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Playlist By Album Ranking For 2012
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| Tame Impala - Lonerism |
2 - 06:41 Om, Haqq al-Yaqin
3 - 17:25 The Oh Sees, Putrifiers II
4 - 23:33 Evan Caminiti, Absteigend
5 - 30:27 BEAK>, Wulfstan II
6 - 37:35 Carter Tutti Void, V4
7 - 47:32 Goat, Golden Dawn
8 - 50:18 Moon Duo, Rolling Out
9 - 56:32 Ufomammut, Sulpherdew
10- 68:42 Earth, Corascene Dog
11- 76:47 Ravi Shankar, Raga Jog
Head over to Polyphonic Disorder for podcasts dedicated to experimental electronic, techno and sound synthesis.
My Top Ten Albums for 2012
1. Tame Impala, Lonerism-Modular Recordings (2xLP, October)
Tame Impala is a Space Rock band from Perth, Australia. Lonerism is their second release. There are a few reasons Lonerism places first on my list. This is feel-good, effects drenched music with Beatlesque qualities taken to the next level. The album was two years in the making and well worth the wait. Awarded Australian 2012 Album of the Year.
2. Om, Advaitic Songs-Drag City (2x12" 45rpm, July)
Om ventured into the World Music realm with Advaitic Songs. This is a a great release with oh-so-right touches of chanting, tamboura, tabla and cello. The recording/editing quality is impeccable and every nuance is audible at 45 rpm.
3. Thee Oh Sees, Putrifiers II EP-In The Red Recordings (LP, September)
Thee Oh Sees are legendary for their live performances and the insane number of tracks they have produced. Many times their new releases are not even advertised, but their followers are so tuned into their idiosyncrasies it just works. Putrifiers II is an energized hybrid of Garage-Psych and if you want to hear them head to their favorite venue The Eagle Tavern in San Francisco.
4. Evan Caminiti, Dreamless Sleep-Thrill Jockey (LP, August)
Evan Caminiti is one half of Barn Owl and Dreamless Sleep is his second release in 2012. The album emits a hazy atmosphere of analogue synthesizers, altered states of guitar and vocals plus plenty of static/hiss throughout. Caminiti claims all the songs were deconstructed from 4-track recordings which took over a year to organize and release. Thanks to Uncle Jeff for giving me this one.
5. BEAK>, BEAK>> -Invada (2xLP, July)
BEAK is Geoff Barrow (Portishead), Matt Williams and Billy Fuller. Recorded live, in a room with very few overdubs and unlike their 2009 debut this release has synthesizers, drones, wavering grooves and distorted guitars. This is modern medicine.
6. Carter Tutti Void, Transverse-Mute (LP, March)
A collaboration by Chris Carter & Cosey Fanni Tutti (Throbbing Gristle) and Nik Void (Factory Floor). The tracks were studio created and then performed and recorded live at the Short Circuit presents Mute festival at the Roundhouse, London. My favorite album cover of 2012.
7. Goat, World Music-Rocket Recordings (LP, August)
This musical collective from Korpolombolo, Sweden claims to be remnants of a Voodoo commune. All the tracks wah-wah around the edges of Psych and Funk with tribal drumming and chanting. The energy factor produced by this album is endless.
8. Moon Duo, Circles-Sacred Bones Records (LP, October)
Recorded at home in Blue River, Colorado and mixed in SF. I saw Sanae Yamada and Ripley Johnson perform at the Larimer Lounge and enjoyed their minimalist musical approach. I could of been in a Berlin basement lounge for all I knew. As they went through their set swirling paisley video jump across Sanae's whirling cosmic keyboard arms while Ripley jammed his guitar through the kraut and fuzz. This LP doesn't crossover into unexplored terrain, but I just love the groove it sets up in my mind. I also recommend the Zoned/Take Me With You 7" single by Moon Duo and Psychic Ills (2012).
9. UFOmammut, Oro: Opus Alter-Neurot Recordings (CD, September)
There's always room for Italiano Doom. Opus Alter is the second part of UFOmammut's 2012 album Oro. The first CD is Primum and was released months previous to Opus Alter. Anyway, all the tracks excel in simplicity, electronica, hard edged guitar soundscapes and strange chants. Just what are those guys saying??? I must get my hands on the first CD to complete the union and the experience.
