Marathonproxys 3: More Year-End Madness
Three more lists from some Bloomington pals. The last two guys are two brothers who, with a few others, run some music stuff in town. The first guy was named Josh Olivo by his parents, but records under the name goodhandsteam (myspace). I've retained his antipathy for all but the simplest grammatical formalities in his list. Go check out his site, but do me a favor and read his top 30, which features some stuff I've yet to hear, but will do posthaste. Then combine his picks in your mind and then compare that imagined composite with the music available on his site. Then book him for your parties. (fun fact: I've known Josh for about a decade now, ever since we lived on the same dorm floor together. One time, we put a large orange in one of those long-distance water-balloon launcher sling-shot things and shot it at a wall about 2 feet in front of us. I think the orange went into the past.)
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josh goodhandsteam
01) the field | from here we go sublime [kompakt]
there is a bass drum on almost every beat of every track of this album. and you forget about that around half way through the first track. the musical phrasing and (swedish) pop sensibility are the more notable pleasantries of this album. like the title suggests, it is sublime and the soft melodic microhouse pulls the listener to its level of nordic chill.
02) burial | untrue [hyperdub]
to be honest, im still stuck on the first burial album. the follow up is obviously a bit different, but similarly stellar. vocal pitching work is proper. seems to fill the void left by fellow englishmen portishead and massive attack, all while making dubstep a household name.
03) justice | † [ed banger/vice]
first reaction: it almost sounds more daft punk than daft punk. second reaction: i have absolutely no problem w/ that. along w/ mr.oizo, dj medhi, and daft punk, justice and their fellow parisians seem to have this blend of house dance pop on complete lockdown.
04) radiohead | in rainbows (discbox) [xurbia xendless]
(full disclosure: im a fanboy) i think radiohead have hit this leisurely older englishman stride of mellow grooviness. songs about finding bunkers to jump into during air attacks of impending doom have never sounded so pleasant and breezy. minimal arrangements but with crisp detail. lots of acoustic guitar – which sounds good with…umm…orchestras. and kids cheering. and max/msp software. this album has less drums and more open spaces. the vocal edits were a little looser, despite the vocals being more the focus in most instances of the album. the concept/release marketing for the album is long overdue. good to see the concept delivered on the actual goods.
05) m.i.a. | kala [xl]
shes (still) got the bombs. to make you blow. kills it on the album. kills it live. there are so many geopolitical and musical influences smashing into each other on her records, very encouraging to see huge global support.
06) beat konducta | vol.3-4: in india [stones throw]
some friends of mine and i have had conversations about the resent madlib/stones throw saturation. im fairly certain he released 453 records last year…which can have a tendency to make people less interested in what exactly it is you are trying to do as an artist. but this is some of the freshest junk since shades of blue. and the fact that bollywood movie tracks from the 70s seems to currently be one of the more popular dj trends, it makes it even more impressive that this record still stands out.
07) stars of the lid | and their refinement of the decline [kranky]
im awfully glad brian eno happened. and im glad that stars of the lid can make really long albums that keep listeners engaged and removed at the same moment.
08) car bomb | centralia [relapse]
a lot of grindcore (or whatever) bands are all precision and no vision. car bomb are a nasty dose of both. they also show depth and musical touch on an album that could have just as easily sounded like a kagillion other albums by a kagillion less nuanced outfits. excellent musical expression throughout.
09) battles | mirrored [warp]
when i heard that battles had vocals on this--their major label debut--i was unexcited. then I heard the album. and saw them live. and im a goober for doubting. mirrored exceeds the highest expectations for a follow up to those killer batch of eps.
10) black moth super rainbow | dandelion gum [graveface]
although a lot of these tracks are on scattered amongst other bmsr eps and a joint venture w/ the octopus project, the album plays like its own greatest hits. this is probably one of my favorite bands at the moment. analog synthesis + vocoder + large beats will never lose. and the songs have great energy live too. makes me want to go eat a psychedelic lollipop soda flake garden of tulips. in space.
