Top Ten Unsigned Chart
Most music magazines have charts at the back. This one does too. It’s not anything related to sales, though – that wouldn’t make much sense in our line of work. No, this chart, which is an ongoing experiment/project at Purevolume.com’s General Promotion message board, is editor-in-chief Stephen Carradini’s completely and totally subjective listing of the best bands he’s found on Purevolume.com. It’s actually two charts: the overall top ten, and then the metal/hardcore/post-hardcore top five. If you want to submit your band for the chart(s) and see where you fall, do so at the homepage[url”>. Until then, enjoy the bands in this chart.
Top 10 3/25/07
1. Delft – Dreamy, forceful, creepy and enigmatic, this indie-rock is stunning.
2. Pioneer– Pioneer covers a wide range of earthy tones, from weary folk/pop drink-alongs to Bright Eyes-esque country-rock.
3. The Skies We Built – Riding the line between head-in-the-clouds dream pop and grounded indie-pop with a wonderful vocalist.
4. Philip Uster and the House Floor – Decemberists + Interpol + At the Drive-In = The House Floor. It’s quirky, unpredictable and exciting.
5. Detonate – Ska and screams have never met so perfectly and playfully as in Detonate’s exciting amalgam.
6. ReedKD– The primarily acoustic singer/songwriter branches out in all directions of beauty– multi-instrumented folk, indie-pop, balladry, and more.
7. Red Sea Station– Gleeful, fuzzed-out guitar pop that seems to be perpetually watching the sun break out of the clouds.
8. Daily Lyrical Product– The rhymes are solid and intelligent, the vocal flow is very smooth, and the beats are organic and innovative – I can’t ask for much more in a rap group.
9. Revolution Love– The completely awesome second coming of Smashing Pumpkins, in all their nasal, garagey, grungy glory.
10. Espiral– Jazzy, orchestrated, syncopated rock with great aesthetics, even if the guitars leave something to be desired.
Honorable Mentions: The Defog (indie-rock), The Reverent One (Electronica with just the right balance of growling bite and melodic charm), Peter (singer/songwriter), Chris Stephenson (Solid acoustic songwriting with good vocals and enough twists and turns to keep it interesting).
Metal/Hardcore/Post-Hardcore Top 5 2/26/07
1. Negativehead– Brutal and frantic, yet still highly complex, melodic and operatic, Negativehead is on par with System of a Down in creativity.
2. Awaiting the End– Hardcore meets modern rock meets metal in the best possible way. Aggressive in an impressive way.
3. Eva Braun– Artsy indie band meets a hardcore powerhouse. Eva Braun ensues.
4. Yeah I’m On Fire– Hardcore/punk with a desperate urgency in the sound that is sorely missing from so many bands today.
5. From Ashes– Metal with strings, keys, and lots of sludge guitar. Guitars could improve, but for now From Ashes kicks tail.
Honorable Mention: Five Across the Eyes (hardcore punk), Silence of the Fall (metal), Send the Dawn (metal), Bricks for Shoulders (hardcore).