tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7086465154834082472024-03-08T14:51:11.941-08:00the cloud of unknowingharryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-52465469875457527572024-01-20T17:24:00.000-08:002024-01-22T15:32:34.869-08:00<p><span style="font-size: large;"> <b>Best Music of 2023</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As Nietzsche said - "without music, life would be a
mistake". This, my annual project
(five decades of overweening lists) is to honor and select my favorites of the
year’s music. I used to claim I could order
music I find and like based, in part, on its furthering ”the cultural
revolution.” Disruptive music, making everything new. In old age I now scoff at such onanistic
dreams. Now I know the only true
revolution is of the cell… all the rest is a prison revolt. Now all revolutions are monetized and
dissipated by the digital claws of Big capital and the numbing of algorithmic
dominance. I used to have “rules” for
this constructed list: e.g. “hall of fame artists” excluded and the artists of missed
opportunities and excluded voices were elevated. Of course my own shy-but-bloated ego wanted
to show off my catholicity and deft discovery of obscure work. All of that
falls away from me now. Now it’s sunset
in the common room of assisted living, the day is over, and the revolution
never happened. Now we cling tightly to
sonic comfort as the Republic unravels in our hands, in our ears. So, even this darkness declares the glory of
light and I can claim here at the end that life was not even remotely a
mistake. This is the music that happened
in my cells in 2023. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>1.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Atlas – Laurel Halo<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Reticent to simply repeat other lists’ #1
(a foundational purpose of these 50 years of lists has been to showcase my
terminal uniqueness), Halo’s music delivers deep emotions, intellectual problem
solving, and cinematic imagery too beautiful to be denied. Ever the devotee of drones (incremental
stabilities) and minimalist impermanence (press refresh), originally I thought
Halo’s schtick was electronic whirrs and humming ambient music. The kind so useful in Reykjavik and movie
scoring. Then after a few listens I
heard the kind of fragments and disintegrating deconstructions I favor. Then even later I felt the thread of true
compositional voicing: many textures, shifting depths, tonal surprises are all
carefully, softly, laid out in contrast and in complementarity to each
other. Non-dualistic pop. This is music to hold up not only the world,
but dark energy, dark matter and the promise of infinite galaxies. In the 70s I
used to listen to a DJ late at night on public radio, “space music” was the
name given to the synthesized sounds that invoked deep space and spinning
stars. That sound attack went out of style – too cheesy, too pandering. But now, after decades of electronic ambient
music, Halo presents music to carry us, again, into deep space. In 2023 it seemed that may be the only place
left to live in.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>2.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>My Back was a Bridge for You to Cross –
Anohni and the Johnsons<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">“It must change” was the song of the year
for me… pop, soulful, sad, newsworthy, psychological and transformative. All with a beat and vibe that sounds like
cruising Whittier Blvd in 1971. In a
GTO. That R&Bish guitar teases you thoroughly
in each cut; you will be smitten. I’d
given up long ago on Anthony and the trans-performative falsetto. I was wrong. The black face on the cover is
the DNA of their music and their heartache. Because the voice drips with black
and blue truth, desperation, resignation, and struggle. And the songs and production, clear,
uncluttered, confidentyl support the rich complexity of that one-of-kind voice
that leaves a shining and sensual sadness.
Slow dance oblivions. Non-binary? The whole human story will simply <i>not</i>
fit into any character argument from any side of the breach. Yes, Anthony/Anohni will be the bridge for
anyone willing to go from <i>here</i> to a better future. Their pain is the price of such perfect
movement. Pain has always been the torch
to carry for singers like this (alt-rock, alt-soul Billie Holiday with a creepy
fashion sense). I was moved. I moved. “You’ll be free”… <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>3.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Picture of Bunny Rabbit – Arthur Russell<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Recovered music from the dead underappreciated
gay AIDS victim, classical cellist and East Village loft denizen; made in a NYC
that lived in myth and is forever lost in the rents and sustainable coffee
beans of Williamsburg, Saudi high-needle condos and trusts of UES… fragments
and bittersweet vocals, mumbled and nodding out. Ambient analog outlines that might be outtake
mistakes by Glenn Branca or Sonic Youth. What’s not to like? Although recorded over 30 years ago, these
just-released fragments from our forgotten history – are sweet, gentle and still
completely groundbreaking, decades after Russell’s death. I am sucker for cellos, especially when
droning in analog atmospheric spaces.
His voice seemed so familiar to me, then I read that Norway’s Jose
Gonzales (Junip) was a devotee, and, yep, it’s that voice that is irresistible. Quiet, intense but not selfish, interior but
yearning to touch you, to be touched. Minimalist,
stark, and richly emotional. Resting in
peace.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>4.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Does Spring Hide Its Joy – Kali Malone<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Well, only some warped sense of self-preservation
prevents this from being #1. Three hours
of drones. Not a sequence of different
drone pieces, but variations on the same modulated drone composition. So think
of the joy (hidden or not): one droning tone with sympathetic frequencies
entering and leaving the soundspace (the editing and production is critical and
compositional, by the Rick Rubin of ambient electronic music, Stephan Mathieu). A fan of Malone, only this year did I realize
she is the wife of Sunn O)) guitarist Stephen O’Malley (who plays all three
hours here, a cellist the only other musician), which makes sense. Although Sunn O)) seems only to work well at
maximum volumes. Still, like that band’s
metal barrage of singular ideas, Malone’s organ playing in her past work seemed
to simplify the cosmos. And the sounds
of galaxies spinning into black holes do not make our universe an easy place to
exist in. But joy is in the ear of the
beholder - I think one review claimed a romantic melancholy in these hours, and
I can hear that. But I am addicted to
finding the One Last Drone that will finally explain everything, and these
hours of tectonically shifting tones are sweet and bitter: for me three hours
is not enough and it’s best to let it run on repeat: Trio for the End of Time.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>5.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Javelin – Sufjan Stevens<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">He’s surprised some by “coming out” as he limns
a song cycle grieving his recently dead husband. I guess folks weren’t paying attention. I’ve
followed him from the upper peninsula through the clowns and cancer of Chicago
suburbs to Christian hippie incest in Oregon through cramped electronic
Brooklyn apartments and hiking in northern Italy. Through it all the bittersweet lightness of
his voice illuminated the deepest flaws and failures of his one human life, and
so all of our lives. Illuminated with
kindness and prayerful petitions for Grace. This is just more of thatness, and
the many layers of production may hide that these lyrics are the rawest, most
direct, and personal of all. It is
layered with synths, and choirs, and percussion – analog, tribal, and
electronic. His arpeggio-tricks of melody are so familiar – I swear every song
is just a repeat of what he recorded last year, last decade. Indeed every song on this seems like it has a
single melody. And probably could pass
for Gospel-lite in the praise choir of some grand chapel in Calabasas. So the mystery is how this breaks the heart so
utterly – grief has given him a cold eye and a tissue-thin narrative to hide
in. Like the confessional poets of the
50s and 60s, this may not age well, but for now these elegiac tunes meet the
moment, and hold us close in the glory of life ending and love remembered. Best not to waste time.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>6.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>This Stupid World - Yo La Tengo<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">It begins as though continuing a
conversation stopped in its midst years ago.
Isn’t that an expected trope describing oldest friends, heartwood
companions? Not many bands can do this, using
a musical language that once was innovative, zeitgeist-generated, and is still ghostly
on its own timeless terms and textures. Here
they produce <i>new</i> music with that familiar language that sounds <i>disruptive</i>
and comforting both, their brand.<i> </i> Indie strumming, ambient droning, sub-rosa sound
insurgencies for the tabula rasa music lover.
Subtle, pretty, no nonsense alternative rock, krautrock, soundtracks,
soundscapes, and the ever-generative tension between Georgia’s strictly sweet
beats and Ira’s narcissistic and virtuoso flights of fancy. So, as always, they are bittersweet. And as focused and coherent and novel as they
were forty years ago. Casual? Yep. Throwaway? Yep. Uncanny? That’s their middle
name… It’s their best work in many years.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>7.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Sibyl of the Rhine – Lily Joel Plays the
Organ<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">There is no Lily Joel. There is, however, Hildegard of Bingen, the
medieval mystic who once was famous for being a <i>woman </i>composer who
lasted through the centuries, but now is famous for being a <i>great</i>
songwriter in any millennium – whose ethereal chants and invocations are best
heard echoing through the rafters of Gothic cathedrals. (Do cathedrals have
rafters?) So this Belgian musician reimagines H of B not in a cathedral (though
it sounds like that’s exactly where this was recorded), but in a psychedelic
quiet room in someone’s cerebral cortex, which organ is fluid beyond all
thought. (My cerebral cortex built
rafters for exactly this kind of hybrid devotional music). Ambient, droning, spacious, quiet, intense … <i>‘O
Quam Miribilis’</i> and <i>‘O Virtus
Sapientiae’ </i>with really good single-source coffee. Glorious music that proffers peace running
from the cortex, down the vagus nerve, to the subtle body’s heart. God bless her in both centuries.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>8.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Jarak Qaribak – Dudu Tassa & Johnny
Greenwood<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">An astonishing hybrid of artist/music that
sounds as pure as it could possibly be – middle eastern “greatest hits”
recorded in the manner of Radiohead – and yes I can hear Greenwood, his guitar
and his movie-mind being both smart and dramatic – but this is music of the
street, the souk, the history of lands taken, families destroyed, and loves won
and lost. Tassa’s voice is irresistible
and holds its authenticity in ethnomusicology recorded for western wannabes –
like me. On first listen it is one kind of pleasure, but upon repeated
listening there is an appreciation both for the variety of songs, but also for
how modern sensibilities have ripped some of these songs apart and sound not at
all precious, nostalgic and “ethnic”, but rather powerfully contemporary. Tassa is an ethnic jew singing in
Arabic. Greenwood is an English
guitarist playing quartertones. It's not
one marriage, it’s many, many marriages, all made in heaven.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>9.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>What Will You Grow Now? – Modern
Cosmology<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">I am going to call this the most recent
(and one of the better) Stereolab albums.
And why not, it has Laetitia Sadier up front and personal – her unique
sophisticated <i>chanson-flavored</i> voice is so recognizable, and her
ennui-melisma-flatlines are as modern as climate change. Her band, the rest of the Cosmology, are very
capable bosa nova musicians, and so this is fresh and modern and packed with
Brazilian rhythms energizing the <i>rive gauche</i> club workouts. And the rhythms are irresistible, syncopating
the flat-fifth bluesy torchsongs with sambas and wanderlust. Half the songs make one want to check out the
current tickets to Paris more than Rio. Stereolab
always made me want to walk through a Godard movie anyway. But here the extraordinary tasteful
instrumentation makes this not retro, but forward thinking. Um, actually <i>modern</i> music, right? And with reduced options to make it sound
“new”, Sadier has found one way, for sure. I wonder if this stays a band, or is
just an interesting side project for her.
Whatever the case the summer of 2023 will always sound like this in all
its futures. <i>C’est la </i>sunny<i> vie</i>, indeed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>10.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Beggar – Swans<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">The inevitable “written during COVID
lockdown” album is lonelier, more spacious, kinder, and more tentative than
most of the Swans’ opus. It doesn’t
require the high-volume racket of cosmic destruction, doesn’t sound like the
gates of hell opening, doesn’t even always throw dark armies of electronics at
the usual resistant neurotransmitters.
Ringing, droning, throw-away voices, alarms in the distance, and an army
of drums on the other side of the sawtooth ridge. Per usual, a lot is going
on. But this sounds less frantic, less
cluttered than the last many Swan albums. Words and confessions? You betcha! Not sure if I’ve the time or hide
thick enough to listen carefully.
Michael Gira is not a well man; but he’s working on it and he wants you
to know. The thread of rhythm and the
one-chord modal relentless push sometimes invoke Spiritualized. Is it possible that this is the Swans
prettiest album? Yes, I think it
is. I always heard a kind of medieval
intensity in the music (the dark dungeons and demons trope, if not Dead Can
Dance), and it’s here too, falling into the Plague and then nothingness. But its doom really is easy to listen to if
not easy-listening now. It’s not at all bleak unless I’m making a mistake. <i>Los
Angeles, City of Death</i> is perhaps one of the lovelier songs about my
hometown…something about “…the root of
the syphilis fruit..” While I hope he
finds some peace, this, to my ears is nice music to wash dishes by. Oh wait, I don’t wash dishes anymore. Ok, this is nice music to make mistakes by.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>11.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Everything is Alive – Slowdrive<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">I am annoyed by much of the breathless,
wispy vocals so prevalent in much of the music I like, yet here is the
progenitor of wispy: the Original from the days of quiet-is-the-new-loud,
slo-core Cowboy Yo La Galaxie Red House Low – and I’d suggest it was that
memory they evince more than the ubiquitous <b><i>shoegaze</i> </b>which in
recent years is a marketing descriptor like macha, or CBD, or sustainable, or
plant-based…. Worn-out meaning. So the
chiming, airy guitars are a wash of 90s open skies and prettiness more than the
thick grungy veld of My Bloody Valentine (e.g. does cowgaze mean anything?) and
that oxygen is what they offered 2023.
Pretty, guitar-based, simplicity, without IDM, or noise, or hip hop, or Gen
Z humorlessness, or Millenial Hipster residue.. I mean, Gen X never got its
moment after Cobain died anyway, so why not a reprise of harrowing Beauty?? They do kind of sound like XX though, the stark,
potent, non-derivative version. Because
Slowdrive herein presented is not remotely derivative – they are Moses with the
Original Tablets. I don’t have a clue
what any of the lyrics are… they, too, get lost in space. But the guitars and rhythms and gloomy synths
seem very far from worn out. In fact,
they made time New for me this year. And
alive.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>12.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>I/O – Peter Gabiel<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Dated or timeless? Yes. Some of my favorite artists are so
quintessential, and <i>known</i> that I buy, listen, love and don’t include
their latest music on these lists (e.g. Neil Young). Dylan alone has cracked that wall. But Gabriel’s wise music is as close to my
spiritual music DNA as possible and given my Boomer party membership I am proud
to put I/O (I and the Other, one/zero) at
#12 (though I’ll be listening to this long after those rated higher). The sonics are certainly <i>known: </i>the world music beats, the prog rock
chords and art rock essence. And I’ve simple
reverential gratitude that he still makes this music (20 years waiting). Unquestionably it’s a reminder of the explicit
spiritual experience of music. So (heh) how is this better than anything he’s
done since <i>So? </i>Two points: the lyrics/melodies are not kidding
around. They resonate with a daunting maturity,
both chronological and spiritual. This is
not the rock and roll of revolution; this is wisdom, born of long practice. A
report from a Teacher who wore his insides out. And, two, the Voice, the
quality, timbre, affect and power of a voice unlike any other, unfiltered,
timeless. I am glad I stayed alive long
enough to hear his report, here on the threshold of his old age and our next
Bardo. He’s ready for The Bridge, as should we all be. Sidenote: I had the good fortune of listening
to this on an absurdly upscale stereo – headphones, no matter their quality,
cannot replicate what Gabriel gives us in true space. The production, on a
lower level a little baroque or cluttered, heard on a good sound system is like
those photos from the new Webb Space Telescope.
Who knew reality was like this?
Gabriel knew, and knows.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>13.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Rat Saw God – Wednesday<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">The avalanche of post-shoegaze shoegaze
guitars and primal therapy screaming (very Millennialed) at the beginning bely
a very pop-oriented open-faced countrified folk-rock contemplation on life in
the suburbs and the coming End. Benadryl overdoses and Sunday school, police
raids and naps. Rock ‘n roll was always,
will be always about adolescence and cleaning up messes before the Parents get
back. And these indie workouts that resuscitate rock and roll, as opposed to
the monetized anger of all the variables of hip-hop that is the real music of
the times (that I ignore), are sweetly young and off point. But still the tradition delivers results –
both Linderman’s ponderous power chords, her cheerful playground vocals, and too-clever
lyrics. Cut 7, with its rural speed lab
explosions and rusted trucks, is a mirror of Waterloo Sunset. Ah the bittersweet cancer in the thryoids;
waiting for AI and the planet’s demise in a melodic dancehall inherited from
the last century. So many of these kids
in these cul-de-sacs of American decline seem to be exvangelicals. Bruised by
the Prosperity Gospel of anti-wokeness. Torn jeans, perfect hair, and a
pocketful of Narcan. But it’s a real
foot-tapper. Thanks you Jesus, can I
meet you at the sex shop off the highway? Best not to take the wrong drugs.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>14.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Afterpoem – Faten Kanaan<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Brooklyn = means she is accessible to the <i>au
courant</i> non-classical musical ear and worth the effort. Avant garde = means she is to be listened to
for “new edges” not comfort. Minimalist
= means she is comforting no matter what.
Fragmentary = means she gets away with a lot. To me much of her
repetitive, incrementally developing music, really is just the offspring of
ambient music (Disintegration Loops - the <i>grand</i> progenitor of this
music). But she is a composer in that
the looping is often analog, in real time, with wildly different textures. It is minimalist serious music that is as
friendly as apply pie, elegant as designer clothes or drugs. It is also sneaky – you think you know her
tricks but something drops out of the soundcloud with each new listen (once I
heard a Souza march minimalist drone, then I realized it was a Neil Diamond
melody hidden in the storm clouds).
Yeah, like that. Good to let play
over and over throughout a rainy afternoon.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>15.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Villagers - Califone<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">I remember at one point Wilco covered its
Americana in noise and dirt and became America’s best band for a hot Chicago
minute. Califone, another Chicago
corn-pone storyteller, cluttered its sound with similar noise for album after
album after album. It never achieved
great popularity, so it solipsisticly continued to develop this dirty American
throwaway folk rock. It progressed. While Wilco keeps trying to throw a
fastball down the middle of the plate, Califone is in the parking lot
smoking. Jazzy, clever, subtractive,
relentlessly analog and plinky – he has always been nasal and plaintive,
although you were never sure what he was actually saying. Here, twenty years later, he’s finally
learned to clear his throat and sing comprehensible stories. The ever-delicious folk-trippy
instrumentation is still here, but presented in a sunny and warm production. That distinctive voice, quirky and homely, is
mixed up front. And the noise now is the sound of someone dancing, or sitting
on the porch in the daytime, not someone hiding. “A Roxy Music cassette on the
dashboard dying in the sun…” His lyrics
are brilliant. Who knew?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>16.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>End – Explosions in the Sky<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">But is it? Or is it just a rumination on
change, impermanence and letting go? The first album in almost a decade by a
band who is both mysteriously ignored and admired as the founder of soundtrack
sonics in instrumental post-rock music.
Like Mogwai, the wash of big loud sounds playing hint at an ambient
electronic soundtrack experience, but clearly drums, bass, and guitars is the
language of the movie they want to play in your head. Always prettier than the equally loud/soft
Mogwai, more transcendent, they continue that soaring guitar picking into our
common cosmos if not consciousness, here with perhaps more drums-driven rhythm
than before. Simple chords, familiar tricks, and still breathtaking after all
these years. As befits the genre they
almost invented, or at least honed, the louder they get, the more peaceful they
sound. The “end” is quite lovely, if very
far from quiet. It’s never going to stop.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>17.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Echoe Stane – Sarah-Jane Summers<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">If I say this music plays into the
interstices, the intersectionality of composition, I suppose that also is just
a way to stop naming something with its proper, new name. But this Scottish, classically-trained musician-composer
plays a variety of violins but here sticks to the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle (reedy
and rough, c.f. #33) to layer folk tunes, modernist noise, world-music flavors,
artful ambient soundwaves, melancholy melodies on devotional workouts. It was one of those albums that I let play
over and over and I heard new things in it emerge every time. So often “hybrid” music attract me, I listen
for the roots, the categories. But
having given Ms Summers a list of labels, all seductive in any form, this
music, the lone fiddle with warm mid-range sonics in a cool room with slight
echoes – moves beyond intersection. I
don’t know what this music is, but I know it is real. The last onramp before the coming cataclysms
– walking off with no wheels. With just
a fiddle and a bow. All pieces were
improvised on the spot. Like breathing.
Best to keep breathing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>18.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Greater Wings – Julie Byrne<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Many (most?) of the indie-adjacent bands that
seduce me in recent years have women vocalists/songwriters up front (Big Thief,
Soccer Mommy, et. al.). The religion of
rock and roll, like the religion of religion, and the religion of the-personal-is-political,
is “saved” by the feminist anima. But I
am getting <i>poco andante</i> with the coffee-house ASMR breathy earnest
voicings of these non-binary, very fluid-power artists … and so
I hear ersatz Joni Mitchell or replicated Bill Eilish and expunge them from the
list. Byrne, I suppose, is a folk-rock
version, but this elegy affected me deeply this year. Her serious purpose is to name her grief over
the death of her best friend/lover. The lyrics and melodies of loss are simpler
and less loaded than Sufjan Steven’s <i>dunkel ist das leben</i> work, which
places much higher on this list. The
songs linger in languor; give snapshots of profound existential loneliness,
perfectly conveyed by a voice singing folk-based melodies, or even redolent of
torch singers on open-mic night in a decade that hasn’t happened yet. But this voice, drenched in ethereal reverb,
singing what seems to be the same melody ten times over, isn’t just wispy…
there is a texture of something more battered, maybe just a drop of Sandy Deny
or Kate Bush. Life is loss, all is
impermanent. At one point I was sure
this was going to be the best album of the year, and then <i>Javelin</i> was
released. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>19.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Jump on It – Bill Orcutt<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">An old guy (on the cover of this he looks
like a 70 year old homeless hobo, or perhaps a desert monk), he plays his
resonant acoustic guitar like old guys (think Bill Frissell, or further back:
John Fahey, Leo Kottke) which also means he’s asymmetrical and improvisational
and meditative, not looking for glory with his unfathomable chops. His last album was a long composition for
four guitars, and was loud and often dissonant.
This, solo, is gentle and curious, and so dreamy I almost expect Nick
Drake to start singing… but his strings and their picking are not completely opiate,
even in quiet meditation. Rather they are astringent, cutting softly. Hearing Chris play more acoustic this year
increased my appreciation for these fingerpicked inventions. Each year there is an album that should win
the Miss Congeniality Award… the one I’ll play on repeat and listen in the
background for hours and hours. This is
it for this year… <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>20.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Since Time is Gravity - Natural
Information Society <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">I suspect there are hundreds of “free jazz”
artists out there that are better than most of what’s on this list. My jazz radar is limited. But the range of what is “jazz” expands… jazz
is far from dead; instead it is widely distributed. This Chicago collective uses African folk
instruments, lots of percussion, odd combinations of instruments – a horn and
wind section that defies sounding like big band arrangements while playing over
harps and harmonium, and on this album the stunning Chicago saxophone of Ari
Brown. Long phrases of urban sax
goodness with a driving tribal world music thump underneath (there are two
drummers). The sound is new, fresh, and deeply
familiar.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>21.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Amatssou – Tinariwen<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Those wild and crazy desert insurgents
return with an album of rebel rock ‘n roll that sounds richer and more
mysterious than ever. I had listened to
it a couple times before I read that Daniel Lanois had done “post-production”
work on it, and that explained why this profoundly African music sounded more
than ever like classic rock, ala New Orleans and roots-revival ambient
music. It does seem you can listen into
this for the basics that were shipped to the US on the middle passage and
through blood and sacrifice became <i>the blues. </i> For, while it’s “world music” and as danceable
than anything on this list, there is a darkening sadness to it. I can’t understand the lyrics, of course, but
as the boys sing in unison, it sounds like they are sharing stories of
loss. Whatever the truth of my imposing
my old white ideas on their music, the guitar picking and call and responses
scour my cultural condescension. It’s the
real deal ready for Marseilles, Mali, or my sofa. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>22.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Travel – The Necks<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">One of those bands, all instrumental,
“jazz” in most keyword searches, that begs the question when they put out a new
album, “well, the last three albums were pretty much the same idea, do I need
another one?” Yes, yes I do. The trio,
often analog with a vengeance (drums, bass, piano/keyboards), are able to
stretch your attention span out to new territories, variations, incrementally
developed compositions, excursions – sleepy, inchoate, transcendental. Yes, 20 minutes is just a start. This is armchair music as Satie and Eno might
say, but it’s not just something to doom-scroll by. I stimulates something deep in the vagus
nerve. I think because it’s not one mind
composing, rather it really is three musicians listening to each other and <i>improvising.</i>
That’s what they claim and I feel it – every “practice” session they just start
improvising something, and play until they stop. And, recorded, it is in our
hands. Looping
over and over, (in rock is that a jam band?) this very, very long single album
with single pieces which circle endlessly doesn’t tire. It sounds new every time played. As I was writing this I heard in one track a
kind of trip through a desert on another continent – maybe the Outback, maybe
the Kalahari, maybe Mars. And then it
connected, Oh yeah, <i>travel</i>, duh.
This takes you on trip, far off to foreign lands, they don’t know where
they are going, and such is their miracle.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>23.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>False Lankum – Lankum<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">I listened to this more times than most on
the list, and I am still not sure what this music is. I also assumed this would be a “top ten”
choice for me. But it’s mercury (if not
the Mercury Prize), I can’t fix where it should fit in my ears. It’s Irish folk rock, of course, but building
on a folk music that is not fiddles and dances in pubs with a pint. Its folk music is droning, mysterious, dark
and illusive. A hut in a remote forest
not a stage in a big city. It’s smoking
herbs, eating mushrooms, not swallowing Guiness. And so its sound is herbal, vegetative, earthy…
not air. In part it’s the production,
which behind and through the usual guitar, pipes, concertina, whistles, bodhrán,
and organ, it’s got alien arrival noises and industrial dirt woven in each cut.
Progressive Irish folk rock from a time that hasn’t arrived yet.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>24.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Continuing – Tyshawn Sorey Trio<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Sorey, a PhD and Macarthur Fellow, has
produced a lot of music in a lot of modes (opera, dance, big band) but here he
scales back to go deep and long. A trad
trio (bass, drums, piano) where his drums really do claim the space and lead
the way, as they take on some jazz classic standards. I suppose some would say they deconstruct the
jazz standards – and they do pull apart and problematize the chord progressions
and the melodies sometimes to a place where they are unrecognizable. But was deep jazz ever not this way? And the finished product is coherent,
serious, <i>composed</i> music. There is
so much jazz produced each year, and I find things by accident mostly. Music this spacious and questioning tells me
I should be more respectful, and spend more time with the singular American art
form.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>25.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Borderland Melodies – Jurg Frey<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">There’s minimalist, and then there’s
minimalist. Some of these cuts sound
exactly like one or two musicians of a classical orchestra have come out early
and are slowly warming up, tuning up.
Not that they are listening to each other – these compositions (almost
all have violin, cello, clarinet, and percussion) sometimes seem like machines
left running in separate rooms – accidentally creating harmonies and
counterpoints and then vanishing into thin air.
It’s a glorious <i>absence</i> of too many ideas and sounds. One critic called Frey’s music “like a Mahler
adagio suspended in zero gravity…” I
love Mahler. I loved these long drawn
out bowings and soft hooting. Music that
is barely there.. a scent left in a room after someone walks through.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>26.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>A Leisurely Swim to Everlasting Life – Ki
Ono<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">A lot of beautiful things come out of Korea
these days, but to expand a useless ethnomusicologist self-pleasuring observation:
beauty out of Japan is cut and firm, no waste; beauty out of Korea has raveling
and blurs. This ambient, wide-spaced,
“pretty” and pretty smart music is at its best when is doesn’t wrap ideas up
too tightly, and when some musical phrases ravel when you expect them to
loop. The music uses incremental
micro-changes to propel it, which is to say it seems like one phrase over and
over for the length of the album. Sometimes things this pretty distract from
its cleverness: i.e. it seems oriented to the future not the past. And what sounds nostalgic is also an
invitation to lose preconceptions. So to expose such conceptualizing habit and mind-rot
stereotyping, Ki Ono isn’t from Seoul. He’s really some guy named Chuck who
grew up in Los Angeles. Go figure. So what was conceptual and habitual is really
asking the mind to be fluid. And then to
swim.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>27.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Cosmic Garden - Takashi Kokubo and Andrea
Espurti<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">This is music that is barely there,
assertive in its emptiness. A ritual of the quiet-is-the-new-loud creed. The Japanese ambient composer claims to have discovered
sonics that actually heal the body, from sounds found in the “natural”
environment. (It sounds like spaceships docking
in space to me). He teams up with
Espurti, an Italian jazz trombonist, fat and city-sounds over the electronic dark
vacuum…. So through much of this I feel like I am in the early 80s watching an
Alan Rudolph film with LA nightscapes and jazzy foreboding. That’s an acquired
taste. A little goes a long way. And the whole point is, I think, how little
is needed to change everything. In the end, this “futuristic” music sound
comfortably old-fashioned.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>28.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>(I’m just) Chillin’on Fire – Carlos Niño
& Friends<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">The collaborator-in-chief of a west coast
world music collective delivers his annual jazz-ambient-new age soundscape…
this is two CDs long (yes my kinesthetically-hungry hands still hold CDs, admire
the colors, and curse that my age means I can’t read the too-fine print on
them, but use “CD” as a metric of length). With participants as skilled and
versatile as Kamasi Washington and Andre 2000, the sheer length and varieties of
this probably keeps it lower on the list than it should be. So many textures and hybrid intersections of
all the genres I love, but perhaps too many too quickly shifting; it feels
absent of a central theme - is it brilliant or is it music to skate in circles
by? Background shopping music in Whole Foods? Tribal kalimbas and flutes and
jungle drums also make this sound like a soundtrack for an ayahuasca journey – and
the glitchy little hip hop nuances help the mechanical elves jump around like a
long-lost Robert Crumb animated cartoon, but chiller (get it?). Jazz is no longer one thing, not even this
many-faceted one thing. Maybe this is not even jazz, just pretending it is in
order to name something yet undiscovered in you. Maybe I should stop thinking all this free
flow jazz isn’t as good as Pharoah Sanders.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>29.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Long Drove – Simon Scott<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">The drummer from Slowdrive (who’d a thunk
the drummer from Slowdrive would appear twice on my 2023 list) is also an
electronic musician and sound-artist. I
suppose there might be some irony that an album by a drummer would have
absolutely no drums, and very few “beats”, unless the fluctuations of the earth
and sky are counted as beats. In the
fens of East Anglia Scott captured environmental sounds, mixed them up in his
skull, and made droning electronic ambient music to carry them. The sound is certainly minimal, but it is
also flavored by that field-recording presence that real analog sound captured
in the outdoors always provides. I
listen to so many ambient drone artists and I always enjoy drinking water from
new sources. He claims that the
compositions record and report climate changes; I can’t hear what that’s about. I can hear a world with lengthening space…
the distance between the electronic and natural is further than Scott have meant,
or maybe it was exactly his attempt to capture… the fens.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>30.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Les Égarés - Sissoko/Segal/Parisien/Peirani<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">I’ve been interested in recent decades
seeing Jazz, an African-sourced American art form , re-encounter Africanism in
the post-colonial spaces and studios of European capitals.. London and Paris
specifically, but also Berlin, Rome, Oslo, Warsaw etc. Great hybrid textures, melodies, harmonics,
and forms. This quartet of French
saxophone, Malian kora, cello and accordion is certainly that hybridized
confection, but it is surprising in its own ways. The different disparate threads don’t
mitigate their essences in order to be something new and different in <i>combination</i>,
but rather perform their “sounds and atmospheres” complimenting, not changing
each other. A Wayne Shorter solo, and
classical chamber music piece, an African folk dance, and a Romany busker on
the streets of Budapest thread together, <i>at the same time,</i> keeping their
unique timbre and effects. Sometimes
it’s confusing, but it’s always beautiful.
I suppose this kind of bounce-back cultural mélange can best be grown in
Paris, and so in that sense this is good, mid-21<sup>st</sup> century Parisian
music. Is it jazz? Sure, why not. But it is new, relentlessly surprising, and
seduces with every twist and turn.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>31.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Cartwheel – Hotline TNT<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">The neo-shoegaze barrage of Big Sound
carrying Deep Emotions continues successfully.
This is a one-man band – although, unlike a lot of modern niche sound,
it seems grown in a garage, not on a laptop.
There are threads of Wall of Sound, grunge, Brit-pop, and Americana
stretched from My Morning Jacket to the Beach Boys. Sunny or gloomy? Toe tapping or head banging?
Thames Valley or Williamsburg? Two chords or three chords? Glitch rhythms or math rock? The answer
always seems to be, yes. Both/and. The
vocals are sea salt on the fresh and crunchy popcorn of the multi-tracked
guitars. And those guitars are the
glory, fer shure. The vocals are just slightly
too slight, and keep the album from being rated higher. Somewhere he was compared to Paul Westerberg;
but no, way too much satisfaction and good nature in the voice and lyrics.
Fortunately the vocals are buried just enough. Best to turn it up<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>32.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Garden Party – Rose City Band<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">In a year of close escapes and world war, many
artists were stirring up sound in the detritus of the old schools. Here is the
prime example of “Ámericana still works”… although there are elements that
don’t quite align with that rootsy nostalgia.
Or rather Wooden Shjips/Moon Duo’s Ripley Johnson’s penchant for
psychedelic stretching out and improvisation (it seems like this is no longer his
side project, but rather his main stage to perform on) has taken friendly
country-rock in a time-traveling trip, or even Trip. 60s trippy pop and 70s
Laurel Canyon smoke outs, and 80s North Carolina beaches, which is to say,
yeah, Portland. Many of the songs seem to break for improvisation and long
soloing – so, yes, psychedelic country-folk with improvised solos: it is
Grateful Dead adjacent. But those mismatched elements (an East LA farfisa organ
in almost every song) keep it quirky and lo-fi… “porch music” he calls it, and
it’s quite pleasant on his porch. Syncopated,
weedy, airy, danceteria (in the grabbing at butterflies mode, not clubbing in
Ibiza or hip hop in Houston). On the
porch it appears as though they may be microdosing for a better world. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>33.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Glimmer – Nils Okland<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Okland’s recordings in recent years of acoustic
analog rootsy Norwegian alt-folk rock are some of my favorite records of this
century. Gloriously morose tunes played
with “authentic” folk instruments including the vaunted Norwegian Hardanger fiddle. The ECM universe was made for him and his
side band Lumen Drones (which, not surprisingly, is a band of luminescent
droning). Tender and unique, his Norwegian
folk music has no-nonsense beauty. Here,
with different musicians (a keyboard, which doesn’t align with the hand-carried
wooden/strings gestalt) supporting Okland, his music is starkly beautiful
still, but where before real improvisation seemed like the musicians were sitting
around a fire, this music is arranged and seems made to be performed on a
stage.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>34.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Living Circle - Shido Shahabi<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">The Iranian-Swedish composer prepares her
piano with tape loops and screws and joins it with an ensemble of cello, standup
bass, covers it all with waves, and waves of synthesized fog. Like so much of the music I like and buy and
play and put on these lists, it’s as much a movie soundtrack as it is an album
of ambient music. It’s quiet and
resonant, but suggests secrets and loss.
It’s ready for the recital hall as much as what used to be chill rooms
or silver screens. It’s got a love for
rich dissonance, and I can actually hear a Persian melancholy (or Swedish
suicide watch) in its trenchant melodies.
That’s the groundwater discharge for these “new classical” soundtracks –
the simple, wistful melodies stretched out like a patient etherized on a
table. “Modern classical” is what some
writers call this. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>35.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Clear and Hazy Moons – Eden Longdale<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Modern classical, huh? For many years the
appearance of “serious” music on my lists has been haphazard and
capricious. I don’t follow “serious”
music in the avid way I follow other genres – jazz, ambient for examples. I know there is a lot a great jazz that never
makes my lists, but I know it. I am sure
there is a lot of great serious music that doesn’t make my lists, but I don’t
know it. This is analog, in person,
chamber music, that is piano and strings and wind instruments – that sounds
like the turning of spheres or slowly collapsing black holes or fields of
background radiation proving the Origin story, dark and slow. It clunks and drones and pipes up when you
expect silence. This is serious music in
every sense, as slow and infinite as the cosmos. It is relentlessly, seriously, cosmic.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>36.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>After the Magic - Parannoul <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">He’s supposed to be “anonymous and
undercover”, but he has a name, and the lyrics, all in Korean, are, by
definition, unintelligible, not hidden.
It’s another work listed as “shoegaze” in 1) the retro-flavor of the day
and the 2) catnip to my own interests and taste. It surely has a big, weighty sound – wide
bands of guitar noise and dream-metal guitars that chime as much as
down-tune. Melodic and catchy songs
almost survive the flood of production tricks. It’s retro in many ways – sounds
like MGMT covering Gentle Giant songs… with a touch of 80s power ballads
sneaking in. It’s fun, and irresistible,
but didn’t hold up to my initial affections.
He’s anonymous… probably should stay so.
A confection, spun sugar, melts in the sun. Lugubrious and baroque both:
good at high volume though.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>37.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Les Jardins Mystiques, Vol 1 – Miguel
Atwood-Ferguson<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Most of the Gen Z neo-Jazz (from London to
Topanga) is either retro In A Silent Way ethno-spiritual or new agey soundtrack-ready.
This is the latter in the guise of trad
jazz (nothing too dissonant, ever). And Atwood-Ferguson is more Gen X than
Z. Soundtracks: I remember movies from
the sixties, black and white usually, British new wave or New York indie, where
the jazz piece played over a montage of the lead characters gamboling through
city streets and parks. Spacious moments in gritty neo-realism. So let me neo the neo and confirm that most
of these sounds, three CDs of snippets and partial ideas, would be perfect for
such film montages, pretty young things capering in pretty urban settings. Many, many instruments (many of which
Atwood-Ferguson plays) sometimes deliver Big Band fervor ala Kamasi Washington
(who plays on some tracks); the leads are sometimes sax, sometimes piano, and
sometimes the rare jazz viola. Three and
half hours (!!) of jazz textures and ideas from the wilds of Los Angeles (much
of this is recorded live). Composed as
serious jazz, but with lots of air. Lite
isn’t always light, but is here. Best to
put honey in your tea and be prepared for a long flight of fancy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>38.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Trio Tapestry – Joe Lovano, Marilyn
Crispell, Carmen Castaldi<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Once upon a time Lovano was an <i>enfant
terrible </i>sax player keeping the jazz fires burning. Now he is over 70 and
his transformation to the wide-open spaces of ECM and submission to Manfred
Eicher is complete. This trio is minimal
and Lovano’s sax playing is airy and spiritual (at times sounding like Paul
Winter and his ashram phrasing). The
temperature is on the cool side, and that’s fine by me: I often think when writing
these lists how the attachment I have to “rock” and experimental music weakens as
my crows’ feet deepen and kidneys fail: if I were a real human of the moment
I’d be listening to more hip hop in all its permutations. And there is so much quality jazz I
miss. But a moment of Lovano’s plaintive
sax playing here absolves my dilettantish bourgeois myopia. Familiar sax
sexiness, yet full of ideas that don’t sell out for comfort only.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>39.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Echolocation - Mendoza Hoff Revels<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">The permutations of jazz? Sure, like this. Dissonant and aggressive
music: I used to love “jazz fusion”, though now I listen to some of the nuggets
from the 70s and they sound bloated and noisy.
This is jazz rock that doesn’t have roots in that kind of music. But it is a guitar-bass attack that clears
out the cobwebs and is far from the other hybrid, incense-jazz, chill jazz I
usually find. Straight up, no chaser.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>40.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Boygenius - Boygenius<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Oh yes, I love the idea of the backstory
(sleazeball Ryan Adams thinks “only boys” can make real music, etc.), and
initially I loved the record. Saw them
on screens perform it live and it confirmed they are the real deal. Love the guitars and songs as songs. But one day I heard in their melodic
harmonies that they sound like Wilson-Phillips.
I can’t unhear it. So, I don’t
choose this to listen to much, but then I never listen to Wilson-Phillips, or Ryan
Adams, either.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>41.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Workin’ on a World – Iris Dement<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">So many of the emerging “country/Americana”
female vocalists of the last decades can inspire the response, “well, she’s
trying to sound like Iris Dement.” So
why not go to the source and get the real deal?? I’ve gotten confused sometimes,
because sometimes her voice sounds like, and her respect would seem to date
from, the 60s or 70s – and I forget she’s actually not that old. Here she sings songs well intended (pleas for
peace and social justice), but perhaps just a little too slight for her rough,
ready, and regal voice. On this list I’ll
place her right next to Sza – two vocal pillars of what a better America could
be.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>42.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>SOS – Sza<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Yeah, right, make out music with auto-tune
vocals, WTF is this doing on this careful and terminally white list? The production is subtle, simple, and simply delicious,
and I believe every wise phoneme she sings and processes through the auto-tune.