11) sixtoo | jackals and vipers in the envy of man [ninja tune]
i hear this album's recordings got accidentally erased, and sixtoo had to use old bits of live stuff to piece (what stuff he could remember) back together. well…i kinda wonder what the original tracks wouldve sounded like, bc these are dope.
12) caribou | andorra [merge]
i heart manitoba…er I mean caribou. i identify w/ his drummer-ness. i was a bit worried when up in flames seemed to be a departure from the idm-isms of the earlier manitoba releases, but andorra is a more focused effort that perfects what the milk of human kindness hinted upon…that makes said stylistic departure a very good play.
13) menomena | friend and foe [barsuk]
portland seems cool. and so are bands whose members are all capable of singing. and playing. ergonomic arrangements make almost everything they do sound mega huge beyond their triodom.
14) liars | liars [mute]
a lot of bands suffer from starting to sound too polished. when their means justify it, they just slip off into the docket of some hot shit producer, and/or they change all their gear for newer more expensive gear, and thusly, destroy the sound that got them all that money. liars need not worry about the aforementioned phenomena, bc they make the slickness work for them and not against them.
15) telephone jim jesus | anywhere out of the everything [anticon]
largeness. just like everything else i’ve heard from this dude. so fresh yet so very anticon.
16) do make say think | you, you're a history in rust [constellation]
i happened to think that this is one of the best bands on the planet. &yet&yet is still blowing my dome. the do makes consistently bring their instrumental post-rock-space-jazz to a slightly variant nuance--in this case: rusticity. i could see a great appeal to getting away from the masses and recording in a bunch of scattered cabins in the wilderness. i could also see a great appeal in being in canada while doing so.
17) jonny greenwood | there will be blood (soundtrack) [nonesuch]
i think the modern classical community probably smirked at the idea of a guitarist for a ‘rock band’ trying to make his way as a composer. two solid soundtracks and a handful of acclaimed orchestral performances later, i think they have probably realized jonny greenwood is no joke. having played viola as a kid, he certainly has a grasp of quite a good many instruments. this soundtrack is more focused on the orchestral side of things whereas bodysong was a bit more varied. but there will be blood yields similarly filling results. these orchestral works and the eraser mark the best solo/side project output of a popular rock band since all the members of kiss did that thing they did in 1978. as such, i anxiously await the forthcoming phil selway afrobeat album as well as the ed obrien books on tape collection.
18) joe beats | diverse recourse [bully]
yup its pfat. bully records continues to steal peoples lunch money w/ this banger. and I hear the vinyl tracklist is different than the cd tracklist. which is pretty cool in this day and age of torrenting bloggering and file sharing.
19) aaron martin & machinefabriek | cello recycling - cello drowning [type]
i have often wondered why there was never anything that really grabbed me from holland. i mean…considering the liberal (drug policies) culture and such. then i heard this album. machinefabriek supplements recent releases on lampse w/ this collaboration effort that finds the dutchman helping to construct cozy cello drones that lull into distorted tape aggravations and back again. fun to listen to while watching american idol w/ the sound off.
20) gescom | a1-d1 [skam]
i think autechre rule school. as does a good deal of the stuff that skam records has slung over the years. this gescom release finds everyone involved (its hard to say exactly who are the participating members at any one time) bringing some more tweaked out uk dance glitchiness. they hath brought their a(e) game once again.
21) growing | vision swim [megablade/troubleman]
growing is probably the most appropriate nomenclature a band has had in describing their sound. (ok, so maybe anal cunt is a close 2nd) this outing finds them growing even more into dynamic drones and swelling sound shapes in a style that they continue to master. and KILLER album art. since vision swim, the band has crossed the country moving from olympia, washington to brooklyn, and have landed on the social registry label--who have already released a 7” which will be followed by a long player in early 2008. and that makes me pleased as punch.
