In just a few days, 2016 will be a thing of the past but I don't think that this year will be easily forgotten. With that, I'm not even talking about the general news, the terror attacks, Donald Trump or other political unnecessaries. No, I'm merely talking about the wonderful world of music and the legends it lost. Bowie, Lemmy, Prince, Rick Parfitt, George Michael and so many others have been booked for the big festival in heaven. 

Yet, 2016 was also a year of musical highlights, both live and on heaps of releases. Perhaps it's the fact that I work for this website but to me, the music inudsitry has never been so varied and so overloaded with albums before. That's why compiling this list is not a rewarding task. I've been writing lists for weeks now. I've been re-listening to albums and I've been re-reading my reviews to the brink of insanity. But here it is, my massive 2016 list

Once again, I'll make it easier for myself by dividing the music industry into three major categories. In 'Breeze', I'll list the calm ones like ambient, dark ambient, jazz and classical music. On 'Wind' we go a bit heavier with post rock, alternative rock and such. Finally, 'Storm' handles the world of metal and other heavy genres. I've based my list mainly on the albums that make the day-to-day playlist, because those are the one that stick. Right, ready?

Although it was a fierce battle for "breeze album of the year", one thing is certain, 2016 was the year of the Belgian drone lords. With CHVE, Dirk Serries, Daghraven and Syndrome, our little country clearly wins. 

2016 was a great year for post-rock, but somehow Lord Kesseli & The Drums delivered us the most played and most satisfying album of the year. Why? I don't know, this is just an awesome album, and so are the other nine...

Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard - Y Proffwyd Dwyll
​Soon - Vol. 1
Slomatics - Future Echo Returns
​Coldborn - Lingering Voidwards​
​Phantom Winter - Sundown Pleasures​
Bismuth - Unavailing ​
​Hyponic - 前行者
Riti Occulti – Tetragrammaton
​Dö - Tuho
​Rorcal - Creon

A lot of doom in the 'Storm' section, but that has one simple reason: it's the genre I listen to the most. Even more so, I haven't been paying a lot of attention to many other metal releases this year. I'll leave those up to my colleagues.

Even though I don't think I've seen that many concerts in 2016, I've apparently seen more than enough bands to make a top 10. 

Telepathy (Antwerp Music City)
Spoiwo (Dunk! Festival)
Sunnata (Antwerp Music City)
Bliksem (Rocktoberfest)
Alkerdeel (Desertfest)
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The Cure (Sportpaleis)
Russian Circles (Dunk! Festival)
Black Swarm (Desertfest)
Izegrim (Rocktoberfest)
Wolvennest (Desertfest)

And finally, let's throw some nice mentions. Not that we really hand out awards to people but sometimes it's nice to get a big compliment, and as you know, we are nice people here at Merchants Of Air. Hell, we are so nice that I already feel guilty about having to exclude so many great releases in the lists above. 
Oh well, nevermind that. Let's just go over some of the 'Of The Year' Awards.

Festival Of The Year : DesertFest Belgium
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This was another tough decision to make because Dunk! Festival was awesome again and I really enjoyed both Rocktoberfest and Rodeo Fest. However, since the good people from Desertfest somehow managed to turn all my last year's little wrongs into rights, they succeeded in creating a blast of a festival, never to be forgotten. You can read all about that here. 

Venue Of The Year: Antwerp Music City

A very small venue in Antwerp, which has given me some incredible moments in 2016. With Telepathy and Sunnata they managed to deliver two of the best gigs of 2016, but those were merely the headliners. Their support acts, including Lambs and Hungry Like Rakovitz blasted with tremendous energy through the speakers. It's pretty much always nice in the Music City so this award is truly deserved.

Merchant Of The Year: Wagner

Of course I'm extremely happy with all Merchants Of Air writers and I'm glad that a talented writer like Michiel joined our ranks, but it's Wagner that has had the most influence on the evolution of Merchants Of Air into the webzine we are today. He revived the 'A Small Neat Journal' section with movie reviews, social studies, biographies and much more and his albums reviews are always a pleasure to publish. So yes, Wagner deserves this title...

