2013, top 5!

1. Deafheaven - Sunbather
I was trying really hard to put a record a head of Deafheaven's Sunbather this year. It's been really hyped and it tops a lot of end of the year lists. At the end of the day there hasn't been a hype more justified than the one about Deafheaven in 2013. What a masterpiece they have delivered. A few words written earlier.







2. My Bloody Valentine - M B V
My Bloody Valentine 22 years later... Who could have expected that they would return the way they did with M B V? I wrote a few words about the album in March this year.







3. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Mind Control
On my Instagram account, I wrote "What would The Beatles sound like if they would have been around today and played stoner metal? Well maybe something like this brilliant album!". I still feel that this is a perfect description of the record and the band.







4. Subrosa - More Constant Than The Gods
The most dynamic sludge/doom record of the year. A lot has been written in alternative press about the album and the band line-up, with two violins in the mix and three female singers. There are so many elements on this record a part from the typical heavy incredible riffage that is always apparent in a great doom record. You also have some folksy in slow parts as well which make this the best doom record of the year!

5. Russian Circles - Memorial
The most beautiful album of 2013!

2013, places 6-10.

6. Windhand - Soma
This album includes some of the coolest riffs of 2013. It's heavy and catchy doom with a finess and unlike Lumbar they really drag out riffs and songs which is a really cool thing! The closing track clocks in at over 30 minutes.







7. David Bowie - The Next Day
What a comeback!! This record exceeded all my expectations. I've already written about this album earlier when it was released.








8. The Body - Christs, Redeemers
This might be the most evil sounding record on the list. This album reeks of desperation from the first to the last second. You feel almost exhausted when you're done listening to it. I love the screaming vocals, I get the same feeling as I did when I heard Amenra for the first time last year.





9. Skogen Brinner - 1st
It's not often that I have these high hopes for a debut album. I'm not very good at discovering new bands early in their careers. I've got enough job to follow up all the albums that are released every year.

Skogen Brinner however, I've had the pleasure of following ever since they released their debut 7" "Pundarvarning", and after that the cassette EP "Fasornas Berg". On this record they presented five new songs and the other four are taken from the earlier releases. I wrote a blog post about this record earlier this year.


10. Steve Earle & The Dukes (& Duchesses) - The Low Highway
Over the last few years Steve Earle has grown to be one of my favourite artists. I really love his post-millenial stuff, which is a bit different than the stuff he did in the 80s for example.

The Low Highway is no exception. He continues on the more stripped down sound, to me it sounds more honest. There is a great variety of songs on this album, both up-tempo country songs and beautiful down-tempo songs. In this beautiful mix it's the slow songs that stands out. "The Low Highway", "Invisible" and "Remember Me" are some of the best songs of 2013.

2013, places 11-15.

11. Jesu - Everyday I Get Closer To The Light From Which I Came
Oh how I love the sound of this album. The sort of post punk/rock stuff with the heavy doomy bass/guitars in the background. This sound builds the foundation of the album and sets the tone from the very start.

You wouldn't have expected a "happy" album from Broadrick's Jesu and luckily that is not he's intending on this record. Where for example Trent Reznor made a somewhat up beat (by NIN and Godflesh/Jesu standards), Broadrick stays on the gloomy road.




12. Chelsea Wolfe - Pain Is Beauty
This album is for 2013 what PJ Harvey's "Let England Shake" was for 2011.I hear a lot of similarities between the two records, mainly that this one is nearly as good as Harvey's last masterpiece and that is saying a lot! This is dark, doomy and dreasmy pop(?), that would be the soundtrack to your nightmare.





13. Wolf People - Fain
The band that released the greatest record of 2010 returned with another great release this year! This album is probably even better than "Steeple". However I think I expected something more, it's more of the same but slightly better which obviously makes it a great album, but for me it's not a contender for a top spot like the previous album was. And in all honesty there aren't a lot of records from 2010 that would end up in top ten this year...



14. Kylesa - Ultraviolet
I thought this was gonna be a contender for best album of the year, it didn't really reach that high though. This album is packed to the rim with sludgy riffs that'll make your ears bleed and there's a great dynamic throughout the record. The mix between Philip Cope's and Laura Pleasants' voices fits the music brilliantly. The band is coming to Oslo in January and I hope to catch the show!





