2011's Top 20 List

It's the last day of 2011... What a great musical year it was. Plenty of at least decent releases came out this year, making it very hard to decide which should be in a best of list. And things get even harder when you start thinking which one is number 1, 2, 3.....20. Before the list allow me to give my big fat thanks to all the bands that didn't end up in my list but offered us some really great pieces of music and made my year better :

45Rats, Ape Machine, Arbouretum, At Devil Dirt, Bandito, Black Capricorn, Blood Ceremony, Bonnet People, Brandvand, Carlton Melton, Cultura Tres, Dead Skeletons, Devil, Ethereal Riffian, EYE, Fister, Follakzoid, Ga'an, Gnod, Haunted Leather, Hellbender, Husta, Judd Madden, Le Scimmie, Lento, Lo-Pan, Mars Red Sky, Monkey3, Mr. Gnome, Navel, Ocean Towers, Planet Of Zeus, Plastic Villains, Quiet Americans, Redcoats, Religious Knives, Roadsaw, Samurai, Seven That Spells, Subrosa, Sungrazer, Suplecs, Tank86, Tasha-Yar, The Dive, The Grand Astoria, The Great Society Mind Destroyers, The Hanna Barbarians, The Hedgehogs, The Moss, The Oscillation, Thorr Axe, Umor, Urania, Verma, Viaticum, Weedeater, Wight, Wiht, Zippo + anyone I might have forgotten....

So after a lot of hard decisions here are the 20 releases that abused my player more than anything this year :

20. Wizard Smoke - The Speed Of Smoke

19. Belzebong - Sonic Scapes & Weedy Grooves

18. Orchid - Capricorn

17. Magdalena Solis - Hesperia

16. The Egocentrics - Center Of The Cyclone

15. AVER - AVER

14. Eggnogg - Moments In Vacuum

13. Graveyard - Hissingen Blues

12. Sisters Of Your Sunshine Vapor - Spectra Spirit

11. 1000mods - Super Van Vacation

10. Sahara Surfers - Sonar Pilot

09. Brotherhood Of Sleep - Dark As Light

08. Demonic Death Judge - The Descent

07. Ice Dragon - The Sorrowful Sun

06. Deepspacepilots - Deepspacepilots

05. Sigiriya - Return To Earth

04. Elder - Dead Roots Stirring

03. The Cosmic Dead - The Cosmic Dead

02. Arenna - Beats Of Olarizu

01. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Blood Lust

Deepspacepilots - Deepspacepilots (2011)

Before I say anything about this one, I would like to thank yeoldstinkeye for recommending it to me. I haven't heard anything by these guys from Chicago before (I think they released an EP back in 2007) so it caught me by surprise. Also I find quite disappointing the fact that I didn't see it anywhere on the web but yeoldstinkeye's top 20 list for this year.So I'll keep the mystery on and I'm not going to write anything about it. If you consider yourselves fans of either stoner and doom or psych and you like a very small touch of ambient in your listenings then you HAVE TO check this out.

Enjoy!!!

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Ga'an - Black Equus (2011)

Here is a well-hidden gem, released earlier this year by the Chicago based band Ga'an. "Black Equus" is the band's second album and they describe their music as minimalistic progressive rock but they don't fall in the classical prog rock category (as most of us use it today).  They're influences come from Ash Ra Tempel, Popol Vuh, Amon Duul, even Isis but mainly from the great Magma. Passing minimalism, jazz ethics and drone through a prog prism they create a sometimes ethereal but mostly apocalyptic soundscape which lasts for 36 minutes. This is a must-listen for this year and I'm glad I found it out before the year ends. I haven't heard their first one (which features band's original 4-piece line up) but I'm going to do it as soon as I can.

Enjoy!!

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Henryspenncer - To The Timeless Valley (2011)

Henryspenncer was founded by Valentin Feron and released his first work in 2008. This year the second album was out... Its title is "To The Timeless Valley" which is quite representative of his music. Valentin creates an astonishing mystical, psych trip to a desert space valley where neither time matters nor physical laws apply... Just feelings, images and creatures of the mind exist... I think that whoever appreciates the music of Grails, Six Organs Of Admittance, Horseback will love this. A really magnificent work. Let yourself wandering in this timeless valley...

Enjoy! 

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Danava - Hemisphere Of Shadows (2011)

Three years after their latest album, Portland's Danava released their third full work titled "Hemisphere Of Shadows". Although these retro-rockers made their first release earlier than most of today's pioneers of vintage rock sound, they remain relatively unknown (or even underestimated, something partially justified in my opinion). Of course I suppose that most of this blog's readers know about them (their 2011's three-way split with Earthless and Lecherous Gaze was great) so there isn't much to say. If you're into all this psych-prog-protometal revival then this is something worth checking. A little bit of advice... drink some shots and a pack of beers first. It  becomes even better this way... 

Enjoy!

