Again, with so much new music being released, I cannot really face the minutiae of a numbered list this year. I plan to conclude what will be a multi-part feature covering over 300 new releases by selecting an album of the year, and I will also mark out any release I think is particularly significant with additional asterisks for those scrolling through quickly. Please view this as a personal overview of the year's most interesting music rather than a definitive 'best of' list. It's also designed more to guide people to interesting music than to highlight my writing. I've also included EPs where appropriate this year.
AAL (Against All Logic) - 2012-2017 (Other People)
Nicolas Jaar's latest project offered some playful and nuanced refractions of funk and soul samples. Often fun, this set is also tinged with a lingering sense of melancholy.
Adrianne Lenker - abyskiss (Saddle Creek)
Stark and raw solo work from the Big Thief singer. Unkempt, uncompromising and proudly vulnerable.
Aidan O'Rourke with Kit Downes - 365 vol. 1 (Reveal)
Merely the beginning of a very substantial project (with which this blog feels some obvious empathy), Lau's Aidan O'Rourke set out to write a piece of music a day in response to James Robertson's collection of stories, one for each day of the year. These duo pieces (with Kit Downes sometimes playing piano and sometimes harmonium) are beautiful, lyrical miniatures.
Aisha Burns - Argonauta (Western Vinyl)
A deeply personal and carefully drawn song cycle navigating the contrasts between experiencing grief and a burgeoning relationship. The songs are evocative, textured and compelling.
Aisha Devi - DNA Feelings (Houndstooth)
Challenging and imaginative sound collage, manipulating vocals to disorientating and absorbing effect.
AKA Moon - Now (Outhere)
Exuberant and thrilling cutting edge contemporary jazz from Belgium, highlighting brilliant rhythmic interplay and clever motivic writing and improvising.
Alasdair Roberts/Amble Skuse/David McGuinness - What News? (Drag City)
A new set of traditional ballads from the great Alasdair Roberts, this time recorded in collaboration with pianist David McGuinness and with Amble Skuse's electronics adding a discreet contemporary edge. It's particularly pleasing to finally have a recording of The Fair Flower of Northumberland.
Alela Diane - Cusp (All Points)
I can't help but feel this album has been somewhat overlooked this year - it's such a mature, engaging set of songs, with Diane writing about motherhood and transformation in a rich, poetic and vibrant language, composing suitably lavish melodies to match. Piano plays a greater role in the arrangements here. Yet the delivery, as ever with Diane, is so pure and understated.
Alex Zhang Hungtai - Divine Weight (NON)
The former Dirty Beaches composer and producer digitally disguises saxophones to generate new textures and sensations. Haunting and sometimes abrasive.
Alexander Tucker - Don't Look Away (Thrill Jockey)
Tucker views this as the slightly belated third part of a trilogy following Dorwytch (2011) and Third Mouth (2012). Together, their juxtaposing of traditional song craft with creative arrangements and synaesthetic sound worlds certainly represent a consistently maintained high standard. Drum programming is effectively integrated here too.
Alexis Taylor - Beautiful Thing (Domino)
Certainly the closest Alexis has come to resembling the Hot Chip sound in his solo work, Beautiful Thing was recorded with Tim Goldsworthy of DFA Recordings. It neatly integrates Taylor's love of classic pop harmony, melody and form (particularly Paul McCartney here) with a sort of post-club romantic haze. I particularly like the fractured dub of Roll On Blank Tapes.
Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Yonge - The Midnight Hour (Linear Labs)
An expansive, cinematic and richly imagined work combining Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest), Adrian Younge, an excellent rhythm section and an orchestra. It puts me in mind of David Axelrod or Harry Whitaker's Black Renaissance at times.
Alva Noto - Unieqav (NOTON)
I'm really only just beginning to explore the music of Alva Noto, something I should have explored more fully much earlier. This is the third part of a trilogy of works beginning with the 'UNI' prefix and is more open to rhythm and beats than the collaboration with Sakamoto.
Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto - Glass (NOTON)
A thoroughly designed long form performance recorded at Philip Johnson's Glass House in Connecticut. An ingenious examination of the relationship between sound and space, the piece is pervaded by a haunting eeriness.
Ambrose Akinmusire - Origami Harvest (Blue Note)
An immensely ambitious and brilliantly realised work, with the trumpeter, bandleader and composer collaborating with both the Mivos String Quartet and the rapper Kool AD to integrate vivid, technically impressive writing with fervent, urgent contemporary hip hop and the interaction of great improvisers.
Amen Dunes - Freedom (Sacred Bones)
I haven't paid much attention to Amen Dunes before now, but this elaborate, precisely crafted record utilises the production skills of Chris Coady of Beach House to create something that somehow sounds both lived in and dreamlike. I particularly admire the way it looks back to formative electronic influences but also makes such great use of Parker Kindred's very naturalistic acoustic drum sound.
AMOR - Sinking Into A Miracle (Night School)
Patiently unfolding, flexible dance music from the Glasgow quartet - an impressive debut.
Andrew Cyrille, Wadada Leo Smith, Bill Frisell - Lebroba (ECM)
ECM had an impressive slate this year (more to come later in this overview), and this was one of the label's finest releases. It's a wonderfully airy and magical concoction, brimming with sensitive execution of some beautiful ideas. It's incredible to hear these three superb musicians together (the title is a contraction of Leland, Brooklyn and Baltimore, the three musicians' respective birthplaces). A particular highlight is Wadada Leo Smith's exquisite, thoughtful dedication to Alice Coltrane.
Andy Jenkins - Sweet Bunch (Spacebomb)
Another excellent combination of songcraft and deep grooves from the Spacebomb collective (with help from Phil Cook) - sometimes reminiscent of the late Tony Joe White.
Anenon - Tongue (Friend Of Friends)
Lovely pastoral sounds mixing saxophones, synths, electronics and field recordings, recorded in the spectacular environment of Tuscany.
Angelique Kidjo - Remain In Light (Kravenworks)
This excellent album makes a strong case for a complete cover of an existing album to become more of an accepted art form (and why shouldn't it be - compositions get re-performed and reworked constantly). It's fascinating to hear David Byrne's great take on West African rhythms being embraced by the great Beninese singer, and her enthusiasm and commitment to the project is obvious in her delivery. The great Tony Allen plays drums and Kidjo also draws from an intriguing pool of contemporary rock talent as well. The result is a less intellectual sounding, more immediately powerful interpretation.
Anna and Elizabeth - The Invisible Comes To Us (Smithsonian Folkways)
Outstanding re-interpretations of traditional folk ballads, meticulously arranged and thoroughly transporting.
Anna St Louis - If Only There Was A Mirror (Woodsist/Mare)
Working with Kyle Thomas and Kevin Morby as producers, Anna St Louis has crafted a wonderfully spacious and enriching set of songs. Sometimes gentle, sometimes soulful, the whole set is always rich in tone and beautifully communicated.
Anteloper - Kudu (International Anthem)
Entrancing duo project from trumpeter Jaimie Branch (also of Fly Or Die) and drummer Jason Nazary. The use of synthesisers helps create varied and unpredictable textures.
Anthony Joseph - People Of The Sun
Continuing to collaborate with saxophonist and producer Jason Yarde and bassist Andrew John but also assembling a great team of local musicians in the Trinidad capital, the poet and vocalist has crafted an insightful, passionate paen to Trinidadian music and culture.
**Anton Hunter - Article XI (Efpi)**
Premiered at the 2014 Manchester Jazz Festival but only getting its recorded release earlier in 2018, this suite of music from guitarist and composer Anton Hunter is a caustic and thrilling work celebrating Article XI of the UN Declaration on Human Rights. This continues to be a prescient theme in light of the Conservative government's repeated (so far largely failed) attempts to reform human rights in the UK. Featuring some of the most enterprising and dynamic improvisers currently working in the UK (including Cath Roberts on baritone, Nick Walters on trumpet and Johnny Hunter on drums). This is one of those works dealing in effects, textures, gestures and high impact transitions - it's often hard to determine what precisely is improvised and what is written.
Aphex Twin - Collapse EP (Warp)
Where Aphex Twin's music was once skittering and radical, it now feels oddly familiar and comforting - but perhaps this is an inevitable progression.
Aqueduct Ensemble - Improvisations On An Apricot (Last Resort)
ECM-inspired improvisations recorded over two summers. Drifts languidly and gently searches for new vistas.
Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino (Domino)
This one seemed to polarise social media, but I admired its bold change of approach, resulting in more cinematic and atmospheric arrangements, and a less rockist mentality. It's a dense and curious work, with Alex Turner revelling in the moods and spaces provided for his cascade of words. In many ways, it's their most interesting album. Don't @ me!
Armand Hammer - Paraffin (Backwoodz Studios)
I always feel hip hop has become quite conspicuous by its absence from my lists (I tried a bit with the Pusha T record but couldn't quite get on with it). This, however, with its twisted soundscapes and force of delivery, is very much my thing (and reminds me a little of Cannibal Ox's brutalist classic The Cold Vein).
Arp - Zebra (Kemado)
There are hints of Jon Hassell in this intelligently arranged, contemplative music that makes brilliant use of unusual instrument combinations.
