Every year I make a Top Drone list on my site, Anti-Gravity Bunny, because that's kind of my specialty. This year BFF.fm wanted to know what their DJs' favorite records were, so I decided to make another list that was non-drone because I have some real fuckin favorite records that couldn't fit into my drone list. So, here ya go.
10. Jackie McDowell // Baptisia
Jackie McDowell used to record as Inez Lightfoot. This is her first record under her given name and it's full of harmonium drone and her otherworldly vocals, it's fantastic.
9. Wold // Postsocial
Wold can almost do no wrong, but this new one is a notch above their other records, taking their patented black noise to new levels of insanity.
8. Panopticon // Roads To The North
One of my most favorite black metal records in recent memory. This is this year's Cold Of Ages. Austin Lunn does the American folky black metal thing better than anyone else. I loved his last one, Kentucky, like crazy and this one is ever better.
7. Andy Stott // Faith In Strangers
Stott's first couple EPs on Modern Love were out of this world awesome, then his debut full length, Luxury Problems, kinda fell flat on my ears. This one picks up where the EPs left off. The second song, "Violence," is easily one of the best songs of the year.
6. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra // Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything
I've always loved SMZ, but since Horses In The Sky came out in 2005, nothing has quite lived up to that, until now, this is the best SMZ in my book, getting gloriously gloomy, repeating "all our children gonna die" and "and the days come when we no longer feel" over and over in "What We Loved Was Not Enough," so amazing.
5. Mamiffer // Statu Nascendi
Mamiffer's kinda hard to describe, floating somewhere between drone, folk, and the bleak underworld, this is haunting and gorgeous and ritualistic and transcendent and just the fucking best.
4. Rivulets // I Remember Everything
Nathan Amundson has been doing the bummed out country-tinged slowcore thing for years but this is his standout record, his voice and guitar resonating perfectly with me, an intimate and magnificent release.
3. Have A Nice Life // The Unnatural World
Have A Nice Life are one of the best bands of all time, and they've only put out 2 records. This is the much anticipated debut to 2008's masterpiece Deathconsciousness and it fucking delivers, everything you could hope for in a followup, going deep into industrial shoegaze pop metal and just fucking owning it.
2. Dama/Libra // Claw
Joel Phelps of Silkworm and G. Stuart Dahlquist of Asva got together and made literally the most unique record I've heard in many years, a perfect record of dark beauty that transcends genres and lives in a world of its own. Untouchable.
1. The Body // I Shall Die Here
I didn't think I could love The Body any more. Definitely my favorite metal band, they make the most devastating music ever, and then they hooked up with Haxan Cloak to produce this new one and made a 100% original metal record that can never even be ripped off, let alone copied. This is as monstrous as music gets, the sound of the apocalypse collapsing in on itself, The Body tear down any and all established rules and just fucking destroy your mind.
Show us you believe in the magic of community radio with a tax-deductible donation to BFF.fm.
Support X and show us you believe in the magic of community radio with a tax-deductible donation to BFF.fm.
Make a one-time donation to support BFF.fm programming.
DonateMake a one-time donation to support the BFF.fm podcast network.
DonateBecome a Bestie, and your monthly or quarterly sustaining donation will support BFF.fm all year long!
Donate & Become a BestieDonations are accepted via Givebutter. BFF.fm is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community radio station. Learn more about donating to BFF.fm →
We're so thankful you share our belief in the power of community radio to bring people together.