Hang On... 2023 Is Done Already?

So 2023 is done, and the main question I am left with is... where the hell did it go? I think 2023 passed by faster than any other year of my life. I know that time seems to pass quicker as you get older, but even so, 2023 came and went with unprecedented speed. I think it was mainly due to having started a new job right at the end of 2022, and having numerous projects and their associated deadlines all year long, which ultimately meant that I was busy with work constantly, working on one thing after another with seeminlgy not enough time to do anything properly. A lot of evenings and weekends were worked and I am hoping that next year will not be quite so busy due to some of the changes that I have put in place.

As a result of working so hard, it felt that outside of work I didn't achieve too much. I managed 4 trips that involved flying on planes, which were all fun in different ways. One of the highlights of the year was when Mike & Meesh came to stay for a few days, which gave me a good excuse to take a couple of days off of work, and also served as a great reminder as of some of the cool people that I have met through collecting recods. Other than that, however, the year was fairly quiet and uneventful. The only other things I can think to mention is that, partly because I was too busy to get to the gym very often, I started doing 100 push ups a day at some point in late April (exact date unknown) and I managed to continue that for the rest of the year, which means that I have done at least 24,500 push ups this year. Oh yeah, and I also managed to go the whole year without a hair cut, which did not start out as intentional and then at some point became a goal in itself.

Turning my attention to the year in music, my iTunes tells me that I added a total of 96 records to my library this year, which averages 1.8 per week, or one every 3.8 days. To me this seems like a crazy high number. How the hell did I have enough time to listen to that many new records multiple times? On reflection I think that the answewr is work. I worked the majority of the year at home, and for most of the day when I am at home I have music playing. I can easily listen to 5 albums in a day that way. But I sometimes wonder how these numbers would seem to the 18 year old me who, on average, probably got a new record every 3 weeks or so. Crazy I am sure.

MY FAVOURITE 2023 RELEASES

As per the last few years, in trying to figure out my favourite releases from the year I have split it into two sections - those that I have the vinyl for, and those for which the vinyl has not yet been received. The downside of this approach, however, is that I end up with two sections and two images, which upon reflection doesn't quite seem quite right, but it is what it is.

These are my favourite records that I picked up on vinyl. It was only after taking the photo that I realised how many UK releases made the list this year. Possibly more than any other year.

Pictured above (from top left, moving across then down) and in no particular order of how much I like them, the records are:

Brain Tourniquet 'An Expression In Pain' LP - Infest / Neanderthal / Crossed Out style hardcore from Washington, DC. This record contains 9 songs that are over in 10 minutes and then one more song that is ten minutes in itself. I got tihs relatively early in the year and imediately knew it would be on this list.

Wound Man 'Human Outline' LP - A Boston hardcore band featuring DFJ which is also firmly in the Infest / Crossed Out vein. I got this at the same time as the Brain Tourniquet LP and still struggle to decide which I prefer.

Unified Action 12" EP - great debut by a UK band with Lins87 on vocals, featuring an Infest cover and a rip off of the Citizens Arrest logo.

Low Coast 'Existing The Dream' LP - Jeff Caudill's latest band that plays some laid back indie rock with his distinct vocal over the top.

Rancid 'Tomorrow Never Comes' LP - I hadn't listened to Rancid since their self-titled LP from 2000, but I bought this as it was on sale and it proved to be a great reminder as to how much I used to love this band and how catchy their songs can be.

Eyeteeth 'Straight Edge Violence' 7" - the only 7" in the list, and this is another record from a new UK band. Ten songs in ten minutes on a 7" with Godzilla on the cover. What's not to love?

Parallel Worlds 'In The Comet's Path' LP - a new name and new sound for a decade old UK band, this record has a cool cover and is a perfect example of hardcore rock 'n' roll.

Prey 'Unsafe' LP - another new UK band, I picked this up on a whim as it was on sale, and immediately loved it. Sixteen vicious hardcore songs done and dusted in 17 minutes, this was the soundtrack for scraping the metal handrail outside my front door.