Arve Henriksen - The Height Of The Reeds (Rune Grammofon)
If Arve Henriksen might initially seem like a curious choice for a commissioned piece celebrating the history of Hull, the fact that this piece commemorates the longstanding seafaring relationship between Hull and Scandinavia makes things clearer. Originally designed as an accompaniment for a 'sound walk' across the Humber bridge, the music is both meditative and inspiring, achieving a blissful serenity in subtle sonic details.
Baloji - 137 Avenue Kaniama (Bella Union)
Triumphant, lengthy, and consistently thrilling fusion of modernised Afrobeat and hip hop from the Congolese musician.
Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness (BCUC) - Emakhosini (Buda Musique)
One of the best African albums of the year, the South African group not only stretch out brilliantly over long pieces, but also draw on a range of traditions to create something potent and unique.
Beast - Ens (Thrill Jockey)
Brilliantly minimal and hypnotic work from Koen Holtkamp (also one half of Mountains). 'Ens' involved the creation of a 'virtual ensemble' and was recorded and written within the context of the birth of Holtkamp's first child. Despite mostly being recorded at odd hours of the night, the music feels luminous.
Bell's Roar - We Carry Us (Sean Desiree)
This is an album that really deserved wider attention this year - an impressive, well produced, lush sounding solo debut from non binary, queer identifying artist Sean Desiree that aimed to support the QTPOC artist community.
Belly - Dove (Belly Touring)
Bizarrely, the initial excitement over Belly's reunion seemed to have somewhat dissipated when it came to them actually releasing new music (why has this album been completely absent from end of year lists?) - but Dove is a timely reminder not just of Tanya Donnelly's songwriting gifts (never in doubt of course) but of the powerful, focused sound that this trio creates.
**Ben LaMar Gay - Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun (International Anthem)**
One of the year's most breathtakingly madcap and esoteric works, this collects tracks from seven different albums now being released by International Anthem and offers an effective, intelligently sequenced introduction to the wide ranging, restless and innovative work of the Chicago composer.
Ben Vince - Assimilation (Where To Now?)
Known for his solo saxophone work, Ben Vince here embraces collaboration with other musicians, brilliantly exploring dissonance and attack. The work with vocalists is particularly effective.
Ben Walker - The Fox On The Downs (Folkroom)
Concise EP of nimble, agile folk from Brighton based guitarist.
Ben Wendel - The Seasons (Motema)
Suite of substantial music inspired by the seasons and by Tchaikovsky from the adventurous saxophonist and composer. The Seasons also features an all star ensemble including pianist Aaron Parks and drummer Eric Harland.
Big Red Machine - Big Red Machine
Given that I've had my reservations about more recent Bon Iver and I have never really been able to connect with The National, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this assured, melodic and intriguing collaboration between Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner. In some ways it continues some of the sonic preoccupations of '22, A Million', but the manipulated vocals and electronic elements seem more deftly woven into a coherent musical fabric.
Bill Frisell - Music IS (Okeh)
Resonant, beautiful solo interpretations of previously released compositions from the great guitarist, still able to deftly tie together strands from jazz and other American folk music.
Binker and Moses - Alive In The East? (Gearbox)
Fiery, blistering recording from London's Total Refreshment Centre that captures the dexterous, liberated duo at their bravest and augmented by guests Yussef Dayes, Tori Handsley, Evan Parker and Byron Wallen.
Bixiga 70 - Quebra-Cabeca (Glitterbeat)
Fourth album of righteous groove and horn-driven music from the Brazilian ten piece group.
Bjorn Torske - Byen (Smalltown Supersound)
Aquatic, dubby house music meets reflective, ambient soundscapes on the first solo album in eight years from the Norwegian producer.
Blake Mills - Look (Verve)
A somewhat unexpected left turn into ambient atmospherics from the singer-songwriter and producer.
Blawan - Wet Will Always Dry (Ternesc)
A debut full length on which the revered techno producer shares a notably softer, less atavistic side of his musical personality.
Boygenius (Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus) (Matador)
Resplendent collaboration between three excellent singer-songwriters.
Brad Mehldau Trio - Seymour Reads The Constitution! (Nonesuch)
Astonishingly, Brad Mehldau has now released 35 albums. This latest recording with his longstanding trio combines three spiky originals with interpretations ranging from Brian Wilson to Sam Rivers.
**Brigid Mae Power - The Two World (Tompkins Square)**
At once stately and defiant, this is one of the most significant recordings from a singer-songwriter in 2018.
Bruce Springsteen - Springsteen On Broadway (Columbia)
Audio document to complement Thom Zimny's excellent film version of the long running show for Netflix, in which Springsteen expounds on his life with a blend of unabashed emotion and self aware humour. The performance is a bold new experiment, emphasising Springsteen's longstanding qualities as a storyteller. If at times it does border on the hokey, this is probably forgivable.
Buddy - Harlan and Alondra (Cool Lil/RCA)
Excellent, super relaxed but multi-faceted hip hop tour of LA.
Calexico - The Thread That Keeps Us (City Slang)
Calexico are one of those bands who have worked for so long and so consistently now that it's easy to take them for granted, but The Thread That Keeps Us is another rewarding set, sometimes emphasising their more insistent, rockier side. With the bonus tracks, it's also very long.
Candi Staton - Unstoppable (Beracah)
Impressive Mark Nevers-produced set that foregrounds Staton's grittier side, blending personal and political defiance. Includes a great interpretation of Patti Smith's People Have The Power.
Cat Power - Wanderer (Domino)
The presence of Lana Del Rey as a guest here emphasises the extent to which Chan Marshall's influence has now infiltrated the mainstream. These are elegant, nuanced and subtle torch songs, sometimes reminiscent of kd lang's Ingenue.
**Cath and Phil Tyler - The Ox and the Ax (Thread Recordings)**
First album in eight years from the tremendous transatlantic folk duo, highly focused and compellingly realising harsh and unforgiving stories and reimagining musical traditions.
**Cave - Allways (Drag City)**
Loosely groovy, initially insidious, ultimately irresistible set from the great jam band.
Cavern Of Anti-Matter - Hormone Lemonade (Duophonic)
Richly imagined, sonically impressive third album from Tim Gane's no longer post-Stereolab project, demonstrating a genuine love for great analogue synths and old school drum machines.
Charalambides - Charalambides: Tom and Christina Carter (Drawing Room)
Two sessions, no overdubs, thoroughly haunting and beautiful music.
Charles Bradley - Black Velvet (Daptone)
Fourth and sadly final album of invigorating classic soul from the great vocalist.
Charles Lloyd and The Marvels - Vanished Gardens (Blue Note)
Includes intriguing and effective song interpretations in collaboration with a stirring Lucinda Williams, both new versions of her own songs and those of others.
Chris Corsano and Bill Orcutt - Brace Up!
Drummer Chris Corsano and guitarist Bill Orcutt have been improvising together for a number of years now but this is their first studio recording. It delivers on turbulence and interaction in abundance.
Christina Vantzou - No. 4 (Kranky)
Eerie and unsettling ambient soundscapes.
**Christine and the Queens - Chris (Because)**
Artful pop music of real distinction - high concept, irresistible top lines and intricate productions and arrangements. Chris brings style and substance in equal measure.
Colin Stetson - Hereditary OST (Milan)
Colin Stetson - The First OST (Record Collection)
Stetson's buzzing, swirling and whirring soundtrack for Hereditary ended up being far more unsettling than the actual film, also making brilliant use of silence and space. A highlight in what has been an excellent year for original film scores.
Stetson also provided a crystalline soundtrack for the series The First, full of awe and wonder.
Container - LP (Spectrum Spools)
This has been my introduction to Ren Schofield's LP series for Spectrum Spools, neatly balancing abrasive, rapid fire techno with softer, more melodic elements.
**Cory Smythe - Circulate Susanna** (Pyroclastic)
One of the year's most impressive compositional works, a collection of songs inspired by Stephen Foster and George Washington Dixon but refracted through a decidedly contemporary and innovative lens. A modern day Escalator On The Hill.
Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel (Marathon Artists)
Barnett's crunchiest and clearest work to date.
**Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain (Loose)**
One of my favourite discoveries of the year - a superb, imposing, lingering, vocal presence. Brilliantly executed soulful country rock unafraid of sudden dynamic shifts. Lovely reverb-laden guitar sounds throughout too.
Cowboy Junkies - All That Reckoning (Latent Recordings)
A most welcome return - slow building storms demonstrating that the personal is political and vice versa.
Cypress Hill - Elephants On Acid (BMG)
It always feels lazy to use the term 'return to form', but then Muggs is back and here we are.
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Sunday, December 16, 2018
2018 In Music Part 1: Reissues, Compilations, Virtual Crate-Digging
One of the more positive aspects of the proliferation of online music distribution and streaming services is the sheer volume of older, rediscovered music that is easily searchable and digestible. Even given the inflated prices generated by a growing commercial business in luxury vinyl (some examples included here, but I have to say this is a process that doesn't hugely interest me), much of this music can be accessed very easily and at minimal cost. 2018 has been another great year for reissues and compilations - there's plenty here in which to get lost.
