by Stephen Clover

The Red Krayola continue to failtodisappoint with "Introduction" (Drag City; LP) in which Mayo Thompson and band serve up more pleasantly-skewed and thoroughly-listenable avant rock. Case in point: the 'cover' of "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" which pays only lipservice to the original before Thompson launches into one of his catchy li'l socio-political song-rants (c.f. 1976's "Corrected Slogans", though not as overt) filled with nonsense canticles and macro-economic formulae. It's almost 40 years since he began this crazy ride through the wilderness of fashion and taste – much 'spect to Mr. Thompson... and how's it feel to be the fucken Mick Jagger of the independent-music scene?

Prog-doom youngsters Mammatus had their eponymously entitled album reissued on vinyl by Rocket Recordings. The LP always starts out rather innocuously with me but by 1/3way through the B-side has its hooks well and truly in you and WILL. NOT. LET. GO. It's a fucken monstrously marvellous thing. Beautiful Roger-Deanesque (possibly) artwork too. They're quite the act to witness live, I hear; look also out for a collaboration with Melbourne, Australia's improv noise-rock monsters Grey Daturas. Speaking of whom, the Daturas' latest "Path Of Niners" (Heathen Skulls; CD) was superb in trumping their previous high-point "Dead in the Woods". Do yerselves a favour and lay it on your ears at your earliest available.

2006 was also the year of Thom Yorke's 'emotronica' (not my term but I dig it) debut solo album "Eraser" (XL; LP) which (pleasingly) beguiled me and (very pleasingly) outraged a legion of Radiohead fans. The LP is packaged in a very nice heavy paper with multiple-impression block-printed artwork; embossing abounds. I am a sucker for that shit. I am not a sucker for XL's subsequent fan-scamming series of 12's from the LP; avoid them.

In other vinyl reissue news, Germany's Blind Date records provided me with an impression of Finnish doom-sludgeo maestros Stumm's cdr "I" (as in "1" – the slightly-different-track-wise original is also known as "Regressive and No Talent Whatsoever") (LP), and the UK's Invada did likewise with countrymen Atavist's brutalising sludgeo-doom self-titled debut (2LP). Both are essential; somewhat excitingly, Atavist are due to release a new album in early 2007.

Conspiracy Records out of Belgium chose 2006 as the year to launch their ltd. edn. subscriber series. So far this has yielded an exemplary collection of new and reissued noise/drone/rock recordings including The Goslings "Between The Dead" (LP), Monno "Error" (LP), Horns "Horns, Halos & Mobile Phones" (LP), Nadja + Fear Falls Burning "We Have Departed The Circle Blissfully" (LP), Whitehorse "Flames To Light The Way / Everything Ablaze" (LP) (didn't stay unreleased for very fucken long did it), Climax Golden Twins s/t (LP), and The Skull Defekts "Magnetic Skulls & Intense Sound Stimulations" (LP). Not to mention the two that were sold-out at source before this writer got a look-in: Shit And Shine "Toilet Door Tits" (LP) and Ginnungagap (Stephen O'Malley side-project) "Crashed Like Wretched Moth" (LP). And all of them seem to feature utterly beautiful mind-altering and inspirational hand-made sleeve-art by the likes of Dennis Tyfus, Seldon Hunt and Jelle Crama. Holy god, could this get any better? Phew. And if I'm allowed to mention The Goslings twice in the same paragraph, do not overlook their wonderful new one "The Grandeur of Hair" (aRCHIVE; CD); ditto Whitehorse who further produced two top-drawer live documents "West of the Sun / Ocean Turns to Black" (self-released; CD) and "Live at Singakura, Osaka 29.06.2005" (self-released; CD-EP) which conclusively demonstrate these Australians' commitment to serious heavy heavy noisy-sludge-rockin.

Speaking of Fear Falls Burning – my "No shit are you kidding me?" moment of '06 is in the form of the discovery that this utter prince of the heavy-drone crowd is none other than Dirk Serries, the same guy that used to release electro tone-drone stuff in the 90s using the moniker Vidna Obmana. And one of my favourite exponents of the form to boot. I also picked up FFD's "I'm One Of Those Monsters Numb With Grace" (Equation; LP) and I'm tellin' ya, my life was that much the better for it.

