My laptop is dying as I try to post this, so I am going to have do this in sections and hope for the best.

Top 15 Reissues, Archivals, etc...:


1. Muslimgauze: Chasing the Shadow of Bryn Jones 1983-1988 : This collection is just fucking gorgeous. All foil embossed, a well written book, and 10 LPs+ 1 CD of brilliant noise from the Muslimgauze catalog. Even after all this time, no one has managed to blend geographic instruments with electronics, tape, etc...like Bryn Jones did. Given the current state of the Muslim world there may not be a better time for this to have come out. Great artist well deserving a set of this magnitude.


2. Unwound: Rat Conspiracy/No Energy: I love Unwound...that's really all there is to this. The sets are nice, the double exposure photo books are fun, the music is great. It's Unwound getting a nice reissue treatment, what more could you ask for?


3. Akoz Rozman: 12 Stations/Tolv Stationer: 6.5 hours worth of piece of musique-concrete legend 18 years in the making. This is just a stunningly beautiful work channeling the best of kraut/concrete/neo-classical/tape music through the mind of a legit composer. Amazing stuff.


4. K. Leimer: A Period of Review - Original Recordings 1975-1983: RVNG was everywhere this year and this was my favorite of their reissues (though not my favorite RVNG release). This is some weird and really great stuff from some 30 years ago that points to alot minimal techno, modular and manipulated bass stuff happening now. Had never heard of this guy before, but am really impressed to say the least. RIYL-Cluster, Eno, Neu!


5. Craig Leon: An Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Music: I know this is popping up on a few lists on here (aminly on the lists of people who would probably like it) so I will save my precious laptop time and move on. Good stuff though.


6. John Lacey/COUM Transmissions: Music for Stocking Top, Swing and Staircase: It's hard to argue that for fans of "noise" that there has been a more important event that when Chris Carter met Genesis P-Orridge and Throbbing Gristle was born. Well, here is that moment captured through intermediary and behind the scenes guy John Lacey. The music and recording struggle here, but it captures the point of archival so well...that glimpse into an event that triggered so much of what I have enjoyed since. Definitely not neccesary unless you are a TG fan.


7. Bedhead: 1992-1998: See what I wrote above about Unwound and replace "Unwound" with Bedhead and that pretty much sums it up. Love this band, love this treatment of their work.


8. Laraaji: Celestial Music 1978-2011 : Crazy electronic zither sounds from this guy. I don't know much about the instrument, but I love it and I love how he plays it. A set full of strange psychadelic treats overall.


9. Pauline Oliveros: Reverberations-Tape and Electronic Music 1961-1970: Almost 12 hours worth of an amazing set of CDs wherein the balance between the digital/mechanical influence of electronics and the organic in Oliveros voice/accordion are tied together via the medium of tape. Very pretty music, certainly unique composition and sound. RIYL: Basinski, Fullerton-Whitman, Terry Riley, etc...


10. V/A: Let No One Judge You - Early Recordings from Iran 1906-1933: Some of the prettiest vocals and strangest progressions/melodies I have ever heard.


11. Else Marie Pade: Electronic Works 1958-1995: "The sounds outside became concrete music, and in the evening I could imagine that the stars and the moon and the sky uttered sounds and those turned into electronic music." -Else Marie Pade
Yeah, that pretty much sums up this set. Beautiful works...one of the most feminine and graceful collections of electronic compostion I have ever heard. There is a fluidity here that should shut up anyone who has ever questions the legitimacy of electronic composers. Essential for any fans of Stereolab, Broadcast, Lali Puna, etc...


12. Angus Maclise: New York Electro 1965: This is a set from when Maclise was playing with VU and hanging out with John Cale, La Monte Young, etc...Really nice drones and strangely urban, steely forms and movement. You can tell the guy was really "experimenting" and there is certainly a lack of composition here, but the freedom and some of the inaccuracies in recording/patching are actually quite nice and provide some interesting miscues. I always like when you can hear the human in machine music.


