Memory keeper. Mostly music, some movies, series, video games. Obscure darkness meets pop culture glow.
Everything and anything you could possibly hear at a psychedelic rock festival. From experimental electronics through hippy dance to of course serious psychedelic rock shit. This is dope.
Oneohtrix Point Never did a video for the track Animals starring Val Kilmer. It is so minimal that you are not sure if this is it but still you cannot not watch. Anyhow, I like it.
Pitchfork writes that “Kilmer is falling asleep on the side of a bed”. What did these guys watch? He is clearly listening to the track. That is the best part of the whole thing.
Maybe I miss out some stuff especially on the music part but these are what my notebooks hold of what was good in 2015, based on some memories, this blog, Last.fm, and IMDb.
If I wanted to some up shortly, I would say this year quite sucked for movies but brought some unexpected and nice twists and turns for music.
The movie and TV list speaks for itself: the year was full of mediocre shit and overrated mainstream blockbusters (or wannabes). The Martian was okayish, Sicario had some beautiful compositions, but as a whole I wouldn’t say flicks like this made any great difference in my inner movie universe. And please don’t tell me about Star Wars, just shut it.
As for music, I didn’t stumble upon a new best band, but there were some notable releases from some old favourites. IAMX created a stunning new record, and I was similarly satisfied with what DJ Krush or The Black Dog had to offer in 2015, plus a complete out of nowhere experience came from Amon Tobin in the form of a sci-fi ambient composition.
My best pleasantries included the absolutely incredible album of the Killing Joke, the totally unexpected but stunning record of Karyn Crisis, and something completely new for me in the form of the Thy Catafalque release. And things that I didn’t see coming to this list: a surprisingly mature and powerful single track by Apocalyptica, and my re-found fandom of Cradle of Filth.
Last year was definitely ruled by techno for me, where I found quite some new territories and depths. This year was not on that level of novelty but it was quite eclectic instead as the musical range shows in this list of names.
I haven’t been to many festivals and parties in 2015 so my live performances list is quite narrow. Although I could make it to Sónar Barcelona for the second time, which was nice, and surprises dominated there as well: Squarepusher’s live act was by far the most satisfying live music experience that I heard this year.
That is one disturbing album cover. The music is by one half of Fuck Buttons, Benjamin John Power. Although this is a solo project the tone and style is pretty much similar with power noise layers and heavy structures.
Came accross this one completely randomly while image searching for ESB and the cover caught my eye. And it turns out to be a triphop-downtempo album, which is just great! Easy going, no moody depth here, just some nice tunes and beats.
Best new series that I stubled upon this year. Has “the spritiual successor of Firefly” written all over it but by no means is it a copy of anything. Just has a similar premise with a small team of three travelling back-and-forth in space on a cool little ship working through some quests and always finding some trouble along the way.
For me it started out as a likeable cute sci-fi series at 6/10 rating, then slowly built up to be an exiting sci-fi universe of 7/10, and I left the first season with a rather solid 8/10 feeling and wanting more. The CGI is always cheap and crap, the heroes are just too polished and beautiful people, some scenes are overplayed, etc. But the whole universe and the terrific ideas blew me away always and it just compensates for everything. There are all these politics, technologies, legends, all of which makes this world super interesting. Probably this grasps my attention best: the stories in between, the background painted behind everything. There are some really great storytellers penning this series, that’s for sure, most likely would be a superb read as a book as well.
It is hard not to want to highlight certain moments and ideas, but I suppress the craving and just pin one episode to the top. Episode 7 (Kiss Kiss, Bye Bye) is a fucking masterpiece. It has some real though moments that I would not expect from a casual sci-fi TV series and the whole personal dynamics mature to a point from where all picturing of emotions appear on a totally different level. This year I ditched a few series because I just couldn’t stand how the characters dealt (or couldn’t deal) with personal conflicts, and in this scene Killjoys shows the best possible example.
I just wanted to put one more picture here. Such character.
Catchphrase here is that this is a side-project with Yann Tiersen, and if you want a better keyword for search, try Elektronische Staubband. Great album btw with analogue experimentations ranging from melodic nid-nodders to power noise screamers.
Now this one is suprising and interesting. Debut longplayer with a blend of moods but mostly focusing on slow tempo, although even while keeping the pace below the mid-range still offers quite a palette from field recording style ambient through laid-back downtempo to choking steamy techno. Then halfway through the album we arrive to the mid tempo range and mostly keep the speed steady going forward. I better enjoyed the second half with its techno vibe, but the album as a whole has a well orchestrated journey for sure.
Something large and operating with elemental forces, but then switching back and forth between kind and overwhelming. Something in the crossroads of techno, ambient, power noise and idm, in the world of dreamscapes and wonders. Beatiful record.
The new Krush record is out, and there is not much to add except there’s no disappointment whatsoever. It is a perfect record with the beautiful moody triphop he can offer, and not one single track out of tune or style. I will see him play live just a week from now and I am quite excited about that, especially after this album. I sincerely hope that he brings along a bunch of vinyls so that I can have this little beauty shelved.