Under that layer of modern sound is her melisma
of real heartache and its root desire. Love hurts.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>43.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Valley of Heart’s Delight – Margo Cilker<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">More womanly wisdom: Sometimes you need something
crunchy and salty; not a staple of your diet, but when you want it you want
it. Sometimes you need to immerse in
heartwood country music. Not Nashville
pop, not Outlaw, not even California weedy countrified rock, but the real thing,
not very available. Ms Cilker from
Eastern Washington delivers – tasty instrumentals, clever lyrics, modern and
timely – but that voice (a dash of Emmy Lou, a spoonful of Loretta, and even a whine
of Dolly) scratches what itches. While
southern story-telling is its main course, hippie westcoast vibe is the additional
sauce.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>44.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Y Trois – Acid Arab<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">I’d place this higher, but I’ve already set
forth that I don’t/can’t keep up with hip hop/DJ, to my own impoverishment, so
I am hiding it down here. Here is hip
hop/trance of an off-shore but relentlessly potent force. Algerians on the mean streets of Paris –
charming, druggy, extreme, angry. Muezzin
through auto-tune: the new world isn’t as planned. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>45.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Stories from a Rock n Roll Heart –
Lucinda Williams<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">One of my favorite singers of all time
returns from a stroke and… sounds pretty good for someone coming back from a
stroke. Hip hop has always demonstrated
the usefulness of albums/songs having “guests”… but here Williams’s guests
really seem to distract, and make this sound like a discount store remnant
special. Stuart Mathis, her superb
longtime guitarist, is the best thing about this. I am glad she is alive and look forward to
her next one without Bruce Spingsteen.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>46.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Cantor Park - Stefano Pilia & Valerio
Tricoli<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">I used to follow (90s, 00s) “electronic”
music, not electonica, with ts glitches and hums and compositional
assertions. Now the streams of music
produced electronically have converged, diverged, and ultimately purged. What’s <i>not</i> electronic music now? <i>Electronica</i>
sort of became resurrected and called by the old school EDM, and resurges every
year. Now most IDM feels like a waste of
my time, and I’d rather dance to world music than RPM-Eurotrash mollified
melodies. Cantor Park (um, named for a
philosopher?) is surely European (Italy and Berlin) and is surely
electronic. But it’s also improvised
sessions by a real guitarist and then treated with electronic additions and degradations
– and is very interested in blips and drones and pops, coming first from an
electric guitar before it passes through synthetic space. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>47.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Healing Rituals - Naïssam Jalal<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">The Syrian French jazz flautist constantly
surprises not just with her playing, but with the arrangements and combinations
of instrumentation she’s chosen. (Jazz
cello may be my favorite development of recent years.) Airy, hybrid, womanly (I’ll stand by that)
virtuoso playing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>48.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Seven Psalms – Paul Simon<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">Having no longer observed the “in the Hall
of Fame, and so out of competition for the hallowed List” rules, this has to
appear. A short song-cycle, artsongs
really, on death. “Achingly” is an
adjective too sloppily modifying “beautiful”, but here Simon’s ache at the
beauty of life is only intensified by its loss. The ache is melodic, affecting,
peaceful.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>49.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>I’ve Seen a Way – Mandy, Indiana<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">I think I am just starting to ossify and
not be capable of hearing true zeitgeist-demanded change (e.g my vaunting here
of my not having bandwidth or enough neuroplasticity to keep up with hip
hop). But this album got reviews that
interested me, and I clearly hear some kind of new international, relevant, and
interesting death knell. It’s a new kind
of music cultivated from familiar (industrial, dark metal, noise, dance)
sources. Apparently it was recorded in
caves and sounds to me as though it invites you to spend time there.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b>50.<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Imagine this is a High Dimensional Space
of All Possibilities – James Holden<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Speaking of EDM, here’s some. Though I still shy away from anything caused
as retro-Disco. I heard and liked
Holden’s <i> animal spirits</i> of
several years ago – live and jazzy. So I listened to this with an open mind. I‘m
sure it’s high quality music that is DJ-ready, but I’d rather walk on a
mountain in Galicia than get loaded in Ibiza.</span>harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-57202749195278064612023-01-24T16:00:00.001-08:002023-01-24T16:00:19.545-08:00<p> </p><h1>Best Music 2022<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Music is good for everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is food for the soul. It boosts the immune
system. It replaces damaged synapses. It fills in the missing pieces and tells
you whodunnit. It is a soundtrack for unexpected Caminos and eye operations
which mimic acid dreams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not
samsara, it has no chasms to its name, and is sound that honors both silence
and The Silence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s another in a
long series of reviews, ranked because that focuses attention; words to mimic
how a body losing the Tone hears its world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Music placed in 2022 for now, if not for the long haul. Harry’s Top 40,
the year when The Gaze returns.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Dry Cleaning – Stumpwork</b> - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Number one, really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d have thought her flat affect
narrative/talking over the brilliant alt-jazzy 90s guitars, drums/bass
arrangements wouldn’t hold for another album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It had seemed pretty gimmicky; that pony had one trick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the lyrics here actually emerge -
literate and culturally acute– snarky, full of ennui; hip and bittersweet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And her delivery to me resonate with a kind
of 21<sup>st</sup> century version of British New Wave/Neo Realism (her stories
are in black and white).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This band casts
a cold eye on this exact modern toxic life of patrimony and reaction (successful
pop music is like news anyway, right?). Sardonic and danceable. Who can get
away with one romantic sentence about a hazmat suits, emptying bank accounts,
and a feminist “I’m not made to provide blank”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Blank Francis in a stiff undergarment indeed. And underneath her
ineluctable stories and confessions that land like attacks there is that delicious
guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brilliant minor 7<sup>th</sup>
chords, dissonant, chiming, syncopated riffing – equal part Joy Division, Sonic
Youth and Pavement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fragmenting life
before your ears even as your foot can’t stop tapping to the beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Assuming you still have a foot (not a stump).
Good for the cynic who can’t help falling in love. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>The Smile – A Light for Attracting Attention</b>
– So, yeah, the Radiohead album you’ve been waiting for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stripped away just enough to sound new and to
the point. But seriously, this sounds new, I mean <i>new. </i>A couple tracks do
reclaim punk cred (cut 3, you should pogo, really, pogo).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in general this is the “next chapter” of
the boho-radiohead intelligence – the voice painful in its thin delicacy, ready
to be ripped to shreds by clever, current, and wise lyrics. Living and dying
has sharp edges for those paying attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The minor chords… and the poly-rhythms with a world-wide spectrum of
production tricks (there are actually <i>horns</i> on several songs that seem
to be only a bass and a piano).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But not
to worry, Greenwood’s cinema soundtrack clouds have been stopped at the gate
(not one cut could be called “ambient”): these are songs, are songs you can
sing along to, songs you can dance to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
being radiohead released them from trying not to be radiohead. Although you
won’t dance to them, because the world is burning up, and the Palestinians don’t
have a country, and they are also tired of trying to cover up our brokenness. One
day this will end, here’s the evidence, and so may all beings be free from
suffering. Slippery devils. Slippery attention-seeking heart. You play any old
song and we sing. Good for getting up in the middle of the night, drinking cold
Darjeeling tea, looking in the mirror, and happily giving up.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Orem Ambarchi </b>– <b>Shebang - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>The prolific (57 albums in 20 years) guitarist
is an Iraqi Jew from Australia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course he is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His music is always “world
music” adjacent, with a serious helping of jazz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s also a primo percussionist, and this
record is all about the rhythms remembered, interjected, injected, hiding in
plain sight, and relentlessly pushing forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Occasionally devolving to barely a snare and bass waiting in the studio,
but always moving forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The plinky
plink of drum and guitar and keyboard sometimes pretends to be gamelan
ethno-music study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then there is free
jazz yoga time, stretching the time from metronome to guitar drones. Do I hear
a hint of <i>In a Silent Way? </i>Oh, wait, it’s Weather Report, or that fake
Weather Report Brand X, updated, but still running late at night in the souk to
score. All instrumental, with musicians like Jim O’Rouke and members of the
Australian jazz-fusion band The Necks stepping into improvisational spaces,
while Ambarchi keeps the pace, pushes forward with unyielding rhythm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the “ambient” music that has dominated
my lists over the years has served well as background and also rewarded close
attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This does that, in a “jazz
like” idiom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Armchair music that can best
heard with the attentive ear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The heart
welcomes the mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for the caffeine
addict who sits Zazen, waiting for the mail; form is emptiness.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Big Thief </b>– <b>Dragon New Warm Mountain I
Believe In You </b>– I have been a huge Big Thief fan. To my ears, pushed to
the corner of old age and eccentricity, they almost single-handedly saved rock
and roll for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No sub-genre, just rock
as critical life force, an alternative to belief and an antidote to ignorant consumption
and sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, countrified, folky,
rootsy – but core-strengthening and plangent guitars, drums, and chord changes
that keep it smart and on task.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in
the revolutionary tradition (what can a poor boy do, but to play for a rock ‘n
roll band?) lyrics that pull apart the culture – and it’s 2022 not 1967, so
patriarchy, gender dysphoria, digital environments, and love in the ruins of
Late Stage Capitalism… all sung in that voice that could be the no-nonsense
daughter of Dolly Parton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s all
here; so why isn’t it #1 on my list (given how it is one of the year’s albums
most commonly found in “top five”?)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
too much, it’s 20 songs and 80 minutes and 2,374 brilliant ideas. Unlike past
Big Thief, for me, it started good and stayed good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Past Big Thief started good and became as
essential as oxygen after 5 listens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
brilliant as this all is, it seems like a holding pattern. It’s as if there is
disaster just a step ahead – but this album (with lyrics carefully sung, the
sheet of poetry in front of her breaking voice) looks down, not forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for a jumper on a ledge on the tenth
floor with a crowd below yelling “do it!!”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Nilüfer Yanya – Painless</b> – Easy on the
ears for sure; painlessly surprising innovative rock (a dirty dissonant guitar)
and <i>roll </i>(fun-sized bass guitar in every cut pretends to be trip hop but
in reality is John Entwhistle – these hooky, sing-along popular songs have real
syncopation).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In rock ready for new
ears, listening for influences and roots is the standard game my old ears play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yanya serves up hidden ancestors – behind
London-urbane XX-like sophistication lurks Kate Bush, XTC (they’re always
making plans for Nilüfer), Joy Division, The Go Gos and Turkish folk
dances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But whilst (a word she would
use) this is painless, easy-on-the-ears it’s also hardcore, serious,
disgruntled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pace is urgent, the
chord changes major to minor, the songs short and to the point, the production
simple, spacious, and jammy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Head
banging for trippers; the precise trance you need in 2022. Good for young EU
backpackers staying up all night then dancing in the sunrise in Ben Nevis,
Patagonia or Cappadocia. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Alabaster DePlume – Gold: Go Forward in the
Courage of Your Love </b>– I’m not completely sure this is music, though its
attraction for me is wholly musical, not a cultural identity bomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An old jazz classic by Oliver Nelson, <i>Blues
and the Abstract Truth</i> always had a mysterious and foggy sound
palette.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every time this plays I hear <i>On
the Spectrum and the Abstract Truth (</i>apparently there are some “differently
abled” musician in the collective, but that’s not what I mean).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the alt-jazz, English crackpot
reincarnation of that atmospheric Oliver Nelson work. English jazz by a
musician/poet who didn’t touch a saxophone until his mid-20s. The jazzy
snippets (every cut seems unfinished, preliminary notes for something) are
jazzy enough – a sax’s timbre will <i>not</i> disappoint. But this is
eccentric: folk tunes, ska, art rock, Motown, AfroBeat, ambient distress, kids
at play, coalescing as spacey chamber music. 70 minutes of lovely noise always
just about to come together. Much of it was “played” for the first time when it
was recorded in a quasi-Marxist performance space in south London. But it’s more
than an acquired taste, even with the open mic poetry slam vibe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for the perp ready for redemption and completing
community service at the clinic.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Angel Olson – Big Time</b> – Occasionally I like
to sit in the middle of the afternoon eating salty corn chips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes I just really need a lap steel
guitar, with some clever Nashville Brill Building lyrics that trip you up with
a hard-won heart’s breaking and recovery, and then have it all delivered by a
voice that is harrowed by suffering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
music with solidity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A music with no
frills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Angel Olson has aged her voice and
built it on a solid foundation (Lucinda Williams, Neko Case), not too vegan,
not too pick-up truck, just sweet and direct Lesbian U-Haul heartbreak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s produced with a clever and courteous rootsiness
(with the kind of shameless stripped down production that might have caused me to
be able to listen to Weyes Blood).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But her
voice is low enough to fly under that radar, and, well, the lap steel is in
this voice’s DNA (as opposed to Joni Mitchell being painted on Weyes Blood’s
surfaces). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Olson could take Mimi Parker’s
place in Low – it’s a voice that really is closer to Duluth, MN than Franklin,
TN.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or cover Cowboy Junkies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or speak with pristine authenticity in the
fake decades we are living in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for
the Gen Xer, lying awake after midnight, thinking of all the loss, and being
grateful for the beauty of loss.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Just Mustard – Heart Under </b>- Heart
undertow of a Great Tide about to crash on what’s left of the world… under the
tow of the doom-like bass.. but wait, is this dream pop, or shoegaze, or… drums
and bass with noise hanging all over the two chords changing back and
forth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what a glorious noise…
effects and over-driven guitars and the pretty voice fallen off the table there
in the background. This Irish group lets a lot space into the music (think XX’s
minimalist production), but then it opens the Gates of Doom to let the Hounds
of Hell… play with the buttons on the effects panel. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>War trumpets?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Great extinct woolly mammoths in heat calling to each other? A drunken
grad student from the University of Dublin swaying in the middle of the club,
falling down a K-hole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The horizons
might be clouded, but the center, not holding, falling into itself, is so sweet
(her lyrical voice) with a banging, hypnotic beat. It might be post-shoegaze,
or neo-shoegaze, but it surely is a product of this very moment – don’t let it pass
you by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for she who writes then
sends the breakup text that was inevitable.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Svarte Greiner – Devolving Trust </b>-<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The side project of Erik Skodvin, half of one
of my favorite ambient artists, <i>Deaf Center </i>(from Norway but stuck in
Berlin), this is what they call, I guess Dark Ambient, or what he calls “acoustic
doom.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I only know this because I’ve
studied more this year, I always just thought it was pretty. I thought it was
all just thunder clouds and rain over jagged mountains, the sunlight about to
shine through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spa music:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but I guess the spa is some alternate
universe of metallic/mechanistic whimpering and found sound distortions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he (oh, those spongy Norwegians) keeps
such space, such panegyrics to the Last Silence, that it still sounds
revelatory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes the clips and cries of
movie-soundtrack anxiety might be kitsch or even dated: but, like Deaf Center,
this is the soundtrack of a New Race of sentient beings inviting you to take a
chance at the Top of the World – and I don’t mean contiguous to the Baltic Sea,
I mean the end of History. Quaint, comforting – the purifying dark energy given
to us, unmerited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for the advance
Scout tracking the proximity of Nothingness.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Beth Orton – Weather Alive</b>– I remember a book
I had to write an essay on in college, Neville Shute’s <i>Round the Bend</i> –
the topic, if it’s so good why isn’t it great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The correct answer was it’s so good <i>because</i> it isn’t great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ms Orton, mostly off the radar for a couple
decades, returns with music that is completely current and innovative and surprising
and absolutely what you might expect from her 90s alt-club music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The background is obscured by her melancholic
quivering voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That background is
piano-based electro-acoustic jazzy ambient layers which could also be the long-lost
Radiohead of 2019.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then the vibrato-ancient-chanting
vocals are obscured by the too-cool-for-school chill room music. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things are getting cancelled out here. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes playing close attention it sounds astonishingly
eccentric and attractive – Sade on acid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Other times it just gets absorbed into the easy-listening cochlea cells in
soundtrack-land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Close attention gives
you a contact high of smart lyrics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Letting it all fall into the background enhances its potency;
contractions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s so good precisely
because it isn’t great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for the OCD
divorcee making a gratitude list of small victories.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>IHVH – The Agnostic </b>– This is much more
reflective of the kind of music that’s dominated my listening in recent years.
(This 2022 list has more “rock” and “song-oriented” albums than usual,
mysterious zeitgeist in the role of The Trickster).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shimmering atmospherics, long and seductive
electronic drones… melding into found sound droning, then electro-acoustic
droning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Muchos drones. Fragments that
get hung up as some kind question for the listener: the framing is Kabbalah,
Vedic, desert-fathers exploration of the nature of The Supreme Energy (IHVH the
non-name of The Name) yet it could also be a soundtrack for some atmospheric BMW
commercial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But hey, who’s to complain
about the creature comfort of a luxury German auto (though this music was
recorded in LA).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Old school analog
synths wash away, leaving you at … violins and cellos? One half of the duo is a
violinist, so despite the sound fragments that sound like shoegaze, this is
really “classical” music, not just background ambience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for a pilgrim on a meditation retreat in
the Atlas Mountains, where they have high quality snacks.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Rob Burger – Marching with Feathers </b>– Burger
is a hack/Burger is not a hack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Composer
of film soundtracks and commercials and sideman/sound contributor to artists
from Bob Weir to Beth Orton to Lucinda Williams, here he throws a lot of short
compositions against the wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all
stick. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike many or most ambient
music, this presents radically different ideas from cut to cut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s almost like a mixed tape, or artist’s
portfolio showing the breadth and variety of his skills. It moves from solo
minimalist piano ala Satie, Eno circa Another Green World electronica, spa
background music, meditation-ready drones, simple and bittersweet world music acoustic
fragments left incomplete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This variety
is why it’s likely this is the album I played more than any other this year: it
was like a greatest hits of the year’s ambient styles. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And letting it play over and over always
seemed to present something fresh, simple, easily digested. All from one
composer who plays all the parts, a hack among hacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Swiss army knife of comfort. Siobhan has not kept
up with her journal entries, nothing in over a month, this music is good for
her to write through and past the dark night of the soul.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Florist – Florist<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Wistful analog music dirtied with tape
loop distortions and almost plangent electronic distractions. sometimes
sounding like it could be made/recorded in a back yard. Windy, slo-core,
sandal-gazing. Emily Sprague’s voice is quiet, telling mundane life stories
with perhaps spirit-shattering consequences, or so it seems this is how she wants
us to hear her. Mostly she has that Big Thief trick of seeming to be sharing a
secret to you only, singing next to you on the couch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The folk songs carefully nestle into a
soundscape of tube-amp quiet guitar, also with acoustic open-mic night vibes, electronic
blips, a sax here and there – the clean sounds sliding around on sweet
noise/static; what was next to you on the couch is also outside on the
neighbor’s deck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or stoop (they’re
Brooklyn, right?) Confessions can have a catchy melody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Smart and simple. Good for waiters-who-are-actors
who know they are getting too old to pretend failure isn’t an option.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-top: 12.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Alex G – God Save the Animals – </b>You can’t
overstate the value of a great melody, asserted in arrangements and production
textures that, while highly musical, are not <i>too</i> sweet. A little loose
and unraveling. With a zeitgeist attuned to good coffee, the right pronouns,
and indie cred. I mean that could be Beck, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wait, this guy is who Beck should have become,
should still be! Sometimes the right vocal, a piano, and the right drums and
guitars, can sound like a soundtrack for a goofy and sad indie rom-com montage
sequence (and you get to actually <i>tear up) </i>in the dark theater of this
music. In fairness, his voice is less ironic than Beck. Mr Gianscolli from
Philly wants to make songs that touch your heart, not your funny bone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d also argue a lot of this music, while
dressed in DYI overalls, has ambitions it discloses slowly, only after multiple
listens. Like all great pop songs, these eventually become comforting friends –
there is craft beaucoup in the garage throwaways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pavement unafraid of real emotion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jeff Tweedy if he ever solved the ego
problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, I think he really does
think animals have the cosmic answer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Good for the elementary school teacher snuggling on the sofa with the
new puppy… after edibles.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Jana Horn – Optimism</b> – Slight, feathery
folk music from a Texas poet with a full basket of ideas. But while her voice
is fragile and wavering and breaks like a glass heart, there is a strength of
personality in these songs that heralds a kind wisdom that is hard-earned,
hard-boiled, and full of salt\ tears. Sometimes, both voice and craft of
melody/lyrics, it sounds like the better outtakes of a Big Thief project, or
the younger sister of Angel Olsen, just released from rehab and ready to
reenter the world of humans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen
carefully, the breath tells as much as the phonemes, as good poetry should.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just enough, she is just enough, she’s just
found that out and wants to tell you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Good for the single mom waiting for her therapist to get on Zoom.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">16.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>MJ Lenderman – Boat Songs - </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cowgaze?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Countrygaze?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean wasn’t that
Jason Molina or back further to N. Young and his underwater guitar?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wall of sound, fuzzy Fender reverb cranked up
to 11 and then played slowly, majestically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Cornporn majestygaze. The thinnest vocals (though more Lowell George than
Young, or even a nasal croak of Paul Westerberg in a pick up truck) keeping the
country rock tradition alive: soap opera stories of drink, drugs, unemployment
and long lost love (if you can find it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But with an appreciation for all the parts: the fragmentary smart-ass
lyrics, the not-so-hidden vulnerability, the deer-in-the-headlight wit, the
garage-bound production, the fresh-faced worn down innocence (not similar in
many ways, but this tracks back to Gram Parsons – Lenderman is confidently
moving into comic American music, oh, you meant Cosmic? Nevermind (that too)) –
this wants to cohere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fragments of North
Carolina stoner life wants to be writ whole, on the bigger stage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for the Gen X lesbian washing her Subaru,
getting it ready for the next road trip to Big Sky country.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">17.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Rosalia –</b> <b>Motomami – </b>Boy, this is
the most difficult album for me to “place” in relationship to other music (which,
as it happens, is the exercise of this whole list I suppose).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are passages that are irresistible, the
most engaging and delightful music of the whole year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then some passages (with state-of-the-art
trap/hip hop/club production) that sound like a Catalan Justin Bieber.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem is that sometimes those are the
same passages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean Kendrick Lamar isn’t
on this list – because my radar doesn’t really bring in straight-no-chaser hip
hop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m old and blanched out by any
measure. But this Flamenco hip hop is just fucking irresistible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, given the passion in this hybrid celebratory
music that’s timeless and its eccentric production touches, this could easily be
the best album of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And given
the vocoder pop clubworld touches that will not fit in my pocket ever, it
should be at the end of the list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
here it floats, in the middle, though if there’s any music that isn’t in the
middle, it’s this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for the farmer
with all the tats in the mountains north of Barcelona, trimming the buds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">18.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Jerome Begin & David Friend –</b> <b>Post
- </b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Begin is a “composer” and
electronic music performer, and while his harmonics and treatments amplify and
reframe Friend’s piano, this is a solo piano album by most measures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How much Friend is improvising and how much
it is composed is curious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the
passages sound almost 12 tone – a serious, classical music back when classical
music was serious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other passages are
just wild, atonal, dissonant noise – banging on the old ebony and ivory in a
Bang a Can way, can this guy even play?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But it’s that tension between what the piano can traditionally do, and
how much you can extend its sonic range and compositional impact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like another solo pianist I’ve liked, Hauschka.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Treated piano, John Cage, and Keith Jarret
all bundled up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Electronics notwithstanding,
this “ambient” work is both comforting and annoying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It requires attention to keep up with some
fierce keyboard playing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for the
grad student cramming for that math exam in trigonometric identities.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">19.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Antti Tolvi – Spectral Organ/Feedback Gong</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- The Finnish artist encloses himself in an
old fourteenth century village church somewhere north of Helsinki.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He plays around carefully, slowly, with the
stops of its ancient organ, and the result is a wide spectrum hum with woven
drones: the space opens up with what surely must be (in my aural imagination)
late autumn light through the stained-glass windows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On one level a single idea, on a deeper level
the microadjustments in the organ’s stops waver and bounce virtuous sound to all
corners of the church – it’s a rich banquet of almost one single sound that
changes constantly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It replicates that
sound sculpture in front of me, mobile and peaceful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for the hiker on the mountain in winter,
ducking into a skiing shelter for a bit of nap out of the cold air.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">20.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Spiritualized – Everything Was Beautiful </b>–
Jason Pierce has been producing the same album for over 30 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It s a very good album. Witness: apparently
these are mostly outtakes, or started as outtakes, from their 2018 album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it’s better than 2018, which rather
than saying “he is in rut” demonstrates the shelf-life of a droning, poppy,
psychedelic, thumping two-chord music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As always, it’s mixed so the pretty music (the soft tunes) or the
driving drones (the hard tunes) do not cover his vocals, with that
matter-of-fact Brit Pop earnest timbre and vibrato and <i>appeal.</i> He wants
words to matter. Every lyric is decipherable and bears attention: Mr Pierce is
sharing very intimate, hard-won truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Which is the odd presence of a real human in a many-layered music with
almost cosmic reach (that’s the psychedelic part). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A mélange of melancholy and Kraut-rock truth
telling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May he never stop mining that
perfect drone. Good for the social worker with headphones on the long plane ride
to Auckland.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">21.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Binker and Moses </b>-<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I first listened to this, it checked all
the boxes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It immediately registered as
“candidate for Music of the Year”, an odd instrumentation (sax and drums<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>duo) and a London pedigree, the African
Diaspora rooted in Coltrane and Sanders developed in the chill comfort of
London clubworld (Shabaka Hutchings, Colin Stetson).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it is that, the sax; sometimes Coleman Hawkins,
sometimes Dexter Gordon, but never sounding anything other than <i>right here</i>
and <i>right now. </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The drums more
free jazz, more tribal, than Max Roach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
two instruments listen to each other, but have different roles in the sound;
and there are electronic blips and surges and BPM coding… it’s all exactly music
for now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But over the months it fell
down the list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It asserts a list of
great ideas… feeling improvised and fresh every time… but ultimately it wanted
a Bigger Idea. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the electronics
took away some air that the Bigger Idea could have used. Good for the millennial
accountant walking down rainy summer streets after midnight in all the various
Sohos.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">22.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Midori Takada – Cutting Branches for a
Temporary Shelter </b>- My interest and collection of ambient/minimalist music is
amateur in intent and execution. I randomly find artists and their work on
various websites I “trust”, and then follow them or their associates through
the years. I rarely “dislike” a work found this way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Often, though, I am pointed to a “pioneer” of
genres I was embarrassed to discover I don’t know (just encountered her <i>Through
the Looking Class – 1982 – </i>a couple years ago).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Takada is one of great, original innovators
in minimalist, world, ambient sounds; now in her 70s she releases this work,
based on a Zimbabwean folk melody first recorded in the 70s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is on a marimba that she makes sound like
a thumb piano, and the lovely melody repeats hypnotically in incrementally
changed circles, until it morphs into a drum circle – first African, then
vaguely taiko.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The marimba is played
with mallets she’s made herself out of yarn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That about sums up the quirky comfort available here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for the empty-nest hip mother power-walking
with headphones on the San Juan Islands... in the fog.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">23.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Caroline – Caroline </b>– I am always curious
about music that is from a “collective” rather than a “band”, I mean that must
mean some kind of politico-cultural statement, right? Implying songs are
written by committee. And this London collective does put out music that seems
often agglomerated, fragments edited together, good ideas left unfinished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Half the songs sound like Low covered by
Fairport Convention. Or Low covering Fairport Convention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “folk” here is odd, not freakish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And its roots are East Anglia, not Memphis. Indeed
it is almost more “pre-rock” than the “post-rock” it gets classified as.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The virtue that keeps it from being precious
is a production that is both stripped down to minimalist ambient music while
having the brightly bowed violins and strumming acoustic guitars that could be
open mic night at a pub in a small college town. Like all good folk music there
is a melancholy running underneath everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Space, not soft, is the new loud. Good background music for the young
Danish girl writing that essay for the application to grad school.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">24.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Cloakroom </b>– <b>Dissolution Wave – </b>In the
year of Gaze, this band is… folkrockgaze?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Spacegaze? The guitars plunder and bulldoze and move like galaxies
exploding – the light rolling up millions of years after the event.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, if you pay close attention to the
lyrics, the story is some cosmic wave that is dissolving everything resembling
life as we know it – but then, as pretty as the vocals are with their Laurel
Canyon harmonies, they are mixed back in the Cloud of Sound, why listen to the lyrics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guitars/bass and base/simplifying drums
assert with slow and certain clarity about the beauty possible from destruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose some of these songs are so “accessible”
as “songs” (back to the 90s) that they might be dream pop, were not the guitars
just so very hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Minimalist noise –
suggesting peace and destruction have the same blood. Rhythms, like seasons.
Simple as the harvest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Laurel Canyon (you
and your Crazy Horses) hiding in the dark recesses of an Indiana garage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for the college-dropout changing the oil.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">25.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Maria Moles – For Leolanda</b> – The
Melbourne-based electro-acoustic composer apparently used music and rhythm from
some indigenous tribes in the Philippines as inspiration for these
“roots-seeking”, quietly droning chill room compositions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Occasionally I do hear gamelan-like fugues (must
be an Australian thing), and the polyrhythms certainly drive this music to its
unique corners of the world music traditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Oceania – and there are ebbs and flows, tides and waves, this is water
music. But under it all are these clouds of synthesized sounds that keep the
barge afloat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More bliss than trance,
the minimal spaces before and after the drumming (bass drums, tabla-like
surface drums, gongs sinking in the ocean). Good for ethnomusicologists on
mollie.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">26.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Kalia Vendever – Regrowth </b>– Certainly the
closest to “classic jazz” on the list – usually I listen and “allow” for jazz
to arrive here through all the subreddits and cross pollinations of jazz in
this century: London, Berlin, and Oslo: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(chill, electronica, tribal) cut in line in
front of Chicago, for example.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this is
American jazz standing on the shoulder of giants: although its composed and led
by a young woman trombonist from the hipper enclaves of Brooklyn. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the throaty trombone does sometimes sound
like alt-jazz deviants like Sons of Kemet, but the compositions and the
instrumentation is more Pharoah Sanders than Ibiza. The arrangements are often
soft, cool and, invoke a time past, no longer possible: <i>elegant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>The music sets a figure, repeats it,
meditative and urgent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although fresh
and green, these are heavily composed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She, her musicians, and the music are all alumni of Julliard. Good for
the young dakini facing the mirror, recognition and breath sweetly fogging the
mirror.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">27.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Vieux Farka Toure and Khruangbin</b> – Ali -
Occasionally Mark Speer’s guitar does seem perfectly African, finally finding
its origin and place in the universe after all the years of wandering around in
Khruangbin’s melange of cumbia, ambient cruising, jam-band-adjacent noodling,
and Texas psychedelia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could be classic
if cooled down Afro-pop circa King Sunny Ade or Toure’s dad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Toure’s voice absolutely anchor’s this world
music in a specific continent, or even more specifically, Mali. But while the
guitar demonstrates its African roots amply complement the vocal calls and
responses, the bass and drum create a trance more likely found in Havana or
Oslo than Lagos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every now and then you
can almost hear a late 60s hippie blues riff (I could have sworn I heard a
harmonica, but no), or a slow jam cruise down Whittier Blvd. But those are
undercurrents – this raft drifts down the Niger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sum isn’t more than its parts, but it is
enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for the weary traveler’s
ear buds on the long flight from Houston to the Seychelles.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">28.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Laura Cannell – The Antiphony of Trees</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The UK-based ambient composer (violin,
recorder, electronics) has had a historical tendency to look to British folk or
early music/medieval sources for inspiration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You can certainly hear that in this work which, with only her recorder
(multi-tracked, but pretty simply recorded without effects).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently she went out to the forests of
Norfolk to capture bird calls and then replicates their song here with her
recorder(s).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I hear more massage spa
music than Messiaen – given that the spa might be in an isolated valley in 13<sup>th</sup>
century Norway. In the end this is quiet and quieting music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for both birds and birdwatchers on Zen
retreats.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">29.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Grivo – Omit – </b>In all the substrata of super
slow, guitar-based, super heavy music (which I will sometimes gravitate to:
Low, Mogwai, Sunn O))), Earth, Swans) and in all the intersections of noise
rock, electronic/ambient noise, I find some music just calming and pretty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Doom” is often layered on the descriptions
of a lot of these bands I like, but that term is much too self-cherishing and fancy
for much of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do like the great
shards of guitar sound (e.g. Sigur Ros) that sometimes sounds/feels like civilization
crumbling in some great cataclysm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
this year of a resurgence (in at the least my auditory territory, if not proved
by the data of releases and sales) of “shoegaze” and all its permutations:
doomgaze, blackgaze, cowgaze, zgengaze – Grivo is pretty much down the “middle-gaze”…
indeed they pull out of their pockets the loud/soft of a lot of the original
90s bands, the cloudy vocals, the melodic if tectonic chord changes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe something about the water in Austin
makes some of their hard rock bands so easy listening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for baristas fixing that latte just
right. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">30.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Shabaka – Afrikan Culture – </b>A musician
who continues to produce volumes of music every year, landing in different
places but sourced always from his cosmic take on the African diaspora.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tale isn’t told, but he may well wind up
one of the watershed musicians of the first half of the 21<sup>st</sup>
century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He can’t stop, he can’t be
stopped, and his ideas are both ancient, rootsy, and futuristic and political
and reverent and flowering. This year he said good-bye to the thumping Sons of
Kemet, and another incarnation, The Comet is Coming, put out a club-ready, drug-ready,
high energy album of defining Euro-Jazz (and it could/should be on this
list).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But here he trades in sax for
flutes, Ibiza clubs for Zen studios in South Africa, Elvin Jones drum kits for
djembes and only expands his reach… into the psyche while not losing the brain
(Afrofuturism) or body (movement).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like
all great jazz, he was always taking the listener (running, trudging, marching,
dancing) to the Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here, he invites
the listener to sit in that Spirit and breathe for bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for me sitting on the meditation
cushion… anywhere, anywhere at all.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">31.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Paul Giger – ars moriendi</b> – The Swiss
violinist has a great ECM CV – with jazz and classical and experimental all
flowing from his strings. Even a klezmer or middle eastern or an India raga
flavor spices up his slow burn fiddling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This music is about life and (especially) death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Art of Dying accomplished by living fully
and with wise acceptance that all passes away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both his own compositions and then several Bach pieces at the end, are
intended to show the ebb and flow of life… with the ebb being especially
present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing is as present as
nothing; life is only intensified by embracing death. Good for grad students at
Technische Universität München with depressive tendencies.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">32.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Lucrecia Dalt - Ay! – </b>She’s accomplished
an interesting mélange: whilst using very traditional, even archaic “latin”
music forms and tropes, she’s pulled it all apart and made it sound rare and
fresh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet while it’s electronic and
club ready (albeit back in the chill room at 6:00am, not on the main floor), it
remains intact, organic in its genres… this isn’t noise-artist deconstruction,
it’s calm and rhythmic and smart in ways that hypnotize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This isn’t postmodern, rather it reverts to
“modern” and reclaims bolero-like beauty without a touch of irony. Apparently
there is some thread of story about a future and visits from aliens –
irrelevant to appreciating it and I saw an upper-class tea dance in Buenos
Aires more than a Spielberg vision of Alpha-Centauri.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And those cool cookies dancing in that club
might be AI after all, but that reduces none of the elegance. Latin music that
is essential, easy-listening, and challenging, all at once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for a best friend waiting outside an
intensive care unit in Medellin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">33.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Horse Girl – Versions of Modern Performance</b>
– Nineteen year girl amps up her game to deliver stadium-ready guitar rock,
with its Indie Credentials fully apparent on its sleeve (black t-shirt) and
sleeve (CD art).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a rich love of raw
guitar!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a reminder that Chicago is a
pretty hip scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Voice, chords,
instruments, roots, space in the production; all in the right DIY place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time will tell, but this is a perfectly
surprising <i>debut</i> and its best quality is that is might well fall apart
before the sophomore year, let alone the sophomore album.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sliced off the punkish side of Pavement, and
the vintage amp ruminations of the Pixies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both bands who aged out of competition long before she was born. Good
for the young ingenue with head bandages, not head banging.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">34.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Black Country, New Road – Ants from Up There
–</b> Ok, I get it, I really do. The progenitors of this music are all my
heroes (Bowie, Nick Cave, Prefab Sprout, Dylan… Thomas, not Zimmerman).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so many critics whose outlooks I share
praise them so highly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there is some
youthful anxiety in the music (not just in his voice, in the song structures,
instrumentation, varied tonalities) that circles down the drain for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The yearning of a Generation for better life
(in Berlin or Bath)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The emergence of a
wounded Ego from the shadow of modern life to the bright fields of Rock and
Roll? “Oh love, you’re not alone…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
kudos to the boy and the band: they’ve earned their Top of the Pops status.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I hear a certain… baroque? overworked?...
quality in this performed self-cherishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Too often they sound like Bryan Ferry covering Arcade Fire, or Arcade
Fire covering Ian Hunter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess I’m
just too old to wait, to allow the Project to get stuck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too old to muddle. All I know, and need to
know, is that truth is beauty <i>and equanimity. </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for the unemployed coder leaving the
therapist, walking to his car in the rain, and walking right into that puddle…<i>right
into it.</i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">35.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Arcade Fire – We – </b>This sounded so lovely
and celebratory the first two listenings! Welcome back!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh holy anthems!! Oh bang the drum not so
slowly!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then it got put in the glove
compartment, never to be heard again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Good for detailing your car.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">36.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Duster – Together</b> – Original slo-core
progenitor from San Jose resurfaced a while ago and put out their first (hizzy,
garage-recorded, cassette-ready) music in a couple decades. Music this stripped
away doesn’t age much; I suppose there is more clangy grungey fresh doom than
head-banging space rock – but it’s still relentlessly <i>slo</i> and the valium-fueled
vocals season the sludge quite nicely. Sometimes sounding like an outtake from
a Low album, the vocals seem, eh, earnest?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The last song is “Feel No Joy”, but they can’t help from creating a
thick, satisfying layer of noise that, on its own late-in-the-game terms,
sounds pretty joyful-adjacent. Phew, who’d a thunk we’d survive this long? The ever-generative
miracle of the right junk guitar, the right pickups, the right amp, and the right…
what? Oh, sorry, we forget. Ask that other guy. Good for your old cousin waiting
for another blood test at the Kaiser lab with headphones on.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">37.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Launder – Happening</b> – Atmospheric:
check.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Epic fuzz tones: check. Trance:
check. Melodic: umm… is it supposed to be this melodic? Yes?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ok, check.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Clearly this guy, and his band, was a dedicated student of 90s rock, and
in the shoe-gaze revival should receive just desserts, if not deserts (knowing
he grew up in beachy Orange County does color how I hear this,
unjustifiably).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can hear Mermen and surf
movie soundtrack as much as North Midland head banging. While there is Slowdive
all over this, the vocals and melodies and production also reference NIN, and,
jeez, Goo Goo Dolls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s totally unfair
simply to do the “this sounds like that” game with him, but it’s his fault. But
let the glorious rumble continue; may the student always honor his teachers.
Good for your older cousin volunteering to paint your bedroom, and he paints
with the music really loud. <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">38.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Phoenix – Alpha Zulu</b> – Although there is
a higher percentage of recognizable “rock” music on the list than in many years,
there is virtually nothing that could be characterized as pop music (except maybe
Rosalia): this French rock band makes dance-floor workouts (at home in Ibiza or
Oslo or Bogota or a University of Texas frat) with some really clever lyrics
that’ll match with a melody to imprint victoriously and stay in the higher rent
neighborhoods of your brain all day. I think some of this formula was
“retro-ironic” when they started a couple decades ago (much of the tunes could
be an MTV video, circa 1986). But like those Scandinavian deep-state students
of “rock-pop” who produce replicas that outshine their originals, Mr Mars (a
wicked lyricist for second language <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>English
speaker – “keep the lights on, I’ll flash to the bygones”) and his crew make
music that is irresistible, improving on all the indie-pop they emulate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for a dinner party of younger academics
where Jen from the Spanish Dept will be the only one to <i>actually </i>dance.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">39.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Alvvays – Blue Rev</b> – A plethora of large
and fuzzy guitars, chiming guitars, this the year of <i>shoegaze</i> revival;
so many pointing to this, high on year end lists as carrying the <i>shoegaze</i>
banner, but like Beach House, this seems more dreamy Big Pop than the grunge-thick-dark
shoegaze of my affections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No question
that the guitars promise to overwhelm in all the desired ways, but I think it’s
her voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a good voice, emotive,
self-aware, flexible and smart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it
is dream-like floating on the big train of a band that needs no excuse for its
excesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This charts very high for many
whose tastes I share, but it sinks into some “pretty” corner for me, gathering
dust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for your other older cousin who-drives-up-the-coast
seeking dreams not hikes, ever since the operation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">40.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Mary Halvorson -Belladona</b> – Perhaps one
of the closest to “serious [classical] music” on this list. String quartet
playing things that are 12-tone adjacent, cerebral, Hindemuth-not-Phllip Glass,
i.e. <i>serious</i> compositions… illuminating, provoking, satisfying on their
own terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But wait, there is an
electric guitar braiding its voice through these chamber pieces. So we get this
odd soundtrack for chamber recital in Prague in 1958 crossed with loft-Jazz
from Greenwich Village in the late 70s, which winds up sounding like Ryuichi
Sakamoto in 2012. Unclassifiable and intellectually, not just satisfying, but
nourishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for your older cousin
editing a film while drinking macha, his mom happy he got a job at last.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><b><o:p> </o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><b>And lots of other music that was great and
didn’t make my Top 40 even though I used to review/list 50 or even 100 but now time
has a horizon and I ask to be blessed to remember not to waste this One and Precsious
Life, rare as an Udumbara flower.</b><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-74054488403837607712022-02-08T16:46:00.002-08:002022-02-08T16:46:40.533-08:00<p> </p><h1>Best Music 2021<o:p></o:p></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who wants to know? What is the sound of knowing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over 50 years of thinking through what music
moved me in a year, this may be my last list. It’s surely no longer a
proposition of “this is what the zeitgeist sounds like” as I used to think and
claim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My own bubble of the digital landscape
brought me these sounds, and I’ve critically reviewed them using the available tools
on the desktop of my consciousness, and evaluated their relative delight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The depth may be more carefully measured than
the old days, but the relative position of these matter less than ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All sounds in the Digisphere target the “right”
ears, and the “felicitous responses” are washed in the Tide of Big Data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The zeitgeist is evaporated in the fake multiverses
of quantity and target marketing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In old
age I know now that no music will ever initiate The Revolution, but these are
sounds of my own hope for transformation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Or rather these were the melodies of prison revolts in my cells, leading
to more devotion, and gratitude for music and its beauty, ignoring how we are increasingly
made into monads of bits and bytes production where music will only be the soundtrack
of our monetized grievances. <i>Note: </i>this is hardly all the music I listened
to, and lots got left off the list (how can I evaluate Neil Young, who now is
simply the air I breathe, and Coltrane’s lost live Seattle recording of <i>A Love
Supreme </i>released this year burns all these 50 to ashes). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Presenting, 2021:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders, The
London Symphony Orchestra - Promises</u></b>: Hybrids in nature can revive
depleted genetics, no? A mutt is more resilient than a pedigree? Not sure that
is borne out by this shimmering joining of ambient music, electronics, modern
classical… and Jazz. It starts out so astonishingly beautiful, the comforting undertow
of produced digital sound, the minimal melody dissolving in the skilled
performance of dissonance and misdirection from the real-space acoustics of the
orchestra, and Sanders’ sax yearning for transcendence (invoking his Spirit Teacher
Coltrane, “Naima” is suggested in almost every riff). But the start unravels,
loses its way, can’t find new ideas while repeating the first ones. By the end
it is movie soundtrack orchestration as Sanders leaves the improvisational
playing field to arrangers and strings. So its “promise” is unfulfilled. But
entropy like this is stunning as it matches our world, where the past in
confused, and the future deflects, making us hope that what’s possible resolves
what’s lost (cf. Sanders’ last phrases, where he works through the agitated
bleating of the “avoid notes” to resolution). Followed by the same incessant four
note call to aliens that’s repeated hundreds of times through the album,
finally petering out with the hammond organ in the role of a Casiotone scribble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of this works, and so it cuts itself
off. Album of the year. Leave this feeling unfinished.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Cassandra Jenkins – An Overview of
Phenomenal Nature:</u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lyrics that
are smart, direct, poetic, adult, and full of the zeitgeist; hip and hipster
and didactic <i>without</i> being obnoxious or prideful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, given the NYC-centric nature of these
neuroses, and the occasional “talk singing”, she sounds like Laurie Anderson
(or Patti Smith with graduate degrees). Unapologetically, fearlessly smart. And
you can hear the words with no filters – a voice recorded clearly, in front of
the music. But, as it happens, the music is what makes it work. Folky
instrumentations, with a sax thrown in here, an Irish squeezebox there,
alt-rock guitars, then country rock sonics, before coffee house open-mic
feints. <i>Astral Weeks</i> for the COVID era. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music is almost so appealing you forget
the voice clearly singing its story. And there is a connected story in all
these songs – loss, funerals, depressions, water as healing physic. Brooklyn
and Norway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a good story, if
submerged. “All I want is to fall apart in the arms of someone entirely strange
to me…” I think that’s exactly what she does, right in front of our ears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this happy that music doesn’t have to
pander to the lowest common denominator. </li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Max Richter – Exiles:</u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reconstructing some of the composer’s
“greatest hits”, the pieces here expand in scope with a rich, full symphonic
orchestra.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While he always tempts to be
only soundtrack music (in part because so much of the music is written for
soundtracks), I think he has pushed beyond being a melody-ready Phillip Glass.
