The punks (and lesser types) never let me down when it comes to genre busting and general freekiness. There have been so many big things this year. Thankfully, a pigeon hole is not one of them. Life moves quick and changes even quicker so you have to pick your battles more carefully than ever. I suppose you could stumble through and be fine but the quality that comes with living that way is absurd and lacking. I choose the fringe. I choose passion. Even more, I choose the records that the passionate fringe produces.
Records are crazy expensive to make and to buy now but there is something magical about having that tangible artifact from your personal journey. Records rule okay? Buy them. But buy the good ones, the real ones, not those insipid Record Store Day reissues or major label avarice platters. Besides, with streaming and downloading being so easy, we don’t have spend all our dough building a huge vinyl collection just to hear our favorite tunes on a repeat basis.
Gathering new music these days can be like listening to that mystery mixtape the weird stranger kid leaves at the record shop randomly offering his accumulated tastes on anyone willing enough to listen. Hearing MARTIN DENNY’s ‘Misirlou’ next to JAMES GANG following JANKY and PATRICK FITZGERALD is not that uncommon any more. I fucking love that. I mean, it does take some curating but still the diversity these days is invigorating to say the least.
For me, music has always been about the energy and the vibe. Here is what got me this year:
L.O.T.I.O.N. - Digital Control And Man’s Obsolescence LP (Toxic State)
CONEHEADS - 14-Year Old High School PC-Fascist Hype Lords Rip Off Devo For The Sake Of Extorting $$$ From Helpless Impressionable Midwestern Internet Peoplepunks LP (International Players Club)
MAN IS THE BASTARD - The Lost M.I.T.B. Sessions LP (Deep Six)
DAWN OF HUMANS - Slurping At The Cosmos Spine LP (Toxic State)
MINNEAPOLIS URANIUM CLUB - Human Exploration LP (Fashionable Idiots)
ABYSS - Heretical Anatomy LP (20 Buck Spin)
SLEAFORD MODS - Key Markets LP (Harbinger Sound)
WARHEAD - s/t LP (540)
PRURIENT - Frozen Niagara Falls 3xLP (Profound Lore)
DESTRUCTION UNIT - Negative Feedback Resistor LP (Sacred Bones)
SPRAY PAINT - Punters On A Barge LP (Homeless)
NO TOLERANCE - You Walk Alone LP (Painkiller)
NO FORM - s/t LP (Reagent/Muscle Horse)
JUNKIE XL - Mad Max: Fury Road OST 2xLP (Mondo)
PROTOMARTYR - The Agent Intellect LP (Hardly Art)
FRAU - Mira 7” (Frau)
PUBLIC ASSAULT - No Way Out 7” (Foreign Legion)
MYSTIC INANE - Ode To Joy 7” (Negative Jazz) & Eggs Onna Plate 7” (Lumpy)
RAKTA EM TRANSE - s/t 7” (Nada Nada/Dama Da Noite)
IVY - A Cat’s Clause, No Dog’s Problem 7” (Katorga Works)
G.L.O.S.S. - Girls Living Outside Society’s Shit 7” (Total Negativity/Nervous Nelly)
GIBBOUS - Mortal Crust 7” (Lumpy)
C.C.T.V. - C.C.T.V. 7” (Lumpy)
AJAX - Priced 7” (Beach Impediment)
CONCEALED BLADE - Demo 2015 7" (Beach Impediment)
GAS CHAMBER - Stained Hand 7” (SPHC)
ANXIETY HAMMER - What Stands Between Us 7” (Curtain Fire)
COLLIN STRANGE - Recorded Live 10/31/14 CS (Existential Nihilism)
NASTI - Ex Static CS (Perennial)
LOCK - Demo 2015 CS (Lock)
LATISHA’S SKULL DRAWING - s/t CS (Cult Maternal)
Enjoy your year, it might be your last. ❤ Jensen
