Fuzzy Charts: Every month we write about your favorite albums!
We brought back the Fuzzy Charts to make a monthly poll of the albums that left a mark in YOUR ears. If you’re not familiar with it by now, the votes are happening in our Fuzz Temple group on Facebook, every beginning of the month, for the releases of the previous month.
Maybe you’ve been wondering why we didn’t publish this earlier, well, the answer is simple, with Mr. Fuzz in between the Palp Festival and holidays, and me on holidays too, it just wasn’t possible to get something proper published before. So we’re releasing the results of the votes for July and launching the votes for August at the same time in this article!
Following our drive from the last months, this article is a collaborative work from the team, involving this time Mr. Fuzz, Mr. Momo, Mr. Void, and myself.
You might have gotten used to it the last two months, so once again, I made a Spotify Playlist with all of these cool albums (except Kings of Frog Island which only has two singles out there, sadly), ordered by rank. Head over there for 8,5 hours of the best of July’s fuzzy music!
Feel free to tell us what you think of this idea and if you got any ideas on how to improve it. All feedback are welcomed as the point here is to make it more about you than us.
We want to see which albums really got into the audience’s ears and if we missed some gems. That’s also a good way to inventory everything that went out in a month, giving some light to some records that might have gone unnoticed otherwise.
As we couldn’t really publish the results of July before, I thought that might be as good of an idea to kill two birds with one stone and publish them at the same time as announcing the votes for August. Maybe that might even help to get higher participation on the votes (one can only hope :p ). So, the votes for August have just been launched in the Fuzz Temple group, so please head over there (or click on the link below) to cast your votes for your favorite albums of last month.
You can vote for as many albums as you want to, and also add some if you don’t find them in there, you only need to respect one rule:
The albums need to have been released in the last month (so August for this one).
Cast Your Vote for August there!
Don’t hesitate to share this post or the poll directly because the more we are, the better it will represent what we all listened to this month!
Here are finally the results of this poll, for the month of July, enjoy!
Top 11 Albums of July 2021
This time, the top 10 is 11 again, with a 3-way tie on the 9th spot. As usual, you might be familiar with at least some of them since we reviewed four of them on More Fuzz last month 😉
9 ex–æquo: Year of No Light – Consolamentum (5pts)
FFO: Cult of Luna, Neurosis, Amenra, Isis
We have missed Year of No Light since their last LP entitled Tocsin in 2013. But French doomers are back with their fourth and stomping album, Consolamentum. Bordeaux’s band heads more and more towards post-metal territory for our greatest pleasure.
Consolamentum displays the great musical mastery Year of No Light has acquired since their debut in 2001. The result is an instrumental and dark album where synths waves dance with highly electrified guitars on punitive drumming. There is also something from cinema in the way the French band crafts its music.
The production is a gift for the listener’s ears and reinforces the atmospheric side that characterizes the album. Year of No Light proves once again they manage to develop their own and definitely modern musical signature.
Blurb by Mr. Void.
9 ex–æquo: Wail – Wail (5pts)
FFO: Wight, Electric Octopus, Earthless, Zappa, Rostro Del Sol
These four seasoned musicians joined forces with a mission, be the funk band at our stoner fests! And man, they deliver such an awesome mix of prog, jazz, and funk, killing it with every second.
The Philly-based Quartet sounds super funky at all times, in various ways, and with several layers of influences resulting in a brilliant and complex blend. Still, they manage to make it sound very natural. Each track has its own appealing simplicity and yet will always pique the interest of your brain at some point.
Blurb from the review written by Mr. Stone.
9 ex–æquo: Los Tabanos Experience – Bioluminescence (5pts)
Bioluminiscence is a deep and sweet journey tracing the roots of Santiago’s fuzzers imagination.
After the ardent and hectic trip of Rise of the Melted Eagle, Los Tabanos Experience decided to meet the magical fauna and the mighty spirits of old-growth forests. With DTM-infused jams and the voice of Gaïa.
Bioluminiscence exposes another side of Santiago’s band psychedelic universe, more enlightened and contemplative.
Blurb from the review written by Mr. Void.
7 ex-æquo: Lunar Swamp – Moonshine Blues (6pts)
FFO: Robert Johnson mixed with Black Sabbath
I have a sweet spot for everything that references the American “Deep South”, and despite hailing from Italia, Lunar Swamp fits the bill with songs titles and lyrics heavily influenced by Louisiana’s wetlands and the Mississippi delta.
The album is definitely rooted in blues, you will even hear some harmonica, with an added layer of 70s muddy stoner doom riffing. Not going as far as sludge though, the rhythm stays slow. The ethereal voice adds to the swampy atmosphere. The soundtrack to your next hoodoo ceremony out in the bayou.
Blurb by Mr. Momo.
7 ex-æquo: The Kings of Frog Island – VII (6pts)
FFO: Colour Haze, Samsara Blues Experiment, Causa Sui, Vibravoid
Only one year after VI, the British masters of psychedelic stoner are already back with VII! I guess The Kings of Frog Island are one of those bands who put the lockdowns to good use by working on new material. Sadly this 47min 10-track trip of an album is not yet listenable anywhere, only two singles have been released so far, Beyond the Void in the embed video here, and Summer Sun, both with video clip.