There is a richness and emotion here that seems to have a bit of Paart
replacing the movie-ready minimalism. The orchestration is stately and the
melancholy is purifying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The composer explains
his purpose by quoting Nina Simone’s dictum about music’s moral responsibility
to its times, and “Exiles” is reflective of, if not directed to, a world where
millions are misplaced, and the worlds jostle to find place for those who have
noF place. A music that’s mature, unapologetic, intense, and refuses to settle
into a comfortable background. Leave this music breathing in and out a
bodhicitta for all sentient beings.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg</u></b>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vocalists I listen to most in recent years
have been 90% women. Alt-rock and all its permutations seem to be largely
driven by smart, strong, pissed off and sad young women. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fuck the patriarchy, why am I so wounded? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Men singing in this genre seem too ambitious
or embarrassingly out-of-date (with the exception of the zone overlapping with
Americana).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Ms. Shaw, the voice
disjointedly out in front of Dry Cleaning, is having none of that shit. She
doesn’t have time for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while the
angular, anxious guitar lines, garage-simple bass, and slippery drums continue
on some separate search for Wire, Sonic Youth, or Joy Division, Shaw “reads”
her life with firm and confident, if bored, anguish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oddly, though the music has no association,
she reminds me of Jim Morrison reading his poetry over a cushion of dissociated
soundtrack – or Nick Cave, or Arab Strap (I’m a sucker for a Brit accent that
survives song). But how nice to listen to music with a hook… and a sinker,
weighing you down to some South London pit of despair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this music cleaned dry by the recognizable
poetry of contra-modern life, ready to do everything and feel nothing.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Ian William Craig & Daniel Lentz – In
a Word:</u></b> It surprises me that this has placed this high on my list, but
I listened to this more than any other music this year. I guess it’s partially
COVID, crises, isolations and confusions, ageing and letting things settle.
It’s quiet and calming music, like a lot of my music; electronics corrupt and
disintegrate the sounds, like a lot of my music; but its vocals (close to
countertenor renaissance singing, or Ned Rorem chamber-art songs) and its
unexpected dissonances (Erik Satie playing in a key different from the rest)
make it unique, unusual. The dissonance often resolves in a minor key
familiarity, that then is scratched and ragged – music from a radio that is
losing its signal, in a room next door. Lentz, a respected postminimalist
classic composer is humanized by Craig’s singing – fragments, hints, but fully
felt and still human for moment more. Leave this feeling that there can be
beauty in everything falling apart.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Lucy Dacus – Home Video:</u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a year of Jonathan Franzen’s Crossroads, I
guess 2021 was a good time for memoirs of Christian youth groups – Bible
studies, vacation bible schools, and surreptitious yearning for bodies and
losing a whole menu of virginities. But Dacus is a novelist, her words are not
overworked, rather these songs are simple, ironic, and melancholy chapters in
one larger story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a concept album,
given that its concepts are rural middle-American versions of Sufyan Stevens’
gothic childhoods (though something tells me Dacus more Baptist than
Episcopalian/cult). There certainly is a deep cut of angst at the core of this
story – the Gospel of losing ground with your best girlfriend to her boyfriend.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beyond the artistry of her lyrics and
the earnest directness of her sweet voice, the songs are classic Americana/pop
with farfisa here and there and just enough reverb. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And she brings those boygenious guitars. So
many of my favorite records used to have these chiming guitars (90s alt rock
seeded from REM garage covers) – and here they are used sparingly, mixed with
acoustic guitars around the campfire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Leave this music ready to roast marshmallows and to yearn for what They
tell you is a sin.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Dean Blunt –</u></b> <b><u>Black Album 2</u></b>:
I guess it continues where Black Album 1 left off… although that ending was
unclear, partial, dibbling to an end of bits and pieces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that’s the charm of these Blunt
instruments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fragmentary, hints of
undeveloped song ideas… sometimes it seems just a junkie’s lazy lifting
pre-recorded samples of what might be great music if you heard the whole. But
then an arrangement, a chord change, a mix of instruments suggests that the
“whole” is way, way too much in 2021, and perhaps the junkie made exactly these
fragments in exactly these ways. The listeners’ minds sample what they want,
but the songs are original and authentic before they end before they end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His ravaged croaky voice, recorded flat over
the slick instrumentation, warns you. This isn’t going to be easy for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this music thinking you know more about
2021 than you did before you heard it.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>The War on Drugs – I Don’t Live Here
Anymore</u></b> :<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, make no mistake
about it, some of the guitar tones produced here are relentlessly cheesy. And
the reverb on the vocals are very embarrassingly out-of-date. But, messy and
bombastic, it successfully feeds the need for grandeur, for the out-of-place
heroic scale of mainstream Pop/Rock, while wrapped in the coffeehouse
nerd-wisdom (<i>indie) </i>of a real student of rock and roll textures and
shapes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lyrics this time out actually
help deepen the music and underscore the essential depressive quality of this
“rock is celebration” music. Although originally compared to Dylan/Sultans of
Swing era Knopfler here Granduciel channels his interior Tom Petty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A burning intensity for the salvation of
rock, turn it up loud, and be embarrassed when you come down. Leave this music
wondering if your statins prescription need renewing.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Moritz von Oswald Trio – Dissent Chapter
1-10 </u></b><i><u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></u></i>The German
producer’s genetics trace back to club electronica and dub ambient music 30
years ago, he’s shifted to a more jazz-oriented sound, and there’s no reason
this most recent release isn’t just simply jazz-hybrid among all the jazz-adjacent
work on this list. The clubby sonics can still evoke Berlin at 4:00am or Ibiza
in rehab but the multi-layered percussion here is much more warm jazz than machine
dance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The interplay between programmed
beats and a real acoustic drummer is one of the album’s pleasures. And that
rhythm sets the stage for von Oswald’s smart addition to his latest, the
American ambient keyboard player Laurel Halo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her playing, both the spacey electric piano, the upright piano seemingly
from another room, and the rhythmic 7-dim chording, make this a cousin of 70s era
jazz fusion like <i>In a Silent Way </i>and <i>Bitches Brew. </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a 70s band called Brand X with Phil
Collins and Weather Report fugitives who went down this path, and here it’s
polished off with years of insouciant dance-club music. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Trance is still useful, all these years later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this music thinking “I look really good
today”…</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Sarah Davachi – Aniphonals: </u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her minimalism had always hinted at sacred
music (the last <i>Cantus</i>, louder and more insistent than this work, was
treated pipe organs in cathedrals across Europe), but this is almost liturgical
– in an aleatoric misty not-quite-there way. Folks queuing up to receive
communion sorta. These overlapping drones (mostly real symphonic instruments
dampened and warped to fall away from the ear) hang in the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The calming effect generates more of a
single-point-focus awareness rather than the broadband numbing blur of a lot of
drone music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps it’s the levels of
tones that overlap in relationships that are more sequential, not timbre nor melodic…
no time to waste. In fact, haste makes waste.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Leave this music paying attention.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Lustmord & Nicolas Horvath - The Fall:
Dennis Johnson’s November Deconstructed: </u></b>Back in the dawn of recorded
times, in the late 50s, minimalist music dawned out of the ashes of Eric Satie
and a NYC composer named Dennis Johnson wrote a piece for solo piano that ran
about three notes and six hours. This inspired LaMonte Young, Phillip Glass,
Steven Reich and the rest is history. Lustmord, an industrial/electronic
musician pulls apart, coats with rumbles, erases, undermines and honors the
original score that pianist Horvath almost plays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not all less is more, and not all less is
equal, but this is like fragrant smoke slowly floating through an enclosed
space; its less is more than music. Though the subconscious hears the beautiful
noises state relationships to each other that have the rhythm of rain not quite
starting. It’s not soundtrack if there’s not enough there to track. Leave this
music not worried about remembering anything.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Locsil – Clara:</u></b> Ambient/electronic
youthful innovator has lasted a long time (decades) and now is the <i>eminence
gris </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of this atmospheric kind of
music. But there was always a somber quiet maturity to his walls and washes of
sound. What he always brought to the electronic party was rhythm (not the IDM
club kind, just the heartbeat, the pulse, the sound of machines in operation).
A train running in the rain through the German countryside, a cargo ship
drawing in through the fog to Vancouver harbor, or a silent sunrise on
pine-covered peak, have been Locsil’s (Scot Morgan) aural motifs. Cold weather
music, no psychotropics allowed to interfere with the stark beauty of clear
thinking. That continues here, with a classical compositional structure that
loses most of the industrial, avoids film soundtrack territory, keeps some fog,
and carefully balances cerebellum and heart. Leave this music closer to the design
center for the effort. </li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>A Winged Victory for the Sullen –
Invisible Cities:</u></b> An absolutely satisfying product from the
classical/ambient composer duo. Their fifth release delivers their calm,
orchestral, melancholy minimalism just as expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes fuzzed up with electronics,
sometimes tube-amp deep voicing like vintage moogs, sometimes almost pristine
chamber music ambient, but always “shimmering” and subtle. That this is so
expectedly pleasing is, likely, its weakness too. Film soundtrack, meditative
background, dance performance score – but not an ambient music that wants to
wake you up with surprises.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cerebral,
endearing, long and gentle droning waves of a sad but better world. Leave this
reading the scrolling credits of a very good movie. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li><li><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></i><!--[endif]--><b><u>Sons of Kemet – Back to the Future: </u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Keep Calm and Carry On, because I am a Field
Negro Now” is the bitter jeremiad at the front door of this work, and the
London-jazz scene that Shabaka Hutchings represents is the soundtrack of a
powerful African Diaspora. Its immigrant/displaced reality is context, but the
primal source is African and indelible. I’m not entirely sure this joyful-angry-celebratory
music could come from American jazz musicians, though Hutching’s sax owes
gratitude to Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>London’s context affords a lot of Caribbean sounds, sunny flutes and
windy dancehall rhythms all building on a base line of a relentless and
insistent tuba – seems like this parade isn’t through Shepherd’s Bush as much
as Port au Prince, Port of Spain, Kingston, or Havana. The future is
decolonized, ready or not. Leave this music high stepping, ready for whatever
parade appears.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Carlos Nino & Friends – More Energy
Fields, Current</u></b>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another “jazz”
find by musicians who may or may not be “good” nor truly understand the jazz
traditions they deconstruct – but Nino, a percussionist first and foremost,
creates layers of rhythmic space for his LA session-musician friends to flash
their chops as they “improvise” into some easy listening yoga soundtrack. It
resists being smarmy by its sharp-edged sonics and waves of surprising twists
and turns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While gently ambient by any
definition of that word, there is somehow an intelligence scaffolding this late
night chill<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>– the sound of lizards in a
lounge that could only exist in a very expensive hotel in a decade that hasn’t
happened yet. It does seem to capture some essentially psychedelic calm that
could only be produced in lotus land. Leave this ready to do downward dog on a
hill in Malibu.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">16.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>The Eivind Aarset Quartet- Phantasmagoria</u></b>:
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Psychedelic shards of melodic guitar
noise wend their way through spacey drums and bass and farfisa-in-the-firmament
harmonics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Post-rock meets ambient both
retro and novel. While the timbre and depth of the music is wide open
(sometimes the guitar is close inside your ear which the keyboards are on
another continent), this is very intimate music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jazzy by technique and improvisational chops
(and history, he’s played both with Ray Charles and Nils Pettaer Molvaer), its
roots and flowering really are a quiet, extended rock music few play now. The
softer edges of Weather Report? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not
garage rock, but it could well be a bunch of old farts in a home studio on the
Norwegian coast playing loose with no time limits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do you say acoustic jam or alchemy in
your language?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this music resolving
to get that bass out and practice.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">17.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Jose Gonzalez – Local Valley:</u></b>
“Folk music” isn’t something that is heard much in this century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gonzalez is called “indie folk singer” which
I guess explains that his songs are new, written by him, but are quietly
delivered with atmospheric nylon-string guitar arpeggios and sung with the l
chilly ambient even in its most rhythmic tracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In short, folk music. Here Gonzalez sings in
all his three languages, Spanish, English and Swedish, and the hybrid
intersections of those cultures, was also seen in the happy/melancholy sounds
of his first band, Junip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sprinkled
through the cuts are birdsong recorded near his hometown of Gothenberg, and
while some of the rhythms are “latino-americano”, the music seems more like
sitting on a balsam-scented<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>beach on the
Baltic than a palmy Caribbean isle. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music to increase oxygen flow. Leave this
music ready for morning yoga.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">18.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Joe Lovano Trio – Living Space:</u></b> No
question that “jazz” is more central to my musical taste and time as each year
passes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for the most part it’s “jazz
adjacent”, or hybrid and fusion jazz (even lined up to that “fusion” noisy/soft
sell stuff from the 70s) – Lovano is straight jazz (<i>Downbeat’s </i>artist of
the year multiple times), no chaser.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Which means it is both deeply heart-felt and relentlessly cerebral. No
cheap shots allowed nor aloud, even as the “blues” of jazz is drained from
this, the “blue note” wakes up every vigilant nerve to <i>listen</i> to what he
is proposing. It helps that the ambling songs, curious and often dissonant, are
propelled by one of the most mellifluous tenor sax voicings ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lovano’s melding sound with the Steve Kuhn
trio makes this a tribute to the sound and lead of Coltrane (who wrote Living
Space), obviously. But is not a rehash… is devotion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this music remembering Coltrane was God
and Lovano is his prophet.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">19.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>The Weather Station – Ignorance:</u></b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if Sandy Deny had lived long enough to
have taken molly?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if Kate Bush had
gone to grad school in Toronto? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Canadian
folk singer Tamara Lindeman has surrounded herself and her Self with a “band”
and the multi-layers of real analog instruments lift her music’s spirits and
artfully carry her tastefully restrained and anguished voice to peaceful
conclusions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her literate songs, art
songs in the lineage of Joni Mitchell, get better with each listen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Joni’s maturity ultimately found jazz to
frame her art, this heavily arranged music suits Tamara just fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this music feeling like an adult living
with wise </li><li>equanimity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></li><li><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">20.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><u>Low – Hey What </u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first cut announces something new: rude
and loud static, broken machines talking to each other, technology, once
distrusted, is cutting in and out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ooops,
the CD is skipping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this supposed to
be funny? Nope, the Duluth Duo of Latter Saints Indie continue to find new ways
to bury their message of hopeless joy. And, yep, there it is, that two chord
extension melody, and that familiar two voices harmonic (in fifths) folk-rock, though
now replacing slo-core with programmed drums and propulsion, not pauses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or rather there are pauses – lots of ideas on
this and there are “transitions” that help you navigate the abrasive and
ambitious soundscapes. Not as abrupt a rupture perhaps, but this is their “Kid
A” to their previous catalog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The themes
and timbres of their singing and lyrics are consistent with a hall-of-fame body
of work (only, who listens to Low?), but the setting is current without being
trendy; sonic relevancy with no pandering. Dynamics are soberly high, not
simple, and the thick electronics seem central to the point as they hold, not
distract the too human voices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
tension between machine and human is not resolved. On second thought, those
broken machines are not talking to each other… they are alone, speaking to an empty
universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean, Duluth, right? Leave
this thinking that old age can open to springs of living water after all.</li><li><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">21.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><u>Eli Keszler – Icons: </u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose the connoisseur will observe that
this doesn’t quite measure against Keszler’s groundbreaking <i>Stadium </i>in
2018 (a percussion-oriented jazz workout that crossed genre lines with wicked
and chilly stealth), but <i>Icons</i> is exactly the “sound of the lost chord”
I kept trying to find this year. Jazz that is not a replication of old ideas,
fusion that doesn’t sound like some Starbucks version of Weather Report or
Bitches Brew, club-like rhythms and small electronic amendments, but nothing
that needs molly on Ibiza to make it work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Given my own predilections, it’s the atmospheric ambient-adjacent
compositions that attract and reward close listening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this with a lower blood pressure count
and higher IQ number.</li><li><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">22.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><u>Ballake Sissoko – Djourou: </u></b>I’ve
listened to a lot of African music over the years, both the
archivist-ethnomusicologist presentations of acoustic and analog recordings,
and all the varieties of driving electrified pop music from around the
sub-continent, reflecting both history and the current moment. I still can’t
place this album in any of that. It’s full of mystery. It’s certainly a pure
music, his 21 string harp, the Kora, sounding sometimes like a dulcimer,
sometimes like seven mandolins, is recorded with clear lucidity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very present acoustically in the room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But every cut has different ideas and
textures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vocals, flutes, improvisations,
and even a touch of hip hop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It covers a
lot of territory, but has a strong consistent thread through every cut – modern
ideas that are mysterious, haunting, trance-like but as awake as a spiritual
revelation ready to change the world order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Gently, quietly, everything can be different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is authentic modern African music for
the whole world, more at home in Paris than Bamako.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this able to breathe more deeply.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">23.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>The Notwist – Vertigo Days:</u></b>
Shifting ever so slightly from a genre they pioneered over twenty years ago
(cheap and friendly indie-rock electonica), they scour their sound to reveal
what was always likely there: the German industrial-psychedelia of bands like
Can and Popul Vuh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the nasal,
disinterested vocals seem more 70s/80s disengagment that later decades’ chill
room posing. Also, their instrumentation here heats up and sneaks up on you –
often with woodwinds and brass, sounding like an orchestra tuning up before the
music devolves into drums ‘n bass simplicity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The melodic pop lines are as familiar and unnerving as Dean Blunt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who knows where people that make this music
live now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the digital screens of the
pandemic, or a country house outside of Munich (escaping the dour hip weight of
Berlin).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this music thinking about
a trip to Japan after the next pandemic.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">24.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>HTRK – Rhinestones</u></b>: A Melbourne
pair, survivors of chill/electronic/IDM decades moves (sorta) to analog
instruments to plumb more authentic human expression. Their minimalist past
survives in a kind stripped down folk music that sounds more like Cowboy
Junkies than Portishead or XX.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A voice
of the tenderest ennui, threaded with electric guitars sleepily underwater.
Although there is plenty of production, it still sounds like demos or drafts of
a “bigger” work to come… that work will never come and that is exactly the
strength of this. Catchy gothy, spacious, and perfectly incomplete. Leave
feeling like wanting more is just enough.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">25.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Clarice Jensen – The Experience of
Repetition as Death</u></b>: The gentlest chamber music for the apocalypse in
progress. Cello strings bowing in the enclosures of pandemics and incomplete
memories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes sounds like Messiaen’s
<i>Quartet for the End of Time </i>as filtered through <i>Disintegration Loops.
</i>The human voice, and wind, and earthquakes, and an ultra-sound exam all
with the same timbres and pitches. Inspired by Adrienne Rich and nursing her
terminally ill mother, not surprisingly, the composer uncovers and shares what
she’s found; the “beauty” of death is that it makes life more meaningful, not
wasted. Minimal, electronic, compositional, bittersweet – this music smells
like snow, pinecones and coffee. Leave this music glad to be sad.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">26.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Darkside – Spiral</u></b><u>:</u><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Noise artist Nicholas Jaar and friend lay
down a retro groove for old people. Following up their cheesy debut
collaboration <i>Psychic </i>from ten years ago with, more Cheese. Silly, dark
psychological, druggy lyrics…. With guitar from the 90s and electronics from
the oughts…it’s a guilty pleasure with some rhythmic hints of club music,
tribal, drum circles, hypnotic bass lines… and genuine rock guitar riffs and
rafts…up the volume, increase the distortion, and this could be the Swans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But why wouldn’t the Swans do the Swans
better than Jaar? Well, the clarity adds a gentle touch to the very dark
psychology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this cancelling an
appointment with your therapist.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">27.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Ian William Craig – Red Sun Through Smoke:</u></b>
Oddest music on the list, not because of its dissonance or instrumentation (an
old piano, various old school tape decks, simple human voice), but because of
the setting of its composition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Craig was
caught in a small British Colombian town surrounded for months by raging
climate change fires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his elderly
grandfather’s house, playing his old piano, Craig sees his Granddad die as his
lungs fill with smoke. The music is responsive to some fundamental
fragmentation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s a yearning in his
sad singing (often sounding like Thom Yorke), and the scraping electronics
surrounding the upright piano-in-the-house-next-door melody lines do seem like
all is perceived through a scrim, a layer of smoke. But with these limited
tools, the artist is exposed more than in his past work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The raw human is sentimental, accepting of
loss, and hopeful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this not taking
friends and family for granted.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">28.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Arab Strap – As Days Get Dark</u></b> I
was pulling for these guys… an old band I really liked, the two Scottish alkies
as bitter and cynical as ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even with
the thickening bellies and wet-brain appointments with the Dr., their vaunted
Nick Cave-like darkness and mystery (in both lyrics and tunes) remain fully
present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some jeremiads intensify with
age even. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The half-spoken vocals sit
between the foolishness of Squid and the disturbed relevance of Dry Cleaning on
this list. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while the music (guitars,
drums, and a lot of other stuff) holds up, the production seems too lugubrious
(Strings on multiple cuts? Bagpipes?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their stark world view (and the impenetrable Scottish accents) would
have been better served by minor-key guitars, and something simpler, flatter,
fuzzier and hopeless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of this is “gothic
folk pretty” even as the poetry they give us is very warped… updating the
darkness with reports of middle-aged prison sentences (by my count, at least
two grandparents die on this record).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Leave this feeling the decision to stop buying Nick Cave was a good one.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">29.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Girl in red – if I could make it go quiet</u></b>:
Clearly this is a barely post-pubescent girl with a lot of lesbian angst – and
the trap/hip hop flavor of the DIY singing “in the pocket” – well this is more
Gen Z than anything else on the list (I mean I’d never actually buy and listen
to Billy Eilish or Olivia Rodrigo, as much as I’d acknowledge the freshness and
savy of some singers under 20 with substantial recording contracts)… and simple
pop currency, no matter how talented or respected, doesn’t score with me on its
own (St. Vincent in annoying noise to me).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So why do I like this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stupid
serotonin vulnerability of her neuroses?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Courtney Barnette hooks? Hard to know, but no apologies: three
chords and indie guitar sonics and rude-girl lyrics are irresistible. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You stupid bitch, can’t you see, the perfect
one for you is me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this music
resigned to never really growing up.</li><li><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">30.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><u>La Luz – La Luz: </u></b>It’s not just
surf-guitar with girl-group vocals (though the simple guitar lines and reverb
is captured with a clinician’s expertise), but this LA group has accessed
something a bit more disturbing… called “surf noir”, their ability to replicate
Sixties “Nuggets” psychedelia -riot on Sunset Strip, weed in the Hollywood
Hills, lost in the Canyons as the kids try to drive over from the Valley to
Zuma is more than retro show and tell – show they love this music for what it
does to their brain chemistry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
garage is in modern-day Silverlake, not Torrance, but the DNA will not be
denied (more White Album than Pet Sounds).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As familiar as its roots are, this is music from a foreign synapse. And
having fun can be just as dark with lazy doo wop harmonies (think Mama Cass on
opiates) as a death metal devil screamer. Leave this music ready for
acupuncture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></li><li><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">31.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><u>GNOD- Easy to Build, Hard to Destroy:</u></b>
The Great Murk from Manchester opens up the labyrinth with 80 minutes of
psychedelic sludge. Yes, there are cheap production tricks to make it seem
spacey (most of them left over from early Pink Floyd or Can) and occasional
hints from the various schools of metal of the last few decades (death, black,
doom, progressive, Viking), but this is “heavy” music on its own terms mostly
(e.g. suddenly there is jazzy trumpet with a distant muted solo, a chorus of
dreamy singers buried very deeply in the Drone).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it is in fact the Drone that make them so
appealing to me… no matter what the pounding K-hole they pursue is, it's the
drone that could easily be in Berlin in 1974 or in Palo Alto with the electric
kool-aid acid tests in … no year apparent, it’s the drone that moves it all
forward and sets the terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There really
is something so satisfying about this kind of intensity (they filled The Swans
place for hateful music).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this
music pleased as punch to be dank.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">32.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Ice Age – Seek Shelter</u></b>: Danish <i>wunderkinds
</i>are not so very <i>kind</i> any more. meaning their boisterous youthful
ingenuity is replaced by a maturity that values… umm… shelter? more than
upheaval. The guitars are still there three-chording and powerfully supporting
the popi-punkish melodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the production,
textures thicker and surprising (a gospel choir??), means to slow things down a
bit to actually reflect on what’s gained and lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cover of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”
sounds more like a soccer hooligan chant than a hymn, but is no less spiritual
for it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is to say… spiritual
hooligans with a studio for higher and hire?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The kids sound like they want to be Radiohead when they grow up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if the <i>kind</i> eases, the <i>wunder</i>
increases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this music feeling like
mortality is tolerable after all.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">33.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Pauline Anne Strong - Angel Tears in
Sunlight: </u></b>On first listen the “gamelan choir on Alpha Centauri” vibe
put me in mind of Lou Harrison which makes a kind of sense, given that Strong
“grew up” in serious electronic music in the 70s and 80s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is spacey ethnomusicology with a
friendly beat that is propulsive and optimistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Strong didn’t compose anything for 30 years,
was rediscovered, got to produce this “new” music, and then died a month after
it was released. The music does sound timeless, meaning it could be 1978 or
2022, and there is not a shred of ambient trendiness, a unique, insular,
primary-colored trance-music. Strong was blind all her life and claimed she
wanted to make auditory pictures of what she imagined was visual. Here she
creates sunny, sweet sounds with distinctive bittersweet melodic tools. Leave
ready to sit on some imaginary tropical beach.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">34.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Snail Mail – Valentine</u></b> Over the years
I’ve looked for post-indie singer-songwriters to satisfy my hunger for popular
music that is irresistibly “alternative” while deliciously moving for C to F to
G with jangly guitars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe A minor for
variation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Snail Mail is one of those I
projected my hungers against – the vocals, the strummy acoustic guitars from
open mic night down at the corner bar (Louisville? North Carolina? Philadelphia?
Portland?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some hold up the banner (Big
Thief), some reveal it was my need, not their intention (Phoebe Bridgers).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As gloriously melodic and appealing as this
Valentine is, Snail Mail is likely in the latter category.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The corner bar is in Silverlake, not Kentucky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And finally I must admit, most of these kids grew
up listening to Gucci Mane and Outkast, not Velvet Underground and Cowboy
Junkies. Hence Billie Eilish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Snail
Mail is so easy to like and listen to, and I’ll likely not need to listen more.
I mean I’ve drawn the line to exclude St Vincent anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this music wondering if, given
mortality’s knock on the door of 2021, I should be listening to Einojohani
Rautavaara more than Linsey Jordan.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">35.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Mdoe Moctar – Afrique Victime</u></b>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shards of distinctive guitar (half muezzin
call to prayer, half an Alman Brothers classic hippie guitar solo) assault and
surprise at the opening of the album and in the context of almost every cut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Propulsive, transcendental, timeless riffs
and arpeggios that just roll over the listener.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Its geography is clear in the timbre, rhythms, and melodic quirks – it
is African, but not above or too far below the Sahara.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This not the music of Lagos or Kinshasa, it
is not the music jungles or savannah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s music of the desert and Filmore West, circa 1972.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jimi Hendrix and Kind Sunny Ade had a child,
and this is their gift to the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Every time I played this this year the opening salvo of sound made be
think, this is the best music ever, it scared me in its raw authenticity (raw
in two senses – eschewing recording studio filters or enhancements, and also
something essentially hybridized<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with no
calculation). Yet always, but album’s end, I had forgotten where it was
going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this music with a
dangerous disorientation.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">36.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Helado Negro –</u></b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While not easy listening music, this is as easy
to listen to as anything on the list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gentle
but not stupid. Happy but not sentimental. It gets its language of sounds from
post-rock bands of the early oughts more than than the IDM clubby rhythms is
seems to resemble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a lot more
going on than appears. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ecuadorian dance
music, funk, jazz fusion, jazz ambient, lounge sleaze, new age World Music,
throwaway beauty and clever architecture that slides by unnoticed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seems like he is in some sound lab, and each
cut is a new experiment in shapes. Not young or new, but it seems this is music
with open doors, not conclusions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave
this music with heightened curiosity.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">37.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Nubya Garcia – Source We Move: </u></b>I
missed last year’s epic <i>Source</i> where Ms. Garcia demonstrated she was the
Future of British jazz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here different
producers re-mix and re-create the tracks of the original work… including a
couple versions with the nascent decade’s most complete and transformative earworm:
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>La cumbia me está llamando </i>And
that’s what interesting here – there are many sources working in and among each
other to make this “jazz”(woodwinds, percussion complexity, blue note and bump
and squawk) to be something new. Yes, yes it’s latin-jazz with dancehall with
acid-jazz – hybrid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the re-mix also
reminds you that this is music that’s never been made before. Leave this music
to take a call.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">38.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Kit Sebastian – Melodi:</u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An absurdist evocation of French pop lounge
music from a decade that never really existed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m pegging the artificial/imaginary date as 1970.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arrangements, textures, instrumentation,
singing styles all are lovingly retro, catching a music just before things got
classic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And really it’s soundtrack for
running around the City of Light to clubs and discotheques before they were
discos until the wee hours of the morning – beautiful, stylish, young, eternal
nonsense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The duo from Brooklyn by way
of the 6<sup>th</sup> arrondissement are full of tricks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this wearing YSL and smoking hash. </li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">39.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Vijay Ilyer –</u></b> Uneasy – Using the
language of trad jazz in its most cerebral (and at least two of the members of
this trio have academic appointments in Ivy League schools), and choosing some
very recognizable standards to base improvisations on, they still sound pretty
groundbreaking; ready for the 2020’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Though not because of the programmatic assertions that social justice or
other political commentary is apparent in this music (I can accept a pure
politics – but Sons of Kemet lead protests in the street while Ilyer produces
peer-reviewed essays) but rather for the propulsive rhythms and the creative
melodic detours they make, sounding fresh and tidy and serious. Leave this
music pondering the familiar unfamiliar world.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">40.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Squid – Bright Green Field </u></b>“Psycho
Gen Z… qu'est-ce que c'est fa fa fa fa fa fa fa …”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These crazy kids from Brighton are barely out
of secondary school, and they sing/talk like David Byrne, as if 40 years of hip
hop never happened. Originally I fell in love with this, encouraged by Rock as seditionary
culture reports fully hidden by dance-guitars and 80s new wave genetics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vocalist definitely is more screamer than
Byrne (Pere Ubu?), but most of these tracks could be Talking Heads outtakes. The
kids can sure play their instruments, and guitar-centric music is welcome, and
generates an XTC-dissonant complexity that seems more than just retro. They
really mean it, man. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ultimately though
the vocals just seem too cute for me… otherwise it would have placed much
higher on the list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given their youth, a
band to watch. Too bad this is my last list. Leave this music pondering about
the wit of today’s youth.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">41.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Rose City Band – Earth Trip <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></u></b>Grunchy granola Portland Americana garage
band compositions and sonics from the side-project of the Wooden Shjips guitarist.
And while that psychedelic DNA (also apparent in his other band, Moon Duo) is here
for the finding, it’s a devotion to simplicity that is the reward in these
folky songs, not improvised noisy details into dreamland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is dreamy, but soft and comforting
three-chord home-cooked songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Comfort
food. Soft landings for a pandemic disruption – in fact he’s said that staying
home made him seek these country-spun and bittersweet configurations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Endlessly satisfying folk-rock, with
pretty-ragged vocals. Would be higher on the list (I am a sucker for fully
nutritional Americana), but somehow it feels like music made, put up on the
shelf, and mis-remembered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this
music ground for drip, not French press.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">42.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Badbadnotgood – Talk Memory:</u></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted a loose jazz improvisational band to
work for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this Canadian combo has
all the right elements, especially later in the record where there is some
genuine heat and passion in the interplay of the traditional jazz instruments
(horns, bass, drums – keyboards and guitars in the undertow).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any small part of this is delicious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But by the end I always immediately forgot
what I’d heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s so good precisely
because it’s not very good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this
looking for Chinese food.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">43.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Gods Speed! You Black Emperor – G_d’s Pee
at STATE’S END: </u></b>The Canadian juggernaut of post-rock expansiveness
returns after many years to produce (more mature?) music for the shambolic
20’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Always political in intent (hard
to do without any lyrics/voices/singing at all) the sound is big, loud,
dynamic, and just a tad retro in its faith in the traditional rock instruments
and their timbres. A new and surprising assertion of their place in rock music?
Not at all; a reminder in the satisfactions of a loud, arranged, assertive ensemble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this thinking briefly about a world
possible that widens what is here now.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">44.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Mogwai – As the Love Continues</u></b> I remember
writing a paper in college about Neville Shute’s <i>Around the Bend </i>responding
the question, “if it’s so good, why isn’t it great”… my clever response was
that precisely the elements that made it good kept it from being great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point this may be the case for
Mogwai.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a couple of decades the
formula is well known, loud-soft dynamics on a great scale of symphonic guitar.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bittersweet melodies and lonely Highland
vistas (early on this was seemed like Glasgow-driven smack, but now seems like
a semi-detached in the suburbs and “I’ll pick up the kids” domesticity).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the music hasn’t changed, the time has.
That a lot of post-rock ambient guitar music has gone under the bridge since
they started doesn’t diminish this music at all, it just begs the question
whether I need one more CD of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave
this music thinking it was probably a mistake in 2009 to commit to continuing
the physical presence of CDs vs digital files.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">45.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Mono – Pilgrimage of the Soul: </u></b>The
Japanese Mogwai (like Mogwai) still in relentless pursuit of That Last Power
Riff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jangling in the stratosphere or
rumbling in the head-banging basement, the arc between the thunderously loud
and quiet-as-dawn melodic figures (duh, like Mogwai) is where their electricity
derives. And while the reverb is a critical element, the simple stripped down
drums/synth/bass/guitars is timeless. No outré studio tricks, just sonics that
invoke Sonic Youth, or Explosions in the Sky. Quiet is the new loud until its loud.
Linguistic serendipity made me hear earlier of their work (<i>For My Parents) </i>as
a soundtrack for a drive around Mono Lake. So… leave this music ready to drive
all night through the desert (not to Kobe).</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">46.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Natural Information Society - descensions
(Out of Our Constrictions)</u></b>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An
hour-long exploration of jazz reveries, in one long, relentless, repetitive,
highly focused composition – and while the instrumentation is unusual but
recognizable (a bass clarinet and a soprano sax in similar registers circle and
trade off throaty and agile solos), the insistent repetitive force of the music
is epically intense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The audience wants
to stop and applaud a solo, but the combo has no interest in that. They pursue
music that is, in the end, trance-enducing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Leave this music feeling purged.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">47.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Nils Pettair Molvaer – Stiches </u></b>This
Norwegian trumpeter has consistently been a musician I follow, and listen to
with loyalty and commitment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I
have every thing he recorded. He pretty much invented Nu Jazz in the 90s, which
in turn had influenced 37.5% of all the music I buy and listen to now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In part he originally captured my affections
because he sounds more like Miles Davis than Miles Davis… at least in the notes
he barely plays, the silence and space left, the quiet intensity, and the
relentless Cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I listened to Stitches
a lot this year… so why is it this by one of my favorite musicians this far
down on the list? He couldn’t stay in old places (the electonica fusion of
Khmer and its children), and he’s old enough to resist hipster DJ ambience now
(although he does cover a Radiohead tune here)… so here is gentler, warmer, more
classic-jazz oriented… his current guitarist almost hits Blue Grass or
Americana notes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eminently listenable, I
just miss the Cool as a knife edge, not a preservative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this wanting to live on an island off
the coast of Norway.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">48.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Astrid Sonne – outside your lifeitme</u></b>
– Resonance, both old school with stringed instruments (underwater guitar and
freshman novice bass thumping) and droning, fuzzy, space electronics, chopped
up in Glassy rhythms and yet overgrown with forgotten fog loops – resonance is
what’s the goal here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If pressed I could
ascribe some Scandinavian depressive equilibrium (she’s Danish) to the tracks
that seem really uncomfortable asserting too much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things don’t go in the direction promised.