22) flying lotus | 1983 [warp]
steven ellison, or fly-lo, is the great nephew of alice coltrane (wife of john). hes also behind a lot of the stuff you hear on adult swim segues, etc. while he does bring obvious comparisons to madlib and jay dillas production, he also proves on this record that hes well capable of holding his own for a full length. the companion ep reset also brings the pleasantly bumpy beats. how interesting I find it that neither of two best albums on warp this year (w/ the aforementioned mirrored) are the typical uk electronic business that the label has typically been known to push.
23) colleen | les ondes silencieuses [leaf]
french electro acoustic godess continues to tingle the ears w/a decidedly more stipped down, or at least more traditional approach. the instruments on this album tend to be a bit less blurred together in a looptastic mist such as the content on past EXCELLENT albums. a distinct luciano berio sequenzas vibe floats around the album from time to time as the instruments explore their own capabilties in the most unobtrusive ways.
24) supersilent | 8 [rune grammofon]
rune grammofon continues to spit out consistently well made scandanavian electronic pleasantness. supersilent succeeds in making another self contrasting but compelling album of glimpses into what has to be shelves full of improvisations. a slightly more patient approach to making albums finds the entirety of this recent album (along w/6) born from an all anolog studio session that happened in 2005. as such, i really cant wait to hear the music they are making now…you know…when its released in 2017 or so.
25) black dice | load blown [paw tracks]
i admit I have not heard this cd. but I have heard (and own) all of the three 12”s that make up the cd. bd seem to be at the forefront of the brooklyn “noise jam” scene along w/ excepter and wolf eyes. the brooding romps of dance-ish tangles finds the band in a more immediate and specific style, but to no detriment of the quality of the music. and all three 12”s come w/ ultra bizarre 12”x12” posters. i dig perks.
26) deerhoof | friend opportunity [kill rock stars]
this band reeks of san fran meets japan badassery. for years now deerhoof has put together the most catchy complicated groovy playful prog pop jams in the history of catchy complicated groovy playful prog pop jams. the most impressive part about this album is that the bass player left before its recording. so, naturally, satomi decides not only can she retain lead vocal duties, but she can do it while playing fairly complicated bass lines on a paul mccartney violin style bass.
27) sigur rós | hvarf-heim [xl]
this album acts as a soundtrack to their first feature film, heima. it also acts as a mini best of and rarities album which contains some rerecorded non album tracks, as well as acoustic versions of many of their past albums tracks. its redundant to say their music is influenced by their island country, but this release (and corresponding film) in particular are explicitly introspective glimpses of the country and its people that spawned what is one of its most popular bands today.
28) the tuss | rushup edge [rephlex]
people were speculating that this was the handy work of richard d james (aphex twin, etc.) for weeks on various message boards and forums…probably because it was coming out on the record label he started. or maybe because it sounds a lot like some of the more recent afx acid that has been expanding richy richs bank account for the last little bit. or maybe bc there is a distinct hint of the ultra rare yamaha gx1 that james is known to own. but at the end of the day, he, and/or the tuss (which i think i heard was Cornish for “pecker”) puts out quality stuff. the auto disinformational tomfoolery would not matter one lick if it wasn’t.
29) arcade fire | neon bible [merge]
kind of disappointing, but still pretty damn good. the follow up to the super album funeral finds the band going more springsteen and less jangly candian indie pop. but when you are as talented as this bunch is – it really doesn’t matter where they go bc its going to rock.
30) vic chesnutt | north star deserter [constellation]
im not a huge fan of folk/singer songwriter stuff of any type. just never have been. i don’t like bob dylan at all. there i said it. but on this vic chesnutt release, the raspy codgerings have a backdrop of gy!be/a silver mt. zion members bringing the level of despair down beneath the cellar. the two mix quite well together.
---------------------
josh goodhandsteam
01) the field | from here we go sublime [kompakt]
there is a bass drum on almost every beat of every track of this album. and you forget about that around half way through the first track. the musical phrasing and (swedish) pop sensibility are the more notable pleasantries of this album. like the title suggests, it is sublime and the soft melodic microhouse pulls the listener to its level of nordic chill.
