Honorable Mention 2013 Pick 9

Har Mar Superstar: Bye Bye 17 (Cult Records, 2013)

Great opening track — Lady You Shot Me.  It pulls you right in, the horn section is blazing and the singer just pumps the drama.  I’m not a huge fan of the soul disco blend, but the second track, Prisoner, has a very bumpin’ rhythm section performance.

The singer, who I shall refer to as Mr. Har, has a loose singing style with a bout of shouter in him that I find pleasing.  The third tune, Everywhere I’m Local, refers back to early 1960′s r&b pop and Mr. Har does a good job selling the sweetness of this track.  The fourth tune, Restless leg, is a midtempo jaunt and I tune where I wanted more funk than the pop injection. The next tune 12:12 continues with the sweet vocals and arrangement over a brisk and bumpin’ drum/bass combo continues the theme of this record.

I think this guy is very talented, especially as an arranger and a vocalist, but I wanted more funk and that’s why I’m giving this record honorable mention rather than best of year status.  If he had made it just a bit funkier I would be all over this record all the time.

And of course as soon as I typed that Mr. Har drops a funky burner called ‘We Don’t Sleep’ and then bounces back to that sweeter early ’60s sound with the tune Www.

So there you have it.  Crushing rhythm section, you could build a house on that shit.  Great singer with some looseness and flavor on the microphone, far above average arrangements, correction really straight up excellent arrangements with some particularly ear catching changes in a couple of songs, but I just wanted just a bit more funk.

Favorite Tracks: Lady, You Shot Me (1), We Don’t Sleep (6), Late Night Morning Light (10).

Best of 2012 Pick 12

Matt Davis’ Aerial Photographs: Ways and Means (Van Dolah, 2009)

What this record shares with Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain is a downtempo, sparse melodic atmosphere.  Sketches of Spain does not contain interview snippets of homeless people in Philadelphia — I originally found these small vocal excerpts to be annoying, but I think they deepen the intent of the work by grounding it the lives of real and struggling people.

Davis is the guitarist in this large ensemble (12 pieces I believe I read) and his tone is simple and direct — he’s definitely a core component of the music, but he doesn’t dominate and there are pieces that feature various instrumentation.  There’s a piece more violin based, and another one focused more on piano, and there are drums on one piece.

There’s very little on Youtube from this record but apparently Davis did a Kickstarter and is doing a New York version of this record so google around and support that.  You can stream this record, it’s on MOG so it’s all around.  And if you want to buy one of those shiny discs folks used to spin, I think you can at CD Baby.

I know from my own personal experience that independent musicians doing this kind of music struggle mightily, so any support going to this musician is real and tangible.  This is really beautiful music and hopefully folks will check it out.

Honorable Mention 2013 Pick 8

Hollis Brown: Ride on the Train (Alive Naturalsound, 2013)  This is a very above average American rock/blue eyed soul record with influences including Credence Clearwater Revival, Tom Petty, and the Eagles.    The record sports a great drummer and a great drum sound, and as every hardcore music fan will tell you if you’re drummer ain’t something you ain’t goin anywhere.

The singer is nasal in a few places, but overall his singing is endearing.  The guitar playing is strong, not quite at the level of the drummer, but that’s just me.  I’ve clipped a couple of track from the record here, with the ballad ‘If it ain’t me’ at the top as it’s my favorite track on the record.  I think the record gets better as it goes along and I like tracks 7 and 8 the best.

Best of 2013 Pick 10: Bassekou Kouyate

Bassekou Kouyate and N’goni Ba: Jamako (OutHere Records, 2013)

I like the rough African music so when Kouyate hits that amplified ngoni in the third tune and rips a fat, electric solo that shit works for me.  A lot of African music records sport a very clean and refined sound, but I like less cathedral reverbed out and more street sounding productions.  The production on this record is transparent — all the instruments and singers are presented clearly and the focus is on the playing.

The singers are very good, the record is rhythmically strong, but the electric ngoni sound and Kouyate’s playing took this from an above average record to a great record.  There are moments that sound very ecstatic (in the religious sense), moments of quiet, other sections that remind you of the origin of the blues, and Taj Mahal makes a late appearance.

Don’t sleep on this record.

Best of 2013 Pick 9

Baptists: Bushcraft (Southern Lord, 2013).  In short a vibrant blend of metal and Minor Threat style punk out of this Vancouver band.