Abu Obaida Hasan - Abu Obaida Hasan and his Tambour: The Shagiya Sound Of Sudan (Ostinato)
Outstanding, mesmeric music from northern Sudan, played on a modified Tambour with an additional string, with additional percussion and vocals. A thrilling discovery.
Alan Braufman - Valley Of Search (Valley Of Search)
Intense and powerful spiritual free improvisation. With Cooper Moore, Cecil McBee, David Lee and Ralph Williams.
Alela Diane - The Pirate's Gospel Deluxe Edition (AllPoints)
It's been a bumper year for Alela Diane fans with an outstanding new album 'Cusp' (somewhat overlooked by many) and this new reissue of the album that made her name. Beautiful songs delivered with subtlety and nuance.
Alice Coltrane - Spiritual Eternal: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (Real Gone)
The continued reassessment of Alice Coltrane's musical and cultural legacy is a necessary enterprise. This set covers her brief stint on Warner Bros.
Aretha Franklin - Atlantic Records 1960s Collection/The Atlantic Singles Collection 1967-1970 (Rhino)
Peerless, vital music delivered with steadfast verve and elan - either in depth or the commercial highlights.
Art Ensemble Of Chicago - Art Ensemble of Chicago and Associated Ensembles (ECM)
A substantial box set collating the Art Ensemble of Chicago's ECM output and some equally essential but less widely recognised work from associated acts - including Jack De Johnette's New Directions and Roscoe Mitchell's collaboration with Evan Parker on the masterful Boustrophedon.
Art Of Noise - In No Sense? Nonsense! (Warner Music UK)
Another instalment in this excellent expanded reissue series of the 8os sonic experimentalists' work. The sounds have inevitably dated, but there's still something appealing about their madcap cut and paste quirkiness.
Basa Basa - Homowo (Vintage Voudou)
Superb rescued Highlife from Ghana.
Betty Davis - Nasty Gal (Light In The Attic)
Supremely dirty 1975 album from the gritty, defiant and erotically charged funk singer once married to Miles Davis, reissued on vinyl by the great Light In The Attic label. "I just can't seem to keep my tongue in my mouth...That's all folks!"
Bitchin Bajas - Rebajas (Drag City)
Tantric meditation in drone musical form. Pretty much all the Bitchin Bajas you need.
Bob Dylan - More Blood, More Tracks (Columbia)
Terrible title, but I guess it does what it says on the tin. If you have unlimited disposable income and you really need multiple takes of Up To Me (and maybe you do), it's worth investing in this now as Columbia are apparently deleting it. It can't help but feel that the Bootleg Series has lost its original spirit and become somewhat exploitative as well as exhaustive though.
Bob Seger and The Last Heard - Heavy Music: The Complete Cameo Recordings 1966-67 (ABKCO)
Enjoyable compilation of sturdy early work from the recently retired rocker.
Bobbie Gentry - Girl From Chickasaw County: The Complete Capitol Masters (Capitol)
Incredible box set that establishes Gentry as an underrated and richly creative artist - as weird and wonderful as her best known song is, there is so much here beyond Ode To Billy Joe.
Brian Eno - Vinyl Remasters/Music For Installations (Universal)
Peak ambient
Bronski Beat - The Age Of Consent (London Music Stream)
One of the most important albums of the 80s is expanded with bonus BBC Sessions.
Bruce Springsteen - The Album Collection Vol 2 (Columbia)
To many, this won't be considered Springsteen's golden era (and this set has been a bit neglected in light of the Broadway show), but it's worth keeping in mind that is move towards more reflective, sometimes even introspective songwriting included some of his very best songs. Lucky Town is particularly worthy of reassessment.
Buzzcocks - Another Music In A Different Kitchen/Love Bites 40th Anniversary (Domino)
The recent loss of Pete Shelley puts these anniversary vinyl reissues from Domino in a more poignant light. Incisive, radical lyrics meet biting, mercilessly economical music.
Carl Stone - Electronic Music From The 80s and 90s (Unseen Worlds)
For losing track of time...
Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes - No. 2/Ame Debout/Paix (Universal)
First three albums of uncompromising, defiant weird folk music from the inventive, imposing singer, beloved of Kim Gordon and Jim O'Rourke.
Charles Mingus - Jazz In Detroit/Strata Concert/46 Selden (BBE)
This radio broadcast constitutes a major treasure trove of Mingus' wild frontier.
Cocteau Twins - Treasure Hiding: The Fontana Years (Mercury)
Some revisionism of the Cocteau Twins on Fontana seems necessary - rather than terminal decline into commercialised blandness, much of this music feels like a gentle refinement.
David Axelrod - Earth Rot (Now-Again for Record Store Day)
Major suite of music from the producer and composer - arguably second only to the Songs of Innocence and Experience sets in his catalogue.
David Bowie - Glastonbury 2000 (Warner Music)
I don't actually remember this set being all that fondly received at the time, given there was a general scepticism about Bowie's embrace of various electronic music and a predictable huffiness about his tendency to radically rework his older material.
David Sylvian - Dead Bees On A Cake Deluxe Vinyl (Universal)
David Sylvian and Holger Czukay - Plight and Premonition/Flux and Mutability (Groenland)
Unfortunately, David Sylvian continues to be somewhat AWOL from contemporary music following the cancellation of planned live performances a few years ago. These reissues constitute some of his most searching, texturally rich and imaginative work, particularly the excellent, absorbing collaborations with Czukay.
Deben Bhattacharya - Paris To Calcutta: Men and Music on the Desert Road (Sublime Frequencies)
An extraordinary, deeply fascinating sonic document of field recordist Bhattacharya's journey from France to India in 1955. Archive, history, cultural memory.
Digable Planets - Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space) (Light In The Attic)
Supremely relaxed, philosophical, jazz-infused hip hop from 1993. Think Arrested Development, Dream Warriors etc.
Don Rendell/Ian Carr Quintet - Lansdowne Series Reissues (Decca)
Pioneering, melodically authoritative British jazz ensemble. Rendell and Carr gave their names to the group, but pianist Michael Garrick was an equally crucial compositional voice.
Erasmo Carlos - E Os Tremendoes/Carlos, Erasmo (Light In The Attic)
Two excellent albums from the relaxed Brazilian singer-songwriter reissued by Light In The Attic.
Felt - Vinyl Remasters (Cherry Red)
Including some of the peaks of 80s alternative guitar pop, not least Forever Breathes The Lonely Word.
Flaming Lips - Greatest Hits Vol 1 (Warner Music)
In some ways this compilation doesn't veer too far off the beaten track (as its title might suggest) but it's worth noting that it does contain mixed down versions of a couple of tracks from their grand folly Zaireeka. It also charts one of the more extraordinary evolutions in modern music - from very unassuming, scuzzy and ramshackle beginnings to the vaunting ambition and widescreen splendour of The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi.
Fleetwood Mac - 50 Years Don't Stop (Warner Music)
Neat, punchy 3CD set collating the obvious highlights of all incarnations of Fleetwood Mac.
Frank Sinatra - Only The Lonely 60th Anniversary Edition (UMC - Virgin International)
Maybe the greatest Frank album?
Gene Clark - Gene Clark Sings For You (Omnivore Recordings)
Great to see more of Gene Clark's solo work being made available - this set is ramshackle but typically affecting.
Graham Nash - Over The Years (Rhino)
30 track anthology bringing together solo work, CSN(Y) material and a couple of tracks from the albums with David Crosby. Second disc features demo versions.
Haruomi Hosono - Hosono House/Cochin Moon (Light In The Attic)
Two excellent albums from one of the major, most experimental figures in Japanese popular music.
https://lightintheattic.net/releases/4101-cochin-moon
Hiroshi Sato - Orient (Wewantsounds)
Originally released in 1979 in Japan, Orient is a masterpiece of textured synthesiser pop. Available on CD and vinyl.
https://wewantsounds.bandcamp.com/merch/hiroshi-sato-orient-cd-edition
Hiss Golden Messenger - Devotion: Songs About Rivers and Spirits and Children (Merge)
Box set collecting the largely solo Bad Debt, and the first Hiss Golden Messenger ensemble albums Poor Moon and Haw plus an additional disc Virgo Fool, gathering rarities (some drawn from the Lord I Love The Rain mini-album). Songs that manage to be earthy and spiritual at the same time.
Hollywood Beyond - If (Expanded) (Warner Music UK)
A relative obscurity now, this first (and only?) work from Mark Rogers generated one memorable hit in 1986 (What's The Colour Of Money?). Nothing else is quite as melodically insistent, but it's a solid example of sophisticated, artful 80s pop.
Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids/Tin Drum (UMC)
Some of the strangest, most blissfully disorientating pop music ever to have hit the upper reaches of the UK Top 40. Reissued on vinyl.
Jess Sah Bi and Peter One - Our Garden Needs Its Flowers (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
One of the most popular acts in West Africa in the 90s, this is a fascinating, beguiling and ultimately uplifting fusion of traditional songs, West African rhythms and western folk music.
John Coltrane - Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album (Impulse!)
One of the year's most significant releases in any genre and a worthy addition to the Coltrane canon.
Joseph Spence - Bahaman Folk Guitar (Smithsonian Folkways)
Remarkably unique - rhythmic and driving solo guitar work.
