Anybody who knows me in real life can attest that there’s nothing I love more than a list. The quantification of items and the planning of tasks gives way to the satisfaction of knowing that everything on the list has been acquired or accomplished — only to toss it in the trash and begin again with a fresh post-it. A lot of blogs (including this one) post “most viewed articles” lists, but I’m getting away from that this year because our visits generated from Google searches don’t reflect our new content and I don’t want to give the short shrift to either group of articles.
But before we get into the most viewed articles, let’s get a little broader perspective of what myself and the rest of the staff have been up to all year:
Bands We’ve Reviewed or Featured in 2015 (Backwards Chronological Order — Only Bands Who Have Had the Whole Article to Themselves)
Total: 83
Deathwish Collective
Nightbitch
Boy From the Crowd
Plum
Delta Deep
Wizards of Winter
Sun O )))
GWAR
Mystic Pete
Muscle and Marrow
Opium Denn
Clutch
Tomas Doncker
Andrea Bocelli
Sidewave
Into the Coven
The Black Dahlia Murder
Bedroom Rehab Corporation
Ghost
Black Breath
Mile Marker Zero
Motorhead
Lamb of God
Charity
Bitter’s Kiss
The Unravelling
Xenosis
Joykill Collective
Ben Lorentzen
Grizzlor
Vile Display of Humanity
S.N.A.F.U.
Valkyrie
Heavy Breath
Ransom Scenery
Louise Aubrie
Winter Calling
Sperry Alan
Writing in the Skies
Faith No More
Direct Divide
Nic Naussett
Grumsling
Arcturus
Si Ombrellone
Calatrilloz
Intercourse
Staring at the Sun
We Are The Catalyst
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Secondborn
Vigilance Committee
Broken Guru
Walter Lure
Enslaved
Dopethrone
Barren Womb
Grizzlor
Artur U and the City Limits
Fistula
Fulgora
Steven Wilson
Lightning Bolt
[debut]
The Great Game
Snooty Garland
Leviathan
Monster Eats Pilot
Burak Ozmucur
Sir Cadian Rhythm
Whale Fall
Father John Misty
Ape Men
Ensiferum
Grown Up Avenger Stuff
The Shape
Khasm
Bjork
Rock Masters Band
Napalm Death
goste
Unfathomed of Abyss
Kayo Dot
Bands and Music Folks We’ve Interviewed in 2015 (Backwards Chronological Order)
Total: 26
- Prostitution
- Tides of Sulfur
- Against All Odds Productions
- Crossing Rubicon
- Joe Capobianco (not a music guy, but pretty freakin’ cool)
- One-Eyed Doll
- Arch Enemy
- Cattle Decapitation
- Metal Cyndicate
- Apoapsis
- Travel Amygdala
- Secret Cutter
- Chip McCabe
- Jessica Lee Wilkes
- Xenosis
- Battlecross
- End-Time Illusion
- Paul Spak
- Ensiferum
- Meek is Murder
- Crowbar
- Jesse James
- Eric Iocca
- YOB
- Bardus
- Problem With Dragons
- Empty Vessels
Bands We Blurbed in 2015 (Backwards Chronological Order — Bands in Articles Like This One, Not Including Year-End Lists)
Total: 34
- Vision Within
- Tear Gas Union
-
Grizzlor performing at Death to False Metal Festival, August 2015. Grizzlor
- BBIGPIGG
- Intercourse
- She Walks Without Legs
- Continuum
- Jimmy Junk Bird and the Stiffs
- Matt and The Marauders
- The Aberration
- Taking Back Atlantis
- My Missing Half
- Begat the Nephilim
- The Shrine
- Corrosion of Conformity
- Weezer
- Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals
-
Nattali Rize and Notis being interviewed in the Gathering of the Vibes media tent, July 2015. Nattali Rize and Notis
- Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
- Gaslight Anthem
- Insano Vision
- Lyra
- End-Time Illusion
- Lightsbane
- Eyes of the Dead
- Apostasy
- Parasitic Extirpation
- Vena Amoris
- The Shape
- Totality
- Necronomichrist
- Grezlakurse
- Disguise the Curse
- Western Massacre
Not accounting for repeats in categories, that’s 143 bands we’ve covered in the past 365 days. Not too shabby.
Although most of our content is music-related, we have also been increasing our event coverage. Below is a list of events we wrote about this year, including many beer fests and a few concerts big enough to count as “events” — once again, in backwards chronological order.
