Mittwoch, 18. Apr 2007, 22:32
It's pretty amazing how much good music this year has produced so far. New albums of my favourite bands, like Nine Inch Nails, Sonata Arctica or Maxïmo Park but also some new stuff like Pure Reason Revolution, which released their debut album this year.
So I've decided to sort of make a list of my favourite albums in this awesome year :)
Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City
I didn't like their first album that much, but this one hit me right in the face :) Especially Uniform, Sunday and Song For Clay (Disappear Here) have become some of my favourite Bloc Party songs.
Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
Although not as good as my favourite "Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die…." still a very good album of my favourite post-rock band.
Kaiser Chiefs - Yours Truly, Angry Mob
It was quite a challenge to release a worthy successor to Employment but they did a flawless job.
Favourites are We Are the Angry Mob, Retirement and Ruby.
Maxïmo Park - Our Earthly Pleasures
This band became quite an obsession in the last few months, so it was about time for a new album. Our Velocity is one of my favourite songs of all time (along with Once, A Glimpse) and the album has many other great songs too:
Your Urge, Books From Boxes and Sandblasted and Set Free.
Perfect album!
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Another great album from a band I really like a lot. Especially the beautiful Little Motel got quite stuck in my head. ;)
The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
The Shins did an amazing job on that album ;) My favourites are Sea Legs, A Comet Appears and - of course - Phantom Limb
Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
Well a new Nine Inch Nails album.. what can I say - perfect! It seems quite impossible for Trent Reznor to ever make a bad record ;) I just got this album recently so I haven't got the time to listen to it very much… but songs like the mind-disturbing The Great Destroyer or the catchy Capital G will definitely get a lot of airtime in the next time.
Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet
I rediscovered this band just about a month ago and almost immediately fell in love with the beautiful progressive world of Steven Wilson. As far as I can tell Anesthetize will become one of my all-time-favourites ;)
Pure Reason Revolution - The Dark Third
This album is most likely to win my personal newcomer-of-the-year-award. Awesome debut, The Bright Ambassadors of Morning is - in my opinion - one of the best progressive rock tracks ever. I hope this band will produce many, many albums in the future =)
Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos
Aaand Progressive the third ;) Dream Theater, a band everyone who loves progressive music should know, released a new album. I haven't listened to it a lot yet, so the only thing I can say by now is that you won't be disappointed ;) The Ministry of Lost Souls sounds very promising as well as The Dark Eternal Night and Constant Motion.
Of course it's no Scenes from a Memory, but that album is simply unreachable, even for DT ;)
Sonata Arctica - Unia
Last but not least, the new album of Sonata Arctica. This band was my first metal-band ever and still after this much time their music always gets right into my head - and stays there ;) With tracks like Caleb and My Dream's But a Drop of Fuel for a Nightmare as well as with the whole album they show that they are so much more than just your average-double-bass-speedy-as-hell power metal band. Keep up the good work :)
So.. update time!
It's been a while since I last added something here so let's see what new things I discovered since then…
Amorphis - Silent Waters
I found this band by looking for some doom-metal (I know it isn't ;) ). At first just the older stuff, but then I tried some of their "new style" as I read somewhere, and I really enjoy their newest album. My favourite is actually the bonus-track Sign because the melody just got stuck in my head at the first listen ;) Second would be Shaman.
Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War
I first discovered this band in 2004 (I really loved their album Set the Night on Fire back then, and I still do) and only noticed they have a new album out, when I heard a live concert on the radio a few days ago. (FM4, for those who are shocked now, because of the "mainstreamness" of Austrian radio ^^) The best songs so far are Take me to the Riot, My Favourite Book and The Night Starts Here
Arch Enemy - Rise of the Tyrant
Another metal-discovery this year isArch Enemy, a band which I got interested in because of their female vocalist, Angela Gossow, who uses growling as her primary singing style. Their 2007 release was the first album I listened to and I'd say my favourite tracks are: The Last Enemy and I Will Live Again (which kind of reminds me of Another Stranger Me - I guess because of the intro-melody which reoccurs in the chorus)
Hardcore Superstar - Dreamin' in a Casket
This year is coming to an end but the good releases aren't stopping ;) Hardcore Superstar is yet another band I discovered by listening to their 2007 - release and then extending the research by getting their earlier albums too. They make really cool rock-music (or sleaze rock as it might be called - whatever) with quite funny lyrics and I'd like to recommend them to.. well to anyone who likes rock-music ;)
When it comes to the album I'd say my favourite tracks are Sophisticated Ladies, This is for the mentally Damaged and Sorry for the Shape I'm in
So… one month to go, maybe there will be some more stuff to write about, maybe this one was a (in my opinion very worthy) closer for 2007.
It's still not over ;) yet another discovery
She Wants Revenge - This is Forever
This is the second release from She Wants Revenge, a band I discovered last year through their debut. I've just started listening to this album, so I can't name any favourites yet. ;) Maybe I'll add some later.
added: She Will Always Be a Broken Girl, Written in Blood
Okkervil River - The Stage Names
I discovered this band through their song Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe which also is by now my favourite track on the album, the other tracks are all great too and I enjoy listening to them a lot ;) (the mentioned track is available for download here at last.fm - check it out!)
To sum things up: 17 albums so far, 5 of them from artists I haven't known back in 2006 ;)
It's always nice to see that there's so much good music out there :D
I know the year's over but I have to add another amazing album:
Art Brut - It's a Bit Complicated
I just love Art Brut, their lyrics are funny, the voice and accent of the singer is just cool, add the music and you got an awesome band. I regret that it took me so long to listen to their second album. After a few listens I have to say it's amazing. Especially Nag Nag Nag Nag, which also became my favourite Art Brut song. ;) Another highlight is Blame it on the Trains ("Unplug the alarm, or at least press reset
There's no way I'm getting up yet") or Jealous Guy.