Kate Bush - Remastered (PLG UK Catalog)
Vinyl and CD box sets of the entire catalogue of one of the great English eccentric artists, lovingly remastered (including, it has to be noted, the removal of a certain disgraced individual from Aerial). The Other Sides collates B Sides and offers a reminder of Kate's implausible (and weirdly faithful) cover of Sexual Healing.
Kath Bloom and Loren Conners - Restless Faithful Desperate (Chapter Music)
A beautiful avant-folk masterpiece.
Ken Boothe - Freedom Street (Real Gone)
Very limited vinyl run of this classic from the great reggae vocalist.
Kimiko Kasai and Herbie Hancock - Butterfly (Sony Music)
Great spacey fusion collaboration between Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters and Japanese vocalist Kasai, recorded in Tokyo in 1979. Contains a number of well known Herbie Hancock compositions. Some naturally absorb Kasai's vocal, others (such as Maiden Voyage) are majestically reworked. Concludes with a disco-tactic take on Stevie Wonder's As.
Lindsey Buckingham - Solo Anthology (Rhino)
Buckingham's farcical and unfortunate departure from Fleetwood Mac offers a welcome opportunity to revisit his underrated solo work and extraordinary guitar playing.
Liz Phair - Girly Sound To Guyville: The 25th Anniversary Box Set (Matador)
Combines Liz Phair's highly acclaimed debut album with the earlier tapes she circulated under the Girly-Sound moniker.
Love - Forever Changes 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe (Rhino)
Not sure anyone needs another edition of this, but the original album continues to endure.
Mansun - Attack Of The Grey Lantern (KScope)
A massive expanded reissue of the 90s grand folly. It's still rather fun, from Bond theme parody to exuberant, camp English pop via the inevitable Beatles rip.
Massive Attack - Mezzanine (UMC)
Anniversary reissue of Massive Attack's dark and introspective classic.
Miles Davis and John Coltrane - The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series Vol. 6 (Sony)
The Miles bootleg series continues to offer remarkable and rewarding riches, even if this must by now have reached the 'completists only' stage. I love the contrast between Coltrane's intelligent fieriness and Miles' use of space, but both play with a melodic approach even when stretching out.
Morrison Kincannon - Beneath The Redwoods (Spacetalk)
Rare, bucolic music from previously undiscovered Californian duo.
Neil Young - Roxy: Tonight's The Night Live (Warner Music)
Neil Young - Songs For Judy (Warner Music)
Two gems from Neil's archive this year (and his work rate on both old and new material shows little sign of slowing). The Tonight's The Night show at the Roxy is typically wayward, excoriating and thrilling, whilst Songs For Judy offers solo performances.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Architecture and Morality (UMC)
Vinyl reissue of OMD's finest album. Artful, cerebral synth pop.
Orchestre Abass - De Bassari Togo (Analog Africa)
Resplendent groove music from Togo. Tragically, the leader of Orchestre Abass, Malam Issa Abass, was killed by a grenade thrown into his room in 1993.
Ornette Coleman - The Atlantic Years (Rhino)
This is a simply peerless ten disc set. Ornette's relatively brief period on Atlantic generated some of the most divisive and important music ever recorded.
Pablo's Eye - Spring Break/Bardo For Pablo (Stroom)
The first two instalments of Stroom's trilogy of reissues from this malleable Belgian collective. The third part is out in January 2019.
Pat Ament - Songs (Grapefruit/Ba Da Bing)
Originally released in 1971 in a very limited run for friends and local shops, the internet now enables this charming, affecting set of songs to be distributed in a far wider manner than ever intended.
Pet Shop Boys - Further Listening Reissues (PLG UK)
Superb expanded reissue series - essential for those of us who only ever owned these albums on cassette! Introspective, Behaviour, Very, Bilingual.
Peter Zummo - Frame Loop (Foom)
Vinyl pressing and digital re-release of excellent work from composer, trombonist and Arthur Russell collaborator (Russell plays cello here). Also features marimba and congas.
Prince - Piano and A Microphone 1983 (Rhino)
The Prince estate seems to be dealing with the catalogue in ways that are unexpected (not least putting the music back on streaming services). But if they continue to uncover pure gems like this, where Prince's gift for capturing emotion through song is communicated without filter or enhancement, then this is a very welcome development. The recordings include occasional interjections from Prince ('turn the voice down a little'), but even this can't diminish the impact of his isolated talent.
Professor Rhythm - Professor 3 (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
The dance sound of attempted unity at the end of the Apartheid era in South Africa. Hugely joyful and uplifting.
R.E.M. - At The BBC (UMC)
Essential for me due to the inclusion of the 1995 Milton Keynes Bowl concert I attended as a teenager (a memorable formative live music experience, with Automatic For The People songs controversially rocked up) - but also a reminder of how inventive post-Bill Berry R.E.M. were at their best too, the performances in this set particularly emphasising the bold experimentalism of the Up era. There's also a great 1984 show from Nottingham Rock City (although the sound quality here is less impressive and the mix is poor).
Roxy Music - Roxy Music Deluxe (UMC)
Deluxe version of the ever impressive debut.
Songs: Ohia - Love and Work: The Lioness Sessions (Secretly Canadian)
A key transitional work from the much missed Jason Molina - mysterious, eerie and compelling.
Stereolab - Switched On Vols 1-3 (Duophonic)
4CD Box Set that gathers remastered versions of the legendary Stereolab compilations. In the end, it transpires that this was presaging new shows and new music next year.
Sun Ra - Of Abstract Dreams (Strut)
Given the vastness of the existing Sun Ra catalogue, it's hardly surprising that the vaults are also proving to be substantial. This is a previously unreleased radio session from 1974-5.
Super Furry Animals - At The BBC (Strangetown)
Radio sessions and live recordings from across the band's career - neatly charting their evolution from quirky power pop to broader pastures.
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque/Thirteen/Grand Prix/Songs From Northern Britain/Howdy! (Sony)
Vinyl reissues of the most essential albums made by our most essential songwriters. Teenage Fanclub are probably too modest and unassuming to be canonised, but these albums should by now be established classics. It's also interesting to listen to them in sequence and observe their transition from slightly wayward fuzzy grunge to chiming Byrdsian power pop. All the albums come with a bonus 7" containing choice B sides. Songs From Northern Britain arguably remains their masterpiece. Sadly, now a poignant opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the substantial contribution of the departing Gerard Love.
Terry Callier - The New Folk Sound Of Terry Callier Deluxe Edition (Craft Recordings)
Welcome reissue of a crucial recording. Includes additional takes.
The Band - Music From Big Pink Super Deluxe (Commercial Marketing)
Another one probably not really in need of another repackaging - but the album itself remains essential.
The Beatles - The White Album 50th Anniversary (UMC)
Genuinely one of the superior products in the endless Beatles legacy series.
The Beta Band - The Three EPs 20th Anniversary Remaster (Because)
Has it really been 20 years? It's pleasing to report that this still feels goofy, loose and idiosyncratic.
The Gladiators - Serious Thing (Warner)
Strong 1984 roots set from the reggae trio.
The Handsome Family - Through The Trees 20th Anniversary (Loose)
Anniversary vinyl edition of The Handsome Family's most evocative, romantic and richly poetic work - the best of their stark, gothic Americana. Includes one of my all time favourite songs, The Giant of Illinois.
This Heat - Repeat/Metal/Live 80-81/Made Available (Light In The Attic)
Later set of This Heat reissues.
This Mortal Coil - Deluxe Reissues (4AD)
Vinyl reissues of 'It'll End In Tears', 'Blood' and 'Filigree and Shadow' - still the epitome of the 4AD aesthetic.
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - An American Treasure (Warner Bros.)
Superb box set offering choice outtakes and rarities from across Petty's career. Includes unreleased songs, demos, alternate takes and live recordings.
Various Artists - African Scream Contest 2 - Benin 1963-80 (Analog Africa)
Good to see a second instalment of this excellent compilation, this time focusing on under appreciated Afro-funk music from Benin.
Various Artists - Basement Beehive: The Girl Group Underground (Numero Group)
Superb compilation of girl group sounds, pretty much all of this previously unknown to me.
Various Artists - Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs Present Paris In The Spring (Ace)
Various Artists - Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs Present State Of The Union: The American Dream In Crisis 1967-1973 (Ace)
Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs' compilations are jewels in Ace Records' crown and these two are particularly strong. State Of The Union, in particular, is one of the essential releases of the year, not least for including Roy Orbison's magisterial South Jericho Parkway.
Various Artists - Gumba Fire: Bubblegum Soul and Synth Boogie in 1980s South Africa (Soundway)
Great 90s minimal synth disco from South Africa. The extent to which the Survivals song below resembles Ed Sheeran's Shape Of You is probably coincidental.
Various Artists - Listen All Around: The Golden Age of Central and East African Music (Dust to Digital)
Another gargantuan, comprehensive and hugely informative compilation from Dust To Digital.
Various Artists - Mother's Garden: The Funk Sound Of Female Africa 1975-1984 (Africa Seven)
Excellent celebration of female artistry in African popular music.
Various Artists - Kafundo Vol. 6: Afrobeat Brazil (Kafundo)
High energy compilation of Afrobeat in Brazil. Includes the excellent Bixiga 70 amongst others.