Total: 14
- BernFest Epic Debate Party
- Beer Conn 2015
- Smoke in the Valley 2015
- Westchester Tattoo Convention
- Greenwich Food & Wine Festival
- Captain Lawrence Sour Beer Festival
- Gathering of the Vibes
- Freedom Fest 2015
- Two Roads Road Jam Fest
- Ninety9 Bottles Craft Beer Festival
- Stony Creek Brewery Grand Opening
- Maritime Center Chocolate Expo
- Opus’s Blizzard Bash 2015
- Hothfest 2015
Another thing we’ve included more of this year is spotlights on local businesses, craftspeople, and charities. Here’s who we’ve featured:
Total: 18
- Lock City Brewing
- Shebeen Brewing
- Mad Hatter & Company
- Confidently Crafting
- Strange Ways
- Fractured and Bound
- 203 Reiki
- Sweet Sabrina’s Cake Shop
- Storybrook Soap
- Barbara Hillman (Thirty-One Bags)
- Lauren Wolfe Abdulrahmen (Doterra Essential Oils)
- Hollydays Creations and Facepainting
- Annalisa Schaefer
- Terrapin Foundation
- Captain Lawrence Brewing
- Two Roads Brewing
- Stony Creek Brewery
- Thali
But disgracefully for a school librarian, the blog I run has only reviewed two books this whole year: Food and Behavior and The Kingkiller Chronicle series. I might be the staff member most motivated to write about books, but the bulk of what I read is of interest to the K-5 set — hence, two book reviews.
And now the part you’ve all been scrolling down for: our most viewed articles!
2015’s Most Viewed Articles Written This Year (#1 has the most!)
10. A Connecticut Yankee in John Tru’s Court: My Best Of Hothfest 2015
9. #UnoccupytheMall, 2015 Edition
8. Album Review: Ben Lorentzen’s America
7. Secret Cutter: Not a Secret Anymore
5. Dopethrone: This is Your Brain on Satan
4. From New Haven to New Orleans: An Interview with Jeff Golden of Crowbar
3. Stony Creek is Aggressively Laid Back, and Open For Business
2. The De-evolution of Mankind: An Interview with Josh Elmore of Cattle Decapitation
1. Doom, Noise, and Death Metal: Tom’s Top 25 Albums of 2015
2015’s Most Viewed Articles Written in Any Year
10. Stony Creek is Aggressively Laid Back, and Open For Business
9. The De-evolution of Mankind: An Interview with Josh Elmore of Cattle Decapitation
8. Mortified Nuclear Immolated Mutant Populace Death (A Fashion Article)
7. Tattoos: The Artistic Freedom of Speech
6. Doom, Noise, and Death Metal: Tom’s Top 25 Albums of 2015
5. The Art of Constructing a Punk Rock Vest
4. Interview with Graffiti Writer MONE
2. A Naked Day at the Beach: Robert Moses Beach, Long Island, NY
1. Tips and Tricks for Dying Your Hair Interesting Colors
So what’s in store for 2016? I’d like to see more band interviews, more book reviews, and a stronger ratio of non-sponsored music posts to sponsored ones. It’s nice to make money (and we have to pay for our hosting and other expenses somehow), but we also need to stay true to our mission of promoting music that we enjoy. We didn’t release a compilation album in 2015, but I’m toying with the idea of bringing that back. And maybe after five-years of being a blog, we’ll even have an in-person editorial meeting. Anything could happen!
In the meantime, I’d like to thank Alternative Control’s hardworking and talented staff for their efforts this year. Everyone has their niche here, whether it’s concert photography, noise rock reviews, local business contacts, PR wizardry, or encyclopedic musical background knowledge; without each person’s unique skills and interests, we wouldn’t be the blog we are today. They do all this for free, for the love of music, writing, and the opportunity to share with you, the readers.
Speaking of which, thank you to everyone who reads this blog, shares our content, follows our social media, and supports what we do! Without you, we’d be spitting into the internet’s vast proverbial wind. Leave a comment to let us know what YOU want more of in 2016!
You can find Alternative Control on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Soundcloud, and bandcamp. As Jim Clegg would put it, “Flock the scene, join the flock!”
And while you’re at it, come to our show at Cook’s Cafe in Naugatuck on January 2nd, 2016! More info here.
Happy New Year!
