December 11 - 20 (#346 - 355)

#346) Winters in Osaka - Mutual Collapse (2010) harsh noise. sick. 

#347) Crowhurst - Nihil (2011) 1st record. ambient/noise

#348) Von Goat - Septic Illumination (2010) harsh lo-fi black metal.

#349) Slogun - Sacrifice Unto Me (1996) "True Crime Electronics"

#350) Love Sex Machine (2012) doom/sludge from France.

#351) Boss-de-Nage - II (2011) 

#352) Birds in a Row - Collected (2011)  hardcore.

#353) Hypomanie - A City in Mono (2011) "blackgaze" 

#354) Nadja - Dagdrøm + Spectrum Sessions (2012) 

#355) Hilkka - Escalation/Objective (2000) meh...mostly instrumental "indie rock"

November 21 - 30 (#326 - 335)

#326) Locrian - The Clearing (2011)

#327) The Catalyst - Marianas Trench (2008) 

#328) Horseback & Locrian - New Dominions (2012) 

#329) Vektor - Outer Isolation (2011) 

#330) Circle - Panic (2007) 

#331) Anodyne - Salo (2003) chaotic, noisy hardcore

#332) Nadja/Ovo - The Life and Death of a Wasp  (2010) 

#333) Pygmy Lush -Mount Hope (2008) 

#334) White Wizzard - Over the Top (2009) 80s metal

 #335) Furze - Trident Autocrat (2000) weird experimental black metal

November 1 - 10 (#306- 315)

#306) Pygmy Lush - Bitter River (2007) 

#307) Red Harvest - Cold Dark Matter (2000) 

#308) Book of Sand - Mourning Star (2012) 

#309) Lifelover - Sjukdom (2011) "narcotic metal"

#310) Wolf Eyes with John Wiese - Collection (2006) collection of out of print eps

#311)  Author & Punisher - Drone Machines (2010) 

 #312) Korperschwache - A Fistful of Nihilism (1996) 

#313) Openwound/Antigama - Blastasfuck split (2004)

#314) Kowloon Walled City - Gambling On the Richter Scale (2009) 

#315) Drudkh - Handful of Stars (2010) 

August 21 - 31 (#234 - 244)

#234) Pinkish Black - Pinkish Black (2012) 

#235) The Blind Shake - Carmel (2007) 

#236) Death in June - The World That Summer (1986) 

#237) Keuhkot - Toimintatapoja Olioille (2005) 

#238) Captain Ahab - The Great Disappointment (2006) 

#239) 16 Volt - Demography: The Basement Tapes (2000) collection of old tracks and demos

#240) Portugal. The Man - Censored Colors (2008) 

#241) Captain Ahab - The Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (2010) live tracks

#242) Captain Ahab - The Sex Is Next (2004) 

#243) The Phantom Carriage - Late Comers (2005) 

#244) Ramona Falls - Intuit (2009)  

The Paper Chase - Young Bodies Heal Quickly, You Know

Anything Can Happen, Anything Can Go Wrong

#130) The Paper Chase - Young Bodies Heal Quickly, You Know (2000)

 1. This May Be the Last Song You Ever Hear
 2. These Things Happen
 3. Ever Since the Turn
 4. Apple Pies and Alibis
 5. Neat; Manageable; Piles
 6. Can I Pour You Another Drink, Lover?
 7. Lenny What's Gotten Into You?
 8. Goddamn These Hands (I Let Them Touch You)
 9. A Face That Could Launch a Thousand Ships
 10. Throw Your Body On the Apparatus
 11. Off With Their Heads!
 12. Daddy's Got Your Nose
 13. Paperwork
 14. When You Least Expect It
 15. When (And If) the Big One Hits...I'll Just Meet You There

the Paper Chase's 1st album was released in 2000 and it shows. it's very guitar driven with noisy, angular riffs and mostly shouted vocals. while a few of the tracks feature other instruments and there are a couple piano driven tracks (which are probably my favorite, especially the album closer, which reminded me a bit of Year Zero era NIN), i feel like it lacks the varied instrumentation and melody found on later albums. there are a lot of rad dissonant riffs, some great sampling/manipulation, cool little experimental interludes, the songs are very well composed and John Congleton writes excellent lyrics but to me the impact isn't as great as on later albums, probably because of the previously mentioned overall lack of melody and the focus being mainly on the guitar. it's not a bad album, you can definitely hear hints of the melodic/dissonant experimentation to come  and it's worth checking out, but i'd probably recommend starting with a later album.

Today Is the Day - Live Till You Die

I Am The Enemy

#76) Today Is the Day - Live Till You Die

 1. The Color of Psychic Power
 2. Pinnacle
 3. Feel Like Makin' Love
 4. Temple of the Morning Star
 5. Wicked Game
 6. Crutch
 7. Ripped Off
 8. High As the Sky
 9. In the Eyes of God
 10. Users
 11. TDA
 12. Blindspot
 13. Why Don't We Do It In the Road?
 14. Afterlife
 15. The Man Who Loves to Hurt Himself

this record is a collection of live recordings and unreleased studio stuff.

tracks 1, 2, 8, 9, 14 & 15 were recorded in October '99 throughout Europe. i was worried that the sound quality was going to be terrible like on the Die By the Wolf dvd but it was actually pretty good.

tracks 3, 6 & 13 are covers recorded at Austin Enterprises in Clinton, MA during the Eyes of God sessions. these covers are TITD through and through. i actually prefer the demo of Do It In the Road but this version is good too. Feel Like Makin' Love is awesome and you can never go wrong with a Chris Isaak cover, especially if it's been warped TITD style.

tracks 4 & 12 were recorded live on 10/30/97 at 91.1 WRVU. these tracks consist of Austin screaming and playing an acoustic guitar over some bongos and what sounds like a shitty Casio keyboard. it's pretty rad.

track 6 was recorded live in June of '98 at Middle East in Boston, MA. the quality is pretty terrible yet it's still better than the Wolf dvd.

track 7 is an acoustic demo that was recorded in '96 at Austin Enterprises in Nashville, TN. pretty cool to hear how that song started.

track 10 is an electronic loop created during the Eyes of God sessions. it sounds like he took a clip of some old like 1930s or 40s music and reversed it. one day i'll test this theory out.

track 11 is an instrumental dedicated to Austin's father which was recorded in '98 in an apartment in Nashville on 1/4 inch reel to reel.

besides the covers, which are definitely the best part of the record, there's not much here for the casual listener. i dug it a lot but this is probably a record best recommended to completists.