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cryogenichusk · 4 years

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2020 Summer Mixtape

Since COVID-19 has turned pretty much everyone’s word upside down, we’ve found that little things, like habits, routines, etc. have been helpful in attempting to grasp a semblance of normalcy. Those routines, traditions, and rituals that help anchor into the now, what day it is, etc. so we can maintain a small foothold on our sanity.

One of our fav traditions is crafting the “perfect” Summer mixtape - PERFECT is in quotes, cause we’ll never actually capture the perfect mixtape; it’s elusive in that way-just like with summer-where we’re always chasing memories while making all new ones. We can get close (damn close sometimes), but it’s the dragon we always chase.

If you are new to our rubric for what constitutes the perfect Summer mixtape (initial posts with a little more detail/info are HERE and then also, more importantly, HERE), here’s the flying overview:

13-18 new songs from THAT YEAR

2-4 songs from your personal ALL TIME GREATEST records

1 to 2 guilty pleasure songs

3-5 pantheon classics

3-5 Summer-vibe songs

3-5 songs you SHARE

2-3 Pick-up-the-pace songs

Essentially seven categories to plug songs into (if your number of songs on any particular category are a bit light, there’s a little wiggle room to add a few more songs to bring the total song number of the mixtape up). Again, see the above linked previous posts that talk a little more about the why’s and how’s, and in general why this formula is a slam dunk.

So, here’s what we’ve got on our mixtape for this summer. Yes, we are jumping the gun a little early. Ideally, you’d want to christen this sucker sometime in June (i.e. summer weather is more in full swing, school is out, etc.), but with COVID-19, we had some extra time, and thought this maybe, possibly, could be a bit of joyful distraction in the current pandemic.

Blue - Approximately 13-18 new songs from THAT YEAR (i.e. 2020) - We padded this with a handful of songs from the latter half of the previous year which came out after we made the 2019 Summer Mixtape.

Red - 2-4 songs from your personal ALL TIME GREATEST records

Green - 1 to 2 guilty pleasure songs

Black - 3-5 pantheon classics

Orange - 3-5 Summer-vibe songs

Purple - 3-5 songs you SHARE

Yellow - 2-3 Pick-up-the-pace songs

Clear - 2-4 Fill in the gaps

Full disclosure: there’s still one elusive song we’re looking to include; it’s floating around in the ether and we haven’t nailed it down yet, but it’s the final piece to this puzzle. We could figure it out tomorrow, or maybe 3-4 weeks from now, who knows... So rather than kick this can further down the road and delay posting, we’re going to post this in its 99% completed state.

Should we post this as a download-able mixtape? Does anyone care? Does Spotify have everyone by the balls?

Anyway, what songs are starting to shape what your 2020 is soundtracked by? Chin up everyone, things will get better soon - cheers!

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cryogenichusk · 4 years

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Belated ‘Best Of 2019′ cause the world is a dumpster fire...

Soooooo... we’ll just come out with it: the world is nearing non-hyperbolic dystopian nightmarish levels.

So the timing seems right to put forth our mixtape of Best of 2019. It’s compromised of 15 songs from some of our favorite albums that came out last year.

In retrospect, 2019 came absolutely TEARING out of the gate with goodies, but then drastically slowed down (and had some let-down albums from musicians where expectations were high). The preceding few years had been the opposite, sluggish starts that then ended pretty well, so while 2019 started out with some promise, it ultimately had us left a little wanting, but there were certainly some gems.

So, in light of the day-after-day series of bad news and a world circling the toilet, hopefully these songs add a little something to uplift your day.

Cryogenic Husk #83 - Best Of 2019

1) VR Sex - Surrender

2) Ritual Howls - The Offering

3) White Lies - Believe it

4) Cold Cave - Promised Land

5) Boy Harsher - Lost

6) Drab Majesty - Long Division

7) Xeno & Oaklander - Angélique

8) She Past Away - La Maldad

9) OVER - Hyena

10) Brutus - Cemetery

11) Nails _ Endless Resistance

12) Fange - Il Reconnaîtra Les Siens

13) Devourment - Cognitive Sedation Butchery

14) Altarage - Knowing

15) Beneath The Massacre - Autonomous Mind*

(*Technically released in 2020, but this “single” came out in 2019 and easily wiped the floor with any peers in metal who were trying to be extreme or aggressive. Yes, this is a spoiler, these guys are definitely going to be on the ‘Best of 2020′ list)

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cryogenichusk · 5 years

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Best Of 2018

Can I just not comment on the year overall and get to the good stuff? Cool.

Here are our top albums of 2018, in alphabetical order, with a few honorable mentions and a mix to download that cherry-picks a song from each of the listed albums. Cheers!

Actors - It Will Come To You Full kudos and props to Aversionline (who have been doling out primo reviews, resulting in many purchases since the early 2000s) to keying us in to this one... in fact he said it best, “Thoroughly impresses with its cinematically synthwaved brand of forlorn-yet-danceable post-punk that wanders through an early-2000's Interpol type of take on such influences; plus a lush, modernized air of darkness that brings individuality to Actors' approach.”

The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can’t Any Longer This Portland duo continues the expansion of their sound, going beyond avant-noise-metal-experimentalism and further into electronic realms. The addition of female vocals on multiple tracks, ranging from angelic to war cries, along with carefully placed stringed instrumentation, expand their sonic palate even further. Post-future primitivism at its best.

Candy - Good To Feel Metallic hardcore that’s short, sweet, and to the point (oh, and pissed off). Most reviews/reviewers are really patting themselves on the back as they specifically codify the various genres/scenes this record touches on... However, the most telling thing: this album is nine songs in 18 minutes.

Convulsing - Grievous Admittedly, this is the album on our list, we still need to spend more time with (the average song length is about eight and a half minutes - usually that puts our guard up fast)... but it’s been captivating to see the balance between the visceral heaviness (and speed) when delivered with deliberate, unfolding song structures (RIYL: Ulcerate).

Del Judas - Deity Dark, gothy rock/americana - not unlike King Dude’s earlier releases, but with higher production value and delivered with more impassioned vocals, like from some of the acts of the 80s that crossed over from this style into pop culture (e.g. The Cult, The Church, etc.)

Harm’s Way - Posthuman Metallic HxC that brings the meathead grooves, perfect for working out. Heavy.

Holygram - Modern Cults Drab Majesty didn’t put out a record in 2018 (booo!), but here’s the next best thing. Holygram add a little tweak to the gothy-dancy-yet-mopey post-punk/new-wave motif but introduce a little lightness via shoegaze washes ala White Lies or The Weekend.

Immortal - Northern Chaos Gods Zero innovation has never been more welcome. Icy black metal from the masters, no Abbath - no problem, with just a touch of the classic and anthemic mid-era Bathory. There might be a slight dose of monotony throughout the album as a whole, but when the nostalgia of this sound and style hits, it’s easy to be forgiving.

Jaye Jayle - No Trail And Other Unholy Paths Rustic Americana from the frontman of Young Widows. Vacillates between “dusty ‘ol west” and “noir movie scene with protagonist looking out the cab window driving by a rainy city and grimy neon lights” - each modality is weary and searching.

Jesus Piece - Only Self When there was a face we wanted to melt this year, the song turned to the most was “Punish” from Jesus Piece. Pitch perfect late 90s/early 2000′s metallic hardcore channeled through a modern lens (and yea, yea, some reviews will probably mention the latter half of the record experimenting with more noisy, doomy songs - they’re cool too).

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Kælan Mikla - Nótt Eftir Nótt Icelandic trio that nails the coldwave balance, sometimes teetering into dance territory, sometimes pulling back into melancholic pop, often reminiscent of Ladytron (who we love).

King Dude - Music To Make War To Shouldn’t be a surprise to see King Dude on the list at this point if you’ve been following along for a few years... Also, not surprising: our pithy “review” of his new album... which is the broken record quip of his previous few albums, i.e. “A continued expansion of his sound, blah blah blah...” Dark occult rock with dashes of highly niche sub-genres (e.g. garage, gothy confessional, proto-pysch rock, etc.)

Our Place Of Worship Is Silence - With Inexorable Suffering Bestial blackened death metal that sounds feral and unhinged. Cavernous bellows, but tight and crisp guitars that can crunch as much as provide disorienting dissonance. It’s hard to put into words, but these guys are really doing something unique that is nuanced (at least to those who listen to batshit crazy metal regularly), and checks a lot of disparate boxes simultaneously.

Secret Cutter - Quantum Eraser Biggest surprise of the year. No real reviews or fanfare, just a recommendation or two from a reliable source. But wow! What a great sound and style here: blending downtuned simple, noise-rock riffs, think Unsane trying to play sludge, with flashes of adrenaline in monochrome. There’s something about the dry sounding production and drone-influenced riffs, which are oh-my-god heavy while being angular and repetitive, that gives the whole package a concrete tone and feel that’s very unique.

The Soft Moon - Criminal By this point, The Soft Moon should need no introduction, he’s one of the premiere acts of modern darkwave/post-punk. This go ‘round sees his formula augmented with some more industrial and psychedelic flourishes.

Thou - Magus You’ve already heard all about “The Summer Of Thou” in 2018, these NOLA avant-sludge masters released three EPs, a split, and this: their magnum opus all within the span of several months. That’s a lot to take in, hell, this album is a lot - almost impossible to take all in one sitting, but they’re really operating in a league of their own at this point. It’d be one thing if it was the heavy music alone: but knowing the songs grapple with deeper issues of existentialism, individuality, and philosophy make it resonate deeper.

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Tomb Mold - Manor Of Infinite Forms Grimy deathmetal with no novelties or frills outside of nostalgia for the glory days of deathmetal’s arrival in the late 80s/early 90s. This notion is further cemented with an absolutely NAILED production job.

Unravel - Eras Of Forfeit Beefy, thick death metal that sees these Aussies meld the Swedish HM-2 sound with added muscle and heft. Muscular grooves, impressively burly vocals, and tempo changes galore. Plus, with 11 songs in 23 minutes, there’s absolutely no filler to be found. Also that Dan Seagrave cover art is FIRE.

Honorable Mentions:

Dead Can Dance - Dionysus Cold Cave - You & Me & Infinity Daniel Avery - Song For Alpha Mausolei - Horizont and Vorposten

Cryogenic Husk #82 - Best Of 2018

1) Holygram - She’s Like The Sun 2) King Dude - Velvet Rope 3) Jaye Jayle - As Soon As Night 4) The Soft Moon - It Kills 5) Actors - We Don’t Have To Dance 6) Del Judas - Of Love And Death 7) Kælan Mikla - Draumadís 8) The Body - Nothing Stirs 9) Thou - The Changeling Prince 10) Convulsing - Beaten 11) Jesus Piece - Punish 12) Our Place Of Worship Is Silence - Chronicles Of Annihilation 13) Candy - Good To Feel 14) Harm’s Way - Human Carrying Capacity 15) Secret Cutter - Trampled By Light 16) Immortal - Called To ice 17) Unravel - Carcinogenesis 18) Tomb Mold - Final Struggle Of Selves

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cryogenichusk · 6 years

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Black Halloween Revisited

Yea, it might’ve been technically Halloween yesterday... but for some of us, every day is Halloween.

