music 2011

albums

-peaking lights, 936
-africa hitech, 93 million miles & out in the streets (vip) 
-rene hell, the terminal symphony
-wet hair, in vogue spirit 
-oneohtrix point never, replica
-prurient, bermuda drain & time's arrow 
-pete swanson, man with potential
-perfume, jpn
-1958-2009, 1958-2009 (lp)

reissues / repackagings / discoveries / unearthings

-roberto cacciapaglia, the ann steel album
-ghostwriters, objects in mirrors are closer than they appear & music from no man's land
-the other people place, lifestyles of the laptop cafe
-the other people place / mystic tribe a.i., sunday night live at the laptop cafe
-various artists, play that beat mr. raja: selected oddities from the tamil film industry (1984 - 1991)
-sohail rana, khyber mail 
-william onyeabor, anything you sow

eps / tapes / singles / downloads

-jeff grace, meek's cutoff original score
-lucky dragons, shape tape 
-cuffs, 4 track demos 
-tin man, acid test 01 
-sfv acid, new west coast 
-ceephax acid crew, the unstoppable phax machine
-dmx krew, that was harder than i expected
-kfw, regaining composure / negating freedom
-personable, human disco
-human hands, fatal horizon
-positive shadow tapes
-mark lord tapes
-dust / five mask / lady19 tapes & downloads
-cavelife / crushed velvet rope ladder labels

tracks

-takuya matsumoto, "jump rope music"
-session victim, "good intentions"
-cold cave, "confetti"
-lil b, "motivation"
-asap rocky, "peso"
-chymera, "ellipsis"
-g-side, "im sorry :("
-ital, "ital's theme"
-knee deep, "all about love"
-mount kimbie, "at least (instra:mental remix)"
and all the k/j-pop tracks from a few posts ago. seriously, check those out, they are all incredible.

i don't even care

(see also: this)

addendum:

this place is full of cobwebs

music for free on purpose from two of the best in the game.  continue sharing, spread far as well as wide.

mark lord, i'm closer thousand

five mask,  zero go / network glass

want to post more, always busy.  working on class and madison zinefest 2011, want to have a minicomic done before then.  don't even know what it will be about.  also want to record more music.  i can do anything i want.  shouting into a void.  global stress.

"my time"

no time to post regularly...

...but there is time to watch videos.

2010: three

albums

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Infinite Body - Carve Out the Face of My God (Post Present Medium)

Ceephax Acid Crew - United Acid Emirates (Planet Mu) and Psychtapolis EP (WéMè Records)

it's my list, count 'em both.

Owen Pallett - Heartland (Domino)

a concept album whose narrative and ideas seem to unfold more with each listen. smart and challenging while remaining utterly listenable.

The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a Scheme (Labrador)

who else engineers flawless pop tunes the way these swedes do? no one, that's who.

A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Autumn, Again (self-released)

available free (on purpose) for not much longer, go get it!

The Chap - Well Done Europe (Lo Recordings)

Abe Vigoda - Crush (Post Present Medium)

Grasslung - Sincere Void (Root Strata)

Captain Ahab - The Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts (Cock Rock Disco)

also available for free, but indefinitely. The End of Irony, Captain Ahab's studio album from this year is not bad, but the energy on this live recording is pretty infectious, and has a lot of the same tracks as the proper album.

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alright i think that does it. any favorites you care to share? please do.

2010: two

eps
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Tennis - Baltimore (Underwater Peoples)

Balam Acab - See Birds (Tri Angle)

the only exponent of this whole drag / witch house thing that is actually musically interesting (Salem can jump in a ditch. there, i said it.).

Pale Blue Sky - Shades of Grey (Arbor)

Peaking Lights - Space Primitive (Night People)

there was a version of this on tape too but the vinyl just looks so good (way better than the tape).

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tapes

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Baronic Wall - Traditional Appearance (Goaty Tapes)

jack is already on an entirely different plane from most human beings, and this (along with the Compass Rose tape on Ekhein from this year) is evidence that he is inching ever closer to something really transcendent. melted sci-fi blues bent around in funhouse mirrors. literally unlike any other music being made right now.

everything on Ekhein

everything on Agents of Chaos

just about everything on Jugular Forest

Copper Glove - Dead Space / No Power (Monorail Trespassing)

Perispirit - Abysmal Penetrations (Hospital Productions)

Lussuria - Silk and Honey (Hospital Productions)

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mix

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Bogdan Raczynski - Mix #2

the mixing itself isn't perfect, but that's part of what makes this thing so endearing. lands on plenty of touchstones from the past year but keeps things interesting with disco, reggae, and acid curveballs. dude's personality comes through, for sure.

