last year's top tens: this is this and that is shit

so i was disappointed with basically all the top ten lists i saw. most of the lists i read didn't mention a single album i found interesting. so now i am going to just broadcast my tastes as judgment without much justification or regard for top ten list dogma.

if you are bored maybe you will click some links but in any case ...

1970's Algerian Proto-Rai Underground
Sublime Frequencies does it so hard. I think they charged more than 20 dollars for this originally vinyl only comp. They sold out cuz it destroys. I agree with this label on everything they do. At least the albums that have songs anyways. If you want sounds of the jungle or cityscapes, there are better sources. But othewise SUBMIT!

Group Doueh - Guitar Music From The Western Sahara
Like I was saying, Sublime Frequencies does it so hard. I know Mr. Hennies prefers the Group Inerane CD. I didn't try to convince him that he was wrong.

Elodie Lauten - Death of Don Quixote
Our dear friend Tommy put this out and it's awesome. I've only listened to the samples on the site but I'm going to buy this. Minimal turned maximal. Really beautifully hypnotic stuff. Floating. Yeah and Arthur Russell is on it.

The Boredoms - 77 Boadrum
Yeah, so if I had a hundred bucks to burn, I might buy this. The audio recording is worthwhile. The DVD is pretty lame though. When I first started listening to it, I was pretty unimpressed because drumlines do incredibly more complicated/dynamic stuff (but they also foster the below sort of horseshit). And the Boredoms pulled off an event unlike anything else.

So, bottom line: not my top pick by any means but there is nothing else like this out there and it is not wholly redundant. That being said, I have low hopes for the recordings of 88 and the 99 soon to come.



Pillows and Prayers - Cherry Red Records '81-'84
I dug a few tracks off this comp that came out in 2007. I don't know why I am listing this. The track "Feathering the Nest" reminds me of Buckley / Frusciante / Giallo. I mean that in a good way mostly.

Medio Mutante - Inestable EP
Crunchy minimal wave with a female vocalist spouting some sharp spanish. Featuring Seth from the ever-missed Zom Zoms. Fuck.

Speaking of Zom Zoms, I think a lot of their videos on youtube got taken down or at least I can't find them any more...



Lucky Dragons - Widows
Glitches, oohs, aahs.

Melted Men - Smoke Alarm Limbo
So this may or may not have come out this year. I found these guys when I was searching through independent silk screen artists. Someone had done a cover for them that I though was pretty mind melting and yeah, the music is too. This release is a clear 7" for only 5 dollars. And it's totally solid too. Think Residents with a good sequencer.

The Microphones - Mount Eerie
So K repressed the 2003 Microphones epic album Mount Eerie and well, I am buying this right now. Only 500 repressed with the original hand-sown packaging. I also want to hear Dawn, Lost Wisdom, and the follow up Mount Eerie album (the one that came with a book). Side note: it's really really strange seeing how Elvrum has developed. Romanticism+internet=?

Artists/albumsy that i've been listening to and that are partly responsible for me thinking that 2008 was musically sort of meh: The Unicorns, Lightning Bolt, Lau Nau's first album, Sung Tongs, Xiu Xiu (Life and Live, Fabulous Muscles, Knife Play, some tracks off A Promise), J Dilla's Donuts, middle year Oneida records, all of those remastered Can albums, Calling Out of Context, the Boredoms discography, random Sun Ra albums, the first Sun City Girls album, holiday records from my grandparents, and some dixieland records.

Live shows of 2008 that I particularly enjoyed: Monotonix, the Oh Sees, Little Mystery Trail in 2012.

What I'm looking forward to more of: Dirty Projectors, Lightning Bolt, non-billion drummer Boredoms albums, New Moon Comps, Weird Weeds (check out their vinyl (re-)release), Sublime Frequencies, Operation Playmate, Plutonium Farmers.