Various - White Dot Music Best of 2011

Message to fucking arseholes representing Graveyard or their label. There is no Graveyard in this post, nor will there ever be in any future post, should there ever be one; just as I will never purchase anything relating to Graveyard, or anything on your label. There was no Graveyard either in this post, or the Mediafire links when you reported them all. I specifically removed anything related to a major label, then re-posted.
However, being the utter cunts that you are, you felt the need to report this blogpost, and links, which contained nothing related to you or your label; therefore which you had no legal stake in. Now my mediafire account has been suspended, all links are dead, and you have ruined a blog designed to introduce people to obscure music. Good job.
Nuclear Blast, folks. This is what you get when you sign a distribution deal with a major - you suck major cock.


3 month posting gap, blimey. Here's a kind of best of 2011 - there's a few omissions, like Radiohead, and Innercity's Terrestriality, which is a great album, but I don't have it on mp3. I've left off some metal, too - not a vintage year for metal, but I've also been listening to lots on older metal. I would say my favourites of the year were Ulcerate, Rwake, Cannabis Corpse, Azarath, Trap Them; and probably my favourite - Glorior Belli - The Great Southern Darkness. I've also been listening to tons of techno, and hope to get a mix together of recent stuff.
Best albums of 2011:
Bill Callaghan - Apocalypse
Grails - Deep Politics
Byetone - Symeta
Kronos Quartet, Kimmo Pohjonen & Samuli Kosminen - Uniko
The Fear Ratio - Light Box

What's left then? Lots of psych-synth-space rock. This is a slightly smaller list than the one I originally posted, which got reported because because because tiresome bollocks. Hopefully nothing on this list now contains anything tainted with a major label or distributor. If you are going to spend cash on music, don't buy anything on a major - support the independents, and buy direct from bands wherever possible.

1. D Charles Spee r - Markos's Cave (Arghil edes )

2. Deerhoo f - Must Fight Current (Deerhoo f vs Evil)

3. The Haxan Cloa k - The Fall (The Ha xan Cloak)

4. Six Organs of Admitt ance - Light of the Light (Asleep on the Floodp lain)

5. Byeton e - Black Peace (Sym eta)

6. Grail s - Future Primitiv e (Deep Po litics)

7. Uganda n Methods - Untitled (Mat Opu t 1/2 Vinyl)

8. Le Révélateu r - Age Maze (Fictio ns)

9. Locria n - The Crysta l World (The Crystal Worl d)

10. Mini Mansion s - Kiddie Hyp nogogia (Mini M ansions)

11. Oneid a - Pre-Human (Absolute II)

12. Anim a M orte - Devoi d of a Soul (Face the Sea of Dark ness)

13. Circle - Saarnaa ja (Infektio)

14. Surgeo n - Transparen t Radiation (Break ing The Frame)

15. Seefe el - Sway (Seefee l)

16. Alexand er Tuck er - His Arm Has Grown Long (Dorwy tch)

17. Evan Camin iti - heavy wh isper (When Califor nia Falls Into The Sea)

18. Bill Callaha n - Baby's Breath (Apocalypse)

19. Kronos Quarte t, Kim mo Pohjonen & Samu li Kosmin n - Unik o: III Sarma (Un iko)

20. Mind Over Mirror s - Round, Around (The Voi ce Rolli ng)

21. Master Musicians Of Bukkak e - Prophec y Of The White Camel / Namou arre (Tote m Three)

Part 1
Part 2

Genre for these tracks = 'white dot 2011'

You need both parts to unpack.

Pharaoh Overlord - IV

Time to get posting again, now that my insanely busy time has passed. This may involve writing a bit less about the albums from time to time, and this one is a prime candidate for less words/more music.
PO are essentially Circle, and to be honest there is not a great deal of difference between this and normal Circle music, except that this is maybe more overtly metal: 'See Me Evil' definitely has essence of Judas Priest. Don't let that put you off, though, because this has all the deranged atmosphere, heavy cyclical riffing and general psychedelic miasma that makes Circle so awesome.