Still on the vinyl-reish tip; Southern Lord did the gentlemanly-thing to Oren Ambarchi's sublime tonal drift opus "Grapes from the Estate" (2LP) with exquisite photographs, packaging and marbled vinyl that suited the delicate loveliness of the music; not to be outdone, Hydra Head came to the party with a frankly OTT reissue of Jesu's recent s/t album (2LP). Die cut outer-sleeve and four-face picture-disc extravaganza, anyone? Southern Lord also helped Boris fanatics avoid long-term health problems by putting out the Japo-noise-mongers' explosive "Pink" (2LP) in a run large-enough to satisfy surely all.

On the black metal front there was a slew of releases which served to keep me well and truly off the straight'n'narrow. The following are my pick of the year's output (note that a couple of these may be recent vinyl reissues of (slightly) older albums): Leviathan's crucial "The Tenth Sub Level Of Suicide" (Moribund; 2LP); Gorgoroth's brutal "Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam" (Regain Records; LP); Glorior Belli's enchantingly melodic "O Laudate Dominus" (Aquilus Cruoris; LP); Nav's twisted "Halls Of Death" (Forever Plagued; LP); Circle Of Ouroborus' bizarre "Shores" (Northern Sky Productions; LP); Krohm's simply fucked "A World Through Dead Eyes" (Moribund; CD); and Xasthur's gorgeous "Subliminal Genocide" (Hydra Head; CD). A couple of killer splits also surfaced: Leviathan/Crebain on Anti-Xtian Terror (2LP), as well as Ürfaust and Circle of Ouroborus’s "Auerauege Raa Verduistering" (Target:Earth; LP). Still heavy but not black finds Catacombs' absolutely stunning sloooow doom-metal epic "In the Depths of R'lyeh" (Moribund; CD) and ex-Sleep-sters Om's delightfully-lyrical sophomore release "Conference Of The Birds" (Holy Mountain; LP) at the top of the can't-stop-playing pile.

Makoto Kawabata and his band of krautrock-obsessed Japanese psychedelic hippy freaks Acid Mothers Temple And The Cosmic Inferno trumped their own prior tops in prolific slews of heavy and freaked-out records with references to classic heavy and freaked-out albums by heavy and freaked-out bands sporting heavy and freaked-out artwork by putting out "Starless and Bible Black Sabbath" (Alien8; CD); truly the most freaked-out and heavy AMT effort I can think of and one of the few I would actually cross the road to recommend to anyone. If it weren't that the 40 min of screaming guitars, wailing synth twitters and brain-shredding riffs did utter justice to the King Crimson and Black Sabbath referred to in the album's title, the "Black Sabbath" coverart tribute makes it also one of their choicest items on artwork-terms alone.

A.M.T. notwithstanding, this year was the year noise-rock also did the only decent thing and made official its years-long serious love-affair with heavy doom and black metal; as well as the prior-mentioned Goslings, Monno, Mammatus, Horns, Whitehorse and Grey Daturas, a slew of other bands dropped noteworthy releases and all of them upped the ante in various ways, not to mention giving my own project The Stumps something to think about. Wolfskull, previously only having appeared on a Battlecruiser 3" cdr, followed through with the haunting "Bloodbowl" (CDR-EP) on Root Don Lonie For Cash, and the pounding full length "Tannasg" on Ruralfaune (CDR). Ruralfaune copped a double-power-play with Heavy Winged's hyper-noise-pummel "Hunting the Moon" (CDR) in addition to the Wolfskull; I say look for more excellence in 2007 from both this foundling label as well as the two bands.

