The Finest Vinyl of 2016

Even though i'm not writing that much on this blog anymore lately (due to a writer's block and lack of time), i haven't stopped buying vinyl records. On the contrary! So compared to previous years this year's The Finest Vinyl might have a few more albums listed  that i haven't posted anything about during the year. Might still do that in the future of course.

That David Bowie's ★ would end up on #1 might come as no surprise. And the fact that neo-shoegazers like Flyying Colours and Nothing are high on my list, probably neither. The rest of the list is not that predictable though.
Here they are, the 20 best albums of 2016 according to yours truly:

01. David Bowie - ★ (Blackstar) (Sony)

02. Flyying Colours - Mindfullness (Club AC30)

03. Nothing - Tired Of Tomorrow (Relapse)

04. DIIV - Is The Is Are (Captured Tracks)

05. Brian Jonestown Massacre - Third World Pyramid (A Recordings)

06. Wolf People - Ruins (Jagjaguwar)

07. The Early Years - II (Sonic Cathedral)

08. Mogwai - Atomic (Rock Action)

09. Minor Victories - Minor Victories (PIAS)

10. Amber Arcades - Fading Lines (Heavenly Recordings)

11. School Of Seven Bells - SVIIB (Full Time Hobby)

12. The Stargazer Lilies - Door To The Sun (Graveface Records)

13. Death In Vegas - Transmission (Drone)

14. Primal Scream - Chaosmosis (First International)

15. Toy - Clear Shot (Heavenly Recordings)

16. Esben And The Witch - Older Terrors (Seasons Of Mist)

17. Pinkshinyultrablast - Grandfeathered (Club AC30)

18. Aiming For Enrike - Segway Nation (Name Music)

19. The Avalanches - Wildflower (Modular/XL)

20. The Dandy Warhols - Distortland (Dine Alone)



Besides brand new albums, 2016 was also a good year for reissues.
These 5 were the best, in my eyes:

01. Lush - Origami (4AD)
Brilliant boxset with all their albums and outtakes/b-sides on vinyl. Released for RSD 2016.

02. David Bowie - Who Can I Be Now? 1974-1976 (Parlophone)
Superb boxset; includes a.o. the long lost The Gouster album. There were more great Bowie reissues in 2016, like the The Man Who Sold The World picture disc for RSD and the A Reality Tour boxset, but this was definitely the best.

03. Original Soundtrack - Lost Highway (Music On Vinyl/At The Movies)
Music of the David Lynch movie, with a.o. Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie and Smashing Pumpkins.

04. Porno For Pyros - Good God's Urge (ORG/Warner)
Long overdue, finally on vinyl! Black Friday release.

05. Life Of Agony - Soul Searching Sun (Music On Vinyl)
Also this title for the first time on vinyl. My favourite L.o.A. album.


2017 is around the corner. Who knows what that year has in store for us? There has been a lot of recent action by bands that i love. Slowdive should have an album recorded by now. Ride has been in the studio too. More studio reports have come through, from Girls Names for example. The new Dead Horse One album is ready and will be released early February. Hopefully there will be My Bloody Valentine remasters; pics of the remastering have been posted on social media. The Jesus And Mary Chain have one new song out already; album Damage And Joy comes out in March. And chronologically, the next David Bowie boxset would contain his Berlin albums. I simply can't wait!
So there's a lot to look forward to. Will it be able to top 2016?

 

The Finest Vinyl of 2014

Yes indeed, it's that time of the year again. Time to think which album i played the most, gave me the most goosebumps, which cover art or vinyl pressing i liked best... the so-called Finest Vinyl has become a tradition already.
And like previous years, it's been a tough choice to decide which albums i'd have to remove from my shortlist, because there are way more than 10 that i'd like to put in the spotlight right here. Also it was extremely hard to choose which album belonged on which spot exactly. But my mind's made up now...

First of all, let me tell you which 5 titles were very close but did not make it to the top 10 (in no particular order):

Ringo Deathstarr - God's Dream
I Break Horses - Chiaroscuro
Smashing Pumpkins - Monuments To An Elegy
Lamb - Backspace Unwind
The War On Drugs - Lost In The Dream

Then, if i'd have to choose a best 7" single of the year, it would be Newmoon - Invitation To Hold.
And a best 12" EP would definitely be the Split EP by Whirr & Nothing.

