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Ok, here they are, the Aquarius Customer "Top Tens" of 2011, in roughly the order in which they were submitted. Thanks everybody who sent lists in, we love reading 'em. So much great music, eh? And you know we review A LOT of it, but we're still always amazed at how much stuff appears on these lists that we haven't even gotten to yet... The two lucky, randomly selected listmakers who have won $25 AQ gift certificates are: STEVEN KAUFMAN of Los Angeles and RAE DONALDSON of Manchester, England! Congratulations! We hope we haven't screwed up anyone's list too badly in the transition from your emails to our HTML code, which may have caused some minor formatting changes. And along with your lists, we've also included some of your nice comments - thanks folks! As always, we're damn impressed with you music maniacs, you make us proud. Crazier & maybe even more obsessed than we are, a lot of you! And we're sure all the people who didn't send their lists in, it's just 'cause they couldn't even decide on a top 10 (or 20...), right? Ok, enjoy! (See also the AQ staff favorites of 2011) |
| JACK HANKIN Top 11 of '11 Atlas Sound: Parallax Caveman: Coco Beware Chancha Via Circuito: Ria Arriba Disco Inferno: 5 EPs Fredrik: Flora Julian Lynch: Terra MGMT: Late Night Tales Middle East: I Want That You Are Always Happy Eleanoora Rosenholm: Hyvaile Pimea Tahti Telebossa (s/t) Tunng: And Then We Saw Land Thanks for bringing so much new music into my life all these years . . . hope you all have a most excellent and very Happy New Year! STEVEN KAUFMAN Here are my favorites of 2011. Very hard choosing just 15 this year. Thank you for your tips, suggestions, and patience with me throughout my marathon store browsing and questioning over the year. You are always my first stop when I visit SF. Much success in the New Year for you. 1. Corrupted- Garten Der Unbewusstheit 2. Prurient- Bermuda Drain 3. Future Islands- On The Water 4. Bass Drum Of Death- GB City 5. A Winged Victory For The Sullen- s/t 6. Yamantaka//Sonic Titan- YT//ST 7. Shabazz Palaces- Black Up 8. Peste Noire- L'Ordure a L'etat Pur 9. Cyclobe- Wounded Galaxies Tap At The Window 10. Chris Watson- El Tren Fantasma 11. The Necks- Mindset 12. John Wiese- Seven Of Wands 13. Leyland Kirby- Eager To Tear Apart The Stars 14. Cut Hands- Afro Noise 1 15. Haunted House- Blue Ghost Blues NATHAN E. BROWN Here are some of my favourites of the past year in no particular order...... New: Dead Reptile Shrine....The Sun of Circles and Wood Tim Hecker....Ravedeath, 1972 / Dropped Pianos Negative Plane....Stained Glass Revelations Chris Watson....El Tren Fantasma / El Tren Fantasma - The Signal Man's Mix Tom Lawrence....Water Beetles of Pollardstown Fen Horseback....Gorgon Tongue: Impale Golden Horn / Invisible Planet Alvarius B....Baroque Primitiva Bitchin Bajas....Water Wrackets Servile Sect....Trvth The Gentleman's Butcher....Static in the Key of Sleep Eliane Radigue....Transamorem:Transmortem Eleh....Radiant Intervals v/a....Nihon Indigo (the trilogy tapes) v/a....Nippon Folk, Japan Blues (the trilogy tapes) Not So New: Les Rallizes Denudes....Great White Wonder Khansahib Abdul Karim Khan....s/t You....Electric Day / Timecode Ghedalia Tazartes.....Diasporas Taj Mahal Travellers....July 15, 1972 / August 1974 Erkin Koray....Mechul Frederick Hollander.....The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T - OST New to Me: Eddy Senay Souled American / Scott Tuma BBC Radiophonic Workshop John Baker Delia Derbyshire Daphne Oram Michael Yonkers Udumbal Pensees Nocturne Woven Hand GRAHAM BROWN Tuneyards-WHOKILL My Disco-Little Joy And You Will Know Us By Trail Of Dead-Tao Of The Dead Antlers-Burst Apart Implodes- Dark Water Destroyer-Kaputt Red Fang- Murder the Mountains Charles Bradley-No Time For Dreaming No Anchor-ST Wye Oak-Civilian Royal Headaches-ST Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears-Scandalous SleepOver-Forever Russian Circles-Empros White Denim-D Teargas-The Way of all Flesh Harmony-St Arbouretum-The Gathering Office of Future Plans-St Bitch Magnet-entire backcat reissue CHRIS VIDELL Skull Defekts - Peer Amid Cian Nugent - Doubles Psychic Paramount II Mind Over Mirrors - The Voice Rolling Nackt Insecten - Reality Bridge Eternal Tapestry - Beyond The 4th Door Blue Sausage Infant - Negative Space Gnod - Chaudelande Vol. 1 Jim Haynes - The Decline Effect Chris Forsyth - Paranoid Cat Bee Mask - Elegy For Beach Friday White Hills - Hp-1 Mekons - Ancient and Modern Necks - Mindset Helm - Cryptography Rale - Some Kissed Charms That Would Not Protect Them Reissues *Gnod Drops Out with White Hills II - a sort of reissue, but still the thing I listened to most this year Skullfower - Carved Into Roses/Infinityland/Singles Downloads Xela - Exorcism Spiral Joy Band - Forest and Falls Cloudland Ballroom - Infinite Mind Live: Pelt/Spiral Joy Band/Spires That In The Sunset Rise/David Daniell Ancient Ocean w/Anthony Pirog Music Tapes Roedelius Bardo Pond (first show in DC in a long time) Kohoutek/Fat Worm of Error/Metalux Valentina Vuksic (amazing music/video from booting computers) Mekons Alec K Redfearn and the Eyesores John Butcher Voltage Spooks (w/Keith Rowe) LYNDA BOWEN In no particular order: Live: Harold Budd (with Werner Dafeldecker) and The Necks Live: Matmos (at last!) Home of Metal exhibition at Birmingham Art Gallery Great Expectations (shown on the BBC at Christmas with Gillian Anderson as Miss Havisham) Lars Von Trier: Melancholia Island Records Anthology 1967 - 1972 "Strangely Strange but Oddly Normal" American Horror Story or Breaking Bad or Damages... really can't decide The Shadow Line http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1701920/ Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The Story of Film series by Mark Cousins, based on his book. OLIVER ANMA MAY Top Ten 2011 40 Watt Sun The Inside Room Alrakis Alpha Eri Andy Stott Passed Me By / We Stay Together Apparat Organ Quartet P l f n a Erik Enocksson Apan Esoteric Paragon Of Dissonance Expo 70 Inaudible Bicoastal Trajectory King Creosote & Jon Hopkins Diamond Mine Popol Vuh The Werner Herzog Soundtracks Box Set Whaur The Pig Gaed On The Spree: Scottish Recordings By Alan Lomax, 1951-1957 Cheers to AQ & all the best for 2012 BRUNO BISSONNETTE Here's a top 16, in no particular order. 