Finland's Tivol hit the ground running with "Early Teeth" (Holy Mountain; LP) – a compilation of older hardtofind material from cdr releases on 267 Lattajjaaa and Time-Lag – then scored again with their new one "Interstellar Overbike" on Last Visible Dog (CD). The Clear Spots' "Electricity for All" (Deep Water; 2CD) intrigued with a departure from their trademark rural spastic noise in a more acid-tinged sound "bathed in all sorts of fuzzy space rock riffage". Confusion for some but delight for me. Delight was found too in Australia's XNoBBQX whose "Blues" (The Seedy-R; CDR) was an "epic of seriously damaged autistic slo-mo riffage, comatose drumming and line hum". Siltbreeze are chasing them for a reissue so look out for that in '07; if you're a New Zealander you're in for a treat because the Sydneysiders will be here late-January.

Other notable releases that also found their way onto my turntable over and over again were The Heads "Under The Stress Of A Headlong Dive" (Invada; 2LP), Italian psych/space-doomsters Ufomammat's "Lucifer Songs" (Supernatural Cat; LP), post-rockers turning noisy-heavy-proggers Grails' very cool "Black Tar Prophecies Vols 1, 2, 3" (Important Records; CD), and Residual Echoes "MFI-GBSP Ltd." (Rocket Recordings; LP). In addition, the year ahead finds me looking well forward to releases from Ajilvsga and The Does.

Campbell "Birchville Cat Motel" Kneale bewildered a bunch of folk by putting out an album under his own name, but "Pink Stalingrad" (Celebrate/Psi/Phenomenon; CD) is a thing of devastating beauty anyways. Birchville Cat Motel also produced two killer releases – the sensationally powerful and aptly-entitled "Our Love Will Destroy the World" (PseudoArcana; CD) which obtained the sort of terrible review in a shitty local music rag that would make any mother proud – don't rip it up, rip it out, put it in a frame and put it on the wall, I say – as well as the live compilation "Curved Surface Destroyer" (Last Visible Dog; 3CD).

Keeping it in the sorta-family, PseudoArcana released the incredible "Palace" (CD) by The Lost Domain, a "stunning and vital piece of Paleolithic creak’n’tweetin chirrup-hum cosmic-odyssey Ür-drone" (as I wrote in my review) and if I were to be pressed, probably my album of the year. Not to be outdone in essential Lost Domain releases in 2006 however, Digitalis volleyed with "White Man At the Door" (CD) in which the band hooted and howled down their white-man’s campfire blues holler and showed us the very-different other side to the LD coin. It came down to a tie-breaker and I must report that PseudoArcana was beaten by a sublime passing shot from Digitalis Industries with Lost Domain shaman John Henry Calvinist's "King Solomon's Hill" (Foxglove; CDR) and a further issue from The Lost Domain, "An Unnatural Act" (Foxglove; CDR).

Digitalis also made me a very happy man with Tirath Singh Nirmala's "Bluster, Cragg, & Awe" (CD) and Peter Wright's "Red Lion" (CD). A.k.a and latterly re-christened John Clyde-Evans, T.S.N. apparently eschews associations to his music of a spiritual kind, but regardless of that, in its medievally scraped, bowed and uttered drone-sonnets I am mindful again and again of a sort-of mystical woodlands vibe somewhat akin to that which some Finnish free-folkers refer; either way, its ultimately a deeply-moving listening experience. Peter Wright and his trusty 12-string guitar just continue to grow and grow and grow and appear to be well advanced on some kinda electrico-drone global-domination trajectory.

As for Digitalis' partner in services-to-mankind Foxglove, they again produced a slew of prime cdrs and of them I couldn't recommend highly enough Italian wunderkind multi-instrumentalist Valerio Cosi's "Immortal Attitudes" (CDR); his sun-drenched sax-drone-ragas will make you wish it was 1969 and you were on acid and hanging with Terry Riley at an Alice Coltrane gig – or vice versa. However I would be amiss in omitting to mention Anthony Guerra & Matt Nidek's blistering "White Eagle" (CDR), The Futurians' transcendentally bludgeoning "Evil Dead" (2CDR) (feat. MORE cool Jelle Crama artwork), The North Sea's lovely "Summer Decays Into October's Alchemy" (CDR), and Vlubä's frankly incomprehensible but nonetheless-compelling "≈ےҖҗ-.:._بұ-ҸؤǾ..." [sic] (CDR).

