

Apparently he's pretty popular and well known in the country music scene, so it's not like I'm unearthing an obscure gem here, but for someone quite far from informed on the matter, he's quite a find, and has sparked my interest to find similar artists of his mettle. Perhaps he'll do the same for you.

Disc 1 (Black)

1	Lonely At the Top
2	Cover Your Eyes
3	Poor Man Blues
4	Set 'Em Up Joe
5	Playing the Part
6	Baby Don't Cry
7	Heaven Bound
8	Can't Cash My Checks
9	That's How I Don't Love You
10	Heartache
11	Mental Revenge
12	Even the Skies Are Blue

Disc 2 (White)

1	By the Seat of Your Pants
2	California Riots
3	Dog in the Yard
4	The Guitar Song (Featuring Bill Anderson)
5	That's Why I Write Songs
6	Macon
7	Thankful for the Rain
8	Good Morning Sunrise
9	Front Porch Swing Afternoon
10	I Remember You
11	Good Time Ain't What They Used to Be
12	For the Good Times
13	My Way to You

EDIT: file was reported by the IFPI, you'll have to google it for yourself.

Search Amazon for Jamey Johnson

Nadja & OvO: The Life and Death of a Wasp (4/5)

Year: 2010

Genre: Noir Doomjazz

Label: Adaigo 830

TRT: 34:16

Nadja has made some excellent music, and some extremely boring music, so I always approach a new release with a healthy level of skepticism. By about a minute into this one however, I completely forgot to be skeptical. This is completely different from anything else Aidan Baker or OvO has ever done. Yes, it's still gloomy, yes at times it's got some doomy drone, but the atmosphere here is very noir and has a feel more like Bohren & der Club of Gore than Jesu. This is also a strange album due to it's subject matter, with creepy Jarboe-esque vocalizations meant to be the wasp that is doomed to a liquid grave. It's weird as hell. And I love it.

01 Movement 1: A Wasp Flying Around the Sugar Jar

02 Movement 2: Trapped in the Jar

03 Movement 3: Put Some Sugar in My Cup, Please

04 Movement 4: Drowned in Coffee

Search Amazon for Nadja & OvO

Bohren & der Club of Gore: Dolores (4.5/5)

Year: 2008

Genre: Slowburn Doom Jazz Noir

Label: Ipecac

TRT: 58:23

This band kept popping up on my radar, and after one particularly avid fan beseeched me to bump them up in my queue, I obliged.

This is the definition of "mood" music. Dark, slow paced, schmaltzy and ominous, Bohren & der Club of Gore took jazz and made it what they wanted it to be, not what it was "supposed" to be. It really blows my mind how much I enjoy this, as jazz has never really been very agreeable to my sensibilities. The best thing is, apparently their early catalog is even better than this one.

I highly recommend putting this on while you read a good book, it sets an absolutely spectacular atmosphere.

01 Staub

02 Karin

03 Schwarze Biene (Black Maja)

04 Unkerich

05 Still am Tresen

06 Welk

07 Von Schnäbeln

08 Orgelblut

09 Faul

10 Welten

Search Amazon for Bohren & der Club of Gore

Black Sheep Wall: I Am God Songs (4.5/5)

Year: 2008
Genre: Sludge Metal
Label: PID
TRT: 60:05


Regardless of the quality of he music (which i consider quite good), this is very likely the heaviest thing I've heard in my life.

Their guitar tone is the most righteously ungodly thing ever.

It's like drowning in concrete.

01	Nihility
02	Care by Carcinogenic
03	DJewbf348thoqab
04	Modest Machine
05	Myolden
06	Lamb... gayy
07	D327ht2qwbref2 5g2
08	Ten Fucking Billion
09	Xiomara

Search Amazon for Black Sheep Wall

22: Flux + ESP (4.5/5)

Year: 2010

Genre: Progressive Mathpop

Label: Best Before Records

TRT: 47:55

At first I wasn't entirely sold, but the more I listened, the more sold I got.

Now I'm bought and paid for.

They're like Circa Survive meets The Mars Volta meets Meshuggah meets glitter and glowsticks.

I'm in love. I can't get enough.

01 Plastik

02 Gotodo

03 Flux

04 I Am That I Am

05 Disconnecting From the Grid

06 Kneel Estate

07 Loopwhole

08 Power Is So Yesterday

09 Perspective Pleiadian

10 Susurrus

11 Abdomental

their EP ESP (Extra Sensory Play) is also fantastic.

Natural Snow Buildings: The Centauri Agent (4/5)

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




Year: 2010
Genre: Psychedelic Folk Drone
Label: Vulpiano
TRT: 106:57

A Massive 2-disc venture, Natural Snow Buildings creates a unique vastness, an expanse unparalleled by anything but their own catalog. This is the soundtrack for swirling endlessly through the vacuum of space.

Disc 1

o1	Our Man From Centauri
o2	The Accidental Remote Viewer

Disc 2

01	The Psychic Circle/Uchronia
02	Black Holes
03	The Storm of Resurrection
04	Moscow Signal
05	Phantom Twin
06	Stuttering Probe
07	Solar Flares
08	Emergency Network Farewell Broadcast
09	Memories Found in a Bill From a Small Animal Vet

Natural Snow Buildings on Vulpiano Records

Fang Island: Fang Island (4/5)

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


Year: 2010
Genre: Indie Dance Rock
Label: Sargent House
TRT: 31:27

After a falling out with fellow band-members in Daughters, Nick Andrew Sadler decided he was done with drama, and just wanted to have some fun. Joining up with fellow musicians from Providence, RI, they started a band whose music they describe as "everyone high-fiving everyone", and dammit, that's about as good of a description of their music as can be made. Just turn it up, crack a beer, and let go. Just be sure to leave one hand free for five fingered affirmation, which is sure to abound.

01	Dreams of Dreams
02	Careful Crossers
03	Daisy
04	Life Coach
05	Sideswiper
06	The Illinois
07	Treeton
08	Davey Crockett
09	Welcome Wagon
10	Dorian

Search Amazon for Fang Island

EDIT: DMCA complaint, apparently Sargent House is affiliated with Atlantic Records. You'll have to wave a wand at Google to find a link.