1. EMA – Past Life Martyred Saints (Souterrain Transmissions)
Listen: Anteroom

Martyrs are not victims. There is no self-pity or cool detachment to their pain. This is the mantra by which Erika M. Anderson lives in her songs. Past Life Martyred Saints is an intimate but uncomfortable album, it will make you feel guilty for the hearts you’ve torn apart and it will make you feel weak for all the times you’ve been hurt and felt victimized for it.

2. Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges (Constellation)
Listen: Fear of the Unknown and the Blazing Sun

The first time I heard Colin Stetson he was the opening act for Godspeed You! Black Emperor and it was absolutely mind-blowing. Some of us mistook him as a sound engineer and were caught completely by surprise when he started playing. One by one we fell into a silent trance as he created out of thin air the most magnificent, heartbroken beasts I’ve ever heard from a one man band. Recorded in one take with no overdubs, Judges captures the thrill of hearing him live with precision. Not only is the record technically impressive and conceptually novel but also highly compelling at a musical level. Inspired by post-rock and electronic pioneers, Stetson favors sonic aesthetics over experimentation, every deviation sounding calculated enough as to not scare the feeble away but smart enough to hook the most demanding listeners.

3. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up (Sub Pop)
Listen: Swerve… The reeping of all that is worthwhile (Noir not withstanding)

Experimental hip-hop that finds its roots on avant-garde jazz acts such as Sun Ra instead of disco and funk. I’ll be completely honest, english being my second language I have a hard time trying to understand hip hop lyrics, so I suck at appreciating the genre for one of its defining features and yet the multiple twists and turns in Black Up give it a replay value like few other albums I heard this year. Breezy, psychedelic and extremely unpredictable.

4. Braids – Native Speaker (Flemish Eye)
Listen: Lemonade

Native Speaker feels to me like an erotic reinterpretation of Animal Collective’s ‘Feels’; on one hand it has the same approach in creating pop music: Loops of haze, rock instruments stretched to odd realms and cryptic lyrics; on the other one, we’ve never heard Animal Collective create songs as deeply personal and carefully constructed as the ones in Native Speaker. There’s a definite streak of innate sensuality and maturity which gives the music a whole new level of influence and meaning.

5. Robag Wruhme – Thora Bukk (Pampa)
Listen: Wupp Dek

It’s always a treat to hear a producer who is proficient and well known around the techno community turning away from the dancefloor to release music that borders outside of their usual field of expertise. Thora Vukk is Wruhme’s exploration of his music’s more melancholic, contemplative side, while keeping the sense of tension and attention to detail that he has perfected as a techno producer. The result is warm, gorgeous album that is fascinating, at least on an aesthetic level. Chillroom microhouse.

6. Thee Oh Sees – Castlemania (In the Red)
Listen: I Need Seed

Of all the indie bands that have adopted the garage rock influence, Thee Oh Sees are, in my humble opinion, one of the most fun around. At 16 tracks, Castlemania is their longest album to date yet there isn’t a single song in here that outwears its welcome. Every track keeps things fresh by throwing a wild, eccentric touch into the mix which makes them sound like a forward thinking, modern band that isn’t particularly concerned with revisionism.

7. Vinicius Cantuária & Bill Frisell – Lágrimas Mexicanas (E1)
Listen: Aquela Mulher

One of my favorite discoveries this year was Vinicius Cantuárias’ music; an elegant sort of Brazilian jazz that seems to fit all my moods and seasons. On ‘Lágrimas Mexicanas’ he is joined by guitar-virtuoso Bill Frisell and the result is a very colorful sound that switches between Frisell’s heavily geared, atmospheric stylings and Cantuaria’s Brazilian sensibilities. Although it doesn’t quite bring anything new to the table this album is an absolute pleasure to listen to.

8. Chain & the Gang – Music’s not for Everyone (K)
Listen: Why Not?

Chain and the Gang frontman, Ian Svenoniu comes up with an upfront, snobby attitude and the unruly approach of a punk star, rocking out unironically while critiquing the very own genre’s conventions. Mordant and unusually funny, the enjoyment of this album depends on how much you appreciate tongue in cheek sloganeering and cynicism.

9. Crystal Stilts – In Love with Oblivion (Slumberland)
Listen: Through the Floor

While Thee Oh Sees sound like they are pretending they’re a 60′s garage band that travelled in time to use today’s technology, Crystal Stilts behave like gravekeepers. They think of their dead idols as purveyors of a sound now rotten and decomposed, creators of long forgotten anthems that are now bathed in a ghoulish atmosphere. Do not, under any circumstance, attempt to undig them. The dead should remain buried deep underground. Leave them be. Hear what their spirits are whispering and reinterpret it for any of us living that might still be listening.