13. Zurich-s/t: Members of Seefeel, Slowdive and Knives Ov Resistance got together back in the mid-90s and recorded this stunner of an album. Complete with mistimed jungle breaks, dream pop chords, pastoral synthwork, it's a fucking trainwreck that is still somehow a really easy and pretty listen.


14. Fugazi: First Demo: It has a song on it that I have never heard. The release of something from Fugazi that is new to me will always be a winner.


15. Alberich: NATO-Uniformen: Harsh blow out noise, crackle and hiss from this monster. Nothing pleasant, just brilliant mechanical manipulation and distortion of tones and frequencies. This is my "Listen to this shit loud" album for the year. RIYL: Hair Police, Sissy Spacek, Merzbow.

Will try to get new releases up tonight also.

Some good stuff in that Muslimgauze box, although I've only heard parts of it. Love the Craig Leon, and the Laraaji was pretty great as well. Was really curious about the Pauline Oliveros when it came out, but still need to go back and dig into that one and check out a few of these others.

I love those Numero Unwound and Bedhead reissues, too. It's made me really happy to finally have WhatFunLifeWas on vinyl, and that whole box is just beautiful. The Unwound stuff is fantastic, and I can't wait for that last box (I guess there's just one more?) to come out. I also really like the Codeine ones. Even though I was never a big Codeine fan, they've given me a greater appreciation of them, and now I wish I could still find the reissue of Frigid Stars to go along with the other two that I have.

Muslimgauze box looks cool. I've still never listened to him but have been meaning to for years.

I still don't know which version of the Craig Leon stuff I have - the reissue or the re-recording - since I only have it digitally, but I like it either way.

Lots more stuff on this list I'd love to hear, especially Laraaji. And I still haven't heard the Fugazi demo for some reason.

Top 50 New Releases:

50-41:


50. Mica Levi - Under the Skin (Original Soundtrack): I tried to ignore this album. I am not a fan of Mica(chu) in any other form. This is pretty impressive though. Some nice tenor droning, fantastic string work, consistent rise and fall of tension with the minimal percussion (to include some nice bell work which was surprising). This isn't going to make me a fan of the artist, but it made me happy that something that mimics the great scores of Badalementi came out this year.


49. Excepter - Familiar: This isn't the return to form that I keep waiting on from Excepter, but in a year that was largely dominated for me but go-to artists "calming-down" it was good to see that Excepter is still just bat-shit crazy as ever. That being said, to an extent they are way dialed in here. Compared to the more vibey releases since Alternation, this thing has some borderline pop-tunes on it. "Maids" is just outright earcandy and the Tim Buckley cover is so damn weird that it just works...really well.


48. Andrew Liles - The Equestrian Vortex: Dude from Nurse With Wound makes the scariest record you will hear this year. All noise and witch screams and some of the harshest drones ever put to wax. From beginning to end this thing never lets up and then absolutely explodes into a violent electronic splatter of noise at the end. Brutal stuff, one of the best harsh noise records of the year for sure.


47. M. Sage - A Singular Continent: Alright, first off this thing is beautifully packaged...one of the better physical appearances of any new releases this year in my opinion. This album is just...nice. Guitar, violin, electronics, field recordings never fight against each other...everything is just so damn complimentary. The drones on "Three Bashful Stallions" are fucking stunning and only eclipsed on this record by the brilliant textural electronics on “Karma Repair / The Drags”. Had I had more time with this, it likely would have ranked higher. I also recommend checking out his last release for Geographic North "Details in the Data" with a B-Side containing some of the best minimal techno/ambient dub of the year.


46. Janek Schaefer - Lay By Lullaby: Field recordings taken from above a highway somewhere in England all repieced together with scrambled radio transmissions and some noise generators (perhaps a Casio in there also, not sure) to make a seriously blissed out record. Very quiet, a lot of nuance and repetition here, but Schaefer moves the pieces just enough to never let it get stale. This thing feels like driving those long stretches of road, pre-Sirius XM days, waiting for something to come in but enjoying the ghosts on the radio while waiting.


