You know the drill. Here’s some of my favorite stuff from this last year, starting with music. I listened to a whole bunch of things this year, but these stuck out to me for some reason. Hopefully you dig some of it.

GAUPA – Myriad

I stumbled across this band GAUPA while looking through my apple music recent releases. I don't know if I'd ever listened to them before that, but I had no idea what to expect. Turns out it's basically a Björk impersonator fronting a heavy rock band from Sweden. At first I was like 🤨 but then I was like 🥹. Once you get past the hyper awareness of the whole Björk thing, it starts to click, and it's awesome. At this point I’m pretty sure it’s my Album of the Year.

Also, the cover is rad.

Messa – Close

We have a rarely used Slack for talking about music with some friends. The only time it’s ever really used is for one of posting a recent discovery we think the rest of the crew needs to know about. One of those was this album by Messa. Eric busted in and said something like “dudes, this has everything – heavy, jazzy parts, proggy parts… it’s incredible”.

As is tradition, the first time I listened to this album, I didn’t quite get it. It was definitely intriguing, but kind of a slow burn. The female vocals are wonderful, but take some getting used to. A lot of what makes this special is pretty subtle. After a few more listens, I got it.

It’s probably not much of a coincidence that the top two albums of the year for me (this and GAUPA) are both fronted by women. I’ve long been into women fronted artists, but more on the brooding side of things like Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Portishead, etc. Having more heavy bands fronted by women approaching things a bit differently has been a breath of fresh air. There are women doing heavy Cookie Monster vocals (Arch Enemy, for example) or standard power metal vocals (Holy Grove, Witch Mountain, etc.), which is great, but when I come across bands doing something kinda different I get stoked. Messa definitely fits the bill.

BUMMER – Dead Horse

This album has only gotten better the more I listen to it. I saw Bummer a few years ago, I think with Whores, at the Ash St. Saloon (RIP) and they were pretty good. I checked out their recorded stuff at the time, and it was also… pretty good. I never really listened to it much again.

Then, earlier this year, I was at another Whores show, and who happens to be opening again? Bummer. This time, it clicked. Heavy, pissed, and chaotic. The next day I listened to their latest album, and holy balls. Some of the gnarliest, grimiest riffage I’ve heard in a long time.

Also, they have a song called I want To Punch Brice Springsteen In The Dick and it’s incredible.

Mammoth Volume – The Cursed Who Perform the Larvagod Rites

I’d heard of Mammoth Volume a few years ago, mostly because their name seemed so… on the nose? Their latest album came across my New Releases feed so I gave it a shot, and whoa. It was not at all what I remembered or was expecting. It has a definite psych feel to it, and being from Sweden gives it a bit of a different vibe than American stoner metal stuff. Lots of wacky keyboard stuff, time signatures, and riffage. Hopefully they make it out to Portland some time, I’d love to see them live.

Doomer Jazz

One day Ted dropped a link in the group text to a YouTube video. The preview card showed this image:

The title was “1 Hour of Late Night Doomer Jazz” and, needless to say, I was intrigued. I love jazz, and I love doom, so it stood to reason that I would also love this.

And, of course, I did.

The image that they made for it is pretty much perfect. The best way to imagine what this playlist sounds like is to think of a grimy old detective movie from the 70s in NYC with lots of fedoras, trench coats, dirty cabs, and lots and lots of moody saxophone. You’ll recognize it as soon as you hear it.