02) burial | untrue [hyperdub]
to be honest, im still stuck on the first burial album. the follow up is obviously a bit different, but similarly stellar. vocal pitching work is proper. seems to fill the void left by fellow englishmen portishead and massive attack, all while making dubstep a household name.
03) justice | † [ed banger/vice]
first reaction: it almost sounds more daft punk than daft punk. second reaction: i have absolutely no problem w/ that. along w/ mr.oizo, dj medhi, and daft punk, justice and their fellow parisians seem to have this blend of house dance pop on complete lockdown.
04) radiohead | in rainbows (discbox) [xurbia xendless]
(full disclosure: im a fanboy) i think radiohead have hit this leisurely older englishman stride of mellow grooviness. songs about finding bunkers to jump into during air attacks of impending doom have never sounded so pleasant and breezy. minimal arrangements but with crisp detail. lots of acoustic guitar – which sounds good with…umm…orchestras. and kids cheering. and max/msp software. this album has less drums and more open spaces. the vocal edits were a little looser, despite the vocals being more the focus in most instances of the album. the concept/release marketing for the album is long overdue. good to see the concept delivered on the actual goods.
05) m.i.a. | kala [xl]
shes (still) got the bombs. to make you blow. kills it on the album. kills it live. there are so many geopolitical and musical influences smashing into each other on her records, very encouraging to see huge global support.
06) beat konducta | vol.3-4: in india [stones throw]
some friends of mine and i have had conversations about the resent madlib/stones throw saturation. im fairly certain he released 453 records last year…which can have a tendency to make people less interested in what exactly it is you are trying to do as an artist. but this is some of the freshest junk since shades of blue. and the fact that bollywood movie tracks from the 70s seems to currently be one of the more popular dj trends, it makes it even more impressive that this record still stands out.
07) stars of the lid | and their refinement of the decline [kranky]
im awfully glad brian eno happened. and im glad that stars of the lid can make really long albums that keep listeners engaged and removed at the same moment.
08) car bomb | centralia [relapse]
a lot of grindcore (or whatever) bands are all precision and no vision. car bomb are a nasty dose of both. they also show depth and musical touch on an album that could have just as easily sounded like a kagillion other albums by a kagillion less nuanced outfits. excellent musical expression throughout.
09) battles | mirrored [warp]
when i heard that battles had vocals on this--their major label debut--i was unexcited. then I heard the album. and saw them live. and im a goober for doubting. mirrored exceeds the highest expectations for a follow up to those killer batch of eps.
10) black moth super rainbow | dandelion gum [graveface]
although a lot of these tracks are on scattered amongst other bmsr eps and a joint venture w/ the octopus project, the album plays like its own greatest hits. this is probably one of my favorite bands at the moment. analog synthesis + vocoder + large beats will never lose. and the songs have great energy live too. makes me want to go eat a psychedelic lollipop soda flake garden of tulips. in space.
11) sixtoo | jackals and vipers in the envy of man [ninja tune]
i hear this album's recordings got accidentally erased, and sixtoo had to use old bits of live stuff to piece (what stuff he could remember) back together. well…i kinda wonder what the original tracks wouldve sounded like, bc these are dope.
12) caribou | andorra [merge]
i heart manitoba…er I mean caribou. i identify w/ his drummer-ness. i was a bit worried when up in flames seemed to be a departure from the idm-isms of the earlier manitoba releases, but andorra is a more focused effort that perfects what the milk of human kindness hinted upon…that makes said stylistic departure a very good play.
13) menomena | friend and foe [barsuk]
portland seems cool. and so are bands whose members are all capable of singing. and playing. ergonomic arrangements make almost everything they do sound mega huge beyond their triodom.
14) liars | liars [mute]
a lot of bands suffer from starting to sound too polished. when their means justify it, they just slip off into the docket of some hot shit producer, and/or they change all their gear for newer more expensive gear, and thusly, destroy the sound that got them all that money. liars need not worry about the aforementioned phenomena, bc they make the slickness work for them and not against them.