Themes end before they are developed.</li><li><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">49.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b><u>Sam Gendell & Sam Wilkes – Music for
Saxofone and Bass Guitar; More Songs</u></b> – Here’s the work with the “more”
songs added to the 2020 release that I totally missed out on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a sweet simplicity to the music that
takes the calming melodic soporifics from chill rooms of 30 years ago, mixes in
a tonality and intelligence of Jon Hassell, which means just a bit of space-age
mumbo jumbo and future-jazz. It probably owes as much to German-psychedelic
trance rock music of the late 70s as to the classic Mingus of the 50s, but it
leaves neither behind or rather is grateful to both, and for all of its
accessibility seems very, very new. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can serious
music also be kind?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave this music
feeling like you’ve been sent to a cold winter corner of your urban loft to
reflect on your sinful ways, and then fell asleep and dreamed of meadows with
sweet grass and small flowers somewhere sunny.</li><li><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">50.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><u>Wild Pink – A Billion Little Lights:</u></b>
Back in the days of permanent immaturity, with ear trained to find identity, if
not meaning, I would hear a cut on the radio and hear something that motivated
me to buy the album which contained “that sound”… to see how right or wrong I
was to hear some kind of beauty/truth context and Source.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God I used to buy really stupid albums
(somewhere down below there is a Leo Sayer album).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is a small sample of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indie/chiming guitar with sweet simple melancholy
vocals – part shoegaze, part americana. And in the end there are also anthems…
which sound mostly like a PBS concert filmed in an outside summer amphitheater
in Bavaria with middle class dance moves by Euro hippies who went to good trade
schools and now have grandchildren.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leave
this with short term memory loss.</li></ol><!--[if !supportLists]--><o:p></o:p><p></p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><o:p> </o:p></p>harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-19430307890374910392021-01-14T17:14:00.001-08:002021-01-14T17:14:26.459-08:00<div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Best Music
of 2020<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 63.0pt;"><i>A definition of electroacoustic
is the treatment (harmonizing frequencies, altered timbres) of sound produced
in real, not digital space. Perhaps I grow old (I wear the bottom of my
trousers rolled), or I live through years of Plague, fire, and insurrections
(este monstro pisa fuerte), but all the old raging noise made possible with
each technological advance seems more a distraction to me now. This year the
reference to the real world of real instruments was the physic I needed – even rock
needed to be simple and largely indie female.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Indeed there are more women artists on this year’s list than ever. The annus
horribilis edged ever so closer to mirabilis by the aegis of yoni anima rising
to protect – no Plague nor Autocrat is going to get my progeny!! I also turned
to jazz that quotes the minimal or familiar, I turned to country music even. Less
patience this year for brats or noise. Dylan should be #1 for a besotted boomer
like me – with his long-term memory turning him from prophecy to inventory –
but I chickened out and handed the flag to “pretty and calm” to help us through
the dark night of the End Times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Awake
in 2020, but with no delusion that 2021 will offer up anything other than more of
that sacred and messy awareness. Less rock than ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Virtual no attempt to chart the zeitgeist in
popular measures. A high percentage of funereal music – are you never so alive
but at a funeral?<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Time it Takes – Goldmund<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I guess the category of music I buy the most of, if not
listen to most, is the soothing sound of what sites like Boomkat call “Modern Classical/Ambient”,
often with traditional acoustic instruments (piano, cello, harp, organ) treated
and filtered and repurposed, sprinkled with distorted voices, found sound, field
recordings, and presented in roughed up atmospherics. The “beauty” is grounded
by foundational layers of electronics, rumbling drones and noise – but there is
usually a clear core of “composition” with the phrasal shape and sonic intent
of, in the worst cases, an interesting treacly movie soundtrack. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is “serious” music, often by graduates of
Juilliard or Berklee – like Keith Kenniff who here offers music as Goldmund
(sometimes he is Helios). And so this is a set of relative short etudes which
all rollout the same; kind of a Goldberg Variations for the digital age. Each
piece restates a theme, played on a piano that sounds like an old upright left
out in the rain in a deserted Church’s backyard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each then layers on new ideas and builds to
something more spacious, enveloping, and lovely. Chamber music for 1) woke folk,
2) urban farmers and 3) survivors of the apocalypse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music that was adult enough to give solace to
my frazzled and isolated heart – freed from post-zoom work, driven into prayer,
and doom-scrolling the plague, fires and nihilistic duck dynasty fascism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Left it playing on repeat enough to have
CRSPR‘ed my aural DNA – it deserves #1 just for staying power.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Rough and Rowdy Days – Bob Dylan<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Somehow his “lazy” technique of lists and enjambment was
just the right tool for a 2020 old dusty laureate with unimpeachably ironic
cultural mavenhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wanting to look back
to look forward, so leaving the American Songbook for simple roots music was
the right shift. Talk about using your recognized status to pull a rabbit out
of your ass?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This year, survival itself
was both a miracle and in question (for the country, for him as a human artist,
for the human race).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is this a
soundtrack for survival or palimpsest of failed intentions? At the least he
buttresses a possible comfort at the end of life with conspiracies and a wicked
love for the random.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The authority and
bliss of his references are Whitmanesqe – like the Grey Bearded Bard he unpacks
American history and promise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yep, he
verifies the promise is well broken and the history has more manifestly
destined media than wild, wild nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pop
cultural prophecy may be the only prophecy left to us. And what a hoot still in
the naming. America needed Dylan to emerge from the tar in 2020.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or I did.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Experience of Repetition as Death – Clarice
Jensen<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Just another cellist from Julliard, bows ever so slowly, and
leaves echoes lasting long enough to counter the points she makes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With welling clouds of dark beauty (the minor
keys more Celtic than orchestral; more pew than workshop) – you’re offered a
sadness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I guess these are motifs of
sadness, of grief. But it’s pristine grief, not an addiction to grievance. In
this year it scraped clean the backlog of denials in my own shelter; death is finally
the mother of beauty. At least in those moments you stop long enough to pay attention.
Her few notes are returned to over and over, as if the repetitive tones want to
make very clear their meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For these
repetitions are not trance-inducing, rather they are bracingly awake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many ambient minimalists comfort with their
soporific math; here the simple means to stay vigilant, to awaken. Pay attention
while there is yet time.<b><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Patchouli Blue – Bohren and Der Club der
Gore<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Slo-core, ambient doom jazz are descriptors for this German
group, now well into over 20 years of producing profoundly quirky music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose it could be “soundtrack” for a
David Lynch film (and hasn’t 2016-2020 been all that) but the blue note is for
real: the sax is a report from very late at urban night coolspots where last
call has long since passed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second set
in Berlin basements before the jonesing starts. So set ‘em up Josef.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though clearly the very pace (songs slow
down, stop, remember that there is more, reluctantly continue) is more than
just opiate nodding off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sad beauty
of brushes on what’s snared, piano or vibraphone raindrops, and that sax as
hollow, harrowed and hallowed as the Soul itself. Funereal good times.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Healing is a Miracle – Julianna Barwick<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Good timing, eh? In the year of glooming pandemic and
pandemonium, healing comes as the fragile human voice apotheosized in multi-tracked
loops and effects, presenting various saving angelic choirs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the fourth album in which Barwick uses
these voice/loop narcotics. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It doesn’t
break new ground (which might be why it’s not that well reviewed by some old
fans), but her staying true to her mission is also comforting. I think there is
a folk music under all the layers – sometimes sounding like those old Bulgarian
women’s choirs, sometimes like pre-Lutheran Icelandic shards of chilling sound (Sigur
Rós- Jonsi is actually one of the voices she has in her toolbox).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And with Mary Lattimore also helping them in
these disintegrating loops, sometimes this is like William Basinski at the cool
kids table. It’s in fragments, and the gloriously performed “beauty” is
cluttered and hacked apart with noise, glitches, dirty fuzz and shimmering
obfuscation. The door to eternity is sometimes through the wall of sound of a
sad and immense heart-world; Barwick suggests, Barwick implies, Barwick shows
you she has the key in her pocket.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Atomic – Helen Money <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A heavy-metal cello?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Death
cello? Like the sax, the cello’s timbre and pitch have always seemed close to
the human voice to me. Sad and warm; plaintive and reassuring. Here Helen Money
(Alison Chesney) stretches the cello’s tones with treatments and filters and
electronic experiments which broaden the aural canvas to a world with enough
noise and discomfort fit for 2020.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her
compositional skills produce dense images of fog, and wind-blown moors, upside-down
crosses and burning churches; but order is reimposed by a surprising harp, or
the deep, deep solace of a single string on her cello. Few notes, many
chances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Folk wisdom in tone and melody;
rescue is always a moment away. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gothic
chamber music for the drawing rooms we can never leave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Internal pain is revealed by the plunge sequestration
precipitates; but the revelation itself is beautiful and new.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Hannah - Lomelda<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I guess this was the best Big Thief offering of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The elegant garage-based guitar lines and
strumming interweaving through, and lifting up, the effortless earnestness of
Hannah Read’s singing – lyrics in a popular idiom that seem today’s version of
50s confessional poets (if Adrianne Lenker is Sylvia Plath, Read’s cool directness
is more Sharon Olds). And while the lyrics and catchy melodies present the
argument, it’s sealed by the instrumentation – DIY quasi-indie rock, dreamy and,
while unadorned, skillfully invoking the lineage of rock music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A transmission of familiar power welcome in a
year of strange dissembling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The power
of (the right) three chords and (the right) Truth, sung (almost out of tune
with an American crack in her voice) by someone who still holds enough belief in
life to share it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Familiar at first
listening, these tunes burrow closer to the heart with each repeated
listening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Familiarity dissipates contempt.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Silver Ladders – Mary Lattimore<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How is it that something that sometimes sounds like the
intro to a track on a Mannheim Steamroller Christmas album is in my top ten?
But often the simplicity of the harp plucked strings evokes a village in Mali,
a rest in a tree’s shade at Mahabodhi Temple, sitting by a peat fire in County
Mayo – more than a concert hall in Dusseldorf or Oslo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music always suggests that the right kind
of quiet is the balm for souls not sick, rather that have forgotten that peace
is possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tempos sometimes slower
than the breath of a person at rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
nest of sound behind the plucked harp strings tell stories too. An almost
inaudible hum suggests a helicopter approaching to rescue the outcast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A crescendo rumbles: approaching storms?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nuclear winter? Or are we about to slip into
Silent Night?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the sound is
pristine and thick at the same time (produced by Slowdrive’s Neal Halstead) it
sometimes seems like a Disintegration Loops for contemplative
ethnomusicologists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Intellectually
honest spa music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Massages offered by a
shaman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ancestors had needs too, you
know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They needed space.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Cantus, Descant – Sarah Davachi<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Another version of my beloved “drone” that here sounds like
a church organ in the Cathedral of First Cause on Alpha Centauri or an alien ritual
in an old RKO B-movie. (Increasingly drawn to these electronics that could be lost
soundtracks rather than psychotropic rock, noise experiments or testosterone-drug-driven
club IDM). Indeed Dr. Davachi’s specialty (she holds a PhD in musicology from
UCLA) is analog synths that might well date from those RKO days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s obsessed with these trailblazing
electronics the way a guitar freak obsesses on old Gibson guitars or Mesa Boogie
amps. So in the “no glitz” authenticity of these sounds that linger in the auditory
background, signals coming in and out of frequency, but don’t try to be “ambient”
in any way, she lets us hear knocks and bumps that sound like her kicking the
synth’s box – it asks to be heard in real space, not some digital AI
alternative place like so many electronics. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her minimalist compositions do move slowly, do
reward the listener with increased familiarity, and even hint at melodic song –
much of her quiet and quieting work seems an intro waiting for some solo to
enter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed she does enter as a singer
at the end – but this really is best when there is less than more.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Exist?</b>
– The Soft Pink Truth<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ve given up on “chlll/dance” ambience – its golden age
long over – and you need to wade through a little of that here. But once you
pay attention to what’s really here, not just what it sounds like, there is a
beautiful woundedness in this mélange where acoustic piano, DIY voices, and electronics
drift and bump into each other. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Drums of
the angels or breaking glass? Who’s to know. Whose, to know. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A meditative moment disturbed by a celestial
car alarm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A trance interrupted by what
sounds like the neighbor getting stoned on the other side of the wall. The
ethereal anchored to the human (hence, sin and grace I guess). An alien
mothership hovers then moves across the screen, but there is no message
discernable. It’s beauty open-ended and uncertain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A soundtrack for shelters and unknown places
both. (Matmos is over 20 years old and Drew Daniel has gone from Bjork club kid
to the Johns Hopkins faculty with a PhD in the study of melancholy, the author
of <i>The Melancholy Assemblage: Affect and Epistemology in the English
Renaissance.</i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doctor, can you use
your acoustic gifts to check my melancholy here?)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Music for Detuned Pianos – Max de
Wardener<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sneaky morning music. Incrementalism setting up expectations
where then a note a quartertone out of tune (or more) shakes up the ear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rhythmic repetitions disintegrating into a
glissando, a buzz, or silence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sly but
not slick, the British composer uses timbre, pitch, and broken rhythms to carry
melancholy and alert melodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easy on
the ear, and nourishing to those hungry for making something new with something
deceptively familiar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an ensemble
of piano solos with shimmering and intentionally faulty resonation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Centered in the kind of post-classical
chamber music reminding the listener that smart acoustic sounds composed by
neurons not code may well be more timeless precisely because they are ephemeral.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least for those stamped with an expiration
date.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>8 Kindred Spirits – Charles Lloyd<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There are many great re-issues that I “disqualify” from a
list like this – arbitrarily. How can you compare Thelonious Monk playing in
Palo Alto 50 years ago to music made for today?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Charles Lloyd is a superb re-issue, only he’s still alive and this is
music from a recent concert in<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Santa
Barbara.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Cool is not only still
here, it advances its very ideas. More than ever Lloyd shows that very serious
jazz can engage the intellect, can emerge triumphant from black America, <i>because</i>
of Black America, and universally, efficiently demolish the human heart with
melodic beauty. Evergreen and generous in his playing – jazz cannot be more
beautiful than this.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>A Mythology of Circles – Faten Kanaan<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">She’s often described as “Brooklyn-based composer”, I
suppose because that locates her in some currency, some zeitgeist of hip
experimentation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I hear something retrospective
or anachronistic, a “neo-classical” stew of the early 20<sup>th</sup> century
in these very <i>composed</i> short pieces with some vintage synthesized sounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Martha Graham dance-tracks, or
“automatic writing” producing scores for Gurdjieff’s geometric movement therapy
from an ancient cult (all this sonically invoked, with no attention paid to the
conceptual structures of myth it pretends to).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Or a soundtrack to John Fowles’ The Magus – a ritualistic setting for
mystery and countering culture with altered states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s a one-woman synthesizer band creating
hollow sounds, algebraic sounds, ceremonial sounds for deep thinkers with short
attention spans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or perhaps a wedding
march of aliens on a Forbidden Planet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s all quite listenable, but this is the weirdest music that I’ve
listened to with some care and interest in a long time; flavors unpeeling,
revealing more with each listen. Exotic is the new normal.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>We Are Sent Here By History – Shabaka and
the Ancestors<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The African diaspora (slavery) brought music to the US that
became blues, jazz, and rock. Rock went to England and became the Beatles et.
al. and rode in on the 60s countercultures and changed the world. But the “nu
jazz” in Britain (as opposed to Scandinavian and continental “white” jazz
artists) didn’t just receive jazz from America; its jazz seems directly
connected to Africa on its own – perhaps because of the more recently arrived
immigrant communities in the UK. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
whatever the reason, Shabaka Hutchings is making music that does “quote” late
60s jazz fushion (some of this sounds like outtakes from Bitches Brew or In a
Silent Way), hip hop, club music, but presents something that is fresh, African,
trance-inducing, intense, and self-defining. These young Brits are marching to
the sound of their own (complex, poly-rhythmic) drummer. The group, mostly born
in South Africa, are rooted more in Dollar Brand than Oscar Peterson – but these
are African artists claiming space on the streets of London and sound like the
new decade stretching before them. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Constellation in Real Time – Rafael Toral
<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Portuguese ambient composer/guitarist produces his strongest
work in decades. Plucked or hit strings/notes from a harp, harpsicord, piano,
guitar sound through some computer-generated algorithm which winds up producing
something sounding like New Age Twelve Tone composition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Schoenberg for aromatherapy customers. Aleatoric
Eno, from the Airport or Neroli years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The framework has lots and lots of space, leaving
room to calm down; an Eric Satie for a time when civilization and comity unravel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Waiting in the psychological cat scan tube to
check survival odds, these singular and familiar notes dropping through space
are a balm, a nostrum of sound for the darkest days of 2020. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">16.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Soft Landing – Sandro Perri<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A chiller, more cosmopolitan version of what Blake Mills
wants to be (lesson #1, hazy and mysterious vocals), with a masterful sense of
melody, appealingly thick versions of his guitars, and sophisticated sonics that
have a medically verified calming effect. Easy to listen to, for sure, but
smart and surprising enough not to be easy-listening. Long guitar jams
presented as ambient etudes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An MFA
thesis in tasteful harmonics, barely revealing a tropical rootedness that can
only happen in… Toronto?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Best Yo La
Tengo album in ages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, wait…<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">17.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Three – The Necks<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While Shabaka Hutchings and others make a Nu-Jazz with world
music and migrations, with Mother Africa and hip hop straightening things and e
putting them in their place, and are constructing something of their own, there
was a minimalist nu jazz that had been happening before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trance-like simplifiers like the Necks
deconstructed jazz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In some alternate
universe these long, long studies in modal noise could be loved by jam band
fans or Euro trash in Ibiza alike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
they are a trio of eccentric Aussies who run up the rhythmic tab and skip the
blue note bill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Under the many, many
layers of mostly acoustic sound it’s meditatively simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>White noise indeed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">18.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Old Flowers – Courtney Marie Barnette<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Beautiful Americana break-up album. Her achy-breaky voice
like a modern heart-hurt Linda Ronstadt or Emmy Lou Harris channeling John
Prine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Barnette grew up in Arizona too
– that desert country closer to Hollywood and Vine than Broadway and 4<sup>th</sup>
in Nashville). Losing love is like a window in your heart… Her simple poetry of
still loving what and whom you’ve lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Simple and direct lyrics; a woman alone and stronger for it and for the
forgiveness at her core.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the production
so simply clear and familiar (sometimes seems like almost the rough draft for
another, more commercial album) – the no-BS bittersweet sounds for this year of
time passing and people passing away.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">19.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>GoGo Penguin – GoGo Penguin<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Odd that a fifth album by a band has no title other than the
name of the band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But maybe it’s because
this Mancunian minimalist jazz band has finally found its core identity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s pushed beyond its pop influences –
revealing more Scandinavian cool jazz in its DNA than London-based grime and
hip hop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the rhythms aren’t
lazy, showing that fast and even complicated tempos can be dreamy too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three instruments (drums, bass, piano),
acoustic and simply recorded, create a lot of space to roam around in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More trance than dance, more less than more.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">20.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Saint Cloud – Waxahatchee <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Every now and then she sounds like Dolly Parton fronting
Sleater-Kinney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s something that is
both its strength and its weakness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
reason it’s so good is also the reason it’s limited. Garage-folk country with
refreshing nimble telling melodies. Or nylon-string riffs from a bar band more in
Dublin than Nashville.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alt-corn pone. Burning
slow: Quiet is the new loud. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, more
than most “music” these days (music with songs, voices, harmonies, hooks) this
is much, much better on listen #42 than #2. It reveals its charms as it gets
more threadbare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe I should actually
listen to Taylor Swift? Umm…nah.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">21.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Punisher – Phoebe Bridgers<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A thin and quiet voice (the zeitgeist’s choice these days –
she’s an indie Billie Eilish) disguises some pretty assertive and challenging
lyrics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Subtle production, slickly
understated (string quartets? Maybe the musical nesting that Sufjan Stevens
should have had) that burns with an intensity that matches the emotion just
barely revealed in the voice…and lyrics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The songs are strong and adult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
maturity of sense and sensibility that rises above boygenius DIY trendiness.
Rock music’s Jane Austen albeit with a grit fit for the times (“with your
tongue down the throat of somebody who loves you more”)? The poignant
repercussions for bad choices (one’s own and others’) are the raw materials for
honest confessions of particular strengths and failures which are two sides of
the same singer-songwriter coin. 2020 the year when addiction to grievance is
exposed as the code of our living? Free yourself from that? Fiona Apple is in
your face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phoebe Bridges is your face.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">22.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Modes Of Communication: Letters From The
Underworlds - Nduduzo Makhathini<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">South African pianist who describes himself as “a Zulu healer
from a small town” has produced a music that is rooted in the past (Dollar
Brand, Coltranes both John and Alice, African tribal melodies) that is
universal and future-oriented. It’s music of a better world possible.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">23.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Die Midwestern – Arlo Mckinley<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Billed as the authentic sound of some harrowed Appalachia –
the real and less-self justifying Hillbilly Elegy – the suburbs of Cincy, with
pill-popping ne’er-do-wells praying to a Jesus who is way too busy with other
things, and more important people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His
voice (John Prine’s pick for stardom before he died) is surely drenched in
inebriated hard times (self-medicated corn pone) – in a sense this sounds more
like a 21<sup>st </sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>century literate
version of the Bakersfield Sound when country wasn’t cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hard-scrabble though it be, the music and
arrangements are glorious deconstructions with pedal steel, fiddle and
Hammond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes you need to slow down
the hurt so you can actually hear it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">24.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Songs and Instrumentals – Adriane Lenker<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The leader of Big Thief (which produced some of the more
interesting alt-rock of the last several years) uses the confessional tone of
her voice, solo with only her guitar, to be even more intimate. Still
unabashedly leaning in, she tells you about what being alive is for her. The
poetic directness and minor-key melodies are still there, though perhaps they
were even more raw and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>arresting with an
electric band backing her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a
folk music that burns with hurt bravely unprotected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the brilliance of Big Thief I was
mildly disappointed. Seems like this might be a holding pattern for someone
both under the radar and monumentally unusual (apparently she is moving from
one gender to another).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A second CD of
acoustic guitar is lovely but unnecessary.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">25.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Some Kind of Peace – Olafur Arnalds<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">More Icelandic beauty – like its soccer team, the ratio of Icelandic
citizens to successful musicians must be world-leading. Arnalds continues with
the pallet he’s used before – piano, strings, ambient atmospherics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His compositional fingerprint is also
familiar, short fragments, sweet and soft melodies, so ephemeral they’re almost
not there – there’s very little new territory here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bittersweet, quiet, and vaguely
spiritual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add the vocal and it’s a Tom
Yorke solo album. Or a quick-stop Arvo Paart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">26.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Allegiance and Conviction – Windy and
Carl<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The slo-core, shoe-gaze, drone champs are almost 30 years
into a career of using real instruments to build gentle layers of sound –
linear and minimal melody lines resonating from one layer to another, like sympathetic
strings vibrating. Indeed one could impose the knowledge that their long-time
marriage frames the monumentally subtle interplay between her base and his
effects-driven guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ira and Georgia
cover Popul Vuh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Translucent sludge?
Garage ambient? Motor City transcendent? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">27.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Suite for Max Brown – Jeff Parker<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The guitarist for Tortoise makes a case for a possible post-jazz
that doesn’t absorb “other sources”, nor get too agitated, edgy, and motivated
by the bop tradition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe that just
means that horns are melded into the arrangements, not soloists, though eschew
any “band” sound. Garage jazz? Chamber jazz? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">28.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Interloper – Holy Wave<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Deliciously ragged and disposable(recycled) rock in roll, vaguely
Francophile – 60s psychedelic shards left all over the place. A kind of Lalo
Schifrin rock through the lens of Brian Wilson or Beach House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although they are from Texas not the Sixth Arrondissement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pink Floyd for Gen Z. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feelies for Gen Alpha. Mai oui y’all. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music Ariel Pink might have made if he hadn’t
drunk so deep of autocratic cadaver juice.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">29.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Source – Nubya Garcia<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A further claim on London as the jazz capital of the world –
North London ska/reggae rhythms, pushing through sophisticated arrangements,
carry the blue note of the African diaspora into a brand new world music. The
recombination of elements makes this sound European more than Chicago. The
tenor sax, in its swinging syncopation is more relaxed than the driving
challenge of similar London musicians like Shabaka Hutchings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instrumentation even quotes a bit from 70s
soul music but is relentlessly fashionable for 2020 and beyond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Respect yourself.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">30.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Mordechai – Khruangbin<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I bought and played this in summer, sequestered in the hut
as workmen in masks walked in and out of the house, the hut’s doors open… this
music, latin-rhythms in a jam-band insouciance, the simple and spacious
production from some iconic period of rock’s past, the comfortable vocals over
hippie guitar, improvised and eternally young vocals, a soundtrack for warm
air, sitting in the shade, the days long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The ease of sly syncopation of the vocals, whose Spanish lyrics and
rhythm makes this light soundtrack more like a world music than Texas rock n’ roll
(Mali as much as <i>Tejano).<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">31.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Wall of Sound: Drones, Patterns, Noises –
Ulrich Kreiger<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Well, given my proclivity for a sound that is stretched out
long enough to fray and betray its component parts (that is a drone) and other
trance-inducing auditory sleights of hand (noise, repetitive patterns) this
should be even higher on the list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Multiple CDs of categorized sample-ready resources. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is selfless-self as a pose (ambient dark
droning) and industrial strength no-self (this). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The human behind the sound just a little too
remote for this year.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">32.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Great Dismissal – Nothing<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Gazing at those grungy shoes still sounds big and beautiful,
still rewards my rock and roll sweet tooth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But somehow the wall of sound is too clean, too pat for this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trying too hard to score. And in the rain of
lovely guitars, the voices are too forward in the mix, and the lyrics are
intelligible to no one’s benefit.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">33.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>We’re New Again – Gil-Scot Heron (Makaya
McCraven deconstruction)<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A last shot (2009) at prophecy from one of the watershed
creators of 20<sup>th</sup> century “soul” music; serious jazz and wordsmithing
and socio-cultural poetry from his wounded and unrepentant heart – was pulled apart
and re-assembled with a sound palate of hip, slick, cool and young 21<sup>st</sup>
century black Britain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His voice ravaged
by crack and oppression; her reproduction pumping new light and transformative
anger into it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">34.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Mutable Set – Blake Mills<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Everything about him is quality real music with welcome
nutritious value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hence his producing so
many hip, slick and cool artists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The T.
Bone Burnett of his generation. The production is therefore clever, precise and
deceptive. No drums and a sonic presence very intimate, close in the ears, but
his guitar (his great skill) is mushed around in service to atmospherics. The
songs (co-written with Cass McCombs) are insightful, if a bit expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Folky with a splash of Malibu. Which makes it
all ride on his voice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a vocalist,
he’s a great guitarist. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">35.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Inlet – Hum<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Iconic shoegaze trailblazers return after decades with that
huge muddy Fuzz and beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a kind
of music that used to dominate my listening, along with chimey indie rockers.
Now, a “retro” or two occasionally makes the list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These churning guitars, rumbling doomy bass,
and snap-sharp drumming are delicious – which joy, however, is mitigated by
vocals that are way up front and very unfortunately you can understand the
lyrics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the voice had been buried to
an unintelligible level, this would have been rated much higher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At very loud volumes there’s an ecstatic
breakthrough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the voice reminds you
it is just a mid-life crisis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much more
satisfying though than Ride’s “return” last year.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">36.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Heaven to a Tortured Mind – Yves Tumor<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In my senility-adjacent categorizing, I keep expecting this
to be like Dean Blunt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the gloss to
too thick, and the hybridized stew needs a bit more irony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly soulful enough and the correct % of
quirk, but seems like it’s a holding pattern, or an unitentionally revealed
short stack of hypnotic ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More
hypnotism, less shortage next time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">37.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Man Alive – King Krule<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If there used to be “blue-eyed” soul in the Brit-Pop
universe, I suppose this is a “blue-eyed” hip hop… his ragged non-University
accent telling you what life is like… for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s probably unfair, and if it were true I’d not be that interested,
but he has a jazzy inclination and the instrumentation follows that. The timbre
to his voice in appealing.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">38.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>In the Arctic Dreamtime - Ivar Grydeland
& Henry Kaiser<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And now presenting Grydeland in the role of Terje Rypdal and
Kaiser…in the role of Henry Kaiser.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Spontaneous, soaring, trance-inducing interplay between guitar ecstasy
and relentless guitar quirkiness. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">39.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Voices - Max Richter <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A serious composer with a serious purpose is minimalist and
emotive enough to create high-quality ambient soundscapes that go beyond the
mere cinema soundtrack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He never
disappoints, though here his use of human voices (always in his toolbox)
reading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights produce a work that induces
respect but will probably be left on the shelf while I reach for ten of his
other works more challenging and more accessible.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">40.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Making a Seat More Open – Carseat
Headrest<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He coulda been a contender.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He coulda been somebody.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
quality of his voice (as the quality of mercy itself) is not strained – a
friendly indie Malkmusian rocker hitting all the right notes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music is casually thrown together in just
the right ways – a fine setting for queer angst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the right elements of his last “masterworks”,
but he seems stuck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He could find love,
get clean and sober, man-up and produce a masterpiece, or he could wind up in a
mental hospital, a one-bedroom in Williamsburg, or the dust-bin of rock
history. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">41.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Flower of Devotion – DEHD<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My appetite for rock destruction needed to be at a smaller
scale this year. No surging power chords, thick sludge of metal, or arcane Brit
Pop – Shiva the destroyer and Hermes the Clever needed to be sheltered-in-place
in the garage. Most of these songs could be Replacement covers, and a Cure/REM/Psychedelic
Furs simplicity hit the spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or the
detritus of Velvet Underground. One guitar, one drum kit, one bass, one more
chance. Little DIY punks.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">42.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Finite Infinity – Shedir<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Representative of a kind of music that used to dominate my
lists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Electronic, broad brushes of experimental
spacey ambience, layers under layers, and noise for noise’s sake a goal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually the universe of weird runs out
too. Although a placeholder for that music here, perhaps it’s unfair to ask
this Italian electronic music group to bear the weight of the genre’s
lugubriousness, and there is some unassailably authentic droning here, but this
year my drones needed acoustic provenance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I never really did like Vangelis anyway.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">43.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Sufjan Stevens<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One of my favorite artists delivers a jeremiad in his usual intense
person-revealing frame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in a musical
context that seems bloated, boisterous and boring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His strength has often seemed like offhand
brilliance, and here he mysteriously seems like he’s trying too hard.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">44.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Get Out the Bolt-Cutters – Fiona Apple<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A major America artist, even <i>artiste</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through a daunting and public biography, she
enters a second act of an iconic career of impeccable intelligence with a
cultural commentary released from the vulnerable psyche – angry, wounded,
assertive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A survival poet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this is music that I respect but can
barely listen to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clangorous,
subversive, self-justifying and noisey.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">45.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Untitled/Unrise - Sault<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I give it an 98 ‘cause you can dance to it, and the dance is
angry and real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Earnest Z generation authentic
black voices… lots of talking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lots. Too
many grooves interrupted with a new idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe too many cooks in the kitchen.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">46.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Color Theory - Soccer Mommy <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As in days of old, a hit on the radio promised something. An
“indie” chiming guitar and familiar chord changes and a knowing vocal. I
bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But its storyline is pretty
thin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its music ideas are facile and
evaporate upon listening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Texture can’t
cover slightness.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">47.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Microphones in 2020 – The Microphones<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A 44 minute single in which the Mt Eerie guy does a gritty
imitation of Mark Kozelek’s more recent stream of consciousness confessional
folk-poetry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">48.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Autochre – Sign<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">More math electronics from the masters of same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would rank higher, but 2020 needed soothed
nerves, not filed-raw fuzz, buzz, and click-click nerves.<b> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Not a year where noise worked well.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">49.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Round Again - Joshua Redman, Brad
Mehldau, Christian McBride & Brian Blade<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Perfect, smart, straight-head jazz by young turks that
suddenly are old themselves too.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l7 level1 lfo9; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">50.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Set My Heart On Fire Permanently –
Perfume Genius <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I just don’t get the love. Simpers too much, no matter what
how high quality the “sensitivity” is. I guess you’re supposed to see him
live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe a little less Katy Perry
would have helped?<o:p></o:p></p>harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-80905197704268795362020-01-11T13:06:00.002-08:002020-01-11T13:06:49.600-08:00Best Music 2019<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b>Top 50 Music Picks for
2019 (50<sup>th</sup> anniversary edition)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>Time is playing tricks?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no particular reason why music
pleased me as much as it did this year. The drones (a search will reveal eleven
instances of “drone” in the following), hybrid serious (and increasingly acoustic)
music, alternative guitar rock, prog jazz, and electronic and ambient compositions
– all the usual genres.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing groundbreaking,
but still, music seemed more purposeful, more successful, more beautiful to my
aging ears and brain in 2019.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps the
trick is in the ears not the music. The right trick, I guess, is just enough.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Big Thief – UFOF<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
At 2:56 into “Contact”, the first cut of
UFOF, a full-throated electric guitar drops loudly into what had been an
earnest if plaintive folk song, reminding the listener that the idiom of this
brilliant band (woman) is rock music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Might
as well be an epiphany.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guitars,
acoustic or electric … these poems are threaded through chords, finger-picking,
and a simple drum’s back beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of
the songs could be picked out in a dorm room, or motel downtown, or the house
at the lake, or a mental hospital’s craft room. Because make no mistake, this
woman, writing from inside the personal stories her body holds on to, writes
poetry. Confessional poetry like Robert Lowell, or (I worry for her) Anne
Sexton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But poetry born of this century,
this decade, this moment – even as it narrates the palimpsest images of her
childhood and subsequent romances, its flowing gender ruminations, and offers a
melancholic placeholder for some future better alignment of the stars. Rock as
a tool of the artist, real rock, not sound engineering, rather analog analyses
of a <i>this </i>not <i>that </i>that is both sobbing yodel that may not make
it through the dark night of our collective soul,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yet also a stark assertion of a personhood
strong enough to (might as well) stay alive<i>. </i>A voice that demands
attention, even as it’s the most annoying, broken-hearted warble since after
the goldrush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Permit me voyage, love,
into Adrianne Lenker’s more than capable hands. Because, after all, rock music.
Not dead yet.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Big Thief – Two Hands<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Happy pop songs about body dysphoria,
gender performance, loving betrayal and remembered child abuse. I suppose they
could have waited and made a double album. But these songs bring that pinking
shears voice even further forward in sparse arrangements. And, as is her wont,
she sounds (even sometimes double-tracked, with harmony) seriously insistent.
There is something urgent, horribly and desperately urgent that needs to be
shared. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Less dense than UFOF, the songs
are hardly light – some of them could be covered and reimagined as arena rock
or a classic power ballad, rather than 2:00am accusations in the kitchen, where
they seem to live in this setting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>DNA
as a death sentence and redemption in one fell confession. “Not” is the song of
the year; Dylan could have written this in 1966, if he’d gotten laid less and been
able to recognize the bed that is haunted with a blanket of thirst. “I am
unstable, rock and sing… rock and sing.”<i> Soul clap its hands and sing, and
louder sing. </i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient,
Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Minimal. Delicate. Detailed. Borrowed
technology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who better than the
Japanese, right? Two hours of carefully curated samples of many composers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The variety of “new sounds” is its delight –
some like machines humming quietly in the background, some lugubrious
Vangelis-like soundtracks, some raindrops in a (of course) Zen garden, some
like the most meditative Eno – music barely there at all. Many compositions are
architectural. Some are provisional, almost hesitant in their reserve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All are astoundingly beautiful. And if these
composers didn’t directly influence much of the electronic/ambient music I dote
on and drone on about now, they heard then what became what my favorite
musicians hear now.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Comet is Coming – Trust in the
Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Young Brit saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings
continues his monumental exploration of psychedelics, electronics, dub-jazz,
and the cosmic cocktail lounge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Propulsive (summon the fire, like now, ok?) and brand new, this music
reminds us, quoting both beatnik dreams and Chicago avant-garde blue note
screaming, that Cool is still better than Chill. Sun Ra through the looking
glass. Sun Ra pogoing as a punk. Sun Ra on the Day of Ascension. Sun Ra head
banging in gentrified cities, in council houses, and on a road Trip. “Unity”
almost sounds like John Klemmer quiet-storm 70s jazz, and is the second best
“cut” of the year (c.f. “Not” above).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
given the epic flag waving of Hutchings’ Trane-like sax, all three pieces are
equally needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rhythm section is
not respectful, has no time for reminiscing about the jazz canon. Indeed this
music, both its hot and cold sides, isn’t patient. Music on the edge of time –
a trio of blokes keeping the beat of cosmic relief or total dystopia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Annihilation either way.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Yann Novak – Slowly Dismantling<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Well there are drones (deepening into one
place, clearing away distractions, aural stability), and then there are waves of
drones – the forward momentum of similar or congruent sounds (treated, found
and re-shaped) that seem to suggest the ephemeral, the transitory nature of
sound and time, and so being itself. (Think Disintegration Loops)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is much more composed and chosen here
than the work by Basinski, which celebrates the accidental. And Novak, the LA
composer, proposes that this is in fact a tone poem or musical essay on his growing
up queer. I don’t hear that in the largely comforting industrial hums and pitches.
The mothership is always entering the frame – it’s all about a challenged
notion of time, space and perception – and the result is a chronological record
of the undone. Renewed at every listen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be
still and know that I am… well, I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Among
the best droning of the decade. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Michael O’Shea<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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It’s hard to think what he wanted this
music to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A buskers’ inward gaze really,
messages from an interior world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
home-made dulcimer drones on while the beats pound the rhythmic point
home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indian raga, north African melody
lines, and scenes from the Galway coast all at the same time. Tinariwen playing
in a medieval court. Its rescue from obscurity (this music is 30 years old)
only one element of what is essentially Mystery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As much in the religious as musical sense.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>(Sandy) Alex G – House of Sugar<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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There is a tradition in pop/art rock of
eccentrics using musical bromides in odd and arresting ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>English eccentrics (Julian Cope, Robert
Wyatt, Kate Bush) and American eccentrics (Jonathan Richman, Don Van Vliet,
Ariel Pink). Eccentricity deeper than a utilized “quirkiness” (Van Vliet
compared to Zappa). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This music occupies
that kind of unsettling origin. Much of the album sounds like a demo session; suggested
ideas more than pop songs. But the electronics are sophisticated noise. High
tech recordings of lo-fi elements (a strummy guitar seemingly with no re-verb),
and a fine fuzz overlaying simple street corner freak-folk ditties. His voice
burying special needs lyrics (What if Ariel Pink tried to be serious?), the
double tracking helping tentative vocal chords more than hold their own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps it’s telling that the best song on
the album is a “live” track at the end where a sax helps him and his melody,
against all logic, sound like Bruce Springsteen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Kali Malone – The Sacrificial Code<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Some of this careful and calm organ droning
sounds like the quiet and meditative organ prelude before a funeral. Greeting friends
not seen in years, sadly thinking about mutability and the ephemeral nature of
living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when the “pedal gets stuck”
and there is one tone left, it’s not a mindful meditative stasis; and it’s a
relief when there is finally a next and second tone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then mercifully the residue of a melody. Minor
key and stripped down to the clear minimum, not disintegration loops, this
sound of things falling away is sharp, not fuzzy. I remain a sucker for the tectonic
plates pace of slowly moving sound designs. Many minimalist electronic droning,
even other acoustically produced albums that are the métier of choice, have a
similar pace, but none have these rough and mellow sonics of an analog pipe organ
(like last year’s cello compositions of Clarice Jensen). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Toccata, passacaglia, preludes – this music
inescapably invokes churches and chapels – what produces these sounds uses a familiar
tradition, even if the artifact performed steadily, slowly disrupts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Using the language of history to make
something utterly <i>else</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Thom Yorke – Anima<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Finally getting the balance right between
club-ready electronica and the majestic ennui of his first-world-problems
voice. But maybe it’s too late –<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the very
timbre and intensity of his voice concretizes a zeitgeist just as much as a
Dylan, Johnny Rotten, Cobain, Tupac or Cardi B – but the quality of this mercy
is pretty strained, time’s up gentlemen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A musical Brexit from Euro-trash. <i>I thought we had a deal. </i>I
really mean it, man.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>John Luther Adams – Become Desert<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The lines between “serious music”,
commissioned by serious orchestras and awarded Pulitzers, and experimental “popular”
music, has been blurring for years, and now doesn’t exist in this list (there is
another Pulitzer or two on the list). Adams’ won the Pulitzer for the sequel to
this composition, <i>Become Ocean</i>, and this is even more simplifyingly
beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps its my own affinity
for deserts and spirituality – small sounds magnify into cosmic
proportions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Limited sound pallets first
open the ear. Hermitage, retreat, magnificent hysechia – eventually with a huge
orchestra – Mahler after doing E - with a string section, kettle drums,
woodwinds, brass, chorus… all in a single swirling sound of unerring space and
light. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Purple Mountains – Purple Mountains<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Fine, you finally figure out how to bring
an endlessly nourishing indie sound to the middle-aged hipster masses who like
their rock gods to be poets, and then you commit suicide? Well, it’s a perky
suicide note, for sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Countryfied
choruses with soul-hungry harmonics, rom-com melancholy, riffs and pedal steel,
two-step beats allowing the head to bob in rhythm just so, as you get it all
together just in time for check out. These are songs Leonard Cohen could have
written, if you pulled out the Zen, inserted some Jeff Tweedy, and sprinkled
lightly with a death wish. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>David, you
coulda been the Warren Zevon of the 20’s. Epitaph rock?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<i>“Songs build little rooms in time<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<i>What comes after certainty<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<i>And housed within the song’s design<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<i>Is the ghost the host has left behind<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<i>To greet and sweep the guest inside<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<i>Stoke the fire and sing his lines.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Lumen Drones – Umbra<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Those long Norwegian nights bear a
secret.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or so this seems to promise.
Half folk rock with a mournful fiddle stating the melodic premise, half Euro
rock with a constant drone and Tangerine Dream insistent percussion driving the
point home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess the marked distance
between the lumen and the shadow is the space to ponder, to rest in. Post-rock
ideas that assemble unexpected conclusions – calm resolutions not meant for the
faint of heart.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Bremer-McCoy – Utopia <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Danish piano/bass instrumental duo, analog
and no effects, creating jazzy post-classical ambient soundtrack. A little like
Satie’s <i>gymnopedies</i> , a thoughtful simplicity, future-focused with the <i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neue Innigkeit </i>sense of creating the new
by reductions, not additions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chill
enough on the inside. Best heard when left on repeat; the increments and accretions
of solace.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Bon Iver – I.I.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Have you heard the good news? This is
Gospel music at its core.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hipster,
deconstructed, fragmented shards and samples of heavily produced and processed
gospel music. And I guess popular music has always been white guys
appropriating black music; here Vernon sounds like he’s singing with hip hop
Auto-Tune, even when he’s not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
lyrics themselves are self-satisfied and cryptic, largely around love and
relationship. White, spacious, wintry, and coolly beautiful music, with
effective but creepy hooks. <i>I like you, I like you … but that’s nothing new.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Black Midi – Schlagenheim<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Much of “young kids’”music seems to me
chopped up, partial ideas, inchoate, segmental and impatient (Lorde, Billie
Eilish). ADHD of the clicks and downloads; cut and paste software.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A language with some future and potential
maturity. Prog-rock is an old man’s field of dreams, just embarked upon by
these British teens. Ephemeral in service to the eternal. That particular
King’s crimson is an adolescent blush of “let’s try this.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">16.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>A Winged Victory for the Sullen – The
Undivided Five<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Comfort audio food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Analog piano rolling slowly around electronic
fireside chats. Simple melodies fade away before they’re done. Slow core, slow
shell, slow breath, opening spacious music for sitting meditations. Country clapboard
church and Park Slope brownstone two sides to the same lucky coin; a tidal wash
of sound, small on the surface, but bigger than the moon.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">17.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Nivhek – Walking In A Spiral Towards the
House/After Its Own Death<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Liz Harris/Grouper doesn’t make intentionally
pretty music, although there’s a lot of beauty here, conventional beauty with echoing
choruses and starkly snow-like aural landscapes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She doesn’t make simple music, although there
are moments of repetitive minimalism here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The voice (her voice) is distinctive as it’s multiple tracking eventually
sounds like a Bulgarian women’s choir, quarter tone harmonics before a “gamelan”
up in the attic shows up and states the main themes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The voices almost rubbed out and the
static-laden gamelan are the primaries sounds in this seriously unique
composition.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">18.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Ellen Akro - Chords <o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Adventures in minimalism! A chord is a
combination of multiple tones, by definition, and here the composer composes by
varying timbre, volume, resonance, tremolo, and buzz of the tones in a single
chord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until the next chord. There may
be as many as two chords in 60 minutes. The composer references the great base
pedal tones of a huge organ in a cathedral and the dentist’s drill heard though
both air and bone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, played
loudly, some of this does a nice job of vibrating the sternum. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second half’s vinegary guitar chords,
finally following the organ, turn white noise into sunshine.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">19.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Fennesz – Agora<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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A return to form from the clubs via the
last Trans-Europe Express to Lhasa. I always liked the F at the beginning and
sz at the end; so much of his droney electronics were fizzy, fuzzy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And these are matured and well considered
drones, good to put on repeat and listen to for hours on end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music of the Public Spheres<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">20.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>Sarah
Davachi – Pale Bloom<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Serious, intellectually challenging music
can also break the heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This does just
that. Just as the ear can develop informed taste for drones and electronics, so
the lay listener can discern the quality and intents of bare minimalist
compositions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This contemplative music
is radically minimal but familiar: acoustic authentic sounds of piano, strings,
organ and voice. A solo piano of a few cool notes is quietly, slowly heightened
with counter-tenor vocals, <i>chanson, </i>art song human voices dropping in
almost as if the radio channel was shifting. The tender grief of a human voice.