Mediafire

Ufomammut - Godlike Snake

I haven't posted any metal for a while, so here is some uber-heaviness. Ufomammut are an Italian 3 piece, augmented live and on record by tapes of theremin, synth drones and movie samples. They specialise in a kind of pounding psychedelic stoner sludge, which is most effective live. I would say they were the second best live act I saw last year - a close second behind The Master Musicians Of Bukkake. They achieve their superb effect with repetition, tightness and dynamics, as well as the aforementioned atmospherics; but they also have a mean guitar sound - ultra heavy and bludgeoning. Their grasp of dynamics is becoming more consummate with every album, as far as I can tell: the last album 'Eve' is basically a suite of tracks that don't deviate a great deal from the main blueprint, but it works fantastically as a whole, and is thoroughly recommended. This one is their debut from 2000, and is out of print - it's a good place to start, and a brilliant slab of mammoth spaced-out sludge groove.

Mediafire

EDIT: Ufomammut are playing in London on Thursday October 6th - the Purple Turtle in Camden. I highly recommend this gig if you like all things heavy and psychedelic!

Various Artists - 2009 favourites

I was just putting together a best of 2010, and realised I never posted my 2009 version, so here it is. The picture is unrelated - just a good one I took last year. I probably would have had more to say about these tracks if I'd done this post at the time. I do remember that Various Production ft. Gerry Mitchell 'The Invisible Lodger' was my album of the year - I highly recommend it. Actually, looking at these tracks, they were all from excellent albums - something that cannot be said for my 2010 selection - these were all pretty good albums.
You can find these in itunes by album artist, which is 'White Dot 2009'.

2009 tracklisting:

1-Various Production feat. Gerry Mitchell: This Invisible Blood (The Invisible Lodger)

2-Oneida: Luxury Travel (Rated O)

3-Lord Newborn and the Magic Skulls: Escape From Prism (Lord Newborn and the Magic Skulls)

4-Valet: Blood Is Clean (Blood Is Clean)

5-Bardo Pond: Silver Pavilion (Peri )

6-Fever Ray: If I Had A Heart (Fever Ray)

7-Alva Noto: Xerrox Tek Part 1 (Xerrox Vol. 2)

8-Wolok: Transubs(a)tantiation (Caput Mortuum)

9-Various Production feat. Gerry Mitchell: A Hole In Your Memory (The Invisible Lodger)

10-Alexander Tucker: Bell Jars (Portal)

11-Cave: Made in Malaysia (Psychic Psummer)

12-Oneida: What's Up, Jackal? (Rated O)

13-Shackleton: Let Go (Three EPs )

14-Ben Frost: Peter Venkman Pt II (By The Throat)

15-Bill Callahan: Eid Ma Clack Shaw (Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle)

Mediafire

Since Blogger decided to remove my best of 2010 this posting looks faintly preposterous. Ho hum.

Phantomsmasher - Phantomsmasher

Phantomsmasher is the pet project of avant guitar master James Plotkin, who has collaborated with a large and fine array of weird-beard musicians, including harrowing mega-doom merchants Khanate. This album couldn't be further from Khanate's crawling, crushing music: it's often hyper fast, with the beats ranging from metallic blast beats to splattercore drum & bass style, played by grind master extrodinaire Dave Witte. It's severely ADHD, manic and brilliant. Smeared across the top are harshly edited and scratched vocal loops, and Plotkin's spangly clanging guitar and bass - often heavily processed, playing queasily grating riffs, and chords that tremble like metal pylons in an electrical storm. It's pretty harsh, and totally unhinged, but is great fun. Plotkin's level of invention on his instruments, and the crazy range of noises and brilliant editing keep up the interest, although the music can be challenging.

