Six Noises EOY '16: Introduction

I know what you’re thinking: “The world’s going to hell in a handbasket, and what I desperately need is a reclusive 45-year-old with type 2 diabetes and a gigantic bald spot to tell me what the best underground albums were in 2016”.

Well, great news, comrades, I’m here to help.

It’s that special time of year again when legions of thin-skinned music writers (myself included) become even more intolerably opinionated as we post our picks of the best music released over the past 12 months. Obviously, every end-of-year list is fuelled by subjective slobber, and I fully admit that constructing any inventory of albums based on my mercurial whims is (a) jam-packed with inherent bias, and (b) fraught with countless other fallacies only experienced by the certified unhip and aged. But none of those issues stop me from loving end-of-year list season to a ridiculously unhealthy degree.

End-of-year lists are nerdgasmic gravy for a grizzled old hermit like me. I don’t care about any winners or losers, as such. I just love combing untold lists searching for great music (and books and films) that I missed out on during the year. That’s basically the ethos I adhere to at Six Noises. I listened to a lot of great albums in 2016, and I want to share them all with you. So critical caution and serious-minded restraint can go fuck themselves. No apologies for that either. Ever.

Hopefully, amongst all the noise I’ll be posting, you’ll stumble on something that’s fresh and interesting to your ears. And I’ll be taking a punt at putting my favourite releases into some kind of order this year as well, which will no doubt be an interesting exercise for someone as habitually indecisive/opposed to hierarchies as I am.

What I won’t be doing this year is writing a blurb for every album: sorry, I did start to write a whole bunch, but then constant computer hiccups put paid to that plan when they disappeared into the cyber ether. You can still expect to see lists of my favourite punk, metal, and weird rock releases from 2016 in early December. And you’ll get posts covering New Zealand music from those same genres here too.

Before I go, I really want to say cheers to the readers, bands, and assorted allies who supported Six Noises in 2016. Realistically, this blog is a backwater point of call. And I generally write about pretty niche music. So I’ve been amazed/stoked to see that Six Noises has received more visitors than ever this year.

Obviously, I just write this blog. You’re the one doing me the honour by reading what I type. I don’t want to get all misty eyed and embarrass either of us, but, really, any success Six Noises has had this year is down to you making the time to check this blog out. So cheers for that. Big time. Hopefully, that means my mission to highlight the best underground music in New Zealand (and offshore) is working.

I’ll see you soon, with end-of-year lists aplenty, and then Six Noises will be taking a break to enjoy some of the southern hemisphere’s summer rays.

Kia kaha,
Craig