Music in 2024

1st Jan 2023

It's that time when a lot of us look back over the previous year and lament on favourite releases.
2023 was a pretty big year for myself in terms of music.
I stopped using streaming almost entirely, actually performed some noise on stage for the first time ever, went full in on running a tape label and went to more festivals and shows than I have done in any previous year.

Picking a favourite release of the year isn't pointless, but doesn't do nearly enough to help encapsulate what 2023 was like for me in terms of how music has affected the previous 12 months of my life.

Here’s some things I experienced this year which I don’t want to forget.

Album of the year, let’s get this out the way

Favourite release of the year is without doubt Pest Control - Don't Test The Pest.

Picked this up after seeing Rory J from Specialist Subject Records make it his pick of the week, went in with zero expectations and found myself smiling ear to ear through every single track. After buying the record I got home, played it all the way through, picked it up off the platter to put it away and thought “nah, nothing will be as good as just hearing that again” and put it straight back on. Still listening to it every week, amazing stuff, stoked to have them visit Bristol on their headline tour early 2024.

Gigs!

Also in heavy rotation this year was the split from World of Pleasure and xWeaponx. I think these folks are straight edge, not entirely sure. Awesome breakdowns, insane vocals.


Hearing that World of Pleasure were playing a few UK dates (supporting a significantly less interesting band) had my heart racing and was a show that had me hyped for months in advance. Unbenounced to me this would turn into the photo opportunity of the year when I got hit nice and hard in the face during the usual pit shenanigans.
Got some gnarly photos out of it and have no lasting injuries, I’d do it all again!

Other great moments from this year have to include seeing Drain at the Exchange and doing about a million stage dives. Sammy noticing my bright pink DIY Gulch hat and giving me an enthusiastic high five was a hefty shot of dopamine that kept me going for days.
Super positive guy, really down to earth, great show.

Back at the Exchange a few months later was definitely the funniest moment of any gig this year. Couple of young lads turn to me and my pal and say - as I promise you I am not making this up - Excuse me, you might want to finish your drink, we’re thinking of starting a mosh pit.

Fellas. It’s a mosh pit. Don’t be such a wet blanket and just get busy for fucks sake.

Credit to them it did make barging into people and actually starting the pit significantly more enjoyable for myself.

Festivals

2023 was also the year I visited the most festivals than ever before
I can confidently say that without a doubt smaller festivals are so much more enjoyable than the larger ones for myself. If I met someone at ArcTanGent or Chimpy I would no doubt see them again another time. The need to herd a single group of people for a festival like Glastonbury where the site spans miles just isn’t necessary for the likes of Chimpy and ArcTanGent. Everyone can splinter off, do their own thing and no doubt you’ll bump into somebody within a couple of hours of parting ways.

The amount of people I ran into which I’ve met from various Bristol gigs was beyond what I could’ve hoped for at ATG, loved seeing so many familiar faces and getting to spend quality time with folks just chewing the fat.

One particular memory that stands out from ATG was the first moment of the Bell Witch set. We were all waiting for them to start playing, no earplugs in just milling around - and then the first note got played. I cannot describe the sensation from going from zero to maximum level Doom in such a short space of time, absolutely unreal.

Best gig of the year

There was some stiff competition of my favourite show of the year which I may as well list as runners up here
But these aside the best show of the year for me without doubt was my friend Yazan's fundraiser, for medical aid for palestine in December with Gimic, Uncertainty, Tension and Cainhurst.
This was a huge showing of love and support from the Bristol scene for the horrendous ongoing situation in Gaza completely unlike the vibe from another other event of the year. Almost everyone that I’ve met going to gigs in Bristol turned out for this and everyone was just in the best possible mood.

The first three bands I’d never seen previously and absolutely knocked it out of the park. The Spy cover from Yazan was also fucking mint.

Puddle Brain

This year was also the year that I started performing improvised harsh noise under the Puddle Brain moniker. I’ve very quickly gone from not owning any equipment to suddenly having more pedals than I know what to do with.

First show was in February and I wrote a little post about that at the start of the year. In brief, glad I did it, was a bag of nerves for the entire experience and in my opinion, didn't do a very good job.
Second show was a lot better, supporting Distraxi for her album launch show in September at Cafe Kino. By this point I had a lot more experience, I knew more of what to expect from a live setting and was able to loose myself a lot more in the act compared to my first outing.

Hopefully more shows in 2024! Lots still to learn, excited to see what the future might bring.

Also worth mentioning while I'm on the subject of my noise noodlings I released a tape with Distraxi this year - CHUNKY PISS.
It's a series of improvised tracks recorded direct to cassette from when we had a little noise jam earlier in the year.
 
Prototype and final J card for Chunky Piss

Eggy Tapes

Last by not least, my tape label which at the start of the year had 1 release to its name.
It's been a bloody busy year! A hell of a lot of lessons have been learnt for all sorts of things but in the end I’m really pleased with what I’ve been able to accomplish by myself in a relatively short space of time

Grindcore, harsh noise, dungeon synth, post rock, silly little comics about white van men.
16 releases on cassette, 5 zines published and a batch of floppy disks which I had an idea would sell let alone sell as well as they did.


Yes, I did make these and they did sell! For actual money!

The amount of lovely people I’ve been able to work with over the last year through doing this label has been far beyond what I could have expected going into 2023 and I’m already spinning plates for the early 2024 releases.
 
All releases for 2023, items on the right all released in December.

Wrapping up

More than anything else this year I started to get to know a lot more people that I’d recognised from past Bristol shows. This is how I became friends with Roman - amongst so many other lovely people - and was the start of a chain of events which led me to releasing his debut album (which I am forever grateful for being given that level of trust).

For the longest time I was happy being in my shell and making do with my own company at shows (Which I will stress is still how I enjoy some gigs and will never give anyone grief for doing so, each to their own) but opening up to more people has been immensely rewarding.

All I hope is for 2024 to bring more of what I've loved this year. More gigs! More tapes! More lovely people!
🏠