Various Artists - Pop Ambient 2019 (Kompakt)
Various Artists - We Out Here (Brownswood)
Two compilations that could justifiably belong in my new releases list - celebrating the European ambient sound (and 25 years of the Kompakt label) and the much vaunted and well promoted end of the UK jazz scene respectively.
Various Artists - Silk To Dry The Tears (100% Silk)
Gathers together affiliates and alumni of the 100% Silk label and helps to sustain Oakland's creative communities following the devastating warehouse fire of 2016.
Various Artists - Quare Groove vol. 1 (Allchival)
Surprising and stimulating sounds from the Irish musical underground of the 1970s and 80s.
Various Artists - When The Day Is Done: The Orchestrations of Robert Kirby (Ace)
Entirely essential selection of arrangements from the great Robert Kirby, from the by now well known (Nick Drake, Vashti Bunyan) to more off-the-beaten-track choices (Shelagh McDonald, Audience).
Various Artists - Uneven Paths: Deviant Pop From Europe 1980 - 1991 (Music From Memory)
The second multi-artist compilation on Music From Memory (following last year's outstanding 'Outro Tempo' set of electronic music from Brazil) is another gem, introducing us to a whole world of previously unknown quirky electronica from Europe.
Various Artists - Levanta Poreia: Afro-Brazilian Music and Rhythms 1976-2016 (Jazz and Milk)
Another label collates Afrobeat inspired music from Brazil, with similarly thrilling results.
Various Artists - Paradise: The Sound Of Ivor Raymonde (Bella Union)
Simon Raymonde's Bella Union celebrates the impressive work of his father Ivor, a songwriter, arranger and orchestra leader.
Various Artists - Trojan Records 50th Anniversary Box Set (Wholesale)
All the great reggae hits now in one place.
Various Artists - Running The Voodoo Down Vol. 2: Explorations in psychfunksouljazz 1965-77 (TAD)
Superb second instalment of the out-there funk, fusion and psychedelic soul compilation. This one includes Chairmen Of The Board's Life and Death in G and A suite and Sonny Sharrock's Black Woman - two of the greatest pieces of recorded music of all time.
Various Artists - Soul Jazz Presents Black Man's Pride 2 (Soul Jazz)
Another superb Studio One compilation from Soul Jazz.
Various Artists - Soul of a Nation: Jazz is the Teacher, Funk is the Preacher - Afro-Centric Jazz,
Street Funk and the Roots of Rap in The Black Power Era 1969-75 (Soul Jazz)
Pretty irresistible and open minded fusions of various forms of black music.
Various Artists - Switched-On Eugene (Numero Group)
The Eugene Electronic Music Collective and associates in Oregon. All new to me.
Various Artists - The Wrecking Crew (Wienerworld)
It's impossible to go wrong with any compilation of tracks featuring the crucial session band.
Various Artists - Voices of Mississippi - Artists and Musicians Documented By William Ferris (Dust To Digital)
Substantial three disc set of uncovered blues delights.
Wings - Wild Life/Red Rose Speedway (UMC)
The band The Beatles could have been.
XTC - Skylarking/Apple Venus Vol. 1/Apple Venus Vol. 2 Wasp Star (Ape House - Panegyric)
It's particularly good to have the excellent Apple Venus Vol 1 available again. Skylarking of course remains a pastoral psychedelic classic.
Yazoo - Four Pieces (Mute)
Comprehensive and enjoyable box set from the irresistibly melodic electronic pop duo.
Zuider Zee - Zeenith (Light In The Attic)
Unfairly neglected 70s glam folk psychedelia.
Abu Obaida Hasan - Abu Obaida Hasan and his Tambour: The Shagiya Sound Of Sudan (Ostinato)
Outstanding, mesmeric music from northern Sudan, played on a modified Tambour with an additional string, with additional percussion and vocals. A thrilling discovery.
Alan Braufman - Valley Of Search (Valley Of Search)
Intense and powerful spiritual free improvisation. With Cooper Moore, Cecil McBee, David Lee and Ralph Williams.
Alela Diane - The Pirate's Gospel Deluxe Edition (AllPoints)
It's been a bumper year for Alela Diane fans with an outstanding new album 'Cusp' (somewhat overlooked by many) and this new reissue of the album that made her name. Beautiful songs delivered with subtlety and nuance.
Alice Coltrane - Spiritual Eternal: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (Real Gone)
The continued reassessment of Alice Coltrane's musical and cultural legacy is a necessary enterprise. This set covers her brief stint on Warner Bros.
Aretha Franklin - Atlantic Records 1960s Collection/The Atlantic Singles Collection 1967-1970 (Rhino)
Peerless, vital music delivered with steadfast verve and elan - either in depth or the commercial highlights.
Art Ensemble Of Chicago - Art Ensemble of Chicago and Associated Ensembles (ECM)
A substantial box set collating the Art Ensemble of Chicago's ECM output and some equally essential but less widely recognised work from associated acts - including Jack De Johnette's New Directions and Roscoe Mitchell's collaboration with Evan Parker on the masterful Boustrophedon.
Art Of Noise - In No Sense? Nonsense! (Warner Music UK)
Another instalment in this excellent expanded reissue series of the 8os sonic experimentalists' work. The sounds have inevitably dated, but there's still something appealing about their madcap cut and paste quirkiness.
Basa Basa - Homowo (Vintage Voudou)
Superb rescued Highlife from Ghana.
Betty Davis - Nasty Gal (Light In The Attic)
Supremely dirty 1975 album from the gritty, defiant and erotically charged funk singer once married to Miles Davis, reissued on vinyl by the great Light In The Attic label. "I just can't seem to keep my tongue in my mouth...That's all folks!"
Bitchin Bajas - Rebajas (Drag City)
Tantric meditation in drone musical form. Pretty much all the Bitchin Bajas you need.
Bob Dylan - More Blood, More Tracks (Columbia)
Terrible title, but I guess it does what it says on the tin. If you have unlimited disposable income and you really need multiple takes of Up To Me (and maybe you do), it's worth investing in this now as Columbia are apparently deleting it. It can't help but feel that the Bootleg Series has lost its original spirit and become somewhat exploitative as well as exhaustive though.
Bob Seger and The Last Heard - Heavy Music: The Complete Cameo Recordings 1966-67 (ABKCO)
Enjoyable compilation of sturdy early work from the recently retired rocker.
Bobbie Gentry - Girl From Chickasaw County: The Complete Capitol Masters (Capitol)
Incredible box set that establishes Gentry as an underrated and richly creative artist - as weird and wonderful as her best known song is, there is so much here beyond Ode To Billy Joe.
Brian Eno - Vinyl Remasters/Music For Installations (Universal)
Peak ambient
Bronski Beat - The Age Of Consent (London Music Stream)
One of the most important albums of the 80s is expanded with bonus BBC Sessions.
Bruce Springsteen - The Album Collection Vol 2 (Columbia)
To many, this won't be considered Springsteen's golden era (and this set has been a bit neglected in light of the Broadway show), but it's worth keeping in mind that is move towards more reflective, sometimes even introspective songwriting included some of his very best songs. Lucky Town is particularly worthy of reassessment.
Buzzcocks - Another Music In A Different Kitchen/Love Bites 40th Anniversary (Domino)
The recent loss of Pete Shelley puts these anniversary vinyl reissues from Domino in a more poignant light. Incisive, radical lyrics meet biting, mercilessly economical music.
Carl Stone - Electronic Music From The 80s and 90s (Unseen Worlds)
For losing track of time...
Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes - No. 2/Ame Debout/Paix (Universal)
First three albums of uncompromising, defiant weird folk music from the inventive, imposing singer, beloved of Kim Gordon and Jim O'Rourke.
Charles Mingus - Jazz In Detroit/Strata Concert/46 Selden (BBE)
This radio broadcast constitutes a major treasure trove of Mingus' wild frontier.
Cocteau Twins - Treasure Hiding: The Fontana Years (Mercury)
Some revisionism of the Cocteau Twins on Fontana seems necessary - rather than terminal decline into commercialised blandness, much of this music feels like a gentle refinement.
David Axelrod - Earth Rot (Now-Again for Record Store Day)
Major suite of music from the producer and composer - arguably second only to the Songs of Innocence and Experience sets in his catalogue.
David Bowie - Glastonbury 2000 (Warner Music)
I don't actually remember this set being all that fondly received at the time, given there was a general scepticism about Bowie's embrace of various electronic music and a predictable huffiness about his tendency to radically rework his older material.
David Sylvian - Dead Bees On A Cake Deluxe Vinyl (Universal)
David Sylvian and Holger Czukay - Plight and Premonition/Flux and Mutability (Groenland)
Unfortunately, David Sylvian continues to be somewhat AWOL from contemporary music following the cancellation of planned live performances a few years ago. These reissues constitute some of his most searching, texturally rich and imaginative work, particularly the excellent, absorbing collaborations with Czukay.
Deben Bhattacharya - Paris To Calcutta: Men and Music on the Desert Road (Sublime Frequencies)
An extraordinary, deeply fascinating sonic document of field recordist Bhattacharya's journey from France to India in 1955. Archive, history, cultural memory.
