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As the Maiku-proclaimed "Monochromium's Simon Cowell", I know that I have gained the reputation for ruthlessly dissecting the works of artists on an almost daily basis. While a lot of the albums I examine don't stand the test of time and consequently get wiped off my hard drive, there are quite a few releases that not only manage to stay on my hard drive but get me so excited that I can't wait to talk and share them with others. This list is a compilation of all the albums of 2012 that so far I deem to be the best of the best. Some of these albums are so good that at the end of the record I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. 2012 may be a rough year for music but even still there's diamonds out there waiting to be discovered. I hope that this list uncovers one or two for you. Note: This list only encompasses albums and mini-albums. Zess' Best Album Picks of Mid-2012 Alcest - Les Voyages de l’Âme Sample song: Beings of Light Les Voyages de l’Âme is an interesting beast. Compared to his two earlier full-lengths, Alcest's third LP doesn't do anything special. So why does it have my stamp of approval? Quite simply, Alcest realizes that he doesn't have to reinvent the wheel to polish his sound. The boring passages on Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde were done away with in its entirety, the top-heavy nature of Écailles de Lune was smoothed out, and the best balance between black metal and shoegaze yet makes this album the ultimate culmination of Neige's fairytale sound. As far as sparkly black metal goes, it doesn't get much better than this. Les Discrets - Ariettes Oubliées... Sample song: La Traversée Fursy Teyssier trades in atmosphere for a more technical musical approach his second time around and it pays off in spades. Ariettes Oubliées... is one of my favorite albums and fits into almost every situation. Fursy's mastering of texture isn't completely done away with here so fans of his more atmospheric approach to music don't need to fear being left out in the cold, but his compositional skills have jumped bounds since 2010. Ariettes Oubliées... is a grower and each listen reveals more secrets than the last. This is definitely an album that any post-rock enthusiast should have in their arsenal. Fugenn & The White Elephants - Prays Sample Song: Prays Relaxing IDM with glitch elements never fails to put a smile to my face, and Fugenn's entry with "Prays" is quickly becoming one of those records that I find myself going to when I need to wind down. This record plays to his strengths - while there aren't many balls-to-the-wall glitch tracks like S_K from an4rm, there are enough tracks in the vein of Stillness or Narcissus ('m being one of my favorites on this release) that immerse me totally in the album and keep me coming back. Great stuff for when I'm in an introspective mood and the soundstage on this is near incredible when backed by some awesome speakers. egoistic 4 leaves - aluva Sample Song: trim egoistic 4 leaves sure knows how to groove. The problem that a lot of bands have with the kind of music that egoistic plays are that they get too caught up in the complexity and the music is lifeless, but these guys don't have that problem. aluva is far from a meandering journey too in love with itself to excite the listener - on every song these guys step it up and bring it while remaining multitextured at every step of the way. This mix of instrumental jazz and indie is a wonderful addition to any addiction for calmer music. Sigh - In Somniphobia Sample Song: The Transfiguration Fear For a band that has covered more ground both stylistically and acoustically than any other band I can think of, Sigh is understandably a tough band to categorize. The trademark Sigh "throw everything into the song, plus the kitchen sink, plus some of your neighbor's possessions for good measure" is ever present but what also surfaces here is the feeling that Sigh is playing as a band and not as a front-end to showcase Mirai and (more so) Mikannibal. Everyone fits in tastefully and all of the instruments get a chance to shine. For a band nearing twenty years of making music, Sigh's proved that they're still on top of their game.

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Lukrecia' Best Album Picks of Mid-2012 Chromatics - Kill Of Love Sample song: Back From The Grave After appearing on Drive's soundtrack with two of his bands (Desire, Chromatics), Johny Jewel finally released the third Chromatics album under the label of Italians Do It Better. Just a quick look at the label's name will give you a good hint of what to expect: italo disco, synth pop, the mainstream music of the 80s, blended together, creating the perfect soundtrack for a late night drive around the city. Ruth Radelet's icy vocals fit perfectly to the music, and Jewel is great songwriter. Still, I can't really call it a perfect album - Jewel went a bit too far, and put seventeen tracks on the album - which is the smaller problem. The bigger one is that half of the songs are a way too long (ranging from seven to fourteen minutes long), without getting anywhere, being boring 'cinematic' filler tracks, restricting the album from being the year's absolute best. But still, the album contains one of the best songs of the year, and within it's style, it's a great choice. Ty Segall & White Fence - Hair Sample song: Scissor People Ty Segall, hailing from San Fransisco, is one of the most important figure of the so-called new garage revival: remembering and recycling old musical ideas, knowing the 'traditions' the rock music, but at the same time, reinventing them - just listen to 'You Make The Sun Fry' from him, for example - sounds like a typical T-Rex song, but with some 'segallness' added to it. No surprise that many of the music critics call him the new Jay Reetard. White Fence (Tim Presley) comes from the same scene, but with some more folk-rock. On this release, they join forces, bringing one of the best rock albums of the year. Just check 'Scissor People', and you will get what I'm talking about. The Men - Open Your Heart Sample Song: Open Your Heart The first band that came into my mind about The Men is The Strokes. From the aspect that both bands ripped-off many previous bands and 'reintroducing' them on their album. The Men did it, and I must say, they did a very good job - Open Your Heart is simply one of the best songs of the year, followed by a pseudo-Beatles song (Candy), which is followed by noisy-punkish, mesmerising rock 'n' roll, from the Daydream Nation era of Sonich Youth. Animal is like a lost tape from GG Allin's (or maybe Iggy Pop's) garage, with a catchy refrain, Please Don't Go Away is like a lost My Bloody Valentine track...clearly not the most innovative album of the year, but to be honest, as long, as they can write so good songs (some of it didn't even made it to the album), I really don't care. Great work! LA Vampires By Octo Octa - Freedom 2K Sample Song: Wherever Boy Amanda Palmer (Pocahaunted), who runs the label 100% Silk and Not Not Fun is back with her LA Vampires project. LA Vampires teamed up with artists like Ital or Zola Jesus, and now, they worked together with Octo Octa. The result is a great trip into sexy and haunting house music, with piano and tunes that will make you want to make love and dance at the same time, synthetic beats, and some ravey flashbacks. Good collabration! Sleigh Bells - Reign Of Terror Sample Song: Demons Sleigh Bells, one of the loudest bands is back again - Reign Of Terror, at the first listen, isn't too different from Treats: heavy hip-hop beats, simple, but effective drumming, and a _loud_ guitar spitting out riffs varying from Black Sabbath to glam metal. The duo is still good at being minimal, but brutal(ly loud), hardcore but popish at the same time. Alexiss Krauss gets more space and more chance to _sing_ in some slower, softer tracks like Road To Hell or End Of The Line, Miller still knows, how to play extremely good riffs, and the whole atmosphere is like Japandroids' Celebration Rock - we came here to celebrate and to rock out and there's nothing that could stop us. Altough there aren't any ultimate hits like Infinity Guitars from the first album, the second coming of Sleigh Bells is still a freakin' musical earthquake, worth a listen. Death Grips - The Money Store Sample Song: Punk Weight So, do you remember when Public Enemy said, 'bring the noise'? Well, Death Grips certainly brings it with some free headkicks. Forget Odd Future, this is the real screaming out from the filth, certainly a different kind of anger, but it's pure anger, a real sonic whirlwind, where you can see the sight of artists like Public Enemy, Tricky, El-P, or Slayer...yes, Slayer. I never expected a hip-hop band to sample Black Flag in a song, but Death Grips did it (Kink, from their previous mixtape, Exmilitary). While their previous mixtape was good, it was hard to find the difference between the tracks - however, on The Money Store (which was released by Sony), the bands tries out something new in nearly all of the tracks, from M.I.A.