01 Kevin Drumm & Tom Smith: Blue Before Blackface 6xCDr + DVDr (Karl Schmidt Verlag) 02 To Live and Shave in L.A.: The Cortege CD (Thick Syrup) 03 MC Maguire: Nothing Left to Destroy CD (Innova) 04 John Wall & Alex Rodgers: Work 2006 2011 CD (Entr'acte) 05 Nondor Nevai: Three Tocattas LP (self-released) 06 Yasunao Tone: MP3 Deviations #6+7 CD (Editions Mego) 07 Rudolf Eb.er: Meditation on a Broomstick CD (Tochnit Aleph) 08 Jim O'Rourke: Old News #6 2xLP (Old News) 09 Hecker: Speculative Solution CD (Editions Mego) 10 Lukas Ligeti: Pattern Time CD (Innova) 11 SFE: Positions & Descriptions - Simon H. Fell Composition N 75 CD (Clean Feed) 12 Julie Tippetts & Martin Archer: Tales of FiNiN 2xCD (Discus) 13 Jeremiah Cymerman: Fire Sign CD (Tzadik) 14 Manorexia: Dinoflagellate Blooms CD+DVD (Ectopic Ents) 15 Krallice: Diotima CD (Profound Lore) 16 Liturgy: Aesthetica CD (Thrill Jockey) NICOLAS ZETTEL Thank you for the opportunity to post a year end list! Can't wait for the 2012 newsletters -- thanks for all of your hard work! Your reviews are really earnest and helpful. 2011 FAVORITES: Favorite Albums, CDRs, 7"s, and/or tapes! 1. Phaedra, The Sea (Rune Grammofon; haunting, sparse hymns) 2. Rollin Hunt, Criminal b/w Castle of Nothing (Moniker 7 ; outsider pop genius) 3. Thee Oh Sees, Carrion Crawler/The Dream (In The Red; acid rock perfection!) 4. Ralph White, The Hanged Man (Sloow Tapes CS; freaky AMERICANA!) 5. Jasper TX, Black Sun Transmissions (Fang Bomb) 6. The Byrds, Eight Miles High b/w Why (Sundazed 7 , AWESOME mono!) 7. JeaLousy, viles (Moniker; challenging, sprawling repetitions) 8. Bad Drugs, Raw Powder (Rotted Tooth; acid doom / rhythmic exercises) 9. Ben Owens, Birds and Water (Notice CS; unending frequency landscapes) 10. Cleared S/T (Immune) 11. Efrim Manuel Menuck, Plays High Gospel (Constellation; surprising, eclectic rock) 12. Night Control, Tyranny promo (Kill Shaman CDR) 13. The Great Society Mind Destroyers, Spirit Smoke (Sloow Tapes CS) Looking forward to an amazing 2012! MARC WEIDENBAUM Happy new year. Julianna Barwick: The Magic Place (Asthmatic Kitty) Jefferson Friedman: Quartets (New Amsterdam) Grouper: A I A : Dream Loss / A I A : Alien Observer (Yellow Electric) Tim Hecker: Ravedeath, 1972 (Kranky) Jacaszek: Glimmer (Ghostly) Eli Keszler: Cold Pin (Pan) Israel Martinez: El Hombre Que Se Sofoca (Sub Rosa) Andy Stott: We Stay Together / Passed Me By (Modern Love) Amon Tobin: ISAM (Ninja Tune) Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbauer: Re: ECM (ECM) ANGELA SAWYER 1. Various Wallahi le Zein 2cd Latitude 2011 A zillion compilations of West African music out there, but most of them have to ignore Nouakchott, Mauritania, the largest city in the Sahara. Full of shanty towns made out of sand covered tents, it's a place where you have to buy water, and also a place where almost all music is performed live rather than disseminated through recordings. Intensely dirty, burning & ornate electric guitar solos, studded with hammer ons & phase shifter pedals, all improvised, & seemingly powered by car batteries that're busy leaking psychedelic green acid. Those lines wind, pop & shudder over drum bonks, underneath vowel-wrestling singers, & respond with jarring immediacy whenever someone that you can't see dances well or hands over cash. Collected by Matthew Lavoie (of Voice of America) by recording shows onto cassette. Extremely detailed notes give a history of the last 30 odd years of music in the city, explain why drag queen drummers are in demand for weddings, give you some idea of what combination of electronics and dirt make those noises, who had the dream that caused everyone to put 20 extra frets on their necks, etc. 2. Various Nihon Indigo cassette 2011/193x-195x Trilogy Tapes Bananas about this little collection of melancholy, graceful Japanese pop, mostly from the 40s & 50s. Yearning gieshas, singing starlets, enka balladeers caught in the endless rain, and crisp instrumental flourishes on strings, shamisen, guitar, etc. Impressive notes for a tape release too. 3. Evariste Do You Know the Beast lp No Smoke 2011/1967-69 Hard swingin ye-ye with loony screaming and growling, sound effects (specifically sheep & sine waves), and lyrics about integral calculus. Evariste was a legit student of particle physics (under his real name Joel) before deciding it would be more fun to have an extremely lopsided haircut & flail around like Freddie from Freddie & the Dreamers while singing an impression of a rooster. Superbly cutting, brilliant arrangements by Michel Colombier (of Pierre Henry fame, as well as Serge Gainsbourg). Evariste's complete discography is here, and though it's just a few singles, a comparison to a giant like Kim Fowley is not out of order. 4. Various Street Musicians of Yogyakarta lp + 7 inch Mississippi 2011/1976-78 The exquisite, dreamy & prismatic major/minor harmonies of Indonesian folk & pop are on full display between market stalls & outside restaurant doorways in one of the heaviest tourist spots outside of Bali. Troupes that become possessed, whip each other & eat fire, or just play Dangdut, Ronggeng, Melayu, Kroncong (western ukulele trios derived from sailor songs). Covers from the radio, covers of classical gamelan songs. Endearing interview excerpts in which you learn which instrument looks like a goat, and how many years you must play until you can successfully make jokes at people's expense. Recorded by Jack Body, an Australian composer who was teaching in Indonesia for a couple of years. And it's easy to see why he freaked out as soon as he arrived & heard this stuff. Just fall down dead beautiful. 5. Matsuo Ohno Choju Gigaku 7 inch EM 2011/1970 Brilliant little single of wheezy chirps, oinks & croaks that suddenly start burping out everything from 'Clementine' to Italian opera. In the mid 1950s a guy in Copenhagen (named Carl Weissmann) released a version of 'Jingle Bells' that was made out of musique-concrete-chopped dog barks, thereby inventing the well known holiday scourge the Singing Dogs. 15 years later this inspired some nurt working in the publicity department of Expo '70 to comission this recording: one of Japanese folksongs that had been constructed out of tuned animal noises. Avant garde sound effects composer Ohno, who made the goopy blips for the 'Astro Boy' cartoons, rose to the occasion. He coralled his frequent collaborator Takehisa Kosugi (Taj Mahal Travellers) and several others to help, as the tuning & cut up work had to all be done on a single reel-to-reel recorder. The many overdubs also keep things hissy & dry, so it's not even especially cartoony. Ought to sit right next to Pierre Schaeffer's trains in every record collection. 6. Los Destellos Constelacion lp Secret Stash 2011/1971 Lima's psychedelic cumbian masters. Enrique Delgado started playing guitar as a child & was already touring by the time he was 13. His parents disapproved & kicked him out of the house, so he couch surfed as a teen. He picked up the electric guitar for the first time in 1962 & started Los Destellos in '66. The band started incorporating Colombian timbales for that cumbian rhythm (here played by Cesar Arias), but also the surf/beat guitar that was so popular in Europe & America. The sparkling surfy sound that named the band has been partly been taken over by wah & Santana fuzz by this 7th album. You can easily hear the beginning of chicha, and the verbed-out spoken introduction to 'Onsta La Yerbita' is as slinky as music ever gets. Instantly the best thing on Secret Stash. 