Digable Planets - Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space) (Light In The Attic)
Supremely relaxed, philosophical, jazz-infused hip hop from 1993. Think Arrested Development, Dream Warriors etc.
Don Rendell/Ian Carr Quintet - Lansdowne Series Reissues (Decca)
Pioneering, melodically authoritative British jazz ensemble. Rendell and Carr gave their names to the group, but pianist Michael Garrick was an equally crucial compositional voice.
Erasmo Carlos - E Os Tremendoes/Carlos, Erasmo (Light In The Attic)
Two excellent albums from the relaxed Brazilian singer-songwriter reissued by Light In The Attic.
Felt - Vinyl Remasters (Cherry Red)
Including some of the peaks of 80s alternative guitar pop, not least Forever Breathes The Lonely Word.
Flaming Lips - Greatest Hits Vol 1 (Warner Music)
In some ways this compilation doesn't veer too far off the beaten track (as its title might suggest) but it's worth noting that it does contain mixed down versions of a couple of tracks from their grand folly Zaireeka. It also charts one of the more extraordinary evolutions in modern music - from very unassuming, scuzzy and ramshackle beginnings to the vaunting ambition and widescreen splendour of The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi.
Fleetwood Mac - 50 Years Don't Stop (Warner Music)
Neat, punchy 3CD set collating the obvious highlights of all incarnations of Fleetwood Mac.
Frank Sinatra - Only The Lonely 60th Anniversary Edition (UMC - Virgin International)
Maybe the greatest Frank album?
Gene Clark - Gene Clark Sings For You (Omnivore Recordings)
Great to see more of Gene Clark's solo work being made available - this set is ramshackle but typically affecting.
Graham Nash - Over The Years (Rhino)
30 track anthology bringing together solo work, CSN(Y) material and a couple of tracks from the albums with David Crosby. Second disc features demo versions.
Haruomi Hosono - Hosono House/Cochin Moon (Light In The Attic)
Two excellent albums from one of the major, most experimental figures in Japanese popular music.
https://lightintheattic.net/releases/4101-cochin-moon
Hiroshi Sato - Orient (Wewantsounds)
Originally released in 1979 in Japan, Orient is a masterpiece of textured synthesiser pop. Available on CD and vinyl.
https://wewantsounds.bandcamp.com/merch/hiroshi-sato-orient-cd-edition
Hiss Golden Messenger - Devotion: Songs About Rivers and Spirits and Children (Merge)
Box set collecting the largely solo Bad Debt, and the first Hiss Golden Messenger ensemble albums Poor Moon and Haw plus an additional disc Virgo Fool, gathering rarities (some drawn from the Lord I Love The Rain mini-album). Songs that manage to be earthy and spiritual at the same time.
Hollywood Beyond - If (Expanded) (Warner Music UK)
A relative obscurity now, this first (and only?) work from Mark Rogers generated one memorable hit in 1986 (What's The Colour Of Money?). Nothing else is quite as melodically insistent, but it's a solid example of sophisticated, artful 80s pop.
Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids/Tin Drum (UMC)
Some of the strangest, most blissfully disorientating pop music ever to have hit the upper reaches of the UK Top 40. Reissued on vinyl.
Jess Sah Bi and Peter One - Our Garden Needs Its Flowers (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
One of the most popular acts in West Africa in the 90s, this is a fascinating, beguiling and ultimately uplifting fusion of traditional songs, West African rhythms and western folk music.
John Coltrane - Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album (Impulse!)
One of the year's most significant releases in any genre and a worthy addition to the Coltrane canon.
Joseph Spence - Bahaman Folk Guitar (Smithsonian Folkways)
Remarkably unique - rhythmic and driving solo guitar work.
Kate Bush - Remastered (PLG UK Catalog)
Vinyl and CD box sets of the entire catalogue of one of the great English eccentric artists, lovingly remastered (including, it has to be noted, the removal of a certain disgraced individual from Aerial). The Other Sides collates B Sides and offers a reminder of Kate's implausible (and weirdly faithful) cover of Sexual Healing.
Kath Bloom and Loren Conners - Restless Faithful Desperate (Chapter Music)
A beautiful avant-folk masterpiece.
Ken Boothe - Freedom Street (Real Gone)
Very limited vinyl run of this classic from the great reggae vocalist.
Kimiko Kasai and Herbie Hancock - Butterfly (Sony Music)
Great spacey fusion collaboration between Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters and Japanese vocalist Kasai, recorded in Tokyo in 1979. Contains a number of well known Herbie Hancock compositions. Some naturally absorb Kasai's vocal, others (such as Maiden Voyage) are majestically reworked. Concludes with a disco-tactic take on Stevie Wonder's As.
Lindsey Buckingham - Solo Anthology (Rhino)
Buckingham's farcical and unfortunate departure from Fleetwood Mac offers a welcome opportunity to revisit his underrated solo work and extraordinary guitar playing.
Liz Phair - Girly Sound To Guyville: The 25th Anniversary Box Set (Matador)
Combines Liz Phair's highly acclaimed debut album with the earlier tapes she circulated under the Girly-Sound moniker.
Love - Forever Changes 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe (Rhino)
Not sure anyone needs another edition of this, but the original album continues to endure.
Mansun - Attack Of The Grey Lantern (KScope)
A massive expanded reissue of the 90s grand folly. It's still rather fun, from Bond theme parody to exuberant, camp English pop via the inevitable Beatles rip.
Massive Attack - Mezzanine (UMC)
Anniversary reissue of Massive Attack's dark and introspective classic.
Miles Davis and John Coltrane - The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series Vol. 6 (Sony)
The Miles bootleg series continues to offer remarkable and rewarding riches, even if this must by now have reached the 'completists only' stage. I love the contrast between Coltrane's intelligent fieriness and Miles' use of space, but both play with a melodic approach even when stretching out.
Morrison Kincannon - Beneath The Redwoods (Spacetalk)
Rare, bucolic music from previously undiscovered Californian duo.
Neil Young - Roxy: Tonight's The Night Live (Warner Music)
Neil Young - Songs For Judy (Warner Music)
Two gems from Neil's archive this year (and his work rate on both old and new material shows little sign of slowing). The Tonight's The Night show at the Roxy is typically wayward, excoriating and thrilling, whilst Songs For Judy offers solo performances.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Architecture and Morality (UMC)
Vinyl reissue of OMD's finest album. Artful, cerebral synth pop.
Orchestre Abass - De Bassari Togo (Analog Africa)
Resplendent groove music from Togo. Tragically, the leader of Orchestre Abass, Malam Issa Abass, was killed by a grenade thrown into his room in 1993.
Ornette Coleman - The Atlantic Years (Rhino)
This is a simply peerless ten disc set. Ornette's relatively brief period on Atlantic generated some of the most divisive and important music ever recorded.
Pablo's Eye - Spring Break/Bardo For Pablo (Stroom)
The first two instalments of Stroom's trilogy of reissues from this malleable Belgian collective. The third part is out in January 2019.
Pat Ament - Songs (Grapefruit/Ba Da Bing)
Originally released in 1971 in a very limited run for friends and local shops, the internet now enables this charming, affecting set of songs to be distributed in a far wider manner than ever intended.
Pet Shop Boys - Further Listening Reissues (PLG UK)
Superb expanded reissue series - essential for those of us who only ever owned these albums on cassette! Introspective, Behaviour, Very, Bilingual.
Peter Zummo - Frame Loop (Foom)
Vinyl pressing and digital re-release of excellent work from composer, trombonist and Arthur Russell collaborator (Russell plays cello here). Also features marimba and congas.
Prince - Piano and A Microphone 1983 (Rhino)
The Prince estate seems to be dealing with the catalogue in ways that are unexpected (not least putting the music back on streaming services). But if they continue to uncover pure gems like this, where Prince's gift for capturing emotion through song is communicated without filter or enhancement, then this is a very welcome development. The recordings include occasional interjections from Prince ('turn the voice down a little'), but even this can't diminish the impact of his isolated talent.
Professor Rhythm - Professor 3 (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
The dance sound of attempted unity at the end of the Apartheid era in South Africa. Hugely joyful and uplifting.
R.E.M. - At The BBC (UMC)
Essential for me due to the inclusion of the 1995 Milton Keynes Bowl concert I attended as a teenager (a memorable formative live music experience, with Automatic For The People songs controversially rocked up) - but also a reminder of how inventive post-Bill Berry R.E.M. were at their best too, the performances in this set particularly emphasising the bold experimentalism of the Up era. There's also a great 1984 show from Nottingham Rock City (although the sound quality here is less impressive and the mix is poor).
Roxy Music - Roxy Music Deluxe (UMC)
Deluxe version of the ever impressive debut.
Songs: Ohia - Love and Work: The Lioness Sessions (Secretly Canadian)
A key transitional work from the much missed Jason Molina - mysterious, eerie and compelling.
Stereolab - Switched On Vols 1-3 (Duophonic)
4CD Box Set that gathers remastered versions of the legendary Stereolab compilations. In the end, it transpires that this was presaging new shows and new music next year.
Sun Ra - Of Abstract Dreams (Strut)
Given the vastness of the existing Sun Ra catalogue, it's hardly surprising that the vaults are also proving to be substantial. This is a previously unreleased radio session from 1974-5.
