Not my top 10

I found these amazing videos on ubuweb. The first one is called Sound?? with John Cage and Rashaan Roland Kirk. Unfortunately, the two of them are never together; it's just videos of the two edited into one. Theres nothing new here on Cage, aside from some really funny shots and camera tricks. There is however some amazing footage of Roland Kirk. Mostly footage of Roland Kirk performances and snippets of Cage talking about sound and music.

The second video is called Island Song. Charlemagne Palestine strapped a video camera to himself and got on his motorcycle. He rides in a circle around a small island singing about escaping. Palestine puts on his cantor voice, and the motorcycle creates an interesting vocal effect and helps create some really nice harmonies.

Also ubuweb hosts a series of tapes called Music with Roots in the Aether. They're a series of 2 hour tapes by Robert Ashley. They all focus on one experimental composer and include an interview and performance. The featured artists are Alvin Lucier, Gordon Mumma, Terry Riley, Pauline Oliveros, David Behrman, Philip Glass and Robert Ashley. All the installments are downloadable as huge video files as well as mp3.

Also,
Alvin Lucier - I am sitting in a room
This is mentioned in Alan Licht's top 30, but it is not posted. Alvin Lucier records himself (in a room) speaking, then records as he plays it back. Then he plays and records the new tape and so on. It begins as you might expect, it sounds like an echo chamber or reverb effect. As he repeats the process over 45 minutes, the speech becomes completely indiscernible as it devolves into the resonant frequencies of his recording space. Originating from his voice, the resonance becomes more powerful in each new recording as it slowly takes over. Worth a minimum of one listen.

Francisco's Top of '08

Top of ‘08 (In order….cuz I got ballz)

1- John Baker Tapes Volume 1 & 2 (Trunk)

2- Bill Dixon w/the Exploding Star Orchestra (Thrill Jockey)

3- Flying Lotus - Los Angeles (Warp Records)

4- Arabian Prince - Innovative Life (Stones Throw)

5- Soulja Boy - Unsigned and Still Major Da Album Before Da Album (not trying to be cute or funny, this is some of the most original music made this year; he is only 17 years old too!!) (Self released)

6- William Parker - Double Sunrise over Neptune (Aum Fidelity)

7- George Mitchell Collection Vol. 1-45 (Fat Possum)

8- 78s From The EMI Archive (Honest Jon’s)

9- Blank dogs - On Two Sides (Troubleman Unlimited)

10- Peter Brötzmann/Uuskyla – Born Broke (Atavistic)

*I did not include any full length reissues or else Lula Cortes and Orchestre Regional De Kayes would have been in the top 2 positions.

Top 5 Musical Experiences (In order)

1- Digging in Mexico D.F. and bringing back a suitcase full of records.

2- Seeing Pharaoh Sanders in LA perform two shows, getting my copy of Black Unity signed, and, OMG, shaking his hand!!

3- Seeing Cecil Taylor live at Grace Cathedral (which has 7 secs of natural reverb) in SF

4- Driving back home for the holidays while trippin ballz and listening to Barry White’s album “The Icon is Love” twice in a row.....blowing my fucking mind

5- Finding one of my most desired lps in Amoeba SF (Celly Cel’s Killa Kali in mint condition mind you)

Biggest Disappointment of ‘08

Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna

Sounds of Space

Just thought it'd be nice to share a couple links I've been abusing as of late, since we're still waiting on Calvin and Francisco to actually do anything around here...

I've been loving this incredible set of recordings taken from the NASA Voyager Space Shuttle of the planets and rings of Saturn and Uranus. It was originally released sometime in the '90s as some sort of healing/meditation/new-age (yes, more!) music, but it's super abstract and full of really dense eruptions of drone. Each planet was supposed to correspond to your mood, sorta like astrology and horoscopes but with 'healing music'.

These sounds are recordings of the interaction of the Solar wind and the Ionosphere of each of the outer planets. The resonance of these ions is exactly within the range of human hearing (20-20,000 Hz) - called by NASA "Ion Acoustic Waves". This means that nothing had to be done artificially to the sounds to hear them – They were the REAL "Music of the Spheres". Although there is no air in space, there is vibration. Space does not have the medium of air to carry the vibration to your ear, but the vibration is present. With the specialized recording equipment aboard Voyager, it became possible to record these amazing sounds for the first time and then hear them here on Earth.