Case in point: we’ve just posted our second installment of the ‘Black Halloween’ mixtape (first one can be found here). For those new to the blueprint for this, what appears to now be a series:

We’ve pieced together some of our favorite intros, instrumentals, and segues from various black metal records to celebrate the time of the year (along with a couple songs from soundtracks). The result is spooky, dark, and-even though we should be grim and kvlt cause we’re talking black metal here-also a little fun.

Dig it on dark, cold, grey days when the shadows grow long...

Cryogenic Husk #81 - Black Halloween II

1) Hecate Enthroned - (Intro) In Nomine Satanas

2) Crimson Evenfall - When Heaven Falls into the Darkness

3) Dimmu Borgir - Fear And Wonder

4) Cradle Of Filth - The Graveyard By Moonlight

5) The Wolfman - Trailer

6) Sorcier des Glaces - Darkness Covers the Snowland

7) Ash Borer - 3 Lustration I

8) Danny Elfman - Sleepy Hollow Main Titles

9) Urfaust - Meditatum I

10) Profundi - Silent Hosts Of Decay

11) Cradle Of Filth - Macabre, This Banquet

12) Halloween Convention Of Spooks - Theater Trailer

13) Ulver - Mummy

14) *Bonus SUPER Halloween song*

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cryogenichusk · 6 years

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Best of 2017

These year-end lists are always suckers for grand narratives... Brevity being the soul of wit, we had an honest chuckle out of one of our more recent fav blog intros: “Wow what a year haha blah blah blah Trump blah blah nuclear annihilation blah blah blah the world is dogshit.”

It’s hard to say 2017 had/has any sort of monopoly on ups and downs as far as years go, but, come on, it’s objectively been a shit year for anyone who values cognitive thinking, equality for all humans, and basic rational thought. Fortunately, there were some decent creative outputs from artists to salve the the pain and help diminish the feeling the numbness. However, the correlation of a shitty year has, at least in our estimation, impacted the amount of albums we’ve thought to be among the best of the year. The pickings were slimmer than usual and the surefire winners left more to be desired (note: Converge isn’t on our list below). You run that equation and it’s probably the least impressive year of the last handful or so since we’ve been doing “Best Of...” lists.

Best Albums of 2017 in alphabetical order:

Alvvays - Antisocialite

Ariel Pink - Dedicated to Bobby Jameson

Artificial Brain - Infrared Horizon

Code Orange - Forever

Dälek - Endangered Philosophies

We liked previous album, Asphalt For Eden, but this is a marked improvement. Adding even more atmosphere, the lyrics really seal the deal to make this a powerful album.

Drab Majesty - The Demonstration

First Blood - Rules

Godflesh - Post Self

YES. After their comeback record from 2014, A World Lit Only By Fire, riff’d with barbarity, Godflesh reminds people that their quasi-existential, noisy side can be just as powerful with it’s spacious textures and machine-like rhythms.

John Maus - Screen Memories

King Woman - Created In The Image Of Suffering

Morbid Angel - Kingdoms Disdained

Myrkur - Mareidt

An improvement on everything Myrkur did on her first album. It’s beautiful and exhilarating to hear the extreme ends of the feminine spectrum vocally represented in the same song: the far end that will tear you to shreds, and the opposite side that will comfort and sooth the listener.

Nine Inch Nails - Add Violence

Being in NIN fan in the 2000′s is a unique thing. The band’s musical spectrum has already been pushed as far in either/all directions as it can go; now the details are what’s noteworthy: the delicate touches, subtle tweaks, and stellar production acumen, are all where the magic happens.

Primitive Man - Caustic

Q: What does Primitive Man sound like? A: Hatred

Ritual Howls - Their Body

A continuing refinement of their ‘Darkwave sprinkled with a southwestern twang’ sound. Technically just an EP, but solid.

Solstafir - Berdreyminn

The previous record from these Icelandic post-metal titans didn’t really do much in terms of pushing their sound or playing to their strengths, it wasn’t bad per se, just kind of “more of the same” (which in reality makes it a bit of a let down). However the ship has been righted and they’re writing better songs, even letting glimpses of past glories (Köld and Svartir Sandar) come to surface.

Spectral Voice - Eroded Corridors Of Unbeing

If you’re gonna channel Disembowlment’s cavernous sound with spectral melodies, we’re gonna love it, period.

Temples - Volcano

Wolfbrigade - Run With The Hunted

In a year where Tragedy and Disfear did not put out records, thank god for Wolfbrigade to bring the D-Beat that is as driving as it is catchy.

Wolves In The Throne Room - Thrice Woven

Honorable Mentions:

High Functioning Flesh - Culture Cut

Cold Cave - Glory [single]

Forest Swords - Compassion

Ostots - Ezer Ezaren Araztasuna

Pessimist - Pessimist

Cryogenic Husk #80: Best of 2017

Alvvways - Not My Baby

Ariel Pink - Another Weekend

John Maus - Walls Of Silence

Ritual Howls - Blood Red Moon

Cold Cave - Glory

Temples - Strange Of Be Forgotten

Drab Majesty - Too Soon To Tell

Nine Inch Nails - This Isn’t The Place

Dälek - Echoes Of...

Sólstafir - Isafold

King Woman - Hierophant

Godflesh - Morality Shadow

Artificial Brain - Estranged From Orbit

Myrkur - Maneblot

Code Orange - The New Reality

Morbid Angel - The Righteous Voice

First Blood - Rules Meant To Be Broken

Wolfbrigade - Warsaw Speedwolf

Primitive Man - My Will

Pessimist - Bloom

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cryogenichusk · 7 years

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How’s your Summer been sounding so far...?

Alright, it’s September. Summer is finally, FINALLY, starting to slowly taper off.

So here’s how our summer sounded based on our Ultimate Summer Mixtape guidelines (see previous post on how to make your own):

Reminder of what all the above means:

(36-46 songs in total)

Blue - Approximately 13-18 new songs from THAT YEAR

Red - 2-4 songs from your personal ALL TIME GREATEST records

Green - 1 to 2 guilty pleasure songs

Black - 3-5 pantheon classics

Orange - 3-5 Summer-vibe songs

Purple - 3-5 songs you SHARE

Yellow - 2-3 Pick-up-the-pace songs

Clear - 2-4 Fill in the gaps

...So, what all were you listening to you here and there and on the way in between during the summer of 2017?

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cryogenichusk · 7 years

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Summer Mixtape Redux...

...Or, How we learned to change some rules to make a better Summer mixtape.

A couple of years ago, we ironed out our methodology to construct an amazing Summer mixtape anyone could be happy with; maybe even surprised at how expertly it encapsulated all the tenets of Summertime music listening. You can read the quick and skinny HERE.

We’d suggest you check it out because there’s a lot of qualifying info, but if you’re short of time here’s the micro-debriefing:

36-46 songs in total

Approximately 17-18 new songs from THAT YEAR

2-3 songs from your personal ALL TIME GREATEST records

1 to 2 guilty pleasure songs

2-3 pantheon classics

A couple summer-vibe songs

3-4 songs you SHARE

2-3 Pick-up-the-pace songs

(Again, check the link above to see what the above criteria are aiming to accomplish and why they matter to a crucial Summer mixtape)

This checklist has served us well for going on seven years now, and has always hit it out of the park. That’s not to say it wasn’t a little challenging once or twice to check all the boxes, but, even then, it always delivered the goods and demonstrated BALANCE (one of the core intents). However, we’re updating it very slightly to accommodate certain years when applicable.

The crux of the change resides in the fact that, on average, 42% of the mixtape is dependent on music from the first half of the year (RE: above, where it lists that 17-18 songs are culled from that year). While this is all well and good (in the original post, we note that the Summer mixtape should document the year in which it is created), some years can be a mixed bag where some are front-loaded with goodies and other years are more anchored into the latter part of the year. The year 2017 seems to be the latter, so trying to squeeze exactly 17-18 songs in is a very tight and limiting criteria. If you were rigid in following the rules, you might be pressed to include some songs you’re only lukewarm about, and then there you are stuck with a Summer mixtape that’s a little misrepresenting.

Accounting for this, we’ve kept the categories and criteria the same, but broadened their number range a bit. This also helps get the mixtape more into the ‘36 to 46 songs total’ range, averaging about three hours total running time.

And one more final adjustment: Since the Summer mixtape needs to be ready to roll for the SUMMER, it will miss some of the tasty jams that come out in the latter half of the year it is made in. Since the following year’s mixtape will naturally focus on the songs from the first half of its year, the last half of the preceding year will essentially be lost in this “limbo” period of time (unless any of the songs happen fulfill any of the other requisites of the summer mixtape making list). So, as a parting addition to the Summer mixtape rulebook, we’re adding a line to sprinkle in some songs from this window of time (and/or pad it with some more songs from the aforementioned categories to get to that ‘36 to 46′ range of total songs).

And so...

Summer Mixtape Basics 2.0

36-46 songs in total - This number might seem a bit high if you’re a cassette tape luddite, but the running time averages out to around three hours even. This makes it good for road trips; ie. It’s not endlessly long where you’ll never get through the entire thing, but not so short as to quickly wear out its welcome either.

Approximately 13-18 new songs from THAT YEAR - If you’re making a ‘Summer 2017 Mixtape’ it should represent that year at least in part by featuring a chunk of tunes that came out that year (this calculates out to an average of 37% of the mixtape). This helps “time stamp” the mix, to a certain extent, to the year in which is was made. Essentially, you’re mostly cherry-picking your favorite songs of the first half of the year (right up till the time of making the mixtape).

2-4 songs from your personal ALL TIME GREATEST records - Pretty self-explanatory here. Grab a few tracks that are either from your “Personal all time greatest songs” list or “All time greatest albums” list.

1 to 2 guilty pleasure songs - Similar to the above prerequisite, but with a slight difference: Make sure there are at least a couple completely indulgent ‘I don’t care if I get eye rolls’ songs. YOU’RE making this mixtape, not someone else - so let your hair down. For us, for example, it’s usually a couple of brutal metal songs. And at just 1 or 2 songs on the entire mix, no one can really bitch cause it’s just a drop in the bucket overall.

3-5 pantheon classics - There are unimpeachable classics in the world, you know many of them, you don’t know a lot of them, and there are some you know of but haven’t actually heard. A good summer mixtape (again, in our opinion) should be lightly peppered with a few songs that have proven themselves over the years to be highly loved and regarded by the masses as perennial classics. We use the Rolling Stone Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time as our “go-to” in this instance (Fluxblog’s annual musical surveys are also great to explore). Pick out a song or two you haven’t heard in forever, be brave and try a song you have always heard of but never taken the plunge. We’ve been surprised by names you often hear of but in-one-ear-and-out-the-other, like some deep David Bowie cuts, or The Police. Maybe you’ve always heard you’d like De La Soul since you like A Tribe Called Quest - here’s your chance to see what the rabble-rabble is all about. Consider these songs part of your broadening musical education.

