18. Indignant Senility – Consecration of the Whipstain: It is a sunny day at 11:30 in the afternoon, I am listening to this record, and it still scares the shit out of me. Where are a lot of records/artists manipulate or damage source recordings, Pat Maher destroys, maybe even desecrates the source sounds he pieces together on this monster. I love the review the good folks over at Boomkat wrote for this as it sums it up perfectly:

Yeah, that about says it all, except they left out “Just fucking awesome.”



17. Barn Owl-Lost In the Glare: I have championed Barn Owl as one of the best bands out there for a couple of years now, and though this release is far from their strongest, I stand by that assertion. This still sounds like Earth playing a Morricone score, it’s dusty and western and big sky music, but similar to the recent shrinking down of tracks by Emeralds, the tracks here are nicely wrapped up in under seven minutes each for the most part—this was a huge surprise to me. Even in seven minutes, Caminiti’s (and for his very underrated part Porras as well) Ebowed drones and mind warping playing shine like no one else playing guitar right now (to include McGuire and Tom Carter). That being said, one of the most striking things here, is the inclusion of other artists and sounds; Juno 60, tape manipulation, tanpura and gong played by Michael Elrod (The Alps, Date Palms), Steve Dye on bass clarinet (Portraits), and drummer (!) Jacob Felix Heule. Heule’s playing is heavy at time, subtle when needed, an awesome addition to the band. His playing moves things along at the new found pace with ritual primitive clatter and these otherworldly huge swells. A great addition to the band for sure. The stand out here without question is “The Darkest Night Since 1683,” which is easily the darkest, dare I say angriest, sound Barn Owl has ever produced. It is just power and nasty drone and fire and fury, like inviting Wizard Prison or SunnO))) to jam at Joshua Tree. Brilliant track that I hope the guys explore more on future releases. Now, I am not going to lie. When they made the move to Thrill Jockey I was concerned that they would lose some of their secrecy. There is something intimate in this music that I kind of don’t want to share. Maybe it is a result of spending so much of my time in the desert (between Iraq, Afghanistan, and Tucson the majority of my adult life has been sans grass) that makes what these guys (and the guys down in New Mexico, whom I will get to later) seem so personal to me, I don’t know. Regardless, the switch to a mid-major certainly has not tainted these guys sound in any way. They are still an amazing band that have a long career ahead of them. I can’t imagine anything keeping me from being there for the rest of the ride.

I've been listening to quite a bit of Barn Owl these days, including this one and I like it quite a lot even if I wouldn't consider it their best work either. You listen to their Shadowland EP this year?

16. Ellen Fullman – Through Glass Panes: Ellen Fullman is a national treasure in my mind. What she has done with the “long string instrument” for 30 years now is remarkable. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the instrument, a description from the press release for this record:

The resulting sound is unlike anything you are likely to hear in your life. It’s this shimmering, bending, constant motion of sound—like something from another world (I actually had the opportunity to look at some of her annotations for pieces with Kronos at the Library of Congress a while back and even the sheets looked like another language, loved it.) The only solo track on here is the closer “Even Location No. 2”, everything else features her playing with an assortment of other string artists—cellos, violins, box bows on the LSI. Most of the works here have an almost lyrical quality to them, and the tuning comes off very much south Asia to me. The highlight, if there is one I suppose, is “Flowers”, which features Travis Weller’s violin (and a cello, which honestly is overshadowed by Weller here, it would be hard not to be) in an almost call and response role. It’s aggressive chopping of his strings while the fluid drones of the LSI continue on that provides an urgency to the track. For a process record that exists very much in the neoclassic realm, it is a knockout rock and roll moment that comes very unexpected. There is really nothing bad to say about this album. Fullman is, in my opinion, an artist that every musician should at least be familiar with. However, for an artist and a record, that is so technically impressive both in process and sound, it is very accessible. It’s just an enjoyable listen of really pretty and unfamiliar sounds, and therein lies the strength. This album could have been so off-putting and elitist, but instead has the capability to introduce a wide audience to something very unusual.