The organ and piano then join in modal increments. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What would minimalist counter-point sound
like? Viola and violin bifurcate the space between each instrument, causing
oddly pleasing dissonant harmonics, like Tibetan tingshas. The organ at the end
is like Allen Ginsberg’s Hindu hand organ, and the result is indeed a felt need
for prayer, chanting, and ceremony wherein one note, held just long enough, is
a complete invocation of the mortally sacred.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">21.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah- Ancestral
Recall<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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In the mélange of influences (afro-cuban,
tribal dub-step, rap, John Hassel-Freddy Hubbard-Miles, Fourth World) the
timbre of his piercing trumpet, muted or not, and shamelessly melodic phrasing,
are the sonic and soaring arcs building bridges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the cool 50s cocktail lounges to the
industrial 10s concentration camps and a neo-modernist and fragmentary future.
Those bridges are heavily produced, and cross many rivers (more Rio Cauta, and
Niger, than his Mississippi River home).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">22.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Hammock – Universalis<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Released in December, 2018, but I’m
claiming it for this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Achingly
beautiful post-rock from Nashville, with pedigree of Winged Victory, Olafur
Arnalds, Johann Johannsson. Explosions in the Sky slowed down to a subconscious,
sub rasa pace and place. Chamber rock in indie-soundtrack mode, with droning
longterm phrases. Plenty of space to ponder the elegant and rooted despondency
growing underfoot, left alive. So high on the list because it was played more
than anything else this year, in my Dharma Bums’ hut, marking time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">23.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Our Lady of the Flowers - Holiday in
Thule<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Astonishing sound montages of found sound
and layered electronics produced clean and clear, the distance from the highest
3D treble to the massive undercurrent of bass humming constantly, is a mile
wide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some electronic music fills space,
some expands it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deepchord exceeds it –
you’re on the 14th floor, and every minute sound scrap below is heard and is in
perfect dubstep with the larger construction. Heady stuff in the purest deep
electronic house tradition – it does sound a little old school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wired and wondering.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">24.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The National – I Am Easy to Find<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
For the ennui connoisseurs only. Adult
music, with energy, and tasteful classic rock/Eno production values.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hooks, breaks, crescendos, drum fills, funny
string instruments and the relentlessly depressive irony of his voice. That
voice falling off a baritone cliff, and phrasing like an apologetic message left
on a Williamburg barista’s cell phone. Gen X heartbreak, again. <i>It’s gonna
be totally ok. </i>Yeah, that voice (a little distracted by the duets on this
album) will always make you forgive him, if only until he leaves at 2:00am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again. I guess he really should be singing in
French. Best since their first, but sometimes I wish they’d scale back the
production, and let the guitar and his voice get to know each other. Although
not high on this list, it’s likely I’ll listen to this more in ten years than
most of the music listed here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">25.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Delines – The Imperial<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Although from Portland’s gluten-free roadhouses,
these songs want to tell stories of the real grit from Americana’s dark and
nourishing/poisoning bars where a drink or two is needed to make it through the
night. Documenting the hard scrabble myths in the lower middle classes without anthropology
or art. <i>“You’re using all your vacation days…” “Arlo’s been a good man to
me, and I take care of his daughter too…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></i>Hammond organs and quiet horn section critical to keep you on
life-support. Got any quarters for the jukebox?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">26.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Ralph Alessi – Imaginary Friends<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
The requisite ECM-stable and cerebral
cool-bop, falling apart, unravelling from some quiet but desperately beautiful
center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Stable” in that the wide Mies
Van der Rohe spaces of the minimalist cocktail lounge, predictably,
comfortingly, encourages limits at the compositional fraying edge. Samples,
found sound, errors, and the sweetest horn timbre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Euro-jazz’s reminder that jazz is the past
century’s most serious music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">27.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Neil Young and Crazy Horse – Colorado<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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There is no way, of course, that this
should be on the list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the garage is
still Holy, and the young man’s tremolo, having become an old man’s quaver,
still sings the song of the hippie dream, with three crunchy underwater chords
and the truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Play at full volume.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">28.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Ellen Fullman and Okkyung Lee – The Air
Around Here<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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If you like droning, the trance-like and
meditative qualities of music composed horizontally, not vertically, what
better design than the electronically mushed and augmented analog latitudes of
Fullman’s cello? Both close to the sound of the human voice and of a large oil tanker
slowly grinding on a pier, this experimental music takes its time. The Lee electronic
chirpy appurtenances, I guess, are the seagulls circling, flying to remind, there
is air around here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">29.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Caroline Shaw/Attaca Quartet – Orange<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
As music morphs and hybridizes, the subsets
of “serious” music and electronic popular music produce unexpected
successes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And not just the orchestral
soundtrack successes of Max Richter or Jóhann Jóhannsson, but chamber music
like Orange. This string quartet always is a trip to places new and familiar at
once. And you can shoe gaze and thoughtfully nurse a single-sourced coffee to pizzicati
and borderline twelve-tone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When you
need an aural cleanse, serious music like this is the ticket.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">30.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>DIIV – Deceiver<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Music that dives deeper than their previous
respectful, druggy shoe gaze. Full body and exposed power chords dropped among
the murky chimes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heads nodding more to
music<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>than central nervous system
downtime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It suits him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
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</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Moon Duo – Stars Are The Light<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
The lovely chuga chuga of psychedelic kraut
rock via Marin county, 2019. The underwater guitars of the guy from Wooden
Shjips, thick and expansive. Ecstatic voodoo brewed with single source coffee
beans.<b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
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</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Lankum – The Livelong Day<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Beyond the folk-based melodies and sources,
there is something intrinsically Irish about building from a moment emerging
from silence to a heightened ecstatic intensity, even if that ecstasy is
melancholic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These songs build… and
drone from quietness to a desperate jig at the end of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Acoustic celtic rituals threaded through a
powerful electronic doom and gloom. Espirit d’dirge – the Irish illnesses and
hungers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
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</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Tim Hecker – Anoyo<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Tricks with traditional Japanese music and
its instruments continue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hecker did
this last year, and this repeats the surprising textures and pastiche melody
lines he gets when he records old Japan, electronically alters the sounds and
chops it up in western ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my
favorite ambient composers is in a holding pattern.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
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</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Floating Points – Crush<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Shepherd’s music has always sounded a
little like “music” drifting through interstellar space, of one intelligent
civilization trying to declare life and find and communicate with another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although it’s clear that the sending planet
is Club Ibiza. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here he goes pure
electronics, although some interludes sometimes sound more like Wendy Carlos
than Klaus Schulze. Unlike a lot electronic music, the melody itself tells the
story. He should trust this quiet side more.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
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</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Joshua Redman and Brooklyn Rider – Sun on
Sand<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
One of the best hybrids of jazz and
classical, which doesn’t sound either dissonant, or recklessly blue, its
uptempos more <i>qi </i>than urban raucous, and its downtempos more meditative
than opioid. Oddly, the sax seems to harken back to a simpler time, and the
strings rush forward, no prisoners. Sax, bass, string quartet – nothing else
like it this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">36.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Better Oblivion Center – Better Oblivion
Center<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
It’s beyond meat simulation and potatoes, rooty
and juicy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Down the middle of the road,
if this road still existed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Craft and
literary competence.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">37.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>iLe – Almadura<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Classy Latin torch singing by a woman whose
firmly personal and confident voice, older than its years, seems burnished by
real and unrelenting life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hard soul
indeed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">38.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>The Caretaker – An Empty Bliss Beyond
This World<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
A ballroom at the end of time, its dances
captured in a recording that hisses and pops and suggests it’s an archival remnant
from another dimension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interesting, but
seemed to be only one trick.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">39.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Sharon Von Etten – Remind Me Tomorrow<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
What if Patty Smith had been a Gen Xer? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">40.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Pedro the Lion – Phoenix<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Still awed by God, just can’t quit Him, these
are memory pieces about the suburbs of the 70s, Partial stories, with Barzan’s
timeless thick and tubey guitar filling the spaces. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">41.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Tycho – Weather<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
One of my favorite post-rock atmosphere
bands added vocals to no particular good purpose.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
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</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Angel Olsen – All Mirrors<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
I get it, I don’t disrespect the
respect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But just too gauzy and
sweet-toothed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>80s wet drums with string
orchestras don’t leave much room for error.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b>J Balvin and Bad Bunny</b> – The only reason
a “trap” album makes my desiccated white guy list is the luscious summer sounds
of his voice and the <i>ritmos columbianos</i> lurking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">44.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Rocketship – Thanks to You<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Totally unironic mining of shavings drawn
to the same musical folk-pop lodestone as Momma’s and Papas/Carpenters, then
filtered through mid-70s Fleetwood Mac anthemic tendencies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who listens to this brilliant stuff? You
couldn’t make music less attuned to the zeitgeist. Sacramento, eh?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">45.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Ride – This Is Not A Safe Space<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Underappreciated 90s band return to suggest
that some shoes need no longer be gazed upon.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">46.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Sturgill Simpson<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Noisier than his brand would suggest.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">47.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Tyler, The Creator – IGOR<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
I like the Latin riddim’ touches, though.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">48.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Weyes Blood – Titanic Rising <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Worst Well-Reviewed release of the
Year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This Avant pop is stale spitwads cluttering
my synesthetic ears. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">49.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Son Volt – Union<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
Well-meaning political angst in the key of
Americana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And rates ahead of Jeff.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">50.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b>Wilco<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
Neil Young award for old dad rock
disqualifying from lists like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh,
wait a minute, Neil still makes good music.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-24864405061306038702018-12-22T08:47:00.001-08:002018-12-27T13:08:53.221-08:00Best Music 2018<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"Because it is not what you are nor what you have been that God looks at with his merciful eyes, but what you desire to be."</span><br />
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<br />
1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Nils Frahm – All Melodysn<br />
2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Park Jiha – Communion<br />
3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Amen Dunes - Freedom<br />
4.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Olafur Arnalds – re:member<br />
5.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Bruce Brubaker - Codex<br />
6.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Jim O’Rourke – Sleep Like It’s Wintersnai<br />
7.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Low – Double Negative<br />
8.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Michael Pisaro – A Mist is a Collection of Points<br />
9.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Car Seat Headrest – Twin Fantasy<br />
10.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Yves Tumor – Safe in the Hands of Love<br />
11.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Snail Mail - Lush<br />
12.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Jakob Ullmann - Muntzers Stern Solo II<br />
13.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ice Age - Beyondless<br />
14.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Kamasi Washington – Heaven and Earth<br />
15.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Big Red Machine – Big Red Machine<br />
16.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Gas – Rausch<br />
17.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Makaya McCraven – Universal Beings<br />
18.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Nik Bärtsch’s Ronin – Awase<br />
19.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Goldmund - Occasus<br />
20.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Dedekind Cut - Tahoe<br />
21.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The Necks – Body (Northern Spy)<br />
22.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Non Standard Institute – 5863<br />
23.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Steve Tibbetts – Life Of<br />
24.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Nils Økland - Lysning<br />
25.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Spiritualized – And Nothing Hurt<br />
26.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Eli Keszler - Stadium<br />
27.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Jon Hassell – Listening to Pictures<br />
28.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Niklas Paschburg – Oceanic<br />
29.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Clarise Jensen – From This From That Will Be Filled<br />
30.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Steve Hauschildt - Dissolvi<br />
31.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Tim Hecker – Konoyo<br />
32.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Masayoshi Fujita - Stories<br />
33.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Cavern of Anti-Matter – Hormone Lemonade<br />
34.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Sons of Kemet – Your Queen is a Reptile<br />
35.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Magos Herrera and Brooklyn Rider – Dreamers<br />
36.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Yo La Tengo – There’s a Riot Going On<br />
37.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>US Girls – A Poem Unlimited<br />
38.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Let’s Eat Grandma – I’m All Ears<br />
39.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Kacey Musgraves – Gold Hour<br />
40.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Superchunk – What a Time to Be Alive<br />
41.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>John Hiatt – The Eclipse Sessions<br />
42.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Blood Orange – Negro Swan<br />
43.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Father John Misty – God’s Favorite Customer</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-4489252580335279112014-08-10T14:33:00.001-07:002014-08-10T14:33:12.861-07:00Best Music 2013
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Best Music of 2013<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Perhaps the Warrior’s Dilemma is not that there is no war,
but rather that there is only war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
after all (and after part) “He can certainly be loved, but not thought. He can
be taken and held by love but not by thought.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Justin Walter – Lullabies & Nightmares <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tribal and roughed out electronically
filtered sounds from analog sources that devolve into ambient bliss and
eventually get to the point:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Walter’s
yearning and thoughtful trumpet lines amplified and framed by a magical forest
of blips, and drones, and squawks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Centered between cool and minimal Euro jazz and Chicago free form
(Anthony Braxton?), this is original music, expanding the limits of what any of
its source genres do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Warmth where there
is expected frost; chill where there potential chaos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beats that reemerge at precisely the right
moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Composed music for blurring the
lines and finding a New Land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A compass.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mark Koselek<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>& Jimmy Lavalle – Perils from the
Sea<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Koselek continues to develop his treacly
narratives of the mundane details and solipsistic confusion of the sensitive
troubadour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this next chapter of life
in the Bay Area – melancholy and stoned – we hear stories of tools in the
garage, lonely concert tours in Scandinavia, boxing on the TV, airplanes,
cancer and fatal car accidents ,absent fathers, dogs scratched behind
ear,Thanksgiving in Orange County and undocumented immigrants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As his songs, relentless couplets hitting the
ears like waves on a breakwater, dissolve into cut-and-paste from his Outlook
calendar, the winsome and raspy baritone begins to wear very thin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is more whiner or confessional poet than
folk singer by this point (the morbid fixations so inward looking).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He aims for the recognizable commonplace to
convey transcendence (the dirge, the minor chord, the shimmering image).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an acquired taste that suckers me in
over and over again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His project may
continue to slip into terminal self-service and fern-bar open-mike kindliness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But here the wheels are greased by the saving
graces of Lavalle’s friendly electronics, which emphasize the sweet melodies
and keep the confessions not so horribly egocentric.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lavelle’s contributions are the bell that
saves, and helps this to be my favorite of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last song’s lyrics document the wonder of
all life’s perils of our dying-animal selves, recognized from an airplane
drifting high above the East Bay floating into SFO, the sunlight on the bay and
heart-sickness of feeling too much opening up the first wound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A mirror.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The National –Trouble Will Find Me<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">God, this is boring music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Melancholy, trenchant, whining, mature,
depressive, insightful, posturing, gloriously boring alt-countryish paeans to
the struggle of adult life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Continued
reverb atmospherics (equal Cure and My Morning Jacket’s approximated space). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lyrics that are overworked to their
simplicity, but how many on the list have any memorable lyrics at all?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This has more 80’s beats than their last
couple, and so most of these songs wind up being foot-tapping hook-laden fern
bar micro-brew soundtracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
somebody’s gotta do this music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ain’t
there one damn song that can make me break down cry?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently not, but here in their waiting
room of mid-life, it’s nice to have the comfort of at least the footnotes of
heartbreak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A chilly bottle of Blind Tiger
Ale and a restraining order.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Charles Lloyd and Jason Moran -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hagar’s Song<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">His timbre still fresh and warm 50 years
later, this is the real deal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Showing
that “the tradition” is best known when played by “the tradition.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it’s not that Lloyd’s rich sax sounds
just like he did in the 70’s, 80’s or the gazillion ECM products since, rather
his tradition is that every solo is a thoughtful (no, “mindful”, because this
is, at its base, a spiritual music) exploration of the moment and its
possibilities <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">now. </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that sense it’s beatnik music- saluting all
our becoming buddhanesses Daddy-0.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
prefer Moran to chug along under Lloyd rather than strike out on his own –
there is a cocktail lounge danger in his facile chording (especially with the
familiar starting lines of covers). Something powerful and sweet about a man
well in his 70’s phrasing “any day now.” Again, great art always savages the
mystery of mortality, and make no mistake, this great art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two fingers of Glenfiddich, no chaser.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Junip-Junip<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The slight psychedelic instrumentation and
arrangements, the somber and unremittingly humorless vocals, and the
syncopation that chugs along no matter how morose Gonzalez sounds – all these
support the curious outcome of music that is both facile-easy listening,
catchy, poppy and genuinely intense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sounding like no other band (as familiar as the tunes are, and the hooks
and choruses immediately seem familiar, I am lost to their progenitors) the
Swedes calmly worm their into your regard from the first nylon-string <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">6.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Heirlooms of August – Down at the 5-Star<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon bassist
offers elegant string quartets and rich pedal steel and tear-stained countrified
vocals singing sweetly of black tar heroin and guns and Darjeeling tea (the Koselek
gift and disease).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sophisticated
Americana for those living the hip life in Williamsburg… VA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Although in truth this is more likely a
house-concert, garden party in Atherton, than any place with real
rednecks).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A GPS.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">7.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bill Frissell – Big Sur<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Song cycles/tone poems/evocations of place
are problematic and often highly subjective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But Frissel’s strength and limitation for me has always been the cheery
lack of subjectivity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The point of view
waffles in the plein air and floats with any current.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this music (some original, some covers,
some surf-guitar rock out) does seem Ventana prone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Far from wind chimes and sitars, there is a
timeless lassitude of the sun, trees, shadows and microclimates of the central
coast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ambling arrangements that take
their jazzy time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A dash of intensity
that breaks and recedes like tide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
languid fiddle, roomy drumming <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and other
instrumentation connect Big Sur more to the west of Ireland than the native
American west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A bundle of white sage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">8.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Lars Danielson – Libretto<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Gentle figures of vaguely middle eastern
flavors from the Turkish pianist who plays over the solid jazz bass lyricism of
Danielson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the emptying Scandinavian
cool jazz of Arve Hendrikson’s trumpet – clearing out space. A train schedule.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">9.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Jay Farrar – Honky Tonk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Curated Bakersfield-sound tribute album,
with a classicism framing the swing and sway of the salt of the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The poetry of what’s not remembered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The steel guitar and fiddle waltzing up the
Kern River.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time to drink up and go home,
there’s church tomorrow and your ex-wife made you promise to hide the dope
before the kids come to visit you and Suze.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wisdom and respect, and since it’s Farrar, not a touch of irony nor
humor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can’t make country music better
than this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A union card.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">10.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How to Destroy Angels – Oblivion<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is many things in not the usual
order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Electronic rumbles and drones,
dance beats and hip-hoppy momentum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sweet euro-girl melodies – week on Mikonos stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the whole is much more engrossing than
those parts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, yeah, Reznor and
post-industrial blah blah blah.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the
unfinished quality of most of the composition, and the dirty-clean sound,
thrown at the wall to see what sticks, means he’s matured and the sonic disjointed
modern experience can surprise, even for the more mature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A subscription to AARP.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">11.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bloody
Valentine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Great hopes for the “great murkiness” to
return in all is power, but this evaporated before that last song… and even in
this nebbish product-placement, they made this and it still pulls at the
raveling strings of my heart. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
therapist’s business card.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">12.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Oenehontrix Point Never –R Plus Seven<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So of his sonic trickster schtick seems a
little old, and not in the “old” way he might want.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>40% sounds like a Vangelis record that is
skipping (not surprising that he’s gone to soundtracks).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I liked Replica, but this reminds me I really
didn’t like Vangelis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, there’s a
lot of perky visuals here (remember all those odd eastern European cartoons
that would win “best animated” Oscars?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A broom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">13.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Giovanni Guidi Trio – City of Broken Dreams<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Starkly beautiful jazz piano breaking
rhythms while breaking melodies while breaking hearts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deceptively listenable, because in his
intentionally quiet and simple phrasing he’s pushing some limits, and unintentional
elegance (think early Keith Jarrett), he (they – Morgan the bassist is now the
ECM go-to session bassist, and is the perfect foil for music than is/and isn’t
“in the tradition) make luminous the very idea of jazz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A flashlight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">14.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Califone – Stitches<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another solid outing by the great band that
is ignored by most.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Americana/Freak folk
that falls apart in fragments rather than is meta-made or deconstructed.
Stitches indeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this is as
fragmented as any they’ve made, even as all the production tricks (acoustic
technology, and technology hollowed out in lo fi and homemade recording) sort
of settle in their expected place now rather than rile up or instigate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Earnest and yearning rasp by Riuli that
quite actually completes anything, but seems to imply it would preach if it
could.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A scrapbook from your dead
uncle’s keepsakes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">15.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Julia Holter – Loud City Song<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The post-millennial Laurie Anderson
fabricates nerdy ditties, with plenty of non-digital soundscapes strewn about
the cool studio.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">16.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Goldfrapp<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A continental drift of winsome and
melancholy songs, filled to all corners of its “ambient” space with “voice”
trending more to Claudine Longet<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or
going further back, Sylvie Vartan, than the Cocteau Twins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, not winsome, wistful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tender music, with “putting you on hold”
rhythms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your love is very important to
us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Break your heart at the sound of the
tone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">17.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Arcade Fire – Reflector<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I know I supposed to hate this, pivoting to
dance music a la Talking Heads and not having any other place to go, and
building tension from more traditional pop strategies rather than “artist
collective” drivenness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But you know
Butler’s voice (and lovely vocal stylings) are a good meaure against David
Byrne.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what the hell some of the
songs have a bass line that is more Brother’s Johnson than club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">18.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Surfer Blood<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Music like this (airy, pop melodies, and
few retro-indie guitar washes, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">simple</i>
drumming, oh oh oh choruses) isn’t very geisty for zeit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A fuzz tone here, and missed beat there…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>refreshingly lo-fi without an ironic attempt
to be lo-fi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Happy soundtrack for a film
that wouldn’t have a chance in hell of getting funding these days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">19.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Darkside- Psychic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Music from an abandoned ghost ship,
floating among fatal icebergs north of the arctic sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chamber music if those chambers are huge and
cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Washes of chilly electronic noise,
humanized by static and acoustic instrumentation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The child of Pink Floyd and Eno, somewhere
under the numbness of the top layers is a melodic intention to rock.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">20.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Forest Swords<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Friendly and lazy music – dub, reggae, and
club nuggets sprinkled through a new agey mélange of acoustically referenced
treated sounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easy listening in a
thoughtful way, too chillwave to survive on a massage table, too rhythmic and
fragmented to meditate with, but a nice pathway to simi-asian occult
commercialist head hanging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Euro glitch
and ex-pat soul chorus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hmm, a gong?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">21.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Julia Hulsmann Quartet<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Full View<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So the blue note, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jazz in the classic mode where a theme is
introduced, and while there is improvisation and rhythmic interplay of drums,
bass (remember this is “classic”) and a Hubbardesque horn and Hulsmann’s
careful but insistent piano chording and tinkling, pushing things forward, the
blue note defines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then Miles
introduced the blue empty space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
these Europeans aren’t really angry enough to move to post-bop, or electronic
shredding, and instead mine the blue space with total confidence there is
something still there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the
relentless ECM/Eicher releases map out that space – where heart and brain help
each other disappear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is classic
without quotes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the sound of a
gloriously stated nothingness – but the rain is on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">le boulevard</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An umbrella.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">22.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Zomes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Question Mark and the Mysterians covering
Fairport Convention with a dash of Cocteau Twins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rich and intentional droning with a
minimalist Germanic detachment (and the woman vocalist sometimes sounds like Nico),
and the choices of timbre are so farfisa-on-Jupiter that there is joke lurking
in the cloudy pensive pop figures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Romantic and silly and slow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
cooking spoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">23.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Boards of Canada<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Maybe their best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Opens with a movie credits fanfare, and the
whole piece seems like samples of movie soundtrack atmospherics with washes of
sound and train track pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although a
dance and hip hoppy rhythm implied here and there, the synths and compositional
shape seem <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>very retro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Half the tracks sound like something off the
great lost Tangerine Dream LP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A touch
more laughter and this could be really cheese,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>but the spacious and gracious pulling back to buttress the (unseen)
cinema achieves a beauty that is timeless in part because it sound old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A cup of ayahuasco.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">24.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ketil Bjornstadt<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>La Notte<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">While it’s a Eurojazz suite inspired by
Michelangelo Anotonioni, its roots are in the stark and wide shots of his
cinematic language, not any Mediterranean and political thinking of the
director.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Languid and long melodic lines
(even in the loping propulsion of Arnildsen’s powerful bassand Andy Sheppard’s
anxious hunger-mongering sax) patiently building with arctic circle
melancholy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jazz from<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the continent and its above that doesn’t work
the blue note cool, rather the western composition tradition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A cup of hot chocolate, slightly bitter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">25.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For Now I am Winter Olafur Arnalds<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In the neo-classical ambient school of Johann
Johannsson and Max Richter, but there is something, not darker, but more
regretful and mysterious in Arnalds’ very somber compositions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although not as piercingly odd as his
beautiful 2010 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And They Have Escaped the
Weight of Darkness</i>, there is a maturity, even a gravity that makes this
seem more serious than the “soundtrack” affect that most of this genre has. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guest vocals give it a song-cycle shape,
with the theme, after a couple listens, seared into the consciousness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And while there is a wintry quality, this is
to Bon Iver what Mahler is to a Muzak. This should be first on my list; I
listened to it twice as much as anything else this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I listened not because I heard something new
each time, but rather I heard precisely the same thing each time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A solid rooting into a not-unpleasant
detached and polite melancholy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like
clockwork.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A smooth pebble from the
shore near Reykjavik. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">26.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Haxan Cloak - Excavation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not all drones are equal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve got your fog-drone, your
industro-drone, your South Asian-drone, your New Age drone, your death metal
drone, and your acid-trip-on-Stinson-Beach drone, to name just a few.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haxan Cloak have all of these in small doses,
but for the most part sound like a mothership from the Empire (Asimov, not
Lucas) coming into frame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All heavily
seasoned by ghost fragments of the tortured or the emptied souls wandering for
eternity in deep space. Yet somehow the sum of these parts is astonishingly
serene music, making “ominous” a color of salvation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I resist the notion that this is headphones
at skunk hour music – a comfortable buzzing drone with mechanistic and
ritualistic setting, is good for driving, yoga, house cleaning or prayer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Less exhumation, and if not more exaltation,
enough<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>exhalation for the day. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A flashlight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">27.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Surfer Blood – Pythons<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Simple and quaint alt-rock (college
stations would play this in 1992) that makes a range of influences work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Periodic neo-punk screaming, sweet pop
vocals, chunks of power chords, and lo-fi jangle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A touch of reverb, and muddy-by-intention
mixes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All kinda reminding of the
throwaway grandeur of the Pixies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
lighter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">28.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">San Fermin – San Fermin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The clever ivy-league burnished
compositional art-pop notwithstanding (the connections to Sufjan Stevens are
manifold), there is an urgency in these grooves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A baritone sax with Morphine-like grit, a
string ensemble forcing the issue, the male vocals like Nick Cave and the
female vocals like Sylvie Vartan and the ye-ye chorus. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A wide horizon of soundscapes – serious music
for the impatient and doubtful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A copy
of the New Yorker.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">29.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">James Plotkin<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and Paal Nilssenn-Love –Death Rattle<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Although called “free jazz”,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>through my other-wised trained ears this
sounds like acoustic, real time production of what a lot of processed, drone,
(insert genre here) electronic music is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Angry by turns, then cerebral, then atavistic, then simply making a
glorious noise to some God that no longer is there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scandanavian drummer Elvin Jonesing in a
real room, while Plotkin’s guitar rumbles and screeches with Jimmy Page timbre
circumnavigating a leftover darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
pipe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">30.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Kuniko – Cantus<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A windchime a block away suddenly develops a
melody and rhythm that roughly sounds like it’s Steve Reich – or Arvo Paart –
minimalist and tubular, bittersweet and thoughtful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Japanese virtuoso makes the marimba sound
like Aeolian harp catching the late 20<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> century’s westwind. Though
more outside summer concert than Shelley’s revolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A bookmark.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">31.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Dowland Project /John Potter – Night
Sessions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Pensive, challenging and hypnotic
hybrid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Medieval fragments and full
compositions washed in a jazz idiom of rubato and an occasional blue note.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would imagine that the musicians of the
13th century weren’t that studious and would have been intrigued by a tenor sax
syncopating the chants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Potter’s careful
tenor holds the many parts together – it never feels cluttered or forced,
rather like open stone spaces, in whatever century.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Turns out the shared space of medieval and
jazz sounds middle eastern.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A twig of
burning juniper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">32.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Friedman & Liebezeit – Secret Rhythms 5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The drummer from Can (still alive) chases
the dragon through a hippie drum circle jamming in an austere laboratory in
Cologne.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lots of metal and clang,
cowbell and old school synth, and an occasional jazz guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Funny, if Can were still together, I guess
this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</i> what they would sound
like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each cut is short yet has the feel
of an hour-long jam, improvisational and cold-sweaty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A tab of purple ohm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">33.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dean Blunt – The Redeemer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Odd music – heavily orchestrated (lush
strings), alternative pop, found soundscapes, with an urgent narcotized R&B
folkrock vocal singing lyrics of angst, poison, and hope. Artrock song psychos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pretentious in all five senses, and although
pretention scores well with me, this is far less than the sum of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>its parts. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A rosary with a cooking spoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">34.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Autechre –Exai<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The great blip, buzz, clip and clack
continues – electronics from another star system (and let the volume cause the
base tones to wedge nails out of boards and hair follicles to rejuvenate).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two CDs of interstellar church music – with
perhaps a bit more of a solemn cadence than their previous 10 releases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think this is better than most of the
previous, but it also matters not at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rumbling off in the global climate change sunset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A pea shooter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">35.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Heirlooms of August – Down at the 5-star<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If there is a genre trad-country, new-age,
drug music… this is it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lovely pedal
steel guitar figures backing ephemeral, tentative vocals (duets), seemingly
wistful for a simple past, but whose melancholy opens up in the yawning great
Darkness at the base of common-peoples lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe that as always the thread in country music… maybe it’s just some
weird hybrid of modern displacement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever,
dude, the beauty of this music chills and astonishes and gets blown away
quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A yearbook with forgotten
inscriptions on the photos of kids, some now dead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">36.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">French Films – White Orchid<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">37.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Life Coach – Alpha Waves<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">38.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">John – Wizards<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">39.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Atoms for Peace - AMOK<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">40.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Volcano Choir – Repave<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">41.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Konstellaatio – Konstellaatio<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">42.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Push the Sky Away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">43.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Washed Out – Paracosm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">44.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dirty Beaches – Drifters<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">45.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yo La Tengo – Fade<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">46.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Field – Cupid’s Head<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">47.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Deathaven – Sunbather<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">48.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Aidan Baker – BBS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">49.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Bibio – Silver/Wilkenson<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">50.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Phoenix – Bankrupt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-30709712275576167282014-08-10T14:32:00.000-07:002014-08-12T22:16:16.665-07:00Best Music 2012<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Best
Music of 2012 The Year of Chamber Drones, Cabaret singers, and retro-rock… and
the artifices of transforming space.<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The
year of tribal retrogressions, disrupting chronologies, and chamber droning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The arrows flung to the past and future
accelerating in speed from each other like aftershocks from the recurring Big
Bang of mortality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The heart attacked
the cathedral of “art” this year, smashed it, and found the results in a
thousand shimmering shards, uprooted from the Masonic source and left for
future analysis of the detritus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
meantime, regular rock and indie sensibilities further lost the Secret Societal
energy in the entropic<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>nightspot of
ambient electronics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “voices” left
are very old… with very uneven outcomes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let your fucking stumbling blocks be stepping stones; fine, it’s time
gentlemen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space might just as well
be, e.g. the cool sidewalk after closing time (which remains on someone else’s
side).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">John Murry – The Graceless Age<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For
what it’s worth, I know both the metaphorical and tangible being of those
colored balloons sold on the astonishing corners of the Mission; although it
was the projects in Venice and alleys in the Pico Union.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once known, they are scars in the blood forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
this is about the “magic” of rock and roll.. the gritty Americana voice, the
“classic” production (string quartets, crunchy guitars, pretty piano fills, and
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">passion</span></i> of trying to figure this shit
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That non-ironic, prophetic voice
isn’t possible in pop music much anymore, if at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s the descendant of Faulkner, and the
compelling power of narrative carrying culture and spirit (near OD’ing on<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>16<sup>th</sup> and Mission becomes the
centerpiece for the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ritualistic if
friable work of rebirth).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Story-telling
as the foundation of real Folk music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mom’s
voice<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>et.al. in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">musique
verite</span></i> portraits of background information for the “character”
created.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Naked and artful, these songs
are so out-of-time for an age that doesn’t even know that grace is scarce. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doesn’t even know the definition of grace. The
space is a reprieve found in music with earnest guitar, root-source voice, and
production and melodies and lyrics that matter-of-factly mess up the
heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reprieve that simulates the grace
still sought unknowingly and numb.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Various Artists<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Lost in the Humming Air (music inspired by
Harold Budd)<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Speaking
of Root Source, here’s a tribute to someone who was that of modern Ambient
music as much as Eno himself (see below), the 75 year old Budd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Budd’s abstract and painterly minimalist
compositions are championed by the current international stars of the
form:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Deaf Center, Loscil, Xela,
Biosphere, Porn Sword Tobacco, Marsen Jules… and although each has its unique
language, all the cuts shimmer with Budd-like momentum… if you can have
momentum from one tone held for a whole minute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A monumental collection of nods in the Right Direction. The space is
cathedral-cosmic in dimension and the grand organ resonates with what DNA is
left.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">So
it shouldn’t surprise that a work called old ideas doesn’t surprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its absolute expectedness, its inevitable
last call is its accomplishment. The themes, meditations and prayers on human
frailty and mortality are in the Cohen tradition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The almost-octogenarian’s admissions of
desire and depression are presented in the RealPolitik of aging, but still with
a blessed sacramental swing and sway. Confessional and digressive narratives
offered with the tricks of the poet/priest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Darkness the final prize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Crazy
has places to hide in that are deeper than any goodbye.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That Hammond organ is like the bell ringing
in mass; the spirit again incarnate in the oh too mutable flesh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is the very human body, its access
and decay naked to the airs and practices of life and death.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ghosting Season – The Very Last
of the Saints<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">An
overwhelming two-CD exercise in urbane urban chill trance-dance electo-tribal
musics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The human side of IDM,
mechanical crackles and rainforest angel song blending nicely in an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">intense </span></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>combination,
voices calling to action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chugging Last
to Train to Lhasa easy-listening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Elegant by nature, and lofty in impact, brilliant composition to the
limits of this genre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is lit,
filmed, redacted, spliced for the film Kubrick never made; masque ball and
grand hotel lobby with the chic toe tapping.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Loscil – Sketches of New Brighton<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Another
excellent and robust dosage of Ambient Classic from the highest post-Eno expert
purveyor of the genre, Scott Morgan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
quiet storm in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligent Life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But no hyphens for this music; it is electronic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Delivered with a high expectation of the
listener’s compositional perceptivity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not volume, or sound treatments, but structure, theme, counterpoint, and
synthetic but affective composition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Particles of manufactured sound settling in general and in particular.