3-5 Summer-vibe songs - Yep, just like it sounds. Be sure to throw on there a couple of songs that just EXUDE summer. Warm days, sun shining, good times. For us, we go with Bob Marley (after vacationing in Hawaii, reggae has become synonymous with summer time vibes), often mixing up his memorable songs with off the beaten path tracks to keep it fun and interesting. Another suggestion would be The Beach Boys with their shimmering harmonies. Or maybe it’s Weezer’s catchy, melodic sing-a-longs. Perhaps there’s a classic rock band that nails it for you, or Best Coast with their sunny indie-pop; again, this is customizable to your tastes and musical library.

3-5 songs you SHARE - Who are you going to be spending most of your time with this summer (or share this mixtape with)? A particular group of friends? Your immediate family? Maybe your significant other? The beauty of these songs is they need no rhyme or reason to “fit in” on this mixtape. They’re simply songs that are collectively loved by who you are with. For example: Yea, you haven’t listened to Smashing Pumpkins regularly in YEARS, but that was what you and your high school buddies geeked out over back in the day, and guess what, you’re all hanging this summer (or going on a weekend trip, or seeing a show together, or…). You get the idea. About seven years ago was the advent of us trying to better document our own summer mixtapes, and as it happened at the time, we were on a big mid-80s Killing Joke kick, so we always squeeze in some songs from them onto our summer mixtapes.

2-3 Pick-up-the-pace songs - This isn’t autumnal melancholy or winter gloom, this is SUMMER. It’s more lively and upbeat, and that means your mixtape should be as well. Tap the rhythm on the steering wheel, air drum, dance, ANYTHING! The point is to keep the mixtape fun and energetic, the summer is only so long and there’s plenty of colder months to get emo in later. We like to dust our mixtape with Bad Religion to fill this requisite (bonus points for Greg Graffin’s immense sing-a-long factor).

2-4 Fill in the gaps - This is where, depending on how many songs comprise the mixtape at this point (again: aiming for 36-46 songs in total), you lightly sprinkle some songs from the last half of the preceding year and/or toss in an extra song or two from any of the above categories. This helps round out the mixtape and account for any shortcomings.

So pull some songs together that fill the above criteria and requisites, hit shuffle and we’re confident you’ll have a sweet mixtape for the summer for you and your friends/fam to enjoy. This is just what works for us, but it’s been refined over the last handful of years and seems to greatly satisfy whether at home, at a summer get-away or on the road in between. Cheers!

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cryogenichusk · 7 years

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Depeche Mode Intensive Training

It’s pretty rare that we go to large concerts (i.e. “large” to us is anything with over 1,000 people). Notice we’re calling them “concerts” and not just “shows.” These are large scale, bordering on spectacle, musical events that usually include elaborate light shows, possible wardrobe changes, stage decorations/design, etc.

It’s been years since the last one, but it’s for a “bucketlist” band that we’re going to a concert like this later this year: Depeche Mode

This mixtape is intended to serve as an “intensive training” playlist that bridges two criteria: Depeche Mode songs that are considered in the canon and one’s that are specifically special/meaningful to us. In short: undisputed classics and songs which helped mold our perception of the group.

From there, we tried to branch out, as well as geek out, a bit more for a balanced selection of songs:

Range of discography - Songs from pretty much every era of the band

Energy and tempo - Dancefloor destroyers to downbeat, somber introspectors (yea, we made that word up)

Official releases vs. Rarities - The familiar versions of songs as well as some remixes and b-sides (as well as a live performance)

Of course there are going to be so many songs with the above criteria, we had to impose a 20-song cap. This meant loads of songs were left off that really pained us to not include, but we can’t go making a four hour mixtape. Without further ado, here’s the ‘Depeche Mode 2017 Intensive Training’ mixtape:

CH #79 - Depeche Mode 2k17 Intensive Training

1) Strangelove (Tim Simenon, Mark Saunders Remix)

An undisputed classic can almost elicit eyerolls for its “No duh” factor. That’s why it’s nice when a remix can keep the core of the song intact, with nice updated window dressing that doesn’t anchor the song into any one particular era. The intro sounds vaguely familiar, but it’s almost generic enough to not give away what you’re immediately hearing. As it builds the lightbulb of familiarity doesn’t as much instantly flick on as it slowly starts to illuminate... And then the moment comes (THE MOMENT) where it’s instantly recognizable in one second, at the 1min 51 second mark, and DING! It’s “Strangelove” and you’re pumped.

2) Behind The Wheel (Remix)

DM’s Music For The Masses was a flashpoint in the group’s career. Arenas to stadiums. Big to huge. One of the key singles from the 1987 record was “Behind The Wheel.” While the album also saw DM start to step out of the darker themes of their previous couple albums a bit more, this track kept the somber strains present, revolving around power, control, and relationship dynamics (and *foreshadowing* this won’t be the last time you’ll encounter elements of “Behind The Wheel” on this playlist). This is the 7-inch version of the song, which cuts about one minute out of the original, for better or worse, from the original album version

3) World In My Eyes

The general consensus is that Violator is probably Depeche Mode’s most popular record. The aforementioned Music For The Masses broke the band through to the mainstream, so in many ways Violator was their critical moment: could they maintain their craft beyond their relatively recent entry to stardom? Judging how ubiquitous the singles “Personal Jesus” and “Enjoy The Silence” are, the answer has to be, “Yes.” However, we get as much or more excitement at hearing the kick-off song to the album. Maybe it’s because as the lead-off track the listener knows what other great songs lie ahead on the record (spoiler alert: one of said songs is further down the list). As such, it’s a great “Set-the-tone” track for the amazing collection of songs that follow it.

4) Love In Itself

...Speaking of songs to kick-off an album, ‘Love In Itself’ is a ‘beaut from the 1983 record Construction Time Again. The low-to-high variations in tempo between the verse and chorus is something the band rarely did, making it a little more unique than most of their other singles. Throw in the dour lyrics from Gahan and you’ve got a DM classic.

5) Happens All The Time

The first of a few b-sides on this playlist is from Delta Machine. The album sounds very modern (it came out in 2013) and with a generally more subdued tempo overall, but it’s lyrics and subject matter echo the more bleak tones of their mid-late 80s output, which got a lot of fans and critics jazzed. However, arguably our favorite song from this record wasn’t actually on the record; it’s one of the four b-sides: “Happens All The Time.” There’s something so deliciously eerie and foggy about the crawling pace, subtle synths and backing vocals... The layers really give this song a thick atmosphere.

6) Master And Servant

Like “Behind The Wheel” above, this song really hinges on the same basic precepts: an upbeat dancefloor destroyer with the subject matter revolving around power dynamics in life and relationships... except the lyrics sprinkle in just enough hints of S&M sexual kinkiness to give it an edge the group flirted with from time to time.

7) Stripped (7" Version)

So much power in this song. Its strength really rests in the universality of the lyrics: When no one is looking, who are you really? Without distracting influence, or need for validation or security, who ARE you? The question seems to be directed at whoever the protagonist is speaking to, but can also be self-reflection. The song plays out almost like a novel: a minimal theme sets the stage at the beginning and slowly grows. The simple premise is presented: “Let’s get away” (ie. Let’s remove the layers and societal filters we’ve acquired). And then Gahan comes sweeping in with such grandeur at the 41 second mark, “Let me see you stripped down to the bone...” The echoey, reverb makes the words nearly cinematic in their delivery.

8) Heaven (Justin Warfield Remix)

The second remix on this playlist is from Justin Warfield, of She Wants Revenge fame (sidenote: his band toured with DM when they released their first self-titled album; that must’ve been insane for a band’s first tour). This version of the song has an unusual tempo of about 100 bpms, where you feel like you’re just taking a stroll, plodding along, then things come into focus during the chorus and you also get a good dose of how well Martin and Dave can harmonize. Bonus points for the great keyboard stabs at the end of the song, 3min 40 sec.

9) Everything Counts (Live)

This song needs to be in everyone’s Depeche Mode ‘Best of’ list, full stop. It’s firmly in the “Classic” category without question. We already covered “Love In Itself” above from Construction Time Again, so to sprinkle a little more variety into this selection, we’re featuring the live version. Tell me you don’t get chills (with the volume turned way up) when the audience sing-along happens at the 4:55 mark.

10) I Feel Loved

We specifically remember when this record, Exciter, won us over. That summer when it was released (2001) we were on tour, a big two and a half month excursion across amphitheaters throughout the U.S., and laying the in dark in the bunk of the bus at night, this song just clicked. This album came at a tumultuous time for the band, having released the most derided album of their career (Ultra) just prior. While the songs reclaimed a bit more of the electronic foundation of previous records, albeit with updated technology, the spirit of the record also felt like a step in the right direction with its plaintive yearning. What really makes this song are the quasi-psychedelic interpretive keyboard warbling just after the chorus - this kaleidoscope of sound really translated the rollercoaster feeling of being on tour for us.

11) Shake The Disease

Coming out in 1985, ‘Shake The Disease’ has all the ingredients for a DM classic. This one opting for mid-pace tempo and emotional heft, putting all it’s weight into catchy melodies and lyrics of emotional befuddlement and relationship woes. For years we were (maybe still are?) obsessed with Hooverphonic’s cover of this song.

12) In Your Room

First of all, it needs to be said: the album version of this song and the single version are basically two completely different songs (also: the single version is terrible and this one rules). Here’s the deal, like talked about above, Violator is typically revered as the most popular and/or fan favorite album of DM. Released in 1993, Songs Of Faith And Devotion lands in the tumult of alt-rock and grunge’s ascendancy. So the record is somewhat tainted by living in the shadow of its predecessor, and certainly isn’t helped by the musical climate of the time (ie. there are some rock leanings/influence - the aforementioned single version of this song take those influences to disastrous levels). But there are some great songs on the album (hint you’ll hear another one further down). “In Your Room,” in particular, does an awesome job of layering a swirling mass of synths and textures into a dreamlike haze the band doesn’t do too often. When coupled with lyrics that have a real feeling of space and dimension and place, it can really transport the listener.

13) A Question Of Time (Remix)

From arguably the apex of their darker mid-to-late 80s period, Black Celebration, released in 1986, has a lot of amazing songs (we already discussed “Stripped” above). This remix of “A Question Of Time” is essentially the 7-inch version of the song, just slightly faster than the album version; ergo, it’s a dance rager at 140 bpms.

14) Slow

Talk about truth in advertising - this song is slow. But it is damn good. The moodiness is thick and really sells this one as a sensual slowburn (pun INTENDED).

15) One Caress

Another one from Songs Of Faith And Devotion, but this one threw fans and critics alike a big curveball: a purely stringed song featuring nothing but orchestration and Gahan’s vocals. The band had only done something similar once or twice before (”Little 15″ comes to mind) and is reminiscent of Morrissey’s “Angel, Angel, Down We Go Together.” However, this is executed at such an expert level, no one can deny the songwriting talents of DM, and this musical divergence proves that genre or style are by no means a limitation or challenge to their abilities. This song is darkly catchy with it’s shadowy stringed melodies and lyrics about temptation and obsession.

