The year is half over

[msnvwls]

Post your favorite records of the year thus far! I'm up to my ears in noisy psych so fresh perspective is awesome!

Jack Rose - Luck in the Valley
Gnod - Science & Industry CS (also really digging the Drop Out With White Hills double LP)
Yellow Swans - Going Places
Robedoor - Burners
Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here?
Magic Lantern - Platoon

Comments

[fishead]

I've really been happy with a lot of the material that's been re-issued on LP in the last little while... I mean, I was finally able to snag a copy of Robert Calvert's Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters on vinyl. Lots of fun...

I work in a music distro, so it's a bit hard to keep up with all the stuff I bring home... but here are a few of the recent ones:

Karkwa - Les chemins de verres
Autechre - Oversteps
Nurse With Wound - Space Music
Harmony Korine - Trash Humpers soundtrack
various - Radio Galaxia (B-Music compilation)
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma

I concur on the Gonjasufi album... I'm not 100% sold on his voice, but the production is diverse and quite interesting. Gaslamp Killer also shows up on the Radio Galaxia comp I mentioned (and also did a full-length mix All Killer, No Filler for the Twisted Nerve label)... also been really enjoying the retro-shoegaze stuff that Pains of Being Pure at Heart have been doing, despite the fact that it's one of the most embarrassing band names I can think of... their singles have had me

[msnvwls]

Oh man, I completely forgot about Flying Lotus. That record is crazy good, it seems like he's given up trying to bridge the gap between hip-hop and IDM and has come up with this weird fusion that's informed by both but sounds like neither. Definitely another of my favorites from the first 6 months.

[unskilledlabor]

Oh man, I hated the first PoBPaH album. That shit was like a sheet of plywood propped up against a brick wall. Are the singles somehow better

What's that NWW like? I saw a new Current 93 album at the store today, and I really loved Aleph, but these guys throw out so much stuff it's hard to know.

[msnvwls]

I can't stream shit because I'm working from a phone most of the time, but I appreciate the effort. I'll probably buy it anyway, Big Boi did a free show at this temple in town and I didn't know anything he was playing but it was dope.

[tinyfolk]

Roach Gigz - Roachy Balboa: The Mixtape
Yelawolf - Trunk Muzik
Bitch I Go - From Another EP
✝NO VIRGIN✝ - DOWNER EP
oOoOO - CDR
SALEM - Water EP
SALEM - Yes, I Smoke Crack EP
White Ring - <>¥¥¥<>
Roach Gigz - I Am Roachy Balboa

[msnvwls]

I didn't know anyone outside of ATL had heard Yelawolf. He's engendered a lot of ill will around town.

[msnvwls]

His shows are just known to always end in disaster, he gets raging drunk and turns into a first rate douche. I know a couple of promoters who refuse to book him.

i've almost completely ignored this year

[cut_dead]

The Fall - Your Future Our Clutter
Mi Ami - Steal Your Face
Rene Hell - Porcelain Opera
Yellow Swans - Going Places
the Magik Markers side of that split with Sic Alps
Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here
Teenanger - Give Me Pink
Thee Oh Sees - Warm Slime (it's not great, but I like it just fine)

What I've heard off that Big Boi album is the best I've heard to come out of rap since Supreme Clientele.

Still haven't heard the new Ariel Pink outside of a few tracks.

The new Liars was kind of underwhelming, but'll probably sound real nice live. The new Actress has some ace moments, but dude doesn't really have his own style & the album doesn't really hold together as a whole.

Re: i've almost completely ignored this year

[msnvwls]

I think Thee Oh Sees have sort of slipped into this weird place for me where I'll always like what they do but won't ever be blown away by it again. I blame oversaturation. With Dwyer you really have to wonder how much longer they'll be around.

I think I'm the only person who hates the new Ariel Pink.

Re: i've almost completely ignored this year

[cut_dead]

I dig Thee Oh Sees, but yeah I'm not floored by it either. I think Dwyer & co. are best in weird mode (Sucks Blood & the like).

I'm not in any hurry to listen to the new Ariel Pink.

Re: i've almost completely ignored this year

[msnvwls]

I can definitely dig that (weird OCS), & I just think they may have peaked last year. I mean Help was like the logical conclusion of what they'd been building to that point, a perfected version of Master's Bedroom, while Zork's Tape Bruise proved that the songs could do more than just hop around and be fun, they could serve as a foundation for a full-on freakout. Dog Poison could've been turned everything upside down with its aural changeup if only it'd been a little bit better set of songs. After the "Blood inYour Ear" single I thought maybe ther were gonna try to refine that looser, acoustic sound, so on a really personal level it was sad for me to see them go back to the mode they're in on Slime, besides the fact that its just basically not as good as some of their past work. Like I said, though, I'll probably always like what they do, even if it isn't surprising.

[cut_dead]

I thought the Dorunco Gumo album was just OK.

I also liked At All Ends more than Going Places.

[msnvwls]

Isn't that older? I thought it came out in 08 or something.