Bouncing back over at PseudoArcana towers, The Green Blossoms' intimate "Stones and Ecstasy" (CDR) also featured Anthony Guerra – this time with his partner Aiko Koga –- performing a collection of "small sweet improvised pop songs, hypnotic ringing drones and chiming abstract instrumental love talk". The sure-to-be-huge Dialing In put out the disturbing, excoriating and amazing "Cows in Lye" (CD), and label-boss Antony Milton's solo tantric-Hindi-doom-metal project Mrtyu! inflicted upon us the utterly wonderful double-album "Blood Tantras" (20 Buck Spin; 2CD). You will thank me to tell you that you are missing something from your existence if you have not encountered this lo-fi devotional bliss-gloom (is that even possible?) at loud volumes. Antony Milton's world tour special edition album – known helpfully as "Tour Disk 2006" (PseudoArcana; CDR) – is also a quite the beautiful thing, and probably not available anywhere. Do keep an eye out in '07, however, as a major release is planned.

A quick mention to Campbell Kneale's Battlecruiser imprint which issued two new legit cuts of the dodgiest metal in the bo'shiznit. Matthew Bower's Mirag project had their earlier Battlecruiser 3-inch cdr "Black Temple Carved In Smoke" (CD-EP) reissued, and the newie from Kneale's Black Boned Angel project – "Eternal Hunger" (CD-EP) – also appeared. Both are fantastic little artefacts; as well as being crucially dodgy metal, they feature immaculate wood-cut silver-ink-on-black loveliness in the packaging dept. And while we're in the Matthew "Fucking" Bower (who started that fucken "Fucking" thing, anyways?) section, the third instalment in Skullflower's (currently) trilogy of unmissable bliss-noise releases "Tribulation" (Crucial Blast; CD) dropped this year. At one essential blow-out per annum, this is not a trend I have the slightest problem with supporting for the foreseeable future.

I am almost embarrassed to reveal that it wasn't until the last quarter of 2006 that I finally intersected my ears with New Zealand's quiet psych/drone/spacerock super-achiever Lamp of the Universe. "Earth Spirit Sky" was reissued by Cranium (LP) and his latest overture of swirling dreamy Eastern-tinged space-rock ragas shrouded in drug-smoke and mysticism "From The Mystic Rays Of Astrological Light" (Astral Projection; CD) also appeared; both bring immediately to my mind Sandy Bull ("E Pluribus Unum" I would say), perhaps, as well as the lofty heights of such 70s German practioners as Deuter, Popol Vuh and Agitation Free. In a similar headspace but deep in the Black Country – or perhaps Appalachia even – was James Blackshaw's utterly lovely, mesmerising, reverberant "O True Believers" (Bo Weavil; LP). It lulls you with its stark cyclical figures into a hypnotised, soporised daze and then just gently tickles at you when after some time the supplementary instruments – cymbalon, tamboura, and bells – begin to chime in.

Taking a trip but of of a slightly different sort is New Zealand newcomers Little Bushman's "The Onus of Sand" (self-released; CD) which is sorta what you'd get if you crossed Lamp of the Universe with Comets on Fire; or Shuggie Otis and Al Green jamming with Human Instinct. Contemporary yet instantly-classic sounding – its funky roots-soul-psych-rock is tempered with soaring vocals and extended instrumental wig-outs. I can't stop playing it and I suggest you commence to do the same at first opportunity. And back stateside, Brightblack Morning Light stared at me from the cover of Arthur magazine and I was already hooked, long before I heard the catchy churn of their effortlessly funky Rhodes, hushed vocal harmonies, trills of flute and softly waaaaaaaaaaahed slide-guitar song-cycle on "Brightblack Morning Light" (Matador; CD). I keep wanting to say "Tindersticks, but totally smoked-out and notintheleast uptight, man", but for the sake of posterity I will probably continue to refrain.