Bandshirt Of The Year: Duel

Puchased at Desertfest, right before a nice chat with guitarist Jeff Henson, this shirt definitely is the Shirt Of The Year. The interview is still to be published by the way, along with some other nice conversations at that very festival. They're still in the pipeline, due to severe illness immediately after the event. Nonetheless, I adore this old school horror shirt.

Non-musical entertainment highlight of the year: FWF Wrestling Matinee

Wrestling is a life-long fascination of mine and 2016 was the year I finally got to see it live (although, according to my mother, that's not really true. Apparently, I obsessively observed a wrestling event while on vacation when I was a little kid). In 2016, I got to see two events. First, the WWE Wrestlemania Revenge Tour, which was somewhat disappointing. Second, this FWF Wrestling Matinee which was fun from start to finish. Read all about that here.

And why not end with some own-horn-tooting. After all, I've been pretty busy myself. Throughout 2016 I've been working on a number of projects. There were some new Misantronics albums and a video with writer Tamara Williams which I'm quite proud of. I'm also proud of some of my writings for this website, plus the shirt designs. Yet, one topped it off for me, and that was The Metal Deck, a card & quartets game. They're still available if you like one. You can purchase it in our shop.

In less than a week, most people on earth will get way too drunk, eat way too much, give each other some stuff to sell on next summer's flea markets and listen to the angelic torture of Wiener Sängerknaben or André Rieu. In Flanders, people will stare at the non-comical act of Geert Hoste. In Austria people will gather in tents to stare at boobs, drink beer and sing along with horrifying shlagers. In the US, the lit houses will be visible from space, once again chasing the aliens away. In other regions, people go to church by night to witness the miracles of Christmas and in other regions, people once again complain because they got a white 8GB iPhone instead of a 16GB black one. Aah, the time for peace and joy is near. Anyway, here are fifteen songs to completely ruin your Christmas, or make it better. That's up to you...

Let's start with some good advice from The Ramones and their 'Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)' song. The song comes off their 1989 'Braindrain' album and is pretty much a Ramones classic. One Two Three Four, we're kicking off this list in style...

Sadly passed away at the end of 2015, but in no way forgotten and always welcome on these lists of ours, Lemmy recorded this heavy rocking version of Chuck Berry's 1958 Classic 'Run Rudolph Run' along with Dave Grohl and Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ Top). The entire 'Metal Xmas' album is loaded with stars from the metal scene but I think we picked the best...

Well, since we're throwing legends around, here is a Christmas-present suggestion from the nice Australians ofAC/DC. All they want for Christmas is a mistress, nothing wrong with that I guess, especially in their trade of choice.

I secretly wanted to throw the original in this list, until I found this awesome Korn cover. It comes from the 'Nightmare Revisited' compilation, a cover album of songs and score from the 1993 Disney animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas. It was released on September 30, 2008 

If you really want to dance at Christmas, but realize most dance-Christmas songs are complete garbage, try out this one by psytrance act U-Recken, remixed by other psytrance legend Talamasca. Yes, you know we like psytrance at Merchants Of Air...

Danish EBM & industrial legend Leæther Strip came up with this folky electronic tune. I admit, the lyrics might not completely correlate with the Christmas spirit, but hey, that wasn't the intention for this article anyway, and it's always nice to throw in some EBM, especially with a legend like Claus Larsen.

In the post rock scene, English band Blueneck sort of serves as the masters of ceremony around this time of year. You can download their 'Christmas' ep for free, and quite frankly, you should. It's a nice addition to your collection and a welcome variation on the well known carols.

According to Justin Broadrick, Jesu's 'Christmas' EP was inspired by "the onset of the Christmas period and the onset of emotions and feelings of nostalgia, joy and sadness that the period often evokes". All those emotion are beautifully represented in this drone metal masterpiece.

