My winter and spring have been so busy that I never made the time for any year-in-review posts here. Six months late, here’s a midyear update on music.
Last year, I finished a major music project: listening to every album in an mp3 library I had access to, whether I liked it or not. Overall, it broadened my taste and music history knowledge quite a bit, particularly in 1970s and 1990s rock that I would otherwise have missed entirely. Many thanks to those who added shoegazer and prog. rock to my vocabulary! Most of the new albums I discovered in 2007/early 2008 were from that library.
The exceptions were new purchases, mostly after seeing concerts. Kieran Hebden (a.k.a. Four Tet) put on a fantastic show at the free Beats, Breaks and Culture festival in July, doing the best take on improvised jazz with electronic equipment that I’ve seen to date; his album with Steve Reid doesn’t fully capture that experience, but check out the videos:
- Shows the energy of the performance, but you can’t really see what Kieran’s doing unfortunately.
- More closeups of Kieran’s hands, although it’s still confusing
- Mostly talking, but a few good music clips.
The other show that blew me away was Caribou. Eric has been pushing this guy for some time, but I didn’t really get it until I finally listened to Andorra in its entirety. Beautiful, weird rock/pop with at least one track that pushes the Boards of Canada sound in new directions.
And there have been other shows, mostly excellent: Michael Brook, Kid Koala, the Foals, We are Wolves, Monolake, Royal Wood, Odessa/Havana, Cinematic Orchestra, The Most Serene Republic and Fuck Buttons.
At any rate, here is the list of the best albums I listened to in the last eighteen months.
Great Albums (8/10)
- caribou. andorra. rock, ambient.
- cat power. the greatest. rock.
- radiohead. in rainbows. rock.
- various artists. matador – everything is nice. rock, hip hop, ambient.
- various artists. matador – matador at fifteen. rock, hip hop, ambient.
- various artists. mo’wax – headz 2a. trip hop, downtempo.
- xploding plastix. amateur girlfriends go proskirt agents. acid jazz.
Good Albums (7/10)
- angelo badalamenti. twin peaks soundtrack. soundtrack, jazz.
- feist. the reminder. rock, pop.
- four tet. dj kicks. rock, pop, folk, ambient.
- funky lowlives, the. inside ep. downtempo.
- jerry bonham. interpretations ii. house, trance.
- justice. t. house.
- kevin drew. spirit if… rock.
- kieran hebden & steve reid. tongues. acid jazz.
- king cobb steelie. junior relaxer. downtempo, rock.
- kruder & dorfmeister. conversions: a k&d selection. downtempo, drum & bass.
- sander kleinenberg. everybody. tech-house, trance.
- two lone swordsmen. stay down. downtempo, ambient.
- underworld. a hundred days off. techno, downtempo.
- underworld. dubnobasswithmyheadman. techno, downtempo.
- various artists. blue note plays jobim. latin, jazz.
- various artists. chains and black exhaust. funk, rock.
- various artists. colette no. 5. electro, synthpop.
- various artists. eighteenth street lounge music – easy tempo. jazz, latin.
- various artists. eighteenth street lounge music – modular systems. downtempo.
- various artists. hip bop ‘n’ funk. funk, jazz.
- various artists. matador – what’s up matador. rock, pop, folk, ambient.
- various artists. music for tv dinners: the ’60s. jazz, downtempo.
- various artists. rephlex – the braindance coincidence. drum & bass, techno.
- various artists. stage diving to the oldies. punk.
- various artists. sweet relief ii: the gravity of the situation. rock, pop, folk.
- various artists. the best of blaxploitation. funk, soul.
- various artists. the tarantino connection. rock, pop.
- various artists. warp – artificial intelligence. ambient.
- various artists. warp – routine. ambient, minimal techno.
- velvet underground. the velvet underground and nico. rock.
- vikter duplaix. dj kicks. downtempo, acid jazz.
- violent femmes. violent femmes. punk, rock.
- vive la fête. nuit blanche. synthpop.
- v.l.a.d.. d’. electro, techno.
- waldeck. the night garden. downtempo, trip hop, dub.
- way out west. intensify. trance.
- we are scientists. with love and squalor. rock.
- wilco. yankee hotel foxtrot. rock.
- wiseguys, the. the antidote. big beat, hip hop, downtempo.
- yann perreau. western romance. pop, français.
- yeah yeah yeahs. show your bones. rock.