The slightly unfortunate part is that the album doesn’t really take off until the fourth song.  At least for me, and it’s my blog so I get to say that.  It’s not that the first three tunes are bad, they don’t crush it as they do later.

The most interesting part of this record is the drummer — he doesn’t play the way I hear most metal drummers playing.  There is a thrash but not a tightness — his shit is not off but he’s all over the place and sounds more unpredictable and energetic.  His timing is interesting.

The singer is more punk than metal.  He’s screaming but it’s not that weird ass low sucking sound you hear in a lot of metal.

The whole thing works together well.

You can stream this fine work of heavy metal over here at exclaim.ca.  It’s up on the streaming stores and here’s a video from the Youtube section of the internets.

Best of 2013 Pick 8

Nico Muhly: Drones & Piano (Bedroom Community, 2012)

A modern classical recording of, you guessed it, drones and piano.  It’s always better to go with the words of the artist, instead of me going on and on about it.

I started writing the Drones pieces as a method of developing harmonic ideas over a static structure. The idea is something not unlike singing along with one’s vacuum cleaner, or with the subtle but constant humming found in most dwelling-places. We surround ourselves with constant noise, and the Drones pieces are an attempt to honor these drones and stylize them. -Nico Muhly

To my ear is sounds like the drones are all acoustic violin sounds.  I kinda wish there had been some electronically generated drone sounds, but I’m greedy.

Check it out and buy it if you dig it.

Active Music Listening Monday March 4, 2013

YTD recordings listened to: 197
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 128
Not good music: 53
Buys: 7

Possibles: Isaiah Toothtaker (2011), Sidsel Endresen & Stan Westerhus, The Ones to Blame, Boyd Rivers, Abdoulaye Alhassane Toure, Cryptopsy, Nick Waterhouse, Patterson Hood, Skyzoo,  Philippe Petite, Chris McGregor, Brother Ali (2009), Alvin Youngblood Hart, Nico Muhly, Bob Gluck Trio, Kayhan Kalhor, Ether Net, Oddisee, Holly Williams, Matt Davis’ Aerial Photograph, Baptists

@@@ Baptists: Bushcraft (Southern Lord, 2013).  I found this record one of my steady sources of metal, the Omega mailorder weekly email.  This is a Southern Lord release, and I dig the variety of music they releases.  These guys are no exception as they blend thrash, metal, power rock and punk with a singer that shouts but who is not full caveman.  There’s no epic metal vibe going on here as the three songs I’ve peeped are clocking around four minutes, and it doesn’t seem to be solely designed for the sonic beatdown, which you do receive.  I think these guys are aiming for a sort of I really dig how they work that area between punk and metal — it’s working for me.   Man, I’m on the fifth tune Still Melts, and it’s a monster riff with some Minor Threat shout screaming and a pretty strong hardcore vibe.  This is the shit.

@@@ Matt Davis’ Aerial Photograph: Ways and Means (Van Dolah, 2009).  I found this record via a coffee shop jazz series announcement series here in Brooklyn.  This is a regal orchestral jazz recording centered around Davis’ guitar playing.  I don’t usually go for recordings like this as they can easily be cheesy, but this one is less so.  I appreciate the politics that are interjected at the beginnings and ends of the pieces.  I’m a little surprised that I dig this record, but it is creative in concept and unfolds surprisingly as opposed to what you expect a record like this to do.  It blends a lot of ideas well.  I will check out more of this record when I have time.

@@@ Shout Out Louds: Optica (Merge, 2013).  This is a MOG new release record from last week.  Soft rock/pop with a toenail of disco.  Strummed acoustic guitars with a hopeful sounding singer.  I thought that gated snare drum sound had been phased out at the end of the 1980′s for a reasons.  It doesn’t sound like a drum for frigs sake.  I don’t think I’m going to make it far into this record.  This doesn’t work for me at all.  Blech.

Best of 2013 Pick 7

@@@ Galoshins: EP1/EP2 (Aremellodie, 2013).  Quirky rock with some punk edge in the XTC tradition with a hair of Devo and maybe the Minutemen and Elvis Costello thrown in just to keep you on your toes..  I dig both the drummer and the guitar player as they do unexpected things within the songs.  These guys have some good shit going on — high energy, weirdness, some rockin’ and they sound like a band.  These guys can play, I really dig this.  If you take the second EP, which is a bit different but still high quality and you put it together with the first EP, you pretty much have a full record.  Fuckin’ A, it’s funny how that works.  I wish they hadn’t compressed the record so much, but I still dig the songs.