10. Earth, Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II-Southern Lord (LP, February)
I like Earth. They click on a tape recorder and SLOWLY lay down an album. Click OFF. Send out to be mastered. TOUR. Yes, I like Boris, SUNN O))) and Mono… but Earth is the die hard of this genre. So they make the list.
Bardos FreeDOOM 2012 In Review
Top 10 LP’s of 2012:
1. Shed - The Killer [50Weapons]
2. Container - LP (Second) [Spectrum Spools]
3. Voices From the Lake Feat. Donato Dotty & Neel (2) - Voices from the Lake [Prologue]
4. Recondite - On Acie [Acid Test]
5. Silent Servant - Negative Fascination [Hospital Productions]
6. Lee Gamble - Diversions 1994-1996 [Pan]
7. Robert Hood - Motor: Nighttime World Vol. 3 [Music Man]
8. Terrence Dixon - From the Far Future Part II [Tresor]
9. Actress - R.I.P [Honest Jon’s]
10. Frak - Musika Electronic [Digitalis]
Runners-Up:
Raime - Quarter Turns Over a Living Line [Blackest Ever Black]
Belbury Poly - The Belbury Tales [Ghost Box]
Mark Van Hoen - The Revendent Diary [Editions Mego]
Lukid - Lonely at the Top [Werk Discs]
Panabrite - Soft-Terminal [Digitalis]
Suum Cuique - Ascetic Ideals [Modern Love]
Charlatan - Isolatarium [Type]
Julia Holter - Ekstasis [Domino]
Vessel - Order of Noise [Tri Angel]
Bee Mask - When We Were Eating Unripe Pears [Spectrum Spools]
Mark Fell - Sentielle Objectif Actualité [Editions Mego]
12” Singles (for clubbing or hermiting):
Blawan - His He She & She [Hinge Finger]
Skudge - Fingers/Vessel [Nonplus]
Joey Anderson - Earth Calls [Deconstruct]
Levon Vincent - Stereo Systems [Novel Sound]
Senate Focus - 2.5, 3.33333, 5, & 10 [Sensate Focus]
Steve Moore - Panther Moderns [L.I.E.S.]
Vatican Shadow - Jordanian Desert [Hospital Productions]
Ike Yard - Regis/Monoton Versions [Blackest Ever Black]
Ø - Syväys [Sähkö]
Powell - Body Music EP[Diagonal]
Reissues & Compilations:
Monoton - Monotonprodukt 07 [Oral]
Laurie Spiegal - The Expanding Universe [Unseen Worlds]
Porter Ricks - Biomechanics [Touch]
Black Rain - Now I’m Just a Number: Soundtracks 1994-1995 [Blackest Ever Black]
Vatican Shadow - Kneel Before Religious Icons[Type]
Various Artists - L.I.E.S. Presents American Noise [L.I.E.S.]
Regis - Complete Works 1994−2001 [Downwards]
Various Artists - Trevor Jackson Presents: Metal Dance: Industrial, Post-Punk, EBM Classics & Rarities 1980-1988 [Strut]
Daphne Oram - The Oram Tapes: Volume One [Young Americans]
Ike Yard - Self-Titled [Desire]
William Basinski - The Disintegration Loops [Temporary Residence]
Drexciya - Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller: Volume Two [Clone]
ED's Top 15 Albums of 2012
15 was a bit of a stretch this year, but the Men record is one of the best rock albums I've heard in a while.