Not 'Stop The World' LP - a US band with a British singer, this is an blatant attempt at ripping off ALL, and they absolutely pull it off with top marks. Super catchy stuff and some great lyrics, the Summer singalong record of the year.

Metallica '72 Seasons' LP - their first album since 2016, and after one play I was immediately hooked. On balance this is probably my favourite record of the year, although ask me next week and I might give a different answer.

Next up is my shortlist of other records that came out this year that I listened to via the medium of digital magic and that I don't have the vinyl for... yet. I like to document these here as they came out this year and I did spend a lot of time listening to them. These were my favourites:

Shown above are these suckas:

Calling Hours 'Say Less' EP - Popeye from Farside's new band. I saw them live and thought they were pretty dull, but before I had heard this record and knew the songs. After several plays I can safely say that the songs on here are brilliant. The soundtrack for my Florida drives this year.

Drain 'Living Proof' LP - the second album by Drain with some fun cover art, and it's a great follow up to 'California Cursed'. This band is absolutely on fire at this point. Shame about the pointless Descendents cover though and not putting it as the last song.

Liars Academy 'Ghosts' LP - a fantastic comeback record by this Baltimore band (their first since 2004). There is one absolutely incredible song on here, but also (like the Drain LP) this also features a pointless Black Sabbath cover ('Changes') also positioned as the second to last song.

Mean Season 'Go To Hell' 12" - another comeback record (their first since 1994!), and I feel that the new songs on here are absolutely fantastic. Sadly, however, this record is let down because they filled it out with 3 cover songs and a couple of re-recorded old songs, meaning I turn it off halfway through when I play it. But damn, those new songs are good.

Planet On A Chain 'Boxed In' LP - a really impressive fast hardcore album on Revelation which both looks and sounds the part. It took a few goes, but when it clicked it clicked in a big way.

Power Alone 'Nothingness' EP - a new four song EP by Power Alone, but sadly this was released only on digital and cassette formats. Hopefully at some point a vinyl version will appear, because these songs deserve it.

LATE TO THE PARTY

I started adding this section to this summary a few years ago to document the stuff that I listened to a lot this year but that was not released this year. Most of the stuff here I listened to online or downloaded and then got addicted to. Some of it I subsequently tracked down vinyl copies of, and some I didn't, which means I'm also breaking this section into two parts, as above.

First up are the things for which I ended up buying vinyl copies:

Shown in the photo are:

Soul Blind 'Feel It All Around' LP - this came out right at the end of 2022, and I think I listened to it on 01 Jan this year, and loved it immediately. It sounds like a lot Sub Pop grunge release from 1991, which 30 years later sounds really quite fresh.

Scream 'Fumble' LP - I had never heard this record before and decided to buy the latest colour vinyl repress, and I have to say, this record is incredible. My favourite Scream record. Such a different sound to their earlier records.

Hammered Hulls 'Careening' LP - another 2022 release that I didn't get around to until this year. I was waiting for a colour vinyl pressing, and when it came I played the shit out of it.

Iron Monkey '9-13' LP - I was reminded of Iron Monkey this year having not listeend to them in years, and picked up this 2017 record featuring a different singer, which is surprisingly good. I loved this band in 1997/8 and this was a good reminder as to why. Sludgecore.

The Living Memories 'Home Truths' - I read about this one on Mike's blog and thought it sounded interesting. He didn't seem to like it, but I did, and this worked in my favour when he hand deliverd it to my house. This sounds similar to The Smiths but is played by two guys from The First Step.

Rhythm Collision 'Now' & 'Clobberer' LPs - I ended up hearing Rhythm Collision when a song came on youtube after something else that I listened to, and immediately knew it was up my street. I was then lucky enough to find someone in the UK looking to offload a bunch of their records. This band took up a fair amount of my time this summer across these two records.

