Upon stepping into the new year (yes, yes, Happy New Year to all of you dear readers, best of wishes and all that) I had some thoughts about making a top 10 or something list of releases for 2010. But the thing is, it has been such a good year and there are quite a few albums and bands which are number one potential and personally for me it is nigh impossible to create such a list. But instead, a stepping stone for 2011 will be written down here, in the form of a complete retrospective of what this blog has been through in the past year.
The end of May saw the birth of this blog, a migration of mine from my ex-blog, Skream Your Lungs Out (check it out, it still kicks thanks to Andrew from LHP!). Some of my older (gig) reviews were posted as a "grand" opening as well as uploads of the acoustic project from Brazil called "Lobo-guará" and the demo of the band "Barrow".
Through these I started taking a different approach to uploads with a wish to incorporate a lot more writing into the posts, in contrast to the way I posted on the previous blog. As a result, the amazing "Adorno" album "Said and Unsaid" was posted with a slightly more analytic view, with the writing style just being ever increased and omnipresent in the future, a trait by which this blog is known I guess. By this time, "Adorno" announced a European tour and dates were posted here as well.
June started quite intensely with a Shades Of Grey/Melete gig review and an extremely unexpected "Melete" 7'' review. Looking at the release review I still feel so passionate about it, pretty sure that this is one of the best records in the past year. The said review was written in one breath so to speak and there is a small number of bands which really managed to invoke such a sudden rush of emotions in me, so this is absolutely a must. Sadly, "Melete" broke up, yet members continued playing in other bands, which will be featured on this blog in the future.
The two said reviews really sucked the writing potential out of me, so the blog hosted two more bands, but followed with a lower amount of words. "Viceversa" from Denmark is one of those, a great screamo band with ties to both a diy label and a blog which are being run by band members, a very passionate and friendly collective. The other band was "Dance Or Die!!!", a hardcore/punk/grind/fastcore/thrash insanity coming from Hungary.
Shaking up the emotional drainage, "Jakuzi's Attempt" saw a review much more akin to the standards of this blog. This experimental hardcore band was probably one of the first bands that I posted which broke off from the screamo string connecting all the previous posts. That resulted in quite a lot of genres being added here in the future, but at this point it was early to predict that, especially since a lot of upcoming posts were screamo. "Todos Caeran" from Canada and "2049" from USA followed, a moment when Goya and Isaac Asimov went to drink some tea, a table you should definitely join. Sweden brought us "Alenah", a hardcore spiced screamo with a lot of energy.
The end of June saw some extremely interesting releases. "Lizards Have Personalities" released their "Snows of Kilimanjaro", definitely one of the most unique albums I heard in the past year, a release filled with passion, honesty, gentleness and power which slaps you in the face and leaves you shivering. An absolutely great record. Close after LHP came "Heaven In Her Arms" with the album "Paraselene". I was so stunned by it that I had no strength to write about it, but I will be planing to write about it in the future, why and when you will see in the later parts of this wall of text.
Two days after this release hit me, "Suis La Lune" also released their "US tour" material. This happens to be my all time favorite band, so the lack of words was well justified.
Where June was quite rich with content, July was kinda lacking, low in post number, but still very interesting. "Errata" was reviewed first, a not-so-known post rock fused screamo from Portugal. Shortly after the "Connections II" was released, a six way split with some amazing bands. I was so excited about it that I just posted it and failed to do a proper review for it. I guess that this is just something you don't need to write about, since this is literally a screamo bomb landing into your ears.
Posts were scarce since I wasn't at home most of the time, but the next post really snatched my attention. "Fucking Werewolf Asso" is the band in question, bringing us some catchy nintendo tunes. Ex "Go! With Fourteen O" members managed to surpass themselves and amaze us with this release. Despite the fact that I was involved in a nintendo project at the time and this came as major inspiration, this release proved to be one of the most exciting things of 2010. If you want to relax your brain from guitars and rending riffs and just want some electronic tunes, this is something you should check out. Absolutely amazing!
Next release...don't know how to start actually.
It concerns "Via Fondo", a Sweden screamo band featuring members from "Anemone". The post, I think, didn't really reflect what I feel for this project and I am still at a lack of words to say what I want. Shortly put, this release is one of the most stunning and mind blowing, not only in 2010, but in all my musically aware life. Heartfelt, passionate, honest, a beautiful clash of aggression and gentleness, superbly composed and flawlessly recorded, a first strike masterpiece.
The post which followed was a review of the Adorno/Eric Ayotte gig, definitely a memory which is very well placed in my heart. A post of the split these two projects released came after, with a wish to show you what kind of magic they create.