Super Furry Animals - At The BBC (Strangetown)
Radio sessions and live recordings from across the band's career - neatly charting their evolution from quirky power pop to broader pastures.
Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque/Thirteen/Grand Prix/Songs From Northern Britain/Howdy! (Sony)
Vinyl reissues of the most essential albums made by our most essential songwriters. Teenage Fanclub are probably too modest and unassuming to be canonised, but these albums should by now be established classics. It's also interesting to listen to them in sequence and observe their transition from slightly wayward fuzzy grunge to chiming Byrdsian power pop. All the albums come with a bonus 7" containing choice B sides. Songs From Northern Britain arguably remains their masterpiece. Sadly, now a poignant opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the substantial contribution of the departing Gerard Love.
Terry Callier - The New Folk Sound Of Terry Callier Deluxe Edition (Craft Recordings)
Welcome reissue of a crucial recording. Includes additional takes.
The Band - Music From Big Pink Super Deluxe (Commercial Marketing)
Another one probably not really in need of another repackaging - but the album itself remains essential.
The Beatles - The White Album 50th Anniversary (UMC)
Genuinely one of the superior products in the endless Beatles legacy series.
The Beta Band - The Three EPs 20th Anniversary Remaster (Because)
Has it really been 20 years? It's pleasing to report that this still feels goofy, loose and idiosyncratic.
The Gladiators - Serious Thing (Warner)
Strong 1984 roots set from the reggae trio.
The Handsome Family - Through The Trees 20th Anniversary (Loose)
Anniversary vinyl edition of The Handsome Family's most evocative, romantic and richly poetic work - the best of their stark, gothic Americana. Includes one of my all time favourite songs, The Giant of Illinois.
This Heat - Repeat/Metal/Live 80-81/Made Available (Light In The Attic)
Later set of This Heat reissues.
This Mortal Coil - Deluxe Reissues (4AD)
Vinyl reissues of 'It'll End In Tears', 'Blood' and 'Filigree and Shadow' - still the epitome of the 4AD aesthetic.
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers - An American Treasure (Warner Bros.)
Superb box set offering choice outtakes and rarities from across Petty's career. Includes unreleased songs, demos, alternate takes and live recordings.
Various Artists - African Scream Contest 2 - Benin 1963-80 (Analog Africa)
Good to see a second instalment of this excellent compilation, this time focusing on under appreciated Afro-funk music from Benin.
Various Artists - Basement Beehive: The Girl Group Underground (Numero Group)
Superb compilation of girl group sounds, pretty much all of this previously unknown to me.
Various Artists - Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs Present Paris In The Spring (Ace)
Various Artists - Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs Present State Of The Union: The American Dream In Crisis 1967-1973 (Ace)
Bob Stanley and Pete Wiggs' compilations are jewels in Ace Records' crown and these two are particularly strong. State Of The Union, in particular, is one of the essential releases of the year, not least for including Roy Orbison's magisterial South Jericho Parkway.
Various Artists - Gumba Fire: Bubblegum Soul and Synth Boogie in 1980s South Africa (Soundway)
Great 90s minimal synth disco from South Africa. The extent to which the Survivals song below resembles Ed Sheeran's Shape Of You is probably coincidental.
Various Artists - Listen All Around: The Golden Age of Central and East African Music (Dust to Digital)
Another gargantuan, comprehensive and hugely informative compilation from Dust To Digital.
Various Artists - Mother's Garden: The Funk Sound Of Female Africa 1975-1984 (Africa Seven)
Excellent celebration of female artistry in African popular music.
Various Artists - Kafundo Vol. 6: Afrobeat Brazil (Kafundo)
High energy compilation of Afrobeat in Brazil. Includes the excellent Bixiga 70 amongst others.
Various Artists - Pop Ambient 2019 (Kompakt)
Various Artists - We Out Here (Brownswood)
Two compilations that could justifiably belong in my new releases list - celebrating the European ambient sound (and 25 years of the Kompakt label) and the much vaunted and well promoted end of the UK jazz scene respectively.
Various Artists - Silk To Dry The Tears (100% Silk)
Gathers together affiliates and alumni of the 100% Silk label and helps to sustain Oakland's creative communities following the devastating warehouse fire of 2016.
Various Artists - Quare Groove vol. 1 (Allchival)
Surprising and stimulating sounds from the Irish musical underground of the 1970s and 80s.
Various Artists - When The Day Is Done: The Orchestrations of Robert Kirby (Ace)
Entirely essential selection of arrangements from the great Robert Kirby, from the by now well known (Nick Drake, Vashti Bunyan) to more off-the-beaten-track choices (Shelagh McDonald, Audience).
Various Artists - Uneven Paths: Deviant Pop From Europe 1980 - 1991 (Music From Memory)
The second multi-artist compilation on Music From Memory (following last year's outstanding 'Outro Tempo' set of electronic music from Brazil) is another gem, introducing us to a whole world of previously unknown quirky electronica from Europe.
Various Artists - Levanta Poreia: Afro-Brazilian Music and Rhythms 1976-2016 (Jazz and Milk)
Another label collates Afrobeat inspired music from Brazil, with similarly thrilling results.
Various Artists - Paradise: The Sound Of Ivor Raymonde (Bella Union)
Simon Raymonde's Bella Union celebrates the impressive work of his father Ivor, a songwriter, arranger and orchestra leader.
Various Artists - Trojan Records 50th Anniversary Box Set (Wholesale)
All the great reggae hits now in one place.
Various Artists - Running The Voodoo Down Vol. 2: Explorations in psychfunksouljazz 1965-77 (TAD)
Superb second instalment of the out-there funk, fusion and psychedelic soul compilation. This one includes Chairmen Of The Board's Life and Death in G and A suite and Sonny Sharrock's Black Woman - two of the greatest pieces of recorded music of all time.
Various Artists - Soul Jazz Presents Black Man's Pride 2 (Soul Jazz)
Another superb Studio One compilation from Soul Jazz.
Various Artists - Soul of a Nation: Jazz is the Teacher, Funk is the Preacher - Afro-Centric Jazz,
Street Funk and the Roots of Rap in The Black Power Era 1969-75 (Soul Jazz)
Pretty irresistible and open minded fusions of various forms of black music.
Various Artists - Switched-On Eugene (Numero Group)
The Eugene Electronic Music Collective and associates in Oregon. All new to me.
Various Artists - The Wrecking Crew (Wienerworld)
It's impossible to go wrong with any compilation of tracks featuring the crucial session band.
Various Artists - Voices of Mississippi - Artists and Musicians Documented By William Ferris (Dust To Digital)
Substantial three disc set of uncovered blues delights.
Wings - Wild Life/Red Rose Speedway (UMC)
The band The Beatles could have been.
XTC - Skylarking/Apple Venus Vol. 1/Apple Venus Vol. 2 Wasp Star (Ape House - Panegyric)
It's particularly good to have the excellent Apple Venus Vol 1 available again. Skylarking of course remains a pastoral psychedelic classic.
Yazoo - Four Pieces (Mute)
Comprehensive and enjoyable box set from the irresistibly melodic electronic pop duo.
Zuider Zee - Zeenith (Light In The Attic)
Unfairly neglected 70s glam folk psychedelia.
Thursday, June 21, 2018
2018 Half Time List
We're halfway through another year, so now is a good time to take stock of the worthwhile music releases from the first half of the year. With thanks to a few friends (particularly Alexander Shields and Michael Ewins) for suggestions and reminders. These are not ranked, but I've put my current preferred choices in bold text. The usual disclaimers apply - some albums will have gone up in my estimations by the end of the year and others will probably diminish somewhat. Also, this is a broad list and I certainly don't think everything here is a masterpiece. Particularly good year for film soundtracks, isn't it?
AAL (Against All Logic) - 2012-2017 (Other People)
Aisha Devi - DNA Feelings (Houndstooth)
AKA Moon - Now (Outhere)
Alasdair Roberts, Amble Skuse and David McGuinness - What News? (Drag City)
Alela Diane - Cusp (AllPoints)
Alexis Taylor - Beautiful Thing (Domino)
Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Yonge - The Midnight Hour (Linear Labs)
Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto - Glass (NOTON)
Andy Sheppard Quartet - Romaria (ECM)
Anenon - Tongue (Friends Of Friends)
Angelique Kidjo - Remain In Light (Kravenworks)
Anteloper - Kudu (International Anthem)
Anton Hunter - Article XI (Efpi)
Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino (Domino)
Arp - Zebra (Kemado)
Baloji - 137 Avenue Kaniama (Bella Union)
Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness (BCUC) - Emakhosini (Buda Musique)
Bell's Roar - We Carry Us (Sean Desiree)
Belly - Dove (Belly Touring)
Ben LaMar Gay - Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun (International Anthem)
Ben Vince - Assimilation (Where To Now?)