Best appreciated if allowed to play over and over and over…. Four months in the
CD player in the Prius (which details argue the quality of the music, if not
chuckles as to the biography).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Space is
a particular early morning highway, traffic moving particularly smoothly, and going
no particular place. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Godspeed You Black Emperor –
Alelujah!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t Bend!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ascend!<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A
crescendo of jet-engine intensity as the streets fill with protests.<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bagpipe drones chewed up in the rhythmic
machinery of revolt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Relentless in
attack, yet matured from their last releases (can it really be 10 years ago?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not post-rock raging against some
Machine any more… this is a wise shriek and a focused rumble; raging guitar
feedback in counterpoint as tight as Bach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A welcome return to the band who can be more political with timbre and
time signature than most can from written screed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only revolution is of the cell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is the aural cell unlocked again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ian Hunter – When I’m President<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It’s been years since I woke up singing a song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three times in the last month I’ve awakened
signing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“When I’m President.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not now, nor never have been really, a
roots-rock fan; I did however love Mott and the solo albums through the early
80’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I clearly understood the brilliance
and, in my own way, rode on until I failed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I am clueless as to why this record is so good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The songwriting, the silly “clever” if
hearfelt lyrics, the crunchy riff-laden guitar work and the classic rock
rhythms… are all good on their own terms, but give no hint as to why this has such
power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it is his brilliant
vocals; he sings before, after, or RIGHT on the beat perfectly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has that yearning gruffness he’s always
had.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He sounds like Dylan, Springsteen,
Keef, any number of old farts wish they could sound like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It isn’t higher on this list only because of
my cowardice and fear of not seeming cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Honest and sustaining rock opening its treasures only after many
multiple listenings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is the
familiar heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why, indeed, isn’t that
cool?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Swans – Seer<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A work I should love a lot, its classic and summation-heavy doom-droning
gestures and navel-gazing sonics are up several of my alleys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s cranky and ill-tempered where
transcendent is called for. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vocals
(Iggy Pop in Depends?) weigh it down beneath the surface where there is air. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its strength is its weakness, and so it
deserves its overrated status.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The room
has storage boxes neatly stacked.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Damien Jurado – Maraqopa<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">West coast folk-rock, when not ironic nor self-referential, has
limited access and few pure purveyors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jurado
keeps getting better and older.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
his best. Glorious melodic songs, with satisfying instrumental arrangements
(that psychedelic guitar on the first cut, though never re-appearing, sets the
tone for the album).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His voice sounds
like the plaintive next step of Jason Molina or the disappointing preciousness
of that Red House Painters guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
plaintive and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">thoughtful</span></i></span></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </span></i>next step.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space
is a Sausalito waterfront café, late fall evening, the fog rolling in under the
Golden Gate, and there is port and Howl on the table.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">John Zorn – The Gnostic Preludes<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bill Frissell at his most melodic and least studious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Zorn’s circular and spinning compositions
have an almost Hassidic intensity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
are as familiar as your own body on first listening and sound brand new after
one thousand (and, after Deep Alpha I did play this more than anything else
this year).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music so intelligent it
calms the ego down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of harp-like
vibes, (and sometimes a real harp) in counterpoint to the tasteful guitar, is
what it must have been for David to charm the demons out of King Saul, letting
him sleep at long last.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music that
mesmerizes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music that edifies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is a mountain top monastery in Big
Sur.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Shackleton
– Music for the Quiet Hour<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A sprawling ambitious 2 CD opus, as much science fiction
soundtrack as dubstep club music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
mélange of sonic<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tricks and trade
offs:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a rainstick fronting Gregorian
Chant, a Mothership Bass Rumble constant behind spoken language, synthetic
reverberations and close-mike organic found sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dystopian by genre, the total is an
envigorating glimpse that maybe doom isn’t so bad after all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Quiet Hour, endlessly layered and fascinating,
is the void after time end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is
a cosmic morgue.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Kyle Bobby
Dunn – Bring Me the Head of Kyle Bobby Dunn<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Double
CD of long lines of processed guitar drones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The map of composition is 3-D and friendly, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">soothing
and baleful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chamber drone in its most
clear representation: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>dignified, patient
and insidiously powerful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is a
well organized desktop.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Duane
Pitre – Feel Free<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The odd title notwithstanding, this is the nexus of all the
ambient-electronic music I like and “serious” composition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pitre is a modern accessible composer that
eschews filmtrack shapes to layer on textures of real instruments and
electronic treatments… which ultimately typify my newest favorite kind of
music, chamber drone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Calm, cerebral,
spacious music that no longer rests as an armchair.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Brian
Eno - Lux<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Although absolutely of a piece with the classic era of Eno ambient
music (Music for Airports, Discreet Music etc.), and more satisfying in that
respect than anything he’s done in decades, it’s not retro-ambient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s neo-classical ambient, soft, linear and
flowing, surprising, relentelessly and intensely relaxing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This sourcepoint is the seed of half of what
I buy and listen to now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He apparently
composed it as an installation for a hall in an Italian palace; the music is
full of air and light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s definitive
for its genre, and its space may as well making my forest cabin that hall in
Turin. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Goat
– World Music<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Despite the silly “atavistic small pagan village” backstory, this
is in fact the sound of some pre-christian Euro-tribe trance-like garage
rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes sounding like the lost
tapes of Popol Vuh (see below) rehearsal sessions, circa 1971, sometimes
sounding like a parking lot at a Dead show in 1978, but at all times sounding
like some serious challenge to the corporate hegemony of modern popular music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may be a joke, but a very serious,
Loki-driven, goof on the modern world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
bow down in the ancient firelight to the wah-wah pedal and bongos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How do you catch imaginary butterflies in the
falling snow?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is the circle
around the bonfire.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">16.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wild
Nothings – Nocturne<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ok so I really did like the Cure, and I guess I miss them even
though they are not gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t want
Robert Smith to get old and fat; mascara shouldn’t be worn by the middle aged
of either gender, it cakes in the wrinkles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So this resurrects an insistence that is wrinkle-free; those guitar
lines and counterpoint bass figures are eternal youth audibilized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Avalonesque algorithms of bittersweet and
anxious Telecaster -soaked sadness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
hunt continues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now the parties over and
this music is tired and drained of relevance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For students of the disintegration and the jagged edge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is study-hall, with rhythm guitar
splitting the difference between nocturnes and nowhere.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">17.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bat
for Lashes – The Haunted Man<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Started out as the best Kate Bush pastiche … only I kept listening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quirky production – sometimes Druidic hip
hop, sometimes artsongs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a strength
that it’s hard to categorize, and it keeps running away from
understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something simple, clear,
and poppy morphs into prog-folk rock danceable drama.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps the record that I like most even
though I didn’t want to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it’s
because she’s closer to Sheila Chandra while hiding in Kate Bush clothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something subtlety dangerous, gosh, even
haunting about this cool mess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a
train to Devon. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">18.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Neil
Young – Psychedelic Pill<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sophomoric<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>garage
rehearsals by the bard of bad folk-rock lyricism and his favorite three chord
simpletons Crazy Horse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s still
summer on Zuma Beach in some alternate universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s still out on the mainline in some
memoir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s still rocking in the free
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s still a rich vein to
mine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s still a fire dance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The long and wide arc of guitar grunge
history<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bends to some fed back hunger
for peace and justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No regrets in the
failed dream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is Alice’s
Restaurant on Skyline, a dented pick up in the parking lot, weed in the
ashtray, a Tuesday night and he’s had too much to drink and he dances to the
riff, but the waitress is so kind to the old man… she was just like he was.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">19.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bahamas
– Barchord<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fresh and unvarnished production presents a rootsy stew of
Canadian country-rock and pop hooks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
voice is the child of John Hiatt and Lou Reed; the lyrics are more Toronto than
Nashville, but the school is still hard-knocks and the redeeming qualities of a
good woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is marriage
therapist’s yellow pad of hungover notes and plans to move on.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">20.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Django
Django – Django Django<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The well of intelligent Brit-Pop still not dry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Devo meets the Beach Boys meets XTC meets
Beta Band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Clever” as a musical
ingredient?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nice rhythms and surprising
textures (Mumford and Sons covering a German techno riff).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vocals, (and therefore) words very up in the
mix, and stand up to the scrutiny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
the cagey harmonies make this group a British Fleet Foxes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Space is a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bedsit in Oxford where the roommates are
playing Monopoly in Latin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">21.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Biospher
e – N- Plants<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The originator of electro-industrial thump/thump IDM ambient,
returns unfashionably, but deeply, to some Berlinesque urbane update for 2012. Albeit
there is a nod to the organic in the title, this future is more gleaming city
than sunny garden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Case again of the “modern” sounding
comfortingly retro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Easy listening car
trip soundscapes with rhythm and humor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Space is a late model BMW humming along on the autobahn.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">22.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thomas
Stronen & Iain Ballamy – Mercurial Balm<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Once upon a time there was an avant-jazz group called Food that
defined a genre of Northern Lights regional improv music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(OK, didn’t define, years<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>after the great Scandinavian jazz renaissance
of the 70’s).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They return with a
super-group of guest artists (Fennesz and Molvaer) whose guitar and horn
additions give atmospheric support to the sax/drums workout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen to the drums on any cut and (like
Elvin Jones) and hear Stronen take the rhythm making to sublime and centering
prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The atmospheric cool blue notes
blown hot as starlight physic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Healing,
catharsis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is a Left Bank<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>apartment, stones and beams, and shamans.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">23.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Steven
Halpern – Deep Alpha<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Oh, what the heck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Half my
music sounds like massage/spa background crap anyway and I probably played this
more than anything else on the list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why
not go to the source.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is, however,
true that there is biochemical change from these frequencies and
modulations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A great follow-up to last
year’s Deep Theta.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good to play then in
sequence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Space is a hot tub.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">24.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pinback
-<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Information Retrieved<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Easy going SoCal Beach progressive Indie rockers return after many
years off, and wind up sounding like a chilled out Rush, the Canadian band, not
the sensation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The uncluttered metric
jangle and interplay of guitars and comfortably numb vocals keep track of
not-so-simple songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe their best
ever; the space has been lost but we’ll look for it tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">25.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Eleh
– Radiant Intervals<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Solid droning sound in decibels and ranges that tickle the sternum
and drain sinuses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The physicality of
soundwaves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reminder that the music
of the spheres might not be too sweet. Space is the Large Hadron Collider or searches
for intelligent life outside the Milky Way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">26.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Spiritualized
– Sweet Heart Sweet Light<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Beatle-proper<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
over-produced, somebody needs to keep the Brit pop dream alive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every song and every album by the Spaceman
arrives fresh, and about half-way through I lose interest and lose track.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its unraveling is perhaps its point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tradition corrodes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is sitting in an English garden
waiting for the sun… eggman, spaceman… <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">27.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
Men – Open Your Heart<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I love this band for challenging the definitions of what cool
music is supposed to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are
sometime neo-punk,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sometimes classic
rock, sometimes Sonic Youth urban dissidents and dissonances… but they are full
bore and relentless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Focused and free, a
band to watch for the future; there is immaturity here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it their strength, weakness, or both?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Space is washing your face before class.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">28.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fiona
Apple – The Idler Wheel….<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I had a love-hate relationship with this American music. Stick a
feather in your cap and call it chemed-up macaroni. Sensitive goth-girl music
never my favorite and “quirk” in general having limited attraction (the very
thought of Joanna Newsome producing a nauseous mini-dread), but these
asymmetrical art-songs pulled me back in, and the maturity of her bitterness
and refusal to compromise scored points.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>America’s songbird… deep in the coal mine, time and lights out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anthems for the self-loathers among us… count
me in with a swinging beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A third
campfire songs, a third cabaret songs, and a third swan song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is the saloon where the skinny lady
sang, it’s all over now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">29.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jens
Lekman – I Know What Love Isn’t<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Perfect pop artifice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hooks
and transitions, melodic and lyric subtlety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In a parallel universe his voice would inspire heart-throb girl fan
screams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The melancholy at the heart of
his work is more out front here than ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A song cycle of a beautiful loser.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Artsongs for the narcissistic and depressed, whose medication<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is sublime melody and crafty
arrangements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is a therapist’s
office in Gothenburg loft.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">30.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Holy
Other – Held<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Club ambient dubby electronic etudes pulled apart and tossed in
fragments into air, not smoke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space
extends out in the desert and over the bar where there is a rainbow of obscure
liquor and an appointment for a massage.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">31.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hilary
Hahn & Hauschka – Silfra<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Classical violinist and treated piano player/composer create
something far exceeding the sum of its parts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not neo-classical nor ambient, it is serious and beautiful, and
(apparently) as they improvise off each other, reach new territory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Space is optional, provisional, but enough.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">32.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Grizzly
Bear – Shields <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Folky, folksy,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and a
harmonic convergence of just what you’d expect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The space is a rehearsal room in the basement of a humanities building
at Oberlin or Lewis and Clark.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">33.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ariel
Pinks Haunted Graffiti – Mature Themes <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Annoying, catchy, brilliant creep-pop from the master of dirty
hair and telecaster melodicism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reverb
chorus and petulant leads; the space is a therapist’s office in Beverley Hills
adjacent.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">34.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Johan
Johansson – Copenhagen Dreams<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Cloudy and cool movie soundtrack for walking through Scandinavian
capitols or museums with paintings of the back of women’s heads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is a dark theater with your life on
the screen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">35.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sylvester
Anfang II – Latitudes series<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Neo psychedelic improvisation from the children of Popol Vuh (see
above)… I believe they are part of some Flemish separatist movement, but the
extended jams are fresh off the corner of some garage in the Haight in early
1971. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">36.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">DB’s
– Falling Off the Sky<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lovely retro farfisa, three chord with a break, classic period
rock, produced this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like the Swans
they resurrect the influences they created which make them sound like a
thousand other bands who copied them since.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The space is a time travel machine back to a youth you never had.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">37.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Father
John Mistry – Fear Fun<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Another retro-like California paean to (also) a past that never
was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The body can only handle this abuse
while young.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of what this music is
is young anymore, so the irony is its strength and limitation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is a nicely maintained stucco 3
bedroom house in Silverlake with the bong left of the coffee table.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">38.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lower
Dens – Nootropics<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I think I hear Nino Rota in some of these<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bitter/happy tracks. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A break and harmony in fifths seems almost
like medieval music – there’s a residue of folk rock in the indie posing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dreamy in the school of Yo la Tengo, with
maybe a dash of the Go Betweens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
Fellini, Georgia and Ira, troubadour tunes that could also be theme music for a
kids show, and an occasional nod to k.d, lang… why isn’t this better?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Space is my couch reading the New Yorker.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">39.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The DB’s – Falling Off the Sky<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I greeted this with great enthusiasm and it was
glorious pop song perfection for about three listens, then it got mildly
annoying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listened again and confirmed
that they are geniouses. A world where a hook and a catchy chorus were high
are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Glad they got together and are
still making music, and this is as good as what they did 30 years ago, only I
am not where they were and I was 30 years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The space is Thomas Wolfe and DJ Shadow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">40.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">James
Brooks – Land Observations – Roman Roads IV-XI.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Strings plunked simply, repetitively, the hypnotic electronic
hollowing out of travel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fragments of melodies
and harmonics stripped down, but left with a warmly analog phantom limb. The
barely competent guitar playing rings and plucks its tube-amp tone with a
comforting salty reverb, and seems to be a song from a simpler time, a folk
song or a desert-twang dance-trance groove (African or the Mojave), the
rhythmic response to the call of what’s left of your heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hit the road Jack, with friendly company and
toe-tapping resolution.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">41.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Scythling
– Smokefall<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Improvised doom-sludge par excellence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great slow moving tectonic plates of guitar
noise with distant drumming , the metric of Fate itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is a universe closing in for the
final and mortal destination.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">42.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mark
Demarco - 2<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If Ariel Pink is tongue in cheek, this licks the lips in its love
for deconstruction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s danceable all
the way through, and its respect for “chops” isn’t kidding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is to say the space for their friendly
retro-viral rolling rock could just as well be a frat party at ‘Bama as well as
a brownstone in the hippest area of Brooklyn.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">43.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Tim
Hecker and Daniel Lopatin – Instrumental Tourist<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">More industrial and disjointed than what usual in Hecker’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>smooth<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>electronic haze of counterpoint hiss, buzz, and drone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fragments, aggregated<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with what might even be nerd-humor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Space is an embassy on Alpha Centauri.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">44.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Terence
Dixon – From the Far Future, Part 2<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Minimalist dance/trance with laser light show potential, yet a
jazz dissonance embedded in the driving fragments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is relentless and chem.-love<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>friendly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The power is in its lack of development, its love of the
superficial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space in on the floor
of the closet looking for crumbs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">45.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sleep
Research Facility – <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stealth<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Buzzes, alarms, hums, drones modulating slowly in an
analog-acoustic space of a Stealth bomber hanger in Cambridgeshire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess they call it deep drone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s comforting, but not sleep inducing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For such minimalist ambient “music” it’s
calming but engaging/disturbing at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is where it is.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">46.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ulrich
Schnauss and Mark Peters –Underrated Silence<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Progressive chill wave?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Complicated elevator music?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great
washes of synths run in and among simple base and guitar strumming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Calculated and pulled apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Atmospheric is the atmosphere is in some
alternate universe where “calm” does not mean “peace”, but could mean
“challenge.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is the slow burn
of sunrise driving away from the party.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">47.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mirroring
– Foreign Body<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Soft-core droning with whisper-friendly girl vocals with a touch
of Brit-like folk rock (Grouper after all is ½ of this).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Minimalist tension in the friendliest of
environments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If “quiet is the new loud”
is retro now, perhaps this is “soft is the new edgy” in 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lots of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>gentle and enduring space, which might have its ground in a craftsman
bungalow in Portland with light rain outside and steaming Earl Grey on the
table.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">48.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Damien
Dempsey – Almighty Love<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Those Dublin working class vowels and simplistic political
yearnings work better than ever after the total collapse of the Celtic Tiger, and
the mega-capitalist exclusion of the marginalized is no longer the only villain,
Dempsey struggles through the most personal of darknesses to glory, it’s the
Gaelic way after all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suicide, drink,
drugs, unemployment, oppression and the longing for an almighty love that burns
all the pain away. Folk melodies, strumming acoustic guitars and the reified fiddle
and penny whistle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A simple mind, a
lovely voice, and the long view across the wide dark ocean of loss.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">49.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Tame
Impala – Lonerism<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Finally kicked-in for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The sophomoric psychedelicism of their last has been constructed with a
much larger footprint, although the late 60s idiom is still the lengua franca
of this stoner dancetrack for catching butterflies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vocals sometimes drag it over in Oasis
territory, but that’s not an entirely bad thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paisley and flower power are still…powerful.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">50.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Grumbling
Fur – Latitude series<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Recalling a time of stark and minimalist Brit prog rock (Brian
Protheroe? Robert Wyatt? Meddle-era Pink Floyd) the loping inevitability at an
intersect of Druidic folk and classic Indian raga shapes, with posh boarding
school boy vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Churning art rock as
a form of meditation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">49.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Alejandro Escovedo – Big Station<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Rootsy and plaintive AmeriMexicana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although the “chicano” perspective is more
Rolling Stones Aftermath than Paco Everyman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Remember when rock and roll had “swagger” in palette of colors, even if
wounded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not to mention the tasty horn
charts, remember that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t give up on
love indeed. (Extra credit for a sleazy, boozy “Sabor a mi”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A motel room in Albuquerque after copping or
a 12 step meeting down the street.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">50.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Haxan
Cloak – Men Who Parted the Sea to Devour the Water - Latitudes series<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Melancholic drones, witches’ music, soundtrackish, and just a
touch tribal… though the natives-who-are-restless are on the other side of the
foggy valley.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">51.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Julia
Holter – Ekstasis<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I appreciate the project, and the artful arty artistic preciousness
of her …art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some passages are more
Petula Clark than Laurie Anderson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
also hear churches in the pixie kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I hear angel wing fashion shows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And everything is so fashioned. Constructed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Space is a youth center dance in a particularly
affluent section of Oslo.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">52.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sigur
Ros – Valturi<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Although I first heard it in its entirety on the Icelandic Air
flight to Reykjavik, and I was ready to like it as a “return to form”,
ultimately it seemed tepid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometime
soft isn’t the new hard, it’s just soft.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pretty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forgettable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is in the living room where
everyone’s left to go outside.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">53.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Beach
House - Bloom<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yeah, yeah,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it’s
brilliant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really respect it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love the 80’s retro flavors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But just like the Cocteau Twins I respect it
more than like it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is a corner
on the shelf when it’ll stay for years until I pull it out in the resthome in
2037 and tell Chris, who has put me there though he comes to visit regularly,
see they really do sound like the Cocteau Twins, but I thought they were
saccharine too, did you bring pictures of the dogs?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">54.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mono
– For My Parents<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The British version of Explosions in the Sky expand their wall of
sound to symphonic proportions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although
the loud/soft<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>dynamics work well, the
arrangements owe more to Elgar or Ralph Vaughn Williams than to Roger
Walters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every now and then a key
transposition or a melodic line sound like a Yanni<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>concert in some ancient amphitheater… PBS
version, not Magus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sentimental and solid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is headphones while running.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">55.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sun Kil
Moon – Among the Leaves<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One
of my favorite singer/guitarists with the bittersweet voice hits all the right
minor keys in a soundtrack jounal of his life and times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only his life and times her are his alone,
insular and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>selfish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is an empty train station waiting
room deciding whether to give up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">56.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thomas
Köner - <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Novaya Zemlya<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
like the minimalism that borders on silence, that quiet right after thunder
(and there’s more than a few field recordings of thunder on this).<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
sound a truck on a distant highway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
sound of broken sewing machine in the next apartment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hiss of a bad cable connection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Muffled voices and mothership docking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are more sound installations than
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is that moment in the
solar plexus right after Houston is told there is a problem.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">57.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">John
Talabot - Fin<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Proving
that disco has a certain “classic” status and the great production makes the
dance beats sound important and anthemic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So much white music I listen to, the elements of soul are chic and sexy
in the DJing setting and assert<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a
humanity this kind of music usually lacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The space is a clubland palimpsest dream on summer vacation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">58.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Andy Stott
- <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Luxury Problems<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dancy but high falutin’ baroque electronics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too ornate, but always keeps you off balance,
with surprises and compositional depth; most electronic music seems horizontal,
this is vertical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A real warehouse of
pop opera detritus, but the lights are low enough to miss the mess.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">59.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Logn-I-Frahvarfi
Ljoss Myrkrid<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I guess it’s dark metal, but it’s got a huge heart
and smoking guitar sound and I give it a 95 ‘cause you can dance to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Icelandic top of the pops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hard to know if the monumentally muddy
production is a mistake or intentionally anti-beauty. The space is… well you
need to wear a down jacket.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">60.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The XX – Coexist<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dark and clubby, hollow and capacious. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But filled with stale air, it continued to
droop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Disappointing in that, unlike
their last, it didn’t grow with familiarity but rather evaporated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The flimsy desire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Waking up in the morning and considering the
bad decisions of the previous night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe you just have to be really young.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her voice is warm and cold and a star’s turn; but the space wants a
window open.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">61.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Eivind Aarset – Dream Logic<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The majestic nature of quiet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guitars, bass, percussion “treated” to be a
soft landing in the territory between jazz and post-rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Acoustic sounds very quiet and very close in
the ear in counterpoint to cosmic search-for-intelligent-life drones. Aleatoric
clinking or twelve-tonish noise melting into cocktail lounge guitar chords.
File under “slow.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">62.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Steve Hauschildt – Sequitur<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Back in the dawn of “electronic” music, there was a
school of “washes of sound” synth (Vangelis) as distinct from the trippy tribal
compositions (Tangerine Dream) and the ambient comfort food (Eno).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sorta hated Vangelis and that thick
tube-ampy synth sound;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but here it is in
all its retro glory, deconstructed with a dance – E-vibe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gooey music where the music’s texture is
actually an in-joke.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">63.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Esmerine – Lechuga<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lugubrioius string and voice in an elegiac reminder
that the original chamber drone actually was chamber music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is a softly lit funeral parlor with
opiates and style.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">64.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Keiji Haino</span>, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Jim O'Rourke</span>, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Oren
Ambarchi</span> - <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Imikuzushi</span> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Noise experiments that, all good intentions to the
contrary, stayed pretty much like noise after multiple listening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Respect.</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">65.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Efterklang – Piramida<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Danish psychedelic rock band sequesters itself in
above-the-arctic-circle abandoned village in Finland to re-kindle its creative
mojo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Winds up more jazz-fusion than
Stephen King short-story.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Space is an abandoned community hall on the tundra.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">66.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Spain – Sketches of Spain<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Longingly stretched out lines of melody and horny
ennui reminding us of the original virtues of slo-core.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Om Mani Padme Hum as a pop chorus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Space is a church prayer meeting in Corona
del Mar.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">67.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Snapshots – Sidesteps<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jumpy dance beats with a space cozily arranged for
green team and a good book inside a bass drum.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">68.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Walkmen – Heaven<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Nice upon first meeting, but the “songs” simply
crumbled over time; not strong enough to hold the weight of the tasty guitars
and mid-range vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A dusty storefront
studio in Austin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">69.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Carlos Nino and Friends – Aquariusssss<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The producer of the Build an Ark project turns from
psychedelic jam-references to what can only be called “world ambient”, full of
electronic sambas, and found sound evocations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The narrow streets open to the crowded but quiet (this is a dream
afterall) marketplace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A bird sings, an
organ plays, a plane crosses the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From Los Angeles to your praedial memory of ancestral homelands.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">70.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Emptyset – Medium<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If minimalist industrial noise is your thing (fuzzy
knocks of a broken sewing machine), this is primal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The humming in the walls while frying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The city speaking out in waves of fierce
argumentative noise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is the
fusebox.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">71.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Twin Shadow – confess<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Agit-prop pop on the vagaries of love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Noisy without relief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Retro dance weights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And angry love. Space is New York as it used
to be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">72.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Beachwood Sparks – Tarnished Gold<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Started out really a friendly return to the
Americana radar, SoCal version.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Golden
harmonics – dashes of Dead, Jackson Browne, Blue Rodeo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the threadbare nature of its ideas
eventually wore me out too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A dusty
storefront studio on Santa Monica Blvd.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">73.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lambchop – Mr. M<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lugubrious slo motion vocals that defy
classification or dismissal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Same
love/hate respect engendered as a Nick Cave or Tom Waits offering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Always a taste on the verge of being
acquired.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">74.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bruce Sprinsteen – Wrecking Ball<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Moments or recaptured passion, but still unable to
find an answer the question, why bother?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">75.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Royal Headache – What’s Your Rupture?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Garage rock as art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Passion still here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Space is a
garage in Cudahy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">76.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Kadaver – Kadaver<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The return of Blue Cheer, only without any sense of
irony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hippie heavy metal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is a smoky garage in rural New
Jersey.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">77.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Future of the Left – The Plot Against Common Sense<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fine thick wall of guitars and lovely Brit working
class vowels shouting relentlessly dumb lyrics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Space is a garage in the outskirts of Birmingham.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">78.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Om – Advaitic Songs<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Nicely world metal; a garage in a suburb of Paris
(as imagined from a garage in Oakland).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">79.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Los Miticos del Ritmo<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Absolutely silly project of a London club DJ
working with Columbian cumbia musicians to cover classic rock hits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Irresistible toe-tappin’, nalgas bumbin’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bullshit dance music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A carport in Caracas.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">80.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Carter Tutti Void – Transverse<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dancey trancey yet subtle disposable clothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A fashionable drawing room in Ibiza.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">81.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dan Stuart – The Disappearance of Marlow Biggs<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The suicidal lead singer of the old 80’s LA band
Green on Red returns with an Americana classic under the guide of a slacker
Under the Volcano memoir of unexpected survival.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>RIYL what Westerberg should be doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is borrowed time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">82.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Souleance – La Belle Vie<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Downtempo, hip hoppy happy music with a soulful
Brazilian flavor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dance.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">83.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bob Dylan – Tempest<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Well, ok then.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">84.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Van Morrison – Born to Sing, No Plan B<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Well, all right then.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">85.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jack White – Blunderbuss<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And so there you go.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">86.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bruce Springsteen –<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We take care of our own, in spite of ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so there you…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">87.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead – Lost Songs<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Normally my cup of tea, my hand wouldn’t put it in
the CD player more than twice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">88.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">High on Fire-De Vermis Mysteris<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Continuing to reign as guitar god progenitor of the
resurgence in stoner metal, he just shouldn’t sing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know I am a minority, but why do these
metal bands insist on screwing up <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>boffo
riffs with that constipated devil growl.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">89.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ape School – Junior Violence<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Pink Floyd covering MGMT.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bouncy and friendly pop.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">90.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mt. Eerie – Ocean Roar<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Unfocused, which was their signature
contribution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just evaporated in my
hands.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">91.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Café Tacvba – El Objeto Antes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Llamado Disco<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A little bit more folk music this time around from
one of the world’s great rock bands.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">92.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Frank Ocean – Orange<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I guess I am just too old for real soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seemed fragmentary and off key.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">93.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dave Douglas Quintent – Be Still<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Deconstructed spirituals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great for Sunday mornings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Space is in the car on the way to church.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">94.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jose Luis Monton – Solo Guitarra<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lovely solo and spacious guitar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Progressive but easy going Flamenco.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Space is an old library in Cadiz, wearing
Ferragamo shoes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">95.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sepalcure -Sepalcure<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Progressive drums and bass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Speaking of shoes, space is an ultra hip shoe
store in Tribeca.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">96.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Burial – Kindred<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Now the party’s over, I’m so tired.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">97.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Adrian Crowley – I See Three Birds Flying<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Growly Nick Cavish vocals in a serene an</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">d morbid Irish folk setting.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">98.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Jessie Ware – Devotion<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">It’s possible
“songstresses” working in the central idiom don’t work for me anymore,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>might as well listen to Adele.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">99.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Rhett Miller – The Dreamer<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I am always looking for that salt-or-the-earth fix,
I think I shoulda had an Iris Dement or the Three Pears thing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">100.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">St. Etienne
– Words and Music<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A real marker of the passage of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I used to eat of this faux Euro cocktail
language crap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It hasn’t change, this is
a return to form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I clearly have
changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The space is pharmacy on Ibiza.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-18381432243571358472014-08-10T14:26:00.001-07:002014-08-10T14:26:03.780-07:00Best Music 2011
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Slave to Ambient: Want Less,
Suffer Less<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Version 1:</span></span></i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> This year the piano was the sonic tissue that
sustained and connected the enrooted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">paideuma </span></i>I lived
with and for. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>10-15 of these have the
piano at the center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Solo and stark;
organic or prepared; recorded in sacred spaces or on the bedroom Casio; grand
reverb washes of chords or modal noodling without end; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the 88 ivory and ebony (and truncated
petro-chemical adaptations) dominated unlike any of the 45 years of keeping
this list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Version
2:</span></i></b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the year of
sacred spaces; at least five of these were recorded in churches. The churches
were, for the most part, no longer Holy, but still holy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sound washes of electronic, treated,
droning sound gave me space <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to practice the spark</span></i>
of the present moment while contemplating the yawning maws of the Dark Abyss.
That’s optimum holiness, no?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who
knew?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Version 3</span></i></b>: Scandinavia holds 1% of
the world’s population and 28% of this list; color drains from my world and the
cold of death closes in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little soul,
little blues, little sex:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the whiteness
of the Great North blinds all eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>51
words for empty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the heart is still (perhaps
because of this) at peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who knew?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">PJ Harvey – Let England Shake<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Version 4:</span></span></i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> In case you didn’t notice, the world is
falling apart: and not just with the customary entropy, but in a real 21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup>
Century suicide watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pop music
that formed me used to tell the story; innocently perhaps, but Dylan or Ray Davies’
melodic and sophomoric commentary were Prophetic witness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who does that now?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kanye West?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lady Gaga? No large stage holds Prophecy any more; any smart person
scoffs at the very idea of prophecy – and either holes up in a Brooklyn loft
with sardonic tube amps or a Seattle or Copenhagen bedroom with a laptop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “vision” of rock and roll is long dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PJ’s oeuvre lets old farts like me see into
the anger and hunger of her music a surviving Critical Theory of the pop
miracle. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recorded in a de-commissioned
church in Dorset , the guitar breaks do sound echo-dampened and lofty; feed on
this music in your heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A horn
sounding charge or retreat?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A love
letter to a country no-longer-possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A fable of a country-that-never-was. She tells these stories of war and decay
with a little girl’s voice (not the angry, spurned wench of her past).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The folk melodies and busker-rhythms are
informed by the intensity of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">struggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i>And the politics are not just
Labour philippic; it could easily be rationale for skinhead hooliganism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But bottom line is that this is righteous
music challenging those who control the Public Sphere, our governments, our
economies, our diminished destiny, and those who send our young to kill and die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its WWI flavor and context only powerfully
nails the current moment more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
sound is a folk-rock of epic minimalism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Stripping things down to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the point.</span></i> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“England’s dancing days are done…”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, not as long as there’s any belief left
in three chords and the truth. Music to march out of the dark places.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One
of the other several truths of rock and roll: someone else’s destruction can be
your salvation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How often has someone
else’s wounded life been the foundation of the listener’s healing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(And after all, most of these songs are riffs
on John Lennon’s music<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>more than the
classic rock of Pink Floyd).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yep, his
“dirty hair and boney body…” are crucified for our amusement and palliation…
just like the opiates he loves so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Momma
come home, daddy don’t go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wait, there
was never any Father to go away in the first place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God was not only dead, he (He) never
existed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the “classic” melodies that
carry the cross are given arrangements and instrumentation that are rich
evocations of the early 70’s and this gimmick is earned not from the usual
“lo-fi, throwaway” production, but rather a pristine <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">homage</span></i>
to the power of that Rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Balls out
centrist rock of ages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hot guitar hero
solo breaks, and a loud-soft dynamic not heard since the Dark Side of the
Spoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A softer interlude, a nod to the
past, an uncertain hunger for black girls who just wanna sing all night, and
the sad wimp’s never had that much jam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Neurotic insecurity as the vehicle for genius; and make no mistake about
it, this is the smartest music possible in 2011. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lennon would be proud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But our Lamb Boy is Tired, please take this
cup from him?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guess not. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dual guitars calling on the name of the
Temporary Relief possible from the sacrament of Rock and Roll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music to march through the Valley of the
Shadow of Death, although I suspect the end is to fall asleep in the field of
poppies again, no exit from this self-pitying predicament of determinism and a
catchy melody.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Explosions in the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sky – Take Care, Take Care, Take Care<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Initially
I found this to be more of the same easy-listening atmospheric exercise from the
post-rock team from Austin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it kept growing
on me, getting deeper into the psyche.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Melodic and dreamy with no blues molecules in the mix (although after
several albums there is finally one track with a dance syncopation).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s not just white music, there is an
almost universal and compassionate openness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not American rock, but rather a world music language with their
distinctive graceful<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>loud/soft dynamics
more effective than ever (the lead guitarist <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is</span></i>
South Asian).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These tightly arranged
pieces leave a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">weltschmertz </span></i>beauty hanging in
the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bittersweet nights with the
cool pacific air coming up the canyon in Big Sur, the fog and moon catching on
the redwoods, and something will never be the same again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take Care… music to march through the swinging
Door of Perception.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hauschka – Salon des Amateurs<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A
Frankfurt “fourth wave” pianist with treated piano should produce music that is
grey and austere; modernist glass canyons and minimalist angst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nope, this is an insistent and joyful<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sound made to the void.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Counterpoint melodies (loops) with a hidden
horn section or choir of drums, and then a cello or violin slowing down the
perky rush to the Edge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although there
are plenty of electronics and glitches and treated sound, that’s not how the
music plays: it’s as though a quartet of classically trained musicians are
playing real time in that bar in Star Wars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although it’s more John Cale than John Cage, this is also serious
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A strong dose of Phillip Glass,
with a dash of Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown’s Christmas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I normally don’t put “classical music” on
this list (see #45); but this kind of rhythmic workout could easily be “serious
music.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I swear on a couple of
compositions there is a muted cowbell that makes you wanna get up and
dance…with your Wittgenstein.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I listened
to this more than anything else this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the end it’s like music sent out in the aether in the search for
intelligent life; mathematical, mysterious and full of heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music to march around the empty but colorful carousel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span class="st"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b></span><!--[endif]--><span class="st"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Alva
Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto – Summvs<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sometimes
simplifying means leaving the surface for something deeper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes fewer is more than enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rich scratchy zen space of Noto’s
click/glitch/buzz electronics and the careful organic piano sounds that
Sakamoto delivers, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>combine to produce quirky
and melodic <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>soundtracks for the inward
inquiries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Want less, suffer less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good for sitting/practice for hours when the
knees hurt and mind wanders or waiting in traffic for the Meeting that,
although late from this perspective, will always happen On Time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the quiet music of the Big Picture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing ‘s true, but there is still that
remnant truth/beauty thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of
course, an Eno <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cover. </span></i>Music to march from the
creek carrying water.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Radiohead – King of Limbs<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Barely
assembled songs for the dissembling epoch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are still the greatest rock, i.e rhythm, band extant (and so their
lack of polish is an intentional tool to challenge the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>listener’s comfort and expectation). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their status itself is an instrument (like no
band since the Beatles). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the
pleasures are not in the analytic ear, they are in the pelvis and gut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The shake is booty, not hands, with the hallmark
intensity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their chops- instrumental,
compositional, and vocal- still insist something important needs
attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Albeit concentration has a shelf-life
and life itself <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wanes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></i>Loss <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">uber alles. </span></i>Much
more than Caretaker’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“An Empty Bliss…”,
this is the sound of lights out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
time gentlemen, it’s time to march outside and get some air.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wu Lyf – Got Tell Fire to the
Mountain<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
hype and reviews would normally make me listen for flaws: but from the opening church
organ and hollowed-out and ringing guitars this band had me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Tom Waits-singing-Rage Against the
Machine vocals are probably an acquired taste, but work for me entirely – a
necessary black flag of anarchy hanging from the marble arches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ragged intensity of the singing really,
for me, is backup to the music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And what
glorious pop music: the Cure played on tube amp guitars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shoe-gaze uncluttered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Marque Moon crescendos and bam-bush hip-hop
drumming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The astonishing beauty and
simple power of the instrumentation is only revealed at top volume, for which
they mixed the croaking neediness of the singing just low enough to tolerate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A brilliant re-invention of big country spaces
and ride-worthy sonics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it’s music
that’s so young:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>adolescent love affairs
with that finger picking just learned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, the lyrics are political and a soccer-anthem call to revolutionary
arms, but you don’t even need to know that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The tearful rasp of his voice, and the clarity of a guitar line tell you
there is an urgency here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so they’ve
moved from the garage to the church and enjoy them now before they hit sports
arenas and rehab.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music to march to
Occupy Wembly Stadium.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jasper, Tx – Black Sun
Transmissions <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Not
all drones are equal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not all noisy
hums are the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not all space music
sounds like the 80s, so <span class="st">Dag Rosenqvist </span>with his (80s?) analog
workouts gives hints of a richer, warmer universe<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>than some of his contemporary noise
artists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ok, “warm” is probably
misleading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in the mystery of his
sound I sometimes hear a Gregorian Chant focus, the spiritual intent
incrementally growing with repetition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
revealed string instrument: it is Wien , 1908.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A buzz explodes to a bell sound and it is the space lounge in Kubrick’s
2001.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ideas take a while to develop: slow
is the new fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Given the album covers
and penchant for “black” in the titles, this does seems relatively cosmic, dark
matter-oriented electronically generated noise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Musical residue to march into solar flares.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Nicholas Jaar – Space is Only
Noise<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A
brilliant soundscape that is sexy and balanced:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>just enough brain and just enough body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Through it all there is that wonderful “international” feel <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to this post-dance glitch music (helped by the
found-sound collages, and polyglot singing).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although, like Oneontrix Point, there are many ideas stacked up, all
demanding time, and one pushes the previous away too quickly, it doesn’t feel
cluttered in this space, nor even noisy (unlike Oneontrix).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out of a fog of clicks, a dance beat kicks
in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out of a buzzy reverb, a sober vocal
emerges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a tension that helps
all the sound-objects cohere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music for
all of life’s private moments; instructive music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music that teaches the ear what to listen
for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spaghetti western soundtracks and
Japanese Koto music have a lot in common, after all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s all only noise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A brilliant work by some Chilean student at
Brown University who’s only 20.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
year’s Moby, but with less self-consciousness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That post-millennial generation’s mindlessness to mitigate the
mindfulness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And probably the most
sensual music on the list. Music to march into the bedroom.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A Winged Victory for the Sullen –
A Winged Victory for the Sullen<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For
some reason they’ve always called the Stars of the Lids guys as
“composers.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I think one of them had
classicial training perhaps?)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so
this one is described as compositions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And its compositional language is reductive, not additive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sweet and empty spaces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sweeping the aural mirror clean of dust; the
cerebral clutter packed away by the beauty of depression and lost causes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Electronic placeholders more than music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soundscape lists of things left undone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Insert your name here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music to march without music.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A
real <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">eccentric </span></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in the British tradition, with a voice that’s
so distinctive and been around so long (if with too infrequent contact) that
it’s almost its own archetype.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Best
thing she’s done in decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lyrics
are ornaments of hot-tea-in-winter English personhood; really the whole thing
could be a children’s book, if not for the odd, off-limits sex and naturist
tendencies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Folk rock for a meeting of
the coven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Breathy and sexy while
dressed in brocade and lace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The oddest
duet with Elton John kinda makes you want to wash your hands, but all-in-all
one more ample demonstration of intensity built out of history and cultural
identity (see #1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However it pans out, the
goddess must be worshipped too.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">War on Drugs – Slave Ambient<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">After
I stopped laughing at the Dylanesque phrasing I started to really love the
guy’s voice and lyrics, which makes this a standout, given that for me it’s really<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not about the vocals and lyrics but rather about
the perfect tones of some the tastiest guitar lines/riffs in a while<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b>Chiming, strumming
and friendly, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose it does sound
like Tom Petty and Heartbreakers more than some neo-indie discovery, but that
isn’t really a bad thing.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Dustin O’Halloran – Lumiere<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A
super group of ambient/electronic artists</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> (Adam Wiltzie, Peter Broderick, Jóhann Jóhannsson) that
delivers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>O’Halloran’s compositions are
human-friendly if dignified in their quietude and melancholy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another work recorded in a church, this one
in Berlin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And although he’s all German,
all the time these days, there is a leftoever lightness to his piano
musings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the light from Santa
Monica beach will always be gloss to the uber-seriousness of his intent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stark, bittersweet music from one of the most
talented composers of the day.</span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Barn Owl<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Winsome
and spacious and patient realtime droning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sometimes the guitars can sound like a bagpipe, sometimes like the
Shofar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add a little feedback and a
pensive but powerful drum, and you have the most dramaturgical of the
stoner-atmospheric bands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A camera pans
down the stone passage way of a monastery in the mountains; the sun rises on
the sawtooth ridge above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Surfing the clouds
above for the Endless High. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sound of
one hand passing the joint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pay
attention to the breath.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Earth – Angels of Darkness,
Demons of Light<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Music
from the guy who helped Kirk Cobain blow his brains out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A groundbreaker in his day this is not even
slo-core anymore, it’s a circular time figure with warping and repetitive rich
drones and repetitions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With the
simplest and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">slowest </span></i>drumming, bass and cello
to give possible counterpoint to his doom-rich guitar explorations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">16.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Gillian Welch – The Harrow &
The Harvest<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Still
offering up craftsman <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">objects </span></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with her hubby’s ungodly close harmonies; more
than ever she sounds like a visitor from some possible future where survivalist
ethics and homecooking rule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone
buys baby clothes and drugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone
knows that reality is acoustic, not theoretical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And more than anything… songs, objects
perfectly and carefully <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">written.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">17.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Nils Petter Molvaer – Baboon Moon<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
Norwegian trumpet player who is one of my favorite artists of the last 20 years
continues his movement away from his tribal club-music <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>take on Jan Hassel-Miles <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>jazz excursions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s time to move on, and the rumbling
percussion and rich and layered guitar work push his treated trumpet into some
new territory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure why I don’t
like this more… the density of the sound, the layers of quirks and reference
points might get in the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miles would
always point out that less is more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maybe more, in this instance, is provisionally less.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">18.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Destroyer – Kaputt<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Post-millennial
blue-eyed soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a little bit more
Roderick Falconer than Bowie, but with a Prefab Sprout overlay through most of
its druggy-but-brittle pop artifacts.…and the coked-out preciousness earns
respect with an assortment of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>clever
flourishes, musical and conceptual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Count the tracks where he sings “who knew?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What would it sound like if Unabomber grunge
rockers hung out in the Eurotrash VIP rooms of cocaine and sex?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, like this, who knew?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">19.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Grooms – Prom<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Keeping
alive the “indie” spirit with with ringing guitars and the occasional delicious
dissonance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Church, Les Savy Sav,
Sebadoh all laid the foundation;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>chiming
dreamy guitar runs contrast well against the raw punked out vocals with a new
wave pace and urgency, albeit a post-grunge self-satisfied annoyance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
band to watch in 2012.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">20.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Deaf Center – Owl Splinters<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Some
electric drone artists create the sound of rivers in Hell;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>some invoke mists swirling around the peaks
of mountains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This work is most
assuredly the latter, although its cool sonic altitude also seems comforting,
enveloping, and wide, not pointed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
guess that’s the sonic mist part.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am
not sure but I think a low B Flat is held for the entire length of the album
(with blips and scratches marking progress).<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">21.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Vladislav Delay – Vladislav Delay<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
sound of the industrial world, the deep static and roar of the mechanical
bowels of modern life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am always
amazed looking at the credits and reminded that there is a “group” with real
instruments<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>credited; this is profoundly
manufactured and layered <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mechanical </span></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>music, as opposed to just electronic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The highs are barely audible and the lows are
subwoofer threatening, and there is some clang or ring or (always) drone that
fills in between.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But he works to find
the common denominator; the drone, unobtrusive but unshakably connective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And just every now and then the muffled
squeak of machine does resemble sea gulls.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">22.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Craig Taborn – Piano Solo<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Difficult
and smart music that I’ll still be playing in a decade when 99% of the other
stuff on the list is forgotten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Dissonant and challenging; closer to Boulez than Eno.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Minimalist jazz; sonic impressionism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Slot five in the car CD player for 6
months:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it always made my ears new.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">23.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Real Estate<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>- Days<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Agreed,
much better than the first one... and I agree with that while listening to it,
it is pleasing and satisfying and when it's over it goes away ....<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Garage music made by angels or stoned
surfers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once in college I wrote a paper
on Nevil Shute’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Round the Bend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i>The subject given by Robert Adams,
the Joyce scholar, was: “if it’s so good why isn’t it great.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer (like for this music):<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>what makes it good also is what keeps it from
being great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Light as air…and gone
immediately when the music stops, not leaving even a trace of its
presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Music without trails.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">24.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sandro Perri – Impossible Spaces<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jazzy
chord changes, vocal “stylings” and harmonies, varied instrumentation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neo-prog rock with all the irony quarantined
in the “clever” lyrics, with none allowed to leak out into the heavily arranged
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like the Magnetic Fields
covering Steely Dan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">25.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Iro Haarla Quintet - Vespers<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Alternating
between harp and piano, Haarla mines some of the textures and flourishes of
Alice Coltrane, but with throaty trumpets and saxophones pulling on the angels’
wings.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">26.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wooden Shijps<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">From
the beating heart of the stoner aesthete, this monotonous psycho-surf droning is
relieved only by an occasional Farfisa break that recalls a thousand moments in
garages all through the West from 1965 to the present day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">27.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Richard Skelton – The Complete Landings<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Careful
modulations of violin/cello and plucked strings, some reaching down into the
inside of a piano.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chamber music, more
than ambient; but that “chamber” is in deep space and the mental images are of
a landscape not yet discovered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pure and
starkly beautiful ruminations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Re-release from a few years ago… but enough extra and with a degree of
relentless beauty, it needs to be here.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">28.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Carribean – Discontinued Perfume<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Brightly
produced progressive folk-rock, with diminished minor seventh chord changes <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and frequent dissonance conveying an adult
approach to this pop “confessional” music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lyrical pop with an easy, loping beat and low calorie sweetness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dad rock if dad is 31 and a well read graphic
artist with an acid tongue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only album
with lyrics about PowerPoints and political discussions about Israel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">29.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Woods – Sun and Shade<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Great
when their retro-hippie acid journeys are droning and smoky – stretched out
music to talk to sheep on hills in Sonoma County.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Less interesting when the neo-flower power
pop kicks in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go with the drones kids.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">30.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Centro-matic – Candidate Waltz<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Crunchy
Americana guitar and melodic and harmonious vocals; sometimes heroically and
unflinchingly pop masterpieces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anthems
for the American collapse; sorta the geminating root of NeoNoDepressions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
riffs were buried at WalMart; but dust them off and jam.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next time they should try to sound like Spoon
less.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">31.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bon Iver – Bon Iver<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">He
made the transition from the solitary North Woods house to the Big Canvas
pretty well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple cuts have some of
the most satisfying guitar timbres of the year, and the cheesy keyboard of the
last cut is one of funniest, bravest instrumental choices of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His voice is gloriously honest and hurt, and
his lyrics are wily and elegant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
deserves to be the number one album of the year; I just never choose to put it
on and I confuse him with Fleet Foxes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">32.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Tim Hecker - Rave Death 1972<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Even
here the piano rules, and even acoustically resounding through the Icelandic
church where this was recorded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sober
beauty; stylish constructions; elegant textures.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">33.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Panda Bear – Tomboy<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Silly
vocals; and odd production, it’s like you’re hearing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a band rehearsal from far down the hall in a
college dorm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aggregated electronic tone
poems with sharp if understated lyrics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For the record I like this a lot more than Animal Collective;
exploring<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>an accessible alternative
musical universe, with layers of dirty-fied sound, maintaining an innocence, but
not too precious or self-conscious.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">34.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
choir boys prove their mettle by producing the least silly vocals (see above).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take the boys out of the expensively
clear-minded production and you can imagine these songs sung around campfires
in the Great Smoky Mountains; ethno-musicology students of the Scotch-Irish<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>roots of American folk music demonstrating
their all world vocal chops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Progressive
hoe-down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John Denver as a café-latte
hipster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Sim, sala bim on your tongue…”
indeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As my partner says, this is the
album that My Morning Jacket was supposed to make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I like them because they sound more like
the Proclaimers than Crosby, Stills and Nash.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">35.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Battles – Gloss Drop<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
a year of neo-prog rock, this should lead the parade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Difficult poly-rhythms and off-center
arrangements with too much Caribbean in the mix ultimately makes this one sound
more gimmicky than the last one<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">¸</span></i>if more approachable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perky and energetic music; but serious
prog-rock shouldn’t be Jazzercise-ready.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">36.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><span class="title3"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">São
Paulo Underground</span></u></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> - <span class="Subtitle1">Três Cabeças
Loucuras</span><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hard
bop jazz new age music, Chicago-style with extra thick improvisation, thumping
with the sangfroid samba.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More noisy
club-footed pastiche<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>than club
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it’s a glorious noise before
the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">37.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Drei - Swod<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wide
open ambient piano and other analog instruments, treated and manipulated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The spacey contexts also hold up found sound,
hiss, and random human voices speaking (apparently the rules now for this kind
of music) many languages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">38.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mathias Eick - Skala<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Another
Euro –version of what Miles would sound like today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cool and insistent, with harps and double
drummers complicating what is really simple.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">39.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Washed Out – Within and Without<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Classy
pastiche of the 80’s retro-synth wave (those synth drums!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like a reconsideration of a
reconsideration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Danceable disposable
pop until the yearning kicks in, dreamy buried vocal harmonies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fleet Foxes covering Echo and the
Bunnymen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brit Pop in a brownstone in
Brooklyn Heights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember when you took
E and wanted to hug <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everyone. </span></i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anthemic<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </span></i>Zazen<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for the club scene.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">40.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wilco – The Whole Love<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
is probably their best since Yankee Foxtrot Hotel, and I really look forward to
seeing them play all of these live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Can’t understand why I don’t want to listen to this much.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">41.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Esmerine – La Lechuza<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Vibraphones
and violins, that sound like Veracruz and Prague at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Emotive and poignant chamber music for the
epicures of the broken heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Gamelan?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Harps? Eno-esque
distorted electronics?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nico-like vocal?
