Top 11 Records - VoS-related
First of, I am the guy who cannot count, second, I write too much stuff so I cannot cut, third, I think 11 players are a team, so here is my team for 2024 (in alphabetical order)!
Buñuel - Mansuetude Quite the opposite of its title, this record is not a meagre thing, but very opulent, when it comes to musical ideas in Noise-minor.
Chat Pile - Cool World It’s a cold, cold world we live in, and yet this bunch of bandits makes it a little more bearable because they seem to understand!
Cold Wives - s/t This record might be one of the darkest horses ever on my lists, but I have come to love it even more! Better than the sum of its parts! MUCH BETTER!
FYEAR - s/t What an album somewhere between poetry, Post-Rock, spoken word and Free Jazz. Maybe one of the best records between these cornerstones delivered by a true collective!
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - “NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD” This band is just so much more than a band, it’s a collective idea, an attitude, an experience. Each and every time!
LOCRIAN - End Terrain I would not be surprised if this band would be claimed one of the most important ones in terms of the development of a new musical language, when we look back at the history of music in 25 years!
Missouri Executive Order 44 - Salt Sermon A mind-blowing grind-hardcore record that teaches you that sometimes you need to look at things from multiple perspective and realize that the ideas of victims and perpetrators are only time constructs.
夢遊病者 (Sleepwalker) - Delirium Pathomutageno Adductum I will not explain why I love this band. Just listen.
Vægtløs - Aftryk The Hardcore record of the year for everyone who needs to find something to follow King Park - no wonder 46 labels worldwide released this amazing record! Sadness has seldom been clad into music more cohesively than on Aftryk!
Walk Through Fire - Till Aska I am not sure if there has been a heavier record in 2024. For me this is epitome Walk Through Fire!
Xiu Xiu - 13” Frank Beltrame Italian Stiletto with Bison Horn Grips This band deserves every good review, every purchase, every loving words as they are some of the nicest people around. Oh, by the way, yes, the music is incredible! Gotta say!
Top 5 records - Non-VoS-related
Crippling Alcoholism - With Love from a Padded Room If you love storytelling, darkness, Blackened Folk and one of the few voices that come close to Mark Lanegan’s (RIP) - this band should be one of your go-to’s!
Melt-Banana - 3+5 Yes, the masters are back at it and one should not forget it. Melt-Banana is the band who want to find the crossover between J-Pop and Fantomas!
Moor Mother - The Great Bailout Very American yet highly accessible also for people from other places as there might not be a more interesting voice in this part of the musical spectre right now!
Nick Cave - Wild God Do I really need to explain why this man, this voice, this soul is so important?
Papangu - Lampião Rei Maybe a bit off an exception as we did feature this record a bit back in the day in the form of a premiere, but this band of rogues who do not care about styles and genres is always worth spinning!
Top 3 Concerts
1. Soulcrusher - A wonderful experience in general and this edition in particular 2. Einstürzende Neubauten @Batschkapp, Frankfurt - witnessing the masters unfold all their magic is a unique experience 3. A Place to Bury Strangers @Colos-Saal, Aschaffenburg - the most wonderful feedback orgy I have seen in years
Top 3 other things
1. Northern Croatia - only been to the Dalmatian part before, but blimey, Istria is also marvelous! 2. Deadpool vs Wolverine film, how sarcastic can a comic movie be?
- London .
