I've been listening to a lot of Swans' no wave material recently, which has put me in the mood to find some more no wave artists that I likely wouldn't have heard otherwise. And honestly, I'm glad that I've found some of these artists that I actually hadn't ever heard of before, because some of them, like Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, are really fucking good.

This record compiles various live performances from their short career, spanning only from 1977 to 1979. In these 27 tracks, there's a ... read more

This series of collabs has resulted in some of the most fun AOTY projects I've heard in a while, and this new instalment is no different. All six of the artists involved really pulled their weight and made songs that are all honestly really good. Even the ones that I thought were weaker were still pretty damn good. And the intro and outro, as usual with these Versus albums, are both very fitting and well-produced in their own right.

Ranking:
AZIZ
Elitimesfour
Alkaline ... read more

Disappointing.

S&M2 was inevitably going to happen. The first one was such a huge success and is still seen to this day as one of the best live metal albums ever, and with Metallica's discography growing so much since then, there's so much more material for them to experiment with this symphonic sound. Surely they could make so many more new and exciting songs sound even fresher and even more exciting? Well, we may never know, because this album is half a rehash of the previous S&M ... read more

You thought King Crimson were ahead of their time? You thought The Monks were ahead of their time? You thought The Velvet Underground were ahead of their time? Well, with all those artists you can kinda tell where their influences came from. Even though they were definitely unique for their time, you can still easily tell who they were influenced by. Cromagnon, on the other hand? These guys literally made an album that sounds like nothing that came before it, and nothing would even come close ... read more

Pike #279

Yeah, not a great Pike, but still not bad. I think that Buckethead has just been spoiling us lately with legitimately good material that the first mediocre release in a month does end up being more disappointing than it would if this was one I sat through during my binge. Buckethead doesn't really get too creative with this one, with him sticking closely to his alternative metal sound, not really changing much up. There's definitely some good jamming here and there, but it's just ... read more

An excellent live album and one of the most avant-garde albums I've heard from Miles yet.

Live-Evil stands as a sort of spiritual successor to Bitches Brew, with it keeping a very similar sound all throughout. But where Bitches Brew was a more mysterious record, this one is more raw and funky, probably making it the more accessible of the two. While I will always view Bitches Brew as the absolute peak of Miles' fusion era, and I doubt anything would be able to top it, this is still a great ... read more

Pike #277

Some of Buckethead's most intense playing this year. Division Is The Devil's Playground goes hard, with each of these songs being the usual heaviness that we all love to hear from our favourite bucket-wearing, guitar-wielding maniac. It does unfortunately feel redundant, as some of these songs do feel like reruns of older material, but I guess that's something you have to expect when someone releases over 300 albums and is still releasing consistent content. I do think this is one of ... read more

A Tribute To Jack Johnson continues the jazz fusion era of Davis' career perfectly, with it arguably being on par with everything else he released during this period. This stands as one of his most outward rock albums to date, with both songs being led by John McLaughlin's guitar, and a big emphasis on its funk and hard rock influences.

I have a feeling that Jack Johnson will ultimately go down as one of Miles' more underappreciated efforts. While it certainly isn't lacking in praise, with it ... read more

Heckler: "Judas! I'm never listening to you again, ever!"
Bob: "I don't believe you. You're a liar. Play it fuckin' loud!"

Here it is; the legendary Bob Dylan bootleg. The legendary Bob Dylan live performance. Maybe even a strong contender for most legendary live performance ever. This 95 minute set is perhaps just as much a classic as any studio album Dylan ever released, and that one heckle coming in just before Like A Rolling Stone is probably the one thing even someone ... read more

A collection of lonely, personal songs recorded at her home between 1970 and 1973, but not released until her son would compile it into a CD for family members as well as Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis who would pass it on to Orange Town Records, who would release it in 2006. German actress Sibylle Baier definitely had a talent in songwriting, with the only material us having from her being this 33 minute compilation showing that she could have been one of the best folk artists of her time had she ... read more

If In A Silent Way perfected the jazz-rock genre, then Bitches Brew took the idea even further, adding a more avant-garde and psychedelic nature to it, making it even more interesting and overall more fun.

