January Playlist (Volume 1)

Welcome to the first of a (roughly) fortnightly series of playlists. I've decided to do this because I wanted a record of what I've been listening to, that way I can return to each list and remind me what I was excited about months earlier. Also, some music just deserves sharing.

Most songs will be new, some might be old. Some will be quiet, some will be very loud. It will all be good though, trust me. This first one is a strong list, featuring everything from metal to classically infused techno from as far and wide as Germany and Denmark, Norway and Northen Ireland.

Edit: The Marnie Stern track for some reason won't work on the Cloud Player. Here it is.

 

The Tracks:

 

Thought Forms - Only Hollow

This is an immediately striking track from Thought Forms, who are signed to Geoff Barrow's Invada Records. Taut, fraught and fuzz-drenched.

The Men - Electric

Open Your Heart was bursting with honest intent, and reviews rewarded that, yet the album was inexplicably shunned by Album of the Year polls at the end of 2012. They deserve better in 2013. Third album New Moon arrives in March, and they'll be in the UK shortly after.

Iceage - Coalition

Iceage are back and this is great news. This track is as furious as you might expect from the Danes, but also hints at the new emotional depths plumbed on second album You're Nothing.

John Grant - Pale Green Ghosts

Haunting, shapeshifting slowburner from the ex-The Czars man. No matter what else I listen to, I keep coming back to this one.

Marnie Stern - Year of the Glad

Another welcome return, this time from Marnie Stern. This track and another early arrival, 'East Side Glory', suggest that on phenomenally titled new album The Chronicles of Marnia, Stern has reined in the hyperactive guitar wizardry just slightly, allowing her songwriting to shine through even more than on previous releases.

No Spill Blood - Good Company

Along with Okkultokrati's Snakereigns (below), No Spill Blood's Street Meat EP was one of my heavy discoveries of 2012. Another smart signing from the usually excellent Sargent House, the Northern Ireland hardcore band combine synth hooks with the power of Mastodon and the intensity of Converge. A forthcoming debut album is well worth looking out for.

 

Okkultokrati - No Ourouboros

Owing as much to 80's US hardcore as it does to much of the metal produced closer to home (the band are from Norway), Okkultokrati's Snakereigns LP is a snarling, sneering hybrid.

Brandt Brauer Frick - Broken Pieces Feat. Jamie Lidell
The first new music from the German Techno/Classical group since 2011's Mr Machine, this comes from their new album Miami, released in March. BBF arrive in the UK in late March, performing with Frank Ocean producer and Miami guest star Om'Mas Keith.

See also: Nina Kraviz and Theo Parrish.