EOY17: Introduction
Kia ora, comrades. Once again, it's that time when your ol' pal Six Noises begins to beat the end-of-year drum. This year, I haven't sorted my EOY17 picks into any kind of order – I mean, aside from genres – because I’m not really interested in who’s better or who's the best these days. I don't feel any compulsion to studiously rank the music that matters to me. And the last thing that music needs is to be pinned to a board and scrupulously arranged like a soon-to-be-forgotten museum exhibit.
That's just me though. If you’re interested in debating who deserves the most critical applause or underground acclaim, then have at it. And have fun while you're at it. I just don't have a dog in that fight anymore. I'm solely interested in sharing the thundering noise I enjoyed in 2017. You can pick the winners or losers. Trust me, you'll do a better job than me.
Over the next week, I'll be posting my favourite punk, metal and experimental albums from the past 12 months. As usual, I'll also be shouting about the New Zealand punk, metal, alt-rock and experimental music I enjoyed this year. Plus, I'm throwing in a list of my favourite punk demos from 2017.
I know, it's total fucking overkill. A classically desperate Dadrock move.
Still, I just love sharing rowdy music. Fingers crossed, you love some of the rowdy music I share. Otherwise, one of us has really wasted their time, again.
Essentially, I just told critical caution to go fuck itself during my lengthy EOY list-making. Although, to be honest, that kind of recklessness has become my modus operandi all year round nowadays. I've ended up with a GIGANTIC amount of music to share, and if you want to rip any or all of my EOY picks to shreds, that's fine by me. The Church of Six Noises welcomes all; nitpickers, grouches, and grumpy pants included.
Obviously, all of my EOY lists are entirely subjective and influenced by all kinds of conscious and unconscious biases. But that doesn't mean you can't cast cyncism aside and just shamelessly embrace all the incoming noise.
Before I get to the sharing bit though, I wanted to thank everyone who supported Six Noises this year from the bottom of my rotten little heart.
Obviously, this blog isn't a hip tastemaker, but I'd like to think that Six Noises has its own lo-fi charms, right? Maybe? Anyone..?
I don't have much interest in clicks or analytics. I'm not really in any 'music media loop'. And multi-platform self-promotion makes me feel queasy. All of that means people often have to make an effort to even find Six Noises. And I'm eternally grateful to anyone who takes the time to do just that.
Six Noises' raison d'être has always been to talk about great underground music, while blindly ignoring the vast oceans of dross. But yakking about first-rate noise would be an entirely fruitless endeavour if no one was listening. So thanks a million for lending me your eyes and ears in 2017.
Thanks also to Matai @ Razored Raw, John @ Zero Style, Simon @ Limbless Music, Apa @ Death Ray Records, and Andrew @ NOISE Worth Hearing. Cheers for the tunez, ya'll.
An especially hearty "CHUR BRO" to my web wizard, Señor Gorey, who refurbished Six Noises in 2017, saving the blog from extinction.
My thanks to US-based musician/writer Erik Highter, who was forced to endure untold hours of my Skype ramblings in 2017.
And a huge cheers to Islander @ No Clean Singing and Max @ Metal Bandcamp for allowing me to pollute the pages of their websites once again this year. It's always an honour, gents.
Finally, a massive thanks to all the bands and musicians who got in touch for some help or advice in 2017. I hope I delivered halfway decent assistance.
Hopefully, you all discover some new music to enjoy as Six Noises' list mayhem kicks into gear. Once that's all done and dusted, the blog will flip into lazier summer mode for the rest of December and early January. But I'll no doubt post a few interesting tidbits now and then.
I know it's still a few weeks away, but have a fucking great festive break.
Ka kite anō. On with the show...