15. Prurient – Bermuda Drain/Time’s Arrow: Yep it’s a twofer!!! I figure given the companion piece idea I can do that with this pair. Now that’s out of the way; Upon hearing these releases immediately I was almost in disbelief that this was Prurient. Dominick has been defiling my ears for years now. Screaming at walls of speakers and crushing me with disgusting unfiltered feedback and violence. Not so much here. I will be damned if these two records aren’t possibly the best things he has ever done though. All of that certainly is not to say that there are no moments of vocal obliteration here, there are a few (and even the softer spoken word moments still include lines such as “take a tree branch and ram it inside you” in reference to what he would like to do to you), but there are hooks, and no-shit beats, and an unprocessed synth. This is just crazy (and may be a result of the Cold Cave connection, I don’t know). It’s still dark for sure, unsettling—yes, creepy-absolutely, but the contrast of the quiet monologues with the huge vocal squalls elevate the sense of dread to a large extent. There is something so personal happening here that I almost feel like for the first time we are getting to meet Dominick. In his own words, “noise is the freedom to pursue personal obsession, outside of genre and audience,” he is living up to that here. These are two records that can bring a sort of noise to a much wider audience. Fans of 80s Wax Trax and Factory Records stuff should be all over this. Retro-synth kids in their black leather jackets should have his pictures on their bedroom door (see, I like Sleater Kinney too, it’s not all lefty music for me). I fully appreciate when a legend takes a risk, and it happened and succeeds here.
Not my link:
Bermuda Drain:
Times Arrow:

Yeah, I loved the EP as well. There has been nothing those guys have released that hasn't impressed me. Another one of those bands that just refuse to stagnate, but never venture too far from what they do. Also, another band whose live show left me completely in awe and convinced me that Caminiti should be a legend in guitar circles.

Me too honestly. I really don't know that I played anything more than that UMO record this year though. It just got inside my brain and wouldn't leave.

For me, there are quite a few tracks on Merriweather that I will skip past, sadly they are most of the Avey tracks on there (with the exception of Lion In A Coma which is as far as I am concerned a legend-making song). With Tomboy I am impressed with every single track. There is a balance of sameness and diversity (that may come from everything being made on the M3) that is very cool to me.

i just got that ellen fullman record a couple days ago. don't know how i missed that one for so long, but holy shit what a sound

Amazing isn't it. While looking around for images of it, I ran across this house/installation. The house is amazing, wonder how all of these strings sound in comparison given that sound my not be the primary purpose in them: http://www.oddmusic.com/gallery/om26775.html

that's awesome.

anyway, been looking for links for that Stare Case and the "Sound Gates" record, but coming up no dice.

I mostly ignored experimental music and much of the stuff that's on this list this past year, as opposed to other years, so thanks a bunch for this thread

No worries. Hopefully, I will get this wrapped up this week.

I will try and get those two ripped and posted this week for you also. Think I need to reup Thundercat and Sissy Spacek also.

I'm listening to Glenn Jones' "The Wanting" right now on Spotify, and while it hasn't been on your list (could be), it's just making me remember how much I love american primitivism stuff and finger-picking and all that. Don't know how i slept on this guy so long

14. Rene Hell – Terminal Symphony: This album finds the middle ground of noise and classical minimalism in a way that references the impact of each genre on the other and really points to what the future of short-form composition should be (plus it gets bonus points for having my favorite album cover of the year). Each track, though remaining under 7 minutes, with most over in under 4, is structured and purposeful and defined throughout. No excessive jams, sprawling unraveling drones, these are get in and get out pocket sized pieces of sine-wave bliss. For me, reinterpreting the ideas behind something like the Cello Octets of Glass through synthesis seems like a no-brainer. It shows through most things on this list how interconnected the two worlds are—devotion to repetition, subtlety over huge sweeping moments, machine like precision (that can be interpreted as cold)—but what Witscher (Hell) does here is explore it in a couple of ways, that really almost separates the album into two halves. The first half (particularly opener “Chamber Forte” which might be the best opener on any record this year) feels more like an electronic record. It is cold and metallic, but there are moments where that falls off and the movement really does pulse like strings or wind ensemble. From that opener that idea becomes more clear all the way through the last two tracks, which are my favorites on here. “Detuned Clarinet” explores decay in a way that I have never heard done with synths before. The notes sound like they could be just processed wind—like some weirdo outtake of a Colleen record. Then closing with “Adagio For String Portrait” where the subtlety and delicacy of sine-wave noise (a concept I have become obsessed with thanks to this record) take form and wrap up this whole thing with a ridiculously ballsy statement on what a composed piece of music can be. Where that Women record got in my head last year and ripped out every single rock and roll sound I have ever been influenced by, this record did the same with “experimental” music this year—Kraftwerk, Can, and Cluster jam alongside Partch, Riley, and Young, and invite AFX to run the boards and processing here—this is an important record that I think will have a remarkable amount of influence on artists in years to come.