7. Void Sessions 1981-83 lp Dischord 2011/1981-83 Columbia, Maryland's unhinged hardcore geniuses make for the best Dischord release in forever. Unreleased sessions, the stuff from the 'Flex Your Head' comp, outtakes from the classic Faith/Void split (on which they wipe the fucking floor with the Faith), & a couple of really amazing live tracks full of crazy braying & guitar destruction. The band quickly went metal, but you won't hear it here. Instead, the fun they're having in the studio is undeniable, especially when they throw in half of a Circle Jerks cover. 8. Catherine Christer Hennix The Electric Harpsichord cd Die Schachtel 2010/1976 A big black bucket of tintinnabulating stars, made with 3 tuned Yamaha keyboards, sine waves, and processed with delay. Hennix is Swedish, and met La Monte Young & Pandit Pran Nath at the impressionable age of 21, at the turn of the 70s. She studied with them while pursuing a career as a math professor at MIT & SUNY. 56 page booklet that includes amusing notes by Henry Flynt (who says Europe should never have been invented), a couple of short poems by La Monte, & a lot of math symbols from Hennix herself. 9. Various Those Shocking Shaking Days 3lp Now Again 2011/1970-78 Fat slab that throws open the doors on the deep & seemingly boundless Indonesian music scene of the 70s. A couple tracks have seen expensive psych reissues in the past few years, but at 3 lps, there's plenty to discover- and you can skip past the innumerable ballads on most albums & head straight for the over the top, totally badass fuzz bombs. All those Sabbath, James Brown and Grand Funk knock offs were precipitated in part by President Suharto's pro-West but authoritarian stance. But since most bands only got flat compensation for albums & made their living from shows, tons of releases with several quick experiments were relatively common. That still doesn't explain why the guy from Golden Wing hung upsidedown when he played the minimoog. Or why multiple bands chose to combine the template of Hendrix' 'Stone Free' with anti-drug messages. The Rhythm Kings even have a chant asking the band members whether they prefer grass, morphine, lsd, "stone", or sex- and they say no to most of it! Compiled by a Canadian rap producer whose resume includes making beats for Ghostface Killah & Raekwon. 10. Various Intercontinental Transmissions Vol. 1 lp Kala Bandar 2011/196x-80 This stroboscopic little story starts, as you likely already know, in your backyard with sparkly instrumental combos like the Ventures & Shadows. But it ends out on the other side of the flat earth. Peruvian cumbia with whistling, Iranian twist records, beautiful Polish beat girls, Indonesian proto-metal fuzz monsters, flashy soundtracks that go way beyond Bollywood- they're all here. And just as the twang-addled, ye-ye mad, go-go kids in these bands once infused their local styles with the laquered cool of the big, bad, far-off West, psychedelia geeks and beats dudes are stretching their own boundaries to hear it today. Obscure, impossible-to-find baubles that were left behind by a foolhardy world indifferent to their vivid allure. Compiled, liscenced & released by Boston's own Jesse Kaminsky, music director at MIT's WMBR and also the host of a 5-year running show dedicated to music in languages other than English. ZAZ BEN DOOM 1. Queen Elephantine - Garland of Skulls (Concrete Lo-Fi) 2. The Dagons - Upon The Dull Earth (Dead Sea Captain) 3. Alaric - Alaric (20 Buck Spin) 4. Anemone Tube Death Over China (Topheth Prophet / Silken Tofu) 5. Jack and The Bearded Fishermen - Places to Hide (Ocinatas Industries/ Vouhvoue/ Cryptophyte Prod/ Impure Muzik/ Slow Death) 6. Today Is The Day - Pain is a Warning (Black Market Activities) 7. Fleshpress - Acid Mouth Strangulation (Svart Records) 8. Sonne Adam - Transformation (Century Media/ Imperium Productions) 9. Mastodon - The Hunter (Reprise) 10. Cassexe Vibrato - J'ai rencontre Justine (self released) 11. byZero - Zencore (R.A.I.G.) 12. Smell & Quim - Lavatory (Smell & Quim / Milovan Srdenovic Appreciation Society) 13. The Austrasian Goat/Hallowed Butchery - Songs of Self Reliance and Solitude (Vendetta Records) 14. Pyramido Salt (Total Rust) 15. Memories of an Old Man - Memories of an Old Man (D7i) 16. Kommissar Hjuler und Mama Bar & Ninni Morgia And Silvia Kastel - Two Couples (Ultramarine) 17. Jeph Jerman - For Henry F. Farny 1904 (TraitMediaWorks) 18. Hannis Brown - Severe Insomnia (Lumberton Trading Company) 19. Wreck of The Hesperus - Light Rotting Out (Aesthetic Death/ Streaks) 20. Rudra Brahmavidya: Immortal I (Sonic Blast Media) best reissue: Gnaw Their Tongues - Spit at Me and Wreak Havoc On My Flesh (Ominous Silence, originally self-released in 2006) MARTY INGELS Norma Jean - Heaven Help The Working Girl Hateful Abandon - Move Ithi - The Persistence Of Meaning Gentlemans Pistols - At Her Majestys Pleasure Human Eye - They Came From The Sky Bardo Pond - Bardo Pond Graveyard - Hisingen Blues The Parting Gifts - Strychnine Dandelion Cold Cave - Cherish The Light Years Young Widows - In & Out Of Youth & Lightness The Psychic Paramount - II The Drums - Portomento plus this older stuff, which loved me in 2011 Jaill - That's How We Burn EVERYTHING by The Nectarine No. 9 Nightbringer - Death And The Black Work These Animal Men - Accident & Emergency WILLIAM HARRIS andy stott :: passed me by/we stay together balam acab wonder/wander crystal stilts :: in love with oblivion cults :: cults fucked up :: david comes to life holy other with u john maus :: we must become the pitiless censors kurt vile :: smoke ring for my halo nicholas jaar :: space is only noise pj harvey :: let england shake NICK POLSTER teenage panzerkorps "german reggae" dirty beaches "badlands" horrid red "empty lungs" "celestial joy" royal headache "s/t" thee oh sees all of em feeling of love "dissolve me" cold cave "cherish the light years" pure x "pleasure" savage young taterbug "theme for gasoline weirdo" iceage "new brigade" white fence "is growing faith" pierrot lunaire "turn back the hands of time" total control "henge beat" + tour split javelin - canyon candy 7"s brausepoter "bundeswehr" mantles "raspberry thighs" primitive calculators/slug guts "ugly pumping muscle" king khan + bbq "we are the ocean" ty segall trex covers thing UV race "acid trip" twerps "black eyes" royal headache "royal headache ep" nothing people/mondo phase band "australian tour split" MATTHEW KENT Motion Sickness of Time Travel - Seeping Through the Veil of The Unconscious Heatsick - Intersex Voder Deth Squad - 1 Graham Lambkin - Amateur Doubles Higuma - Pacific Fog Dreams The Haxan Cloak - The Haxan