The Men - Open Your Heart (Sacred Bones)
Time Will Make A Change - V/A (Mississippi)
Mind Spiders - Meltdown (Dirtnap)
Gentleman Jesse - Leaving Atlanta (Douchemaster)
Spiritualized - Sweet Heart Sweet Light (Fat Possum)
Neneh Cherry & The Thing - Cherry Thing (Smalltown Supersound)
Audacity - Mellow Cruisers (Recess)
Boomgates - Double Nature (Bedroom Suck)
Orwells - Remember When (Autumn Tone)
Metz - S/T (Sub Pop)
Ty Segall - Twins (Drag City)
Nude Beach - II (Other Music)
Outer Minds - S/T (Southpaw)
Rocking Horse - Yes It Is (Sing Sing)
Ann Peebles - I Can't Stand The Rain (Fat Possum)
Uncle Jeff's Top Ten Treatise for 2012
Here it is, dashed off in a flurry dodging Holiday SIDS - Jeff
1. Josephine Foster- Blood Rushing (Fire Records LP) This one was first heard live in the most wonderous of settings, the Wesley Chapel in Boulder. The songs are the most realized, returning to couched simplicity and folk melodies with a new hint of Native American tom-tom beats, almost as if filtered through the tribal rhythms of the Velvet Underground. The adventurous, exploring and experimental nature is still there, just reigned in to serve the structure. As good as Joni Mitchell's 'Blue' from the '70s, this one will be timeless...
2. Richard Buckner- Our Blood (Merge) Technically this came out in November 2011, but in the rapid-fire flood of constant uptake and assimilation, I missed it until returning from Hawaii in Jaunary. This is Buckneer's finest release since his masterpiece 'Devotion & Doubt' in the mid-'90s, and came a pleasant surprise after a number of good but not totally engaging releases. The trick here is the minimalist, repetitive keyboard under-wiring structural foundation for what appear to be simple folk songs. Weighing in at a mere 39:00, I find myself always wanting more... There is a world of experimental hypnotic patterns supporting the song-writing, in ways that I have not heard before. That is the mark of a true artist, and the efforts Buckner went through to record and re-record this belays the vitality and fresh sounding approach. The story is the first demos were stolen, stored on his lap-top. The second version was destroyed by accident, leaving the third time's-the-charm. Get the limited vinyl 45 for two more gems Lost/Willow and the deconstructed bonus .mp3 of the Cars song 'Candy-O'.
3. Panabrite- The Baroque Album (Preservation Music, Austrailia) Norm Chambers, out of Portland, has taken over the crown from Mark McGuire for the sheer number of high quality limited releases this year, including CDrs and cassettes. This one comes limited from Austrailia in a 'thin-sert' with a professionally pressed CD. The mixing of warm analog sequencers, bubbling vocoder and brilliantine-brusshed acoustic guitar is already known as Uncle Jeff's morning pablum-- given a dose, you will enjoy this just as much! The recordings are all stellar for a 'home studio' and it the humanizing and emotional warmth Panabrite coaxes out of the machines that keeps the servings fresh. Also recommended, released under the Panabrite moniker this year are the Digitalis LP 'The Soft Terminal' (mine's on tasty white vinyl, good luck!) AND 'Illuminations' (Under the Spire LP).
4. Date Palms- Honey Devash (Mexican Summer LP) Take one part Brightblack Morning Night and add a dash of the lastest Om ('Advaitic Songs' featuring all-natural instruments) and stir in warm electronics, tanpura, bass clarinet & enveloping bassline drones and you have the latest Date Palms. Really this is territory all their own, and their first release 'Of Psalms' on Root Strata last year is equally worth hunting sdown for the almost religious melding of melody and hypnotic pastoral baroque yummyness.
5. Jonathan Wilson- Gentle Spirit (Bella Union 2LP) This came out Dec.23, 2011 on LP but counts as a 2012 release for me. The extra bonus tracks and wonderful live version of 'Gentle Spirt' on YouTube are well worth seeking out. Jonathan Wilson is the best singer-songwriter to surface in many years, with a fresh take on warm Laurel Canyon '70s feel, mixed with Pet Sounds era Beach Boys, and superb modern instrumentation & recording techniques. This stuff is timeless. The songwriting is highly emotive and filled with new ideas, but when it all comes down to it, it's the engaging and beautiful melodies I just can't get out of my head. I try not to listen to this more than once a week, for fear of wearing it out...