16) Peace

Depeche Mode’s 2009 album, Sounds Of The Universe is a unique standout in their catalog. It’s probably the most modern and digital sounding record they’ve released. The blips, bleeps and glitchy electronic framework definitely make it a more space-aged sounding outlier in their discography. These qualities might not endear it to many fans (including the uncharacteristically positive lyrics), but they come together nicely on the song “Peace” where the sterile synths sound like something pulled from DM’s first or second record, played at half-speed with futuristic equipment/technology.

17) Route 66

A bit of nostalgia colors this song, but let’s back up... Yes, this is a cover of the rhythm and blues standard of the same name. It also happens to be the b-side that accompanied “Behind the Wheel” (see higher up on the list), which is interesting because the band deftly splices in the key melody of “Behind The Wheel” smack dab into the middle of “Route 66.” In our minds, this makes them almost companion songs, or siblings, because of their multiple connections. What also makes this track unique is that it sounds like the band is just having FUN. There’s so much earnest emotion throughout all of their works that it’s worth mentioning that while this is a cover song, DM genuinely sounds like they’re just enjoying the heck out of it. Also: if you’re hitting the road this summer, this song is a crucial roadtrip track to include - the rhythm and quick guitar riff just beg to to have the windows down while cruising down the highway. Oh, and about the nostalgia: if you’ve danced in an small town underground party with dozens of other cool kids raging hard on the dancefloor, you’d be partial to this song also.

18) Cover Me

From the newest album, Spirit. This track is a dynamic gem. Starts out slow, somber and minimal with Gahan sounding as fatigued as the synths riding in tandem. Martin Gore again shows how his harmonizing with Dave can be so subtle and yet very effective. The lyrics paint a unique picture, within the framework of sobering relationship “What if’s,” - what if things were different, what if another time, what if another life? Then at the halfway point, the song turns a corner, Dave is done singing and now DM takes the listener on a journey that’s very much an exercise in creating the feeling of space (similar to “In Your Room” discussed above), evolving, growing and pulsing. The jury is still out on the overall summation of Spirit, but we’re confident this is our favorite song from the album.

19) Clean

Self-reflection (and sometimes self-flagellation) are usual themes in Depeche Mode’s oeuvre. “Clean” takes this topic and addresses it probably the most directly of the band’s career. It’s a safe assumption that tacked on to the end of Violator didn’t really give this song the platform it deserves and is probably overlooked as a result. Hearing Converge cover this song on their 2001 split with Hellchild reinvigorated our interest in the song at the time (and kudos to them for making the song familiar and yet their own). Truth be told, it’s a great album closer.

20) Lillian

Playing the Angel is one of the more pop/radio-oriented albums DM has put out. Still great songs, but missing a bit of that dark edged grit musically. However, this came at a formative time in life when being nomadic made even some of DM’s more prosaic songs meaningful. But, we’re being pretty critical. This song could almost have been replaced by “Suffer Well” from the same album, but in the end this song feels more appropriate. It’s a great way to end this list and a mixtape closer: it’s a balance of everything you’ve read about above, revisiting the classic tropes of DM. Somewhere in the mid-pace range, not too fast or slow, it’s catchy without being mindless or mundane, the lyrics tread the tried and true well the band draws from: love, obsession, helplessness and melancholy. It tapers off with a skilled fade-out, and there you have it:

20 Depeche Mode songs in 1hr 33min, covering a lot of ground, some biased, some unimpeachable, and the rest is for the fans to debate. Cheers!

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cryogenichusk · 7 years

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Best Of 2016

It’s interesting that 99.99% of these year-end lists you see floating through the internet around this time of the year have all shared a similar sentiment: 2016 sucked. And while usually one would be accustomed to at least the basic parity (What a great year! What a shit year!), cause honestly no one is ever gonna chime in with a, “Hey! 2016 was just fine. Not too great, not too terrible. It was okay.” This year has seemed to be overwhelmingly poo-poo’d by writers out there.

We agree, mostly. There’s been a lot of shit, like shitty shit, to deal with. Good people dying, escalating injustice, Trump... it’s been a toughie.

However, there have been great things in 2016: the birth of my son, bought a house, travel, adventure, and the reason you’re here: great music.

So, in alphabetical order, here are the records that we’ve selected as “Best Of 2016″ either through personal enjoyment, or critical and creative merit. Please let us know what you think (and download the playlist that cherry-picks a song from each of the 25 artists on the list). Honorable Mentions and Guilty Pleasures are listed at the bottom. Cheers all!

Best Of The Year:

Angel Olsen – My Woman

Is she the PJ Harvey of our time? (Yes we know PJ Harvey is still active and making music). Maybe, just maybe.

Black Marble – It’s Immaterial

Cold, post-punk inflected indie-rock (think Faith-era The Cure) is something we’re a sucker for and this record nails it; particularly in the drum machine and basslines.

Body Of Light – Let Me Go

Do you like Cold Cave, New Order, Trust? Get this record.

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Car Bomb – Meta

We will never forget, and always credit, Hydrahead Records for coining the term “Thinking Man’s Metal.” It nailed what we were obsessing over especially in the late 90s and early 2000s - music that was equal parts heavy and intense but with an intelligence and creative vision. Car Bomb scratch that itch for us with rapid fire start-stop syncopated guitar chugs, bizarro time signatures/curveballs, and more than a few surprises vocally and sonically to leave a quizzically happy expression on our faces.

DIIV – Is The Is Are

Dreamy indierock that can be uplifting and catchy, perfect for a summertime road trip, but also delivering songs that are densely layered, breathy and moody. This is probably the most genre-centric album on this list, undeniably indierock, but that isn’t a limitation at all when the songs are this consistently good, front-to-back.

Inter Arma – Paradise Gallows

We saw two heavy shows in 2016, Neurosis and Inter Arma. It’s tough to say which one we enjoyed the most. Considering Neurosis is basically operating at the level of divinity that should tell you that Inter Arma is on to something special.

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King Dude – Sex

King Dude dropped his most diverse record yet in 2016. Track-to-track it’s so varied, spanning many genres, that it’s surprisingly a lot of fun to listen to (gasp! Fun?! Yes. Don’t overthink it). Going from goth-rock to Cormac McCarthy desolate country, from post-punk to rockabilly, it’s great to see TJ expand and create in new ways.

Lycus – Chasms

This record came out at the VERY beginning of 2016, so we’re getting the impression it has been overlooked or forgotten by many. Four songs of doom metal, that throw just the right amount of atmospherics and music flourishes (and tempo changes) in to make this a great record. Everyone’s so damn ga-ga over any two-bit doom band that uses a “cavernous” sound as a crutch, it’s time metalheads utilized a little quality control. Lycus has earned their place at the table.

Martyrdod – List

Holy shit! Martyrdod took what was happening on 2014′s awesome album, Elddop, and kicked everything up a notch! Better riffing (anyone picking up a Shai Hulud vibe on some of these single-note catchy guitar licks?), scorching solos (and we’re not even big solo people), and d-beats for days. But seriously, those riffs! So catchy and simultaneously inventive with the note runs and rhythm/lead guitar interplay - superb!

Mass Gothic – Mass Gothic

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Meshuggah – The Violent Sleep Of Reason

If you’re reading this you know who Meshuggah is and what they do. This record is the best sounding production of their entire catalog, full stop. A slight critique would be if the songs were just a minute or two shorter each (this style of metal can be fatiguing over longer periods), but the inventive polyrhythms, riffs and drumming wizardry make this a stand-out for the year 2016.

Mutterlein – Orphans Of The Black Sun

Dark, ominous church organ dovetailed with post-metalisms are capped off with empowered female vocals singing proclamations. This one is hard to pin down, genre-wise, which is probably part of the reason it had repeated plays throughout the year.

Nails – You Will Never Be One Of Us

Angriest record of 2016? Yes.

Neurosis – Fires Within Fires

You’ve heard it all already: Neurosis’ most concise record to date. It’s Neurosis with the fat trimmed out, more straight to the point. Is it our fav record of theirs? No. Is it their best record? No. But it’s still head and shoulders above their contemporaries.

Nine Inch Nails - Not The Actual Events

Hot off the press, the new NIN maybe benefits from being completely fresh in mind, but unmistakably displays Trent Reznor’s ability to sculpt sound. Only five songs, all very different and unique, each great to pick apart and dissect layers as a fun listening experience.

Okkultokrati – Raspberry Dawn

Weird (in a good way) d-beat/post-punk mash up with some synth flourishes to blur the lines between the two.

Perturbator – The Uncanny Valley

Like a coked up soundtrack to Bladerunner turned to ‘10′ and on steroids.

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Ritual Howls – Into The Water

Post-punk trio from Chicago with some creative bells and whistles (slight country twang springs up here and there for example), but nailing the basic blueprint: beats that can make you dance in a goth club or hypnotize with basslines that are sleek and throbbing.

Tombs – All Empires Fall

Just an EP, but a dramatic improvement over their last album. Better production, not as flat/compressed sounding. They even bust out a moody, deathrock song. Otherwise, their metal is dark, definitely borrowing a couple of melodic lines from Emperor, while the tempos vary throughout making this a release I couldn’t quite write-off this year.

Trap Them – Crown Feral

The drumming department got a big shot in the arm, reclaiming some vigor lost in previous album.

Trentmøller – Fixion

Dark, sexy electronic (Vid is hot but NSFW)

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Wardruna – Runaljod – Raganrok

Viking songs done right on organic instruments by masters of the craft who respect it’s lineage.

White Lies – Friends

Compared to their past records, the new album from White Lies seems a little more subtle and understated. The choruses aren’t as crazy huge, the catchy parts are a little more subdued, but the whole damn thing is consistent and good all throughout. The mellower parts have hooks, the catchy-upbeat songs are more streamlined and simple. Everything just feels a little more even-keel and straightforward, making it a more thorough listen all the way through.

Wode – Wode

Gothenburg deathmetal (i.e. the Swedish deathmetal that is more melody and less brawn) meets Swedish black metal. Blackened deathmetal? Sure. Whatever it’s name, the riffs are catchy as hell, dropping hints of Immortal which will always get us stoked.

Xeno & Oaklander – Topiary

This guy/girl duo puts out a record, we put it on our “Best Of The Year” list; that seems to be the trend. Slightly vintage, without being kitschy, electronic tunes that can make you wanna dance on one song and then mope around the house and chill the next.

Cryogenic Husk #78 - Best Of 2016

Angel Olsen - Not Gonna Kill You

White Lies - Take It Out On Me

Black Marble - Woods

DIIV - Blue Boredeom (Sky’s Song)

Body Of Light - Cold Gesture

Trentemøller - Redefine

Xeno & Oaklander - Virtues And Vice

Mass Gothic - Nice Night

King Dude - Who Taught You How To Love

Wadruna - Odal

Ritual Howls - Scatter The Scars

Mutterlein - My War

Perturbator - Neo Tokyo

Okkultokrati - Hard To Please, Easy To Kill

Inter Arma - The Paradise Gallows

Tombs - Deceiver

Martyrdod - Wipeout

Meshuggah - Born In Dissonance

Trap Them - Speak Nigh

Car Bomb - Secrets Within

Lycus - Obsidian Eyes

Neurosis - Broken Ground

Wode - Death’s Edifice

Nails - Friend To All

Nine Inch Nails - Burning Bright (Field On Fire)

Honorable Mentions:

Howls Of Ebb – Cursus Impasse: The Pendlomic Vows

Weirdo deathmetal with a fun, textural, slightly twangy guitar sound.