-ish ghettoish dance tracks to 'avant dancehall'. Punkish DIY-mentality, crazy rhytms, and of course MC Ride, who is better at shouting and spitting words than rapping, but the amount of hate would amuse even Henry Rollins, I guess. Clearly not for everyone, but imho one of the more important (and better) (hip-hop) releases of the year. Japandroids - Celebration Rock Sample Song: For The Love Of Ivy (The Gun Club Cover) In 2009, Japandroids' Hüsker Dü inspired, awesome debut album was released, filled with noisy guitar riffs, shouting, californian punk hymns was released straight from the garage, and it made it's way into my very favourite albums list. It had shitloads of garage-y coolness, great guitar riffs, and songs like 'Young Hearts Spark Fire' or 'Wet Hair' - songs that were THE songs for me, songs like they could only do. After a number of smaller releases and some awesome covers (Jack The Ripper from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Racer-X from Big Black for example), here is the second coming, with less effects, maybe a bit less upbeatness, but with some more experimenting (think of the disco drums in The House That Heaven Built for example). To be fully honest, I'm a bit disappointed, because the new album lacks some of the screaming coolness, that lazy awesomeness the first album had, but Japandroids are still great at what they do, and honestly, can you come up with a better summer song than Younger Us? Other albums, without description: Actress - R.I.P. Sample Song: Caves Of Paradise Beach House - Bloom Sample Song: Lazuli Alt-J (∆) - An Awesome Wave Sample Song: Breezeblocks THEESatisfaction - awE naturalE Sample Song: Deeper number0 - PARALLEL/SERIAL Sample Song: AO Luis Nanook - 丘の上のロメロ Sample Song: Faust

WESTERN albums list. Japanese coming soon. All samples are for previewing purpose. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy (Art Rock, Baroque Pop) Sample: Chloe In The Afternoon I was going to put Lady Gaga's 2nd album on the first position for it's variety and a bolder sounds of retro dance, something that refreshingly good among any mainstream dance tracks that are so stagnant,bland, and boring but this album fucks "Born This Way" right in the @$$. Painful, Raw, Sticky, and Sweet. Flawless victory! Every beats coming out from this album is totally clever. Totally underrated. Totally deserve more recognition. And this coming from a hardcore Lady Gaga stan. Nuff said. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Selah Sue - Selah Sue (Ragamuffin, R'n'B, Soul) Sample: Fyah Fyah Diamond in the rough. I got introduced to her by my BF. And boy, did i got swooned by the record!! This talent coming from Belgium. And to be honest we didn't hear much about the Belgium more than their fries (yes,it's from Belgium, not France!), Waffles, High Quality chocolate, the fact that Marvin Gaye once been living in Ghent for quite awhile, The country that lead the European Nation and more recently, the 3rd country in EU that went into monetary crisis following Greece and Italy. But nothing we heard of their musicians past Lara Fabian, Technotronic, Ian Van Dahl, Francis Goya and Adamo. Anyway, Selah Sue came to save the day and surely become one artist to watch for 2012. Being someone who were heavily inspired by Eyrkah Badu, M.I.A, Lauryn Hill and The Zutons. Makes this record really great to the bone. If you're into good Soul, Ragamuffin and R'n'B, then you MUST listen to this record. As she sang on one of her song here, "I'm pretty much you're looking for!" Plus her voice is pure gold. You know, i think i find the successor for Amy Winehouse and Ms.Dynamite already, and more. Kinda reminds me with the magic when i was first found Adele when she was just releasing 19. I've had the same magic when listening this new act. Surely this record could be her key to major stardom. I just hope she got great management to support her. Watch this space. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Bon Iver - Bon Iver (Indie Folk) Sample: Holocene Their best effort yet. And shows that impact how indie folk can be sucessful commercially, and can still maintain to be powerful. This is how to spend an improved budget, though anything is more than nothing, and expand a sonic palette, without compromising what appealed in the first place. It is one of 2011’s most absorbing, affecting and downright brilliant LPs xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde (Glam Rock, Indie Rock, Garage Rock, Country Rock) Sample: Only One Simply put, This album offers a great deal of comforting Wild West new-old tunes. Let's have a shindig! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx James Blake - James Blake//Enough Thunder (IDM, Post-Dubstep, Soul, Vocal, Electronic) Sample: We Might Feel Unsound Probably the most brilliant IDM/electronic/post-dubstep album that I've encountered this year. Totally captivating, and in a graceful way. And kinda reminds me with great Massive Attack here and there. The vibe is there. Super chill out. Totally major. Brilliant. Skrillex, praise your King! p.s: Enough Thunder EP is both, sold separately and included as one package with Deluxe edition of the self titled LP debut. So you can choose according to your wallet condition. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Glen Campbell - Ghost On The Canvas[/b] (Country, Rock, Alternative) Sample: A Thousand Lifetimes Becoming a bonafide living legend isn’t as easy as Glen Campbell makes it look. First, you have to have a solid foundation of talent on which to build — like being one of the hottest guitar players in the world. Then you have to record songs that will stand the test of time — standards such as “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” and “Wichita Lineman.” And of course, to be a “living” legend, you need to survive the harsh reality of a celebrity lifestyle. Check, check, and check. It certainly doesn’t hurt to have a witty, bantering stage style that draws fans like college students to Daytona Beach, or a hit television show viewed by 50 million people every week for three years. When you put it all together, the result is a career that spans forty years and fans that cross generational and international lines. In other words: Glen Campbell. This album is a great way to close his singing career, as this album intended to be his last album, due to his Alzheimer's. You wouldn't believe this voice is coming out of a 75 years old! And every songs just very well structured, well said lyrics, very well composed. This is how a legend do it, with a bang! Five stars! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Gillian Welch - The Harrow & The Harvest (Bluegrass, Americana, Country, Folk) Sample: Dark Turn Of Mind This is one of the most defiantly traditional, non-radical and deceptively simple albums in recent memory. “Some girls are bright as the morning, some girls are blessed with a dark turn of mind” If you’re an artist who plays music that sounds as if could have been written a century ago, what difference does it make if you take eight years between albums? No difference at all if you’re Gillian Welch. It would be inaccurate to call The Harrow & The Harvest a concept album, but many of the songs—most notably the progressively titled “The Way It Goes,” “The Way It Will Be” and “The Way The Whole Thing Ends”—are subtly connected by themes of coming to terms with the past and finding the resolve to move on. Listening to these songs, one can hear that the eight years taken between releases has caused Gillian Welch to ruminate and pour all of her weighing up and accounting of life’s sad twists and turns into one of her best albums. The Harrow & The Harvest is simply one of the richest, most expansive roots albums to be released in some time. Some decent album, check it out! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx tUnE-YarDs - w h o k i l l (Experimental, Lo-fi, R'n'B) sample: door step If you're the kind of person that can listen to a Bjork or Joanna Newsom song without feeling compelled to jam a fork into your ear, there's a fair chance you'll find something to enjoy about tUnE-YarDs ' second album w h o k i l l. Garbus' voice is as divisive as either of the aforementioned ladies - powerful and ferocious, flipping between jazzy scatting and soulful crooning like a female version of the Dirty Projectors' Dave Longstreth – but it is just one component of an extensive, eccentric avant-pop collage of sounds that also includes ukulele, glockenspiel and saxophone, and beats (both organic and electronic) influenced by hip-hop, R&B, dub and African street music. At times, Merrill Garbus is Annie Lennox, and at others, she’s Prince. One thing’s for sure though — she’s always entertaining, and her powerhouse voice makes w h o k i l l one of the year’s must-listens. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Arctic Monkeys - SUCK IT AND SEE (Indie rock, post-punk revival, garage rock, psychedelic rock) SAMPLE: She's Thunderstorms It’s a common misconception that a good Arctic Monkeys album should hit you like a punch to the face. It’s easy to see why one would feel that way, their ferocious 2006 debut Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not earned its spot in the ’00s rock canon largely by sounding like the musical equivalent of a bar fight, and their two subsequent LPs both feature their fair share of songs that seize your attention with brute force. It’s understandable, then, if fans used to connecting to the Sheffield lads’ work like a chin to a fist after a few too many pints are a bit confused by their fourth album Suck It and See. But don’t for a second think that means Turner and company have gone soft on Suck It and See, the Monkeys are evolving. For the first time, the band has produced an album in which Turner’s lyrics are truly given room to breathe. Lines like “Your waitress was miserable, and so was your food” (“Piledriver Waltz”) that might have been buried with a rapid-fire delivery in the past are instead front-and-center. In actuality, it’s not so much a departure, but rather the sound of a band finally settling into itself. the Arctic Monkeys still have a few tricks up their sleeves. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I kept my top list short (three favourites, to be precice). Partially because I don't want to be TL;DR and because I'm incredibly slow when it comes to listeneing to new releases. I'm always a year behind, so half of my favourite music this year was released in 2010 or earlier. However, here is an extended list of other albums I liked at the bottom. Anyway, here we go: Tenhi - Saivo Genre: Neofolk Sample song: Pojan Kiiski Tenhi are the perfect example why it pays off to wait for a new album instead of expecting a band to release something new every few months. Their first real studio album in five years, being delayed over one year, was worth every single day of waiting. Dark, intense and simply beautiful. 実験台モルモット - 箱庭の音樂会 Genre: Jazz/pop Sample Song: 半分個カーディオイド 実験台モルモット are certainly my favourite discovery of the year when it comes to japanese music. Carefree, happy and catchy music, yet sophisticated and never cheap. Really a great album for a band that seemed to have popped out of nowhere. Thy Catafalque - Rengeteg Genre: Avantgarde Metal Sample Song: Trilobita Admittedly, this album sounds a lot like its two predecessors. However since Thy Catafaque's style is somewhat unique on its own it doesn't really matter so much. The album itself also has a lot of variety, from slow ambient-ish electronic tracks to blast-beat layered metal tracks, and anything inbetween. Other stuff that was good: A - White Album Amber gris - Pomander Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising Anthem - Heraldic Device Corde Oblique - A Hail of Bitter Almonds Dark Suns - Orange Einherjer - Norron Emmy the Great - Virtue Kauan - Kuu... Laura Marling - A Creature I Don't Know ThanatoShizo - Origami Turisas - Stand Up And Fight Týr - The Lay of Thrym Yaneka - All in the Air 女王蜂 - 孔雀

Porter Robinson - Spitfire Fave Track: Spitfire (Kill the Noise Remix) Genre: Electro House, Dubstep, Moombahton Statement: Porter Robinson is a upcoming DJ and he is only 19!!!. Most of his songs are Electro House, but in this album he started doing a little dubstep and moombahton. I saw him about 3 times this year, Twice in Fresno and Once at EDC 2011, and everytime he just blew me away with how talented he is with his music. And during his set, I tweeted about how I came to see him and not tiesto, and my twitter made it to the Jumbotron when he was playing rotating constantly with only 9 other tweets, it was awesome =3. And recently his music was featured in the trailer for Redtails. sa42AW__3F0 Martin Solveig - SMASH! Fave Track: The Night Out Genre: House, Pop, Dance Statement: What can I say about how awesome Martin Solveig is!? He is completely underrated, and way better than David Guetta. His music is really catchy and danceable. I was surprised at the turn out on the mainstage at EDC, it was less people than expected from him, but he knows how to make the crowd full of energy and shizzle. He is best known for the song Hello (feat Dragonette). Even though this album takes a whole new direction from his earlier works, it's definitely one of his best works. 2oxeK9G8MRU

Zess' Best Album Picks of 2011 In no specific order are the albums of 2011 which I still find myself listening to now that we're approaching 2012. Even though it seems like I put every album that I listened to this year on my list, I can attest to you that this doesn't even begin to cover it. This list makes no distinction between Japanese and non-Japanese music because it's all got the Zess' stamp of approval so you're going to have to do a little digging yourself if you want to find out where they come from . Although really I could go on for a lot longer if anyone's really interested (although I am certain this isn't the case). Demetori - BEGIERDE DES ZAUBERER Song: リジットパラダイス ～ Dawn of the Dead The main question on most Demetori fans' minds are: does this beat Nada Upasana Pundarika? The answer is no. Then again, BEGIERDE DES ZAUBERER is better off for it. It's what feels like a logical progression from their last two albums, combining the crushing precision and polyrhythm breakdowns of Pundarika with the speed metal antics of Il Mondo dove e finito il Tempo. It's a little more organic than Pundarika without the laggy moments that could be found in Offering to the Sukhavati and every track hits you with the force of a truck. Most manage to find a way to work in the theme without the sprightly nature of the Touhou theme source throwing off the dynamic of the track (Which is arguably where half of the heavy metal arrangers fail). It's not a monster collection of nine Crazy Xenomorph clones coming one after another but it doesn't need to be. The Slayer, Symphony X, and Meshuggah influences are obvious between the snippets of loli music if you listen close enough and while the production isn't as bombastic as the last two albums, the nature of the tracks makes it work in it's favor. For an album that I waited two years for, BEGIERDE DES ZAUBERER satisfies. Terra Tenebrosa - The Tunnels Song: Through the Eyes of the Maninkari The Tunnels is one of the most ambitious releases that I've heard in 2011. Terra Tenebrosa literally came out of nowhere, plucking it's members from the disbanded outfit Breach, got together in a dingy, molded, rotting basement and put out this six-track album of masterful insanity. It's as atmospheric as it is suffocating, as challenging to sit through as it is rewarding. Terra Tenebrosa did to post-metal what Isis did to metal: warping and reforming our perceptions and conventions of what the genre is and what it's capable of. If there's one thing anyone walked away from this post with, it would be knowing that 2011 isn't complete without giving this album a spot in your collection. Get it now. Fugenn & The White Elephants - an4rm Song: S_K Yet another top contender from 2011 that I wasn't expecting to win me over as much as it did. I'm no IDM fan but Fugenn might cause me to rethink that. I played the song "By Stander" for my friend Hannah and she said that the intensity of the track made her feel like "she was in another room". Such intensity can only be offset with tracks as sublime as Narcissus, creating for an album that explores both highs and lows in a way no other album