I got to see him in Takoma Park a few months ago and was really impressed. He is one of those guys I have a tendency to forget about until something randomly pops up on shuffle and I remember how great he is though. I didn't even pick up that record last year, but will certainly add it to my list (along with the Alvarius B that came out last year that I completely slept on as well). Like I said in my Turnquist review, it's crazy how many of these guys aren't around anymore, and so many of them are/should be just legendary.

It may sound elitist of me, but I don't get how people can get behind someone like Kurt Vile (Days of the New redux if you ask me) when there is so much great Takoma/primitive stuff floating around out there. I mean, I guess it's apples to oranges, but seriously, listen to Jones' "There Is A Wind That Blows It," or that Turnquist record, or any of the Berkeley Guitar guys, and tell me how it is that that Vile kid is supposed to be some guitar savior or whatever. Fuck him--and he needs a haircut.

13. Wooden Shjips – West: Are Wooden Shjips formulaic? Yes. Does every record sound pretty much the same? Yes. Do they overtly sound like Spacemen 3 and Velvet Underground on almost every track? Yes. Are they one of the best bands in the world? Absolutely. I love what Shjips do—bottom line. This is drug music (though I take no part in such things). It is repetitive, sludgy, fuzzed out amplifier rock. The sound on this one is way cleaner than previous efforts, but it still works, and might even make them more brain-frying than ever (this is probably in part due to Sonic Boom’s hand in the production here). Ripley’s voice is still as chill as ever, the rhythms still just roll with that devotion to nod along repetition, but here they prove they can do more than turn you into a pile of goo as the solos that come out of the mix are just great rock moments. This record is all dark glasses and smoke and the soundtrack to a windows down drive in a rebuilt ‘69 Nova SS rolling through Ocean City at the end of Spring. The world could use more music like this.



12. Pete Swanson – Man With Potential: Pete Swanson can do no wrong. The guy achieved legend status with Yellow Swans a long time ago and really reaches an apex of what was hinted at with records like “Psychic Seccession” here. This is the perfect blend of dance music and sheer noise. There are huge kick drums on tracks like “Misery Beat” and “Remote View” but still no shortage of flailing messes of electronic blips and dynamic pads. Much of this seems to move in 4/4 at a blistering industrial pace, but Swanson still leaves so much space on each track. Nothing is crowded and there is still plenty of time to focus on the bizarre processed strings and guitar (?) and noise (sub)harmonics (which are just fucking nasty at times on here). Where KPLR and SPSS produced some weirdo takes on dance music this year which were really impressive, Swanson just blows them out of the water and defined truly fucked techno with this album. Any fans of Regis, or maybe some older industrial (Gristle, maybe some Wax Trax fans) should definitely check this out, as this isn’t just an evolutionary step for noise, but also for electronic music in general.

That Wooden Shjips sounds like something I certainly need to check out.

Perfect description of Wooden Shjips... and agreed that all their music sounds pretty much the same (and each track sounds pretty much the same). A limited range, a guilty pleasure... although I see the drive as not Ocean City but rather between Half Moon Bay and SF trying to score at 2:00am.