Blanck Mass – D7-D5

Feels like a cheat to have a single on the list, but this guy made a track which expanded on his already awesome style of inter-dimensional electronic music with a wall of sound and layers of grandeur to spare.

Emily Jane White – They Moved In Shadows All Together

Like a stripped-down version of Chelsea Wolfe

Rotten Sound – Abuse To Suffer

Even an ever-so-slight misstep with the production can’t ruin a good time of insanely fast grind from the Finish masters.

Seven Sisters Of Sleep – Ezekiel’s Hags

Throw metal, sludge and hardcore in a blender and hit “frappe!”

Opeth – Sorceress

True Widow - AVVOLGERE

Chthe’Ilst – Le Dernier Crepuscule

More weirdo deathmetal, but darker and more ominous.

Dalek – Asphalt For Eden

Wormed - Krighsu

This album was just THIS close to making the cut for “Best Of The Year.” Imagine an “Whisper Supremacy”-era Cryptopsy infected with an advanced alien intelligence, and this is what you get. Brutal! Everyone is so concerned with atmosphere and emotions in their metal these days, that it’s refreshing to get absolutely pummeled by a record that it’s more about kinetic heft than the ephemeral.

A Dead Forest Index - In All That Drifts From Summit Down

Angela Martyr - The November Harvest

Imagine if Failure had a baby with Jesu. We’re giving ourselves a high-five cause that description NAILS their sound; super downtuned heaviness with catchy melodic parts and clean vocals.

Guilty Pleasures:

Immoralist – Unholy

Wax Tailor – By Any Beats Necessary

The Avalanches - Wildfower

Lindstrøm - Closing Shot

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cryogenichusk · 8 years

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Neurosis Intensive Training

It’s hard to know where to begin writing about one of your favorite musical acts. You could go the whole, “The first time I heard [artist name]...” or maybe wax a grand narrative for their musical innovation or just the personal/emotional relevance to the listener. I’ll probably touch on all of those, but I’ll begin by answering WHY I’m writing about one of my favorite musical acts: Neurosis. Next week I’ll be seeing them in San Francisco as one of three consecutive 30 year anniversary shows at the Regency Ballroom.

This mixtape is a celebration of the band, and partly an “intensive training” mixtape for my wife who has caught Neurosis intermittently (I’m assuming some times she’s blocked them out) over the years, and will be joining be for the momentous occasion.

So, the first time I heard Neurosis was actually a review of their just released album “Through Silver In Blood” in 1996, I was 15 years old at the time. The review espoused an album so psychically intense it was akin to being purged of one’s worldly being. The adolescent me was intrigued. Upon hearing the record I knew there were things I wasn’t getting. There were energies, and an emotional heft, that were flying right over my head. Over time, more and more was revealed. The music, sonically, is layered, but so is its dimensionality. As time has gone on, I’m convinced it’s one of the darkest records ever made. The band didn’t just look into the abyss, they went INTO the abyss. While there’s a lot of scary, dark music that’s made to sound, well, scary and dark, it’s often contrived or one-dimensional. More than that, though, it misses the emotional component. I’m not gonna dictate to the reader what’s the point of music, but in short, it’s a conduit, it’s an expression of the soul, and Neurosis taps into something atavistic and primal that rattles a familiar memory in one’s cells from centuries and aeons and dimensions which have no language to manifest through. It’s THAT energy and emotion that Neurosis channels. In other words: this is the real shit. This is the isness, the quality you can’t fake, and the truth you know when you hear it. You don’t have to like it, but you can’t honestly say it’s less than pure.

We’ve all been let down by heroes over the years, or at least been disenfranchised by musicians or or other celebrated figures over time. Neurosis has always been one of the constants I could look to, one of the few without compromise. Certainly I have favorites of their discography, a career that has minor peaks and valleys (all subjective of course), but never for one second would I doubt anything with their name on it. Neurosis is the gold standard when it comes to honor and integrity in the realm of rock-based music.

Admittedly, this mixtape is skewed to factor a couple of specific variables: namely, my own personal favorite era of the band (roughly the mid-late 90s), and to give a fair representation of that era to new ears/first time listeners as a “beginner’s guide.” If I were to compose a list of my all time favorite Neurosis songs, it would differ from this mix, but not by too much.

If I were to further describe the band to the uninitiated, I’d say it really starts what them as artists creating their own culture, their own language and method of expression. Lyrically, it’s addressing heavy topics that deal with belief, fate, will, and manifestation. There’s qualities of primitivism and shared ancestry as well. It extends out from there in their references, found in audio samples ranging from “The Power Of Myth”, to the Native American documentary “Broken Rainbow.” Fictional works from Paul Bowles’ “The Sheltering Sky” (my first exposure to the author) to mind-bending psychedelia and apocalyptic themes. This is heavy stuff topically, all with an emotional core, delivered with conviction, and a perfect match to the music.

Symbols and signs also play into the aforementioned, adorning their merchandise and music. Then there’s the side-projects (Tribes Of Neurot, et al) which go from minimal ambient soundscapes to tribal fever pitches to complimentary/companion releases (Tribes Of Neurot’s Grace as accompaniment to Neurosis’ Times Of Grace). These all create an interwoven framework that treats their creative expression as important and precious as life itself.

Cryogenic Husk #78 - Neurosis Intensive Training Mix

Suspended In Light (Times Of Grace)

Through Silver In Blood (Through Silver In Blood)

Rehumanize (Through Silver In Blood)

Under The Surface (Times Of Grace)

A Sun That Never Sets (A Sun That Never Sets)

Lost (Enemy Of The Sun)

Emergence (Times Of Grace b-side)

Locust Star (Through Silver In Blood)

A Chronology For Survival (Souls At Zero)

Strength Of Fates (Through Silver In Blood)

Times of Grace (Times Of Grace)

Flood (Sovereign)

Enemy Of The Sun (Enemy Of The Sun)

Stones From The Sky (A Sun That Never Sets)

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cryogenichusk · 8 years

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Best of 2015

We always appreciate reading year-end lists - our appetite for tunes we maybe missed (and potentially love!) is insatiable. Because of this, it’s always helpful when said writer or publication qualifies how/why their list was composed; what was the metric or qualifier in the selection process. Is it just, “Here are the albums we listened to the most in [insert year]”? Or is it also relevant to dole out acknowledgement to artists and albums that really impressed you with innovation or musical achievement (not necessarily linked to repeated listens, but highly likely)?

We splice those two ideas as best as possible. There are albums on our “Best of 2015″ that brought few new ideas or evolution to the collective musical gestalt, but we listened to them repeatedly with joy. Others unearthed old ideas with new tweaks. Some just blindsided us with flashes of brilliant genius. It’s worth noting that one overall trend we saw in 2015, was a great number of really good albums that were just a bit short of being GREAT. Maybe. Or maybe we need to expand our list to 25 instead of just 20 like we’ve done the last few years...? In any event, you’ll notice our “Honorable Mentions” list is almost as long as the “Best Of” list and very much worth checking out. Without further ado, in alphabetical order, our “Best Of 2015″ list...

Cryogenic Husk #77 - Best Of 2015 (mixtape link below)

Baroness - ‘Purple’ It’s hard to call this a “comeback” record, what with their previous double album being very good, but this new album from Baroness streamlines their craft, cuts the fat and the result is a rejuvenated band (literally and musically) crafting metallic rock songs that absolutely soar.

Blanck Mass - ‘Dumb Flesh’ Strange, electronic sci-fi tunes that evolve, build and grow within a framework of cosmic noise, otherworldly synth-ambience and alien dance floors beats.

Chelsea Wolfe - ‘Abyss’ Our goth queen - all glory is hers. The most metallic and loud album in her career. She uses quiet and loud dynamics, often within the same song, to great eerie effect - sounding like the soundtrack to the darker fairytales.

Disgrace - ‘True Enemy’ Throw the big names from Roadrunner Records’ heyday of the early 90s (particular attention to Sepultura, Biohazard, Obituary, Machinehead, Madball, etc.) into a blender and you have Disgrace - total riff city front-to-back.

Drab Majesty - ‘Careless’ A late addition to our listening rotation, but absolutely nailing the new wave/shoegaze sound that had been otherwise sadly absent from our queue in 2015. Fitting somewhere in between The Cure and John Maus, this record lands high on our list.

Entrails - ‘Obliteration’ Pure. Swedish. Death. Metal. Trustworthy and familiar like an old friend, when you hear that HM-2 Boss Pedal buzzsaw guitar tone, you know you’re gonna have a good time. Original? No. Satisfying? Absolutely.

Failure - ‘The Heart Is A Monster’ YES. An immensely underrated 90s alt/indie band (often lumped in with grunge, somewhat unfortunately) comes back with the original line-up and manages to perfectly reignite what made them amazing in their mid-90s peak (melodic riffs that knew when to rock and when to spellbind memorable harmonies) while evolving just enough to keep it relevant and interesting in 2015.

Harm’s Way - ‘Rust’ Metallic hardcore that goes heavy without depending on breakdowns. Great workout tunes.

Health - ‘Death Magic’ Electronic and noisy tunes that are dark and twisted, yet have melodic, breathy vocals and a keen sense of soundscape ambience... It’s a confusing combination, sometimes aggressive and sometimes dancey, but in both routes it’s always an intriguing adventure.

Jamie XX - ‘In Colour’ This was our “feel good” record of 2015. Upbeat, catchy, poppy electronic that is perfect for starting your day, hanging with friends, road tripping, and whatever else you can throw at it.

King Dude - ‘Songs Of Flesh And Blood In The Key Of Light’ King Dude is crafting some of the best tunes of his career. He’s venturing outside of his previous narrow (but stellar) gothic folk territory into minimalist confessionals, rockabilly, occult rock, gospel hymns and country/western with ease and with essentially all amazing results.

Oddisee - ‘The Good Fight’ Gimme that old time hip hop with fun, upbeat samples, rhymes with substance, and some personality. Oddisee borrows heavily from jazz and a little from soul, but its throwback vibe is so great, fun and carefree that feels like looking back through old photo albums.

Makeup And Vanity Set - ‘Wilderness’ If you’ve been following our musical documentation, by now you know we’ve got a soft spot for Makeup And Vanity Set’s vintage 80s synth/electro/pop. The new album didn’t quite floor us as much as ‘88:88′ - and to be honest, with 20 tracks there’s quite a bit of soundscape filler - but between those instrumental songs that do work and the tracks with vocals, we’re still very pleased to jam this record in 2015.

Myrkur - ‘M’ Ethereal black metal that is often melodic, sometimes folk-inspired, and always engaging. This album and artist has been so picked apart that hopefully you can enjoy our previous one-sentence overview for it’s brevity.

No Joy - ‘More Faithful’ Something about this album sounds so “90s alt rock/120 minutes band” that we can’t help but love it’s vintage sound complete with dual female vocal harmonies.

Soft Kill - ‘Heresy’ - Stripped down, minimalist post-punk in the vein of early The Cure or The Chameleons.

