VoS-Adjacent:
Ian – Come on Everybody, Let’s do Nothing! This is undoubtedly, my personal favourite album of the year. It’s nothing short of stupefyingly good. Never a wasted moment on the record which managed to pack so much into its runtime, I’m still picking out new bits even now. For an album which follows the Post-Metal rulebook quite closely, it still manages to feel fresh and exciting due to its ability to never take itself too seriously whilst at the same time, feeling like a serious piece of work, outstanding in every way.
Dimscûa – Dust Eater This album came out of nowhere and rightly propelled Dimscûa to undreamed of heights. The amount of people packed into the tent at Arctangent to see their debut performance was a sight to behold, and fully justified. A remarkable album with so much passion and emotion contained within its runtime it should come with a warning, captivating, intense and utterly brilliant.
Zatokrev – Bring Mirrors to the Surface There seems to be a theme to my favourite records this year, and that is, they are a lot. A lot of what you may ask, well, let me tell you, a lot of everything, For some reason I was especially drawn to albums which allowed me to listen repeatedly and pick up new things over time, not to mention the fact they all drew me in and made me want to run round the room shouting along to them!. This album has a LOT going on, but it doesn’t feel forced or contrite, everything feels like it serves a purpose, and I love it.
Top 5 records not reviewed by VoS:
We Lost the Sea – A Single Flower Pure Post-Rock perfection from one of the finest purveyors of the craft. A dark album but one which offers hope, and in these confusing testing time we find ourselves in, I for one will take any offer of hope I can get.
Conjurer – Unself After their last album passed many by, this album came along and floored everyone who heard it. Due to the personal struggles and consequent middle finger to all who hate, this is a monument to acceptance, and the fact it’s also an exceptional work of art help greatly.
Deftones – Private Music A lot has been written about this record so I won’t go into too much detail, but suffice to say, the fact these guys can put out music of this quality this long into their careers says everything, no one else can do what they do, and long may it continue.
Geese - Getting Killed If you ever thought, oohh I wonder what would happen if Clap Your Hands Say Yeah ever went off the rails and let every whim manifest itself on a record, well, it may sound a bit like Getting Killed, but then again, it probably wouldn’t. This is a wild ride of an album and feels like the band are srambling to try not to let the whole thing tumble and smash on the floor, but it’s deeply thrilling and a wondrous cacophony of noise, wonderful.
Slomatics – Atomicult How can something that is so heavy, sound so dreamy? I don’t know but I know I like it! Like a rolling battalion of battle orcs, this thing kicks all kind of butt. But on the same token, it’s rather lovely and has some gorgeous parts in it’s make-up. Bloody good stuff this.
3 non music personal highlights of the year:
Discovering I really like getting tattooed Well this was a surprise to me, I’ve been wanting to get tattooed for years and when I’d finally decided what I wanted and found someone who I liked enough to finally get it done, it was a real lightbulb moment. The first one paved the way for many subsequent trips to see Ben (my tattoo artist) and add to my growing collection of personal art.
Hot Sauces I’ve always loved sauce, be it ketchup or mayonnaise, but this was the year that my love of hot souaces exploded, once my friend brought me some hot sauce back from Zimbabwe, I couldn’t get enough, trying all manor of chilli sauces, chilli mango chutney and buffalo sauces make my tongue dance to a tune which I completely fell in love with!
Our Campervan This was the year we finally saved enough to turn into reality our dream of owning a campervan. A subsequent trip to Scotland to do the NC500 solidified the thought that having a campervan would be good for us. If you are able to, I cannot recommend it enough. Here’s to many more trips at home and abroad in the newly named Jellybean!
