Record Store Day is on 4/20 this year! Definitely a reason to celebrate.
Flash Sale on our Discogs page: 20% off everything! 24 hours only, act fast.
2023 Year End - Amanda's List
It has been a solid year of music - a first time in a while I struggled to get everything that I wanted to share with folks in a list of twenty. Ragana’s Desolation’s Flower is a gut punch. It transcends genre - I like to think of them as post-black metal doom. Fuzzy. Heavy. Chaos. Calm. Desolation’s Flower is the epitome of this year for me - full of strife and heartache and yet the calm is the reprieve from it all - the much needed self-care as resistance to get through the drone of the sick sad world. I had the honor of seeing them this summer at the House of Blues in Chicago. It was the hottest day of the year, the kind of day where either you want your clothes to melt off or become one with them. Walking into the show with the oppressive heat, the chaos of a late babysitter - I felt the end of days was near. Ragana’s show, their music, affirmed all the emotions swirling around in my head and yet gave peace and acceptance for what the day threw my way and for what is to come. The yin and yang of their instrumentation and voices is a call for community, togetherness, and finding your people.
RAGANA - Desolation's Flower
XWEAPONX/WORLD OF PLEASURE - Weapon of Pleasure
JEFF ROSENSTOCK - Hellmode
MALE TEARS - Krypt
SINCERE ENGINEER - Cheap Grills
JANELLE MONÁE - The Age Pleasure
SOFT KILL - Metta World Peace
BLOOD RUNS COLD - s/t
MAC DEMARCO - Five Easy Hot Dogs
SUNAMI - s/t (LP)
ICE SPICE - Like..?
CHAINED TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN - Obession Destruction
BIG BOY - Spring Promo 2023
FIDDLEHEAD - Death is Nothing to Us
MOVE BHC - Black Radical Love
POWER ALONE - Nothingness
KILLER MIKE - Michael
MILITARIE GUN - Life Under the Gun
DIVIDE AND DISSOLVE - Systemic
YAYA BEY- Exodus the North Star
Best of 2023 - Vince's List
There were soooo many great records this year….it was hard to boil it down to 20. These were the records I kept coming back to each and every week. The albums on this list represent growth. Records like Life Under the Gun, Black Radical Love, and A New Tomorrow all document a newish bands both shifting & perfecting the sound of earlier EPs. While Desolation’s Flower, Hellmode & Metta World Peace show artists still evolving after releasing previously amazing records. But overall, it was Cheap Grills for me. Sincere Engineer is breathing new life into (typically male-dominated) orgcore and I’m here for it.
Happy 2024! These were my favorite records of 2023.
-vh
LPs
1. Sincere Engineer - Cheap Grills
2. Fiddlehead - Death Is Nothing To Us
3. Envision - The Gods That Build Tomorrow
4. Ragana - Desolation's Flower
5. Militarie Gun - Life Under The Gun
6. Move BHC - Black Radical Love
7. Tomb Mold - The Enduring Spirit
8. Jeff Rosenstock - Hellmode
9. Ice Spice - Like...?
10. Magnitude - Of Days Renewed
11. Zulu - A New Tomorrow
12. Sunami - s/t (LP)
13. Scalp - Black Tar
14. Krallice - Porous Resonance Abyss
15. Soft Kill - Metta World Peace
16. Dying Wish - Symptoms of Survival
17. Sunrot - The Unfailing Rope
18. Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean - Obsession Destruction
19. Pulsatile Tinnitus - The Finer Art of Heartwork
20. Ethereal Tomb - When The Rivers Dry
EPs
1. XweaponX / World of Pleasure - Weapon of Pleasure
2. Scowl - Psychic Dance Routine
3. Blood Incantation - Luminescent Bridge
4. Stateside - It's What We Do
5. Dead Heat - Endless Torment
Vinyl & Vintage Sale @ The Salt Shed (5/27-5/28)
Hey there!
Ready to see us in person? We will be selling some newly priced vinyl at the SummerSalt Market at the Salt Shed. The Salt Shed is a bomb-ass venue in Chicago and we are so excited to be apart of their 2nd market. There will be many other vendors and food options. Come swing by over the long weekend.
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