Cloak Julia Holter - Tragedy Pinch & Shackleton - Pinch & Shackleton Hype Williams - One Nation Inga Copeland - Inga Copeland EP Hana - Hana Moomin - The Story About You Terekke - Damn EP BYRAM ABBOTT In no particular order: BJ Nilsen & Stilluppsteypa - Big Shadow Montana Dag Rosenqvist & Simon Scott - Conformists Chris Watson - El Tren Fantasma Deaf Center - Owl Splinters v/a - Street Musicians of Yogyakarta reissue Jim Haynes - The Decline Effect Vladislav Delay - Vantaa Tyler The Creator - Goblin Sir Richard Bishop - Live at B.A.M. (8/12/2011) Amon Tobin - ISAM live at the Warfield (10/2/2011) VINNIE FERGUSON Here are my 20 most listened-to records that were released in 2011: Porras, Jon - Undercurrent Ash Borer - Ash Borer Blue Sabbath Black Cheer - Autophobia Sutekh Hexen - Ordo Adversarial Blue Sabbath Black Cheer - Witches Barn Owl - Lost in the Glare Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestial Lineage Wormrot - Dirge Bosse-De-Nage - II Sutekh Hexen - Luciform Sutekh Hexen - Daemons Pale Chalice - Afflicting Dichotomy... Gog / William Fowler Collins - Malpais O'Malley, Stephen - Romeo Hecker, Tim - Ravedeath, 1972 Fell Voices - Untitled II Caminiti, Evan - Distant Lights 7" Deafheaven - Roads to Judah Barn Owl - Shadowland Ash Borer / Fell Voices - Untitled Split PETE ELLIOTT Thanks for all the great music in 2011....here's a mix i did with some of your stuff.... http://soundcloud.com/sardonica/pete-elliott-psychic-sabotage#new-timed-comment-at-909269 BOBBY DENIRO in no particular order: Andrew Douglas Rothbard - Frequenseqer Zebulon Pike - Space is the Corpse of Time Vektor - Outer Isolation Torlesse Super Group - s/t The Cats' Orchestra - Coffee Killer Japanese Businessman - Purdy Mouth EP Animals As Leaders - Weightless Sympathy Nervous - Automaticism probably more but i can't remember at the moment because i'm drunk a list put together by Merengue Suzuki ULRIK NORGAARD Hello Aquarius Recs! I work for headphone maker AIAIAI and this is our top 15. We're BIG fans of you guys, BTW :) http://aiaiai.dk/blog/the-aiaiai-best-of-2011-playlist MARC ROBERTS Happy New Years to yous at aQ. Here's ten I liked from last year in no particular order... 1) Carlton Melton - Country Ways LP (Mid-To-Late Records) 2) White Hills - Black Valleys CD (aQuarius recOrds) !! 3) 3 Leafs - Titular Lines CDr (self released) 4) Hookworms S/T CS (Sun Ark) 5) Bear Bones Lay Low - Basement Surge CS (Cabin Floor Esoterica) - A guy from Sylvester Anfang II :)) 6) Gnod - In Gnod We Trust LP (Rocket Recordings) 7) Kandodo - S/T CDr (Tom Tom) - Simon Price from The Heads solo project :)) 8) Bong - All Saints March CS (Brave Mysteries) 9) Plankton Wat - The Outer Lands CS (Sweat Lodge Guru) 10) Haare - Kali Yuga pt I + II CS (Sick Head) JEREMY HURST 20: Ty Segall-Goodbye Bread 19: Ice Age-New Brigade 18: John Maus-We Must Become the Pitiless censors of oursleves 17: Destroyer-Kaputt 16: Julianna Barwick-The Magic Place 15: Leyland Kirby-Eager to Tear Apart the Stars 14: Clams Casino-Instrumentals 13: Atlas Sound-Parallax 12: Jurgen Muller-Science of The Sea 11: Andy Stott-Passed me by/We Stay Together 10: Nicolas Jaar-Space is Only Noise 09: Christina Vantzou-No. 1 08. The War on Drugs-Slave Ambient 07. Oneohtrix Point Never-Replica 06. Grouper-Alien Observer 05. Mikal Cronin-S/T 04. Tim Hecker-Ravedeath, 1972/Dropped Pianos 03. The Caretaker-An Empty Bliss Beyond this World 02. Girls-Father, Son and Holy Ghost 01. Julia Holter-Tragedy MOZ / TEETH ENGRAVED WITH THE NAMES OF THE DEAD Best Albums of 2011: Striations - Piss Blood Hypnosis CS Demonologists - Miscarriage of the Soul Locrian - The Clearing LP Giles Corey- Self Titled Will Over Matter - Lust For Knowledge Ride For Revenge - Under the Eye Sutekh Hexen - Luciform A.C. Way - Vorsg Gah 3" Cianide - Gods of Death French Radio - Abandoned Children --- Reissues: Sullflower - Infinityland/ Carved Into Roses/ Singles 3cd Korperschwache - Notes From the Howling Room 8cd The Body - Anthology All of the Crass Reissues --- Biggest Disappointment: Amebix - Sonic Mass --- Best Shows: SWANS at Regency Ballroom Neurosis at Great American Music Hall Wovenhand at Bottom of the Hill Impetuous Ritual at Eli's Mile High Club Sutekh Hexen at the Hazmat/ Your Haus Striations at the Hazmat/ Your Haus --- Best Purchases of 2011: Grundig Shortwave radio [used as noise generator] Tascam 414 cassette 4-track Boss RC30 Loop Station Gym Membership --- Biggest Musical Obsessions of 2011: Will Over Matter Werewolf Jerusalem MICHAEL WOODRING Top 10 from 2011 (in no order): Charles-Eric Charrier Silver Tor Lundvall The Seasons Unfold Gareth Davis & Machinefabriek Grower Demdike Stare Tryptych Tindersticks Claire Denis Film Scores The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble From the Stairwell Reigns The Widow Blades The Jesus Lizard Club V/A Drive soundtrack Leyland Kirby Eager To Tear Apart the Stars MARKUS SVENSSON List (in no special order): Gh dalia Tazartes - Works 1977-79 box Alvarius B. - Baroque Primitiva The Slaves - Ocean on Ocean JD Emmanuel & Dolphins into the Future & Head of Wantastiquet live in Vaxjo, Sweden Hills - Master Sleeps Andy Stott - Passed Me By - We Stay Together Annette Peacock - I'm the One reissue Njurmannen - Masters 1992 reissue Algebra Suicide - The Secret like Crazy Chelsea Wolfe - The Grime and the Glow Erik Enocksson - Apan Various Atoms - White Eye of Winter Watching 2xCs Crass - Penis Envy reissue Starfuckers - Ordine 91 - 96 Tape - Revelationes Various - Fairlights, Mallets and Bamboo Throbbing Gristle och Chris & Cosey reissues Supreme Dicks - Breathing and Not Breathing box Yamantaka // Sonic Titan - s/t Total Control - Henge Beat + two movies I previously missed out on: Valerie a tyden divu (Jaromil Jires, 1970) and Hausu (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977) DAVID FORBIS Favorite Instrumental (or mostly instrumental) albums of 2011 Cave - Neverendless Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I Russian Circles - Empros Spindrift - Classic Soundtracks, Vol 1 Tia Carrera - Cosmic Priestess Favorite Metal (-ish, in some cases) albums of 2011 Blood Ceremony - Living With the Ancients Dead to a Dying World - S/T Hammers of Misfortune - 17th Street Helms Alee - Weatherhead Junius - Reports from the Threshold of Death Lo-Pan - Salvador Yob - Atma Favorite albums of 2011 ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Tao of the Dead Centro-Matic - Candidate Waltz D Charles Speer & The Helix - Leaving the Commonwealth J Mascis - Several Shades of Why Kurt Vile - Smoke Ring for My Halo True Widow - As High As the Highest Heavens and from the Center to the Circumference of the Earth Ume - Phantoms Favorite EP releases of 2011 Alabama Shakes - S/T Big Business - Quadruple Single Will Johnson - Little Raider ZENGIZ Music Year In Review, Parts I & II The Live Room Monster Magnet playing 1996's Dopes to Infinity album in full at the Koko, Camden. November. Circle Finland's finest delivering one set to remember at Corsica Studios. October. Monarch! headlining but it was all about the heavy doom of Pombagira performing 2011's Iconoclast Dream at the Unicorn. October. Rhys Chatham presenting spellbinding minimalism at Cafe OTO. March. Arthur Doyle and Steve Noble at Cafe OTO. March. Michael Flower and Neil Campbell joining together for monumental transcendence at Cafe OTO. February. Serpent Venom, Groan and Enos at the Unicorn. February. Top 10 of the Year 1. Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1 2. Weedeater - Jason... The Dragon 3. Bong - Beyond Ancient Space 4. The Caretaker - An Empty Bliss Beyond This World 5. Charlemagne Palestine & Joachin Montessuis - Voxorgachitectronumpter 6. Mogwai - Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will 7. Chrysta Bell - This Train 8. Disma - Towards The Megalith 9. Kieran Hebden/Steve Reid/Mats Gustafsson - Live at the South Bank 10. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Blood Lust Ambient 1: Music for Airports Daniel Thomas Freeman The Beauty of Doubting Yourself A Winged Victory for the Sullen Kyle Bobby Dunn Ways of Meaning Honourable Mentions Low C'mon The Necks Mindset Group Doueh Zayna Jumma Faust Something Dirty Pombagira Iconoclast Dream David Lynch Crazy Clown Time Song of the Year Lana Del Rey Video Games Music Year in Review Part II Individual Songs from Albums/EPs Prurient Time's Arrow The Necks Transparent Roads Hateful Abandon The Way It Ends Dopefight Stonk More Honourable Mentions Death Grips Exmilitary Zombi Escape Velocity Huntsville For Flowers, Cars And Merry Wars Bohren & der Club of Gore Beileid Six Organs of Admittance Asleep on the Floodplain The Death Metal Room Entrails The Tomb Awaits Autopsy Macabre Eternal Necros Christos Doom of the Occult Cianide Gods of Death The Reissue/Compilation/Soundtrack Room Sounds and Silence Horseback The Gorgon Tongue Phurpa Trowo Phurnag Ceremony GARY SIMMONS ALBUM OF THE YEAR 2011: Lance Austin Olsen - War Of The Welles 2. A Winged Victory For The Sullen 3. Federico Durand - El Extasis De Las Flores PequeNas 4. Kyle Bobby Dunn - Ways Of Meaning 5. Gavin Friday - catholic 6. Thalassing 7. Earlyguard - (something) Zen 8. Chelsea Wolfe - (Apokalypsis) 9. Jeffrey Foucault - Horse Latitudes 10. Brian Eno - Drums Between The Bells Wishing everyone life, love and happiness for the new year. MONTE CIMINO Thanks for a memorable year of record shopping, food, laughs, & friendship. You guys are the best! 2011 TOP "10" 1.) GHOST opus eponymous cd, vinyl, cassette, 8-track, digital download, etc. 2.) N AMESAK E { N Y - N Y | 0 7 - 0 9 } cd-r 3.) SKULL DEFEKTS peer amid cd 4.) VARIOUS ARTISTS pakistan folk and pop sounds 2LP 5.) KYLE BOBBY DUNN ways of meaning LP 6.) FOLLAKAZOID s/t LP 7.) LUGER concrete light cd 8.) CIRCLE OF OUROBOROS eleven fingers LP 9.) VARIOUS ARTISTS smm context cd 10.) NO STATIK we all die in the end 12 11.) BOTANIST the suicide tree / a rose from the dead 2cd 12.) NEGATIVE PLANE stained glass revelations cd 13.) ALRAKIS alpha eri cd FAVORITE REISSUE JOHN COLTRANE plays the blues MONO LP FAVORITE BOXED SET THE BEACH BOYS smile sessions box set cd & vinyl MISC National Jukebox: Historical Recordings from the Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/ PETER KARNER 1. ricardo villalobos & max lodebaurer re:ecm 2. pinch & shackleton s/t 3. sandwell district s/t 4. demdikestare tryptych 5. andy stott passed me by/we stay together also placed takehisa kosugo catch wave tourless super group tsg zomes earth grid peaking lights 936 kreidler tank aethenor en form for bla anbb mimikry battles gloss drop blues control and laraaji that healing fealing colin stetson new history of warfare vol. 2: judges friedrich goldman late works (wire vol. 327) htrk work (work work) master musicians of bukkake totem three the oscillation veils pj harvey let england shake solyst solyst va invasion of the mysteron killer sounds tamikrest toumastin ANDREW M.K. WARREN Hello! Here is my list, hope it is not too long! Re-issues and/or old stuff (In no particular order after Smile which is clearly the greatest record of this or any year): 1) The Beach Boys, Smile, 2LP, Capitol Records 2) Kourosh Yaghmaei Pre-Revolution Psychedelic Rock From Iran: 1973-1979, 3LP, Now-Again Records 3) Michael Yonkers Band, Microminiature Love, LP, Sub Pop Records 4) Vagrants, I Can t Make A Friend 1965-1968, LP, Light In The Attic Records 5a) Faith, Subject To Change Plus First Demo, LP, Dischord Records 5b) Void, Sessions 1981-83, LP, Dischord Records 6) Michael Chapman, Fully Qualified Survivor, LP, Light In the Attic Records 7) Gene Clark, Roadmaster, LP, Sundazed Records 8) El Rego, Et Ses Commandos, LP, Daptone Records 9) Blind Willie Johnson, Dark Was The Night Cold Was The Ground, 2LP, Mississippi Records 10) VA, Don t Trust Your Neighbors, Early Albanian Traditional Songs & Improvisations, 1920s-1930s, LP, Hinter Records 11a,b,c) Dead Moon, In The Graveyard, Unknown Passage, Defiance, 3LPs, Mississippi Records 12) Na Hawa Doumbia, La Grande Cantatrice Malienne Vol 3, LP, Awesome Tapes From Africa 13) These Trails, s/t,LP, Drag City Records 14) VA, Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love: Motown's Mowest Story, 1971-1973, 2LP, Light In The Attic Records Contemporary sounds (In no particular order): 1) Woods, Sun and Shade, LP, Woodsist Records 2) Art Museums, S.H.O.P.P.I.N.G., 7", Dulc-i-Tone Records 3) Blouse, Into Black b/w Firestarter, 7", Captured Tracks 4) Widowspeak, s/t, LP, Captured Tracks 5) Wild Flag, s/t, LP, Merge Records 6) PJ Harvey, Let England Shake, LP, Vagrant Records 7) Date Palms, Honey Devash, 12" EP, Mexican Summer 8) Wolves In The Throneroom, Celestial Lineage, 2LP, Southern Lord Records 9) Real Estate, Days, LP, Domino Records 10) The Drums, Portamento, LP, Frenchkiss Records 11) Wooden Shjips, West, LP, Thrill Jockey Records Stuff that came into my life too late to really make the list but clearly would have: 1) John Fahey, Your Past Comes Back To Haunt You, The Fonotone Years [1958-1965], 5CD, Dust-To-Digital, Revenant Co. 2) VA, Music From Saharan Cell Phones, LP, SahelSounds 3) Candi Staton, Evidence, The Complete Fame Records Masters, 2CD, Ace Records 4) VA, Boddie Recording Company: Cleveland, Ohio, 5LP, Numero Group RAE DONALDSON kurt vile smoke ring for my halo steve hauschildt tragedy and geometry amor de dias street of the love of days real estate days michael chapman trainsong: guitar compositions 1967-2010 greg brown freak flag alvarius b baroque primitiva barn owl ancestral star pg six starry mind giyan riley stream of gratitude white denim d implodes black earth metal mountains golden trees flower/corsano/hejnowski the count visits dean