Friends. It saddens me to realize that I am having difficulty finding the time to post here with any regularity. A lot has gone on behind the scenes in 2015 (and by behind the scenes I mean in my private or “offline” life) and it has severely impacted my schedule, my savings, and my psyche.
I will still post my top 100 albums of 2015. Which…maybe…four of you are excited about. I thought tonight I’d take a couple minutes to tell you what I’ve been listening to most lately, what I anticipate enjoying before the end of 2015, and what recent additions to my record collection you should stock your shelves with as well.
Kowloon Walled City – Grievances (Gilead) – My copy of this LP just arrived a couple weeks ago and it’s been spun more than a few times since then. I was taken down with a cold/flu and the sludge oozing from this record very nicely paralleled the sweat and mucus oozing from my face. Lovely imagery, right? Not as lovely as the shockingly poignant, well-crafted lyrics of songs like “Your Best Years,” which I’ve adopted as the unofficial anthem of my past year. This isn’t just “smart music for dumb people.” That would be to cheapen the talent of these guys. This is seriously fucking heavy, brilliant music for all of us.
1 Mile North – Glass Wars / Minor Shadows (Wortcunner) – Guys. It’s finally happening. After fourteen and twelve years respectively, two of my favorite post-rock records of all time are finally being issued on vinyl. When I was at Muhlenberg College — a year before starting this blog — I gushed about Minor Shadows in the school paper, ranking among my favorite records of 2004. The Vicodin-haze, the warm, dreamy soundscapes, they’re just as beautiful now as they were ten years ago. I’m not sure how many copies of each record Wortcunner is making, but you’d be wise to grab ’em both right now.
Bell Witch – Four Phantoms (Profound Lore) – The last I heard from Bell Witch was back in 2012, when I ranked Longing as the 6th best record of that year. Their newest double-LP is currently in-transit to me from somewhere in the midwest. If you like bands that meld doom or death metal elements with post-rock tendencies and… you know…discernible melodies, this is definitely a record you should hear. I’m trying not to spoil myself too much in advance of the record’s arrival in my grubby mitts, but I’ve listened to and enjoyed the hell out of the opening 10-minute track. If the rest of the album holds up, it’s going to be hard to keep it out of the top ten this year.
Harry Manfredini – Friday The 13th Part II (Waxwork) – Manfredini was in the LA area recently so of course I had to get my LPs signed by the legendary composer. Apparently the original master tapes were just recently found at Paramount so the estimable folks at Waxwork set to issuing the full score for the first time ever. Just in time for Halloween, too.
Speaking of horror movies and music. I was lucky enough to see a couple great events at this year’s Beyond Fest here in Los Angeles. First I saw Fabio Frizzi perform music from the films of Lucio Fulci. I guess Mondo orchestrated a tour consisting of two shows (Austin and LA) called FRIZZI 2 FULCI, in which Frizzi and his eight-piece band ran through songs from films like Zombi 2, The Beyond, City Of The Living Dead, and A Cat In The Brain. The music was set against clips from those films. Afterwards, there was a screening of The Beyond. All in all it made for a memorable night. Later that same week I was again incredibly lucky to see a 35mm print of The Devils, the notorious Ken Russell film from 1971 that has only ever been screened in the United States three times. I did miss out on Yakuza Apocalypse during this year’s fest, but hopefully I won’t have to wait too long for that one to turn up around town.
Okay. It’s midnight. I should go to sleep.
