Prelude to 2019 Top 10 purchases
The white stuff on the ground means I better start listening to the 2019 CDs I bought throughout the year.
As have I predicted, this year was phenomenal for the music I like. Unfortunately, my work history was spotty at best, which means I could not afford to buy every CD I wanted and/or was great. In retrospect, what I did manage to purchase resulted in a stronger selection, due to the necessary culling.
Moreso, there were no major disappointments. Few artists I expected to come out with new material, did not, which only means next year could be just as strong as 2019 is/was. Although the financial strain leaned hard on me, I still bought so many CDs, that if I start listing them in a manner I usually do (one CD per day), I wouldn't be able to present them all by the end of the year, so I won't even try. Instead, I'll split my purchases into two groups:
- The Classic Rock and
- Everything else (which might sound broad, but yet again, because I couldn't buy everything I wanted, it is all Metal). While there is not much variation in the music styles, the geographical region they cover is especially amazing... if I may say so myself.
As a result, I'm doing three things differently than I used to do in the past.
1. I will only list the "Everything Else" CDs here. (The "Classic Rock" releases will be posted someplace else).
2. I'll post my purchases in order of their release dates (for as long as I can follow that rule since I'm still waiting for a few CDs to arrive) and reveal the Top 10 List on January 1st. The reason behind this is that some CDs come in late, and as such, they end up on positions I'm not comfortable with later. Want to give them all a once-over just before ranking, rather than ranking them as they arrive.
3. While I will list all my "Everything Else" CD purchases here, the Top list will only have 10 entries, rather than ranking them all.
Before I start dispensing the "goods", I want to briefly touch 2 releases that I did NOT buy this year, not because they weren't good, but because of other circumstances. Yet, I believe they deserve to be mentioned.
THE HU - The Gereg CD
I've been following this Mongolian (yes, you read it correctly) band for a few years now. Way before they became an overnight, internet sensation. So much so, that I've been sending links to people I thought might enjoy their music, to the point when few of them started sending the links back to me with a question "Have you heard of this great new band?" - Dude, you either don't pay much attention to my messages, or your memory is shorter than the fuse strip. I was the 26th like on their FB page. I also have a message from the band, stating the CD will come out in December 2018 (available for purchase from their Bandcamp site). Then they got popular, signed with a record label, and the release date was pushed back to 2019. Contacted them in order to get my CD signed, however, the shop is operated by the record company, so it was a no-go. I was disappointed, plus the new release date was Sep. 13th (time of my worst financial hurdle), so I had to pass on the purchase. If they ever release a Box-Set with their pendant as one of the items, I will reconsider, but until then, I'm good. If you haven't heard their music yet, here is one of their videos. (Note: THE HU is filed under Metal, but I'm not sold on that classification. Nevertheless, good music is good music.)
[video=youtube;v4xZUr0BEfE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4xZUr0BEfE[/video]
Enough for one day.
Come back tomorrow, I tell you which other artists CD I did NOT buy this year, and why?
Interlude to 2019 Top 10 purchases
And the other artist whose CD I did NOT buy this year is:
[B]CARTHAGODS[/B] – [I]The Monster In Me[/I] (Digital Download)
Despite this album being their second release, the Tunesian Metal band was completely unknown to me, until their music video showed up on my FB wall. I was immediately blown away with both, the quality of their music and the video itself. Streamed the album, and I really liked it, so I started searching for the CD but without luck. Contacted the band, and their label as well. Both sent me a similar message: It's coming soon. Time passed, and there was no news from either. Then one day, while I was visiting the band's FB page, saw the physical CD on one of their pictures. Contacted them again but got no reply, whatsoever. Contacted their record company, and the message I got was very vague, plus I sensed some tension in it, but basically they told me to get in touch with the band. Which I did, for the third time. Finally, they replied saying they "have some issues with distribution of physical CDs right now...they will let me know as soon as they have a solution." That was in October. Since then I haven't heard from them again. Shame, for if I had "The Monster In Me", it would have been a strong contender for my Top 10.
Anyway, here is the Best and the Creepiest music video I saw this year.
[video=youtube;y8zZXMLBin4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8zZXMLBin4[/video]
Tomorrow,
The first CD I bought in 2019.
Release date: January 17th