on my list managed to do this year. If you think you're ready for it, an4rm is waiting for you. Ilaria Graziano - Cyber Bicci Song: velveteen I am in love with this woman's angelic voice. If you cannot appreciate Ilaria's voice, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you that you have no soul. Nah, I jest, I jest (but not really). It is really hard to not fall in love with her voice and when paired with Yoko Kanno this album just soars. I like to call the sound on this album "distant mechanical futuristic", which really describes a lot of the anime that these songs were culled from. A lot of these songs were recorded over the span of a few years so this would be a sort of collection album, but there's nothing wrong with that. Lantlôs - AGAPE Song: Bliss AGAPE is a little lacking both around the middle and in overall length but the ambience and atmosphere of this record is nothing short of overwhelming. Neige and his black metal yodels are here again and they add a great deal to the album, but I'm more interested about the progression from their previous effort .neon. They said it would be bulky, ugly, and feed off the listener. It's not long enough to do that but I like this direction. If they release their next album in this vein, it can potentially top .neon. 101A - 4 Song: moon Melancholic and meditative with a haunting soundscape, 4 is everything that I wanted from the sucessor to Lethe. This album is so good it set the bar just that high for what I expected out of the rest of 2011, which sadly couldn't churn out much to match this. 4 avoids all of the common pitfalls that 101A albums fall into and followed it up with more mature composition and much improved vocals from noah. Perfect length, perfect flow. It's quite the indie record but if you're into more experimental and adventurous areas of post-rock, 4 is an album you do not want to miss. Definitely recommended! Dark Castle - Surrender to All Life Beyond Form Song: Seeing Through Time This is DUM SPIRO SPERO if that album were actually half-way coherent. Think of a track taking an aimless, meandering trip through a nightmare whilst an angry woman growls at you at every turn. Add in a fuzzed out ethnic sounding baritone guitar, some chanting, a healthy amount of doom influence, the lack of any bass instrument and electronic buzzing here and there and you basically have this album. Whilst it's not perfect and the formula can be refined, independent band Dark Castle has shown that you can throw away conventional ways of composition and come out with a great slice of sludge. Move over Dir en grey, Dark Castle is here to show you how to sludge. sgt. - BIRTHDAY Song: アラベスク Along with 4, BIRTHDAY took care of all of my post-rock needs for the year. BIRTHDAY is one intense album and once the beginning piano keys and guitar jangles of Cosgoda grab you, it's hard to stop listening. sgt.'s jazz-tinged approach to post-rock is quite uncommon and their method of revisiting certain passages and slightly modifying it with an delayed note here or another instrument there contrasts greatly with the bands that stick to the "sprawling epics". By using repetition to their advantage, they're able to give their songs a lasting impression without the need for cliche buildup and predictable climaxes. If you're a fan of post-rock, relaxing instrumental music or cute girls that can play a mean violin, I cannot recommend this enough. Russian Circles - EMPROS Song: Batu After listening to almost all of Russian Circles' output, I can say that Empros is their heaviest and best album to date. Russian Circles weeded out a lot of the technical limitations they imposed upon themselves with past records that were incorporated for the sole purpose of fitting into the post-rock/post-metal genre. These elements - usually found amongst meandering, mellow, aimless passages - are almost nowhere to be found on Empros, which leaves the album with a great deal of hard hitting songs. Slower moments can be found but these slower moments have purpose. If you're looking to get into some fine post-metal, this is definitely something you should try. lynch. - I BELIEVE IN ME Song: LIE Quite possibly my favorite VK release of the year, although I am unsure of whether lynch. should be considered visual anymore. lynch. did the transition to major very well, changing absolutely nothing about their core sound but incorporating a good handful of pop and alternative metal influences into a solid rock album. Newcomer Akinori also shows his chops on the bass and more than adequately fills in for the bass position that Hazuki/Junji held before. Definitely tops SHADOWS for me and it's probably my favorite lynch. release thus far. Zess' Good Album Picks of 2011 Here I'll include a section for albums which I thought were good but not "AOTY" material. Most of these were great releases but they just weren't "OMG GOOD ENOUGH" to put above. A few are here because they had good ideas with questionable execution. Without further ado: BLANKFIELD - This Is The Dead, And I've Reached The Deathless Song: This Is The Dead, And I've Reached The Deathless Off-putting blast beats? Interrupted keyboard/synth breakdowns? Meshuggah-like riffing? This is all BLANKFIELD and their take on djent and MDM has been unmatched since their release of Fast Forward to Far End of East. While it's still a mini, it's the most experimental I've seen warinside get since their first release. The synth being used in tasteful amounts without overpowering the music is another plus! Hell, BLANKFIELD is so good at doing arranges other starting bands cover their covers! This mini is yet another solid entry in BLANKFIELD's discography despite a few flaws (questionable rhythm changes, a little on the short side even for a mini, and two of the tracks fade out) but if you are any type of fan of experimentation in your metalcore/deathcore and you can't stand bad vocals in your music, BLANKFIELD may be just what you didn't know you needed. Get this! Thousand Leaves - GOD FORSAKEN Song: Bright red season WIth three albums out this year and two of them making the list, doujin arranger Bach's Thousand Leaves dominated 2011. God Forsaken has a much better flow and a more prominent bass drum line than it's predecessor End of Endless Night but it's still lacking when compared to previous albums Dead Night Blind and especially Blind Night Sorrow. I also can't neglect to mention Abecky's vocals, which are the best they've been since the aforementioned album and the guitar leads are scorching hot in every single song. This is a solid mixture of melodeath with some power metal influences and if you're a fan of either, you owe it to yourself to listen to this album. Thousand Leaves - END OF ENDLESS NIGHT Song: Wings of Destiny END OF ENDLESS NIGHT is mostly instrumental - whilst I like my Touhou instrumental and normally this is the preferred choice for me, Thousand Leaves has an ace in the hole with Abecky. They're one of the few doujin circles that can actually pull off vocals in their music and arguably do it better than they do instrumental tracks. They only have two tracks featuring Abecky on this release. The drums aren't as clicky on this release and Abecky's harsh vocals are in prime form but I personally love the source themes on God Forsaken much better. I do love the arrange of Wind God Girl though. Just because I like this one less doesn't mean it's not good. It just means God Forsaken is that much better. Hellion Sounds - Chaotic Labyrinth Song: 戦場 戦慄 　from　 世界樹の迷宮II Hellion Sounds came back IN FORM with this album. Their Y's arranges were great but Crimson Nightmare didn't win me over too much. All their little nuances that ticked me off while listening to that album were rectified with this album and this is their most cohesive album to date. It also helps that they've picked an arrange field I don't hear too often so a lot of these were fresh takes. My only complaint is that a few of the arranges are repetitive and stick a little too close to the original theme. It's an arrange album - nothing more, nothing less - but they did it with such flair and great production that it's hard to ignore. With it's shortcomings, I don't feel right including it above. Definitely NOT to be looked over if you're a fan of video game music in any regard. 