Go to a neutral corner for a time-out. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">42.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sun Araw – Ancient Romans<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Noodling,
meandering psychedelic guitars – has anyone seen the bridge?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guy, who mummurs and yammers far down in
the mix (guitar-hero version of Earl Hines).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">43.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Alva Noto - Univrs<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
best clicks, buzzes, and random static in a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I used to really like composed clicks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One woman who used to work with me said “all
your music sounds like a broken washing machine.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">44.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yuck – Yuck<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Irresistible
guitar workouts reminiscent of early Pavement when I thought they were British
(although in reality more chord strumming than guitar leads – I liked this the
way I should have liked the Feelies).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
like this music like my parents’ generation liked Big Band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just from the energy it repositions the raw
roll in rock ‘n roll.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">45.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">John Luther Adams/Stephen Drury –
Four Thousand Holes</span></u></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Straddling
the increasingly blurred territory between “serious contemporary” music and
ambient electronic, this places its drones, processed acoustics and incremental
changes in the adagio ballpark, while always invoking the Great White North
with a chilly but bright light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That the
music is “performed” by someone other than its composer tells some kind of
tale.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">46.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Tinariwen<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Tassili + 10:1<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
African rockers continue their attempt to sound like covers of various lost
versions of Midnight Mile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Classic rock
branded and marketed as revolutionary tribal desert music, but I hear white
table clothes in Paris cafes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vive
l’revolution…with a backbeat, finger picking rejection of the West and North.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">47.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Daniel Thomas Freeman – The
Beauty of Doubting Yourself<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
bittersweetest washes of electronic sound and minimalism for the depressives
and ennui-addicts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The requisite rumbles
seem like distant storms; or an ominous appearance of the death star.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think this was in the soundtrack to
Lars Von Trier’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Melancholia, </span></i>but it should have
been.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">48.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Marcin Wasileswski - Faithful<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jazz trio with organic and peaceful sounds…
the bass sometimes barely in the range of hearing and the drums like thunder
many miles away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another Nordic<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>permutation of jazz devoid of the blue note;
but with some recent memory of lakes and forest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Calming down can be the smart thing to do.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">49.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">White Denim<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
heard this late in the year and immediately was attracted to its neo-hippie
psychedelic references, and then was put off by its jam band
appurtenances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Improv and interesting
guitar solos and exxxttteennnnded ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I think it may continue to grow on me, though I’d like a little more
sandalwood and a little less patchouli.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">50.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Kurt Vile – Smoke Rings for My
Halo<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Philadelphia-native
steps into a more polished zone, continuing to build upon his unique mix of
twangy finger-picked ballads and fuzz-heavy guitar rock anthems.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">51.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Antlers – Burst Apart<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Crafty,
hip and appealing guitar rock with the hip-hop/dubstep hitch in its glide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great vocals and strong songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somehow it vaporized after the music stopped
(and unlike Real Estate, I don’t think that was a good thing).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">52.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Low – C’Mon<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
guess the world has changed so much that this isn’t really even “slo-core”
anymore, just solid, middle of the road rock with a smartly stretched out
sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guitar lines never fail to power
out and the vocals/lyrics seem better than they’ve done for a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t let it be said I like rock music that
sticks to the center.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">53.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wooden Birds – Two Matchsticks<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
guitarist from American Analog Set continues his demonstration of superior
songwriting; acerbic and clever pop melodies and lyrics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what draws me more than the scaled down
arrangements and alt-college-rock vocals is the bittersweet guitar; tube amp
resonance or scratchy acoustic – rock guitar captures the broken heart so well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">54.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">John Maus – We Must Become the
Pitiless Censors of Ourselves<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Crazy
sonics of vintage synths (I remember reading how Lucinda Williams spent many
months getting the mistakes on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Car Wheels</span></i> just
right) and I suspect this academic has also carefully spent a lot of effort
making some of these catchy pop dissertations sound perfectly dirty and
accurately cheese-filled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not unlike his
hero Ariel Pink.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">55.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Atlas Sound – Parallax <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As
stated, the expertise he demonstrates now includes a late fifties or sixties
pop music to add to his classic indie rock; as always deconstructed by a
contemporary fragmented lo-fi ADHD, but increasingly <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>these pop nuggets with the sweet and earnest
vocals become more l<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ongueur</span></i> than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cri d’coeur.</span></i> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">56.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Tsering Cho –Devotion<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A
rich and warm voice, human and re-assuring, singing Tibetan folk melodies
against a world-music setting of flutes and tablas.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">57.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Emmy Lou Harris<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Comfort
food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Never disappointing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her voice instantly invokes a joint and beach
day in 1975 and my deathbed rattle in 2038.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her voice is like oxygen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">58.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Eternal Tapestry and Sun Araw –
Night Gallery<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Glorious
drones and psychedelic improvisation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But this works the area between mechanical drones and stoner drones: a
bright and fruitful niche.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">59.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wolves in the Throne Room –
Celestial Lineage<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Even
with the metal <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">de rigueur</span></i>
constipated-devil-voice squawking periodically, nothing can crowd out some epic
sonic beauty from the American European Black Metal masters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A real
grandeur of drones and psychedeliberations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Soaring and uplifting with a dark hunger for spirits more than
soundtrack for the destructive slide into an imagined hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Invokes the wide Northwestern landscapes of
its creators and mirrors the new world’s answer to the Northern Latitude mythological
Beavis and Thorhead scandies.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">60.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Youth Lagoon – Year of Hibernation<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This
catchy lap-pop is a smart and superficial demonstration that someone has done a
lot of listening, a real student of the idioms, which makes me surprised that
this is from a bedroom in Boise, not Helsinki.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">61.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sonny Rollins – Road Shows, Vol 2<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">An
American treasure, with ageless chops.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">62.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Timber Timbre – Creep on Creepin
On<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Slinky
and sinuous acoustic grooves, with whore-house piano and an occasional horn
section<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(remember Morphine?) backing a
neo-Leonard Cohen vocal singing creepy songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Funhouse music with a downtempo modulation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In keeping with this year’s theme:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the treated piano was tasty.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">63.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Oneohtrix Point Never Replica<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Found
sound extravaganza/collages, electronic constructions with fragments and shards
of auditory modern life, this was this year’s prize winner of a kind music that
I listen to more than any other now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
the piling on of ideas sometimes overwhelmed, and it was more “busy” than
“difficult.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">64.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thora Vukk - Robag Wruhme</span></u></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">IDM/EDM
with a claustrophobic Eastern Bloc intensity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Richly textured, if artificial, beats for the Flash Mob in Purgatory.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">65.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Stong
songs, great vocals, clean guitars, best thing he’s done in a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So why don’t I want to listen to this
anymore?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">66.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Alexander Tucker – Dorwytch<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Art
songs in the classic 70’s Brit Rock tradition of Brian Brotheroe<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or even the Strawbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Retro Robert Wyatt with no sense of
irony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Earnest is the new black.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Brit folk-rock still has power (see #1).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">67.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Harold Budd – In the Mist<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In
any other year I would rate this much higher; Harold Budd is brilliant and
these piano compositions are deeply satisfying, with unexpected turns and
eddies in their melodic flow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">68.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Biosphere – N-Plants<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Original
chill dance electronica now sounds as antiquated and perky as steam-punk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great on the I-5 approaching the Grapevine,
that is sounds better in a car than whilst doing housework.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">69.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">James Blake – James Blake<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Love
hate relationship with this music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes,
it’s soulful and futuristic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, it’s
sappy and facile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s young music; and
surviving fragmentation the songs really do inhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And ultimately it’s a guilty pleasure to
enjoy his <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">singing stylings</span></i> as much as the melodies
and vocal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if I am not in the right
mood this is hubristic pap in the Anthony and Johnson disease file.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">70.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Marsen Jules – Nostalgia<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
king of peaceful orchestrated ambience returns after a long time with a strong
work, that shows a thoughtful, darker side to “peace.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">71.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jamie Woon – Mirrorwriting<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Simple,
minimalist white-soul dance music with a Brit-pop edge, “sometimes I wish that
I could anesthetize …” which is accomplished by this sophisticated, neo-dubstep
druggy music.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">72.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Julia Hülsmann Trio - Imprint<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
brilliant German pianist put out “The End of Summer” a couple years ago that
was the best jazz album of its kind in years; she is so lyrical and deft, and
invokes intense emotional responses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This isn’t that good, but is piano jazz of the most highest cerebral and
emotive order.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">73.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mastdon - The Hunter<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Apparently
their fans think this is “Mastodon going soft”, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but I like the power of their diminished thunka-thunka
chording , though I wish that the vocals weren’t so cartoonish.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">74.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Quilt – Quilt<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Neo-psychedelia
circa Incredible String Band.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">75.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wild Beasts – Smother<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">God
I find their voices annoying/cloying; a whole fucking chorus of wimps and posy
boys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But dirty lyrics and a British-Steel
tensile strength to the tunes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">76.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">David Ware – Planetary Unknown<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ware
and William Parker continue to re-invent jazz, and wind up sounding like the
classic heros they riff off of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(riff
off of sounds like the end of Warian phrase) and in all probability this was
the best “straight” jazz of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">77.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mogwai – Harcore Will Never Die,
But You Will<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">They
should probably break up now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">78.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Haxan Cloak – Haxan Cloak<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Uncharted
drones , the timbre of each counterpoint building a soundtrack to what would be
very disturbing dreams if you dared to let yourself go to sleep to this
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t turn your back.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">79.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Colin Stetson – New History of
Warfare II: Judges<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Chaotic
music, often sounding like elephants rutting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the right mood it sounds startlingly artful, brilliant, serious music
tempered by the random poetic voices spoken, and chanted over the “treated”
saxophone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the wrong mood it grates
and so wears thin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">80.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Colin Vallon – Rruga<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Stretched
out piano-based jazz for mushroom trips at Baden-Baden.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">81.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Caretaker – An Empty Bliss Beyond
this World<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
think I want ambient/electronic/post-music music to take me to the new future,
not dead ends in the past.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">82.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Amina Alaoui – Arco Iris<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Progressive
gypsy music,,, the quartertone, lonely and Iberian, the soundtrack of dashed
hopes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no reason not to love
this thoughtful, deeply felt invocation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although I listen to a lot of electronic music the heart’s longing is
captured best by acoustic guitar, harp, and a hard-won throb in the voice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">83.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Garland Jeffreys – The King of In
Between<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">First
cut was one of the best cuts of the year, the last one was one of the
worst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But welcome back to the self in
my heart that loved this kind of music once upon a time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">84.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sen Kuti – From Africa with
Fury:Rise<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Not
exactly a chip off the old man’s dead block, but the band cooks.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">85.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Enough
already.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">86.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Feelies<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
really wanted to like this….<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">87.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Stefano Bollani – Stone in the
Water<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Like
clockwork, this jazz pianist keeps producing tasteful <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">etudes</span></i>
of cocktail lounge quietism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">88.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Woodsman – Mystic Places<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Looping
drones and pounding drums that give a fry-brain headache, not in a bad way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">89.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mathew Shipp-Art of the Improviser<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
greatest living jazz pianist shows his range;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>music that is timelessly challenging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m just not old enough yet to fully understanding his language.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">90.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bill
Callahan – Apocalypse</span></u></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Despearately
serious songs with his desperate, earnest baritone mixed way too forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good lyrics, but the quirks and
self-seriousness has worn thin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">91.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yellowbirds
– The Color</span></u></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">C
major to A minor garage psychedelia “as if.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Guitars, drums, farfisa from some lost garge in Torrance in 1966.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">92.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Neon Indian – Era Extrana<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This
is the year that the IDM/EDM sound was often <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>too noisy for my tastes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Busywork for the ears more than a beat for
the feet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">93.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Bonnie Prince Billy – Wolfroy
Goes To Town<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
give up.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">94.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Field – Looping State of Mind<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Noisy
to me, see Neon Indian above.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">95.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: #373737;"><span style="color: #373737; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie XX – We’re New Here</span></span></u></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sometimes
the whole is less than the sum of its parts.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">96.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Opeth<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
liked this a lot more than I should have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I mean the guy’s new I-will-no-longer-death-growl voice sounds like Greg
Lake and there’s more than a dash of mimicking ELP and King Crimson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More neo-Dinosaur than metal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">97.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Horrors - Skying<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
music is lugubrious in a snide but pleasurable way, but the vocal bombast kills
this.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">98.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thurston Moore – <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
brains and guitarist of one of my favorite bands puts me to sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not in a bad way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">99.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">St. Vincent – St. Vincent<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I
tried… sorta.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">100.<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Junior Boys – It’s All True<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Proof positive that there is a subliminal
zeitgeist which has rules for the ears</span></span>harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-46804895404763585902014-08-10T14:24:00.001-07:002014-08-10T14:24:27.833-07:00Best Music 2010
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Best of 2010<o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Another year in a series in which the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">perne in a gyre</span></i> phenomenon enabled, distributed and
fragmented my interests so randomly that there is no core to this list, no
earth-shaking pop-culture watershed moments… the Market is overlord, consumer
unit re-framing and digital tracking allow the fine-tuning of my aural
amusements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find more obscure and finely
honed satisfactions, but perhaps finally (after 45 of these year-end exercises)
the Church of Rock and Roll has gone out of business and bolted its doors of
perception shut (although some metal peeks are on [and peaks in] my list for
the first time in a long time).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Center does not hold; the disintegration of which leaves (left) bright specks
that outline a profile of a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spiritus mundi</span></i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
of the best years of music in a while for me, albeit tidbits of perfect
construction, no large virus-resistant generational definitions. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The artifice of eternity?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
life everlasting, just some <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">brief and fading moments</span></i>
of life right now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="articletitle1"><b style="mso-ansi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b></span><!--[endif]--><span class="articletitle1"><b><span style="color: #152437; font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Nik Bartsch's Ronin – Llyria</span></span></b></span><span class="articletitle1"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="articletitle1"><b style="mso-ansi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #152437; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">They call it Zen funk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is meditative and insistent Swiss jazz,
that measures out syncopation in spoonfuls of post-African groove, with
multiple time-signatures concurrently running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If you try to count it out, or track the arrangements with any
compositional analysis you’ll appreciate the reasoned and evolved compilation
and ordering of its musical ideas. A clockwork precision; they are Swiss after
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that’s not it; it’s the melodic
intensity and the insistent mystery of its driving rhythms that recall the
moments before our corporeal conception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just as the Rolling Stones gave back Muddy Waters in a new universe, Mr.
Bartsch gives back A Love Supreme, without love, but with a cool and calculated
empty dancing of the highest order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yin
gives up yang, order is the metric of chaos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Pass me the Heidegger.</span></span></b></span><span class="articletitle1"><b style="mso-ansi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Alps – Le Voyage<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Played more than
anything else this year, some of it is embarrassingly pretty…to accompany <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>credits rolling for a “quirky but quiet”
RomSitCom circa 1973… it’s whole world is some Mendocino/Frankfurt universe of
the early 70’s where we’re luxuriating in an herbal fog <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mit </span></i>candles
while the Baader Meinhoff Group do the heavy lifting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wah wahs and sitars and drum circles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The music sounds like quiet un-released
outtakes from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Popol Vuh </span></i>or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Can… </span></i>although
they are really young musicians from trendy neighborhoods in SF. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fragments recall hippie poets from Chile living
in the Marais and a montage of shopping on Portobello Road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tea and sympathy restored to the throne of
the post-Rock of the Obama era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A fuzz
tone here, an acoustic jangle, the slow and deliberate drum break, the
stretched out <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">space</span></i> still possible, drones of
the highest order.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps a simulation
of lost innocence like this can only happen if there are no voices; and here
are only instruments and their memory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The music is richly seasoned head food and palliative chill pill,
reminiscent of a time when pulling things apart wasn’t entropic, but rather
preparatory to some new and improved Production value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe this music only opens up if the
listener has lived something that no longer exists, or plays it hundreds of
times in a row.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It did, I did, I did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pass me the lighter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Four Tet – There is Love in You<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">A disco beat?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But this trance-like invitation sounds both sophisticated (adult) and
blameless (young).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “good for all
ages and purposes” nature of the music did mean it stayed in the car CD player
for six months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The arc of post-rock
instrumentals have traveled now from party-soundtrack to jazzy compositions
with electronic treatments and runway vocal scraps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hey, maybe looking good is the greatest
revenge after all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every recorded sound
bit, although often analog in origin, is placed in software-friendly loops,
hips and hops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kieran Hebdon has created
rhythmic explorations that, for once, are not even remotely “soundtracks” or
sound-dance-tracks, but rather are challenging and pleasing reminders that
repetition can be incrementally powerful, that stops and starts can wake up the
hearing, that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">insistence</span></i> is often a kind of
beauty, and that lucid sounds can throw light on the matter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pass me the credit card, I’m flying to Milan.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Paul Motian – Lost in a Dream <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">In
years past I didn’t include my jazz forays much in these lists unless it was
hybrid jazz (Nils Pettar Molvaer).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
didn’t think they were fair to measure against the rock power, and I didn’t
always trust my own knowledge of the technical underpinning of the jazz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for a long time I’ve listened to
quasi-rock, ambient, electronic music in the same way as jazz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s uneven still (how could Charles<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lloyd not be better than anything else in
this top ten).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Motian’s
compositions’ astonishing beauty and calm, serious resolve hold their place
here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is, after all, a
supergroup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chris Potters’ classic and
noble sax, the inventive roadmap of Jason Moran’s piano, and the challenging
and definitive drumming of Motian stir the heart effortlessly, just as they
appeal to the intellect and the sense of history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In sounding absolutely mature and classic,
this trio has made the most beautiful music of the year… and in this beauty
there is a truth lost in the clamor of the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Quiet is the new eternal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pass
the Original Consciousness.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Radio Dept – Clinging to a Scheme
<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The first half is a
resurrection of indy economic design , earnest and melodic, with a dialogue
between the vocals and guitars that are remindful of great Brit-Pop (sometimes
Blue Nile, sometimes Prefab Sprout, always nasal white-eyed soul).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bittersweet but perky music to tap the
steering wheel while stopped in traffic; mid-tempo reminders not to worry about
traffic at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sweetness earned by
that weird Scandinavian student-of-music-history in which the source is
obscured and nailed in one guitar hook, or bridge, or snare drum tightness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It loses steam, even at less than 40 minutes
of music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pop moment may only last
90 seconds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what a glorious reminder
of what those 90 seconds can do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pass me
the guidebook to Mykonos.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Matthew Dear – Black City<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">So if most of my
best-loved music this year is “calming” or retro-leaning post-rock, this is
danceable and neurotic dark urban tenseness that seems right now, even if it is
“intelligent” dance music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Proving that
“tribal” can be as modern as a phone-app and as nerve-wracking as double
espressos at midnight, and that snide grandeur can be relevant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And midnight is this music’s time signature,
with just the occasional legato of pre-dawn after-hours chill room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its requisite retro quotations are more Wire
and Psycho Killer than Prince and the Cure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And the guy’s double-tracked voice slays me; part David Byrne and part
club kid of the Bush the Second era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
so under it all is a healthy dose of David Bowie in all his Man Who Sold the World
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to Thin White Duke affects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fashion could, provisionally, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">conceivably </span></i>still be a tool of subversion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jury’s still out, but this is good music
until their pizza arrives and they return with a verdict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I defy your buttocks muscles not to keep time
to some of these beats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But defiance is
less the order of Dear’s day than narrative;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the lyrics paint a nicely grim picture of Dead Dancers with a hunger to
tell their story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think one song is
about a universal need for plastic surgery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rope a dope humor and missed opportunities taken for granted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pass me the bottled water, I think I’m
getting dehydrated.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sun Kil Moon – Admiral Fell
Promises<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">When I made the first
draft of this list l had this far down … around 50.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that was so unfair to Kozelek and my own
penchant for “pretty” and mournful music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I listened to this so many times I took it for granted… as though it
were Joni Mitchell’s Blue or Andres Segovia or salt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His songs are linearly challenging… and one
often seems to run into another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some
are so heavily arranged (for only a voice and acoustic nylon-stringed guitar) that
often what seems like three songs sees the original theme return and you
realize you’ve been on a aural journey that is both simple acoustic folk
singing, and a mysterious “chamber music” of some foggy San Francisco afternoon
neighborhood walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The flamenco,
cocktail lounge guitar flourishes frame his inimitably stark and descriptive
lyrics about places, experiences, disappointments and gratitude of bay-area
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Half Moon Bay was the only song of
the year that made me cry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pass me the
Beatnik schmaltz.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Black Angels – Phosphene
Dream<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Oddly, this is the
only music in the top ten that probably could be dreamed up by scruffy kids in
a garage (as opposed to laptops in the bedroom), so rock is on the critical
list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They offer even some blues chord
changes and simple two part-harmonies framed by a “yeah” here, and a “hey, hey,
hey” there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every now and then they seem
ready to go into a droning extended workout, but the songs, true to their <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nuggets</span></i> heritage stay around or even under three minutes
long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they are songs with starts and
stops that have nothing to do with each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Best of all there is an echo of the great southwest, and one song
“Entrance Song” is the power-pop hit of the year… what a teenage delight to
hear the rumble crank up and (no, really, Native American chants) propelling
the drive… behind the wheel of a V8, these kids are probably more popular in
West End London than either Austin or West L:A.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I mean, music not just for driving, but music <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">about</span></i>
driving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pass the ketchup.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Twin Shadows – Forget </span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Exactly why morose
crooning (ala Morrissey, Depeche Mode), delivered without an ounce of irony and
humor, should be relatively authentic in 2010 is mysterious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a tribute that programmed 80’s drums
and washes of synths and Cure-ish guitar figures are not all the same, that
from some a strong pop song can produce yearning in any year, despite Sheila E
dance moves and fey hair-producted club boy ennui.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the answer to the mystery is the
romantic hunger at the base of the guy’s writing and singing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eternal pubescent insecurity and discomfort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It feels like the gym’s decorated for the
prom-still-in-our-lungs, lights low, a few girls dancing with each other, the
punch bowls on the tables, the drugs not yet kicking in… none of us fit in, the
future is still as dark as yesterday, we struggle for breath,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…well, it is 2010 after all then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pass the calendar.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Brian Eno –
Small Craft on a Milk Sea<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">At first I was
disappointed… in part because of high expectations of the Progenitor of the
kind of music I listen to most.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also it
seemed like the soundtrack-improvisations in parts were too thin, and the
rhythmic louder segments were noisy by contrast, not a counterpoint to the
morphine drips and drifts of the rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But slowly the parts sunk in, and I heard the thread connecting it
all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even in his later years the great
composer still touches the depths of the psyche by keeping these sonic
fragments seamlessly superficial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although his musical foundation is Satie, ultimately his tunes are Jungian;
and are arranged and treated with an elegance not known nor understood by his
Progeny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pass the neurotransmitters<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Barn Owls
– Ancestral Star <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Continuing their laudable
experiments with drones and simple and primal textures.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lower Dens –
Twin Hand Movement <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Also a fine jangle
and drone with Baltimore’s best female vocalist doing a Robert Smith treatment
to its full song.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Junip -
Fields<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Another Scandinavian
student of music, albeit with a Spanish guitar heritage. Atmospheric and
insistent, if in a balanced and gentle Yo La Tengo way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">M.
Ostermeier – Chance Reconstruction <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Electronic and
acoustic fragments building soundscapes of chilly beauty.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Emeralds –
Does it Look Like I’m Here<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Post rock
instrumental jamming and tightly arranged<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">etudes</span></i> of what<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fits in today’s<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ambient light.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">16.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Ariel Pink –
Haunted Graffiti <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">A messy closet of pop
music, fully retro in its hide-and-seek “this is a hit” standards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Round and Round</span></i>
is the song of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">17.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Christian
Scott –Yesterday You Said Tomorrow <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Moving jazz from
something historical to something very future-oriented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The new wave of post-millennial cool and
noisy jazz. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">18.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Books –
The Way Out<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Self-help gurus,
found sounds, social anthropology, and a smidge of electronic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">19.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Tallest
Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">The best Bob Dylan
record since the 70’s and the best pure folk record of the decade by a Swedish
political singer who has no sense of how funny it is he sounds exactly like Bob
Dylan.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">20.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">laan Kol –
III <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Shards of guitar
feedback from the guitarist from Thuja.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">21.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">LCD Soundsystem –
This is Happening<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">22.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I Am Not A Gun –
Solace<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">23.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Charles Lloyd -Mirror
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">24.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pantha du Prince –
Black Noise<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">25.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kylesa – Spiral
Shadow<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">26.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Burkina Electric -
Paspanga <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">27.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Drums – The Drums<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">28.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Wild Night – Gemini <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">29.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><strong><b style="mso-ansi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabete</span></span></b></strong><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">30.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Phantogram -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eyelid Movies <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">31.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The National – High
Violet<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><strong><b style="mso-ansi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">32.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span></b></strong><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Paul Weller – Wake Up the Nation<strong><b style="mso-ansi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></strong></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><strong><b style="mso-ansi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">33.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span></b></strong><!--[endif]--><strong><b style="mso-ansi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Ketil Bjornstad – Remembrance</span></span></b></strong><strong><b style="mso-ansi-font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></strong></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">34.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><strong><b style="mso-ansi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Retribution Gospel Choir - II</span></span></b></strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">35.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Gonjasufi – A Sufi
and a Killer<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">36.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Caribou – Swim<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">37.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Johan Johannsson -
& In the Endless Pause Came the Sound of Bees<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">38.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Loscil – Endless
Falls<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">39.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Tomas Stanko – Dark
Eyes<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">40.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">David Hidalgo/Louie
Perez – The Long Goodbye<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">41.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kanye West – My
Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">42.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Tame Impala –
Innerspeaker<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">43.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Manu Katche – Third
Round<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">44.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Deerhunter – Halcyon
Digest <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">45.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Mount Kimbie – Crooks
and Liars<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">46.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Titus Andronicus –
The Monitorand <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">47.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Seu Jorge and Almaz<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">48.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Black Keys –
Brothers<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">49.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Olafur Arnalds -
& They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">50.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Los Lobos – Tin Can
Trust<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">51.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Crocodiles – Sleep
Forever<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">52.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Arcade Fire – The
Suburbs<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">53.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">M. Ostermeier –
Lakefront<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">54.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Nathaniel Ratlieff –
In Memory of Loss<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">55.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Flying Lotus -
Cosmogramma<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">56.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Warpaint – The Fool<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">57.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Surfer Blood – Astrocoast<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">58.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Voice of Seven
Thunders – Voice of Seven Thunders<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">59.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Cancha Via Circuito –
Rio Arriba<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">60.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Retribution Gospel
Choir - 2<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">61.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Beach House – Dream
House<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">62.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Shining - Blackjazz<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">63.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Neil Young – Le Noise<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">64.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Bilial – Airtight’s
Revenge<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">65.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Love Remains – How to
Dress Well<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">66.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kylesa – The Sprial
Shadow<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">67.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Besnard Lakes –
Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">68.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Black Keys -
Brothers<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">69.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Spoon - Transference<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">70.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">No Age – Everything
in Between<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">71.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Liars - Sisterworld<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">72.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><strong><b style="mso-ansi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Erykah Badu</span></span></b></strong><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> - </span></span></b><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">New
Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">)<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">73.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">74.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jason Moran - Ten</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">75.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Agalloch – Marrow of
the Spirit<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">76.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Sade – Soldier of Love (deal with it bitches)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">77.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Vampire Weekend - Contra</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">78.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Lali Puna – Out
Inventions<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">79.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Hold Steady –
Heaven is Whenever<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">80.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Gil Scott Heron – I’m
New Here<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">81.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Local Natives –
Gorilla Manor<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">82.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Big Boi – Sir
Luscious Left Foot<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">83.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Red River –
Little Songs<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>about the Big Picture<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">84.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Broken Bells – Broken
Bells<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">85.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jamie Johnson – The
Guitar Song<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">86.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">DJ Rupture - Solar
Life Raft <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">87.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Josh Ritter – So Runs
the World Away<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">88.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Sufjan Stevens – The
Age of Adz<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">89.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Alejandro Escovedo –
Streetsongs of Love<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">90.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Janelle Monae – The
Archandroid<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">91.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Tamikrest - Adagh<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">92.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jonsi – Go<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">93.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Bostich and Fussible
– Bulevar 2000<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">94.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Hacienda – Big Red
and Barbacoa<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">95.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">John Legend and the
Roots – Wake Up<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">96.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pat Metheny –
Orchestrion<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">97.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Build an Ark – Love 2<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">98.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">High Dials – Anthems
for Doomed Youth<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">99.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Sleigh Bells – Treats<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 40.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">100.<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Shearwater – The Golden Archipelago<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-56930832692373321192014-08-10T14:22:00.002-07:002014-08-10T14:22:35.717-07:00Best Music 2009
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
Finally<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I need to drop my OCD lens through which I
viewed the music of 2009.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here are my
top 80 albums of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A year which
confirmed that the center does not hold, but the periphery still is
interesting.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in left 51.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Nils Petter Movaer – Hamada <o:p></o:p></b></li>
</ol>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
More than just
nailing Miles’ timbre and phrasing, compositionally Molvaer has absorbed the
less-is-more quietude of the cool space while also accessing the hammering-Home
of world music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No longer only a pretty
good Miles imitation, this Norwegian makes a rich brew good for bitches in Berlin
and beaches on Ibiza.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He continues his
recent moves from Oslo dance dub to more serious tribal chants and foundsound
ethnomusicology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whereas in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Khmer</i> he was trying this music on to see
if you liked it, here he is leaving you to wonder where he went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His melodic lines are more than space,
thirdspace, hyperspace, they are timeless reminders that from dust ye came and
dust ye will return.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Open code horizons;
sample-ready void. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His reedy, windy
blowing now sounds more like a shofar or conch, or perhaps even taps… but it is
sunset, there are the initiates assembling, there’s a ritual afoot, there is
beauty in this end thing, but I am not sure you are invited. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mancando.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in left 51.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Hassell – Last Night the Moon
Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street <o:p></o:p></b></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
A quietly prepared
living space of sampled sound<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and a
timeless post-jazz language in/with which his treated trumpet and a group of
nimble world musicians make composition sound like improvisation and
improvisation sound like composition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
always, this is from some alternate universe, perhaps even, in its array of
choices made, a multiverse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as he
gets older (and as he melts his inimitable influence on the ECM label vibe)
things are still mysterious, but without anxiety.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lunar beauty of this music may be walked
around <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in without clothes, but it is
neither sex nor insanity nor old age that makes the moon nude.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s airing it all out (and Hassell may have
taught Molvaer as much about space as Miles).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The cool night air is good on the ceremonial skin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">arranged </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for renewal and
ease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">feng shui</i> of the soul; all things open to the window where the
moonlight falls in and it’s all things in moderation for now. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chop wood, carry water, record sounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Misterioso</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="3" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in left 51.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wooden Birds – Magnolia<o:p></o:p></b></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
Whatever became of
American Analog Set?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It (Andrew Kenny) supposedly
has returned to roots america from the big city savvy of AAS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And there is indeed a warmth to the little
guitar figures and the simplicity of the song structures and there is a Texas
ease to the pace and delivery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing
rushed, all in its time and place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
like the Cure (whose poppiest plinky guitar runs resonate in Magnolia) when the
melodic moments burrow into your psyche<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(you will hum them without choosing) they take very disturbing
narratives along with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These mellow
trance melodies, simple guitar songs, and hypnotic arrangements <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>are hosts for something much more than disturbing
than what is first apparent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Intimo</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="4" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in left 51.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix<o:p></o:p></b></li>
</ol>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
Irresistible
francopop take on a heartland indy band’s (circa 1997) take on California rock
(circa 1978) which, oddly, sounds like 1980’s new wave and yet nothing like
David Bowie at all, but would sound good in a café on some less trodden Greek
Isle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Smart Germans in Cuernavaca.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which also affirms that this “rock” from
France sounds like what The Notwist’s followup to Neon Golden should have
sounded like and didn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Filled with
pernicious hooks and infectious beats which don’t reveal more with each listen,
but do, eventually, seem like this is music that always existed for you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Months later you return and here are<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>songs<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>that gloss loneliness, but also are radically comforting in their
familiarity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Retro isn’t like it used to
be; but these guys are brilliant. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scherzo.</i>
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="5" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Atlas Sound – Logos<o:p></o:p></b></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
Where does retro move from strategy
to pathology? While the very notion of deconstructive music may seen passé it
seems this 6’6” freak of nature’s project is to pull apart every pop music that
was ever a source of his eternally adolescent’s solace, and in the amoral
detritus of what’s left find new dancesteps in the hall of shame that his
abstinence from and incapacity for human contact leaves standing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nuggets from a garage rock if there were
garages and private transportation still standing in his New World of the New
Word made into all too corruptible flesh and made to substantiate an c chord’s transformation
to an a minor. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ma Non Troppo</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="6" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in left 51.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mount Eerie – Winds Poem <o:p></o:p></b></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
The oddest
combination of electronic ambience, black metal-like droning and a white noise
amplitude from which the unstable americana folksinger voice of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phil Elverum<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>earnestly emerges to sing about the scruffy temporal<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>nature of eternal Nature and the ultimately
serious comfort of rocks, trees and weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both the wide-spectrum roar of its loud parts and obsessive quiet of its
quiet moments are relentlessly serious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Usually I infuse everything I hear, see, and know with a sense of
mortality, but this is all that and more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And as the zeitgeist returns to metal and darkness, this reframes that
very serious truth that we will all die in lyrical metaphors (albeit
clubfootedly dumb) embedded in dark ambient sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yeah, like… <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Grave</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="7" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in left 51.0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Staff Benda Bilili – Tres Tres Fort <o:p></o:p></b></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
On the other hand…
street homeless musicians from some Congolese urban hell, or so it’s portrayed
for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are asked to listen to the
homemade instruments, and the way that pure passion for song can make the rough
edges only steps to the sublime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may
be all true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These vagrants are not
aimless;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they focus intently and
collaboratively on the heart of music’s need to assuage pain, to remind anyone
anywhere that the right rhythm (which is monumentally right here), melody,
harmonics, and hunger in the voice Makes Up for Everything.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Eroico.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; tab-stops: 51.0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="8" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The
Pains of Being Pure at Heart <o:p></o:p></b></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
This is a music that sounds so simply
retro and skillfully hones in on a particular ringing guitar tone and insistent
anti-fashionable 80’s vocal (best found in the women’s voices) of “extreme
confidence” that it signals the (apparent) return of cocaine. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Particularly arcane exposition of musical
superficiality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The surface abides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
suppose that it is a guilty pleasure that only enhances the buzz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Party music to take behind closed doors; a
knowing nod from its guileless hooks and sing-along choruses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ll hate yourself in the morning, but oh
what lovely light for about 40 minutes… <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Poco più allegro<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p> </o:p></i></div>
<br />
<ol start="9" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Amadou & Mariam – Welcome to Mali <o:p></o:p></b></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
Not as much as some afropop, but
here is that wonderful blend of western instruments, worldview constructions,
sexual joy, and syncopation that sounds, to me, like the best Salsa ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They may have that layered rhythmic
counterpoint string percussion afrocomplexity at its core, but when they sing
in any language I hear a call for rum and see lovely Cuban women highstepping
it in what is only possible in the latin space of the new world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Welcome to Santiago…. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vivace.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="10" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport<o:p></o:p></b></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
A roaring IDM electronic reminder
to pay closer attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That in the old
days there was a difference between the Marshalls being turned up to 8 and
10.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The relative uses of electronic
powersurges scour the skeptics’ resistance to this kiddy ecstatic noise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like the rawest rock, this pretty rage needs
headphones or an empty house to crank it and the listener to the limits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This redlining isn’t angry though, just a
life of not-at-all-quiet desperation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
think sometimes in the fabric of these decades I hear the apocalypse most
clearly in those tracks of laptop invention which impell the long nights of
compulsive dance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This makes the
endtimes seem pretty desperate indeed, demanding that what is happy show its
goddam face right now. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crescendo.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="11" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Assemble
Head in Sunburst Sound – When Sweet Sleep Returned<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">XX –
XX <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Tim
Hecker – An Imaginary Country <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Kings
of Convenience – Declaration of Dependence<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Bibio
– <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Ambivalence Avenue</st1:address></st1:street>
<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Seasons
- Undone <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in left 51.0pt;">Yo
La Tengo – Popular Songs <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Girls
- Album <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Volcano
Choir – Unmap<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">David
Bazan – Curse Your Branches<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in left 51.0pt;">Peter
Broderick – Music for Falling From Trees <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in left 51.0pt;">William
Fowler Collins – Perdition Hill Radio<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in left 51.0pt;">The
Drones - Havilah<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Horrors – Primary Colors <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Sleepy
Sun – Embrace<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Enrico
Rava – <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state></st1:place>
Days<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Fever
Ray – Fever Ray<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Sonic
Youth -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Eternal<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Jim
O’Rourke and Loren Conners – Two Nice Catholic Boys<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Mother
Hips – Pacific Dust<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Barn
Owl – From Our Mouths a Perpetual Embrace<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Yeah
Yeah Yeah – It’s Blitz<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pumping
beats and confident 80’s vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wall of noise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grrl group
with no axe to grind. <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Real
Estate – Real Estate<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Steve
Kuhn Trio – Mostly Coltrane<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Toumani
Diabate & Ali Farka Touri – In the Heart of the Moon <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Elegi
– Varde <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Cystal
Antlers – Tentacles<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Benji
Hughes – A Love Extreme<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Vijay
Iyer Trio - Hisotricity<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Mulatu
Astatke & The Heliocentrics – Inspiration Information<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url?_encoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=music&field-artist=B.J.%20Nilsen%20and%20Stilluppsteypa"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">B.J.