The Soft Moon - ‘Deeper’ - Noir post-punk that borrows Sisters Of Mercy basslines and then layers electronic dark waves over the top like a quick-cuts montage from Blade Runner.

Tame Impala - ‘Currents’ While KMFDM’s namesake means “no pity for the majority,” there does come a time (here and there, however infrequently) when the mainstream glut is ready to accept something outside of it’s normal bounds. Actually, it’s more accurate to say “is ready to evolve a bit.” Not much, but a bit. And in doing so, lands on something unique. Wholly original? Probably not. But presented in a way that brings old and new together and shift the bell curve a bit closer to the edge. Tame Impala does this via indie rock that utilizes Bee Gees beats and synth-y lines into a groovy blend that feels nostalgic without sacrificing cool.

Vhöl - ‘Deeper Than Sky’ Who else was doing experimental, sci-fi thrash in 2015? No one. This record just shreds front to back with inventive, proggy thrash metal riffs, and then throws a thrash piano song into the mix - NO GUITAR, just piano, drums and bass. Shit’s crazy, and more importantly fun.

Wavves - ‘V’ You know the Smashing Pumpkins video for their hit single “1979″? It’s basically a montage of the reckless abandon and frivolity of youth. And in the midst of it, there’s a house party with a band playing and all the kids rocking out, jumping around and having a generally great time. I’m fairly confident that band sounds exactly like Wavves based on the carefree fun on exhibit. Equal parts Pixies’ melodies and loud/quiet rock dynamics mixed with The Beach Boys’ infectious harmonies. Its irresistibly catchy and fun.

Cryogenic Husk #77 - Best Of 2015

Jamie XX - I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)

Tame Impala - ‘Cause I’m A Man

Oddisee - That’s Love

Blanck Mass - Cruel Sport

Soft Kill - Selfish Love

Makeup And Vanity Set - Remember

No Joy - Moon In My Mouth

Failure - Counterfeit Sky

Wavves - All The Same

The Soft Moon - Feel

Health - Flesh World (UK)

Chelsea Wolfe - After The Fall

King Dude - Desolate Hour

Drab Majesty - Unknown To The I

Baroness - Try To Disappear

Myrkur - Onde Børn

Entrails - Epitome Of Death

Disgrace - True Enemy

Harms Way - Ease My Mind

Vhöl - 3AM

Honorable Mentions:

Zombi - Shape Shift

Killing Joke - Pylon

Thy Art Is Murder - Holy War

Ghost - Meliora

Iron Maiden - Book Of Souls

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - The Night Creeper

Panopticon - Autumn Eternal

Ulvesang - Ulvesang

Murg - Varg & Björn

Tamaryn - Crane Kiss

Cattle Decapitation - The Anthropocene Extinction

Screature - Four Columns

High Functioning Flesh - Definite Structures

Leviathan - Scar Sighted

Noisem - Blossoming Decay

Mgła - Exercises In Futility

Disemballerina - Poison Gown

Arkiak - Lucid Dawn

Biggest letdowns:

Sunn0))) - ‘Kannon’ We were never huge fans to begin with, but always felt Sunn0))) had something special to offer and a big breakthrough was just around the corner. Three songs, meh. Probably after seeing so much praise we’re wondering if they are pulling some “emperor’s new clothes” type shit. Like Andy Kaufman-level punking of the gullible masses.

Grimes - ‘Art Angels’ Most press outlets lavish this new album with heaps of praise (some even declaring it the “album of the year”), we don’t understand why. More to the point, what’s often cited as the key reason for it’s success we’ve found to be it’s shortcoming. And that is: it’s mainstream/pop crossover. Whereas her previous album, Visions, was weirder, more experimental and fun, the new album feels too sugary sweet, safe, and as a result, boring and without any of the innovations or surprises that we dug so much before.

False - ‘Untitled’ Nothing sticks out here and the production is a little wack (too bass heavy - which is a weird complaint considering this is black metal). Plus, soapbox moment here, would it kill black metal bands to have some songwriting basics/knowledge lessons?! The average song length is 12 minutes on this thing... AVERAGE. yawn.

Grave Pleasures - ‘Dreamcrash’ This is a little nit-picky, because this isn’t a bad record at all, but there’s just next to none of the same charm or dynamics or catchiness that endeared us to Beastmilk.

Tribulation - ‘The Children Of The Night’ Here’s one pick that we’ll probably catch some heat for. So let’s be clear from the onset: this is a good album from a cool band. But nothing more. There are moments of greatness, but just moments. Just as there are moments of boredom. Which is all fine and dandy, but completely incongruent with the loads of accolades this record has been heaped on.

What happened? (In other words: there were supposed to be albums from the following, but they went MIA for records in 2015)

Chromatics

Massive Attack

Deftones

Defeated Sanity

Crystal Castles

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cryogenichusk · 9 years

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Summer of 2015

So at the beginning of June we laid out a helpful checklist for crafting a sweet Summer mixtape/playlist (including the importance of such a mixtape). Well, we compiled ours towards the end of June, and now, roughly a month later, we’re posting what we came up with for our ‘Summer 2015 Mixtape/Playlist’, naturally following the guidelines we laid out.

With a lot of new music coming out at a surprisingly quicker clip than the first half of the year, if we were to compile a similar mixtape now, the results would be different. However, since this serves as a musical document ala timestamp, we’ll keep it as is. Without further ado here’s our Summer 2015 mixtape (put on shuffle of course):

38 total tracks

Running time: 2 hours and 50 minutes

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cryogenichusk · 9 years

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Cryogenic Husk #36 - San Francisco '92/'93 Rave

Get your Vicks Vapo-Rub, backpack, goofy hat, Docs, raveralls, dustmask and egg shaker...! We are about to delve into the era of purple shields, microdots, black licorice & 4-way windowpanes. SF early 90s, has been referred to as the mecca of the house music scene. Although imported from England, via New York & LA, the SF scene took on a feeling and a purpose all its own. While fueled by earlier parties such as Mr Floppy's Flophouse in Oakland, Pull my Finger, and Don't Sit On The Furniture, it was not until a bunch of Brit. expat DJs, namely Markie, Jeno, Garth, Simon, Thomas & Tony and party promoter extroadinaire Martin O'Brien, among others, busted the scene wide open with the Wicked Soundsystem parties, Come-Unity, FullMoon parties and The Gathering (Basics, Organic, Vision, Freedom), all of which possessed a decidedly organic, back to nature vibe. The New Years Eve 1991 Toon Town party is widely considered the first true SF massive, and yes, there were lots of glowsticky glossy commercial massives taking place each weekend, such as Cool World Productions, Wally World and those parties thrown at Oakland's Intl. Trade Ctr behind a Home Base Retail Ctr, which gave it its name (belch!!). But those in the know sought out the aforementioned events, thrown in filthy, monstrous warehouses, beaches, dirt fields and funky little garage-y clubs. I even have stories about secret map points, and clandestine shuttles to illegal locations in the back of U-Haul trucks, or tales of legendary sound renegades who would literally climb power poles and jack in to the grid.

Later in the decade such events as Stompy, Funky Techno Tribe and the legendary Sunset parties, which were/are held once a month, on Sunday afternoons became staples as well. Every 4th of July, The Gathering would throw an outdoor event at a big dirt racetrack, off the beaten path, known as Freedom. At the second Freedom, one of the surrounding hillsides caught fire, and many of those in attendance (myself included) ran up and literally danced on top of the flames extinguishing it with… well, lets just say love. This event is documented by two YT videos titled "Let Freedumb Rave-fire on the mountain" I only mention this, as it was a highlight of many a ravers experience, and is still spoken of with reverence on SF rave message boards. Two years later, Freedom was witness to a Space Shuttle flyover, at about 6AM, although those in attendance swear up and down it was alien visitors being drawn close by all the good vibes. The SF scene started to fracture in the mid to late '90s as events started to return to the clubs, and more of an acid jazz, hip hop infused, loungey vibe started to attract the ears & feet of many of the early attendees. One of the most famous of these club weeklies was Mushroom Jazz, which started out as a tiny weekly event, and has since catapulted Mark Farina to worldwide fame and acclaim. It is nice to be able to say "i knew him when…" Other area Djs of note for this time period are Harry Who?, Rick Preston, Spun, Josh, Carlos, Ernie Munson and Dutch (Opulent Temple). I know i have missed a few… (sorry fellas). The following tracks represent a snapshot in time, say '92-'93, and while it is true that if you ask ten old ravers for their idea of the most memorable songs of a specific era, you will get ten different answers, and there will be those that say, “how could you not include this track, or that track”, I am confident those who were there would agree that all the following tracks truly represent this period in time, and deserve their rightful place on this list. It was very hard limiting it to 15 tracks. These tracks must be listened to LOUD. Happy trails & PLUR!!!

Cryogenic Husk #36 - San Francisco Rave ‘92/’93

1) Future Sound of London - Papau New Guinea

Released in 1991, and included in the soundtrack of the movie Cool World in 1992, this track was really a call to arms for a generation of kids looking to burn the night away. Although the record is heavily based around Meat Beat Manifesto's Radio Babylon and Helter Skelter, it is still considered a masterpiece. The song also samples Dead Can Dance’s ‘Dawn of the Iconoclast.’ If there were one song to carry fourth to future generations to best explain the early SF rave scene, this would be it.

2) Liberty City - Some Lovin' (Deep Dub)

Liberty City was an alias of the Murk boys (Ralph Falcon & Oscar Gaetan) from Florida, who specialized in the deepest of vocal dubby house. The original track, which included lyrics by Bebe Dozier was also a huge hit, but for my money, this was the version. The bassline has a sticky quality, which literally sucks you in, as if caught in a molasses fog. When one hears the term 'deep house', this is what they are talking about. The Murk boys had a few follow up hits, they once again struck gold a year later with 'Reach for Me' recorded under the name Funky Green Dogs From Outer Space... don't ask, ‘cause I don't know where they got that one ;)

3) Ultraviolet Catastrophe - Trip Harder

San Fran's own UVC (Jon Drukman, Jeff Taylor & Mike Wertheim (Twitch Records) really changed the game with this record. This particular track was my personal favorite for at least a year, and was the first 'house' record I ever bought. The relentless break was dark and dirty. It samples Alice in Wonderland commenting, “What a peculiar place to have a party” which was apropos, as most parties were thrown in peculiar places (bus yards, giant underground air conditioning vaults, airplane hangars, beaches, abandoned... and I mean ABANDONED warehouse spaces, etc...)

4) Blow - Cutter

Blow was a trumpet player, he used to play next to the Dj. I know in today’s world of multiple iterations of every conceivable combination this idea is as commonplace as khaki pants, but 20 years ago, at let’s say 4-5 in the morning, when you are not feeling quite yourself, these live performances were the stuff of legends... truly mind blowing and spine tingling. This track contains a few of the essential elements of the earlier hardcore sound, such as organ stabs sirens, and a quicker snappy break. Live instrumentation, breakbeats and a general air of funkiness were what SF was all about.

5) Coco Steel & Lovebomb - Feel It

Samples Peech Boys “Life Is Something Special (Warp Records); again that dubby deep sound rears its head with an almost tribal backbeat… Only this time, a little more progressive, with some more blatant ravey qualities.