Imagine his amazement and that of all of us when we heard these NASA Space Sound recordings that sounded like dolphins, whales, ocean, crickets, choirs, Tibetan bowls and monks chanting! Something in the core of the subconscious awakens and pays close attention to and in the presence of these sounds. These are some of the most powerful tools for healing, inner awakening and self change that Dr. Thompson has researched and produced. His Primordial Sounds™ are found on his Audio Programs, giving even more power to his musical sounds and other techniques used.

http://www.neuroacoustic.com/nasa.html#NASA_more-info

NASA - VOYAGER RECORDINGS: SYMPHONIES OF THE PLANETS PART ONE

NASA - VOYAGER RECORDINGS: SYMPHONIES OF THE PLANETS PART TWO

NASA - VOYAGER RECORDINGS: SYMPHONIES OF THE PLANETS PART THREE

NASA - VOYAGER RECORDINGS: SYMPHONIES OF THE PLANETS PART FOUR

NASA - VOYAGER RECORDINGS: SYMPHONIES OF THE PLANETS PART FIVE

I think I showed Calvin this, but if the rest of you don't know yet, you can download all but a couple of Alan Licht's top 30 Minimalist albums here. And a bunch of sweet jazz albums and other great stuff, too.

This last link is to one of my favorite mixes I've discovered via the world-wide interweb, by Chris G. of Soft Rocks. The mix is cosmic as hell, and I really don't recognize any of the tracks but I love the overall spaced-out, druggy motorik groove that runs throughout.

Soft Rocks - From Our Space to Yours

Psychadelic Folk Rarities

Looking forward to Francisco and Calvin's top ten lists, but in the meantime I thought we could start some rarities or psych-folk rarities posts to spread the word on records of that nature.
I think this whole psych folk field is more Eric's expertise than mine, but I just heard Pari Zangeneh for the first time and figured I would upload some albums and links and see what you guys have to share along these lines.

First, Pari Zangeneh.


The Spanish record label Ks reissued her 1976 album entitled The Series of Music for Young Adults in a run of 500 CDs and 350 LPs in the past month. Beautiful soft female vocals with a determined edge being backed by organs, flutes, and choruses of modernity juxtaposing the traditional elements of the Iranian folk songs comprising nearly half the disc. She was blinded in a car accident in '71 and devoted her life to helping others with disabilities. Her service aligned with her love of folk music: common people and their challenges. She is still living and performing and has worked as a soloist for orchestras around the world.



Looking into Pari Zangeneh lead me to the second and third posts.

Second: Mellow Candle

Nothing like three Irish teenage girls to crank out the prog rock jams! This album, Swaddlins Songs, was their only release, and probably costs a billion dollars on vinyl these days.

Third:
CAN AM DES PUIG - Book of Am. All you need and more HERE
And if anyone can find the audio for this, an upload would be much appreciated.

Fourth:
Finally, Jola Rota by Joakim Skogsberg

I grabbed this because Aquarius couldn't believe that it had been reissued because it was so rare and all. It's not bad. It was on Tiliqua so I figured it was somewhat reliable. Turned out to be worth the listen. Crazy Swedish farmer combining Buddhist meditative chanting with traditional Swedish folk. Droney, stoner, hippy folk.

Erik's Top Tens for 2008

I decided to follow a similar format to Brian's list, so the lists aren't necessarily in order here either. The ones I uploaded are at the beginning of each...

NEW ALBUMS

Zomby – Where Were U In 92? (Werk Discs)
I'm not sure if this type of record is necessarily everyone here's bag, but then again I didn't really know it was mine until I gave it a listen. Zomby is a modern dubstep producer known for releases on Hyperdub, and he's twisting that archetypal sound up quite a bit on this release. His debut full length is something of a one-off tribute to the salad days of hardcore house music, incorporating some classic rave samples and a hell of a lot of airhorn. You can hear faint traces of the dubstep sound in many of these tracks, but it nicely avoids the stale template I've come to associate with that genre.

John Maus – Love Is Real (Upset! the Rhythm)
Toumani Diabate – The Mande Variations (World Circuit)
Syclops – I’ve Got My Eye On You (DFA)
Indian Jewelry – Free Gold! (Lovepump United)
Betty Botox – Mmm… Betty (Endless Flight)
Hercules and Love Affair – s/t (DFA)
Blank Dogs – On Two Sides (Troubleman Unlimited)
U.S. Girls – Introducing… (Siltbreeze)
The Capstan Shafts – Fixation Protocols (Rainbow Quartz)

REISSUES/COMPS

Droids – Star Peace (Repressed)
I guess this nod goes for the music alone, since the reissue really doesn't give you any information whatsoever about this release. But I hadn't heard this album until this year, so Repressed should get a mention just for the simple task of bringing this stuff to the light of day again. I do know that it's French, from 1978, and sounds like a funkier Kraftwerk or Yellow Magic Orchestra. And that there are some amazing youtube clips of these guys in robot suits performing live for French television (seriously, check it out).