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Eggnogg - Moments in Vacuum (2011)

Another album which while I consider it as one of the best releases for 2011, passed quite unnoticed by a lot of people...Coming from Brooklyn, NY they released their third work this year (it's their second full album). First thing noticed is that the band made a great progress as far as their compositions concerned but also when it comes to their playing as a band which became even tighter. The album consists of eight tracks with only two of them have duration smaller than eight minutes. I'd describe their music as a blend of doom rock with a lot of 70's hard rock forms and of course the psych elements cannot pass unnoticed... "Moments In Vacuum" is divided in a way to two parts with "Nebuchadnezzar" as a bridge or a connector between them. Either you like doom or not, you're going to at least appreciate this release. I suggest you to hear it as whole 'cause you'll catch better the band's spirit and explorations. I can't wait for even more things by them...

Enjoy!!!

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Hebosagil - Ura (2011)

While these guys from Finland have released several EPs and an album in 2008, "Ura" was my first contact with them. So from what I've read on the web, in their second album they changed a lot their sound from downtuned sludge into a more noise-rock approach. I can't say anything for "Colossal" but "Ura" definitely kicks ass. Noisy, aggressive, chaotic, misanthropic right-in-your-face heaviness at its best. Get your brain melted...

Enjoy!!
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Ufesas - Ufesas (2011)

Wow... wow... and wow! What an amazing release this is! Cool, laid-back desert jams with the appropriate pinch of psych coming from Uruguay... If I recall correctly I have to thanks Robin for this one and of course I'm happy it made its way to my player before the year ends... Once you put it on your player there is no way to stop it or not to put it in replay mode... One more reason to think that 2011 was one of the best year as far as music concerned ('cause in all other matters it was a quite fucked-up one). 

Enjoy!!!

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Sigiriya - Return To Earth (2011)

Now what can I say about this one... Most of you have heard it and know what is all about. I didn't mean to post it since all the major blogs/sites did it and wrote about it better than I ever could do. On the other hand it's one of my top albums for this year so it's good to be posted here too. Fortunately I didn't make the "mistake" many people did. I didn't hear it having in mind that Sigiriya is 4/5 Acrimony. And believe the satisfaction I got from listening to it, was bigger than life. An absolutely great album with awesome, thick, well-worked compositions and some of the best riffs you ever heard. Less psych-oriented than Acrimony were but this more straight-forward attitude works just fine!! "Return To Earth" is a brilliant stoner rock album either you're an old-timer stoner fan or just a "newly-born". These guys are "big" either as Acrimony or Sigiriya. And not only musically but for a hundred reasons more. Sincerity and dignity is two of them.

Enjoy!!!!
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Burbujeria - En Pompa (2011)

These four Spaniards released their first EP "En Pompa" this February, featuring 6 tracks of heavy-fueled stoner rock with great crunchy riffs and some fine dark passages. Vocals are in Spanish which make it even better, even if sometimes (at least personally) I think they need a little more work... Dig it...

Download it for free from their bandcamp page.
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You Handsome Devil - The Hell, You Say (2011)

Coming from the city of Toronto, You Handsome Devil released their debut album titled "The Hell, You Say" full of satanic punk 'n' roll grooves! Suitable for children parties or tea evenings in nursing homes.... Nah, just kidding! Good stuff to shake your ass though! The passage from album's intro to the first track is absolutely magnificent! Cheers!

Download it from their bandcamp page by paying anything you want.
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Black Capricorn - Black Capricorn (2011)

Coming from the great island of Sardinia, Black Capricorn - a five piece band - released their self titled album in the middle of this summer. But as a listening, it fits better in this time of year. The band plays some first class stoner-o-doom with a lot of occult (see Electric Wizard) references and of course with the right amount of fuzzed out psychedelia. An hypnotizing doom trip with a lot of good heavy, crunchy, downtuned riffs, clean and clean, lo-fi vocals melted in a droney pot of psych. Great first release for Black Capricorn. If they continue their route like that, prepare yourself for a mind-blowing sophomore release.

Enjoy!

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Acid Baby Jesus - Acid Baby Jesus (2011)

Here come the Greek band, Acid Baby Jesus with their debut self-titled album. Thirteen tracks of quality psyched-out garage punk meant to be played loud. Put in the blender some Black Lips, Brian Jonestown Massacre, 60's freak-out garage, a lot of fuzz and energy then what you get is a psych stormy madness called ABJ. Recommended for beatniks, stompers, psych'n'garage freaks, punk rockers and you of course... They're on a european tour with Bazooka and Black Lips. More info right here.

Enjoy!
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High Tone Son Of A Bitch - Better You Than Me (2003)

Coming from Oakland, California, High Tone Son Of A Bitch were formed in 2002 and in their short "life" released an EP titled "Better You Than Me" in 2003. Good classic groovy stoner rock with a lot of great guitarwork and fine vocals. Nothing new or innovative but nevertheless enjoyable!! 

Enjoy!

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Lord of Doubts - The Gates of Doom EP (2011)

The Russian shamans Lord Of Doubts returned from their journey in the cold steppes with a killer three track EP called "The Gates Of Doom". To be honest I was expecting a full album coming after their last year debut one but I can live with this little fix too. For once more the comparison to Electric Wizard is inevitable (personally I hadn't problem with that and neither have now). But these guys seem to catching their own sound step by step. Anyway, I liked their album and definitely I dig this one too. Ritual sludge - doom full of psychedelic vibes. In this EP they created even gloomier and thicker atmosphere. Since latest Electric Wizard's work might have disappointed many of you, this is what you need...

Enjoy!!

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