6) Mother - All Funked Up

This was a floor filler. You would see folks running from their makeshift perches on the periphery of the party, in unison, hoping to settle in to a good patch of dirt (remember, the best parties were in fields and stuff) and groove their hearts out by the 1 minute mark.

7) Jump -Funkatarium

SF always had a sort of slouchy hippie dreaded type of vibe to it. This track relays that image well to me. Everyone used to sorta dance around all hunched over, like a pack of elephants, shuffling back and forth, kicking up dust, arms swinging to & fro like big ol' trunks. This track contains elements of the guitar riff from “Chant #1″ by Spandau Ballet. Groove Armada charted this track at #1 in 2008, over 15 years after its release.

8) God Within - Raincry (Spiritual Thirst)

The brothers Hardkiss… where to begin? SF's prodigal children of the night. The next two tracks are quite possibly the most loved and revered recordings of the day. God Within: Scott Hardkiss' masterpiece, “Raincry.” Yes, it is very similar to Degrees of Motion’s “Do You Want it Right Now (Motion Beats Mix)” which happens to be my favorite single record of the era, but this record was more widely received, and contained the etherial quality that had come to define the scene, especially when that scene was taken outdoors, to places like Baker Beach and Bonny Dune. The album Delusions of Grandeur is without question the most treasured album of my extended rave family. It holds a special place to us, an indelible mark on each of our souls. This track was also used in FIFA 99, or so I have been told.

9) Rabbit In The Moon - Phases of an Out of Body Experience

Florida's David Christophere, better known as Rabbit in the Moon is a great guy, and shares my birthday, unfortunately I do not share his musical genius. This track was also released on the Hardkiss album mentioned above. Heartbreakingly beautiful track, the highlight of which is Tori Amos' sample from “These Precious Things.” This track makes me long to spend days with old friends. How can anyone not love it… seriously.

10) SL2 - Djs Take Control

Slipmatt & Lime (SL2). This track also conjures up the earlier hardcore days (1989-1991), sampling Dope on Plastic- “Uptown” (oldskool Hip Hop) and samples the instantly recognizable synth stab from early house pioneers Night Writers - “Let the Music Use You.” This particular synth sample has shown up countless times on numerous releases, yet it was this particular track that made it what it is.

11) Studio X - Los Kings Del Mambo

DJ Dig-it & DJ EFX recorded this jam above BPM Records in SF. It samples "We Got A Love" from First Choice - “Let No Man Put Asunder." Also from that song came the ubiquitous house sample, "It's not over..." which was used many times on numerous tracks, including Ron Hardy's re-edit, and most famously by Kramer Dashwood, on the track “Ron Hardy's Ghost” (after his passing). “Los Kings Del Mambo” was widely embraced throughout Cali, with its decidedly Latin vibe. The "We got a love" sample was laid over everything possible, and I'm sure there were plenty of DJs who wore out the first two grooves of this record while leaving the rest of the vinyl intact. The real payoff, however, comes at the 3:45 mark with the uber funky organ riff. Oh so good!!

12) Dubtribe Sound System - Mother Earth

Sunshine and Moonbeam were a live house music act from SF who played with a ragtag group of various live musicians and percussionists, in a very drum circle-esque style. I remember them always sitting on the floor with their equipment. They took the whole “no stage” thing to the next level. “Mother Earth” was a very 'earth-centric' track, and contains the famous lyric, "I wan't my planet back" which was more of a proclamation than a simple group of words strung together, followed by what I'm convinced is a Grace Jones - “Warm Leatherette” sample. They recorded under various names including Trip ta Funk Soundsystem. The forthcoming SF Rave Documentary contains another of their bigger tracks (”Sunshines Theme”).

13) Gat Decor - Passion

I will admit right now, the next two records choke me up a little. First, “Passion,” a great 4/4 chugger that, from the opening notes, epitomizes the scene. I swear, this track brings me right back to cresting the dunes at Bonny Dune, and stomping down the bluffs to partake in all sorts of silliness. I can almost feel the night air. The emotional piano breakdown, beginning at the 2:50 mark and riding thru to the 5:00 mark is just pure uncut SF FullMoon massive... all the way!!! This is what the parties sounded like, generically speaking. This is a goosebumps inducing breakdown to almost anyone who was there.

14) Brothers Love Dubs - Mighty Ming

Like the Gat Decor track above, this is another progressive 4/4 stomper that slowly and steadily builds to an ethereal break at the 3:06 min. mark and then again, even more so at the 5:25 min. mark. I can still see all the revelers pausing in unison, to catch a breath, run fingers thru cold scalps, hands on knees, or raised to the night sky, as if beckoning the arrival of some spiritual insight, within the shifting shapes projected upon the abyss. The Brothers had another big follow up track called “Mings Incredible Disco Machine,” which displayed more of a funky, happy vibe, rather than the introspective sound of “The Mighty Ming.”

15) Jam & Spoon -Stella

Commonly mixed with FSOL’s “Papau...” this was the one. This was another track that received some mainstream play. Lie on the cool ground and watch the green smoke swirl thru the lasers until disappearing into the beyond. Their mix of Age of Love’s “Age of Love” was another major success from this Frankfurt duo, and is instantly recognizable as another huge ‘SF sound’ staple. I had trouble picking between the two.

In closing, i would just like to state that the tracks selected were done so in an effort to shine the light on a couple of years in the SF scene, and I tried to pick middle of the road hits, which give a true representation of this time period. The genres contained within the early house music scene are vast, and one could create dozens of mixes, focusing on any one particular style, be it Breakbeat (Joey Beltram - “Let It Ride”), Vocal House (Lil' Louis - “Club Lonely”), Early Hardcore (T99 - “Anastasia”), Acid House (Bobby Konders - “Nervous Acid”) Progressive House (Boomshanka - “Do What You Wanna Do”), Tribal House ( House of Gypsys - “Somba”), Trance (Age of Love - “Age of Love”), Happy Hardcore (Smarties - “Sesame's Street”), Jungle/D&B (Both Ends - “Underkut”), Ambient (Skylab - “Next”) and onanonanon…

-Dj Failsworth

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cryogenichusk · 9 years

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Summer Mixtape Basics

Making a mixtape is fun ‘cause it’s a lot like a recipe. There are various ingredients, all serving various functions, in different proportions, and everyone has their own unique recipe complete with a secret ingredient or two. This makes them all unique and when taken as a whole serve different functions.

The collection of songs can serve a specific purpose or provide context of a greater whole. One such common mixtape that is almost has American as apple pie is: THE SUMMER MIXTAPE.

A summer mixtape can be a time capsule, a nostalgic artifact where you can revisit and relive certain memories over and over again like a photo album. Remember that road trip with friends? Vacation to the beach or a sunny ‘n warm get-away between school years? Or that much needed battery-recharge away from work?

Some summer’s gain a near mythic status, like Bryan Adams’ “Summer Of ‘69,” where you know this might be the last time you’ll see certain friends or feel like life just won’t slow down and certain chapters come to an end while new ones begin... You might not want it to ever end, or at least want some way to keep the memory. Like the lyrics to H20′s “Songs Remain” say, ‘All the bands we loved the most, all the songs that give us hope, reasons we're still here today, people change but songs remain.’ Those songs and mixtapes keep those memories alive.

Now that we’ve gotten some of the sentimental waxing out of the way (phew), let’s get to the nuts and bolts of what makes a good summer mixtape. A couple obvious factors: firstly, it needs to be made and ready to be listened to during the summer (duh), so this post will hopefully serve as a timely reminder since June is now officially here(!) Like noted above, everyone’s mixtape strategy and creation is special, so we can only speak for our own approach (slowly honed over the last five years or so), but have found sound reasoning to support the idea that our basic blueprint could be a good guideline to follow for just about anyone with limitless variations. So here are 7-8 tips to soundtrack your summer with a great mix of tunes...:

Approximately 17-18 new songs from THAT YEAR - If you’re making a ‘Summer 2015 Mixtape’ it should represent that year at least in part by featuring a chunk of tunes that came out that year (this calculates out to about 42% of the mixtape). This helps “time stamp” the mix to a certain extent. Essentially, you’re mostly cherry-picking your favorite songs of the first half of the year (right up till the time of making the mixtape).

2-3 songs from your personal ALL TIME GREATEST records - Pretty self-explanatory here. Grab a few tracks that are either from your personal all time greatest songs list or all time greatest albums.

1 to 2 guilty pleasure songs - Similar to the above prerequisite, but with a slight difference: Make sure there are at least a couple completely indulgent ‘I don’t care if I get eye rolls’ songs. YOU’RE making this mixtape, not someone else - so let your hair down. For us, it’s usually a couple of brutal metal songs, for example. And at just 1 or 2 songs on the entire mix, no one can really bitch cause it’s just a drop in the bucket overall.

2-3 pantheon classics - There are unimpeachable classics in the world, you know many of them, you don’t know a lot of them, and there are some you know of but haven’t actually heard. A good summer mixtape (again, in our opinion) should be lightly peppered with a few songs that have proven themselves over the years to be highly loved and regarded by the masses as classics. We use the Rolling Stone Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time as our “go-to” in this instance. Pick out a song or two you haven’t heard in forever, be brave and try a song you have always heard of but never taken the plunge. We’ve been surprised by names you often hear of but in-one-ear-and-out-the-other, like some deep David Bowie cuts, or The Police. Maybe you’ve always heard you’d like De La Soul since you like A Tribe Called Quest - here’s your chance to see what the rabble-rabble is all about. Consider these songs part of your broadening musical education.

A couple summer-vibe songs - Yep, just like it sounds. Be sure to throw on there a couple of songs that just EXUDE summer. Warm days, sun shining, good times. For us, we go with Bob Marley (after vacationing in Hawaii, reggae has become synonymous with summer time vibes), often mixing up his memorable songs with off the beaten path tracks to keep it fun and interesting. Another suggestion would be The Beach Boys with their shimmering harmonies. Or maybe it’s Weezer’s catchy, melodic sing-a-longs. Perhaps there’s a classic rock band that nails it for you, or Best Coast - again, this is customizable to your tastes and musical library.

3-4 songs you SHARE - Who are you going to be spending most of your time with this summer (or share this mixtape with)? A particular group of friends? Your immediate family? Maybe your significant other? The beauty of these songs is they need no rhyme or reason to “fit in” on this mixtape. They’re simply songs that are collectively loved by who you are with. For example: Yea, you haven’t listened to Smashing Pumpkins regularly in YEARS, but that was what you and your high school buddies geeked out over back in the day, and guess what, you’re all hanging this summer (or going on a weekend trip, or seeing a show together, or...). You get the point. About six years ago was the advent of us trying to better document our own summer mixtapes, and as it happened at the time, we were on a big mid-80s Killing Joke kick, so we always squeeze in some songs from them onto our summer mixtapes.

So pull some songs together that fill the above criteria and requisites, hit shuffle and we’re confident you’ll have a sweet mixtape for the summer for you and your friends/fam to enjoy. This is just what works for us, but it’s been refined over the last handful of years and seems to always deliver the goods whether at home, at a summer get-away or on the road in between. Cheers!