11. Blues Control/Laraaji - FRKWAYS Vol. 8: I have to admit that outside of his stuff with Eno on Ambient 3, I am pretty unfamiliar with Laraaji. This album sent me searching through the back catalog though and I am certainly glad I did. This is a great collaboration largely because it just sounds like a really good Blues Control record. Aside from the truly awesome belly laughs we get from Laraaji on a few tracks (and really you hear him laughing, apparently it is one of his things) his zither just blends right in with these guys fuzzed out take on new-wave, however, overall the mood is more contemplative than other Blues Control albums—their instincts to really let loose are tapered a bit I suppose. The whole record (fully recommend grabbing the bonus tracks where these guys really get to jam a bit) is very fluid which is highly impressive for an album with so many tonally competitive instruments. "Awakening Day" alone features some urban field recording full of voices and traffic and general city brashness—it remains calm though as the bent strings and drenched vibraphone play along with Laraaji’s zither, it feels very alien in some way. “Light Ships” threatens to atrophy every muscle in your body with an insane drone, these odd wordless vocals (similar to that MV/Dredd Foole record from a few years ago), and a piano/zither dance that is playful and relaxing at the same time. “City of Love” could have been the perfect applicant for a split with any of GGD’s singles this year. This is just cool stuff—it’s the two generations of no-wave meeting, referencing everything great that each generation has to offer and ultimately what happens is we find out that not much has changed—I’m pretty okay with that, and glad that FRKWAYS continues to do this sort of thing (I also highly recommend the Julianna Barwick/Ikue Mori album from this series). This one got me looking back at Laraaji and looking forward to the next Blues Control (on Drag City I guess(!)). Hopefully they can repeat some of the magic they pulled off here.

10. Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact: This was my most anticipated record of the year, and for the most part it lived up to my expectations and may be the weirdest pop record I have ever heard. The beats are great, the voice soars, there are just enough non-traditional sounds to keep it interesting—but it is very much a highly accessible record. It’s hard to believe the transition GGD has made over the course of a few records, really this album has little to do with the no-wave sound that initially drew me to them. I think similar to Animal Collective though they have found a way to bring certain elements of what got them to where they are now into this dance sound. It is extremely impressive honestly. If I have one negative to say it would be that the back half of this album does drag a bit, they need to find a way to keep the intensity over the course of nine or ten tracks, the first half of the record though is just as good as anything else that came out this year.
Not my link:



9. William Fowler Collins – The Resurrections Unseen: Take this with a grain of salt, as my thoughts on this album seem to contradict every other review I have seen of it. Everyone wants to talk about the cold and isolating nature of what this guy does, and I kind of don’t get that from this. Don’t get me wrong, I understand how this falls into the “dark ambient” realm, but where Shiflet and that Indignant Senility record really startled me this year, I found something very comforting in what Collins made with this record. Maybe it is my leaving the southwest to come out here to the sprawl of the DC area, as this record does sound like big sky thunderstorms (and the calm that comes with them) and has a certain dust to it that feels like the desert. That desert feeling is largely what I think about when I hear this album—though it often isn’t Tucson, but rather Diwanniyah and Helmand and every other shithole province I spent too many years in. This album feels like the best parts of the worst times of my life; sitting behind an MRAP smoking a cigarette and eating an apple in the dead quiet after a firefight while illums light up the sky. Catching a helo out of some shithole firebase that is being closed down, seeing the remnants razed as you go over the top. Sitting in a tent with your four best friends all reading by chem stick for the 100+ night in a row where desensitization has crept in and you all just ignore the annoying incoming alarms as if Harry Potter will protect you. There is a certain catharsis that comes through the fog of war and this record stirs that up in me. Like most of the guys I served with, the war didn’t stay behind, most of us still struggle with things, but on those nights where I can not sleep there is nothing more comforting than this record.
Not my link:

8. Evan Caminiti - When California Falls into the Sea: Barn Owl are drone masters, no question. With this record, Caminiti’s strongest solo outing in my opinion, he proves himself as a guitar legend. Gently strummed, blues tinged, and reverb soaked, this thing is just enveloping. Murky enough to stir things up, but overall the sounds here just float and drift and weave in and out effortlessly. I like what the Foxy D review said:

As such I think it hits that perfect mark of what has been referenced as what music like this is capable of. Incredible record from a talent that is really deserving of way more recognition.