黒夜葬 - 眞紅ノ眷屬ハ圓環スル螺旋ヲ嘆ズル Song: 獄彩ト散ル硝子ノ華 I had my reservations concerning this album when 刹那 announced that it was going to feature Rib;y(uhki) from Imperial Circus Dead Decadence and VAGUEDGE DIES FOR DIES IRAE on vocals. After getting a glimpse of what this album would sound like with The Reincarnation of Faith (which was probably the worst rendition of The Venerable Ancient Battlefield I've ever heard) and having a friend call the demo they distributed laughable, I was ready to chuck this one out. 眞紅ノ眷屬ハ圓環スル螺旋ヲ嘆ズル surprised me in many ways, most of which were positive. This may be a Rib;y(uhki) album through and through as he is on every track but 刹那 managed to keep 黒夜葬 in the direction he's been intending for it to go in since the release of Catharsis. In some ways, this is the best 黒夜葬 album out of them all because it manages to seamlessly integrate both harsh and clean vocals in a chaotic atmosphere whilst stepping up the ante on the neo-classical elements that he's been slowly introducing album after album. The mastering also deserves a mention - it's head and shoulders above the clipping nightmare that was APOCALYPSE -Mundus cult decipi, ergo decapitur-. 刹那's shown a bit more restraint with the elements he's been incorporating, choosing taste over quantity and keeping a fair bit along with the kitchen sink. The album is a little too chaotic at some points and the EQ levels chosen for some of the instruments aren't the best. The biggest detractor for this album is that Rib;y(uhki) hits some questionable notes but since he's drowned in the avalanche of layers that's been incorporated here, a lot of them go unnoticed. Overall this album is pretty solid. Not album of the year good but it deserves attention from one of the more oft-overlooked circles. Boris - New Album Song: Party Boy Boris released four albums this year but in my opinion each successive album appealed to me less and less. Klatter was great but New Album was what really struck me. Attention Please doesn't fill the need I have for Boris pop and the way they take a genre and go way over the top with it is the aspect of Boris that I love the most - and the one I felt was missing on most of their releases this year. A few of the tracks here still cause me to cringe but a lot of the rearranges are a lot better than the actual tracks themselves which is both awesome and disappointing. Boris left me with a lot of mixed feelings this year, but New Album is still the album of theirs I find myself listening to the most this year. Unlucky Morpheus - Faith & Warfare Song: ピロピロリングナイト●３● Unlucky Morpheus always has been a refreshing breath of air in the doujin circle and their take on mixing Touhou with speed metal has always been something that I can escape to when I've gotten tired of the metalcore/deathcore/djent/faux black metal that a lot of bands rely on to arrange their music. Faith & Warfare expands on the Ankimo formula more, while introducing some jazzy elements that surprisingly doesn't disintegrate as soon as you press play. Those slower tracks remove a lot of the monotony that speed/power arrange albums tend to have in the second half and even the ten-minute long "Sunny" doesn't feel like it's taking forever to finish. The lack of Fuki is a little on the disappointing side but it's not enough to make this album lose it's spot as one of the top doujin albums of the year. Another solid album from another consistent top-tier circle. It's a shame they're so underrated. Fix that by listening to this. Nightwish - Imaginaerum Song: Scaretale It's Nightwish, which means that you should expect to get cheesy symphonic pop-metal when they drop an album. The reason why this is here is because Anette Olzon improved an amazing amount since Dark Passion Play. The songwriting also shows really tight integration between what Anette is capable and what Tuomas is striving for and they meet at a nice medium that works for most of the tracks. Anette is the shining gem here and she shows that while she may not be as powerful or have as wide of a range as Tarja, she's capable of pulling off songs that Tarja wouldn't be able to. My main gripe with Dark Passion Play was it's ubiquitous orchestra which was bombastic and featured in songs that didn't need them at all. The orchestra is less 'in-your-face' here but all too often it adds an unneeded element and serves to only drown Tuomas' contributions to the music. Song of Myself also has six minutes of useless talking where there should be music, artificially inflating the runtime to a colossal 13 minutes. Despite all of these complaints I have about the album, it does enough right with tracks like Scaretale, Arabesque and Imaginaerum in order for it to secure a spot here. A - White Album Song: Masquerade I actually enjoyed their Black Butterfly single more than this but I'm keeping singles out of my line-up here. White Album is the second solid EP by this band and it's a nice contrast to the darker sounds found on Black Album. This is definitely THE VK EP of the year, no doubts about it. The violin is authentic and Rookie Fiddler's playing accentuates the music very well. The guitars could be punchier and do more than keep rhythm but as they mature I'm sure this will improve. This is definitely an up-and-coming visual band I need to keep a closer eye on. D'espairsRay - antique Song: MAZE This album is a nice condensation of D'espairsRay by featuring their B-sides and this forms a much more cohesive album than their previous compilation Immortal. I would say that this is almost a classic. I say almost because it is also characteristic of their career - the longer this record goes on, the more downhill the quality of the songs go. Hardcore D'espa fans may disagree with me on this but everything after DESERT could have been cut out and the album would have been better for it. As a longtime fan of D'espairsRay, I honestly cannot keep this off my best-of list but the shakiness of the last few tracks prevents antique from occupying a spot in the top-tiers. Still, this is a must-have record by a band that has helped influence many bands yet never seemed to break into the regular rotation of many visual listeners. It's sad that in two years D'espairsRay will be categorized by new fans into the bin of "bands I should listen to but won't because they're from the 90's". Scale the Summit - The Collective Song: Colossal Another by-the-books post-rock album that sits down here for the basis that I have astronomical expectations from what I expect out of post-rock. The Collective delivers in spades but it's main problem is that it is not as direct as I want it to be. Instead of coming full-force and punching the user with one hard, polyrhythmic track after another like their previous record Carving Desert Canyons, this record takes a mellower approach and places their more fierce tracks between three or four tracks that lull the user into complacency. As such, I really need to be in the mood for this album and mood albums usually don't top my list because they aren't albums I can listen to "whenever". Still though, The Collective is good - perhaps too good to be real. 陰陽座 - 鬼子母神 Song: 組曲「鬼子母神」～鬼拵ノ唄 Kishi-Bojin comes as a huge surprise as it sees Onmyo-Za take on a darker, more melancholy direction to their music. For one, the album is a complete concept album based on the mythical figure Kishibonin and it shows because most of the tracks lead into the next one. Unintentionally, this fixes the issue that's plagued every Onmyo-Za album since Maoutaiten - the album somehow manages to create an ebb and flow that helps it not become stale and repetitive. Kishi-Bojin also sees Matatabi take on a more prominent role as male vocalist, which shifts the dynamic of the tracks a great deal. The near constant synth is also a welcome addition that goes unnoticed at first but slowly reveals itself upon multiple listens. As of now, the major beef that I have with Kishi-Bojin is that the tracks themselves are inconsistent - some tracks are amazing and some are just average. For a successful experiment and having Matatabi solely compose what is the most ambitious Onmyo-Za album to date, Kishi-Bojin quickly earns itself a spot amongst the best albums of the year. Swarms - Old Raves End Song: T-1000 Quite a different take on dubstep then the bassheads at my college showed me when they introduced me to the wompfest the genre has become. Swarms is adept at mixing ambient and electronica into their dubstep-influenced sound and they end up devising a record that's as fresh as it is different. I'm not the biggest fan of electronica in the world but I can appreciate when it's done right. If you are really into the electronica/dubstep genres this may be an overlooked album from 2011 that you may want to try.

