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 Post subject: Eh, maybe a sort of list of some sort 2016...
PostPosted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 4:23 pm 
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Go Platinum
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I may as well get a little long winded here...

Personally, I thought 2016 was a great year for music. Admittedly I did do more revisiting old friends than hearing new groups this year, but still plenty to pick from. I don't really like ranking things, but here's a list of stuff I really had fun listening to from this year, including

Two exceptional parting gifts:
David Bowie - Blackstar
Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
Both of these were great statements by great artists made essentially from their death beds. Both are truly special albums.

Lots of good Hip-Hop and R&B:
Tribe Called Quest - We've Got It From Here An excellent return to form. I had low expectations since they were out of the game for so long, but they stepped right up.
Solange - A Seat At The Table: A great retro soul album that anyone who digs old school soul music should give a listen to. Smooth as silk while still having something to say, my favorite of the albums put out by the Knowles sisters this year.
Blood Orange - Freetown Sound: Great mixture of styles from soul pop to 80s style synth music with modern atmospheric touches. One of my very favorites this year and possibly the one I listened to the most.
Erykah Badu - But You Cain't Use My Phone: nice almost tossed off affair first released as a digital mixtape in 2015 but with a full release on vinyl in 2016. She could pretty much sing anything and I'd listen.
Also enjoyed the latest A$AP Rocky, Young Thug, Kanye West, and Future's EVOL albums a lot.

Maybe a bit of a slow year for rock, but I did find a couple I really enjoyed:
Tiger Army - V•••–: Mostly I'm a sucker for retro rockabilly sounding stuff and this one had those usual Tiger Army touches but also slowed the pace considerably throughout.
Alice Bag - S/T: First solo album from LA punk icon. Great music and the lady knows how to make her point. Nice to hear an old voice bubble back up and sounding like she never left.
The Cavemen - Born to Hate: Trashy lo-fi garage punk that nailed it for me.
Hope Sandoval And The Warm Inventions - Until The Hunter: Return from the Mazzy Star frontwomen for another round of hazy ornate rock/folk.
Still need to get a listen to the latest Bob Mould in its entirety but have like what I have heard so far.


A bunch of 12 inchers and a couple singles got played a lot:
Aphex Twin - Cheetah: A welcome return to a style more reminiscent of his earlier work.
Massive Attack - Ritual Spirit, The Spoils and Dear Friend: Three EPs, pretty close to an albums worth of tunes. Ritual Spirit is the most fully realized with a consistent sound throughout, but the Spoils has Hope Sandoval and the B-side of the Friend single is pretty great.
Benedek - Coolin': Mellow lo-fi house vibes on six tracks.
Nico Motte - Life Goes On If You Are Lucky: Laid back French techno, lots of atmosphere and ambiance.
Also really liked 12 inches by Khotin, 45APC, Burial and I played a 7" from an unspecified artist under the alias Paul Atreides with a couple Dune inspired tracks, Arrakis Walk and Thinking Machines a ton.

Other stuff I'd include would be:
Jonathan Fitoussi - Imaginary Lines: Ambient synthscapes. A ton of this sort of thing comes out these days, but this one was particularly good for me.
Avishai Cohen - Into The Silence: Atmospheric jazz trumpeter.
Miles Davis & Robert Glasper - Everything's Beautiful: This one reconstructs Miles Davis tunes with some hip hop R&B influences fleshing out the grooves.
Disco Mantras Vol. 1: Release on the Mood Hut label, their first full length, collaborative lo-fi house tracks with lots of internationally inflected rhythms.
Equiknoxx - Bird Sound Power: Experimental dance-hall producers from Jamaica, solo tracks collected for this release. If you like reggae/dance-hall and experimental electronic stuff, you gotta listen to this one, absolutely one of my faves of the year.
Hieroglyphic Being ‎– The Disco's Of Imhotep: Experimental House collection from Chicago.

And, tapes you say?

Yup, still bought a bunch of music on tape, mostly the type of synthy electronic stuff that so many tape ;labels seem to specialize in. A few of my favorites from this year on tape include: Body-san - Shining The Money Ball, FWY! - San Gabriel, Bludwork - Nightmare, Bary Center - No Stars, and a Split release featuring Aaronmaxwell and James Matthew.
Also a special shout out to the quite excellent Ras_G - The Gospel Of The God Spell: A modern reinterpretation of gospel music using bass heavy electronics and funk. His Baker's Dozen 12" + flexi release was good too.

Anyway, that's enough for me to babble on about. For me 2016, it was a really solid year even though I know I keep falling further and further from the loop and miss a ton of stuff. SO much music gets released these days every year it feels almost impossible to not love something and miss something else that's equally great.


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 Post subject: Re: Eh, maybe a sort of list of some sort 2016...
PostPosted: Fri Dec 30, 2016 9:38 am 
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And here's a mix of some of this, formatted to be recorded onto a 90 minute tape:

Side A
Cranes In The Sky - Solange
Maiysha (So Long) (ft. Erykah Badu) - Robert Glasper
Who Be Lovin Me (ft. ILOVEMAKONNEN) - Santigold
Low Life - Future
We The People... - Tribe Called Quest
Augustine - Blood Orange
Tacotac - Nico Motte
Let Me Ge There (ft. Kurt Vile) - Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
He's So Sorry - Alice Bag
Prisoner Of The Night - Tiger Army

Side B
You Want It Darker - Leonard Cohen
Come Near Me (ft. Ghostpoet) - Massive Attack
CHEETAHT2 - Aphex Twin
Last Of The Mohcans - Equiknoxx
The Disco's Of Imhotep - Hierogliphic Being
Recycle (3AM Reflection Mix) - Khotin
No - Nicolas Jarr
Lazarus - David Bowie
A Hash Of The Ending - Ian William Craig

https://mega.nz/#!ykFQhBaL!-gjc3WpUSuHjx0KkmUc0Sg5uCKskkfkWLG7P7r98flA


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 Post subject: Re: Eh, maybe a sort of list of some sort 2016...
PostPosted: Fri Dec 30, 2016 4:53 pm 
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Mixes are always welcome. :)

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 Post subject: Re: Eh, maybe a sort of list of some sort 2016...
PostPosted: Wed Jan 04, 2017 7:45 am 
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The Obner
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nobody Wrote:
And here's a mix of some of this, formatted to be recorded onto a 90 minute tape:

Side A
Cranes In The Sky - Solange
Maiysha (So Long) (ft. Erykah Badu) - Robert Glasper
Who Be Lovin Me (ft. ILOVEMAKONNEN) - Santigold
Low Life - Future
We The People... - Tribe Called Quest
Augustine - Blood Orange
Tacotac - Nico Motte
Let Me Ge There (ft. Kurt Vile) - Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
He's So Sorry - Alice Bag
Prisoner Of The Night - Tiger Army

Side B
You Want It Darker - Leonard Cohen
Come Near Me (ft. Ghostpoet) - Massive Attack
CHEETAHT2 - Aphex Twin
Last Of The Mohcans - Equiknoxx
The Disco's Of Imhotep - Hierogliphic Being
Recycle (3AM Reflection Mix) - Khotin
No - Nicolas Jarr
Lazarus - David Bowie
A Hash Of The Ending - Ian William Craig

https://mega.nz/#!ykFQhBaL!-gjc3WpUSuHjx0KkmUc0Sg5uCKskkfkWLG7P7r98flA


Great mix. Based off of that song I can't wait to see what David Bowie and Leonard Cohen do next.

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