But often, in the world’s most crowded streets,
But often, in the din of strife,
There rises an unspeakable desire
After the knowledge of our buried life;
A thirst to spend our fire and restless force
In tracking out our true, original course;
A longing to inquire
Into the mystery of this heart which beats
So wild, so deep in us–to know
Whence our lives come and where they go.
- Matthew Arnold, The Buried Life, 45-54

There is something inheritently daring about the great masters who seek to explore the past to redefine the present and finding new path to the future. The little punctuation in history that turns how the entire story unfold. It even tried to find the true proportion of man.

This list is self conscious in that it tries to look for new relationship between melody, rythm and composition techniques in pop music. Scattered somewhere between mainline blues based genres and electronica, the songs move beyond rock without entirely rejecting it. With floating imageries exploring ideas in different cultures, they are not fast, nor loud, but are richly detailed and masterfully composed. So here are some recent favorites albums that probably will make best of year albums combined with the great ones from the past. End of winter list with no rock.

Is it possible to move beyond rock gracefully?

“The Adventures of Ghosthorse & Stillborn”

01. Islaja - Varjokuvastin (web)
(Ulual Yyy, 2007)

03. Jah Wobble and Bill Laswell - Alsema Dub (web)
(Radioaxiom – A Dub Transmission, 2001)

04. Alice Coltrane - Blue Nile
(Ptah, The El Daoud (remastered), 1970)

05. Icarus - Benevolent Incubator (four tet web)
(Late Night Tunes: Four Tet, 2004)

06. The Cinematic Orchestra - Breathe
(Ma Fleur EP, 2007)

07. Aphex Twin - oval the politics of digital a (web)
(mixing with richard d james, live mix on bbc radio 3 on 6.11.95)

08. Fridge - oram (web)
(The Sun, 2007)

09. Macromantics - Generation (web)
(Movements in Movement, 2006)

see also: 2007 list
image: Image of Vitruvian Man by Leonardo Da Vinci