Pošto je ovo tema na kojoj "provodim" najviše vremena, voleo bih da s vama podelim moju top10 listu za 2010. godinu. A recimo i to da bih voleo da vidim i vaše liste. Samo da napomenem, da se ne radi o full prog rock listi (ono kad se pogleda može se reći i da lista uopšte nije prog rock ), no to je to. Zasigurno, mnogo bendova je zaslužilo da uđe u sam vrh, ali ovo je neki presek onoga što sam najviše slušao u proteklih godinu dana. Erm...
10. SIDEBURN - The Demon Dance
The album signed by Transubstans Records, actually my favorite label around these days. The Demon Dance is a very good album, for sure. The blend of heavy metalized guitars with stoner riffs and beautiful Hammond touch tells enough. If you're in the mood, grab this album, you won't regret.
09. SHINING - Blackjazz
Thanks Goat this album has appeared in very first month of 2010, if my brain still works good. The title of the album should create an image for you of what you can expect, the most extreme sound these Norwegians ever produced. And as a dessert there's a cover version of King Crimson's classic 21st Schizoid Man. Evil!
08. TOHPATI ETHNOMISSION - Save the Planet
Tohpati Ethnomission comes from Indonesia and is a project of a fusion jazz guitarist named Tohpati, who, with this album, served above everything an interesting mixture of jazz fusion with traditional/ethnic elements, what's not that easy to produce in an innovative way in last years, in my humble opinion. Hardcore fans of fusion, this is MUST!
07. SAHG - III
These fellas could be easily described as an underground supergroup, considering their work with other projects/bands. More devoted fans will surely know what I mean, but afterall it's not the point. Sahg keeps on their way which started, you guess, with I album and they nail it down heavily. Hard-edge heavy/stoner metal on its best.
06. MOTORPSYCHO - Heavy Metal Fruit
If you check biographies of all bands I listed here till now, you'll probably think I come from Norway or in other case, I'm in love with this Scandinavian country. None of that two is true (although I'd love to visit this country one day, why not), but it doesn't change the fact that this is 3rd band till now out of 5 (and there will be more) that comes from Norway. And Motorpsycho is an established name in psychedelic/progressive/hard/whatnot rock circles, as they've been around since the beginning of '90 and Heavy Metal Fruit is their 14th album, which kicks asses and hits straight to heads. I guess it's enough.
05. JAGA JAZZIST - One-Armed Bandit
As I told you, there will be more from Norway and here we are. Jaga Jazzist's new album has been waited for 5 years and believe me it was worth waiting for. If I compare this album with its predecessor What We Must, it's evident that the band has made a step forward to a more proggier sound, what probably makes me love this album that much. I have to mention the track called Bananfluer Overalt which is one of the tracks I've listened mostly in the year behind us. Masterpiece!
04. CONSECRATION - .avi
The biggest curse that can happen to a quality band that comes from Serbia or this region in general is probably that the band doesn’t come from Sweden, Germany or the US. Why? Well, if there is only an ounce of justice in this world, Consecration would already be known worldwide, having the best possible support by labels, promoters, radio & TV stations, etc. It might sound to pretentious, but this band easily stands shoulder-to-shoulder with such acts like Cult of Luna, Goodspeed You! Black Emperor, Isis, God is an Astronaut, Mono, to name a few. .avi is the second album of this Belgradian band and I can say fully objectively that .avi is one of the most innovative albums coming out of Serbian’s sleepy music scene.
03. ELEPHANT9 - Walk the Nile
While others keep complaining about Elephant9’s cover design since their debut Dodovoodoo was released in 2008, I still find it just interesting as the music the trio serves. Welcome to Walk the Nile, an absolute gem of the finest jazz-prog rock sound you can probably find. The thing that decorates this album is their success in capturing and transmission of live energy, so you get the feeling of spontaneity in their jamming. It’s like this album is both created and recorded at once.
02. HYPNOS 69 - Legacy
Hypnos 69 is one of those rare bands that with every next release shows off evident progress and maturity and Legacy is the finest what you could get from Mr. Steve Houtmeyers and the company. Legacy is an homage to the progressive/psychedelic rock bands from way back in the 60’s and 70’s. But also, Legacy applies to more than one meaning.
It does refers to an ancestral legacy of ancient wisdom, hidden and passed through by occult, Gnostic or alchemical societies.
Houtmeyers commented on the album's meaning, in an interview I've completed for ProgSphere.
01. MY BROTHER THE WIND - Twilight in the Crystal Cabinet
If someone told me at the beginning of the year that I would consider an album that was recorded and mixed in four hours to be one of the best of 2010, I would probably laugh to death. But, after listening to this album, I wouldn’t feel ashamed to accept that I was wrong, because My Brother The Wind, a band consisting of Anekdoten’s Nicklas Barker, Makajodama’s Mathias Danielsson, and Magnolia’s Ronny Eriksson and Tomas Eriksson, made and brilliant achievement that would probably make even the worst pessimist believe in the impossible. These 4 guys have in succeeded harnessing the raw and wild energy of jamming and turn it into something that is going to be considered one of the high points of the genre in 2010. Musically, hearing these six songs again and again is truly no passive experience. Certainly you will find in their performance a quality that forces you to listen carefully. At the other side, you can’t know what’s coming next, nothing is ever predictable, and a listener can go from track to track with no danger of fatigue setting in. The songs are in a constant state of transformation, floating energy mixes with melodies, rhythmic transfusions and familiarity with all the tunes. You will be astonished at how comfortable it is having those circling of melodies surround you, but they will take care to break it off unexpectedly and leave you to ask yourself “what just happened?” It would be ungrateful to compare My Brother The Wind’s music with any of the former or actual representatives of the psychedelic/space/kraut/prog rock genre, due to its members’ wide influences, but let me say that they successfully pull out the best of Gila, Agitation Free, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Can, Hawkwind, and more. What makes me glad is that they've already announced the new album will be recorded in January 2011, which just started and if it's good as Twilight was, then it indicates this year will be a damn good year.
