Half way through 2012.

So we're just over halfway through the year of 2012. I'm sad to say that it hasn't been the awesome year, record wise, as 2011 was...

All in all I got about 80 records from last year but so far I only have 15-20 records from this year. I don't think that I will get anywhere near as many records this year, there just aren't that many good ones to look forward too.

I have a couple on pre-order that I'm really looking forward to (Katatonia and Baroness) and I'm gonna get the Smashing Pumpkins album the next time I'm at The Garden.

The best record of the year so far is without a doubt The Mars Volta's seventh album "Noctourniquet". I'm wating for it to arrive in the mail box, it was sent from the US two weeks ago so it should be here any day now. I'll write more about the album once I've got the vinyl.

Other records worth mentioning:
Alabama Shakes - Boys & Girls
Beach House - Bloom
High On Fire - De Vermiis Mysteriis
Mark Lanegan Band - Blues Funeral
Meshuggah - Koloss
Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again
Napalm Death - Utilitarian
Skraeckoedlan - Äppelträdet

The Mars Volta!

Hm, for some reason this blog got bumped up when I was updating some stuff... Ah well...

Today I got a new "normal" CD for the first time in a very long time! Last year I got the special edition "Siamese Dreams" on CD. I have a hard time remembering which was the last CD I bought before that.

The CD I got today is the new record from The Mars Volta. The vinyl edition of this record isn't released until late May, but I can't wait that long to hear the album! It's supposed to be released on Monday (once again working in a record shop pays out...) and I'm having my first listen right now. I had only heard one song from the album before hand, "The Malkin Jewel", which I really fell for.

I've been listening almost non-stop to TMV, and At The Drive-In (the hardcore band that Omar and Cedric played in before they formed TMV) this entire year. TMV is just such a great band and you can always go back to earlier releases and still here something "new" there's just so much brilliance going on at once...
So, how does the new record rank with the other releases? I've only had one listen so far so I can't really rank it yet, TMV have always been a super progressive band and the records always grows on you. While the latest record Octahedron (which could be one of the last CDs I bought... for similar reasons as to why I've bought the new record) was TMV's most accessible record and the sophomore record "Frances The Mute" probably is the least, "Noctourniquet" probably lands right in the middle of these two, "accessible-wise".

I'll have to get back on my final thoughts of the album. Perhaps in May when I get the vinyl!?

Two releases to look forward too!

Three posts in one day... Quite the comeback;)

I'm reading some great news in the vinyl collecting blog: http://collectingvinylrecords.blogspot.com/

Two of the most anticipated releases for me this year have an anounced release date and it is the same date! Christmas comes early this year!

This is just copy and paste from mentioned blog:

The Mars Volta New Album Due in March

The Mars Volta will release their sixth album, 'Noctourniquet,' on March 27. This is another one of their concept records and the songs will center on a character based on Superman villain Solomon Grundy and the mythical Greek figure Hyacinthus.

Tracklist
1. The Whip Hand
2. Aegis
3. Dyslexicon
4. Empty Vessels Make the Loudest Sound
5. The Malkin Jewel
6. Lapochka
7. 'n Absentia
8. Imago
9. Molochwalker
10. Trinkets Pale of Moon
11. Vedamalady
12. Noctourniquet
13. Zed and Two Naughts


MESHUGGAH Album Art Revealed

Here is the cover art for Meshuggah's highly anticipated new album called 'Koloss.' The album is due out on March 27th via Nuclear Blast.

Tracklist
'I Am Colossus'
'The Demon’s Name Is Surveillance'
'Do Not Look Down'
'Behind The Sun'
'The Hurt That Finds You First'
'Marrow'
'Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion'
'Swarm'
'Demiurge'
'The Last Vigil'