2010: one

year end music list time.

some favorite tracks / singles from this past year (not all necessarily released this year)(now with links (where available / applicable)):

Andrea - "Retail Juke"

it figures that now that juke and footwork is worming into the dubstep crowd, the one footwork-type track i really like is not from chicago at all. it is so good though. "You Still Got Me," from earlier in the year, is also a winner.

Nicolas Makelberge - "Dying In Africa (Games Edit)"

a slowed version of this opens up a bleary-eyed mix from games, and it's elegant. the build at the midpoint is killer. usually a simple slow-down edit doesn't mean much to me, but it really works here. the normal-speed original is ace too.

Games - "Midi Drift"

hey, speaking of games...

Ellen Allien - "Pump"

her full length this year didn't do the trick for me but this track hits all the right notes and pulses in all the right places.

Baobinga & Cosmin TRG - "I Get Ruff"

Joe - "Claptrap" and "Level Crossing"

these took a while to grow on me, as i don't typically care for tracks that are essentially just percussion, but the grooves landed on in both tracks are kind of impossible to turn down.

Kyle Hall - "Kaychunk" and "You Know What I Feel"

Richard Wagner - "Vorspiel" from Das Rheingold

Deerhunter - "Helicopter"

Space Opera - "Holy River" and "Over and Over"

Lone - "Pineapple Crush"

1958 - 2009 - II, Side B

yeah that does it for this part. if i have to think about whether or not i should include something too much, i probably shouldn't (and i should probably also get a life).

more soon.

"make a baby" / "peace on earth"

"demonstration of lucky dragons' "make a baby": a synthesizer played by two or more people touching one another on the skin."


"two radios with home-made autotune on every signal received. every station is in tune with every other station. even static is in tune. peace on earth."

just saw luke again and got to participate in "make a baby" (only watched the first time). was a pleasure to be part of it again.

flood control

mostly korg ds-10, with a few interludes on casio sk-5 and untreated recording from recycled tape.

side a: untreated found meditation / hypnosis recording to help get you in the zone, then some deep cavernous flange.
side b: light drone into manipulated arpeggiations, followed by low-end-ish noise, trying to imitate others.

original cassette is available.

thanks for any / all interest.

april tape

korg ds-10 recorded directly to recycled cassette.

side a: recorded 4.14.10, just prior to midnight, warm air left from the day
side b: recorded 4.21.10, early afternoon, dread of responsibility

i've even given this...thing i am doing...a name. posture.

original cassette is available.

rh / jw

2009: five

...and more things i liked.

Real Estate 7"s, CDR and EP

an astonishingly strong batch of straightforward back porch rock n roll tunes. the mixes / recording quality of the songs on the 7"s and tour CDR just feel more vital and alive than the versions found on the full-length. the Reality EP is a solid cap to a big year for a great band. really good live show too.

Modern Love (and related)

it has been fun following the Modern Love stable this year and catching up on some of the better things i've missed. Move D, MLZ, Claro Intelecto, Andy Stott, Pendle Coven, Millie & Andrea and HATE...a really, really strong lineup (just nevermind Demdike Stare). always tuneful, often very deep, and regularly bringing a warm (but never overbearing) sense of nostalgia. get familiar here.

Peaking Lights / Indra Dunis & Aaron Coyes / Good Style Shop

a great band made up of two great people who run a great store in the great city of madison. expect continued greatness in the near future. check them out here or here or track them down on facebook.

Ceephax

really got into Ceephax earlier this year. what Andy is doing right now is by and large more fun and more listenable than what his brother Tom (Squarepusher) is up to (although Numbers Lucent was quite good). looking forward to United Acid Emirates next year. visit him here.

Fripp & Eno

man are those albums good.

this scene from Dark Star:


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and i think that'll wrap things up for this year. if you have any thoughts or favorites you'd like to share please do.

i'll talk about the decade in a little while, i need to organize my thoughts a bit.

2009: four

here are a bunch of things i liked in general this past year.

everything Floating Points did

Floating Points is blending / hopping between elements of disco, hip-hop, dubstep, house and whatever else like nobody else working right now. after a year dense with quality releases on Planet µ, Eglo and R2, as well as some very nice remixes (Sebastien Tellier, Basement Jaxx), i almost hope this guy never releases a full length and just keeps making top shelf singles and EPs. check him out here or on facebook

everything Oneohtrix Point Never did

i got deep into everything OPN / Dan Lopatin related this year. Dan's collaborations with others were excellent (Infinity Window, Skyramps). his releases on tape were epic. and Rifts collected 3+ LPs worth of transcendental material spanning back to 2003, emptying the archives as it were and leaving things open wide for fresh changes in the future. not to mention a dvd full of stuff like this:

dan exists on the web here and his skull theft blog will mess with your brain.