In the late '60s Davis began experimenting with electric instruments, ultimately resulting in the masterpiece, In A Silent Way. He then threw that more basic jazz-rock sound out the window and went full avant-garde, making an album that hasn't been replicated by anyone. Really, Bitches Brew ... read more

The return of Crazy Horse marks a point where Neil starts to get on the right track yet again. Colorado shows him pick up his songwriting a bit and start to make consistently good music again.

Colorado is going to be a great album for diehards and a mixed-bag for those who aren't as big of a fan of Young as others. This album really stands as the best written he's done since the '90s, and musically it's arguably his best since then as well. There's enough within these ten songs to make any ... read more

A soundtrack album that is likely much better in the context to the movie, but as its own standalone project comes off as one of Young's most aimless to date. I guess you could say the same about Dead Man, but at least that album had enough originality to it to make it understandable as to why it was ultimately released as a proper album.

Honestly, it's kinda difficult to actually drag anything out of this album. For a Neil Young & Promise Of The Real album, it's what you would expect. ... read more

Young's second album with Promise Of The Real is definitely an improvement on their first collaboration together. The Visitor shows some improvement on the songwriting front - though admittedly not much improvement - and much better musicianship and instrumentation. But even saying that, this is an album that still doesn't hit the mark.

The Visitor is one that's unlikely going to win anyone over any time soon. While there will always be the fans who will love it just because it's Neil Young, I ... read more

Songs written and recorded within a single night way back in the '70s, and it's just as good as everything else he made during that period.

Honestly, the archival series is easily the best thing Neil started doing once he quit making grunge music. While it may sound narrow-minded, I really could have done without hearing all those albums he made in the 2000s and the 2010s. But his first studio archival release, Hitchhiker, has reminded me just what it was the made me fall in love with Young's ... read more

After listening to so much from Neil that is frankly shit, it is refreshing to hear so good old weird Neil Young again... not that it results in anything great. Just a bit more interesting than what he's been doing the past few releases.

Peace Trail thankfully picks up the pace for Young as he begins to make music that is actually tolerable. He hasn't improved much lyrically from the past few albums, but musically he's made a really engaging record. With a bit more experimentation and moments ... read more

Another embarrassing late career Neil Young album. This time 'round, the music itself would indicate a competent albeit boring album, while the lyrics absolute destroy any sort of positive qualities it could have had.

An album going against GMOs was only a matter of time when it comes to Neil Young. The guy has had no problem in the past protesting against things he disagreed with, so something this big was very obviously going to be something he'd start making music about. And that's all well ... read more

The most unforgivably painful listen since This Note's For You. Honestly, at this point it's just depressing how all over the place Neil seems to be. It's like he can't stay focused on where he wants to do with his career, sometimes making entertaining rock albums, other times making pleasant and meaningful acoustic folk albums, and then there's Storytone where he makes ten songs, all with different genres, that's very weak lyrically.

Honestly, I was hoping I wouldn't have to rate another Neil ... read more

Another covers album, but this one rides heavily on a gimmick that's interesting to begin with, that being that it was recorded in a 1947 Voice-o-Graph, giving it a vintage feel.

A Letter Home is interesting in its sound, but that's about it. While the covers here aren't bad in the slightest, they aren't great either. Aside from the obvious aesthetic choices Neil went for in this album, the songs themselves are so close to the original versions that you may as well just listen to the originals ... read more

Parallax is a very decent outing. I didn't really know what to expect as I hadn't heard Concrete Castles' previous album, but I did have suspicions, and I pretty much got what I expected. That alone isn't an inherently bad thing, and I do have to admit that Concrete Castles has left a better first impression on me than other synth-led AOTY music creators. However, my biggest concern here is that there really isn't much separating this from most other AOTY user music. It's just another ... read more