By way of recompense for the short shrift I gave to the musical output of 2011 during the end of year round-up http://www.headheritage.co.uk/headtohead/unsung/topic/64438/threaded/818519/ , I thought I’d share an alternative top ten of rather good releases from 2011 that I missed at the time.
It’s often the way that you hear the best stuff after the fact – what’s everybody else’s fave discoveries from last year that they only made this year?
Amebix – Sonic Mass
I must admit that I’d never heard of these crust punk legends until this album (their first in 24 years!), but blimey, this is just fantastic – heavy mystical/martial goth/prog/punk/rock, it’s one of the most exciting and cohesive albums I’ve heard in ages. Would have been my fave from last year, beating even the mighty Crumbling Ghost album, with which it shares a similar dark, pagan, and very English vibe…
http://www.amebix.net/archive/videos/50-video-knights-of-the-black-sun
Blanck Mass – S/T
Already flagged this in a previous post, cosmic/ecstatic/scary drone from one half of Fuck Buttons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GH3McrWXVk
Dead Skeletons – Dead Magick
I was sold from the Glitterbeat onwards...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsyrOGRxF0E
Lumerians – Transmalinnia
Propulsive/trippy garage psyche, probably Hawkwind fans at a wild guess
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFQJOfOMsmQ
Steve Mason & Dennis Bovell – Ghosts Outside
Dub version of ex-Beta Band bloke’s last album, nice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45kx5OACQak
Hedvig Mollestad Trio – Shoot!
Have also already raved about this one – gnarly instrumental guitar-led jazz rock with the emphasis on rock
http://soundcloud.com/hedvigmollestadtrio/gun-the-e-kid
The Psychic Paramount – II
Urgent sounding space rock improv without any flab
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ptLahNL8Bs
Snowman – Absence
Hard to classify – Cocteau Twins remixed by These New Purtians, pleasantly disturbing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lb13PZMxTM&feature=related
Zombi – Escape Velocity
Not sure how I missed this, what with Zombi being one of my fave bands of recent years! More peerless John Carpenter/TD-esque synthscapes from a place where it’s always 1982
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc00hVomuIw
Zomby – Dedication
Dubstep’s very own Boards of Canada, bracingly retro-modern
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEEI6VwMIek
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