Honorable Mentions:
Of Montreal - "Rune Husk"
ANOHNI - "Paradise"
Bad Bearth - "Elephant In The Womb"
Tennis - "We Can Die Happy"
Nine Inch Nails - "Add Violence"
5. Moor Mother & Mental Jewelery - "Moor X Jewelery: Crime Wave" - Now, I got introduced to Moor Mother on her flooring performance on Show Me The Body's "Corpus I" mixtape. But I was a little let down by her first full length album. This EP on the other hand, changed everything. This EP is noisy, brutal, and doesn't take any prisoners. Moor Mother's performances are often manic and crazed. But matched up with Mental Jewelery's very harsh and booming production, and you have one of the wildest and in-your-face Alternative Rap EP's of the year. It's political, it's demanding, it's an awesome listen.
4. Danny L Harle - "1UL" - Now, there's a lot to love about the PC Music group. But Danny L Harle continues to be a massive reason to keep coming back. Danny on the "1UL" EP in a short few tunes, reminded us just as much of a "Huge" powerhouse he can be. The production on these tracks are ridiculous, with the bass loud enough to blow out your headphones and the rest of the instrumentals are vibrant and colorful enough to keep you coming back for numerous listens. Danny has a real way of taking these almost 90's sounding dance tunes and sending them on a bullet train into the future. The result is a blast, my friends, and some of the catchiest Electronic music you'll hear all year.
3. Mastodon - "Cold Dark Place" - Being as indifferent as I was about Mastodon's "Emperor Of Sand", I wasn't expecting anything from this at all. Maybe a few outtakes and demos or something, but nothing much more than that. But to be honest, this EP sort of blew me away. I feel like this is a much more raw Mastodon than we've gotten from them in so long. Most of the tracks here are more somber in tone and sound a whole lot more stripped down. But all of that I mean in the best way. This EP isn't the soul-crushing Sludginess that you would expect from Mastodon, but it may just be the best collection of tracks they've thrown together since "Blood Mountain".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u44bs_Cwoms
2. Nine Inch Nails - "Not The Actual Events” - One of two EP’s Nine Inch Nails have released since late last December, this one took me majorly by surprise. Nine Inch Nails since the late 90’s have been pushing further and further into the realm of Electronic music, which is something they’ve obviously always toyed with. But recently it’s been much more prevalent. People have criticized Trent Reznor for bringing in these electronics a little too much, and watering down his music. This EP on the other hand will 100% change your mind. This is by far the heaviest material Nine Inch Nails have released since “The Fragile”. It’s not clean, it’s not pristine, there are no grooves in sight. Just the dismal, in your face industrial Metal that Trent Reznor made popular in the early 90’s. From the throttling and intense “The Idea Of You”, to the epic and grand “Burning Bright (Field On Fire)”, if you’re a fan of some of Nine Inch Nails’ classic albums, this is a must listen, and will get you excited for the future of one of Industrial’s finest.
1. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - "The French Press" - Sleeper EP of the year right here people. I couldn't have been much more pleased with this EP. When I first heard of Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever last summer their debut album didn't hit me as hard as I was hoping. While it was alright, I felt they hadn't really fleshed out their sound as much as they could. Here, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever find their sound, and it's brilliant. They bring in elements of Jangle Pop, Garage Rock, Surf Rock, Dream Pop, Alternative Country and more, in a brief set of tunes that really don't disappoint at all. While there's nothing that completely rewrites any books on Indie, the material here is nostalgic while looking hopefully towards the future, it's fantastic.
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