45. Terrors - Ensorcell Qori: I dig this guy's sound...a lot. This entire record sounds like Will Oldham drank way too much, forgot to turn off the delay pedal, and sang some of the best damn songs of the year. For some sad bastard sounding music, this thing makes me feel good somehow. Another winner of a record of damaged folk from Bathetic (whom had it not been for Eilean would have been the label of the year for me).


44. Africa Express - In C Mali: It's Terry Riley's "In C" on a bunch of native instruments. That's all it is...but it sounds good.


43. OOIOO - Gamel: The best thing they have done in a long time. Percussion on here is just killer and strikes those grooves that only Yoshimi/Boredoms have ever pulled off. Most importantly, they are left alone on this record. Not everything is hidden behind walls of digital effects and the result is some seriously high energy stuff. This is the album that I think we all hoped Yoshimi would make post-Boredoms. It took a while, but at least it's here.


42. Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere Else: If more "rock" albums sounded like this, I would listen to way more of them.


41. Steve Gunn and Mike Cooper - Cantos de Lisboa: I always look forward to these FRKWAYS releases, even though sometimes they miss. In this case, it worked well I thought. Gunn's primitive guitar butting against the more ethereal slide of Cooper both channeling Portugal just made for a cool summertime record. Nothing groundbreaking, probably not even close to either one's best work, but a surprisingly cohesive result from two fantastic players.

I enjoyed the movie and soundtrack for Under The Skin. I still need to hear that M. Sage record and as a sucker for nice packaging might just go track that down soon-ish. Janek Schaefer sounds interesting as well. Gonna need to hear that Andrew Liles; sounds like a good thing to have around for when the mood strikes. I've already got too many damn records and tapes lying around these days, not sure I want to see the rest of this list or not.

40. M. Geddes Gengras – Ishi: Gengras’ mastery of modular patching has never really been in question. That being said, what he accomplishes here is mind-blowing and exceeded even my expectations (which are unreasonably high with him). Basically, the three tracks here are all constructed from one singular (albeit intense and remarkably complex) patch of shifting cycles that plays out in different forms. The idea being that any single or series of components will express themselves as a cycle or patterns…modular synthesis at its core. That being said, it is one thing in concept and yet another when you bear witness to the perfect execution of said concept and this record serves as a wonderful example of both.


39. Josh Mason and David Andree – Call, Response: Andree’s field recordings and tape manipulation paired with the mostly gentle guitar of Mason works way better than expected on this record. Particularly in that both artists contributions seem to add depth and resonance to the others work. Though Mason’s guitar still lives in the layered drone world that he has shown great craft in on previous releases there are times here when it almost becomes lost in transformation to some natural capture that Andree provides. Super gentle and very spaced out overall, hope to get a true live collaboration from these two in the future.


38. Flying Lotus – You’re Dead: FlyLo fascinates me. There are certain artists whose process is just as interesting to me as the recorded output and he definitely falls into that category. The way this dude thinks about rhythm is insane. He continues to do things that no one else is even coming close to, and the track with Kendrick Lamar on here ranks as one of the weirdest and finest hip-hop moments I have heard in years.


37. Kyle Bobby Dunn - …and the Infinite Sadness: Dunn is just a model of consistency. I feel like at this point I know what I am going to get with every release. Really well orchestrated drones/drifts that move at a decent clip, a fine blend of minimalism and saturation and well thought out sequencing. It doesn’t sound too exciting, I recognize that, but the sounds and layers he produces on every damn album would find their way into others best works in spite of it being run of the mill for him.


36. Jason Lescalleet – Much to My Demise: When it comes to working in the medium of tape, very few if any can keep up with Lescalleet. On this record his ability to transform the imperfections of physical degradable media into seamless moments of composition as a whole is on full display. Never is this more apparent than on “My Dreams are Dogs that Bite Me” wherein the plotting of any moment as a point on tonal and temporal axes damn near falls apart due to the manipulation of the tape speed to a point wherein the decay of a note winds up blended into the sound of the tape moving through the reels itself. It’s a staggering display of patience and confidence from one of my favorite artists of all time.