15) telephone jim jesus | anywhere out of the everything [anticon]
largeness. just like everything else i’ve heard from this dude. so fresh yet so very anticon.
16) do make say think | you, you're a history in rust [constellation]
i happened to think that this is one of the best bands on the planet. &yet&yet is still blowing my dome. the do makes consistently bring their instrumental post-rock-space-jazz to a slightly variant nuance--in this case: rusticity. i could see a great appeal to getting away from the masses and recording in a bunch of scattered cabins in the wilderness. i could also see a great appeal in being in canada while doing so.
17) jonny greenwood | there will be blood (soundtrack) [nonesuch]
i think the modern classical community probably smirked at the idea of a guitarist for a ‘rock band’ trying to make his way as a composer. two solid soundtracks and a handful of acclaimed orchestral performances later, i think they have probably realized jonny greenwood is no joke. having played viola as a kid, he certainly has a grasp of quite a good many instruments. this soundtrack is more focused on the orchestral side of things whereas bodysong was a bit more varied. but there will be blood yields similarly filling results. these orchestral works and the eraser mark the best solo/side project output of a popular rock band since all the members of kiss did that thing they did in 1978. as such, i anxiously await the forthcoming phil selway afrobeat album as well as the ed obrien books on tape collection.
18) joe beats | diverse recourse [bully]
yup its pfat. bully records continues to steal peoples lunch money w/ this banger. and I hear the vinyl tracklist is different than the cd tracklist. which is pretty cool in this day and age of torrenting bloggering and file sharing.
19) aaron martin & machinefabriek | cello recycling - cello drowning [type]
i have often wondered why there was never anything that really grabbed me from holland. i mean…considering the liberal (drug policies) culture and such. then i heard this album. machinefabriek supplements recent releases on lampse w/ this collaboration effort that finds the dutchman helping to construct cozy cello drones that lull into distorted tape aggravations and back again. fun to listen to while watching american idol w/ the sound off.
20) gescom | a1-d1 [skam]
i think autechre rule school. as does a good deal of the stuff that skam records has slung over the years. this gescom release finds everyone involved (its hard to say exactly who are the participating members at any one time) bringing some more tweaked out uk dance glitchiness. they hath brought their a(e) game once again.
21) growing | vision swim [megablade/troubleman]
growing is probably the most appropriate nomenclature a band has had in describing their sound. (ok, so maybe anal cunt is a close 2nd) this outing finds them growing even more into dynamic drones and swelling sound shapes in a style that they continue to master. and KILLER album art. since vision swim, the band has crossed the country moving from olympia, washington to brooklyn, and have landed on the social registry label--who have already released a 7” which will be followed by a long player in early 2008. and that makes me pleased as punch.
22) flying lotus | 1983 [warp]
steven ellison, or fly-lo, is the great nephew of alice coltrane (wife of john). hes also behind a lot of the stuff you hear on adult swim segues, etc. while he does bring obvious comparisons to madlib and jay dillas production, he also proves on this record that hes well capable of holding his own for a full length. the companion ep reset also brings the pleasantly bumpy beats. how interesting I find it that neither of two best albums on warp this year (w/ the aforementioned mirrored) are the typical uk electronic business that the label has typically been known to push.
23) colleen | les ondes silencieuses [leaf]
french electro acoustic godess continues to tingle the ears w/a decidedly more stipped down, or at least more traditional approach. the instruments on this album tend to be a bit less blurred together in a looptastic mist such as the content on past EXCELLENT albums. a distinct luciano berio sequenzas vibe floats around the album from time to time as the instruments explore their own capabilties in the most unobtrusive ways.