In no particular order: Russian Circle – Empros Genre: Post Metal Sample song: Mlàdek This was easily the release I was most excited for all year, and I am honestly not disappointed in the slightest. Though I really could care less about the last track, everything else on this album is amazing. Every track seems to be driven with purpose, never meandering like what seems to happen on many post rock/metal albums. Some parts of song are just absolutely crushing, like the last few seconds of Mlàdek. And there is the drumming…god damn, the drumming. Dave Turncratz is perhaps the best drummer I have ever heard. Lynch. – I BELIEVE IN ME Genre: Metal Sample Song: UNTIL I DIE After SHADOWS was such a big disappointment for me, I wasn’t expecting much from this album. Boy was I in for a surprise. This album became my “driving” album for the summer, the songs were fun, powerful, and driven…the kind of stuff that makes you want to push the pedal against the floor. Perhaps there are too many songs that are in a similar style, but they are all done so well that I don’t care (reminds me of -OZ-‘s VERSUS in that way). The album does have one slower track, “BEFORE YOU KNOW IT”, that I feel like has always been a trademark of lynch’s since “latin maria” on Greedy Dead Souls, and it is one of those tracks that I just love zoning out to. Sgt. – BIRTHDAY Genre: Post Rock Sample Song: Lyman Alpha no Mori I think one of the things that separates great bands from good bands is their ability to make long songs seem short. And Sgt. is one of those bands with BIRTHDAY. I, for the life of me, can never seem to realize that Cosgoda is a 9 minute song…I just can’t. While there are some kinda short filler tracks on the album, the long tracks are wear this album truly shines. The violin and piano mixed in with bass and drum make for such a refreshing sound… Did I mention the drummer isn’t shabby either? The Human Abstract – Digital Veil Genre: Progressive Metal Sample Song: Complex Terms 2008’s Midheaven was kind of a meh album, but with Digital Veil, THA marked the return of their original guitarist/composer and a new vocalist. Damn, it is amazing how much that changed this bad for the better. This album is best described by saying “imagine classical composition woven into metal music.” I will admit, this album did take a few listens for my ears to figure out everything that was going on in some parts of the album, but I haven’t gotten even remotely sick of it yet. Really, the only weak side is that it is too fucking short. Crossfaith - The Dream, The Space Genre: Metalcore Sample Song: Stars Faded in Slow Motion Talk about a guilty pleasure album. This band just does a perfect blend of guitar and electronics for me…not to be annoying, but just enough to compliment the guitars and give the songs more character. This album isn’t going to win anything for being the most deserve album in the world, but it is just a solid metalcore album. And let’s face it, their cover of “Omen” was just awesome. Turisas – Stand Up and Fight Genre: Symphonic Metal Sample Song: The March Of The Varangian Guard Turisas really matured with this album. They toned down their metal side quite a bit; there is far less screaming, and most of the tracks aren’t that heavy. BUT the inclusion of a full orchestra when needed, beautiful production, and a great mix of tracks more than make up for it. Some of the tracks almost feel cinematic in nature. You can just tell how much effort was put into some of these tracks. I perhaps still like “The Varangian Way” a bit more, but this is still an incredible album none-the-less. And I still giggle at the “Look at all these fish” link in “End of an Empire.” Animals As Leaders – Weightless Genre: instrumental progressive metal Sample Song: An Infinite Regression 8 string guitar. That is all you need to know. Tosin plays the guitar like an absolute beast, with really technical tapping that still manages to remain interesting instead of just showing of. The mix of electronic elements also really adds something to this album. Just listen to the guitar though and let your mind be blown away. Runners Up:

Aion's Top 5 of 2011 As like every other crewmember on this board, I compiled a shortlist of my favourite albums of 2011. Overall, 2011 was a good year for music for both western as Japanese music. My list Little Dragon - Ritual Union Genre: trip-hop, electronic Sample song: Shuffle A Dream A band I discovered while browsing through the Lowlands festival artists-guide. i immediatly fell in love with their sound they had on their 2011-release Ritual Union. The strong jazzy vocals in combination with the electronic beats is just pure win. Too bad live their sound is more to the dance-side of the spectrum. Short said, I love them hearing on CD, but they dissapointed me seeing them live. Maria Hato – THE LATTER HALF OF ALOHA EP Genre: Folk, indie-pop, singer-songwriter Sample Song: Torty If you haven't heard of singer-songwriter mmm yet, you surely have missed out on something. Maria Hato is her new project, in which she works together with some other artists from my beloved CGCG-label. For example, she worked together with Oono Yuuki on this album. Really sweet indie folk where she re-did her song Winter Woman in a way which is so good, and yet it isn't the best song on this release. KETTLES - ビー・マイ・ケトル (KETTLES - Be my kettle) Genre: Folk, indie-pop Sample Song: つまんないから (tsumannaikara) However this originally was a limited digital only release in 2010, it also got a actual CD-release in 2011. KETTLES got under my attention thanks to a very unique PV and a catchy tune which they maintain throughout their whole album. the vaccines – what did you expect from the vaccines Genre: Britpop, Alternative rock Sample Song: Post Break Up Sex Fastpaced, short, breath-taking. The vaccines is a band that can't take it easy on stage. They're full of energy and they know it well how to bring this energy over to the listener. Even their slower songs have a beat that picks up and up untill you can't sit or stand still anymore. オトハネコモレビ – カタチないセカイ (otohanekomorebi - Katachi nai Sekai) Genre: Piano-pop Sample Song: 冒険心 (boukenshin) I guess I discovered a love for female vocalist that are called kiku. I really adore the sweet yet matured voice. Especially hearing the first tunes of their songs and seeing the band on photos and videos, you would expect the vocalist to have a young, high-pitched voice, but throughout the album she maintains here strong voice, which are backed up with some sweet piano-tunes, making this one of my favourite pop-albums of this year. Dazzled Kid - Fire needs Air Genre: Singer-Songwriter, pop-rock Sample Song: Embrace About 3 years ago I fell in love with a Dutch band called Voicst. They had some nice songs during the year, but then I kinda forgot about them. Early this year their frontman Tjeerd Bomhof released his solo-debut as Dazzled Kid (after one of the Voicst-songs). Together with some guest musicians he released Fire Needs Air, and I immediatly fell in love again with the typical voice of Tjeerd. 潮田雄一 - 8 songs Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Folk Sample Song: 眠りの国 (nemuri no kuni) Luckily I got my latest package delivered just after new years, otherwise I would've completely missed this gem. 8 songs is the second solo release of Ushioda Yuichi, who is also the guitarist of QUATTRO. This band however is completely different than his soloworks. 8 songs let us listen to some really sweet guitar tones, and this in combination with his soft voice are a real pleasure to the ears.

