Dec 062024
 

(Andy Synn kicks off “List Week” a little early with a round-up of all the EPs he’s checked out this year)

As is tradition here at NCS we’re going to tee up “List Week” – where I essentially take over the site in order to round-up the “Great”, “Good”, and “Disappointing” albums of the year, concluding with my picks for the “Critical” (i.e. semi-objective) Top Ten and my completely and unapologetically subjective “Personal” Top Ten – with my round-up of all the EPs, splits, and short-form releases from 2024 (including links) which I think are worthy of your time and attention.

Of course, this isn’t a definitive list by any means – anyone who claims any of their lists represent some sort of “definitive” ranking should be treated with rank (pun intended) suspicion, as it’s a literal impossibility for any writer/reviewer to have heard all the great releases from a given year – but it’ll hopefully serve as a useful resource for you to bookmark and come back to whenever you have the time, or inclination, to listen to something more on the “short but sweet” end of the scale.

And, as always, I’m closing the piece with a slightly more in-depth look at my ten favourite – note that I said “favourite”, not “best”, as I’m not trying to make any sort of authoritative claim here – EPs of the year, if only to give you a glimpse into what I’ve liked and listened to the most since January.

(Obviously, this doesn’t include my own band’s EP, which I’d never be so arrogant as to include on my own list, but… maybe you’ll want to give it a listen and include it on yours?)

Continue reading »

Nov 132024
 

(Andy Synn dives into four recent short-but-sweet releases)

There’s been a lot of truly excellent EPs released this year, with at least a few more still to come (as a matter of fact, we’ve got our own new EP coming out just next week).

And although, for reasons previously stated, my time is probably going to be a little more limited than usual over the next month or so, I’m hoping to at least cover a few more of them before “List Season” officially kicks in.

Beginning with the four succulent morsels of metallic goodness that I’ve elected to feature here today.

Continue reading »