Nilsen and Stilluppsteypa</span></a> – Man From <st1:place w:st="on">Deep
River</st1:place><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Memory
Tapes – Seek Magic <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Joshua
Redmon - Compass<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Kim
Kashkashian - Neharot<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Buddie
and Julie Miller – Written in Chalk<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Dub
Collossus – A Town Called Addis<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Andy
Sheppard – Movements in Color<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Taken
by Trees – East of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Eden</st1:city></st1:place><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Mountain Goats – The Life of the World to Come<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Califone
-<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All My Friends Are Funeral
Singers <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Akron</st1:city></st1:place> Family – Set Em
Wild, Set ‘em Free<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Oumou
Sangare - Seya<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Wilco
- Wilco<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Bonnie
Prince Billie – Beware<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Sao
Paolo Underground – The Principle of Intrusive Relationships<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Kurt
Vile – Childish Prodigy<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Animal
Collective – Merriweather Post <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Bob
Dylan – Together Through Life<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Meat
Puppets – Sewn Together<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Wooden
Shjips – Dos<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">David
Ware - Shakti<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in left 51.0pt;">Neon
Indian - Psychic Chasms <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in left 51.0pt;">Ion
Balke – Siwan<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Portugal</st1:country-region></st1:place>
the Man – Satanic Satanist<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Bill
Calahan – Sometimes I Wish I Were an Eagle<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Mastodon
– Crack the Skye<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Gizzly
Bear – Vecktimist<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">David
Grubbs – An Optimist Notes the Dusk<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Dead Weather – Horehound<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">John
Doe & the Sadies – Country Club<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Tosca
– No Hassle<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Kim
Kashkashian - Neharot<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Lou
Barlow – Goodnight Unkown<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Molina
and Johnson<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Neko
Case – Middle Cyclone<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Tom
Harrell – Prana Dance<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">David
Sylvain – Manfon<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Lucero
– 1320 Overton Park<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Jason
Molina – Josephine<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Bella
Hardy – Night Visiting<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-62910388233735157002014-08-10T14:21:00.000-07:002014-08-10T14:21:05.379-07:00Best Music 2008
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Harry’s 44<sup>th</sup> Annual Top
Ten in the Form of Top Seventy for 2008<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">And I saw another mighty angel
come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head,
and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire ... and he
set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth .... And the
angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to
heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever ... that there should be
time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he
shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished ....<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I thought it was a very good year for music, although strangely the whole
top 30 could be re-arranged with some justification.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing stood out, no trends, no
astonishments, just the continuation of the abyss of birds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">April
– Sun Kil Moon<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Lazy and sad folk rock in the <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:state> style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One cut even Jackson Browne via pleading emo
reductionism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although a grouping of very
different songs, by the end it seems like the same song ten times over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is a good song, with either acoustic
clear ringing Lucky Man guitar or thick and growling alt-country richness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes you need to step up, show some
sack, and be the wimpy folkie for these scary times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Folks follow you down <st1:city w:st="on">San
Francisco</st1:city> streets and there is fog rolling in the <st1:place w:st="on">Golden
Gate</st1:place> of middle life consciousness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although chances are it’s blood not flowers in the hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s late in the day, if early in the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>April is, after all, the cruelest month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flame so low for the End of Time; tea’s on tap
in the wasteland.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Dig!!
Lazarus! Dig! - <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Nick</st1:placename>
<st1:placename w:st="on">Cave</st1:placename></st1:place> and the Bad
Seeds<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Although there is the expected
Cavian death/sex/God triangulation, and it’s particularly sharp-tongued in this
version, what’s notably different from past NCBS efforts is the band loosed to swing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chunky grooves for the nasty bar band at the
Terminal lounge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jump and jive for the
Jeremiad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The best prayers are still
born in this nightmare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dear God,
explain this shit if you can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
mean time, get up out of your morbid funk and shake your
booty-full-of-miracles.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="3" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Microcastle
– Deerhunter<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
World-weary was always a primary
color in the indie palette, and brightens up this invitation Into My Room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Re-introducing new waves of three chord Brit-pop
to the post-millennial ear via the Nuggets collection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seemingly proving once again that the best
students of music history also blur the sources, if not the Source.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That seems still consistent with Popmusic’s
timeless jukebox of adolescent angst and masturbatory self-importance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The production both brightens and dulls
unexpectedly, keeping the listener off balance and reminding that this isn’t
familiar territory after all. An essay on the glory of B-side past glory; potsherds
from the detritus of forgotten band practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After, well, all.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="4" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><em><span style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Með suð í
eyrum við spilum endalaust</span></em><span style="color: black;">- Sigur
Ros</span><o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<span style="color: black;">Vintage
rock guitar grandeur is still in place, if only in this cargo cult oddity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But moving beyond the broadband Nordic
bombast to carefully stated lyricism is what takes this to the top five.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I no longer care that the labored verses are
unintelligible when the timbre and earnestness of the voices, human and electronic,
are so insistent and guileless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it
has a peppery grassy aftertaste to follow the citrus-oak nose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Goes well with global warming and bank
failures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="5" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Directions
to See a Ghost – The Black Angels<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Mushrooms and clouds, shovel-ready
psychedelic clues, and a sweet re-dedication to the drone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the globalized environment <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Berlin</st1:place></st1:state>, Pandora’s Box
and Austin seem to be each other’s zones of proximal development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids in the garage proving that yes you
Can,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tune up, drop this, turn it up, and
clear out the neural pathways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Everything old is neu again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Zeitgeist in the eternal if artificial machines. Mystery and detection;
gumshoegaze,<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="6" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">For
Emma – Bon Iver<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Shining lovesongs from the
loneliest boy in town. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was dreaming of
what a man had said and I was hoping it was a lie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Proving once again that longing and loss, no matter
what beautiful music it makes, hurts like hell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No question the most artful songcraft of the year, but the instrumental
arrangements and the falsetto that convey these stories beg the question as to whether
any of these dreamy tales would stand the light of another day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More than anything else on this list I wonder
what this will sound like in ten years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It might not even last until dawn, or it might set up house in the
eternal present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is its principled
message, there is no way of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">knowing.</i> <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="7" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Devil, You and Me – The Notwist <o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Jangly guitars and wall of sound
have a new lease on that half-life the Germans seems adept at living in.
Something about this music seems like the band has other more important things
to do; so effortless is the tightly paced instrumentation, flattened out
vocals, episodic electronics, and beat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the thrown away, thrown in, the Dasein of the slight music has a
subversive urgency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may be a weakly
sung presence, but it’s all that’s I have left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ich la tengo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Teutonic Wilco. The
good lies win indeed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="8" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Stay
Positive – Hold Steady <o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Soccer hooligan mom’s soundtrack
for celebrations commemorating the slim margin between anti-social culture wars
and criminal drug addiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There but
for fortune go you or I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God’s grace
only is sufficient to stay positive when you are jonesing for a rebirth of
wonder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wide swath of guitar army
riffing to clean the palate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s time
gentlemen, it’s time to dance this mess around again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="9" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Malady
of Elegance – Goldmund<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Minimal piano landscapes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lovely proportional melodies with mindfulness
aplenty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this idiom’s linguistic
turn is the space that these fragments fill and empty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The simplicity of the sound about sound can
be heard in the mechanical squeaks and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>scratches and clunks of the piano’s keys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The physicality of the sound is music about
music that is both atavistic regression and lyrical speculation about what’s
for dinner, which, clearly, is served clearly and most likely on good
china..<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="10" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Uproot
- DJ Rupture<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Far from the Phuket of song and
legend, this world beat trails off into surprising tangents, still danceable
and still Phresh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clicks and found sound
and dub step, and dirty electronics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
is a cerebral highlight reel of eco-tourism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Its sound punches holes in the air, and skillfully drives the car by
itself off into the Dark Night of the Soul, as dancing on the edge was never so
organized, so referenced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This ravenous
collection has a bibliography of some rigor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Just when you thought IDM was turning all vinegary. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="11" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Made
in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Dakar</st1:city></st1:place> –
Orchestra Baobob<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Songs
for the Broken Hearted – Windy and Carl<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Treny –
Jacazek <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Re-Vision
- Nils Pettar Molvaer<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Lie in
Light – <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Cloudland</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Canyon</st1:placetype></st1:place><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Lie
Down in the Light – Bonnie “Prince” Billy<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">No Age
- Nouns<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">24
Postcards – Max Richter <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Litany
of Echoes, James Blackshaw <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Devotion
- Beach House<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Nina
de Fuego - Buika<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Rook –
Shearwater<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Caesura
- Helios<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Visiter – The Dodos<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Uno -
Juana Molina<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Venus
on Earth – Dengue Fever<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Doomsayer’s
<st1:place w:st="on">Holiday</st1:place> – Grails<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Holon</st1:city></st1:place> - <span style="color: black;">Nik Bärtsch</span><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Wamato
– Les Amazones de Guinee<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">In the
Future – <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Black</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Mountain</st1:placetype></st1:place><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Motion
to Rejoin – Brightblack Morning Light <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Alegranza
– El Guincho<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Fleet
Foxes – Fleet Foxes<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Black
Sleep – Jasper, TX<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Rocky Road – Damien Dempsey<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">At War
with Walls and Mazes – Son Lux<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Laulu
Laakson Kikista<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Paavoharju<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Let
the Blind Lead Those Who Cannot See – Atlas Sound<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Seldom
Seen Kid – Elbow<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Retribution
Gospel Choir – Retribution Gospel Choir<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="color: black;">The End of a Summer - Julia Hülsmann </span><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Dome -
Enders<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">January
– Marcin Wasliewski <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Third
– Portishead<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Rainshadow
Sky – Jeff Pearce<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Week That Was – The Week That Was<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Float
– Peter Broderick<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Saturdays
= Youths – M83<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">In
Field and Town – Hayden<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The <st1:place w:st="on">Black Sea</st1:place> - Fennesz <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Taksim
Trio – Taksim Trio<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Ear</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Park</st1:placetype></st1:place> – Department of Eagles<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">22
Dreams – Paul Weller<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Oracular
Spectacular – MGMT<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">II –
The <st1:place w:st="on">Alps</st1:place><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">All I
Intended to Be – Emmylou Harris<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Evil
Urges – My Morning Jacket<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Midnight Organ Flight – Frightened Rabbit<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Es
Tiempo - Alla<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">At War
with Walls and Mazes – Son Lux<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Vampire
Weekend - Vampire Weekend<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><st1:place w:st="on">Rio</st1:place> - Aterciopelados<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Con
Otro Aire - Chambao<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:city></st1:place> – Flying
Lotus<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Glasvegas
- Glasvegas<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">In
Ghost – Cut Copy<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Golden Age – American Music Club<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Miles
from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>
- Various Artists<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Dear
Science – TV on the Radio<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Songs
in A & E - Spiritualized<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-27535465497110732682014-08-10T14:19:00.002-07:002014-08-10T14:19:39.945-07:00Best Music 2007
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Sound of Silver – LCD Soundsystem<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Sojourner – Magnolia Electric Co.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Sky Blue Sky – Wilco<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Person Pitch – Panda Bear<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Untrue – Burial<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->Neon Bible – Arcade Fire<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->And Their Refinement of the Decline – Stars of the Lid <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->In Rainbows – Radiohead <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span><!--[endif]-->The Reminder – Feist<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="ES" style="mso-ansi-language: ES;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="ES" style="mso-ansi-language: ES;">La Radiolina – Manu Chao<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->S
–Sylvain Chauveau<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Ayres
– Helios<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Mirrored
– Battles<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Above
the Trees – Paul Duncan <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Comicopera
– Robert Wyatt<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">16.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->The
Cloud of Unknowing – James Blackshaw<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">17.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Tan
Tan Therapy – Tenniscoats<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">18.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->The
Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse – The Besnard Lakes<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">19.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Armchair
Apocrypha – Andrew Bird <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">20.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->The
Search – Son Volt<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">21.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->8
– Supersilent<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">22.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->The
Boxer – The National<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="ES" style="mso-ansi-language: ES;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">23.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="ES" style="mso-ansi-language: ES;">Ga ga ga ga ga – Spoon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="ES" style="mso-ansi-language: ES;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">24.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="ES" style="mso-ansi-language: ES;">Liars – Liars<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">25.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Cryptograms
– Deerhunter<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">26.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Tropism
– Bexar Bexar<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">27.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Cease
to Begin – Band of Horses<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">28.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->From
Here We Go Sublime – The Field <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">29.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Feil
Knapp - Bjorn Torske<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">30.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Fourteen
Automns and Fifteen Winters – The Twilight Sad<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">31.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->The
Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter – Josh Ritter<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">32.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->The
Long-Term Physical Effects are not Known – Jay Jay Johnson<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">33.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Whistleblower
– Vladislav Delay<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">34.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Steingarten
– Pole<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">35.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Chrome
Dreams – Neil Young<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">36.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->The
Words and the Days – Enrico Rava<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">37.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Random
Spirit Lover – Sunset Rubdown<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">38.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->In
a Nutshell – Pelle Carlberg<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">39.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Night
Falls over Kortedala – Jens Lekman<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">40.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Formal
Sleep – Ateleia<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="ES" style="mso-ansi-language: ES;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">41.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="ES" style="mso-ansi-language: ES;">Andorra – Caribou<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">42.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Street
Warrior – Richard Thompson<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">43.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->You
Have a Problem with Me – Julian Cope<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-66467213104358657242014-08-10T14:18:00.001-07:002014-08-10T14:18:09.927-07:00Best Music 2006
<br />
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Califone
– Roots and Crowns<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">America</st1:country-region></st1:place><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Bob
Dylan – Modern Times<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Ali
Farka Toure - Savane<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Yo La
Tengo – And I Will….<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Benoit
Pioulard - Precis <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Six
Organs of Admittance – The Sun Awakens<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Autumn
Leaf – Into the Blue Again<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Grizzly
Bear – Yellow House<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Mogwai
– Mr. Beast<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Los
Lobos – The Town and the City<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span lang="ES-MX" style="mso-ansi-language: ES-MX;">Serena-Maneesh – Serena Maneesh
<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Stone
Jack Jones - Bluefolk <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">One
Second Bridge – <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">One</st1:placename>
<st1:placename w:st="on">Second</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Bridge</st1:placetype></st1:place><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Brightblack
Morning Light – Brightblack Morning Light<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Howie
Gelb – Sno Angel Like You <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Sonic
Youth – Rather Ripped<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Thom
Yorke – The Eraser<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Destroyer
– Destroyer’s Rubies<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Belle
and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Juana
Molina – Son<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Junior
Boys <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- And So This is Good Bye <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Tim
Hecker – Harmony in Ultraviolet<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Asobi
Seksu – Citrus<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Tapes
‘n Tapes – The Loon<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Charlambides
-<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Vintage Burden<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The <st1:place w:st="on">North Sea</st1:place> and Rameses III<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">B.
Fleischmann – The Humbucking Coil <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Brother Kite <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Waiting for the Time
to Be Right<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Herbert
– Scale<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Neko
Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Band
of Horses – Everything All the Time<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Placebo
– Meds<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Neil
Young – Living with War<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Lindstrom
and Thomas – Lindstrom and Thomas<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Black
Heart Procession – The Spell <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Danielson
– Ships<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">J
Dilla – Donuts<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Calexico
– Garden Ruin<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Josh
Rouse – Subtitulo<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Gotan
Project - Lunatico<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-66172284083281936002014-08-10T14:15:00.001-07:002014-08-10T14:15:15.415-07:00Best Music 2004
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Harper’s Top 40 of 2004 – God kept me
living, and music kept me alive one more year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Smells like silver-haired spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">P.J. Harvey – Uh Huh Her<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Bile
is both sexy and timeless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Head banging
is the same gesture as nodding out, only with a little more overt anger and
purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably a quirky choice for
number one, but after all the nu-folk and ambient cerebral electronics and
sappy vegan rock and <st1:place w:st="on">Ibiza-</st1:place> pop in my music
this year, I needed red meat and PJ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>always
has delivered the raw flesh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you PJ,
thank you rock and roll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pour that
fucking salt of the earth in my natal wound. “Mommy put your needle down.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Animal Collective – Sung Tongs<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Short
sweet and sour songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes
throwaway sketches, lazy or ephemeral ideas for music. Psychic placeholders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vocals as calm and friendly as your favorite
vacation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the beach after the
destruction of commercial music… ambitious post-apocalypse beach boys with
secret strains of Nino Rota.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>La Dolce
Vita as <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Baghdad</st1:place></st1:city>
glows in suicidal bomb light and the Dow flatlines.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The <st1:place w:st="on">Arcade</st1:place>
– Funeral <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kitchen
rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A compendium of pop skills-sets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You name the favorite, and you’ll hear
it<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“quoted” within three tracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A dash of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Bowie</st1:city></st1:place> and a splash of Pavement., though just
using the language they grew up with…refreshingly unassuming while being
derivative .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A brilliant work,
irresistible, cagey, classic pop sensibilities and drive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I lose interest 2/3 of the way through every
song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Astonishingly promising music that
teases and turns itself off like an iron left on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So gifted at re-creating the past of my
favorite music, the songs tire me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
spectacular debut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A pot begging to be
watched .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Blithe Sons – Arm of the Starfish<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Analog
ambient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Californian as Mendocino
fog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heads bent over guitars,
shoe-gazing in reverence more than method.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Strumming to synchronize your pulse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Continually and earnestly seeking some kind of recognizable musical
structure mostly without success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Repetitive to no purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Playable late at night or in crises… sonic laudanum conjured in the
Eternal VW bus once again stalled in the underpass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I smell sage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Dungen – Ta Det Lugnt <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Scandanavian
psychedelic and unkempt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lots of layers
for varied weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everytime you listen
you hear a wholly different kind of music being put on. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adolescent and stoned, collegiate and
studious, obsessed and inevitable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
sense<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am probably lucky I can’t
understand Swedish, the mystery of the singer’s stories are best left there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Best<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>tribute to the adenoids ever. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
don’t know whether it is a soundtrack to a silly<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roger Corman goth horror flick or Danzig’s
garage tapes or re-discovered studio masters to a long lost Arthur Lee trip to
and in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oslo</st1:place></st1:city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Wilco – A Ghost is Born<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I
had a measurably adverse reaction at first… seemed a little wimpy, and baroque
for one of my favorite bands of all time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Saw it performed live and it straightened out for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too clever by half, though with a redeeming the
love of what’s left of rock and roll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Handshake drugs all gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ashtray still has tales to tell though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still cigarette smoke hanging in the drapes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Sufjan Stevens – Seven Swans<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Art
songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who can follow the lieder?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wish he had a bit more of a sense of humor,
but his stark voice is a sharpening edge, his lyrics are Big Picture serious,
and I think he probably really does pray to Jehovah-God on a daily basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Emo Dylan…. The smooth folk ilsounds of the
21<sup>st</sup> century. God bless his abstemious little heart of
darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Count the bible verses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Count your blessings in any and all
cases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe seven? Burning offerings,
silly boy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Califone – Heron King Blues<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Rootsy
brew of danceable, trance-like folk rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Make-out music with bittersweet banjos greasing the seductive
wheels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An aural salve treated with
clanging sounds collected from dives into <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Nashville</st1:city></st1:place>’s
dumpster or Kid A.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Corn-pone dreamy lap
pop with Blonde-on-Blonde era vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Calculated and calming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Drum
circles on coastal bluffs, drive back in the brand new truck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>World music for the busy residents of the
Potomac, <st1:city w:st="on">Portland</st1:city>, and <st1:place w:st="on">Jackson
Hole</st1:place>. I smell <st1:place w:st="on">Patagonia</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">9.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Sonic Youth – Sonic Nurse<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Not
only back in form, but now they’ve outlasted all those they influenced to sound
again unique and important.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Real rock
art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their best since the 80’s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">10.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Riot on an <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Empty Street</st1:address></st1:street> – Kings of Convenience <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Absurdly
spot-on knock-offs, maybe even channeling, of Simon and Garfunkel by barely post-adolescent
Norwegian wunderkind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Production sparkly
clean and a love for pop music so deep that it overwhelms the necessary irony
that this kind of sublime pap inescapably invokes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">11.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Lanterna – Highways <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
work I played more often than any this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I let it repeat in the car for weeks at a time. Embarrassingly
Starbucks-compilation aromatherapy or soundtrack for a road movie placed in the
<st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New Mexico</st1:place></st1:state>
high desert. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Edge –clone noodles
heroically with the scent of pinon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Peaceful dinner music for the marriage supper of the lamb held in
redwood forests and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">santa fe</st1:place></st1:city>
nouvelle cafes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t help being who I
am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can you? High volume or low, the
malleable feast my days have become.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why
does this supple pretty music ready my heart?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For what?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">12.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Junior Boys – Last Exit<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I
wonder when I started liking dance music, when it started sounding like
Eno?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chilly lap-pop for the après-club,
crisply spacious, the classic combination of enervation and tense need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These boys werk their kraft with little sense
of humor which actually means the joke doesn’t stale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re Canadian but sing in a faux-german
accent the way Mick sings in a faux –<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Mississippi</st1:state></st1:place>
drawl, with similar intent and to similar good effect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">13.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Karate – Pockets<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The
only thing I liked this year that could be compared to Steely Dan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jazzy music with a voice of a singer who
swings in the syncopated swing of someone’s misspent youth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Young hippie girls spinning on the summer
lawns, boys with muttonchops bopping their heads with hands in their
pockets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jamming to the smell of
armpits, patchouli, and an afternoon cocktail in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Sausalito</st1:city></st1:place>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seventh chord prophecy for the very, very
young.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s trade partners and solos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Includes an homage to <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Pennsylvania</st1:place></st1:state> and a caution about credit card
debt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">14.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Architecture in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Helsinki</st1:place></st1:city> – Fingers Crossed<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">A
little goes a long way and this Aussie group enamored of Europop hedges on twee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately this is more a list of possible
pop ideas than pop songs with cuts lasting <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not more than 90 seconds. Chill tubas and retro-marimbas
cover the Claudine Longet vocals with simple ease.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">15.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><st1:place w:st="on"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Blue Nile</span></b></st1:place><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">
– High <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">In
the tradition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>High rock culture in the
progressive-Scottish style that never disappoints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The third release in the last 25 years by the
greatest unknown band in Brit-pop history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Classic sounding just a bit dusty, if this were only 1987….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">16.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Sun Kil Moon – Ghosts of the <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Great Highway</st1:address></st1:street><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Mark
Koselek is a better songwriter than just about anyone and dips deep into a
singer-songwriter tradition of broken-hearted troubadours (Hank Williams,
Jackson Browne, Jeff Tweedy).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the
most beautiful voices in american pop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Value-added Neil Young crunchy power chording.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hmmm, why isn’t this better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">17.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Savath and Savalas – Apro’pt<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">SF
DJ type moves to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Barcelona</st1:city></st1:place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mature southern-euro-pop results with a dash
of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Buckley’s grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sexy woman can sing anything and soothing
castellano self-assurance is good for late nights and wine bars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>OK, I admit, I’d love a month in <st1:place w:st="on">Ibiza</st1:place>, is that so wrong?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I smell hash and brie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">18.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Interpol – Antics<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Urbane
and energetic and very, very white.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Strummy guitars, style, and 80’s sonic structure, they deserve to be the
rock stars they pose as.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">19.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Hayden – Elk <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Lake</st1:placetype> <st1:placename w:st="on">Serenade</st1:placename></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Earnest
nu-folk <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Americana</st1:city></st1:place>
(as only Canadians can do).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pedal-steel
emo. Waltzes and harmonicas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lost loves
and the smell of vegan cookies baking (although there is a lyric that
references <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">creme brulee</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">20.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">A.C. Newman – Slow Wonder<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 9pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Seamless,
faultless pop music, with polished up Nuggets from the garages of Van Nuys
(1969),<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:city w:st="on">Boston</st1:city>
(1981), <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Seattle</st1:city></st1:place>
(1997).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wins the Grad Student of Pop
Music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Comfort food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">21.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Delays – Faded <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Seaside</st1:city></st1:place> Glamor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">22.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Tres Cosas – Juana Molina <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">23.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Erlend Oye – D.J. Kicks <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">24.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Modest Mouse - Good News For People
Who Love Bad News <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">25.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Fennesz – <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Venice</st1:city></st1:placename></st1:place> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">26.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Nick</span></st1:placename><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> <st1:placename w:st="on">Cave</st1:placename></span></st1:place><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> and the Bad Seeds – Abbatoir Blues<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">27.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Futureheads – Futureheads <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">28.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">!!! – Louden up<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">29.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pinback – Summer in Abbaddon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">30.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Xiu xiu – Fabulous Muscles <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">31.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Kinski - Don’t Climb on and Take the
Holy Water – Kinski<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">32.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Libertines – The Libertines<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">33.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">The Walkmen – bows and Arrows<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">34.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">cLOUDDEAD – Ten<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">35.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Los Lobos - Ride<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">36.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes -
TV On The Radio<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">37.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">When it Falls – Zero 7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">38.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Guided by Voices – Half Smiles of the
Decomposed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">39.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Jóhann Jóhannsson’s <i>Virthulegu forsetar</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">40.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Max Richter – The Blue notebooks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 27pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 27.0pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">41.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Snow Patrol – Final Straw<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-60480879458147089342014-08-10T14:13:00.001-07:002014-08-10T14:13:24.140-07:00Best Music 2003
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Broken
Social Scene – You Forgot It In People<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
It’s the year of the Canadian Cure
- <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pop alchemy for various sonic
ailments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ample music, ingratiating,
diverse and cohesive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Big sound for
melodic theme and instrumental (treated) variations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lyrics emanating from some middle-class melancholic
midpoint between Raymond Carver and William Borroughs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Small details and large themes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dark and poppy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suitable for all occasions if you ignore the
scatology with canook blithe spirits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
an old Volvo, driving away in the morning with both smile and self-loathing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Califone
–<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quicksand/Cradlesnakes<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Post-lo fi that went in the other
direction from the polished Notwist and Postal Service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Messy and rootsy songs with layers of sound
dropped by producers needing sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><st1:place w:st="on">Lot</st1:place>’s of appealing crippled instrumentals, dipped in
electronics, and folk-rock earnestness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Irony fully in tact, but hearts hanging by a thread from worn and soiled
sleeves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Baroque cornpone. Late at night
with tea and a headache.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="3" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Four
Tet – Rounds<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Circular and gentle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But not shallow, scratch the pretty surface
and there is grand design.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Acoustic,
spacey with a hitch in its chilly dance step.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Soundtracking with subtle precision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On the beach in <st1:place w:st="on">Mykonos</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="4" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Sufjan
Stevens – Greetings from <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Michigan</st1:place></st1:state><o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
A true 9-11 song cycle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stories in both the words and the monotonously
delicious melodies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Crisp construction
and patient singing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Banjos and a
novelist’s ambition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Truth about decay
and rust, and that truth is beauty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
all it’s potential sarcasm, there is a kind presence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think he loves the state in all its obese
and drained glory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So American it’s sad
enough to make you cry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Literate though
literal. The kind of somber gravity Beck aspired to in Seachange.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a plane to some better, dreamed, life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="5" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Calla –
Televise<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Dark spaces and welcomed dead
ends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfinished ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reverb and<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="6" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Lucinda
Williams – World Without Tears<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Juana
Molina - Segundo <o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
The Argentine Portishead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="8" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Yo La
Tengo – Summer Sun<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Solid songs, romantically
classic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adult indie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="9" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Weakerthans – Reconstruction Site<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Radiohead
– Hail to the Thief<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Outkast
– Speakerboxx/The Love Below<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
The Andre disc is brilliant.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="12" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Songs:
Ohia – Magnolia Electric Company<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Maybe he does sound like Neil
Young.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe the working class angst is
a little too Steinbeck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe the
crunchy chords and <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="13" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Prefuse
73 – One Word Extinguisher<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Wrens – Meadowlands<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Strokes – Room on Fire<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Josh
Rouse - 1972<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Arab
Strap – Monday at the Hug and Pint<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Tim
Hecker – Radio Amor<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Postal
Service – Give Up<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Stars
- Heart<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Stephen
Malkmus and the Jicks – Pig Lib<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Blithe
Sons – We Walk the Young Earth<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Books – The Lemon of Pink<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Mars <st1:place w:st="on">Volta</st1:place> – De-loused in the Comatorium<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Clearlake
– Cedars<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Neil
Young – <st1:place w:st="on">Greendale</st1:place><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">1 Mile
North – Minor Shadows<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Angels
of Light – Everything is Good Here<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Elbow
– Cast of Thousands<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Fruit
Bats – Mouthfuls<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Aarktica
– Pure Tone Audiometry<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Microphones
– Mt. Eerie<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Sun
Kil Moon – Ghosts of the <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Great
Highway</st1:address></st1:street><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Warren
Zevon – The Wind<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Kinski
– Airs Above Station<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">TV on
the Radio – Young Liars<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">M83 - <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on"><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Dead</span></st1:placename><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Cities</st1:placetype></span></st1:place><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Red</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Seas</st1:placetype></st1:place>
& Lost Ghosts</span></span><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">American
Analog Set – Promise of Love<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Supersilent
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- 6 <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Aerogramme
– Sleep and Release<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">My
Morning Jacket – It Still Moves Me<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Constantines</st1:place></st1:city> – Shine
a Light<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Calexico
– Feast of Wire<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Manitoba</st1:place></st1:state> – Up in
Flames<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Ester
Drang – Infinite Keys<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Erland
Oye – Unrest<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Shins
– Chutes Too Narrow<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Deadly
Snakes – Ode to Joy<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Grandaddy
- Sumday<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Johann
Johannson -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Englaborn<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Sidestepper
– <st1:time hour="3" minute="0" w:st="on">3 AM</st1:time> In Beats We
Trust<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
Biggest disappointments: Damien Rice, Cat Power, Ted Leo and
the Pharmacists, White Stripes, Earlimart, The Rapture, The Decembrists, Shins<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-32160199390043279542014-08-10T14:09:00.001-07:002014-08-10T14:09:41.538-07:00Best Music 2002
<br />
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Notwist
– NeonGolden<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Oboe and pizzicato, achingly
beautiful melodies, silly thin nasal vocals, music for both heartbreaks and
dinner parties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Post-cold war chamber
pop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Minor chord commercial music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Catchy melancholy. Atmospheric though without
big spaces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Electronic and crisp but
very close to the ear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes
sounding like vintage Beck doing Cure covers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In fact, in my humble opinion, if Beck wanted to lose irony, this is the
music he should be making, not the lugubrious and sluggish Sea Change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is dance-ready.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Neue </i>New Wave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mean,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>cocktail lounge banjo played by aging German club kids? Who could
resist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Songs full of cool yearning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Strongest tunes of the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Melody <i>uber alles. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Spoon
– Kill the Moonlight<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Minimalist rock, because little
else is needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Richly allusive without
being ironic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The songs sound extremely
familiar on first listening, perhaps like they are covering classic rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But on more listening, the anxious
composition surfaces, and while the memory is of a guitar researcher, this is
really keyboard-based.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe their
genius is best known in the arrangements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are unlike any other archival rocker, because they sound frank and
direct with nary a dash of preciousness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="3" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>The
Books – Thought For Food<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
For serious and serious-minded
music lovers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sound collages, voice
samples, treated sound, lots of acoustic guitar and strings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every now and then a bit of southern folk or
even bluegrass sneaks through the found sounds, electronic clicks and echoes,
and voices of characters from chilling short stories (dialogue from French
films translated into American argot).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>More performance piece than rock and roll, but cute and saucy as much as
dark and spacey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve listened to this
100 times and it never sounds familiar, never sounds safe, and is always
beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A soundtrack for the Zen of
futility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Lieder </i>for
crackers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>Silencio.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="4" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Wilco
- Yankee Foxtrot Hotel<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Tweedy’s voice and lyrics and
melodies are better than ever and worth the hype and drama of how this was
released.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the production was thin
and baroque and garbled the songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
wanted to be OK Computer or Kid A, and I wanted a fat guitar sound to match the
rough and ready heart beating strongly under the mushiness.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="5" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Flaming
Lips – Yoshimi<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Lovely and silly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless something happens, I can’t imagine
buying another Flaming Lips CD… but this is a fine apotheosis for the dreamy
and pressured pop songs that only they seem to pull off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tender lovesongs about fighting Japanese robots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have animated their vision into rock
history and into irrelevance.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="6" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Yume
Bitsu – Golden Vessel of Sound<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
From the roots of Popol Vuh,
Tangerine Dream, and other prog-art bands that none of these Portland, Oregon
youngsters ever heard of, blossoms a jazzy, psychedelic sound of the New
West.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tortoise less pinch-faced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ringing electric guitars steamed in dreamy
folk improvisations. Lots of air in this music, food for great breathing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe mystical is the new noise for the
rapidly disappointing new millennium…after all.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="7" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Hayden
– skyscraper national park<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Simple and baked sounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Organic (analog clarity) and nutritious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neil Young shoulda written these songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Canadian and sad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Big Sky travels and bong-bound afternoons
both invoked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Warmly appealing vocal
over slowly moving folk-rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Depresso-core.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="8" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Elvis
Costello – When I was cruel <o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
With the grace of Serge
Gainsbourg, the invention of Burt Bacharrach, and the, well the cleverness of
Elvis Costello, this surprised with a return to form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple of these songs can sit with the best
he’s ever written without embarrassment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His voice intact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His angst could
teach Beck’s melancholy a think or two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Smart music direct from his heart to your gut.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="9" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Radio
4 – Gotham<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Yep, it sure sounds like Gang of
Four.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yep, I sure liked Gang o’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, nobody else is political like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yep, you can dance to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yep, the sound is straight with no
treatment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yep.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="10" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Elbow
– Asleep in the Back <o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
It was either this, or South, or
Doves or Cranes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This wins for me
because its Brit-rock melancholy has a dash of jazz (Simple Minds with a touch
of Traffic).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And doesn’t sound in any
sense retro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indie in intent if pop-folk
in product.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="11" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Songs:ohia
– Didn’t it rain<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
An intense earnestness that Low
might want to match.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Improvisational in
design and it does feel lose and “authentically” live and underproduced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simple sounds and rootsy arrangements… saved
from alt. country-folk bird-brained stupor by dark and foreboding melodies and
sad and emotional vocals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bitter more
than sweet, but rich music that holds up well under multiple listenings.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="12" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Bright
Eyes – Lifted, or The Story is in the Soil<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Ok, he’s annoying and too young to
be this good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ok, he could be the next
Ryan Adams and I could hate him within a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yes, the Dylan comparisons are trite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The lo-fi quality of some of the cuts paired with the too-forced
(calculated?) rough angry vocals make some of this truly unlistenable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But every now and then the quality of the
shape of the songs, the brilliant arrangements, the quality of lyrics and the
hunger in the voice make you think, this could be a very, very important
talent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or merely an American Gomez, not
a bad thing either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Heartland indie rock
with heart.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="13" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Arktica
– Or you could just go through<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Less is the new more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Minimal and cool, but with the necessary
acoustic and vocal touches to make it new and not dated ambient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact it is the vocals and songwrting,
always rising out of easy soundscapes that make it sound human and current.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one knows this band and I don’t have a
clue as to why they sold single digits of this brilliant, likeable slo-core
music.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="14" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Peter
Gabriel – Up<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
The only reason it isn’t higher is
that this is music ignored by the zeitgeist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although beautiful, his world’s music sounds a little locked in time,
but then so does Stravinsky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if the
arrangement is embedded and known (bedded down for the very long night), the
voice and design of lyrics and artfulness of the songs cycle is classic
Gabriel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which means it is rich in
affect, chock full of profound and authentic emotion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is St. Peter’s <i>Time Out of Mind.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The passing of time, the ineluctable rewards
of growing up.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="15" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Interpol
– Turn on the Bright Lights<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Deliciously murky and dark
music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Retro-angst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beautifully produced, with incisively
calculated allusions to various classic British sounds like Joy Division of My
Bloody Valentine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But these gazes are at
career moves more than shoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very New
York in its cold ambition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sonic guitar
of the Edge school, though slowed down enough to fit into a Tom Verlaine
solo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pushy textures but with the
song-writing chops to back it all up.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="16" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Boards
of Canada – Geogaddi<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Pushing the ambient electronic
language to ever more soundtracked adventures in sound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don’t let their facility with created
sound to mitigate their wealth of ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It may be pretty music, but it is smart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It may be comforting and mature, but is also wise.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="17" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Trail
of Dead – Source Tags and Codes <o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
A big and soaring sound that lost
power with every listening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At first, it
sounded like the return of Big Country or Husker Du.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dynamic and recognizable rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Punkish by turns, in fact this could be arena
rock.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bics up high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Put your pipes in the air like you just don’t
care.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ambitious slacker music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tex-brit rock and roll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Melody was the new black of the year, and
this disc had lots of it (and sounded at times like the new Foo Fighters).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of the lowered shelf life was production
values and choices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are supposed to
be powerful live… this sounds like that’s probably true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gloomy, anxious and stately music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dignified excess.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="18" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Keith
Fullerton Whitman – Playthroughs<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
White noise, clicks and buzzes,
humming and ambient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both colder than
Boards of Canada and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>more
emotional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Strongly affecting for what
sounds like a blender slowly breaking down.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="19" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>David
Grubbs – Ricketts and Scurvy<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Chamber rock. Modulated and
thoughtful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Post-rock as art song,
though with a stripped down instrumentation, and <i>outré</i> by melody and
lyric more than texture or arrangement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Tasty guitar playing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morning
music, if the morning is calm, serious, and adult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always found his voice appealing, and here
his singing seems better than ever.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="20" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><i>Shalabi
Effect – The Trial of St. Orange<o:p></o:p></i></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
Montreal exo-music theorists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Broad and compositional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes difficult to parse out the intent
of the layers of mostly acoustic noise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Sometimes spacious and graceful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Perpetuating the serious intent of post-rockers like the first Tortoise
with a sense on scraped-off newness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Music for depression or delirium or deep thought.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
The rest:<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<ol start="21" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">1
Giant Leap<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Joseph
Arthur – Redemption’s Son<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Low –
Trust<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Aluminm
Group - Happyness<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Sigor
Ros – ( )<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">The
Walkmen – Everyone who liked me is dead<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">+/-<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Foo Fighters – One by One<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Guided
by Voices<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Pedro
the Lion –<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Control<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Reindeer
Section – Son of Evil Reindeer <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">DJ
Shadow – Private Press<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Bruce
Sprinsteen – The Rising<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Jim
O’Rourke – Insignificance<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">p:ano
– When It’s Dark It’s Summer<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">South <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Luna –
Romantica<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Jim
Vanderslice – Adventures of a Fourtracker<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Cranes<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Desaparecidos
– Read Music Speak Spanish<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Desert
City Soundtrack – Contents of Distraction <o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Beth
Orton – Day Breaker<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Doves
– The Last Broadcast<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">L’Altra
– In the Afternoon<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">Future
Sound of London – Isness<o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Frank Black and the Catholics - Devil's
Workshop</span><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Clinic – Walking with Thee</span><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">my morning jacket, chocolate and ice</span><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Corner Shop – Handcream for a Generation</span><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Godspeed You! Black Emperor-Yanqui
U.X.O.</span><o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Das Lied von der
Ehrde - Olga the recent refugee from Bohemia leaned over my crib while my
parents were away in Aruba... she, damaged soul that she was with the
mountainous rackovskies and cooked-cabbage breath, reached down to do the uncle
ernie fiddle as she did her imitation of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, she had
dressed as a man for the occasion. Indelible. To this day I shift uncomfortably
anytime I hear anything even close to a minor key adagio. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Dunkel
ist Das Leben, ist Der Tod!</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS;"> </span></o:p></div>
harryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-708646515483408247.post-46162217552455210572009-05-11T20:34:00.001-07:002009-05-11T20:34:38.880-07:00The warrior's dilemmaharryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15094676660514962306noreply@blogger.com0