Non-Japanese Shabazz Palaces - Black Up * The Weeknd - House Of Balloons (& Echoes Of Silence) * Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Unknown Mortal Orchestra IceAge - New Brigade Emika - Emika * Youth Lagoon - The Year Of Hibernation * Holy Other - With U EP Clams Casino - Instrumentals (& Rainforest EP) J*DaVeY - New Designer Drug * Tyler, The Creator - Goblin Zomby - Dedication A$AP Rocky - Live Love A$AP The Kills - Blood Pressures Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde Japanese 実験台モルモット - 箱庭の音樂会 女王蜂 - 孔雀 101A - 4 * Dir en Grey - DUM SPIRO SPERO Maria Hato - The Latter Half of Aloha Droog - Love Songs XA-VAT - 艶℃ Goth-Trad - Babylon Fall EP * As far as a winner is concerned, it should be The Weeknd's album: The Weeknd - House Of Balloons Abel Tesfaye's mixtape trilogy started with this release - already containing all the things that helped The Weeknd to make it's way to the top albums of this year: especially Abel's fragile, smooth voice, his incredible falsettos, which he can turn into the voice of a self-confident man's voice, full of love and lust in both cases. (Check out his version of Michael Jackson's Dirty Diana on the third mixtape.) The Weeknd, and his producers/helpmates (like Illangelo) could show a new way to r'n'b, while still keeping the very core of it; I think it isn't too much to say, that Abel's project was one of the leaderships of the so-called "hipster r'n'b" project (think of acts like Drake, How To Dress Well) - seriously, who thought that sampling a Beach Boys song (Master Of None in "Loft Music"), or a Siouxsie And The Banshees song (Happy House in House Of Balloons / Glass Table Girls) could turn out to be a great idea? Abel sings about parties - to be more specific, the dark side of the parties, love for money, the drugs, the emptiness. Not to mention, that from the 'nothing' (Abel has a pre-band, called "The Noise"), without revealing his identity for a long time, Abel could set up a very special world, with it's own style (from the use of xoxo to the covers), and make it to the mainstream - he was featured on Drake's new album (and Drake was featured on Abel's second mixtape, in "The Zone"), he was featured on the offical Lady Gaga remix album, his song was used during an advertisement - and next year, he will do his first world tour. From this year's very strong free mixtape scene (just think about A$AP Rocky's LiveLoveA$AP, Danny Brown's XXX, Frank Ocean's Nostalgia, Ultra and so on), The Weeknd could rise out. Favourite Track:

2011 has been a wonderful year for Japanese music & abroad. Here are my picks for the best albums of 2011. I've divided them into 2 parts - Japanese and non-Japanese! Japanese Picks! sgt. - Birthday Sample song: Cosgoda BIRTHDAY is sgt.'s 2nd full album their finest work to date! I've seen a few complaints about there not being "enough guitar" on this record, so if you're expecting your atypical post-rock fare, then you won't find it here. Why? Because sgt. has skillfully transcended the bounds of the genre and become an entity of their own. BIRTHDAY is littered with hints of jazz and even successfully ventures into hip hop on the track Zweiter Weltkrieg, which features Kim from Uhnellys. An engaging record from starts to finish and a definite must-listen! KINGDOM☆AFROCKS - Fanfare Sample song: Anti Violence 'Japanese Afrobeat' may seem like an oxymoronic description , but KINGDOM☆AFROCKS proves that the Japanese are masters of adopting foreign music styles and making them their own. The core of their music lies in Afro-beat, but there's also a bit of jazz and Latin/Brazilian flavor in the mix. This is KA's first studio album after nearly 5 years of performing live, and you can almost feel the energy of their live act on record. An EXCELLENT album with top notch grooves throughout! Naoto Taguchi - Nostalgia Sample song: Hue Absolutely sublime ambient music; a melding of tiny sounds; small, almost imperceptible glitches offset by delicate electronica and meandering piano in the background. There are faint echoes of IDM throughout the mix as well. Listening to Nostalgia, I almost feel as if I'm slowly drowning in a sea of aural bliss. 八十八ヶ所巡礼 - SYG88 Sample song: 悟ri+time Perhaps the most interesting Japanese-rock album I've heard all year. SYG88 is chock-full of off-kilter rhythms, unusual riffs, and flashy instrumentation, yet it's all very accessible and catchy. 88kayso Junrei also has an inherent quirkiness that never seems forced or over-the-top. If you're looking for something a bit different that rocks as hard as anything else, you won't want to miss this. salyu × salyu - s(o)un(d)beams Sample song: ただのともだち salyu × salyu is a brilliant avant-pop collaboration between the jpop songstress Salyu and the renown electronic guru, Cornelius. s(o)un(d)beams sees Salyu exploring new territory and experimenting with her voice, while Cornelius works his programming magic. A fun, highly adventurous record and a welcome new direction for Salyu. I can only hope that this collab isn't a one-time deal. akutagawa - dawn Sample song: ハッピーエンド 2011 saw a ton of bands return after years of silence and akutagawa was one of them. "dawn" is well worth the 5 year wait. There are only 6 tracks, but 40 minutes of emotional-hardcore exellence! nobie - PRIMARY Sample song: arigatou Vocalist and musician Nobie has been active in a multitude of Jazz and Jazz-related projects over the past decade and has at long last released an album of her own. PRIMARY is, hands down, the finest Japanese vocal-jazz album of 2011. Not only is Nobie a skilled Jazz vocalist, but she avoids all the pitfalls that so many Japanese jazz vocalists stumble into. For one, Nobie's material is highly original. With the exception of 3 tracks, all of the songs here are original compositions, while most J-Jazz vocalists churn out entire albums of Jazz standards with no attempt to outdo the original or at least make the song their own. Secondly, Nobie keeps jazz at the forefront - she doesn't attempt to streamline her songs for the pop-crowd, as so many J-Jazz vocalists do. Nobie is one of the best kept secrets of the Japanese Jazz scene, so I'm here to spread the word. This girl is ACE! momigai - MUSIC VOX Sample song: Whales 2011 seems to be a wonderful year for collaboration albums! Momigai is a joint musical effort from hip hop producer DJ Motive and electronic/indie pop and Remigai. Dreamy and colorful electronic arrangements spanning a diverse array of sounds - from jazz and bossa, hip hop, idm, ambient and more. Lovely! YUEY - I My Me Mine Where Is She Sample song: SOS YUEY is an indie-rock trio that has largely gone unnoticed by overseas J-music fans despite releasing 3 mini albums and one full length in the past 5 years. A bit sad considering how good these guys are at what they do. At only 24 minutes long, 'I My Me Mine Where Is She' is short, straightforward indie-rock EP, but it's skillfully executed and highly infectious! YOK - Days with hearts Sample song: レモネード There were a plethora of quality Japanese folk albums released in 2011, but Days with hearts is easily the most memorable of them all. Newcomer YOK pretty much came out of nowhere and blew me away with her sound. Days with hearts has a surprisingly Western indie-folk sound, which is not something you often hear in Japan. YOK has already garnered comparisons to Western folk heavyweights like Vashti bunyan, Cat Power, gregory&the hawk, and even Joanna Newsom. With such an impressive debut, I'm very much looking foward to her future output! Senkawos - On the Ground Sample song: ねじれる視線、交えるふたり Senkawos is a Jam-band of sorts with a pretty ambitious sound. They masterfully take on post-rock, math-rock, jazz, funk, hip hop and even folk, yet with all these different sounds On the Ground is a cohesive albums that flows seamlessly. Anna Yamada - Colorful Sample song: loopway With a very late December release, this album just BARELY made my list, but it's no less deserving of a spot here. The aptly titled Colorful is indeed a colorful assortment of gorgeous acoustic instrumentation and delicate electronics with Anna's ever-pleasant vocals leading the way. An incredibly beautiful record that borrows pieces of ambient, post-rock, and folk, yet maintains an overlying indie-pop sensibility. Also worth noting: Anna writes & mixes all of her own music. 