mcphee son of the black peace harold budd in the mist david kilgour and the heavy eights left by soft part horses main on both sides poisson tim hecker ravedeath 1972 matt valentine what i became mountains air museum widowspeak s/t meg baird seasons on earth carlton melton country ways wooden wand and the briarwood virgins briarwood the amazing gentle stream meat puppets lollipop alexander tucker dorwytch sean smith huge fluid freedom nathan salsburg affirmed this list could have been twice as long. with reissues add another twenty. there's never any shortage of great music. it's lack of time that's the problem! GREG GARBAGE local sudden oak - beyond language terror apart - beyond the blue chrome genie - beyond normal bonus beast - rastafarian backscratcher demos seers - 2 striations - stalking chameleon prizehog - thought nest mausoleums - just a certainty headboggle - dualmono satantango fslux - crawl global tim hecker - ravedeath manorexia - dinoflaggelate blooms sully - carrier spvcxghxztpvrrp - blvcklvnd rvd holy other - with u john wall & alex rodgers - work va - ghettoteknitianz clams casino - instrumental helm - cryptography philip jeck - an ark for the listener shows commode minstrels in bullface at purple hayes oxbow at the eagle infrasound at the lab nuclear death wish at bottom of the hill florescent grey at the zoo prizehog at hemlock pod blotz at ata aswara at firestorm mark lord at lipo haters at retox EDDIE HARARI In no particular order 1) True Widow as high as....... 2) Low Cmon 3) A silver Mt zion. Kollapz traditionals 4) Petrychor effigies and epitaphs dryad 5) Necrodeathmort music of bleak origin 6) Circle of Ouroburous eleven fingers 7) Zebulon Pike space the corpse of time 8) Corrupted garten der 9) Saviours Deaths procession 10) Gillian Welch harrow and the harvest Most listened album this year released a few years ago, My Dying Bride. the dreadful hours RAYMOND COLLINS Top 10: 10. Cat's Eyes - s/t 9. Dirty Beaches - Badlands 8. Natalie Beridze/TBA - Forgetfulness 7. La Big Vic - Actually 6. Belong- Common Era 5. Active Child - You Are All I See 4. Julian Lynch - Terra 3. Nicolas Jaar - Space Is Only Noise 2. Water Borders - Harbored Mantras 1. HTRK - Work (Work, Work) See full list/Top 100 here: EverythingIsChemical.com Thanks.. you guys are awesome;) CHRIS SMITH 1. Yob--Atma 2. Amebix--Sonic Mass 3. KWJaz--s/t 4. Acephalix--Interminable Night 5. Bombino--Agadez 6. Ulcerate--The Destroyers of All 7. Paul Ngozi--The Ghetto 8. Brainoil--Death of this Dry Season 9. Craft--Void 10. Roots--Undun GARY CUTLER Top 30 albums of 2011 (in no particular order) Peaking Lights 936 (Not Not Fun) Lykki Li Wounded Rhymes (Atlantic) Anne-James Chaton Evenements 09 (Raster-Noton) Chancha Via Circuito Rio Arriba (ZZK) Gang Gang Dance Eye Contact (4AD) Master Musician of Bukkake Totem 3 (Important) Cut Hands self-titled [aka Afro Noise] (Very Friendly/Susan Lawly) Clams Casino Instrumentals (self-released) Pure X Pleasure (Acephale) Shabazz Palaces Black Up (Sub Pop) Bombino Agadez (Cumbancha) Deadbeat Drawn and Quartered (BLKRTZ) Reinhold Friedl Inside Piano (Zeitkratzer) John Maus We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves (Upset!The Rhythm) Ricardo Villalobos/Max Loderbauer RE:ECM (ECM) Corrupted Garten Der Unbewusstheit (Nostalgia Blackrain) John Wiese Seven of Wands (Pan) Bee Mask Elegy for Beach Friday (Spectrum Spools) Amen Dunes Through Donkey Jaw (Sacred Bones) Laurel Halo Hour Logic (Hippos in Tanks) Ensemble Economique Crossing The Pass, By Torchlight (Dekorder) John Wall & Alex Rodgers Work 2006-2011 (Entr acte) Eli Keszler Cold Pin (Pan) Prurient Bermuda Drain (Hydra Head) Total Control Henge Beat (Fuse Group) FWY! CA 80 s-90's (Brave Mysteries) The Necks Mindset (Recommended) Real Estate Days (Domino) Konntinent Down With Candy (Debacle) Demian Johnston & Mink Stole Trailed & Kept (Debacle) Top Compilations & Reissues Tindersticks Claire Denis Film Scores 1996-2009 (Constellation) Steve Roden I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces (Dust-To-Digital) Delta Swamp Rock: Sounds from the South (Soul Jazz) Opika Pende: Africa at 78RPM (Dust-To-Digital) Invasion of the Mysteron Killer Sounds (Soul Jazz) Ongaku 70: Vintage Psychedelia in Japan (Hiruko) The Ronettes Be My Baby: The Very Best of the Ronettes (Phil Spector/EMI) MZ.412 Domine Rex Inferum / Nordik Battle Signs (Cold Spring) Mickey Newbury An American Trilogy (Saint Cecilia Knows/Mountain Retreat/Drag City) Disco Inferno The 5 EPs (One Little Indian) Jeff & Jane Hudson Flesh (Dark Entries/Captured Tracks) The Durutti Column Vini Reilly (Kooky) Creation Rebel Starship Africa (On-U Sound) The Bill Dixon Orchestra Intents & Purposes (RCA Victor) T.K. Ramamoorthy Fabulous Notes and Beats of the Indian Carnatic-Jazz (EM) Barbecue Any Old Time (Dust-To-Digital) MIKE DERENIEWSKI regular releases, re-releases, book & live film/kazoo party that fell out 2011 list'd by mike d/TQR&R... John Maus - We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves [Ribbon Music/Upset! the Rhythm] Asobi Seksu - Fluorescence [Polyvinyl] Doggy Style - Punkers Anthem & Punk Collection 1985-1988 [Cleopatra] aTelecine - The Falcon and The Pod [Pendu Sound Recordings] Monarch! - Sortilege [Heathen Skulls] The Ettes - The Worst There Is (7" #2) [Fond Object/Sympathy For The Record Industry] RACCOONS - RACCOONS [time STEREO] Go Sailor - Go Sailor [Slumberland] Iron Maiden - On Board Flight 666 [Orion Hardbacks] Filmmobile (cinema and film school on wheels) [Echo Park Film Center] GRAHAME FOREMAN So much still to catch up on but my top twelve so far in rough order of love/admiration/awe/gratitude: Slidecamp - Slidecamp Biosphere - N-Plants Burial - Street Halo (EP) Belong - Common Era Vatican Shadow - Pakistan Military Academy and Washington Buries Al Qaeda Leader at Sea: Decks 1-3 Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica The Haxan Cloak - The Haxan Cloak Deaf Center - Owl Splinters Prurient - Bermuda Drain Dalglish - Benacah Drann Deachd Ital Tek - Whip It Up (EP) Niggas with Guitars - Ethnic Frenzy SIMON BOTTEN ...I do dream of visiting Aquarius sometime in the future and, no doubt after lengthy deliberation and head-scratching, purchasing a few prime sonic offerings! Until then, all I can do is send my admiration - don't know how you find time for the in-depth reviews in your emails, but all that work is much-appreciated and I play quite a few artists on my weekly internet radio show, 'The Kitchen Sink' http://lostinmusictks.wordpress.com/ who I have you to thank for introducing me to! The Kitchen Sink Top Ten 2011 (in no particular order) 1) MOON DUO - MAZES (Souterrain Transmissions) 2) MEG BAIRD - SEASONS ON EARTH (Wichita Recordings) 3) NECRO DEATHMORT - MUSIC OF BLEAK ORIGIN (Distraction) 4) ANDY STOTT - WE STAY TOGETHER (Modern Love) 5) SIMON FINN - THROUGH STONES (10 to 1) 6) LENTO - ICON (Denovali) 7) HEY COLOSSUS - RRR (Riot Season) 8) V/A - BANGS & WORKS VOL.2 (Planet Mu) 9) V/A - TROJAN PRESENTS DUB (Trojan) 10) V/A - FAC. DANCE (Strut) Thanks again and all the best in 2012! ALEX OBLEAS Bardo Pond / Carlton Melton - Split Barn Owl - Lost In The Glare Causa Sui - Pewt'r Sessions 2 Date Palms - Honey Devash Eternal Tapestry - Beyond The 4th Door Grails - Deep Politics Graveyard - Hisingen Blues The Necks - Mindset Sungrazer - Mirador Tia Carrera - Cosmic Priestess The Machine - Drie Wooden Shjips - West V/A - Those Shocking Shaking Days. Indonesian Hard, Psychedelic, Progressive Rock And Funk: 1970 - 1978 ps...I hope I win the $25 gift prize, cuz I need: GREAT SOCIETY MIND DESTROYERS LP & MONSTER MAGNET 10". Damn, I'm psyched for 2012. DUNCAN MEATBREAK Meatbreak's detailed Top 50 of 2011 can be found here: http://www.nfrblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/top-50-albums-of-2011.html ROBERT HAM 1. Battles - Gloss Drop 2. James Elkington & Nathan Salsburg - Avos 3. Dirtbombs - Party Store 4. Pulse Emitter - Spiritual Vistas 5. Toxic Holocaust - Capture & Command 6. Destroyer - Kaputt 7. Tycho - Dive 8. The Caribbean - Discontinued Perfume 9. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake 10. Chrome Wings - New Lands SEAN CRAIG New: Main Attrakionz - 808s & Dark Grapes II Afrikan Sciences - Means & Ways Jennifer Castle - Castlemusic Rick Reed - The Way Things Go AUN - Phantom Ghost Spaceghostpurrp - Blvcklvnd Rvdix 66.6 The Caretaker - An Empty Bliss Beyond The World King Immanuel - Jerusalem Peste Noire - L'Ordure Al'Etat Pur Reissue: Mantler - Doin' It All ANTHONY GALICA I didn't buy as much this year as in years past, so my top 10 list is really a top 9. However, at the end I have an honorable mention section that contains stuff that didn't actually come out this year, but I just picked up this year (or, in one case, a reissue). The list, in no particular order: Tom Waits - Bad As Me: There will never be a Tom Waits album that doesn't make my top 10. And that's not to say that I'm just giving him a free ride, they all deserve it, and that's the important part. Peste Noire - L'Ordure a l'Etat Pur: I purchased this album based on the aQ review and even doubled down and purchased "La Sanie des si cles" at the same time. While the latter was definitely more of a good straight up BM album, this new one is something special. It helped cement Peste Noire as one of my (now) favorite bands. End - III: All I can say here is that I fully regret selling End I a few years back. Thankfully I still have End II, and now my search to re-retrieve End I is in full swing [actually, my search ended a few days after the original incarnation of this list]. Primordial - Redemption At the Puritan's Hand: Primordial is one of my favorite bands. In fact, my first Primordial album ("Storm Before Calm") was purchased at aQ, and if I remember correctly, it was my very first visit to the store some 8 or 9 years ago! In my mind, Primordial will never defeat "To the Nameless Dead", but this album is certainly enjoyable enough to be on the list. Matthew Good - Lights of Endangered Species: A Canadian rockstar who I've loved for well over a decade now (probably closer to two decades than one). His albums are always must-buys for me and usually end up being played nearly nonstop for a few weeks after they come out. Murder By Death - Good Morning, Magpie: Another of my favorite bands, and one I've suggested in a prior year end list that aQ review. Get on it, aQites! Burzum - Fallen: One of my favorite Burzum offerings. That's saying a lot, considering the man's catalogue. Aidan Baker - Noise of Silence: Honestly, I haven't even opened the package yet (it's far too pretty for that, but I will eventually; I will probably not want to open any of the individual CDs if they are sealed in wax like the Nadja set last year). But if it's anything like the Nadja boxset, it deserves to be on this list. Sutekh Hexen - Daemons: Short, but sweet! (like this review) Honorable mentions: Peste Noire - Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor: This album is superb. Easily the best Peste Noire album (I have all 4), and that says a whole lot. Probably my favorite album I purchased this year. Twilight - Monument to End Time: Great stuff! Bought based on review (and I had the first Twilight album). Graveland - Prawo Stali: Reissue/Remastering (and with Polish titles/lyrics) of the Polish version of a great Graveland album. Deathspell Omega - Paracletus: I like DSO s music in general, but I love the music on this album. It reaches new heights. NILS MARKVARDSEN 01 Bong - Beyond Ancient Space 02 Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Blood Lust 03 CON - Live '72 (Further Rec., 2011) 04 Conan / Slomatics - s/t 05 Causa Sui - Pewt r Sessions 1 & 2 06 Pentagram - Live Rites : Live in Helsinki 2011 07 Bong - Live at Roadburn 2010 08 Noothgrush - S/t (Fuck Youga, 2011) 09 L'Impero delle Ombre - I Compagni di Baal 10 Oeresund Space Collective - Entering Into the Space Country CHRIS ALLICK 1. Juma Sultan's Aboriginal Music Ltd. - Father of Origin 2xLP + CD (Eremite 2011) 2. VA - Not The Spaces You Know, But Between Them 4xLP + 7" (Three Lobed 2011) 3. Motion Sickness Of Time Travel/Nova Scotian Arms - Slow Architecture 2xc46 (Sweat Lodge Guru 2011) 4. Andrew Chalk - Violin By Night LP (Faraway Press 2011) 5. Burial Hex - Book Of Delusions LP + CD (Brave Mysteries 2011) 6. Hexbreaker Quartet - Crowned and Conquering Child c30 (True Color Of Venus 2011) 7. Shep & Me - Spring Creeper c34 (Cabin Floor Esoterica 2011) 8. Inez Lightfoot - Offering/Je Suis le Petit Chevalier - Pannacotta split c60 (Stunned 2011) 9. Second Family Band - Twelfth Night Reunion c70 (Brave Mysteries 2011) 10. mv/ee/michael flower - A Manual For The Road 8xCD (Child of Microtones 2011) NATE CHRISTY favorite music of 2011 Gauntlet Hair "s/t" LP True Widow "As High as the Highest Heavens and from the Center to the Circumference of the Earth" LP Yuck "s/t" LP Cold Cave "Cherish the Light Years" LP Kurt Vile "Smoke Ring for My Halo" LP Friends "Friend Crush" song Radiohead "The King of Limbs" LP Cave In "White Silence" LP Liturgy "Aesthethica" LP Deafheaven "Roads to Judah" LP Bill Callahan "Apocalypse" LP Ash Borer "s/t" LP Prurient "Bermuda Drain" CD Tombs "The Path of Totality"' CD Jay-Z & Kanye West "Watch the Throne" CD Touche Amore "Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me" LP The Weeknd "House of Balloons" mix Dive "Sometime" song Trash Talk, "Awake" EP A$AP Rocky "LiveLoveA$AP" mix Crystal Stilts "Radiant Door" EP Wolves in the Throne Room "Celestial Lineage" LP Leviathan "True Traitor, True Whore" CD The Atlas Moth "An Ache for the Distance" CD Yob "Atma" CD Altar of Plagues "Mammal" CD KRAIG KELLER 1. Psychic Paramount-II 2. Aluk Todolo-Ordre 3. 