Released in 1995, this anthem by shoegazers Loveliescrushing is probably one of the creepiest Christmas songs you can listen to. With little to no melody or percussion and with distant voices, this duo goes for a completely different atmosphere, but one we definitely like...

From the depressive sounds of shoegaze to the joyful ska and punk ofReel Big Fish, that's only possible on Merchants Of Air, no? Anyway, enjoy this and the other cheerful holiday songs on their 'Happy Skalidays EP", highly recommended by Wouter.

Right, off to Satan's Christmas party and what better way to do that than with the devil's favorite cover band Woods Of Trees. For this song, they sodomized and sacrificed a song by Mariah Carey, plus, they made a joyful video to go with it.

If you don't understand Aantwaarps (a weird variation on Dutch), this song might be completely new to you. In Belgium, Katastroof are known for their funny folk songs full of booze, boobs and more booze, but in intimate and emotional songs like this one, this trio perfectly manages to describe loneliness and depression. A lot of people are lonely around this time of year, maybe you can invite one...

In 2008, a band named Killwhitneydead released a Christmas themed ep which turned out to be an outrageous blend of death metal and gory comedy. Well, I guess that's good enough for the deranged individuals we are. Slash that tree and pierce its balls!!!

Alternative rock band Throwing Muses released this weird little song on their 'Hunkpapa' album in 1988. The band  toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects, most notable of course Kristin Hersh who is still going strong today. I wonder if she'll ever play this tune again.

And finally, suggested by Björn, we present you Wesley Willis, ​an American singer-songwriter and visual artist from Chicago. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1989, Willis began a career as an underground singer-songwriter in the outsider music tradition, with songs featuring his bizarre, humorous and often obscene lyrics sung over the auto accompaniment feature on his Technics KN keyboard

Serge

Through The Looking Glass is a 1983 album by Japanese female musician Midori Takada, a work now widely considered a cult classic. Starting from a path of soft sensibility, that contemplates, respects and overwhelms, all at once, traditional Japanese music – although it is not restricted nor limited by it – this album conceals, but grants at the same time, a soft journey throughout the path of a dream-like conscience, and everything that your perceptions conventionally regard as normal will experience a different perspective through a thin veil of sound, that will completely dilate and reinstate your responses to music, as a form of exterior disposition.

Through The Looking Glass has a minimalist artistry, that immerses the density of a very superior, but exceedingly personal style of music, that foretells the juxtaposition of a story that is told through the lines and boundaries of an eternal solitary wind. A wind that had its shape converted as a colorful sound, and has converted again into music by the prodigal abilities of the incredibly audacious and talented musician that Midori Takada revealed herself to be. In a meritorious destitution of serene, but splendid sound collision, that exposes on the boundaries of its own principles and foundations the serenity of a conception that goes deep into the soul of the music, Midori Takada, on this album, revealed an omnipresent conscious side of music, that only a very serene, unpretentious and meditative spirit can decipher properly. In another words, this is art, taken to a higher level, where everything could be intensified, possibly achieve a status of perfection, and eventually another universe would be immediately ignited, to trespass our own, and all of this would be deeply absorbed as a sincere redemption, generated inside the invisible lines of forgetfulness instilled at the plain of perceptions. 

Nonetheless, despite all the ethereal insinuations that this album may inspire, it is not so much a philosophic work, as it is a beautiful work of music. On her Through The Looking Glass, Midori Takada really makes us see beyond the horizon and the strict boundaries of vision, to deeply search inside ourselves for something that only her music, as a tool for a deeper kind of perception, could makes us see: a forgotten universe, more sensible, more discreet, more expansive and wiser, deeply buried inside ourselves. Although is latent, sleeping and dormant, it is there. And we can arouse this gigantic universe of perception if we immerse ourselves deeply into her music.        