Las Vegas based band "Caravels" opened up August, the most visited post by you boys and girls, judging by the page-view counter. It is actually justified, very interesting project and a lot of potential shown in the "Floorboards" release, definitely up high in the top ten list. A Netherlands split followed soon after, containing "Gonzo" and "Laatste Halte", bringing the sounds of thrashy hardcore/screamo.
Somewhere around mid August a new and exciting turn happened for this blog.
Despite the fact that I was very happy about the writing done here and the feedback which I gained from both readers and bands, I wanted to do something more. And it all started with a review of a split between "Chaos Is..." from France and "Fuck, Wolves!" from Germany. In fact, what followed the review were interviews with members from these two bands, opening up a completely new aspect of the blog running. Although these interviews were extremely experimental (since I never did that sort of thing in my life), the process was so fun and pleasant that the interviews became regular practice on NWNP. It turned out that a lot of the interviews which I continued to do carried with themselves some very nice experiences and memories.
September opened up with a thorough review for the "Touché Amoré" and "La Dispute" split, both well known bands hailing from the USA, so no need for any special introductions now. After a few days of that post, Canada brought us "Delo Truda", a screamo project with quite a lot to offer. This review was very long and it should be read if you want the full scope of their music in words. I come to realize that this band (as well as the next one reviewed) aren't really listened to a lot by yours truly, a mistake I have to correct.
Next up came "Friendship Moves" coming from the UK. Their release hit hard and fast and it really leaves you gasping for air. If you love the legendary band "Wolves" like I do, then this band is definitely for you.
Seeing as how much I loved "Lizards Have Personalities" and how much Andrew from LHP seemed friendly, it was almost natural to do an interview, so that came up next. It was still done with a sort of generic list of questions, but nevertheless it was very interesting and I was quite happy I decided to do it. Following the interview came a first review containing more than one release, since it featured some very known and influential bands. "Zann" and their 7'' release "X" came first, after which came the "June Paik" and "Battle of Wolf 359" split, two of my very much loved bands.
Few days after that, a longish review of "Broken Chords Can Sing A Little" came up. At that time the band compiled their material and released it all together as a discography, so in honor of that the review was written.
Several days later the Failed Suicide Plan/Fast As We Go Far gig review was posted as well. Quite an interesting and non-standard show, interesting bands, so you should read the writeup if you are at least a bit interested. The gig review also featured the download links for both bands, since the majority of the blog readers probably haven't heard of these bands before (myself included). By this time, dates for "Reflections of Internal Rain" Euro tour have been posted.
The very end of September brought a bittersweet stepping stone for the blog. As a lot of my you may know by now, Natures With No Plagues was created to be a label at the beginning, but due to lack of a lot of stuff it shifted into a music blog. The label dream stayed present and now the first step was made toward that goal. Thirty buttons with the logo of the blog were made and were given out to friends and readers for free. This is where the bittersweet part comes in. Seeing as though I live in a shithole of a country, shipping expenses turned out way too higher than expected and a lot of you still haven't gotten the buttons. Despite the fact that I promised before and now that you will get those, I'm kinda bummed out that it was all so delayed and became painful due to the lack of funds, since I am a student and not a working man. I will be traveling to Budapest in February and I'm guessing their shipping fees are quite lower than here, so... All I can say is that I'm grateful for the patience of all of you.
The first of October punched through the door with the amazing mathcore/screamo band "Colors" and their release "Palindromes". Due to my correspondence with the members from the band and the overall friendliness they showed, an interview was done. But between those two, an interview with the Brazilian band "MOTIM" was done and it was quite an advancement, since unlike the previous generic questions, this interview was done live over chat.
I was a bit skeptical whether I will pull it off and make it interesting for the band, as well as for the readers. Needless to say it went great and it was a lot more personal and amusing to both do and read. The interview also had download links for albums released by "MOTIM", so check it out. As stated above, "Colors" interview followed, also a live one featuring interaction with two members instead of just one and probably the funniest interview I did so far. Extremely friendly dudes, big hugs for all of them!
From the opening of this blog up to this point in October, old links I posted on my previous blog were featured here as well, in the form of compilations under the name of "Endless Howling". Going by alphabetical order, the howling ended with the amazing Italian hardcore band "While You Wait". It was fun having a retrospect of previously uploaded stuff and hopefully you can find something of interest.