15. Jonathan Wilson - Fanfare
Jonathan Wilson might be my discovery of the year, outside of metal. Best described, Wilson creates psychedelic folk rock inspired by some of the artists that make appearances on the records. These artists are David Crosby, Graham Nash, Roy Harper and Jackson Browne. To fit so many inspirations in one record it needs to be quite long, and it is... The album is nearly 80 minutes long and if I have any complaints about the album it is that it's a tad too long. However, there isn't a single track I would remove so maybe I'm all wrong...

2013, places 16-20

16. Bell Witch - Longing
Although released in 2012 I put it on my list as the vinyl was released in 2013. Some great doom releases this year and this is really one of them. The title "Longing" is really a great description of the music. There is a feeling of longing in the music throughout the entire record.






17. Pelican - Forever Becoming
Instrumental post-metal in the greatest of forms! Pelican released their strongest album yet with "Forever Becoming". A dynamic album that has anything you would like from an instrumental metal album without sounding pretentious. You've got your Mogwai melodies as well as some Mastodon like outbursts, a great combination!







18. Lumbar - The First And Last Days Of Unwelcome
Another one of those great doom releases of 2013! This is a short, hard-hitting and right to the point record. For a doom record to clock in at just 24 minutes is quite unusual, it's probably more usual that one song is of the same length.






19. The Dillinger Escape Plan - One Of Us Is The Killer
For me The Dillinger Escape Plan always deliver the goods, but since "Miss Machine" it's just been more of the same really. This album has been praised a lot, and rightly so, but there is always something missing from their albums I think. I can't put my finger on what it would be, maybe next album will fit my taste perfectly?





20. The National - Trouble Will Find Me
Maybe this album deserves a higher position on this list? For me it doesn't top the amazing "High Violet" from 2010. This might be a more even album, songwise. I miss the incredible highs that "High Violet" presented us with. Songs like "Bloodbuzz Ohio" and "Terrible Love" are among the best songs of the 00s.

End of the year list 2013.

I love looking at end of the year lists. I always get a lot of tips on records that I should get from these. So far I've bought nearly one hundred new records this year. It's been such a good year that I don't feel anywhere near complete on what records I want still that was released this year.

When I made a short list for a top ten or twenty list I came up with more than 40 albums, so it's been tough to decide.

Today I will present you the records that I would place between 21-40. I won't list them as there isn't really any idea to do it. The record I would put at the 40th place might end up on the 21 spot tomorrow and vice versa. I'm just mentioning these records as they are really good records that might would've ended up on a top ten list if it hadn't been for the imense quality of some releases this year.

Tomorrow I will list 20-11 and on Sunday you will get the top ten records of 2013.

In alphabetical order:
ASG - Blood Drive
Black Sabbath - 13
Carcass - Surgical Steel
Church Of Misery - Thy Kingdom Scum
Clutch - Earth Rocker
Cult Of Luna - Vertikal
Darkthrone - The Underground Resistance
Earthless - From The Ages
Esben And The Witch - Wash The Sins Not Only The Face
Fuzz - Fuzz
Inter Arma - Sky Burial
Jucifer - Something Russian...
Kadavar - Abra Kadavar
Kvelertak - Meir
The Ocean - Pelagial
Queens Of The Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
The New Alchemy - On The Other Side Of Light
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II
Vidunder - Vidunder
Vista Chino - Peace

These records are all part of the list. At which place will they end up, and can you name them all?

Organizing the record collection.

I got a couple of new cases yesterday. I've had a lot of records everywhere in the house at the moment because they don't fit in the cases I've got because they are full already. I've had to improvise with some beer cases and other things. Now I can put in all the records that haven't fit into the old cases into the system... the problem is how to organize? 

I'm having everything in alphabetical order at the moment but I have been thinking about organizing either by genre or by year... dilemmas of a record collector... 

Smashing Pumpkins - Aeroplane Flies High

Earlier this week I received this beauty! I bought it on Discogs. This release isn't that hard to find. What's so special about this one though is that it's still sealed! That's not too normal for a 17 year old release I think... 

This box set was re-released earlier this year and when a "rare" release like this is re-issued they either fall in price or increase even more. They fall in price as it's now available again for maybe a smaller price (the re-issue is quite pricey though...), or they increase in price as some collectors really want an original issue and are reminded of the record when the re-issue is out.

I've been wanting this box set for quite some time and as I finally found one that is sealed, I may still have to get one that is opened. I can't split the seal on this one! That's how a record collector thinks, and it's insane I know...