But the music of Midori Takada is a lot more than that. Profoundly calm, sincere, serene and vividly compelling, it is full of embraces, colors and nuances, perfectly punctuated by a sense of tenacity and solicitude, that adapts itself to the sensibility of the listener. Opening a soft conflagration of new and unexpected sonorous metaphysical elaborations, Through The Looking Glass dismantles all ordinary conformities of music, to create something even more dynamic, although the softness that predominates throughout the whole album transmits a sense of security, compassion and completeness that renovates the appreciation that you feel concerning this work, as the album progresses, and walks through the end.

Severe, but flexible at the same time, the sound throughout the whole album remains constant, but its subtle rhythmic deviations, little by little, give cohesion to the work, and a powerful identity, that consistently conforms the shape of the sound to a very solid and artistic ground. 

Finally, Through The Looking Glass is a state of the art work, although a very different one. This album really has to be felt, all the way through, and, as you listen, you really can feel the music expanding boundaries inside your soul. A major obscure classic of Japanese contemporary music, this album is a fundamental milestone, extremely necessary for understanding the evolution of traditional eastern music, in a modern musical context.       
  

"So mom, what do you want to do today".
"I want to sing in your band".
"But mom, it's an extreme metal band"
"I can handle that, I've been screaming a lot at you when you were a naughty little kid, remember?".

This could be the story behind grindcore band Grindmother, formed out of a Canadian mom-son duo plus the latter's Corrupt Leaders band mate Tyson Apex on drums.  It sure is a weird sight to see but the 68 years old Grindmother has a damn brutal troath. Check it out... In 2017 they'll be hitting the road. I really hope they'll make it to Europe one day. 

Band names have been a source of speculation since the very beginning. In many interviews, the question "where does the band name come from? What does it mean" appears. Besides, many bands prefer a name in their own language or even better, a local dialect. That results in tongue-twisters like "Paracoccidioidomicosisproctitissarcomucosis" (a Mexican grindcore band) or "Archaeopteryx Ultraavantgarda" (a krautrock band).

I've been fascinated with band names since I got obsessed with music. I've seen a lot of weird, unexplainable and unpronouncable names in my life. And, since I'm a writer for a music magazine, I thought it would be a good idea to create a series dedicated to the wonderful art of naming your band. In these series we translate, speculate, remember, look up and sometimes even ask the band about it.

For those who wonder: the logo on the shirt in the picture above says "Hljómsveitin Nafn", which, according to Google Translate is Icelandic for "band name".

Let's kick of with the very band that inspired me to start writing these series, Belgian blackened sludge horde Alkerdeel. You know, the guys with the farting demon on the cover who blasted everyone's mind at the most recent edition of Desertfest Antwerp (read). 

Alkerdeel is one of those bands that searched through their own dialect to find their name. They were looking for a strong sounding word with a special kind of meaning, something that would fit their filthy, raunchy sound. Eventually, they ended up naming themselves Alkerdeel, which is "Zomergems" for "shit car", something like this:

A few days ago, Wagner sent in his review for the new album by Dutch black metal horde Tarnkappe (read). Later that day, a friend of mine read it and tried to find a meaning for the band name. We googled a bit, eventually coming across the German version of Wikipedia.

Apparently, the word "tarnkappe" translates as "cloak of invisibility". I know, maybe not as surprising or shocking as "shit car" but still, it has something mythical and it's an excellent word for a black metal band. Besides, I'm quite enjoying the album as well.

Two of the most iconic bands in the world in their respective genre have one thing in common, they're thieves. Metallica was actually one of two possible names for a metal magazine, written and printed by a friend of Lars. Lars adviced to go with "Metal Mania" because he thought "Metallica" would be a good name for this new band he just started, at least better than "Blitzer".