If you are not familiar with this amazing but underrated band, active since 2003, then you should definitely press play, and let yourself be surprised by their blissful mellow psychedelic stoner vibes (and then dig deep into their back catalog). This new album is definitely living up to the quality standards they have used us to. A new milestone in the refining process of their mesmerizing landmark sound, VII gives you a good idea of everything that The Kings of Frog Island can do, while pushing a bit further, throwing more original ideas and creativity in the mix. This is one of the reasons I am always overexcited about a new release from these guys, they are one of those bands that never stop to explore and expand their sound while keeping their core identity.
Blurb by Mr. Stone.
6: The Holy Family – The Holy Family (7pts)
FFO: Pink Floyd, GNOD, Gentle Giant, Saturnia
The Holy Family is a result of explorations and improvisations done in a country house by long-time progressive & psychedelia enthusiasts – and it is noticeable. It’s not a jam but could be qualified as a concept album. The soundscape is ever-changing, restless, kaleidoscopic, mostly on a slightly dark side. In their own words, the band describes it as a “musical interpretation of a very trippy and psychedelic murder mystery tale”. Indeed, the album is intense, will be best carefully listened to even if it can also be listened to as ambient music, one would lose a lot by doing so. It’s not for the dilettante though, as you won’t have huge riffs or catchy tunes to hold onto.
Take the time, immerse yourself in one of the trippiest albums you have heard this year – you won’t regret the journey.
Blurb by Mr. Momo.
5: Uranus Space Club – Another Planet, Another Love (9pts)
FFO: Wight, Red Scalp, Deep Space Destructors, Coogan’s Bluff, Narcosatanicos
Uranus Space Club is a newcomer band from Wrocław, Poland. They released their debut album on July 2nd, through Piranha Music. This space rock quartet delivers such a hellish groove while keeping it righteously fat most of the time, finding the perfect space-groove-fuzz balance in this epic 9-track journey of an album.
Uranus Space Club managed a stunning achievement with Another Planet, Another Love, not only are they pushing our scene forward into uncharted style fusion, but they do it with flying colors, and on their debut album, no less! Hats off gentlemen!
Blurb from the review written by Mr. Stone.
4: The Age of Truth – Resolute (11pts)
FFO: Soundgarden, Monster Magnet, Plainride, Clutch
Oh my, The Age of Truth are back with their new album since their superb debut in 2017. Resolute consists of 7 tracks filled with the best riffage you ever heard. Mostly heavy, fuzzy, groovy, and with accomplished songwriting, the band maneuvers like experienced sailors in the ocean of Stoner, Grunge, and Heavy Rock.
I like that they also inserted some more psychedelic moments, the prime example being the last song « Return to the Ships ». And of course, big props to Kevin McNamara the singer, because while the instrumental part is insanely addictive, bad vocals can break a whole band so easily. Here, he’s the one who makes The Age of Truth truly shines, with this whisky-soaked voice ala Chris Cornell, powerful while at the same time delivering so many emotions, man I could cry listening to the end of « A Promise of Nothing ».
Blurb by Mr. Fuzz.
3: Acid Magus – Wyrd Syster (12pts)
Wyrd Syster is one hell of a good debut album coming from the South African Acid Magus. I’d fit it into the Stoner-Doom category, a big slab of fuzz fury in your face with a big emphasis on the trippiness side of the genre.
And while they don’t reinvent the wheel, this is a solid release that can only propel them to higher grounds with the next one, they just need that lil’ bit of identity to make them stand out from the crowd.
Blurb by Mr. Fuzz.
2: Absynth – Plebe 2178 (13pts)
FFO: Windhand, Electric Wizard, Domkraft
Plebe 2178 is Belgium’s Quatuor Absynth debut album and it already almost tops the fuzzy charts with its modern psychedelic doom. Some might say it is not the most original doom album they have listened to this year but there is something undeniable: Plebe 2178 is a very catchy, efficient, and enjoyable disc.
Absynth music follows the holy path traced by Electric Wizard and its fellow worshipers: slow heavy and fuzzy riffage, corrosive atmosphere, and perfectly designed short solos. If you thought you heard Windhand, don’t panic, it is normal… until you reach the first screamed singing!
At More Fuzz, we also liked their more experimental passages, such as in the interlude entitled “Gasp” in the middle of the album. Absynth, keep this name in mind, their both sacred and cursed route just began.
Blurb by Mr. Void.
1: Wizzerd VS Merlin – Turned to Stone Chapter III (16pts)
Wizzerd’s Bandcamp – Facebook — Merlin: Bandcamp – Facebook
FFO: Wight, Salem’s Pot, Pink Floyd, Wo Fat, Goat
Merlin got everyone’s attention three years ago with their fourth LP The Wizard, a gem full of amazing stoner jams and saxophone. One year after, Wizzerd released their self-titled second album, a blend of Stoner and Doom deeply rooted in the holy 70s. After a couple of years of raging meme wars on socials, they joined forces for a friendly duel in this kickass split LP and it’s so good I couldn’t stop coming back to it since then.
As Wizzerd explored extensively their sonic universe, building kind of an ultimate Wizzerd track of Proggish Stoner Doom glory, Merlin did what Merlin does best, giving us everything we could ask for, and lots of what we wouldn’t even think to ask for, in the same track, stoner doom heaviness, funky grooves, disco, and Floydian psychedelia. Hats off guys, and thanks a lot to Ripple Music, you gave us a stunning battle to remember!
Blurb from the review written by Mr. Stone.
Thanks for reading and Keep it Fuzzy!
Mr. Fuzz, Mr. Momo, Mr. Stone, Mr. Void & the More Fuzz Team
Recent comments