24) supersilent | 8 [rune grammofon]
rune grammofon continues to spit out consistently well made scandanavian electronic pleasantness. supersilent succeeds in making another self contrasting but compelling album of glimpses into what has to be shelves full of improvisations. a slightly more patient approach to making albums finds the entirety of this recent album (along w/6) born from an all anolog studio session that happened in 2005. as such, i really cant wait to hear the music they are making now…you know…when its released in 2017 or so.
25) black dice | load blown [paw tracks]
i admit I have not heard this cd. but I have heard (and own) all of the three 12”s that make up the cd. bd seem to be at the forefront of the brooklyn “noise jam” scene along w/ excepter and wolf eyes. the brooding romps of dance-ish tangles finds the band in a more immediate and specific style, but to no detriment of the quality of the music. and all three 12”s come w/ ultra bizarre 12”x12” posters. i dig perks.
26) deerhoof | friend opportunity [kill rock stars]
this band reeks of san fran meets japan badassery. for years now deerhoof has put together the most catchy complicated groovy playful prog pop jams in the history of catchy complicated groovy playful prog pop jams. the most impressive part about this album is that the bass player left before its recording. so, naturally, satomi decides not only can she retain lead vocal duties, but she can do it while playing fairly complicated bass lines on a paul mccartney violin style bass.
27) sigur rós | hvarf-heim [xl]
this album acts as a soundtrack to their first feature film, heima. it also acts as a mini best of and rarities album which contains some rerecorded non album tracks, as well as acoustic versions of many of their past albums tracks. its redundant to say their music is influenced by their island country, but this release (and corresponding film) in particular are explicitly introspective glimpses of the country and its people that spawned what is one of its most popular bands today.
28) the tuss | rushup edge [rephlex]
people were speculating that this was the handy work of richard d james (aphex twin, etc.) for weeks on various message boards and forums…probably because it was coming out on the record label he started. or maybe because it sounds a lot like some of the more recent afx acid that has been expanding richy richs bank account for the last little bit. or maybe bc there is a distinct hint of the ultra rare yamaha gx1 that james is known to own. but at the end of the day, he, and/or the tuss (which i think i heard was Cornish for “pecker”) puts out quality stuff. the auto disinformational tomfoolery would not matter one lick if it wasn’t.
29) arcade fire | neon bible [merge]
kind of disappointing, but still pretty damn good. the follow up to the super album funeral finds the band going more springsteen and less jangly candian indie pop. but when you are as talented as this bunch is – it really doesn’t matter where they go bc its going to rock.
30) vic chesnutt | north star deserter [constellation]
im not a huge fan of folk/singer songwriter stuff of any type. just never have been. i don’t like bob dylan at all. there i said it. but on this vic chesnutt release, the raspy codgerings have a backdrop of gy!be/a silver mt. zion members bringing the level of despair down beneath the cellar. the two mix quite well together.
------------------------
Chris Swanson (SC/Jag main guy #1)
1. Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators - Keep Reachin' Up (Light In the Attic)
2. Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation (LidKerCow)
3. Beach House - s/t (Carpark)
4. Feist - The Reminder (Interscope)
5. Adrian Orange & Her Band - s/t (K Records)
6. Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals (We Are Free)
7. Ezra Furman & the Harpoons - Banging Down the Doors (Minty Fresh)
8. Map of Africa - s/t (Whatever We Want)
9. Pop Levi - The Return to Form Black Magick Party (Counter Records)
10. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger (Lost Highway)
11. Lewis Taylor - The Lost Album (HackTone Records)
12. Wooden Shjips - s/t (Holy Mountain)
Ben Swanson (SC/Jag main guy #2)
1. M.I.A. - Kala (XL / Interscope)
2. Le Loup - The Throne... (Hardly Art)
3. Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals (We Are Free)
4. Cave Singers - Invitation Songs (Matador)
5. Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline (Kranky)
6. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
7. White Williams - Smoke (Tigerbeat 6)
8. Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy (Ecstatic Peace)
9. Frog Eyes - Tears of the Valedictorian (Absolutely Kosher)
10. Bill Baird - Silence (Unreleased)
posted by marathonpacks at 11:26 AM
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