緋と陽 - 燃えて泣く鳴る Sample song: 映斜晩窓 hitohi plays an epic mixture of hardcore and post-rock with a few mathy passages here and there. They keep things fairly progressive and employ vocals sparsely - vocals which, interestingly, are very folky and 'tribal-like' in tone. Also interesting is the bands use of a contrabass - which adds to the melancholic overtones of their songs. With each track hoovering around 8 minutes, this mini-album is a lot to digest in one sitting, but proves to be rewarding upon repeat listens! Tyme. × Tujiko - GYU Sample song: 神様のバケーション Yet another collaboration album. This time between Tatsuya Yamada/tyme. (who is also in the band MAS with the violinist from sgt) and the ever-intriguing Tujiko Noriko. The music is heavily electronic with nods to trip-hop, IDM, and ambient. A few tracks lean towards the pop side, but they never quite make it there as tyme.'s intricate electronic wizardry offsets Tujiko's unusually optimistic tone. A magnificent record that might just appeal to fans of electronica on all ends of the spectrum. THE ACT WE ACT - いってきます Sample song: I.F.M Taking ques from John Zorn's Naked City, THE ACT WE ACT plays some of the most chaotic hardcore punk around. Their cacophonous sound is topped off with some wonderfully obnoxious noise-saxophone. Never a dull moment on this record! スガダイロー - スガダイローの肖像・弐 Sample song: 寿限無 While the major players of J-Jazz (soil&pimp, indigo jam unit, quasimode, etc) have all produced underwhelming records this year, 2011 has been a great year for the underdogs of the scene. Experimental Jazz pianist Suga Dairo has produced one of the most interesting Japanese Jazz albums of the year. Constantly weaving in and out of free-form jazz (often several times within the same track), Suga Dairo's compositions are unpredictable and will either excite you or frustrate you. Fortunately, I think he's struck a happy medium on this record. For every 'left-field' moment, there's also a moment of accessibility. The tracks featuring Tony Chanty are particularly tame, as Suga suppresses his insane piano skills to allow her sultry vocals to shine. A wonderful record, but an acquired taste.

NG's Top 5 of 2011 Hello, everybody! ^____^ The year 2011 was full of so many awesome releases, in my opinion. However, I decided to dedicate this post to the releases that left the greatest impact on me. Listening to each of them takes me back to some memorable part of 2011. Edit: Everything should be fixed now! ^___^ Sorry, I'm new to the Dropbox thing. 1. Cinema Staff - Cinema Staff Sample Song: "Cockpit" This album was the highlight of my summer. One of its defining characteristics is the variety of lovely, catchy guitar and vocal melodies. It contains Cinema Staff's usual blend of pop and post-rock. It's an instant candidate for multiple replays. 2. Andymori - Kakumei Sample Song: Peace For what this album lacks in length, it makes up for in its youthful energy. It is an incredibly fun album that is also full of great pop melodies with a bit of an underlying punk sensibility. The new drummer Kenji certainly proves his abilities and I will enjoy hearing his drumming in future releases. 3. Anthem - Heraldic Device Sample Song: Blind Alley Japanese metal legends show that even after twenty-five years, they've still got it. For fans of classic style heavy/power metal, the album should not disappoint and for those unaware of the non-visual side of older Japanese metal it is an instant recommendation. It was totally worth the two year wait for its release. 4. Boris - New Album Sample Song: Black Original Boris' new major/pop direction did not at all disappoint, despite their reputation as an experimental metal band. The album embodies a darker, seductive side of pop as opposed to the cheesy, cheap side that usually characterizes a band that has gone "poppy." Those who have strayed from Boris due to disliking their harder metal or drone releases may want to give this a spin. Strangely, out of their other releases, I found this to be the most enjoyable. 5. B'z - C'mon Sample Song: Sayonara Kizudarake no Hibiyo B'z never fail to make me happy; any year with a new B'z album released is a pretty darn good year. Good, easy listening pop-rock and ballads featuring Tak Matsumoto's Grammy award winning jazzy/groovy guitar playing and Koshi's emotion-filled voice.

My "Best of" lists are always short: I really don't spend much time thinking about a cluster of things I feel I've liked the most, so don't expect to find anything life changing here. It also doesn't help that I don't realize I like something or find out something exists till way after it comes out . I've already kind of ranted about my tendency to suck at "best ofs" here, but I'll rehash the albums I managed to come up with (and really, there weren't that many that did a lot for me this year). This list has no order to it: lynch. - I BELIEVE IN ME A few other people made mention of this album. I'm a casual lynch. fan, only really listening to them when I'm in the mood for music like that. Overall, I was really surprised with this album since it seemed pretty balanced without trying too hard to be heavy or brutal. In fact, a lot of songs aren't even that heavy and are just nice to listen to. Definitely my favorite album by them, especially since I don't even like any of their other albums. The Kiryu - 夢幻鳳影 This is The Kiryu's second album, and I enjoyed it much more than their first one although both suffered from too many re-recordings and not enough new material. Still lots of good neo-traditional Japanese music mixed with some progressive visual-kei found here. The Human Abstract - Digital Veil Absolutely love this album. I had their other two albums because of a friend and I never really cared for them. Then, someone posted a Japanese metalwhateverpostcore band video here, and it eventually led to some samples of this album that really blew me away. This band is not typical metal-core at all: they highly classically influenced and are incredibly progressive as well. Very very good album! Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events qUyImGvijN0 I only tried out this album a few days ago, so in all honesty, I won't be able to recognize 90% of the things here. However, upon listening, I really enjoyed most of what I heard. This album is not easy listening in the least, but there's a lot of nice atmospheres and 10 minute + songs on here if that's your kind of thing. The vocals are a bit ~eh~ , but they make up for it else where. I'm not uploading an mp3 for this. You'll have to settle for a youtube video. XA-VAT -艶℃ This is probably my favorite album of the year: great 80's like electronic music that's catchy and memorable. The reason I consider this my favorite album is because I still get cravings to listening to it months after it came out instead of my own personal hype quietly dying down. E'm~Grief~ - Grief Not EXACTLY 2011, but it came out on December 22nd and I didn't receive my copy till 2011 so...I'm counting it. They've been one of my favorite bands for a while due to their sort of old-school visual-kei approach to their music, mixed with some industrial metal: plus I have a fixation for deep and pseudo-operatic vocals. They aren't popular here because of their "Amentia" mishap, but I'm still left confused as to why people even like Dimmu to begin with. Anyway, this is actually all of their songs sans 1 Phantasmagoria cover. Well, that's it for albums for me. I did like a lot of other releases and I did like other individual songs a whole lot, but I honestly didn't find many albums that really came off as amazing to me.