35. Black to Comm – s/t: This is a seriously weird set of songs. To be honest, I don’t even know what this is. There are moments that sound like something DJ Shadow would have made had he grown up listening to Swans records and stuff from the Hanson label. Other times there are hints of jazz and even roots music spun as viewed through the filter of Kraftwerk. 90% of this record absolutely should not work, yet somehow under the careful hand Marc Richter it all comes together.


34. Tecumseh – For the Night: Low, slow, fuzzed out, black as night evil-ass drones. Two songs of just straight ahead throw back gloom akin to SunnO))) or Wizard Prison. I get it music evolves, genres evolve, but I am glad these guys are keeping stuff like this alive.


33. Pascal Savy – Adrift: One of the finest examples of intermingling of mechanical and organic sources and tones. Bells ring through feedback loops, xylophone strikes coincide with peaks of sine waves decaying at the same rate, guitar serves the lead for tape loop rhythms. The entire thing winds up just conveying these staggering visuals of hazy whites and blues, perfectly capturing the “map point” for the coastal water near Eilean. (Spoiler, this is only the first of several Eilean releases to pop up on the list this year).


32. Nathan McLauglin – Nothing to Be Sad About: Right away here is another excellent release from Eilean. Reel-to-reel and violin evoke the spirit of Bill Dixon all over these thing. Reedish drones and drift, movement that comes in pulses at times, waves at others. An absolutely euphoric record, stunningly pretty at times and hypnotic in it’s repetition before some form of tape manipulation slides in to wake your up (see my favorite track on the album “Flow” for an example). A damn near modern classic of tape music.


31. Wold – Postsocial: Something akin to micing up an engine, running it through an octave down fuzz, then through a bit crusher, then through a distortion pedal, run pieces back into a feedback looper and record the whole thing on a dilapidated reel-to-reel and blasting the output at a deafening volume. Not sure why these guys get lumped into the black-metal thing as this more closely resembles some of Dilloway or Merzbow’s finer moments, which is high praise from me. Possibly the heaviest thing I enjoyed this year was “Five Points”, it’s on Spotify, turn it up loud.

I still haven't seen Under the Skin, will get around to it some night when the kiddos knock out early. There's a couple of those Andrew Liles up on eBay for cheap...Given how quick that thing sold out I thought it would have gone way up by now.

Played the Kyle Bobby Dunn on repeat play for weeks. Lots of overlap on our lists. Even our "lists."

30. Mincemeat or Tenspeed: Waiting for Surfin’ Bird: This record just straight up fucking grooves. Noise squelches married with analog synth dance floor and big kicks. 3:25 into opening track “Normal Techno Jam” I was hooked. Not quite as noisy as Pete Swanson’s recent forays into damaged techno/no rave stuff, but plenty of fuzz and killer beats/hooks galore. Basically, it just sounds like a straight up filthy basement party set for 30 minutes. Stream it here: http://decoherence.bandcamp.com/album/w ... urfin-bird


29. Aphex Twin – Syro: I never would have though back in 1997 when I hear my first Aphex Twin on an MTV Amp Compilation that almost twenty years later the dude would still be putting out some of the most interesting electronic music out there. The dude uses the glitch with precision and lays down some of the funkiest basslines out there on this one. It’s smooth without being predictable and distinctly Aphex Twin. Just great little record.


28. Taausk – Refuge: This is heavy. Two hours of seriously dark black ambient gloom from some dude in Romania. These drones are so dark, so painfully slow and just soaked in big fuzz and cloudbusting reverbl…so, fucking good. My vote for stoner album of the year for sure. Highly recommended for fans of Earth, Sleep, etc. Listen here: http://tauusk.bandcamp.com/album/refuge


27. Hiss Tracts – Shortwave Nights: Dude from GYBE! and Growing got together on this one and it lived up to expectations. The slow burning drones of Growing mixed with piano and nylon-sounding guitar flecks and found sounds of dead radio speech and static that are scattered all over GYBE! best releases. This is a seriously intense and almost old sounding recording…just sounds dusty somehow, but it lends to the atmosphere these two create really well…all sepia for days. Great stuff for fans of either band.