10. The Go! Team – Rolling Blackouts (Memphis Industries)
Listen: Ready To Go Steady

I remember being annoyed by the songs in ‘Thunder, Lightning, Strike‘ when I first heard them back in 2004. It took me 4 years to finally understand, digest and admire the band, nowadays it has become one of the most treasured pieces of my music collection. When ‘Rolling Blackouts’ came out earlier this year I already knew what to expect, the energy of a horny, raging bull charging into a room filled with cheerleaders, brass-blasting walls of sound and a complete lack of subtleness. If this sounds like your thing, then it is as amazing as it sounds.

Note: I’ve had this post ready for months now, almost thought of killing it and storing it in the fridge… I mean it’s probably a bit late for best-of lists but maybe it will help you discover something you missed out. Hope you enjoy.
Also: Schils Favourite Albums 2011 & his Top Mixes and Compilations.

Henri Rousseau never went to the Jungle. He spent all his days in Paris and surrounds, meticulously painting images of nature that were anything but ‘natural’. He copied his designs from botanical gardens, zoo pamphlets, and children’s books, depicting animals that would never be seen in the same environment. Once he even painted a hand of bananas growing upside down. His paintings are naive, flat and disjointed.

This playlist is a musical equivalent to Rousseau paintings – “Jungle” music made by westerners. Electronic emulation of african sounds, drum machines instead of djembé. Starts off mellow before moving into more disjointed territory.

01. Joel Vandroogenbroeck – Kinderspiel
(Digital Project, 1989)
02. Brian Briggs – Aeo pts. 1&2
(Brian Damage, 1980)
03. Haruomi Hosono – Honey Moon
(Tropical Dandy, 1975)
04. Ralf Nowy – Holidays in Kenia
(Colours of Holidays, 1987)
05. Eric Vann – Random Pizz
(Bass Moods, 1987?)
06. No Zu – Tattooed Head (short)
(Tattooed Head, 2011)
07. Zazou, Bikaye + Cy1 - M’Pasi Ya M’Pamba
(Noir Et Blanc, 1983)
08. John Tender - Flowers from Fantasyland 1
(Fantasyland Vol.1, 1981)

image: detail of The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope, 1905

There are many blossoms of great beauty – many indeed. But they cannot compare with the beauty of the blossoms of blossom town, for these bossoms also have human feelings. – Sharebon. Books of Wits and Fashion. (Early Japanese Literature: An Anthology 1600-1900)

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“Saturn Strobe. Recent Minimalist Extract. Moka’s Birthday.”

01. Goldmund - Gifts
The Malady Of Elegance (Type, 2008)
02. Brian Eno – Panic of Looking
Panic of Looking (Warp Records, 2011)
03. Hauschka - Mount Hood
Foreign Landscapes (Fat Cat, 2010)
04. Pantha du Prince – Saturn Strobe
This Bliss (Dial, 2007)
05. Helios - Convivium
Unleft (Unseen Music/Forced Exposure, 2010)
06. So Percussion – Aluminum
Treasure State (Cantaloupe, 2010)
07. Boxcutter - Panama
The Dissolve (Planet Mu, 2011)

Note: Everybody says Happy Birthday to Moka. (I am late again. But I think she will just grin this time.) I don’t have many albums in my head this year, so this one is not the usual edgy pop. Instead it’s a minimalism pushed all the way near pop sensibility. An old project, how to make less common music more accessible. Basically, it’s a pop music for 2 am. in the middle of cold winter. A little cold, somewhat alone, with a tinge of warm love. Imagine having a penthouse in Finland somewhere. 30th floor with a view of city and endless field of snow on the background. Late night. Put on a good headphone and watch the night float away… I’ve been watching a lot of japanese movie, this is my impression of minimalist mood and narrative links between songs. I think at least it’s functional and doesn’t wake up the neighbor.

Image: harold.lloyd

“The word arse is as much god as the word face.  It must be so, otherwise you cut off your god at the waist.”

List of songs about or related to body parts. More textural than literal, onomatopoeia, gesture and touch. Blues, jazz and some Lord Quas for the heads.

+ Townes Van Zandt – Lungs
(Townes Van Zandt, 1969)

+ Dorothy Ashby – The Moving Finger
(The Rubaiyat Of Dorothy Ashby, 1970)

+ Horace Silver - I’ve had a little talk
(Total Response, 1971)

+ Colosseum II – All Skin & Bone
(Electric Savage, 1977)

+ John Sangster – Hair
(Ahead of Hair, 1969)

+ Roger Waters and Ron Geesin – Mrs. Throat goes Walking
(Music from the body, 1970)

+ Quasimoto – Come on Feet
(The Unseen, 2000)

If you can think of any other good songs about body parts, please comment below. I’m building a collection…

art: Horace Silver – Total Response (detail of left panel of inner gatefold)
quote: DH Lawrence

a.