The Clean – Compilation (Mississippi)
V/A: Nigeria Special Series (Soundway)
V/A: Space Oddities compiled by Alexis Le Tan & Jess (Permanent Vacation)
Dillard & Clark – The Expedition of Dillard & Clark (Water)
V/A Computer Incarnations for World Peace II compiled by Gerd Janson (Sonar Kollektiv)
La Düsseldorf - La Düsseldorf/Viva (Water/4 Men With Beards)
Martin Dupont – Lost and Late (Minimal Wave)
V/A: Originals compiled by Moonboots and Balearic Mike (Claremont 56)
Arthur Russell – Love Is Overtaking Me (Audika)

SINGLES

Ghost Note – Holy Jungle EP (Golf Channel)
This year I discovered the simple pleasures of beardo disco, nowhere better exemplified than in this 'Holy Mountain'-sampling percussive onslaught. "Pissed and Passed Out" is the first track I flipped my shit for here, with it's spooky, enveloping, jungle atmospherics cresting nicely and erupting into one of the more acid-fried guitar solos I've heard on any dance record. And it's not even an edit of anything (as most everything worth listening to in the genre tends to be); there are real musicians on these tracks, original ideas, and a nice little dub mix from house producer Mark E to boot. If you ever see anything on this label buy it immediately.

Friendly Fires – Paris (Aeroplane Remix feat. Au Revoir Simone) (XL)
Invisible Conga People – Cable Dazed b/w Weird Pains (Italians Do It Better)
Mari Boine vs. Mungolian Jetset – It Ain’t Necessarily Evil (Luna Flicks)
Omar S – Psychotic Photosynthesis (FXHE)
Maelstrom – The Duke (Maelstrom Edit) (Mindless Boogie)
Grackle – Jungle (T. Keeler and Capablanca Mix) (Discos Capablanca)
The Juan MacLean – Happy House (DFA)
Dr. Dunks – Love Savage (Whatever We Want)
Kuniyuki Takahashi – Dear African Sky (Henrik Schwarz Remix) (Mule)

Brian's Top Tens

Since we were all talking top tens, I put some lists together with a few links to downloads. Lists are in no particular order.

Matthew Young is in line with Roach's new ageness and was a college radio LP heavily embodying "synth-wave" when released in '81. Young put it all together on a homemade synthesizer and the songs range from ambient sounds to synthesizer space rock.

The Murcof album takes 17th century baroque classical sounds from flutes, harpsichords, violas, mezzo soprano singers and merges them into cavernous electronic spaces merging in and out of microbeats and low end bass throbs.

Nicolas Tone is a noise/jazz 3" cdr that I enjoyed this summer.

Top ten new releases 2008:
Ilyas Ahmed – The Vertigo at Dawn (time-lag)
Scott Tuma –Not for Nobody (digitalis)
Sic Alps – us ez (siltbreeze)
Fire Room – Broken Music (Atavistic)
Pants Yell! - Allison Statton (soft abuse)
Lucky Dragons – Dream Island Laughing Language (Marriage Records)
Phillip Jeck – Sand (Touch)
Kurt Vile – Constant Hitmaker (Gulcher Records)
Murcof – The Versailles Sessions (Leaf)
Atlas Sound // Deerhunter – Let the Blind // Microcastle (Kranky)

Top ten rereleases 2008:
George Mitchell Collection – Vol. 1 - 45 (Fat Possum)
Lowell Davidson – Trio (ESP-Disk)
Jandek – Ready for the House (Jackpot Records)
Dennis Wilson – Pacific Ocean Blue (Sony)
Erkin Koray – Elektronik Turkulur (turku la)
The Peace – Black Power (Groovie)
Gary Wilson – You think you really know me (Cry Baby Records)
The Toms – s/t (Black Sheep Records)
Matthew Young - Recurring Dreams and Travelers Advisory (Yoga Records)
V/A - Sprigs of Time, Songs of the Brokenhearted, and Living is Hard (Honest John’s)

Singles, Cassettes, and CDRs 2008:
Kraus – The Facts (Dreamtime Taped Sounds)
Sex Vid – Nests (Dom US)
Jim O’Rourke – Despite the Water Supply (Touch)
Nicolas Tone – I’m Tone Deaf (Thor’s Rubber Hammer)
Cold Cave – The Trees Grew Emotions and Died (Dais Records)
Dead Reptile Shrine – Burning Black Intensity (antihumanism)
Calvin Johnson Mixtapes "US Wimpy Powerpop," "Bump your Booty," & "Everybody Hustle"