26. Otto Totland – Pino: Nothing fancy here. Just an album of great piano sketches in the Satie vein from the lesser known (though certainly not less accomplished) half of Deaf Center. It sounds exactly like you would expect. A lot of space given to each note/phrase, excellent dynamics, just really pretty stuff. The album certainly also benefits from Nils Frahm’s production assistance with each pedal click, certain hammer strikes being picked up and left in the recording…a sense of intimacy that works well with Totland’s understated style. My favorite piano album of the year without question.


25. Valerio Tricoli – Miseri Lares: This may be one of the best examples of the year of just simple sound processing and reconstruction. To call this minimal may be an understatement honestly. There is an almost claustrophobic sense that lends to a sense of panic and tension when I listen to these recordings that defies the sounds themselves. I don’t get it to be honest, but I know I like it.


24. Skullflower – Draconis: Finally something new from Matthew Bower’s always brilliant Skullflower. This is more of the full on sonic assault on all senses that he and Samantha Davies have been doing for so long and that no one ever has and as far as I am concerned ever will do better. Harsh, explosive, brilliantly psychedelic record from one of the best of all time (and this time it comes in killer packaging).


23. William Cody Watson – Seafoam: Supposedly the last thing we will see from Watson for the foreseeable future and he goes out on a high note here. Beautiful deep layered texture drifting here aided by some nice processed field recordings and a bit of violin. Just lush beautiful sounds everywhere on this thing and some of the best transitions within long-form pieces that I heard this year.


22. Mike Weis – Don’t Know, Just Walk: Man, this thing just floats. Great percussion with radio, electronics, a bit of synth. Intense, but sonically light a balance that is rarely achieved within the genres Weis works in. I love how metallic so much of this…bells, gongs, etc that are so nicely offset with some sort of primitive drums. Pretty spaced out stuff and maybe the best thing from Type in a while.


21. Kevin Drumm – Trouble: A superbly quiet understated and minimal masterpiece from Drumm. Not at all what I was expecting, but a very pleasant surprise. This doesn’t really live in the ambient world and though it hints at drone it doesn’t quite fit there either. It’s kind of just Drumm building a wonderful slow burner, similar to his “Imperial Distortion” record, but taking that concept even farther. It’s immersive and benefits from active listening to extract the nuance in every passing series of sounds, each of which is given so much space to come and go before the next idea comes in. Another example of why Drumm will always be one of the best without question.

That M. Geddes Gengras record is really good, the only one I've heard form him outside his collaboration with the Congos which I like quite a lot. I probably should check out more of his stuff. Love the Josh Mason and David Andree record. Mincemeat or Tenspeed is good and I really enjoyed when they came through town not long ago. Syro was really good but not great for me. I really liked William Cody Watson and feel like I really should love that Kyle Bobby Dunn, but for some reason only find it OK. Lots to still give a listen to so far.

I also like that M. Geddes Gengras, and I should check out that Congos collab. which I was aware of but never listened to for whatever reason.

I can't really get into the Kyle Bobby Dunn, either. There are a handful of drone/ambient/modern classical albums from last year that I liked a lot more.

I was going to listen to that Wold album, but I'd never listened to them (him?) before so I did a little research and decided to start from the beginning. So instead of listening to Postsocial last year, I just listened to Badb, and I liked it. Seems like he's been doing pretty much the same thing for a decade, though.

Speaking of which, I would like to hear that Skullflower album. I liked Strange Keys, but I do like their old, somewhat more rock stuff like IIIrd Gatekeeper a lot more.

We have a bunch of other stuff in common, but I'll comment more when you're done.