But on with the show, here's the moment you've been waiting for:
THE FINEST VINYL of 2014:

01. NOTHING - Guilty Of Everything

02. WARPAINT - Warpaint

03. CHEATAHS - Cheatahs

04. THE RAVEONETTES - Pe'Ahi

05. FUJIYA & MIYAGI - Artificial Sweeteners

06. ESBEN AND THE WITCH - A New Nature

07. THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE - Revelation

08. DEAD HORSE ONE - Without Love We Perish

09. MOGWAI - Rave Tapes

10. WHIRR - Sway

Whirr / Nothing - Split EP [12"]

When two of my current favorite bands release a split EP, i'm extremely stoked of course. WHIRR and NOTHING both provided two excellent tracks, and the result is one of the strongest EP releases of this year. While Whirr makes modern shoegaze, Nothing leans more towards nineties alternative rock on this release. For example Chloroform has a great Smashing Pumpkins (Siamese Dream-era) vibe to it, which i like a lot. I saw Nothing last week in Amsterdam and they really rocked. Now let's hope Whirr will do a European tour as well soon. The EP is single-sided and there's a nice etched B-side that shows both bands' logos as eyes of the well-known "Nirvana smiley". It was hard to make a photo, but at least you'll get the idea:

There were several pressings made of this EP. Mine is the cream/green marbled one (1000 made) and there's supposed to be a DVD included as well, but that didn't come with my copy unfortunately.

Label: Run For Cover Records
Cat.nr.: RFC 109
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. WHIRR - Ease
02. WHIRR - Lean
03. NOTHING: Chloroform
04. NOTHING: July The Fourth

SIDE B:
etching

Nothing - Guilty Of Everything [12", LP]

Some time ago i wrote about the Downward Years To Come EP by NOTHING and here's finally their long-awaited (by me at least) full length, called GUILTY OF EVERYTHING. And i think it's absolutely great. The song Dig which was released a few months earlier was already a good taste of what was to come. It's one of the best songs of the album i think, but the others are also really good. Bent Nail is interesting in that it starts as an uptempo (almost Ramones-style) rock song but then suddenly transforms in a moody shoegaze tune. Endlessly is probably my favorite song; i can listen to that over and over, preferably as loud as possible. It's extremely intense. Emotion just bursts out of this whole album anyway. I've read a few interviews with their singer Domenic lately, in which he mentions a few hostile things about a frontman of a certain recently reunited shoegaze band which is one of my alltime favorite bands ever, and i first thought that he must be a real asshole himself. But i've come to the conclusion after reading a bit further that he's just a really emotional guy with his heart in the right place. And the thing is probably blown out of proportion by the press a whole lot anyway. I wrote it earlier about them, but the band to which i think their sound comes closest would be Starflyer 59. Pretty much unknown over here in Europe, but the whispering vocals and the loud-quiet-loud sound is just totally them. Anyway, Nothing is still pretty much unknown over here as well - but that might change since they are coming over to play here, apparently. I just read that they'll be playing Roadburn. Really hope they do some more clubshows in the Netherlands besides this long sold-out festival. Would love to see them.

Label: Relapse Records
Cat.nr.: RR 7247
Year of release: 2014

SIDE A:
01. Hymn To The Pillory
02. Dig
03. Bent Nail
04. Endlessly
05. Somersault

SIDE B:
01. Get Well
02. Beat Around The Bush
03. B&E
04. Guilty Of Everything

Nothing - Downward Years To Come EP [12"]

A couple of days ago i wrote about the Dreampunx album by Anne. It was released on the same label as this DOWNWARD YEARS TO COME EP by the band NOTHING: the hardcore/metal label A389 Recordings. As far as i understood from their bio on the website of Relapse Records, to which they recently signed, Nothing's main man used to be in a hardcore band called Horror Show. That could explain the fact that this release is on a typical hardcore label, because otherwise (just like Anne) Nothing's music has nothing to do with hardcore nor metal. It's pure shoegaze. Signing to (extreme metal label) Relapse for their upcoming full length is for that matter also a very interesting fact. This particular EP was released in 3 versions (a black, white, and clear vinyl edition) for Black Friday in 2012. As you can see, i have the clear version. It contains 5 tracks, of which the title track is the best one i think. As far as i'm concerned, Nothing's sound can best be described as some kind of mix between Starflyer 59 and A Place To Bury Strangers, with the obvious bit of My Bloody Valentine added as well. Excellent stuff, and i look forward to hear their full length when it comes out early 2014.

Label: A389 Recordings
Cat.nr.: A389-112
Year of release: 2012

SIDE A:
01. The Dives
02. Downward Years To Come
03. Mine Is Clouds
04. If Only

SIDE B:
01. The Rites Of Love And Death