3 Leafs-Titular Lines 4. Gator Bait Ten-Harvester 5. Picastro/Nadja-Fool, Redeemer 6. Dead Elephant-Thanatology 7. Gum takes Tooth-Silent Cenotaph 8. Sutekh Hexen-Ordo Adversarial/Daemons/Shadows 9. Thank You-Golden Worry 10. Aethenor-En Form for Bla Records (mostly metal) by the following probably would have made it onto this list if I wasn't busy working too much, planning my wedding, and obsessing over Gravitar rarities: Mitochondrion, Tombs, Brutal Truth, Encoffination, Vallenfyre, Esoteric. I would never wish more work on you fine folks, but it seems something very un-AQ like has happened: there was no best of 2000-2009 list. Yes, it would be epic, but should there ever be a lull in the business (does that even ever happen?) or there were no idea for an in-between list, you could always solicit some entries, maybe like a top 5, and make a list out of that. Probably not, but hey, it's an option. Here goes: Best of the 00's 1. Subarachnoid Space-The Red Veil 2. Bardo Pond-On the Ellipse 3. Playing Enemy-I Was Your City 4. Psychic Paramount-Gamelan Into the Mink Supernatural 5. Raccoo-oo-oon-Behold Secret Kingdom 6. Mayhem-Ordo Ad Chao 7. Air-The Virgin Suicides OST 8. Blut Aus Nord-The Work Which Transforms God 9. Totimoshi-Ladron 10. Nadja-Truth Becomes Death 11. Thank You-Terrible Two 12. Discordance Axis-The Inalienable Dreamless 13. Portal-Outre 14. Halo-Body of Light 15. Black Vomit-Jungle Death 16. 16(duh)-Zoloft Smile 17. Wolf Eyes-Human Animal 18. Silentist-Chariot Swing 19. Dysrhythmia-Barriers and Passages 20. Picastro-Metal Cares 21. Nile-Black Seeds of Vengeance 22. Akercocke-Choronzon [ Kraig - oh, geeze, best of the '00s? we'd be arguing for weeks... actually that's a good idea, maybe we'll do it... -Allan/AQ ] LLOYD FRANGIS Music: Dirtbombs - Party Store LP Polvo - Heavy Detour 7" Lalo Schifrin - Mannix OST LP Flaming Lips - Heady Nuggs LP Box Nirvana - Hormoaning EP reissue Jesus Lizard - 7" reissues Talk Talk - Laughing Stock LP reissue D. Charles Speer - Arghiledes LP V/A - Plato's Trip - Greek Psych LP Comp V/A - Brass Pins & Match Heads - Mississippi LP comp Shows: Jane Birkin @ Great Hall, Toronto Swervedriver @ Great Hall, Toronto Ray Davies @ Chicago Theatre Spiritualized @ Royal Albert Hall, London Len Price 3 @ Full Moon, Putney Dirtbombs @ Horseshoe, Toronto Dennis Coffey @ Horseshoe, Toronto The Cars @ Sound Academy, Toronto Flaming Lips @ The Fillmore, Detroit Trans Am @ Lee's Palace, Toronto That is all. SIMON FABELA Top Ten 2011 for me are: 1. PJ Harvey "Let England Shake" Island Records 2. Peaking Lights "936" Not Not Fun Records 3. V/A "Last Time Around" Mississippi Records 4. True Widow "A.H.A.T.H.H.A.F.T.C.T.T.C.O.T.E" Kemado Records 5. Milk Music "Beyond Living" Perennial Records 6. Wooden Shjips "West" Thrill Jockey 7. Pakistan "Folk & Pop Instrumentals 1966 - 1976" Sublime Frequencies 8. Bleached "Searching Through the Past" 7" Suicide Squeeze Records 9. Ed Askew "Imperfiction" Drag City 10. Tom Waits "Bad As Me" Anti-Records MICHAEL HARRIS In no particular order: Diamond Mine - King Creosote & Jon Hopkins The Harrow & the Harvest - Gillian Welch Ghostpoet - Peanut Butter Blues and Melancholy Jam Avenging Angel - Craig Taborn Kinshasa Succursale - Baloji Two for Two - Aki Takase & Han Bennink El Tren Fantasma - Chris Watson Timbuktu Tarab - Khaira Arby Let England Shake - PJ Harvey Shinjuku Growl - The Thing with Jim O'Rourke LOUIS LIBERT 2011 Favorites (in no particular order) New Stuff The Soft Moon - s/t Twin Shadow - Forget Cut Copy - Zonoscope Peaking Lights - 936 Anika - s/t Kreidler - Tank Washed Out - Within And Without Maps and Diagrams - Get Lost tUnE-YarDs - whokill Demdike Stare - Tryptych Sven Kacirek - The Kenya Sessions Julianna Barwick - Magic Place Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues Expo 70 Awakening Steve Hauschildt - Tragedy & Geometry Leyland Kirby - Eager To Tear Apart The Stars Zomes - Earth Grid Kode 9 and the Spaceape - Black Sun Holy Other - With U Soft Metals - s/t Old Stuff (first heard in 2011) Xex - Group Xex Suicide - s/t Catherine Christer Hennix - The Electric Harpsichord Disco No Disco Disco No Disco 2 New York Noise New York Noise 3 The Hidden Tapes David Parsons - Akash/Earthlight/Jyoti Sly and the Family Stone - Fresh Guided By Voices - Alien Lanes Gus Coma - Color Him Coma Eliane Radigue - Geelriandre / Arthesis African Head Charge - Off The Beaten Path Pharoah Sanders - Village of The Pharoahs / Wisdom Through Music CASEY BAKER 10. Pink Playground -- Destination Ecstasy 9. Wooden Shjips -- West 8. Yob -- Atma 7. Subrosa - No Help for the Mighty Ones 6. Soft Metals -- Soft Metals 5. White Hills H-p1 4. Absu -- Abzu 3. COH -- IIRON 2. Prurient -- Bermuda Drain 1. Red Fang -- Murder the Mountains MATT BUGAJ Hi Al & fellow children of Aquarius... Pretty middle of the road but, tough crap... 1. Mariachi El Bronx- II 2. Void- Sessions 81-83 3. Tom Waits- Bad as Me 4. PJ Harvey- Let England Shake 5. Wooden Shjips- West 6. Sun Ra- The Eternal Myth Revealed vol. 1 Box 7. Screaming Trees- Last Words/ The Final... 8. Grinderman- various 12" singles 9. Beastie Boys- Hot Sauce #2 10. Flaming Lips- various "Gummy" songs via usb Aquarius - You're awesome! PAUL LAROSA ...Not all - though most - were released in 2011 - a few were just hugely enjoyed over the past year. 1. Etienne O'Leary, Films et Musiques Originales 1966-1968 (Tenzier) 2. Coiffeur, El Tonel de las Danaides (Estamos Felices) 3. Daphne Oram, The Oram Tapes Volume One (Young Americans) 4. Viktor Knud, Ambiances et Images (Creel Pone) 5. Lavender Scented Dreamfield (Different Lands) 6. Celer, All At Once is What Eternity Is (Taalem) 7. Musette, Datum (Tona Serenad/Plop) 8. Teatteri Moderni Kanuuna, Murheenkapselista Galleriaan Ja Asemalle (Helmi Levyt) 9. Stephan Mathieu, A Static Place (12K) 10. Mark Fry/The A. Lords, I Lived in Trees (Second Language) 11. Kate Bush, 50 Words For Snow (Fish People) 12. Pierre Normal. s.t. (Pneu) 13. Adam Willetts, Live (Fictitious Sighs) 14. Chris Watson, El Tren Fantasma (Touch) 15. VA: Afro Beat Airwaves, West African Shock Waves 1972-1979 (Analog Africa) 16. Joel Tammik, Horisont (Vali) 17. Viktor Sjoberg. Lover Man (Kalligrammofon) 18. Olli Aarni, Ylitse (Avant Archive) 19. Eliane Radigue, Transamorem - Transmortem (Important) 20. VA: I Listen to the Wind That Obliterates My Traces, Music in Vernacular Photographs 1880-1955 (Dust-to-Digital) JOHN BEERS Dammit Dammit Top Ten Dammits Astronautalis - This Is Our Science Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow Circle of Ouroborus - Armon Keitaalla Brigitte Fontaine - L'un n'empche pas l'autre Jupiter Watts - Take Time The Lovely Eggs - Cob Dominos Nuit Noire - The Gigantic Hideout The Raveonettes - Raven in the Grave Tenniscoats - Toki no Uta Dwight Twilley Soundtrack |