20. Matthew Mullane – Hut Variations: VDSQ dropped this little gem late in the year, but as suspected based on the tracks that had been floating around since September this is another brilliant record of stellar guitar from Mullane. Equal parts Fahey, mid-era Chasney, and Loren Connors at their most pristine this record though technically brilliant showed Mullane moving beyond just “Look what I can do” and settling into a comfortable place with using his guitar as his voice. Absolute standout track here surprisingly is when Mullane plugs in for “Ink Shapes the Warped Hand” and unleashes a staggering bit of damaged blues which ultimately is the moment for me where I can finally set him apart from Deas, Bachman, Gunn, etc…who are all living in this same primitive guitar realm. The least flashy, least forward looking moment is the strongest and for me that only heightens anticipation to see where this dude goes next.


19. Swans – To Be Kind: What is there to say about this record that hasn’t already been said a hundred times this year? It’s smart, heavy as hell, tough as nails art-rock. I didn’t like this quite as much as “The Seer” but “Oxygen” is certainly my favorite thing that has come from this iteration of Swans, which is saying something. Look forward to see what Gira does next.


18. Sublamp – Lianas: Pretty basic formula…guitar, pedalboard, tape. No frills beautiful ambient record from (again) the Eilean camp. I can’t tell you how many albums of looped guitar I have listened to that have just absolutely bored me beyond belief. It’s a trade that can go horribly wrong without question. That’s why I think this one stuck out to me. It simultaneously reminded me of those great guitarists (Matthew Valentine, Tom Carter, Keijo, Mark McGuire) that I fell in love with some 15 years ago that brought me into this kind of music while still providing this weird sort of backdrop to exactly what growing up out in the country felt like for me when I was younger before I ever heard anything like this. It’s quiet, peaceful, alone but comfortable…and all together just remarkably organic. Every note here floats in and is given proper space to move and reverberate and wander almost endlessly without any rush to get somewhere else…it’s the antithesis of living in fucking suburban DC…a sort of escape for me I suppose. I fully recognize this is one that isn’t for everyone, but even removing the sort of personal connection I formed to this record it is still a remarkable bit of organic ambience at the highest level.


17. Jon Mueller and Duane Pitre – Inverted Torch: Possibly the best “percussion album” I have ever heard. The sheer expanse of sound created here between the cymbal and gong-work and their associated processed electronics in the negative space is unbelievable. A seriously weighty album, just so dense with sound at times and then everything decays at there are these seconds of silence that seem to go forever before the next cymbal or chime makes an appearance. It’s overall just a really strange and remarkably realized record wherein two very talented technicians put together a sort of free music record that still somehow showcases the technical abilities. Great stuff.


16. Scott Walker and SunnO))) – Soused: This pretty much sounds like Scott Walker fronting SunnO))). At times I would have preferred less Scott and more Sunn on this album to be honest, but overall the pairing certainly proved interesting.. In the end, it is the handful of moments that are found on “Fetish” or “Brando” where SunnO))) lock in to one of the crushing low drones that I love from them and are matched with the sheer power that Walker possesses in his voice and then matched again with trumpets or killer drums things I never thought I would hear on this album, but it all comes together in this fantastic visceral moment that ends with me pumping my fist and singing non-existent lyrics at the top of my lungs.


15. Mesa Ritual – s/t: There is something special in the collaborative work of William Fowler Collins and Raven Chacone. Collin’s guitar certainly doesn’t need any help in making some of the darkest and most stunning drones ever put to wax…but what Chacone does add in a complimentary (that may be the first time that word has ever been used in a Mesa Ritual write up) role is sublime texture. The whole thing winds up profoundly gritty, just tough and has more rock and fucking roll attitude than any other noise record of the past several years. Everything unfurls slowly, with so much tension and then it just locks in (the riffs on “Procession II” being the shining example here) and occupies this heady psychedelic space wherein sheet sounds and guitar exist for no reason other than to make heads explode. Nothing out there sounds like this…not even close. I can’t wait to see where this project goes next.