Photo: Lars Tunbjörk

• Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - No One Is (As I Are Be)
  Mirror Traffic (Matador, 2011)
• Deerhunter – Desire Lines
  Halcyon Digest (4ad, 2010)
• Dj Shadow - Scale It Back
  The Less You Know, The Better (Roc-A-Fella, 2011)
• Julianna Barwick - Vow (Diplo & Lunice Remix)
  The Matrimony Remixes (Asthmatic Kitty, 2011)
• Steve Mason - Lost and Found
  Boys Outside (Double Six, 2010)
• James Figurine - Apologies (John Tejada Remix)
  Forgive Your Friends (Monika Enterprise, 2006)

The winter is just around the corner, and the last entry which I had around here, was totally dedicated to summer.
Never too late for a welcome to an omnipresent autumn.
Regarding the playlist … I wasn’t very sure about including that Deerhunter song, although it is one of my favorites  from the group. I got stuck in the idea that it disrupts the overall mood of the other songs … in the end, though, I wanted it to reach out and I dared to include it. Hope it doesn’t affect your enjoyment and you enjoy the rest of the selections.

Photo: Hotel Basico. Playa del Carmen.

Belated summer / continental nostalgia.

• Andrew Sisters – Rum & Coca Cola
  Rum & Coca Cola (1944)
• Cesaria Evora – Sodade
  Miss Perfumado (Lusafrica, 1992)
• Os Mutantes – Bat Macumba
  Os Mutantes (1968)
• Seu Jorge – Bem Querer
  Cru (Naïve, 2004)
• Vinícius Cantuária – India
  Silva (Hannibal, 2005)
• Arto Lindsay – Simply Beautiful
  Mundo Civilizado (Bar None, 1996)

I’ve gone missing for the best part of the summer. Not really doing anything meaningful, mostly hypnotized and reckless.  Love will do that to you. No excuses this time.
Right now the hurricane Jova is painting the Mexican coast with rain and it’s forcing me to stay indoors all week (good news for MdM) and since I’m all sorts of a rebellious escapist I’ll call in the hidden suns with some warm, sensuous – mostly – brazilian music. I owe you a whole summer after all. Please enjoy this playlist as an apology.

note: In the past few years we were using the playtagger script to stream mp3s. As some of you may know, Yahoo! has sold the delicious to Avos and playtagger has been axed by their development team. And so, we’re left with two options: Yahoo!’s webplayer or Aol’s streampad, the former is the most similar to the one we had before and the later is less invasive but it’s hard to notice if you don’t know it’s there (check the bottom of the page as it is the one we’re currently using). The good thing about both is that they allow a continuous stream of the playlist, a feat missing from playtagger. Comment away if you know about a third option or if you’d like us to switch to the yahoo! webplayer.

It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

Today’s list is nostalgic, and includes a track by John Fahey (who I initially discovered on this very website). It’s slightly warped playlist to listen to on a sunday drive. Just like the pumpkins in the photo, it’s earthy and organic, but in a slightly bent and malformed way. Folky, country, electronic and exotic. A few of these original pressings fetch a mighty dollar online, so enjoy the rips.

1. John Sangster - Sunrise
(Australia And All That Jazz Vol.1)

2. Vashti Bunyan – Diamond Day
(Just Another Diamond Day)

3. John Fahey - In Christ There Is No East Or West
(The Legend Of Blind Joe Death)

4. Matthew Young - Dummy Line
(Traveller’s Advisory)

5. Matthew Larkin Cassell – In My Life
(Pieces)

6. Tony Wilson – I Can’t Leave it Alone
(I Like Your Style)

7. Nino Nardini & Roger Roger – Tropical
(Jungle Obsession)

• Footprintz - Utopia
  Utopia Ep  (Visionquest, 2011)
  
• Kasper Bjørke – Heaven (Nicolas Jaar Remix)
  Heaven (HFN Music, 2010)
• Queens Of  The Stone Age – Make It With Chu
  Era Vulgaris (2007)
• Little Barrie -Green Eyed Fool
  Stand Your Ground (Genuine, 2007)
• Eagles Of Death Metal - Wannabe in L.A.
  Death by Sexy (Downtown Music, 2006)
  

Goodbye summer!
We are not dead…maybe some members of the staff were kidnapped by aliens, but they are not dead.
Just having some kind of technical difficulties with life.

Ilustration: Gerhard Richter