Archive for December, 2009

We Want Your Top 10 Albums Of The Decade

Posted on Sunday, December 20th, 2009

Update:  The votes are in, the points have been awarded and the math has been done. More than 150 of you have taken the time to forward your Top 10 list for the Roadburn Album of the Decade.
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As the year and the decennium is coming to an end (and no, we are not getting into the discussion if the decennium includes 2010 as well) we at Roadburn HQ thought it would be a nice idea to let our readers, visitors, friends, acquaintances and people who just passed by accidentally put together a Roadburn Top 10 of the Decade, replete with stoner, doom, drone, heavy ‘70s, psychedelica, post rock and spacerock delights.

How does this work? Please put your top 10 of Roadburn-related albums in the comments and we’ll do the math just before Christmas. Your last chance to send in your lists will be Thursday, December 24^th, and we’ll announce the definite list between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Starting off with our own lists:

Neurosis - Given To The Rising

Jurgen – Roadburn

Neurosis – Given to the Rising (2LP)
For me their return to form after my 90s favourites Enemy of the Sun and Through Silver in Blood.
Wolves in the Throne Room – Two Hunters (2LP)
Dark, warm and textured, black metal does not get any better than this for me. Is it true BM? Who cares!
Sunn o))) – Black One (2LP)
After a few Whites, Black One got to me more with it’s more diverse mixture of black, ambient and drones. Maybe Monoliths and Dimensions will top this one in time but for now this is the one that made feedback a proper artform.
Serena Maneesh – Serena Maneesh (2LP)
At the time My Bloody Valentine was a thing of the past but these Norwegians were the closest thing to pre-Loveless MBV you could get.
Electric Wizard – Witchcult Today (2LP)
Most bands deliver their best goods at the beginning of their career but for me WT is just as good or even better than Come my Fanatics or Dopethrone. The resurrection of the Wizard!
High on Fire – Death is his communion (LP)
HoF are true descendants of Motorhead and this album is where they show it best. Agression coupled with melody makes a mean potion in the hands of Matt Pike and co.
Various – John Barleycorn Reborn (2CD)
The odd one out in this list. JBR compiles dark and somethimes heavy psychedelic UK folk songs made by mostly unknown contemporary bands.
Down – Over The Under (2LP)
They know their craft and they do it well. Nuff said.
Jesu – Jesu 2LP
Envision shoegaze and dark pounding psychedelica meeting on the dissection table. Leave it to Justin Broadrick to find another niche of his own.
The Angelic Process – Weighing Souls With Sand (2LP)
Where My Bloody Valentine and Neurosis finally meet. Haunting and mesmerizing music, with a sad story behind it to boot.

A Silver Mt. Zion - Horses in the Sky

Leslie – Roadburn

A Silver Mt. Zion – Horses in the Sky
Difficult to choose just one by this thankfully prolific bunch. They kicked off the decade with what is now an eerily prescient declaration, “Let’s kill first the bankers, with their professional demeanor” and then went on to write the liner notes to the entire decade.
The Mountain Goats – The Sunset Tree
Feel-good hit of the decade refrain: “I am gonna make it through this year, if it kills me!”
Rasputina – Oh Perilous World
I dream of the day that Melora C. manages to drag her cello over to these shores.
Celtic Frost – Monotheist
Too scary to play at home. Actually, the gig in San Francisco was a strong contender for best of the decade, except the overall vibe of the night left me pining for Dutch audiences. Social encounters included a teen Goatwhore groupie in Sarah Palin glasses droning about how “killer” they are, and a guy with eroded teeth pestering me for my email so we could “make mad bux sellin’ old punk flyers an’ shit in like Holland, and Germany, man, Germany” backed by the claim he had hung out at the Verbal Abuse house in the old days. I declined the offer.
Motorpsycho - Little Lucid Moments
The more than a decade-long affair was withering on the vine in 2004 and by 2006 the thrill was officially gone. “It’s not you, it’s me.” Then suddenly in 2008 it was time to dust off the old psychonaut suit and enjoy
the return of the sparks.
CocoRosie – Noah’s Ark
Light the candles, fill the tub with bubbles and trip away.
Low – The Great Destroyer
The VPRO documentary on the band was deeply disturbing and added an extra dimension to the already uneasy listening Low provides.
Marissa Nadler – Songs III: Bird on the Water
As my friend said after seeing her in concert, “I wanted to take her home and build her a little dandelion-filled graveyard out back to haunt.”
DoMakeSayThink - Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn
Tis the season to break this one out again. It’s like icicles and hot cocoa all in one. I can’t think of any other record that alternates between sparkling chills and comforting warmth with similar grace and charm.
Firewater – The Golden Hour
The soundtrack to the only blog I followed from start to finish during this decade. Observations by Tod A. include “most of Calcutta ain’t much worse than the Lower East Side on any given Sunday morning following a
Lower East Side Saturday night. You would just have to add a few cows to the picture.” [source: http://postcards.blogs.com/postcards_from_the_other_/]

Bonus
Best gig of the decade: Neil Young, Antwerp’s Stadsschouwburg, 11 February 2008. There he was, all by himself on stage in that big theatre during the acoustic half of the gig, singing “Ambulance Blues.” Beautiful.

Electric Wizard - Dopethrone

Drew – Roadburn

Electric Wizard – Dopethrone
35007 - Phase V
The Heads – Everybody Know We Got Nowhere
Entombed – Uprising
Boris – Flood
Pharaoh Overlord – The Battle of the Axehammer
Church of Misery – Master of Brutality
Agents of Oblivion – Agents of Oblivion
Graveyard – Graveyard
Gorilla – Maximum Riff Mania

Walter – Roadburn

Electric Wizard – Dopethrone
Earthless - Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky
OM – Conference of the Birds
The Heads -  Everybody Knows We Got Nowhere
Celtic Frost - Monothiest
Down – Over the Under
35007 – Liquid
Neurosis – Givin to the Rising
Witchcraft - S/T
The Hidden Hand -  Mother, Teacher, Destroyer

Tags: A Silver Mt. Zion, doom, drone, electric wizard, heavy 70's, Krautrock, Low, Neurosis, post core instru-mental, post rock, psychedelica, Rasputina, Roadburn, Roadburn Festival, spacerock, Stonerrock, The Mountain Goats, Top 10 album of the decade, Top-10
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Hawkwind: Lords Of Sword And Sorcery

Posted on Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

In Goldmine Magazine’s latest issue there is an article on Hawkwind, Lords of Sword and Sorcery: Of all the British festival circuit bands of the acid-drenched end of the ’60s, Group X — aka Hawkwind Zoo, aka Hawkwind as they finally christened themselves — seemed the least likely contenders for ...read more