With another year at a close it's time for my favorite sort of self indulgence: lists! Lots of good releases that I suspect will stay in rotation. 2012 was a banner year for my favorites & new discoveries and 2013 proved no different. Almost nothing I heard was outright disappointing. Even Al Jourgensen drank his coffee and tried this time around. Splitting this list in three parts, the honorary mentions will be on the last segment so if you're offended I didn't include The Arcade Fire, just be patient.

15. Earthless – From The Ages (Tee Pee)

You know that…

Sat 4 May – Killing Joke

Ten years of fandom later, seeing Killing Joke happened for me last night.

About three years ago the band was scheduled for Brick by Brick and cancelled due to "illness". Similar to mysterious circumstances with another favorite band who had cancelled after buying tickets ([Einstürzende Neubauten on a rare US jaunt), I got soured on their music until my suspicions could be proven wrong. I remember during this time they started getting crass with their merchandising, making it more focal than giving American fans what they wanted - some shows! Then Jaz disappeared…

Tue 11 Sep – Swans, Xiu Xiu

Swans report, as requested:
The Seer. I haven’t weighed in this record yet. Two CDs (or three LPs) worth of impenetrable self-indulgence! Michael Gira lost the plot.

No, not at all. I can understand the criticisms. I’m not drinking press release kool aid, it really does encapsulate about everything he’s done with this band over the course of thirty years. As for me, I have as much love for the disgusting industrial onslaught of “Filth” as the gothic folk gems on the mid period releases and everything after including Angels of Light, whose…

Wed 29 Feb – Cloud Nothings, A Classic Education, Lanterns

These guys put out a great album a couple months ago (yeah, thanks Pitchfork, whatever…) and started touring for it beginning with last night's show. With all the hoopla surrounding their album's release the set was comprised mainly of its songs albeit in different order + "Forget You All the Time" and a brand new song that had a melancholy vocal part with a lot of post punk energy.

Don't let their unassuming looks fool you, their instrumental performance was very intense, bordering on freeform noise rock during many points…

Sat 18 Feb – Cold Cave

This was the second time I’ve seen Cold Cave. Opening band was an unannounced witch-house duo. Best I can say is that it was pleasant background music but maybe the genre isn’t capable of being more engaging in a live setting? Cold Cave at 12:00. Setup wise they didn’t have a drummer unlike their past tours and just two modular synthesizers on stage which were entertaining to watch being used and abused. This minimal setup didn’t damper their performance and didn’t leave me wanting more “organic” playing unlike some electronic artists I’ve seen live.…

20. Black Cobra – Invernal (Southern Lord)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFqbTWlVov8

Mixing the murky tones of sludge with the aggressive battery of thrash might sound like a formula that’s worn out its welcome nowadays with the continuing exposure of Mastodon, Baroness and their brethren almost coming to define the contemporary metal sound in the last decade. Black Cobra, utilizing just guitar and drums to create the fullest sound I’ve heard come out of only two players (sorry Big Business!), take the mid ranged miasma of the sludge guitar tone and have developed, on their fourth full length, a fully crafted mission statement of…

Some of my favorite songs from 2010 mostly from singles/albums that didn’t make my cut.

Standout songs:

Saul Williams – ExplainMyHeart,
Al Jourgensen – Voices in My Head
Panda Bear – Slow Motion
How to Destroy Angels – The Space In Between
Iron Maiden – The Man Who Would Be King
Atheist – Live and Live Again
Maps & Atlases – The Charm
Mike Patton – Senza Fine,
Triptykon – In Shrouds Decayed
Boris – 3
Zoroaster – Ancient Ones
Red Fang – Number Thirteen
Jesu – Dethroned
Isis – Pliable Foe
Ohgr – Trajek
Flying Lotus – Table Tennis…

The listmaker in me couldn't resist. Writing about music is harder than you might think!

13. Pyramids with Nadja (Hydrahead)

Pyramid’s self titled debut last year was in a word, perplexing. Its nightmarish soundscaping seemed to take the aesthetic most atmospheric black metal strives for (distant , otherworldly tonality created with lots of dry reverb effects I’d guess) and then went the extra mile by confounding me, and likely a lot of others with a sound that was forebodingly cold. So cold. In the band’s unique power to create a disturbing landscape of black metal stripped down to its basics,…