6. Laurie Speigel- The Expanding Universe (Unseen Worlds 2CD) Conor turned me on to this historical re-issue expanded release. And I'm grateful he did! The mining of obscure electronic artists has reached saturation, but this one is notches above anything else I have heard this year. The recordings were all made using Fortran punch-cards and huge academic Bell Lab's style computers in the late '70s/early'80s. The surprise is how musical, melodic and listenable they are! There is a woman's touch taming the sequences and patterns here that invites repeated listenings, and given the blindfold test, most of us would assume these are recent releases :-)
7. Monoton- Monotonprodukt 07 (Desire/ORAL 2LP) While we are on the subject of historical re-issues, let me highly recommend this obscure gem from the '80s. When I first heard this, I could not identify it in any form or context. It sounds as modern as many German releases, but the recordings are thin/dense reverbed-out and metronomic in ways that pre-dates everything else. The 'vocals' are buried and sing-song-like. Then the Linn drums give it away... this is dark ambient heavy Section 25 meets Lustmord by way of P.I.L., the first of it's kind, and cited as highly influential by the uber-meta-critics. As if something nobody heard can be that way. Your chance is now. Lots to digest here!
8. Crystal Syphon- Family Evil (Roaratorio LP) Another "re-issue", except in this case, the band never even had a release! Crystal Syphon played live in the Bay Area with Quicksilver Messenger Service and others, but after recording this masterpiece for a label, they vanished. The liner-notes mention 'creative control' as a sticking point, and hearing this inventive melding of acid-rock and pop dating from 1968 is as fresh today as anything. These guys would have been huge. The songwriting has wide-spectrum merits, and a few live tracks are thrown in to complete the picture on this LP. fans of Big Star/The Creation and Beau Brummels take note.
9. Duane Pitre- Feel Free (Important LP) / Eleh/Duane Pitre split- Feel Free Installation (Important) This is the most experimental music I am recommending, and it is also the easiest tonic on the ears. Interesting! The basis of this and the companion release (Eleh/Duane Pitre split LP with 'Feel Free Installation' as one side) is pure pattern electric-guitar harmonics mixed with improvisation on harp, cello, hammered dulcimer and contrabass. The tenents of this music are 'Wallpaper Music' harkening back to the best of the early Ambient 'Music For Airports' concepts. Windchimes on steroids for breakfast, lunch, dinner or napping...
10. Neil Young- Psychedelic Pill (Reprise 2CD) The last thing I would have expected is for this old stalwart to come up with a great release again! The new Neil Young & Crazy Horse CD is the strongest he has done since 1990's 'Ragged Glory', and possibly since 'Everybody Knows this Is Nowhere'. The songs are looong..., a few clocking in at 17 & 23 minutes, but there is not an ounce of fluff. Here you find some great new melodies, and some insightful writing about adult themes, mixed with the patented Crazy Horse stomp. It's the textures and feedback, loose and wise interplay and soaring inspired playing that keeps you coming back. Guess sobriety and putting down the green-stuff has helped ol' Neil clear his head. And he found he still has something to say... This is reassuring for us other old-guys! (Start with the video of 'Ramada Inn' if you have doubts.)
Z/MMD’s Top 10 of 2012
Okay, here we go, dudes.
1. Lee Fields-Faithful Man-Truth and Soul (LP)
I always used to dig Lee Fields records that we had at 1190, but Field's backing bands were always mediocre. This LP, and the one that came before it, have changed all that. Full on soul brass firepower produced by the bass player from the Dap Kings. Title track has Fields pouring it all out with the hands down best soul scream of 2012.
2. Kevin Ayers-Joy of a Toy-Vinalissmo (LP)
This is a reissue from the late 60s from one of the founders of Soft Machine. I first heard this guy's name in that Fall song "Eat Yrslf Fitter" where Mark E Smith goes, "The Kevin Ayers Scene/South of France/Plush Velvet/ABACK ABACK!" Anyways, these tracks remind me of the zaniness of some of those Syd Barrett solo records, but less acid fried. Girl on a Swing is the jam.
3. Glacial-On Jones Beach-3 Lobed (LP)
Trio comprised of Tony Buck on drums, Lee Renaldo on guitar, and David Watson on highland bagpipes. Shut the fuck up, the bagpipes do not make it a novelty record in any way! Watson plays the pipes like bass/electronic drones, and they just melt into the rest of the package.
