[mp3player width=460 height=120 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=aot21-2011-year-in-review-pt-1.xml]

When I (momentarily) regained consciousness of the world around me and realized it was November, I couldn’t believe it. And it’s not even, like, Nov. 2. Today is Nov. 13! Almost halfway through the month. It’s just silly.

So here we are with a mere 48 days left in 2011 and it’s time to start winding the year down. I’ve begun the preliminaries for putting together my Top Howevermany, and from a list of over 70 records, I’ve picked out 26 artists to feature in this month’s podcast. Like last year, this will be a two-parter, with 26 more to come next month, the grand total being 52: one for each week.

I’m sure that there will be plenty of “Well, it’s been a [blank] kind of year”-type wrap-up language, so I’ll try my best not to start that crap too early, but seriously, it’s been tremendous. So many excellent or otherwise notable releases, so many awesome debuts, surprises, and triumphant returns. Would you really have thought that Pentagram would put a new record out? I know I had my doubts.

But here we are, standing on a mountain of riffly righteousness. Even this podcast and the next one, they’re just scratching the surface. There were so many records I couldn’t keep up. Honestly. I have a pile of releases still waiting to be reviewed that I probably won’t get through until the end of January. And by then, there’ll be a whole bunch of new ones. It boggles the mind.

I tried to keep a solid mix, and listening back as I type this up, it’s pretty on the money. From Mastodon into Red Fang, Mars Red Sky into Sungrazer and Batillus into Hull, the idea was to have an overall flow: like the whole of 2011 was one long album and we just spent the last 11 months (so far) swimming in it. It jars in places and seems to ooze in others, but I think you’ll get down with the groove of the thing. At least I hope you will.

And if there’s something you think is glaringly missing — Lo-Pan comes most readily to my mind — sit tight, it’ll probably be in next month’s follow-up installment. This really is just the beginning.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 021 by clicking the image at the top of this post or by clicking here to go to the Archive.org page. Press play to stream it on the player above. As always, the complete track list is after the jump.

[PLEASE NOTE: Since these are all 2011 releases, I left that out of the track info]

0:06-4:01 Weedeater, “Long Gone” from Jason… the Dragon (Southern Lord)

4:01-13:02 YOB, “Prepare the Ground” from Atma (Profound Lore)

13:02-17:20 Pentagram, “Into the Ground” from Last Rites (Metal Blade)

17:20-21:17 Mastodon, “Dry Bone Valley” from The Hunter (Reprise)

21:17-26:57 Red Fang, “Wires” from Murder the Mountains (Relapse)

26:57-42:01 Tia Carrera, “Sand, Stone and Pearl” from Cosmic Priestess (Small Stone)

42:01-48:06 Graveyard, “Uncomfortably Numb” from Hisingen Blues (Nuclear Blast)

48:06-51:38 Sigiriya, “Tobacco Sunrise” from Return to Earth (The Church Within)

51:38-1:03:23 Elder, “Dead Roots Stirring” from Dead Roots Stirring (MeteorCity)

1:03:23-1:11:46 Wo Fat, “Descent into the Maelstrom” from Noche del Chupacabra (Nasoni)

1:11:46-1:18:17 Totimoshi, “Waning Divine” from Avenger (At a Loss)

1:18:17-1:21:19 Premonition 13, “Hard to Say” from 13 (Volcom)

1:21:19-1:26:40 Curse the Son, “Unbearable Doer of Wrong” from Klonopain (Self-released)

1:26:40-1:32:18 Arenna, “Receiving the Liquid Writings” from Beats of Olarizu (Nasoni)

1:32:18-1:41:29 The Machine, “Sunbow” from Drie (Elektrohasch)

1:41:29-1:48:56 Ehécatl, “The Wrath of Tepeyollotl” from Ehécatl (Improvising Beings)

1:48:56-2:00:21 Earth, “Hell’s Winter” from Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I (Southern Lord)

2:00:21-2:04:11 Karma to Burn, “Never Say Die” from V (Napalm)

2:04:11-2:10:50 Suplecs, “2×4” from Mad Oak Redoux (Small Stone)

2:10:50-2:16:06 Mars Red Sky, “Way to Rome” from Mars Red Sky (Emergence)

2:16:06-2:24:08 Sungrazer, “Sea” from Mirador (Elektrohasch)

2:24:08-2:29:00 Across Tundras, “Hijo del Desierto” from Sage (Neurot)

2:29:00-2:33:11 Lord, “Medic” from Chief (Heavy Hound)

2:33:11-2:38:49 Batillus, “Deadweight” from Furnace (Seventh Rule)

2:38:49-2:47:29 Hull, “False Priest” from Beyond the Lightless Sky (The End)

2:47:29-2:56:22 Grayceon, “Shellmounds” from All We Destroy (Profound Lore)

Download audiObelisk Transmission 021 Here

Tags: audiObelisk

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 13th, 2011 at 6:28 pm and is filed under Podcasts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.