End Of A Tear 'Sincerely' LP - a Revelation release that I had never heard before as it was a CD only release, but I checked it out digitally and liked what I heard, and then found a vinyl copy (put out by a different label) for sale in the UK. No doubt this is an overlooked / unknown gem in the Rev catalogue.

Samiam 'You Are Freaking Me Out' 7" box set - I ended up reconnecting with Samiam this year after a a few years absence, and heard this 1997 record this year for the first time, which ended up with me buying a stupid 4x7" box set version of it.

I also enjoyed 4 other records a lot that I downloaded and (as yet) do not own vinyl copies of. These are:

New Found Glory 'Sticks And Stones' LP - I had never listened to this band at all because I thought their name was stupid, but I checked them out this year after Rev released a record by them, and I ended up getting slightly addicted to this record. Sadly I couldn't buy a vinyl copy as they all cost hundreds of dollars in 2023.

Downer 'S/T' LP - an old record (from the year 2000) that for some reason got pressed onto vinyl this year on an interesting label (Black Claw Records). I have a 7" by this band in my collection that I got in about 1995 that I had no memory of, so I checked this record online and within about ten seconds knew I needed this record in my life.

Bush 'Razorblade Suitcase' LP - a big surprise for me, I gave this record a chance when someone sent me a test press of it for free, and I ended up loving it. It sounds more like Nirvana than Nirvana, which is odd for a band that were from the UK. Still, at this point in my life, I am really into this sound again.

Deftones 'White Pony' LP - I saw this band play once and walked out after 2 songs, as I was only there to see the support band, Will Haven. I've been meaning to check this band out the last couple of years, thinking that I might be into them these days, and I finally got around to it at the back end of this year. This record seems to be regarded as their best, and I have to admit, it's pretty good.

MY FAVOURITE PICKUPS

It didn't feel like I picked up anything mindblowing this year, but scrolling back through my posts and I did add some really nice items to my collection. Nearly all of my favourites are test pressings, and I did manage to pick up a few nice ones. It was cool dragging them out again to take this photo.

Shown above are:

Chain Of Strength 'The One Thing That Still Holds True' 12" Test press
Kiss It Goodbye 'She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not' LP Test press
Civ 'Set Your Goals' LP Test press
One King Down 'Bloodlust Revenge' 12" Test press

All of the above (along with a couple of others) came from the collection of an ex Revelation Records employee, and this was without doubt the best deal of the year. And nicely hand delivered by my partner in crime to reduce postage risks.

Farside 'The Monroe Doctrine' LP Test press - a very welcome addition to my Farside collection, although this is probably my least favourite Farside record.

No Escape / Turning Point 7" Test press - I got this direct from Tim Singer (of No Escape) and was stoked that it came with some proofs of the cover art, making this particular copy unique.

Nirvana 'Sliver / Dive' 7" - I had wanted a copy of this for a few years now, and finally got around to getting a copy in 2023. And then I picked up 3 more copies of it. I think it's fair to say that collecting this 7" has now become a mild obsession.

ALMOST DONE

Every year my target for this blog is 120 posts (an average of 10 per month) and despite being super busy with work, I managed to beat the target this year. I actually managed to pick up a lot of records this year from within the UK, whilst simultaneously buying stuff from the States which is still sat in the States. Hopefully I can obtain those records in 2024. There are some cool records waiting to come in and I'm excited for them.

As ever, thanks to the people who continue to read this. I'm not entirely sure why I keep doing this, but it's like a lot of things in my life... I just keep doing the same things week in, week out and time carries on passing. In two month's time I will have been writing this thing for sixteen years, which seems absolutely insane as it represents a third of my life. Sometimes I think about stopping, but I then just carry on. And I have a batch of records sat around upstairs from my recent trip to the States, so no doubt I will continue this into 2024, and hopefully you'll all be there to listen to me waffle on.

Happy new year!