Best of 2023
Recent Ratings
Recent Reviews
One of the very few surviving recordings of the immensely prolific Tori Kudo, from one of his countless pre-Maher Shalal Hash Baz obscure projects. Harking from his anti-band ideology days, this strange little bootleg captures the retro psychedelic rock love dispanded by Kudo in his early years, while offering the characteristic dismantled, stripped-down sound of Guys and Dolls. Eccentric, crumbling jams with disjointed instrumentals, off-time beats, messed-up guitar solos and very amateurish ... read more
While historically being stimulated to attribute conceptual value and moral assignments to whatever artistic piece before us, an interesting minor branch of theorists and artists alike has been riding against the wind since the middle of the past century, approaching artistic mediums as independent, self-sufficient objects that operate in their own terms, apart from the seemingly ubiquitous influence of human rationality. Experimentalists such as Morton Feldman, John Cage, Christian Wollf and ... read more
Rating goes to the 51 min bonus tracks version. Totally essential sludge/crust punk crossover with immense doses of nasty, gritty paranoia and hatred toward the darkest sides of mankind.
Some of the most disturbing stuff ever produced, even if a few cuts rely a little much on repetition and spoken word recordings for shock value complementing. That aside, the 1989-2009 is the essential version of the germans' debut, containing two mind-boggling bonus incursions to hell for a complete maddening session. Proceed with caution.
Rating goes to the Bestial Devastation split, which takes an already distinct and powerful early death/black metal album to another level of greatness. Definitely essential metal.
Shoutbox
1y
Hi EMR, I recently have been exploring different interpretations of Chopin’s Nocturnes and Bach’s Matthaus-Passion and I was confused when I saw that different performances get wildly varying average scores, and yet, I fail to see how many of these differ from each other in a clear way. That said, I would like to know, how do you draw the line between a great performance of an oeuvre and one that is sub-par? Or, why would one interpretation of, say, Chopin’s Noctures as an example, be getting a 50 versus another one getting a 90? Thank you!
1y
Wow, thank you so much for the rich context you sent me, it’s more than I ever thought I could understand about this piece. Because of your words I can begin to understand just how important, influential, deep and groundbreaking this piece is. Also, if I may, you write very beautifully.
You seem to have a very deeply layered understanding of music and all the subjects that are in its vicinities, and I’m very grateful that you shared that knowledge with me.
Also, to echo Tristan’s words, thank you for being around. I check your page often to find new music to listen to and am very often amazed by what I hear. I’ve been getting deep into musique concrète and all its sub-genres and the different shades of modern classical music recently and your page has been a reference point for me. So, again, thank you for being around, your presence on this site is quite the blessing 😊
You seem to have a very deeply layered understanding of music and all the subjects that are in its vicinities, and I’m very grateful that you shared that knowledge with me.
Also, to echo Tristan’s words, thank you for being around. I check your page often to find new music to listen to and am very often amazed by what I hear. I’ve been getting deep into musique concrète and all its sub-genres and the different shades of modern classical music recently and your page has been a reference point for me. So, again, thank you for being around, your presence on this site is quite the blessing 😊
1y
Hello, I don't believe we have ever spoken before.
I wanted to say that I greatly appreciate your taste, understanding, and perception of music. You and some other similar users have been massive influences on myself, helping to challenge what I previously thought about music.
I find myself discovering more everyday. This may sound strange, but I'd like to thank you for helping pioneer this more introspective music taste on AOTY. I see you have been here since 2014. Unlike RYM, this website has a very small amount of users similar to yourself (though it is still lacking on RYM). Maybe this is a good thing? It gives an illusion of this sort of "elusive club" I find to be interesting, though mostly silly. I'm not sure.
Nonetheless, I appreciate you! Congratulations on reaching 9,000 ratings as well.
I wanted to say that I greatly appreciate your taste, understanding, and perception of music. You and some other similar users have been massive influences on myself, helping to challenge what I previously thought about music.
I find myself discovering more everyday. This may sound strange, but I'd like to thank you for helping pioneer this more introspective music taste on AOTY. I see you have been here since 2014. Unlike RYM, this website has a very small amount of users similar to yourself (though it is still lacking on RYM). Maybe this is a good thing? It gives an illusion of this sort of "elusive club" I find to be interesting, though mostly silly. I'm not sure.
Nonetheless, I appreciate you! Congratulations on reaching 9,000 ratings as well.
1y
Hi! I saw you gave a perfect rating to FLUX Quartet’s performance of String Quartet No. 2 by Morton Feldman and was curious to read your thoughts on it as I am currently exploring it and would love some perspective!
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Rating Distribution
100
7
90-99
101
80-89
590
70-79
1821
60-69
2968
50-59
2737
40-49
1397
30-39
470
20-29
186
10-19
47
0-9
12
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