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cryogenichusk · 9 years

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Top Albums of 2014

Looking back, this year feels like it's easily been three years smashed into one. Life's ups and downs and curveballs have made 2014 feel unusually long, which is made all the more strange considering time seems to somehow be going by faster.

When it comes to music that impacted us the most this year, well, we're left a little confused. At the beginning of the year, the promise of albums from some heavyweights had 2014 shaping up to be a landmark year, but when the dust settled the year seemed much more demure than we could have ever guessed it would be. That's not to say it was disappointing, on the contrary, the year has had some amazing releases, but some highly anticipated albums fell a little short, or long running acts appeared to be running out of steam. Perhaps part of the status quo is being surprised and this year had fewer surprises than usual. More than likely it was a small combination of all those things.

But let's focus on the positive side of things: there were some sweet tunes and great records that helped enrich the world in 2014. Here are our twenty favorite albums of 2014, in alphabetical order, with an additional ten slots allocated below for some honorable mentions.

The list...

1) The Acacia Strain - Coma Witch

2) Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness

3) Bloodbath - Grand Morbid Funeral

4) Code Orange - I Am King

5) The Drums - Encyclopedia

6) Godflesh - A World Only Lit By Fire

7) Hateful Abandon - Liars/Bastards

8) Hierophant - Peste

9) King Dude - Fear

10) Lust For Youth - International

11) Martyrdöd - Elddop

12) Nothing - Guilty Of Everything

13) Opeth - Pale Communion

14) Pallbearer - Foundations Of Burden

15) Timber Timbre - Hot Dreams

16) Trust - Joyland

17) Tycho - Awake

18) Vallenfyre - Splinters

19) Xeno & Oaklander - Par Avion

20) Youth Code - A Place To Stand

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):

Woods Of Desolation - As The Stars

Young Widows - Easy Pain

Boris The Blade - Human Hive

Röyksopp - The Inevitable End

Agalloch - The Serpent And The Sphere

Sólstafir - Ótta

Morbus Chron - Sweven

Bastard Sapling - Instinct Is Forever

Cult Of Youth - Final Days

Morrissey - World Peace Is None Of Your Business

Cryogenic Husk #76 - Best of 2014

1) Tycho - Awake

2) Xenor & Oaklander - Jasmine Nights

3) The Drums - Face Of God

4) Trust - Four Gut

5) Lust For Youth - Armida

6) Angel Olsen - Stars

7) Timber Timbre - Curtains?!

8) King Dude - Fear Is All You Know

9) Opeth - Cusp Of Eternity

10) Nothing - Bent Nail

11) Youth Code - To Burn Your World

12) Hateful Abandon - Culprit

13) Godflesh - New Dark Ages

14) Pallbearer - World's Apart

15) Code Orange - My World

16) Vallenfyre - Scabs

17) Martyrdöd - Skum På Världens Hav

18) Hierophant - Iganno

19) The Acacia Strain - Send Help

20) Bloodbath - Total Death Exhumed

1) Tycho 'Awake' - This song is the soundtrack to a beautiful morning. A great accompaniment to slowly awakening as twinkling lights come into focus and melodious notes ring in the ether. Everything is blossoming and shimmering. The whole album captures this feeling. It makes complete sense that Tycho secretly DJ'd a set at daybreak at this year's Burning Man. The rest of the album's songs follow suit mixing up the tempo between this mid-pace stroll to upbeat energetic bouncing.

2) Xeno & Oaklander 'Jasmine Nights' - X&O putting out a new album in any given year almost assures them a spot in our year end list. Their penchant for nostalgic, 80s synthy, electro-pop takes a page out of Depeche Mode's leather phase, injects it with sugar-high tempos and then utilizes alternating male-female vocals to great effect. This new record sees a slight shift in their approach by making their melodies slightly more tedious and subverting, but certainly rewarding.

3) The Drums 'Face Of God' - The thing with The Drums, is they pack an emotional tenderness punch... there's a certain frequency of sensitivity they tap into without being heavy-handed. Taking a new romantics approach stylistically (think Echo And The Bunnymen), they deliver a simple formula sonically, equal parts melancholic and melodic, but strike a nerve of sentimentality that endears them to your heart.

4) Trust 'Four Gut' - Considering Trust's 2012 debut album, TRST, is one of our fav records of the last several years, there was little doubt their sophomore album would make our Best Of 2014 list. Joyland sees some subtle shifts to their sound, refining their cold dark electro wave into something just slightly more sugary sweet. Vocals have been stretched into exciting new territory, and the BPMs pushed both to the faster and slower ends of the spectrum. All in all, advancement in a musical acts boundaries that mostly pays off.

5) Lust For Youth 'Armida' - Speaking of sugary sweet dusting to an electronic act's repertoire... Swedish act Lust For Youth sees the same progression in their sound. Moody, electronic goodness cut with just a little more more brightness than their previous post-punk/cold wave origins. With 'Armida,' the song's female guest vocals and infectious chorus, which sounds like it's channeling a John Hughes movie (complete with emotional heft), make this a standout track.

6) Angel Olsen 'Stars' - Angel Olsen is smoldering on all fronts. The smokey, sultry 100-yard gaze and expressive vocals injected with longing and emotional yearning for days... It brings to mind the mid-90s when adolescent boys were fawning over PJ Harvey and Liz Phair, and if you are the company you keep, that makes Angel Olsen an indie/alt darling without the need of any gimmick.

7) Timber Timbre 'Curtains!?' - This Canadian trio has excelled in their first two albums of delivering dark, Nick Cave-esque, reverb speak-easy tunes. We'll be the first to admit that this album, Hot Dreams, took longer than expected to sink in, but when it did, we were in hook, line and sinker. The key difference on this album is more instrumentation and more layers (distracting from their usual 'simple ingredients' approach). However, this yields amazing results as the songs are much more cinematic and dramatic as a result.

8) King Dude 'Fear Is All You Know' - Since King Dude was one of the shows we're most proud of hosting a little over a year ago, KD has a leg up on the competition. Combine that the fact that he's taking the occult/paganism to a broader audience and we're neigh starry-eyed. The new record advances KD's gothic-Johnny Cash sound into more of a rockabilly/americana arena with mostly great results.

9) Opeth 'Cusp Of Eternity' - Prog rock? Yes, prog rock.

10) Nothing 'Bent Nail' - Shoegaze rock done in a very simple and direct method that doesn't forget to occasionally, ya know, rock. What may seem like a one-dimensional approach is more than compensated for by bringing to surface alt-rock greats from the 90s (think Hum, Slowdive, Failure).

11) Youth Code 'To Burn Your World' - Industrial done with a punk/hardcore attitude/mindset. It's like god read our mind and decided to throw us (and the world) a bone by creating this LA guy/girl duo. This song makes us want to stomp through the floor and punch holes in the wall... AND they know when to pull a punch before letting it land at the 50-second mark when 16th note high-hats make you want to headwalk. It's kind of a cheat to put an EP on a year-end list, but if the whole thing followed suit of the first four new songs, we'd guarantee its placement.

12) Hateful Abandon 'Culprit' - Even more experimental and adventurous than preceding albums, this kraut/avant-garde rock band incorporates more post-punk and atmosphere for an even more diverse musical palette.

13) Godflesh 'New Dark Ages' - When we listen to Godflesh, we turn the volume the fuck up, visual every sacrosanct metaphysical and religious symbol from "Altered States" and pray for the world to burn... all in the best possible way. The origins of experimental isolationism start here... Industrial metal done by the masters who dusted off the original formula which keeps it simple: detuned chugs, high-pitch feedback squeals, militaristic drum machine and samples. Is it as good as their classics? Maybe not. But it's as close as they've ever gotten in subsequent albums and the destroys the majority of their peers.

14) Pallbearer ' Worlds Apart' - Doom metal is been creeping ever more onto our year-end lists in recent, er, years. Pallbear's sophomore album earned the #1 spot on Decibel Magazine's Best Of The Year list (sidenote: Decibel is THE authority and unquestioned authority on heavy music, full fucking stop). For us, they get a respectful nod and tip of the cap. It's like someone took Black Sabbath, threw them in a time machine to the future (ie. production values circa now) and viola! Pallbearer. How bad ass does THAT sound? No really, you want to know? Listen to this record.

15) Code Orange 'My World' - Metalcore. At different points on the same timeline, it's a genre that somehow swings from the most popular to the most reviled genre. Equal parts Converge, beatdown hardcore, and chaos, this quartet breathes new life into a genre that's been the butt of many jokes for the last several years. Aided with the production of God City Studios, this thing is heavy like holy shit. The last 40 seconds will make you want to inflict great bodily harm. BRB, we're gonna go get our mouthpiece out of retirement #SeeYouInThePit

16) Vallenfyre 'Scabs' - Most listened to song for us in 2014? Quite possibly. That production. The Crust. The dissonant yet restrained melody. The d-beat. The blastbeat. The rawness. The feedback. Turn this up to '10' and melt our bones. Crusty metallic hardcore (emphasis on the "metallic") from current and former members of Paradise Lost, Doom, At The Gates and more. Excited to see these guys on tour with Converge and At The Gates in March.

17) Martyrdöd 'Skum På Världens Hav' - Swedish crusty metallic hardcore stalwarts Martyrdöd have delivered an album that sees them righting their ship. Not that it needing much "righting," but the last album (Paranoia) left a rather "meh" feeling overall with few songs being memorable and more than anything a feeling of "going through the motions" seeming to permeate the record. With Elddop, they've recaptured the darkly melodic, semi-dissonant melodies that are as infectious as they are eerie. And let's be honest, we're surprised the band has existed beyond their first couple albums, what with their supremely stark and nihilistic front and all... But for an act with that much of a dark approach, to have life (and gas left in the tank) now on their fifth album is impressive... that they're incorporating more single-note riffs (think Shai hulud), it's all a great boon to fans of despondent and melancholic hardcore.

18) Hierophant 'Iganno' - We pushed "play" and got our collective sack torn off like a paper towel. Unrelenting grindy hardcore from Italy with songs averaging around one minute and forty seconds means: no bullshit.

19) The Acacia Strain 'Send Help' - When you start your record out and the first words are, "Rest in piss," you have our attention. Continue to provide downtuned, brown-noise mosh-friendly breakdowns and general misanthropy... well then you have our black heart. And when vocalist Vincent shouts, "Frozen Breath, bleeding to death," at the 2:20 mark, be prepared for one of the more punishing breakdowns of the year. Ouch. One gripe is that the production is almost too clean and flat sounding... sigh, what could've been...?

20) Bloodbath 'Total Death Exhumed' - This is pure, early 90s, Swedish deathmetal nostalgia, complete with the use of a Boss HM-2 heavy metal pedal. The chainsaw buzz and chunky riffs that convey malevolence and heaviness. All check! While we'd rather this be a more concise 9 or 10 song album, just to cut the already minimal amount of fat, this album is just plain fun if you're a hessian. Morbid riffs, dark subject matter... all we're missing is some comic books, caffeinated drink and we're back to our adolescent selves and loving every minute of it.

What were some of your favorite albums that came out in 2014? Chime in via the comments.

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