2024 - Year in review (part 3)
Here is the third part to my review of 2024. In case you haven’t read the other parts yet - check out part one here and part two here.
Hopefully some new content soon - 2024 feels like a while away already!
October:
The month started off with an interview of two of the most active musicians on the scene over the past years - Rune and Mike from Walter Frosch. I had gone into the interview thinking that they were the only two in YC-CY as well. I found it interesting to know more about them both as well as their history and creative processes.
The second part of the Echolot 10 year anniversary concert feature was also published with Jonathan Ruf sharing his thoughts about the band performing his former band’s Snarf’s album The Blue Giant. Snarf had disbanded following the unfortunate death of Christian Bamert in 2014 and I was curious to know more about Jonathan’s feelings about the upcoming evening as performer and to hear the Snarf album performed in its entirety live. It was also a privilege to have the opportunity to announce the upcoming solo project from Renato - MOHON.
October also saw a new edition of “Tell us about the music scene in…”, this time with Simon Hirzel from ANGER MGMT., The Shattered Mind Machine und Die Panne. I already knew a little bit about the music scene there but was delighted to learn a lot of new interesting bands and venues from there.
November:
November was also a hectic month in terms of output starting off with some instrumental EPs that I had come across over the last few months. I hope to follow up on that soon with some albums and there’s a feature in the pipeline about the post-rock/post-metal scene in Switzerland.
There were also three interviews published during the month - including two which were originally in French. That also explains the slow down in articles in December and the beginning of the year.
It was great to interview Mount Koya for their upcoming album, Teien and to know more about the band’s history. Ever since coming across them in the “Tell us about the music scene in Vevey” feature I had been listening to them quite a lot and they seemed to be the soundtrack as I headed across the city. I was also drawn in by their concept albums and their constant changes in musical direction. I am also glad that they were able to resolve the mystery of the missing records in time for the record release concert.
The interview with Nostalgie Plage was also very interesting - I have been a big fan of their unique sound and it was a pleasure to interview them. It seems that the pandemic created a lot of new bands and projects in Switzerland. It was also great to see that they were a live session with Freunde and Résilience shortly after the interview was published.
November also marked a return for myself to be on stage as part of the Joy Division Tribute Evening along with other bands from the Zurich region including Jëkoff Sedofski, ANGER MGMT. and my highlight from the evening, Vague Visions. The latter’s concert left a really good impression on me - despite technical issues, it was an impressive concert with a huge wall of sound. It also reminded me a lot of a Deerhunter concert I saw in 2007 where the sound was overpowering. I look forward to hearing more from them in the near future.
The month was rounded off with the interview and record release concert for Mount Jacinto. I enjoyed interviewing Sonya for her solo project and discovering a lot about her musical journey before Mount Jacinto. I really enjoyed hearing the album live, it allowed me to appreciate the arrangements and the vocals even more. I heard the Reason quite a lot since its release and to hear it along with The Way Out, which gave me goosebumps, were definitely two standout moments.
December:
The month was quite quiet but I was at the Humus Fest at the Usine à Gaz in Nyon. It was my first time in a long time to be in the Romandy and it was great to be at the festival of one of the record labels that has had a big impact on me in 2024 with a lot of wonderful discoveries. Seeing Louis Jucker perform the Suitcase Suite, Wolfer and Coilguns were definitely highlights for me. The location was great and Humus along with the Usine à Gaz put in a lot of effort to make it such a welcoming event.
With a hectic finish to the year, there was only the playlist which was added to the blog. There was some motivation lost during the end of the year but the momentum is slowly coming back and there are some new articles coming soon. And hopefully, I will have the end of year review in December to make up for a lack of articles.
In any case, thank you if you’ve contributed and read this blog.