Mediafire

Circle - Katapult

Terrific 2007 album by the prolific and inspired Finnish lunatics. Circle have probably put out more excellent music in the last decade than any other band. Their forte is riff-heavy cosmic jamming, often in brain twisting time signatures: the album Prospekt is a good example of this, and I would have uploaded that one if I'd realised that it's currently unavailable. Also, they do space epics (Arkades)...basically, it's hard to go wrong with a Circle album. What I like about this one is that it has a great deal of vocals on it. Vocalist and band mainstay Jussi Lehtisalo has a kind of deranged, sometimes operatic, growling, dramatic delivery, that is at once awesome and hilarious. On this album it is generally smothered in reverb. Opener 'Saturnus Reality' gives a good idea of what is to come as it goes straight for the jugular, but 'Understanding New Age' has some amazing delivery (possibly not all by Jussi Lehtisalo , it's hard to tell). The music is hard to describe, veering from buzzing thrashing walls of guitars (I'm sure I read that this album was their homage to black metal influences). Often the guitars are chugging - the band refer to themselves as NWOFHM - New Wave Of Finnish Heavy Metal, but everything is always refracted through a hazy fog, and there are certainly no harsh edges anywhere. Instrumental 'Tree On The Higher Mountain' evokes a pastoral folky fug, and 'Four Points Of The Compass' is driven along with Kraut type synths. 'Fish Reflection' follows with what could almost be a Saxon riff, undermined by some abstract gentle guitar plucking, and some of the craziest vocals you could wish to hear, and is a work of inspired genius.
Underneath all the derangement, though, there is a lot of beautiful music, which is probably what makes this such a hugely enjoyable and inspiring listen.

Mediafire

Korea Soundblaster - Korea Soundblaster

From 2003, this album is a wild blast of completely acid-drenched mayhem. It's a full-on, saturated melting pot of metal riffs, deranged warbling vocal samples, bombastic organ, stumbling drums, outrageous dub echo and distorted noise. Not to mention the OTT moog-style burblings, atonal guitar leads, screams, bleeps and unidentified scary noises. All this is mashed together with little regard for niceties such as song structure or pleasing melodies, but it's such good fun to listen to that these absences are irrelevant. The songs tend to fade into each other, making this one long, crazed assault on your senses.
Thanks to Dimitri for this one.

Mediafire

Shora - Malval

Another of my favourite albums from the 2000s, this is quite an exceptional blend of prog, metal and post rock: nothing else comes close to its laser-like focus, or naturally brilliant and comfortable blend of styles: even though it feels like one individual and coherent style.
At just over 33 minutes, and four tracks, it hovers between an EP and LP, but could quite easily have been the kind of musical suite that often comprised side one of an album in the early/mid 70s, such is the overall coherence and power. The sound palette is not too dissimilar, either: the standard rock band accompanied by odd touches of keyboard. There is no aimless meandering here, though, and no vague hippy sentiment: everything is tight, controlled and purposeful. Not a second is wasted. At times resembling a metal band interpreting the soundtracks of Goblin or John Carpenter - with martial drums and disciplined tightness displaying their proggy qualities, there are many moments of beauty. Despite being mostly instrumental, vocals are introduced in the final track to quite devastating and gorgeous effect, showing that a band with obvious mastery of heavy dynamics can indulge their lyrical side too, after a hazy drone-like intro, and heavy syncopated sequence.
Magnificent, and very highly recommended - if you like post rock you have to check this out, and this should be listened to as one piece, with full attention. Thanks to Ryan for giving me the promo of this way back when.

Mediafire

Killing Joke - Hosannas From The Basement Of Hell

My metal choice for this month is this 2006 effort from Killing Joke. Massive, pounding, epic and heavy. They had perfected a great formula on this one: muscular and chugging riffs and Jaz Coleman's roar adorned by nice touches of keyboards. Definitely industrial metal, and you can feel the influence of Youth in some of the arrangements, with some very techno phrasing and some drops. There's even a chugging Kashmir-style track, with eastern style strings, that they pull off with aplomb. Highly enjoyable - good for hammering out in the car.

Download

Electric Wizard - Come My Fanatics

Time for some more metal, and who better to represent the genre than one of the heaviest bands in existence? Come My Fanatics is a monumental slab. If you like the sound of heavy guitars, you need to listen to this. Why upload Come My Fanatics, when Dopethrone is one of the heaviest albums ever? Because you should go here and buy it, that's why. Also recommended, the self-titled debut and Witchcult Today: all brilliant. And if you have the oppurtunity to see them live - do it. It's a near-religious experience.

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