14. Saaad – Deep/Float: One spectacular moment after another on this album. This may be the prettiest dark drone effort I have heard in a long time. Minimal but huge, dark but still full of shimmer, I have been trying for nine months to put words to what happens on this record and I can’t because I don’t get it. This one breaks all the rules. The worlds of Reich and Riley influenced modern classical shouldn’t occupy literally the same space as tried and true doom drones, but here they do and the results are close to flawless. An album that is all at once forward thinking and firmly rooted in primitive noise, it’s a perfect balance that is being hinted at by other artists (Gabriel Saloman comes to mind) but no one is doing it better right now.


13. Ian William Craig – A Turn of Breath: Take a classically trained opera singer, some decaying tape and a loop machine and you get this (well, you would also get Juliana Barwick I suppose, but this is way better). This is all atmosphere and process without question, but from that comes something that may be the most sensitive and vulnerable and even accessible album in this vein. Every moment Craig’s un-effing-believable voice breaks through the reverb and dissolving magnets in a moment of clarity it feels like this triumphant event, something relatable by anyone…just a matter of what the listener derives from it. It’s this weird purity that is buried in the decay; comforting, uplifting but very real, grounded in the now and aware of inabilities and imperfections. “To the mournful, it may come across as solace; to the broken, hope. What is pure is eternal. This is the sound of the eternal attempting to reach us; but it is also the sound of our own sullied nature: a scratched and clouded surface that hides a kernel of light.”


12. Grouper – Ruins: Liz Harris is a legitimate star at this point, right? This record is so remarkably pretty especially considering it somehow just feels gray. All year as I have listened to it I have been unable to shake the comparisons to Hecker’s “Dropped Pianos” which was equally as stunning and put the heart of a remarkable artist on full display, perhaps that’s the point. This album sees Harris edging even closer to the singer/songwriter tag as all evidence of the fuzz that used to cloak her piano and guitar works is all but disappeared. Normally, that wouldn’t work for me, but what is revealed is a courage to just keep things simple and completely reveal these wonderful folk-tinged gems that she has been making for so long. In the end we wind up with these great little simple songs like “Clearing” and “Holding” which are certainly both candidates for song of the year in my opinion. This is just good simple music done really really well.


11. Siavash Amini – What Wind Whispered to the Trees: This record is some seriously heavy/moody drone. Blistering low end drones, towering walls of static, gorgeous violin, everything just sounds so huge here. It’s all of the gloom of great drone masters but then this neo-classical wash and balance all coming together in this series of ethereal moments. An hour of push and pull composition that has at times made my heart race (“The Wind”), has damn near reduced me to tears (“What Wind Whispered…”). It’s a rarity in my opinion for a record to at once be both so destructive and sensitive and the result is this fully immersive piece that may down the road be the reference point for one of the great new voices in the neo-classical world (this is only the dude’s second album).

Growing love over the years for Sunn O)), reinforced by seeing them live... but Scott Walker's voice and presence is an abomination excreted all over that album. And in that other thread folk complain about Sleater-Kinney's Tucker's voice........

My two year old is thoroughly convinced this is a Muppets record, so though I love the absurdity of the voice, I can certainly understand your thoughts on this one Harry.

I think this Skullflower is closer to the more rock oriented stuff than they have done in awhile. Kind of wish I would have put that one higher already as the more I listen to it the more I am really impressed by it.

Wold has certainly been doing the same thing for a while now, I do think the grooves that are on here are the best they/he has done though. Badb would actually be my scone favorite though.

Dude, I can't even picture a Mincemeat show. I missed them here for some reason but hopefully as this record gets more attention they will get back soon.

I've gotten so used to Scott Walker's voice that the goofiness, contrivance, or whatever of it hardly even registers with me anymore. The problem I have with this record is actually with Sunn O))) who I think made this a much duller and less dynamic record than Scott's last few solo albums (Bisch Bosch and The Drift).

Was funny, I'd never heard of 'em before, stopped by a record store and someone working there with taste I like suggested their tape so I grabbed it, liked it and it turned out they were playing a free show the next night. Absolutely worth checking out.

Also, I really dig that Saaad album and the Swans. Need to hear a couple of the others. Looking forward to the top ten.

C'mon man, hurry up