If you click on my name below you will quickly see that I also loved the harrowing electronics of Chris Moon's Yermo reissue (Last Visible Dog; CD), Nmperign + Jason Lescalleet's sprawling "Love Me Two Times" (Intransitive; 2CD), Alan Courtis' technical plate-tectonic anthem "Antiguos Dólmenes del Paleolítico" (Sedimental; CD), the psych-weirdo electronics of Phillip Werren's moody retrospective "Electronic Music (1968-1971)" (Cast Exotic; 2CD), and Jason Crumer's even more moody electronics on "Hoss" (Audiobot; CD). And as far as compilations go, how could I possibly not grant supreme honours to Last Visible Dog's comprehensively gargantuan "Invisible Pyramid: Elegy" (6CD) box. Wow. There really is nothing else to say about that, except get it. Now, while you still can. I also very much appreciated the third instalment of the "New York Noise" compilations (Soul Jazz; 2LP) – not only for being better than the second, but for introducing me to the incredible stark paranoid dub of Ike Yard. Flying Nun did the whole silver-jubilee boxed set thing (4CD) which has gotta be worth a look, though at around NZ$150 it's certainly on the expensive side. And The Dead C deserve a mention for their thus-far retrospective "Vain, Erudite And Stupid - Selected Works: 1987-2005" (Ba Da Bing!; 2CD) which is as much a timely update to their last compilation "World Peace Hope et. al." – which is now more than ten years old – as a career-overview of sorts, an ideal introduction for a newbie, and an essential release for existing 'C fan(atic)s.

What have I left out: Gregg Kowalsky's "Through the Cardial Window" (Kranky; CD) impressed with its overloaded subversive drone-drift; Nigel Wright's "Tapir" (self released; CDR-EP) was excruciatingly-pretty warm-dark dreamo-tronica; Pumice's Stefan Neville continued the trend of releasing albums under one's own name with the reissue of his primitive confessional "do not destroy..." (Last Visible Dog; CD); Swung came out of nowhere but arrived fully-formed to enchant us with a charming collection of tone-poems and vocal alchemy on "Voice and Key" (PseudoArcana; CDR-EP); Tim Hecker's bewitching buzz-ambient symphony "Harmony in Ultraviolet" was honestly pretty-much already on this list before I'd finished reading the "Album of the Week" write-up on Aquarius; Ricardo Villalobos's spazzy mutant-mariachi dubplate techno "Fizheuer Zieheuer" (Playhouse; CD-EP) was apparently blowing-up dancefloors the world over at approximately the same time it was blowing-up my neighbour's sanity; Yo La Tengo's "I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass" (Matador; 2LP) is almost as ebullient as the title would have you believe and all the better for it; Bardo Pond impressed – but only just – with "Ticket Crystals" (ATP; CD) but rocked the worlds of many with the expansive "Selections" Vol I-IV" (ATP; 2CD), a collection of tour-only cdrs and the like; the dreamy dissonance of Belong's "October Language" (Car Park; CD) made the world of my nocturnal travails a safer, more agreeable place; the same goes for Growing's fractured-yet-mesmerising "Color Wheel" (Mega Blade; LP) and Grouper's enthralling "Wide" (Free Porcupine Society; CD) on which Liz Harris cast her net far and wide for a brand-new set of input signals; Type reissued The North Sea and Rameses III's beautiful collaboration "Night of the Ankou” (CD) and to be quite frank, praise-be that someone did; Rosy Parlane went all "rock"ish (as in post-post-post-rock, not as in "Born in the U.S.A.") on "Jessamine" (Touch; CD) with a phalanx of contributing guitarists; and Alistair Galbraith found musical soul-mates in Alex Neilson and Richard Youngs, and together they made "Belsayer Time" (Time-Lag; LP). It's lovely. Really, really lovely.

So that's the best of my year, just from memory. Scratching the surface of the world in music, twothousand'six. And that's. Just. The. Tipoftheiceberg. As they say.

For the insatiably curious amongst yuz I have prepared a 2006: the year that was podcast which includes tracks from some of the above releases.