A similar story with synthpop pioneers Depeche Mode, who stole their name from a French fashion magazine. The name pretty much translates as "fashion news". But, stolen or not, when Dava Gahan entered the band, everything changed for the people who called their previous bands No Romance in China, Norman & the Worms, French Look & Composition of Sound

This Belgian doom metal band has been one of thé revelations in 2015. Personally, I'm eagerly awaiting their upcoming album and a few gigs in support of it. But where does their name come from? 
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Well, for this, we have to reach our bibles. Bathsheba is also called "daughter of the oath". She was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and afterward of David, by whom she gave birth to Solomon, who succeeded David as king.

Apparently, her story is more lustful and exciting than "50 Shades Of Grey". It's a tale of adultery, punishment and revenge. But you can read all about that here.

Another story:

​Bathsheba Sherman was the evil spectre of an 1800's devil worshipper, and was the main antagonist of the 2013 movie The Conjuring, based on the "true" story of the Haunting in Harrisville, Rhode Island. Read more about that here.

Of course, un-biblical and only vaguely interested in movies as I am, for me there's only one Bathsheba, and that one sounds like this:

According to the story, the band's name simply comes from a letter shoved into the mailbox at the house the band was rehearsing. They were brainstorming for a decent name when the letter came in, addressed to "The Residents". So the brainstorm was over,and the band could go on making this weird but fascinating legacy.

In a 1992 interview guitarist Andy Cairns admitted that it was a chance design when he was working on band's first record sleeve. Working with Letraset transfers, Cairns misaligned the band's name, and used the "?" icon to fill the space to the right. "And then we thought, well maybe we can bluff our way through when people start reading into it".

We end this first edition of "What's in a bandname" with three projects from Merchants Of Air writers. Why? Well, a bunch of reasons. First: I know these stories by heart so I don't have to look things up, which is welcome since I got some other stuff to do. Second, we deserve a little attention too. Third: it makes this blog varied and we love variation. So here we go.

Today, my music is no longer angry and spiteful, no longer harsh noise (although - and here's a premiere for you - there is something noisy coming up) but the name remains. It's good name.

Serge

Front Line Assembly is a Canadian electro-industrial band, established in 1986. Having completed thirty years this year, the band founded by singer Bill Leeb is now one of the great avatars of the genre, with a reputation solidified by a worldwide notoriety, that highlighted them as one of the most significant acts of the genre. A prolific band, having released so far sixteen full length albums – besides EP’s, live albums, compilations, demos and a lot of other releases in different formats – the band members are also deeply involved in other musical endeavors and side projects, which shows their unorthodox and dedicated commitment in everything related to music. 

With a prominent and characteristic style, that gave the industrial genre a more flavored pop appeal, without becoming a de facto pop band – on the contrary, soberly maintaining at the core of their sound the pulse of industrial music – Front Line Assembly now has amounted a legacy that only a handful of bands have being able to achieve.  

With significant line-up changes throughout the course of their career – obviously, on such a long journey, this would be inevitable –, the band has been also deeply influenced by different styles of music, having experimented with other genres as well. Sometimes creating a very unique sound, blending and amalgamating diverging sounds, they eventually always returned to their roots.

With songs sometimes inclined to highlight a more somber, evasive and sinister side of existence, with melodies equally melancholic and disturbing, but nevertheless abundant on beautifully stricken harmonies, the band certainly has impressed the strength of their style at the collective mind of all the band’s fans and genre enthusiasts alike, being impossible not to recognize their sound immediately, that by now is almost synonymous to industrial music. 

Always active in the studio and in live performances as well, Front Line Assembly apparently has a lot more to contribute. Although they are a very well established act with a respectable legacy and a very solid journey, they keep producing and writing music, always eager to do more, and expand their body of work. 

Obviously, there are no limits for what they can achieve. On a road that has as a main goal the creation of beautiful music, and nothing more, we certainly can expect always the best, and nothing less, from Front Line Assembly. Being that kind of band that only gets more and more confident and more and more excellent as time passes by, never declining or reducing its pace, Front Line Assembly was designed to shine, create, challenge and perform. Simple as that.     


​Wagner