Peep it here:

Buy here:

Active Music Listening Friday March 1, 2013

YTD recordings listened to: 194
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 128
Not good music: 52
Buys: 7

Possibles: Isaiah Toothtaker (2011), Sidsel Endresen & Stan Westerhus, The Ones to Blame, Boyd Rivers, Abdoulaye Alhassane Toure, Cryptopsy, Nick Waterhouse, Patterson Hood, Skyzoo,  Philippe Petite, Chris McGregor, Brother Ali (2009), Alvin Youngblood Hart, Nico Muhly, Bob Gluck Trio, Kayhan Kalhor, Ether Net, Oddisee, Holly Williams

@@@ Galloshins: EP1/EP2 (Aremellodie, 2013).  I like this much better than the Scott & Charlene’s Wedding record above.  Quirky rock in the XTC tradition with a hair of Devo and maybe the Minutemen and Elvis Costello thrown in just to keep you on your toes..  I dig both the drummer and the guitar player as they do unexpected things within the songs.  These guys have some good shit going on — high energy, weirdness, some rockin’ and they sound like a band.  These guys can play, I really dig this.  If you take the second EP, which is a bit different but still high quality and you put it together with the first EP, you pretty much have a full record.  Funny how that works.  I wish they hadn’t compressed the record so much, but I still dig the songs.

This record is going on my best of 2013 list.

@@@ Scott & Charlene’s Wedding: Para Vista Social Club (Critical Heights, 2012).  Garage-y guitar rock with a singer who has a bit of Iggy Pop/Lou Reed nihilism in his voice and phrasing and a guitar player that sounds like he owns some of the early Pixies discs.  I found this recording via the Skinny out of the UK, which I’ve been pulling records from all week.  The record also has a sort of plodding Velvet Underground feel to it.  I’m not super enjoying it.

@@@ Attica Rage: Road Dog (Off Yer Rocka Recordings, 2012)  Riffy mainstream hard rock from Scotland (I think).  The second tune ‘Hack for Vanity’ gets more into a Van Halen state of mind.  These tunes are an amalgamation of big name hard rocks bands — a shmear of Metallica, a bit of Van Halen, a wee bit of Motley Crue.

So if that’s how you roll….have at it.

A big list of best of 2012 music lists

Ted Goia: I found this via the London Jazz blog.  I don’t know this cat from Adam but there’s a ton of records here to listen to.

Anti-Gravity Bunny Top 10 Drone records of 2012.  Ant-Gravity Bunny dude knows his shit.

A writer at Fluid Radio has a top ten ambient/noise records list over here.  His #1 record pick is awesome.  Go son.

Guardian 40-20: Infested with PR hack record pimps. WRIR (world music station in Virginia): I think the Antibalas record is overrated (like most of the Daptone releases) but I’m grooving on Prince Fatty’s Versus the Gambler.

Hank Shteamer’s best of 2012 over here at Dark Forces Swing Blind Punches.

Pitchfork weighs in with their best of 2012 list here.  Wow, it’s full of biscuits.

A huge list of individual music writers’ lists over here at the Guardian.  I listened to a ton of records off this list and didn’t feel like I got rewarded.

Common Folks Music has a best of 2012 list of all the depressing folk you could possibly want here.

A mostly punk/pop punk list over here at Sputnik Music.

Metal Injection has a top 10 metal records of 2012 over here.

Magnet Magazine has a best of 2012 world music list over here.

A ton of music critic lists over here at The Guardian.

Metacritic has a pretty tepid top 50 list over here.  Underneath their compiled list, there are lists of publications and their top lists.  Surprise, surprise they are all the same.  Isn’t that funny? Not funny ha ha, more funny sad.

Quite possibly the worst best of 2012 list I’ve seen yet over here from Rolling Stone/Huffington Post music writer here.

A well known guitar player I know nothing of has a top 10 headbangers list over here at Guitarworld.

Invisible Oranges’ top ten metal records of 2012 over here.

Free Jazz Stef has his top fifteen voted jazz records of the year over here.

Pretty Much Amazing has it’s top 50 over here.  Nothing too exciting so boring folks head on over.

Twenty best roots/American records over here at Amber Waves of Twang.

Another roots rock 2012 list over here at Twangville.

More more indie rock from 2012 over here at The Wild Honey Pie.

10 best r&b/hip hop list from Hilly Dilly over here.

10 overlooked metal records over here at Invisible Oranges.