tapes

there was just so much from so many labels, i kind of have to group it all together. releases from:

- Rene Hell / Secret Abuse / Marble Sky / Mare / Disfigure Mare
- Earn (probably my favorite artist working right now / favorite discovery of this year)
- Earth Station
- Color Dream
- Rale
- Infinite Body
- Terrors
- Bryter Layter
- Raglani
- Mark Lord
- Work/Death
- Flower Man
- Face Worker
- Exercise
- Treetops
(among others)

on labels like:

- Ekhein
- Young
- Arbor
- Callow God / Agents of Chaos
- Cavelife
- Monorail Trespassing
- Catholic
- Night People
(among others)

the scene is just swelling with new stuff all the time but i feel like i have my favorites and i know what i like. that is a nice feeling.

Andrew Broder's series of free releases

in the early part of the year Andy (best known for his work as / playing in Fog) released 10 (!) separate improv-based experiments. varying levels of noise and melody emerge from turntable muck, clouds of guitar pedal dust and tape loop exorcisms. they are still free to download here and you can not be a freeloader like me and paypal him some moneys here.

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stay tuned...

2009: three

happy holidays planet earth.

here are some more favorite releases.

Infinite Body - CMBCMEINAPTD (Teenage Teardrops)

Clues - Clues (Constellation)

ex-Unicorn Alden Penner and co. arrive to save us from the disaster that has become Islands. lanky and odd at times, thunderous at others, frequently compelling rock tunes.

Ghislain Poirier - Soca Sound System (Ninja Tune)

this sort of came out of nowhere. tried it on a whim and knocked my socks off. a searing blaze of dancehall styles grinding up against juke / ghettotech. knocks it out of the park. and i really dislike most dancehall.

Hudson Mohawke - Polyfolk Dance (Warp)

somehow leagues better than the god-awful tangle that is Butter despite being released in the same year. slick neon shining beats and punchy tunes. it's no wonder dude's being tapped for big-name production.

Secret Abuse - The Immeasurable Gift (Arbor)

Abe Vigoda - Reviver (Post Present Medium)

Rale - Whispering Gallery (Arbor)

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still more coming...

2009: two

here are a bunch of releases i liked. not too much stuff that totally knocked me for a loop but there was never a lack of something interesting to be had. a lot of favorites from last year returning, it seems...

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion (Domino)

let's just get it out of the way up top. i might feel differently about it years down the line but this year this album just sounds really good. hooks and brightness and depth and everything. "Brothersport" sounds like carnivale in the future. and all my friends have heard me say it but i'll say it again here in print: MPP is proof positive that more (if not all) bands should listen to techno.

A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Ashes Grammar (Mis Ojos Discos)

Lotus Plaza - The Floodlight Collective (Kranky)

i enjoyed this far more than any other Deerhunter-related release this year.

Kevin Drumm - Imperial Horizon (Hospital Productions)

Prurient - Rose Pillar (Heartworm Press)

Few Nolder - New Folder (Planet µ)

while this LP does recycle some tracks from last year (really good tracks at that), it manages to cover a lot of ground and is a fun listen from front to back. also has one of my absolute total favorite songs / musical moments of the year (crank it at 4.50 on "Top," watch your house cave in from bass destruction).

Tim Hecker - An Imaginary Country (Kranky)

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saving more for the next post...

2009: one

i guess it's that time.

let's start with 2009. i will attempt (and fail) to encompass the decade later.

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here are a bunch of songs i liked. most are from this year. some are not.

a lack of comments does not mean i like a song less. i really like all of these songs. it just means i don't have anything particularly insightful to add beyond "i like this song a lot."

Mountains - "Choral"

while Choral is solid as an album, nothing else on the record has the title track's sense of graceful, expansive unfurling.

Boxcutter - "Mya Rave v2"

synth stabs so thick and mighty they should liquefy your brains. one of the more soulful dancefloor blasts to be had this year, irrespective of whatever genre you want to assign it to.

The Radio Dept. - "David"

Washed Out - "Belong"

Tiny Vipers - "Dreamer"

i literally can not sit through all of Life On Earth and its soul-nullifying sadness. heavier and darker than the heaviest, blackest metal if you ask me. "Dreamer" is really beautiful, though, especially the way Jesy sings out in the final moments.

Aphex Twin - "Stone in Focus"

just realized this was not on the CD version of Selected Ambient Works II i've had for years. i feel ashamed to have missed it for so long. new to me, but feels familiar and sounds just...just the best.

Nite Jewel - "What Did He Say"

Donnacha Costello - "Waltz For Chet"
Andy Stott - "Brief Encounter"

two tracks that share a particular rimclick sound (i'm no pro so i can't say exactly what it is) and a mellow shuffling after-after-hours vibe. lovely.

