I'm going to get my up sooooon. It's 95 releases and I haven't listened to all of the 835 tracks yet. I should probably break it up into smaller bits anyway...
Edit:
Part IKey:
Green=Good --> Black=Average -->
Red=Not GoodAlbums8 Bit Weapon - Bits with Byte
Chiptune electronica. Not too much new from 8BW, and it starts to drag after a while. (
Sample via Youtube)
Animal Collective - Centipede Hz
This was actually pretty tame for them. Not much going on aside from their brand indie-electro. Th.re's nothing memorable like there was with Merriwether Post Pavilion. (
Sample via Youtube)
Bassnectar - VAVA VOOMBassnectar puts out a lot of fresh ideas and some really good sound manipulation. "Ping Pong" is a testament to what can be accomplished with a basic sound sample that's been manipulated. He's been growing ever closer to the tops of my DJ favourite list, but the album never reaches the heights of Cozza Frenzy or the cohesiveness of Divergent Spectrum. It's also really awkward to end on 8.5 minutes of Chronological Outtakes. (
Sample via Youtube)
Beats Antique - Contraption, Vol. IIAfter their last album was a bit of a disappointment, this is a big step up for them. There's fresh ideas here and the formula is just right for this dubstep-world music. (
Sample via Youtube)
Big Gigantic - Nocturnal
More dubstep with saxophones from Big Gigantic. It's more of the same and is way too formulaic. (
Sample via Youtube)
Bird to Prey - Saved by the Storm
This is an acoustic folk album. I saw her perform in NYC and was taken by her performance. The album is most of her recent songs, but the album fails to capture the intimacy and emotion of the live performance. (
Bandcamp Link)
Black Dice - Mr. Impossible
This is probably their most accessible album, as their previous albums were noisy electronica. They tamed it down a lot here and the result is not much memorable. (
Sample via Youtube)
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Cobra JuicyProbably my favourite album of the year. There's a lot of little clever things that add up here and there's a lot of new stuff going on here. There's vocals on every single track, which is unheard of before this album for them. For some backstory, Tobacco, the head of BMSR, had completed the entire album, then scrapped it because he thought it wasn't good enough. He reworked the album completely, and I'm glad he did. (
Sample via Youtube)
Bob Dylan - Tempest
Bob Dylan can still write songs well. Unfortunately his voice has not held up over the years and most of the tracks sound like he's been gargling rocks. This isn't a bad thing, but can be distracting from the lyrics at times. (
Sample via Bob Dylan's website)
Buckethead - Electric SeaBuckethead plays some emotionally engaging acoustic electric tracks. (
Sample via Youtube)
Buckethead - March of the Slunks
Buckethead plays some mostly metal riffs. There are some good tracks though. (
Sample via Youtube)
Buckethead - The Shores of Molokai
Buckethead plays metal and experimental riffs. Somehow 30 seconds of dubstep gets on one of the tracks. (
Sample via Youtube)
Caspian - Waking Season
Caspian has three previous albums that are very good post-rock oriented albums. This one lacked the creativity of the previous and was very formulaic. At one point, synth drums were added in an atmosphere where they didn't fit. (
Sample via Youtube)
Ceremony - ZooI really enjoyed this album. It's punk rock that's catchy, energetic and well put together. I don't even like punk rock that much. (
Sample via Youtube)
Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind) The Crafty Ape
Hello Pink Floyd. This is a decent album, but there's so many similarities to Pink Floyd that it's almost a tribute album at times. And this is from a band that has three previous releases that began as somewhat post-rock but got a little more prog rock along the way. Maybe too much on this release. (
Sample via Youtube)
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (III)This is a more mature and accessible album from Crystal Castles. It still has the dance root and the noise rock part has been dialed way back. That doesn't mean there isn't some noise on the album though. (
Sample via Youtube)
Dan Deacon - America
Pretty standard electronic music. I think it's supposed to be a concept album, (I know I know) but it never quite feels that way. (
Sample via Youtube)
Deftones - Koi No Yokan
I wanted to like this more than I actually did. There's a lot of new stuff going on here. If this were released 10 years ago, it would've made huge waves, unfortunately it didn't hold my attention for the whole album. (
Sample via Youtube)
Dieselboy - Wake the DeadA very good transformers (Yes, transformers) themed dubstep mix (album?) It's an hour and a half, which starts to feel it's length towards the end, but aside from that well done. (
Sample via SoundCloud)
Dr. John - Locked DownDr. John teams up with Dan Auerbach, which is why this sounds more like a Black Keys album than a Dr. John album. Their sounds do blend well, and there's a lot going right here, but you can't shake that Black Keys feeling. (
Sample via Youtube)
Dreamend - And the Tears Washed Me, Wave After Cowardly Wave
This is some pretty interesting indie-folk-pop from Ryan Graveface (man that guy gets around). (
Sample via Youtube)
Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light IIAfter all the buzz and goodness of Part I, Part II never quite matches the quality of this first half. Not that it's bad, but it is much less memorable and the quality isn't quite there. (
Sample via Youtube)
Singles, EPs, etc:Bassnectar - Amorphous Music Mixtape Vol. 7A really good mix that kicks off with Beastie Boy's "Intergalactic Planetary," and leaves you enjoying what follows for the next 30 minutes. This is probably my favourite mixtape of his after BBC 2010 Mixtape. (
Sample via Soundcloud)
Bassnectar - Bassnectar's European Vacation Mixtape
It's a decent mix incorporating mostly songs from Vava Voom. (
Sample via Soundcloud)
Bassnectar - Divergent Spectrum Remixes
Standard fair remixes from Divergent Spectrum. (
Sample via Soundcloud)
Bassnectar - Freestyle EP
An EP that has a few remixes and songs from the album. Nothing too earth shattering here. (
Sample via Soundcloud)
Bassnectar - Freestyle Mixtape
An okay mixtape, but only because it relies too heavily on the tracks from Vava Voom. It does flow well though. (
Sample via Soundcloud)
The Black Keys - Tour Rehearsal TapesThis sounds like it was recorded live in a studio and has obvious post-production on it. I'm confused as to why it's the Tour Rehearsal Tapes. There's nothing new and not much to be gained here. (
Sample via Youtube)
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Psychic Love Damage
This is a few unreleased tracks put on an EP. It's easy to see why some of them were never released, as they sounded too unfinished or similar to tracks already on the albums. (
Sample via Youtube)
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Windshield Smasher [Maxi Single]This is one of those singles you enjoy because the remixes are so different from each other.(
Sample via Soundcloud)
Bonobo - Black Sands RemixedSome pretty cool remixes along with your standard fair remixes. (
Sample via Youtube)
Electric Wizard - Legalise Drugs and Murder [Single]Looking for some heavy stoner-doom metal? Check the first track Legalise Drugs and Murder, and stay for the chaotic aftermath in the second track. (
Sample via Youtube)