4. Alvarius B-S/T-Abduction (Double LP reissue from 1997 on local Seattle label)
Alvarius B is Alan Bishop from Sun City Girls. I probably should say what this actually is, because the SCG can be all over the map. This is Bishop singing with an acoustic guitar. But this ain't no campfire bullshit.
What someone needs to do is get Uncle Jeff's John Fahey Christmas records off of his goddamn turntable, and put on this seasonal spoiler. Imagine everyone around the dinner table for this lyric, "And who saw what ain't what was seen/ and what stunk most was in between/a life worth living cannot be found /cuz chopped up babies don't make a sound." Coal for everyone!
5. Fela Kuti-Fela Vinyl Box Set 2 Compiled by Ginger Baker-Wrasse Records (6 LP Box Set)
Vol 1 of this series was curated by Questlove of the Roots. Honestly, I could care less who curates the damn thing, because the series format doesn’t let the curator put their seal on it, except for a couple of brief comments in the linear notes. All the records appear in their original sleeves with no updated printing. Many of these albums have that distinctive, politically inflammatory artwork that is amazing to stare at as you listen. The curators just end up picking a handful of albums from the Kuti canon. What's more, they aren't going right for blowout tracks like Zombie, but rather are picking from some of the obscure releases as well as from the better known ones. General format (mostly): two 20+ minute jams of Afrobeat per slab of vinyl. Baker also picks out a couple of albums where he guests drums with Kuti's band. Very cool. It doesn’t end with Cream, apparently. I'm up to 12 Kuti records now. Maybe Conor should curate Volume 3? I’m thinking he could recommend records that he's never listened to before. ( Moritz Von Oswald's Fetch anyone? Remember that golden 2012 moment?).
6. Harry Pussy-One Plus One-Palalia ( 2LP)
Orcutt gets off his ass and puts together a bunch of Harry Pussy tracks from early on when the group was a duo. You can hear some of Orcutt’s recent gonzo blues in this early playing, but you also got Adris Hoyos drumming and shreaking on top of that. And that’s what makes it Harry Pussy and not Orcutt solo. Towards the end of each side they let the tape run, and it sounds like they really pissed one another off from time to time. I imagine them rolling on the ground and tearing one another’s hair out.
7. Sun Araw/Congos/M. Geddes Gengras- Sun Araw & M. Geddes Gengras Meet the Congos-Frkwys (LP)
The Congos just do their pristine /harmony melody thing while Sun Araw creates a dubby psychedelic masterpiece underneath. Peaking Lights come to mind when I hear this, but these are the vocals of experience with a much more oblique approach to dub.
8. Lightning Bolt-Oblivian Hunter-Load (LP)
I often hesitate before buying a new Lightning Bolt record (this is my fifth). The thought that comes to my mind is that every Lightning Bolt record sounds the same. Every time that I then go ahead and pull the trigger, I am proven wrong. Some of you might be bigger Lightning Bolt heads than me, but have they ever gone down the Sublime Frequencies world music freak out path before this record? Seriously, you still get all the crazy bass runs up the scale, but now it sounds a bit like Group Doueh as the guitar lines continually shift and circle back around.
9.Various Artists-Country Funk 1969-1975- Light in the Attic (local Seattle label) ( 2LP)
Remember those three Link Wray albums from the early 70’s, like Beans and Fatback? If I remember correctly, that is the album that I have which has a foldout poster of a baked bean can that is opened. Inside the bean can is a big fat titty! Say Uncle!
This is like 2 LPs worth of dudes like that doing things like that. Jim Ford is the biggest badass of the bunch included on the release. This is the direction those English bastards at Soul Jazz should have headed in rather than their regretful Delta Swamp Rock compilation.
10. John Jacob-Niles-The Boone Tolliver Recordings-LM ( LP)
There are moments on this collection of recordings from the late 50s/ early 60s that remind me of Josephine Foster with minimal instrumental accompaniment. JJN plays some sort of cello-sized dulcimer, and at first listen it sounds a bit like a put on. I like him because his voice is insane like Tiny Tim’s, but his lyrics have more gravity.
Regards,
Z/MMD
That's All Folks!