Tu M' - "Monochrome # 01"

Dog Day - "Rome"

Joker - "Digidesign" and "Snake Eater"

"Snake Eater" is really simple, i will admit. but the way those vocal samples from the hammy, faux-007 theme to MGS3 just...explode...it gets me smiling every time.

Pearson Sound - "PLSN"
2562 - "Third Wave"

these songs seem like they'd go well back to back for two reasons: 1.) both have this sort of warped space organ melody going on and 2.) both have really smart, lively percussion. that woodblock on "PLSN" is so snappy and the snare pops / clicks on "Third Wave" are perfectly timed.

A Made Up Sound - "Rework"

Tanlines - "Power Everything"

DMX Krew - "I'm All Alone (Cylob Remix)"

perpetually rediscovering how fantastic this track is.

Zomby - "Digital Flora" and "Digital Fauna"

despite definite hit and miss tendencies (the hell was the excuse for One Foot Ahead of the Other? is chiptune club material now???), "Digital Flora" and "Digital Fauna" make for an emotive and urgent-feeling match set. something-something-future-noir-step?

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more to come...

anticipating a thing...

head to the guy's myspace and get familiar.

free music from a man who is not me

credit: bebopified

it's this guy, andrew broder. he plays in the band fog. he has some solo recordings available for free download. they are noisy / drony improvisations using guitar, turntables and 4-track. they are good and i like them.
I Must Fix All The Problems
Experts, Specialists
Raw Bulb
We Had to Eat the Owl
more to come i would imagine and maybe i'll keep posting the links here.
andy could use your money (just like everyone else). if you want to chip in so he can keep sharing rad styles with you, paypal him at thefog(at)visi.com

year-end #9

and finally some special recognition to two labels at the top of their respective games this year.

Spectral Sound
with the exception of a few passable releases of average acid, Spectral had an incredibly strong run of varied and ever-classy techno releases. while i don't keep up with the droves of techno / minimal releases that become available every week (and if i did, i'm sure i'd find a lot more that i like), i feel like Spectral keeps me up to date as to what's best in the scene. and the covers look nice too. like these:
Osborne - Ruling 12"
the full-length is really solid, but proceed directly to "go" with the choicest cuts on the 12". "Downtown" is total neon-glowing night music, retro and new at once, probably my favorite techno / dance song of the year.
Sami Koivikko - Sapphire 12"
kaleidoscopic, sultry and epic , perfect for when your drinks are really kicking in. dancefloors in deep spaaaaaaaace.
Broker/Dealer - Soft Sell 12"
like a slightly glossier counterpart to Osborne, this is the neon-colors vibe at a more kinetic clip. like driving through chicago if it looked fancy like in a movie instead of all stressful like in real life.
Lawrence - Divided 12"
airy, spacious and flowing, nothing kicks too hard on Lawrence's endcap to Spectral's year. probably good for the quieter tail end of a set.

and other winners from Kate Simko, Audion, Daso & Pawas, the Death Is Nothing To Fear comps, and a relentless collection of Matthew Dear's early non-album work.

Hospital Productions
something turned this year and i got really interested in noise more than before, especially anything that had to do with Dominick Fernow's Hospital label. pretty much every single major release on this label had my attention this year, because unlike so much in the drone / noise scene, little of the material felt half-assed. this is crafted stuff. i.e.:
Kevin Drumm - Imperial Distortion
alternates between an alley and a knife flash in the dark and a bedroom and a patient conversation. concludes with the knife making contact with flesh / bone. glacial, glorious.
Jason Crumer - Ottoman Black
probably the most horrifying record i've heard in recent memory. brutal like something you've lived to tell about.
Burning Star Core - Challenger
beautifully diverse and engaging, surprisingly accessible.
Cold Cave - Painted Nails 7"
promising neo-industrial / darkwave thumpers.
Prurient - Cocaine Death / Time Began In A Garden
in addition to great releases on other labels (Whip Enthusiasts, And Still, Wanting, The Black Post Society, to name a few), Dom put out some of his best work yet on his own label. Cocaine Death gathers recent cassette output, most of which consists of burnt-out and strikingly melodic synth dirges. Time Began In A Garden is a small gem of four dark-ambient tracks that would fit right in if they were released on Type. a banner year for the prolific Fernow.

and i think that does it for this year. i've got a handful of things i'm looking forward to next year (Animals Collective (who isn't?), Tim Hecker, Broadcast, Radio Dept., Sholi, Mi Ami, etc) but that's not worth getting into detail about. if you have any opinions or input of your own i'd love it if you left a comment or something. shows me that people read this things.

thanks. more posts soon.