7. Colin Stetson - A New History Warfare Vol. 2: There has been a ton of press about this record this year (I think it was even up for the Polaris Prize). It seems to be a bit polarizing, which I can certainly understand. For me, it held up really well all year though. As a record that can be very scattershot, referencing so many genres, often all at once it seems, it never becomes a chore to listen to. There is so much subtlety on each track, and as far as a process/statement album goes, it is unbelievable. The exploration of tonal processing and sound vs. music are put together in a way that shouldn’t turn too many people off of this. Maybe it is the jazz influence and semi-traditional song structure that makes it seem so accessible, I don’t know, but I feel like this is a record I could throw on around any group of people, regardless of musical taste, and there would be something here that appealed to them.

6. Tim Hecker – Ravedeath 1972: It’s a Tim Hecker record. For almost ten years now everything the guy has put out has landed in my top 20 for that given year. He might just be the most consistently great artist out there—never a miss. Really at this point what more is there to say about what the guy does. It’s beautiful music. It moves in a way that nothing else does. Every sound is perfectly engineered and crafted, there is a sense of melody and rhythm that is apparent and missing in so much music like this. In spite of what can appear skeletal on this record there is no question about the completeness—an end for every sound and every song. If you have been under a rock the past ten years and missed everything else he has done then grab this, if not you have probably already heard it and understand what makes it great.

5. Belong – Common Era: This is not what I expected from Belong. These guys created a masterpiece with “October Language” a few years ago—all texture and guitar swirl, but here they have reimagined the concepts there into what may be the best shoegaze/dream pop record of the past ten years. MBV and JAMC-esque muted percussion (which explores slight variation on most of these tracks that fans of Brightblack should like) and breathy vocals are all over this thing. There is melody and real songs here, they just happen to be made up of this blanket of washed out and delayed sound. It’s a difficult album for sure as there is so much happening it is hard to pinpoint specific things to listen to/for, but this might just be the pinnacle of “drone-pop” or whatever subgenre this thing gets catalogued under when all is said and done.



4. The Caretaker – An Empty Bliss Beyond This World: I have to pick up my daughter from school and really want to get through this list today, so here is what the label said about this record. It is pretty spot on.




3. Psychic Paramount – II: The rock album of the year, hands down. This is physical, and loud, and heavy, but remains ridiculously complex. I still have never heard their first one, or any Laddio albums, so I have no reference point for any evolution of sound on this one. I don’t need it. I am happy just having the album that I wish Comets On Fire ever would have made. This record shows that a band can be atmospheric and challenging and difficult without sacrificing energy and grit in any way. Just a classic record that I never saw coming this year.



2. Jasper TX - Black Sun Transmissions: This record is just stunning. Harry writes better than I do though:

1. Sean McCann - The Capital: This is a legend making record. What McCann accomplishes here with the mix of plucked and bowed strings (guitar, banjo, viola, fiddle), the unsettling murmurs of who the fuck knows, dense auditory vibrations, synthesizer static, and unplaceable clamor, is jaw-droppingly amazing. There are moments of aharmonic dissonance aplenty but the times when McCann pulls the consonance out of his violin/fiddle (dude explores some almost bluegrass stuff in unimaginable ways), or whatever other instrument who chooses to grab at any time, it is the perfect blend of violence and elegance and comes together for this strangely uplifting and joyful human experience. Nothing approached this album this year or really in a long time honestly. Anyone who has any interest in hearing anything on this list—check this one out, this is everything that “outer sound” records can be, from what may be one of the most talented dudes on the planet.

Great work, k!

I look forward to checking out quite a few of these.

Awesome to see Psychic Paramount so high. I believe it is the best record those guys have been involved with, but you'll definitely want to check out their previous album, Gamelan into the Mink Supernatural and the Laddio Bolocko comp. I've enjoyed those a great deal if not quite as much as II.

That Sean McCann record is one that just gets better the more I listen. It's a perfect album to wake up to or to play late at night.

Meh, I puttered out toward the end here, just trying to get it done. Thanks though.

Will get around to checking out those other records at some point for sure. Big thanks for hooking me up with that Psychic Paramount though, that is just a monster of an album that I would have completely ignored otherwise.