Mid October passed without adventurous maneuvers with just standard review writing. First in line was a 7'' split release between "Hidden By The Grapes" and "Lambda", a clash of indie and post rock, both bands hailing from Austria. After the split came up the unknown band "...So Yeah, We're Werewolves" and their 2009 release, a band hailing from the USA which I found by accident on the "Colors" myspace page and instantly fell in love with. I am due to give you some updates on this band, but that I reserve for the near future.
This was a definitely turbulent month, but I had no idea that something coming up next would shake and devastate me so much. Out of clear skies came "Vestiges" and the monster they released by the name of "The Descent of Man" swallowed us and sent ripples through the world.
A perfect amalgam of crust, post rock, hardcore and black metal, this is a release standing next to "Via Fondo" on the very top of my 2010 list. Not only did this take me by surprise, but it consumed me so much, staying on "repeat" on a regular basis. I was at a loss of words at the moment and threw just a few words in the initial post, instead focusing on getting in contact with the band. A quick post about things I missed to review (containing bands such as "Downfall of Gaia" and "Envy") was posted, but it was shadowed by the interview I managed to do with "Vestiges". It was not a live interview, instead a list of questions was sent and I have to say that this interview is the most "professional" one I did thus far. Keep the interview in mind, I will be getting back to it shortly.
Following the massive impact hit of "Vestiges" came a time of quite relaxing and calm tunes. A gig review of the "Went" show was written as well as a writeup about the beautiful "Lion Cub" release named "Seneca". "For Want Of", Texas based screamo punk band, and their self titled 7'' sealed the massive month of October.
November opened with a bit nonstandard band, experimental project from Portugal named "(aura)", followed by "The Bridgeheads", quite a sorrow-filled review for this indie/post punk band from Slovakia. Shortly after these two, came an Italian screamo hope and wonder, "Ogni Giorno". If you are into "La Quiete" (and who isn't?), but with a nice touch and twist, then this deserves your attention.
A post dedicated to promotion of my friends projects was due somewhere mid November. The first part of the post was reserved for "That's Punk" blog and label, which released a cd-r of the absolutely legendary emo band "The Pine". The second half went out to the amazing Bulgarian zine "Tigersuit" and their first printed release.
Mitko, a good friend and one of the masterminds behind the zine asked me to contribute some of my writing to help out the zine for it's next issue. Time was short and I was really busy to give some new quality writing, so we talked and at the end it was decided that my interview with "Vestiges" gets added to the zine's second issue. Yes, my work got translated into Bulgarian and six pages were dedicated to "Vestiges", which made me immensely proud. I will be talking about the second issue in depth soon and also about the upcoming third issue, for which it is planned for me to write a review of "Heaven In Her Arms - Paraselene", but more on that is yet to follow.
Until the end of the month three more reviews have been posted. "Innards" and a feature of their capability to meld various influences into something unique, a tribute to the now dead band "Gonzo" and in the end "Ten Thousand Leagues", a wave of nostalgia hitting me while this superb screamo band is playing on my speakers.
December opened up with some collaboration work with a great friend Luka. In the course of many conversations with him we saw that we are really kindred spirits when it comes to both music and our plans on what to do with it. For now, we have done several collaborative interviews, but we plan on expanding our work onto a label. Our work began with an interview with "Light Bearer", an extremely awaited band from the UK.
Promotion day came soon, this time for "Kid Sister Everything" label which is based in Chicago, as well as the releases done by the label, "Mountain Asleep" and "Antilles".Work with Luka continued, so the interview with "Protestant" was posted and also a small post where Cory from "Protestant" asked us some questions.
After that I had a period lacking the desire and willpower to post anything, but "Theme Of Laura" smacked me back in place. French old school emo/screamo a la "1000 Travels of Jawaharlal" and "12XU", this band came as a true refreshment. Just proves how much the French screamo scene dominates.
After the blissful time of French emo, struck the Romanian crust/hardcore band "Mediocracy" in the form of an interview Luka did with Viez. At this point my pc died and I have to opt for a laptop which had non of my music and shit on it, so it kinda caused a dry season when it comes to writing. December finished slowly with "Low Places", a sludgy hardcore band from Los Angeles and "Saturday's Kids" and their 7'' selftitled record, bringing us sounds of experimental punk directly from the UK.
Writing this and reading it afterwards, I come to realize how much I am proud of this blog and how much wonderful people I met through it and all the great things I did and plan to do. 2010 was definitely a great year, filled with amazing music and interesting projects. I have to thank all of you who follow my work. Thank you for every comment, good or bad. Thank you for all the emails and submissions from bands who are interested in being here. Thank you for all the kind words, attention and fun times. Happy New Year and may we continue to connect under the waves of underground music and diy culture.
Stefan xmoonxhowlerx