Bill Frisell - Music IS (Okeh)
Binker and Moses - Alive In The East? (Gearbox)
Brad Mehldau Trio - Seymour Reads The Constitution! (Nonesuch)
Brigid Mae Power - The Two Worlds (Tompkins Square)
Calexico - The Thread That Keeps Us (City Slang)
Cath and Phil Tyler - The Ox and the Ax (Thread Recordings)
Colin Stetson - Hereditary OST (Milan)
Charles Lloyd & The Marvels - Vanished Gardens (Blue Note)
Christina Vantzou - No. 4 (Kranky)
Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel (Marathon Artists)
Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain (Loose)
Dan Weiss - Starebaby (Pi Recordings)
Daniel Avery - Song For Alpha (Phantasy Sound)
Daniel Blumberg - Minus (Mute)
Dave Holland - Uncharted Territories (Dare 2)
David Byrne - American Utopia (Nonesuch)
Dedkind Cut - Tahoe (Kranky)
Dinosaur - Wonder Trail (Edition)
Domenico Lancelloti - The Good Is A Big God (Luaka Bop)
Dylan Carlson - Conquistador (Sargent House)
Eleanor Friedberger - Rebound (Frenchkiss)
Elliot Galvin - The Influencing Machine (Edition)
Elysia Crampton - Elysia Crampton (Break World)
Enemy - Enemy (Edition)
Eric Chenaux - Slowly Paradise (Constellation)
Erik Friedlander - Throughbreds OST (Back Lot Music)
Espen Eriksen Trio with Andy Sheppard - Perfectly Unhappy (Rune Grammofon)
Fatoumata Diawara - Fenfo (Republic of Music)
Field Music - Open Here (Memphis Industries)
Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita (4AD)
GAS - Rausch (Kompakt)
Gemini Sisters - Gemini Sisters (Psychic Troubles Tapes)
Grouper - Grid Of Points (Kranky)
Guided By Voices - How Do You Spell Heaven? (Guided By Voices, Inc)
Guided By Voices - Space Gun (Guided By Voices, Inc)
Gwenifer Raymond - You Were Never Much Of A Dancer (Tomkins Square)
H.C. McEntire - Lionheart (Merge)
Haley Heynderickx - I Need To Start A Garden (Mama Bird)
Henri Texier - Sand Woman (Label Bleu)
Henry Lowther - Can't Believe, Won't Believe (Village Life)
Henry Threadgill - Dirt...And More Dirt (Pi Recordings)
Hieroglyphic Being - The Red Notes (Soul Jazz)
Hilary Woods - Colt (Sacred Bones)
Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog (Saddle Creek)
Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids - An Angel Fell (Strut)
Imarhan - Temet (City Slang)
Insecure Men - Insecure Men (Fat Possum)
Ivo Neame - Moksha (Edition)
Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer (WEA International)
Jennifer Castle - Angels of Death (Paradise of Bachelors)
Jim O'Rourke - Steamroom 40 (Steamroom)
Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas 'Sound Prints' - Scandal (Greenleaf)
John Prine - The Tree Of Forgiveness (Oh Boy)
Jon Hassell - Listening To Pictures (Pentimento Volume One) (Ndeya)
Jonathan Wilson - Rare Birds (Bella Union)
Jonny Greenwood - Phantom Thread OST (Nonesuch)
Jonny Greenwood - You Were Never Really Here OST (Invada/Lakeshore)
Joshua Redman - Still Dreaming (Nonesuch)
Julian Arguelles' Tetra - Tonadas (Whirlwind)
Julian Siegel Quartet - Vista (Whirlwind)
Kadhja Bonet - Childqueen (Fat Possum)
Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth (Young Turks)
Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mondo (Night Time Stories)
Kit Downes - Obsidian (ECM)
Laura Veirs - The Lookout (Bella Union)
Lucrecia Dalt - Anticlines (RVNG)
LUMP - LUMP (Dead Oceans)
Lydian Collective - Adventure (Lydian)
Marisa Anderson - Cloud Corner (Thrill Jockey)
Mark Pritchard - The Four Worlds (Warp)
Mary Halvorsen - Code Girl (Red Distribution)
Mary Lattimore - Hundreds Of Days (Ghostly)
Matthew Sweet - Tomorrow's Daughter (Honeycomb Hideout)
Mind Over Mirrors - Bellowing Sun (Paradise of Bachelors)
Mount Eerie - Now Only (1Gd)
Mouse On Mars - Dimensional People (Thrill Jockey)
Natalie Prass - The Future and the Past (ATO)
Neko Case - Hell-On (ANTI)
Norma Waterson & Eliza Carthy - Anchor (Topic)
Olivia Chaney - Shelter (Nonesuch)
Oneohtrix Point Never - Age Of (Warp)
Park Jiha - Communion (Tak:Til)
Pete Lee - The Velvet Rage (Ubuntu)
Phil Cook - People Are My Drug (Psychic Hotline)
Philip Jeck - Arcade (Touch)
Red River Dialect - Broken Stay Open Sky (Paradise of Bachelors)
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs (Sub Pop)
Ry Cooder - The Prodigal Son (Caroline International)
Ryan Porter - The Optimist (World Galaxy)
Ryley Walker - Deafman Glance (Dead Oceans)
Sarah Davachi - Let Night Come On Bells End The Day (Forced Exposure)
Sarah Louise - Deeper Woods (Thrill Jockey)
Samba Toure - Wande (Glitterbeat)
Seabuckthorn - A House With Too Much Fire (876527)
serpentwithfeet - Soil (Secretly Canadian/Tri Angle)
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 - Black Times (Strut)
Sidi Toure - Toubalbero (Thrill Jockey)
Sink Ya Teeth - Sink Ya Teeth (Hey Buffalo)
Sloth Racket - A Glorious Monster (Luminous)
Sonar with David Torn - Vortex (RareNoise)
Sons Of Kemet - Your Queen Is A Reptile (Impulse)
SOPHIE - Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides (Transgressive)
Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks - Sparkle Hard (Domino)
Steve Tibbetts - Life Of (ECM)
The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer (Thrill Jockey)
The Breeders - All Nerve (4AD)
The Nels Cline 4 - Currents, Constellations (Blue Note)
The Sea and Cake - Any Day (Thrill Jockey)
Thumbscrew - Ours/Theirs (Cuneiform)
Tori Freestone and Alcyona Mick - Criss Cross (Whirlwind)
Traveller - Western Movies (Refuge Foundation for the Arts)
Tracyanne and Danny - Tracyanne & Danny (Merge)
Trembling Bells - Dungeness (Tin Angel)
Tune-Yards - I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life (4AD)
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Sex and Food (Jagjaguwar)
Virginia Wing - Ecstatic Arrow (Fire Records)
Witch Prophet - The Golden Octave (88 Days Of Fortune)
Yo La Tengo - There's A Riot Going On (Matador)
Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar (Ninja Tune)
AAL (Against All Logic) - 2012-2017 (Other People)
Aisha Devi - DNA Feelings (Houndstooth)
AKA Moon - Now (Outhere)
Alasdair Roberts, Amble Skuse and David McGuinness - What News? (Drag City)
Alela Diane - Cusp (AllPoints)
Alexis Taylor - Beautiful Thing (Domino)
Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Yonge - The Midnight Hour (Linear Labs)
Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto - Glass (NOTON)
Andy Sheppard Quartet - Romaria (ECM)
Anenon - Tongue (Friends Of Friends)
Angelique Kidjo - Remain In Light (Kravenworks)
Anteloper - Kudu (International Anthem)
Anton Hunter - Article XI (Efpi)
Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino (Domino)
Arp - Zebra (Kemado)
Baloji - 137 Avenue Kaniama (Bella Union)
Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness (BCUC) - Emakhosini (Buda Musique)
Bell's Roar - We Carry Us (Sean Desiree)
Belly - Dove (Belly Touring)
Ben LaMar Gay - Downtown Castles Can Never Block The Sun (International Anthem)
Ben Vince - Assimilation (Where To Now?)
Bill Frisell - Music IS (Okeh)
Binker and Moses - Alive In The East? (Gearbox)
Brad Mehldau Trio - Seymour Reads The Constitution! (Nonesuch)
Brigid Mae Power - The Two Worlds (Tompkins Square)
Calexico - The Thread That Keeps Us (City Slang)
Cath and Phil Tyler - The Ox and the Ax (Thread Recordings)
Colin Stetson - Hereditary OST (Milan)
Charles Lloyd & The Marvels - Vanished Gardens (Blue Note)
Christina Vantzou - No. 4 (Kranky)
Courtney Barnett - Tell Me How You Really Feel (Marathon Artists)
Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain (Loose)
Dan Weiss - Starebaby (Pi Recordings)
Daniel Avery - Song For Alpha (Phantasy Sound)
Daniel Blumberg - Minus (Mute)
Dave Holland - Uncharted Territories (Dare 2)
David Byrne - American Utopia (Nonesuch)
Dedkind Cut - Tahoe (Kranky)
Dinosaur - Wonder Trail (Edition)
Domenico Lancelloti - The Good Is A Big God (Luaka Bop)
Dylan Carlson - Conquistador (Sargent House)
Eleanor Friedberger - Rebound (Frenchkiss)
Elliot Galvin - The Influencing Machine (Edition)
Elysia Crampton - Elysia Crampton (Break World)
Enemy - Enemy (Edition)
Eric Chenaux - Slowly Paradise (Constellation)
Erik Friedlander - Throughbreds OST (Back Lot Music)
Espen Eriksen Trio with Andy Sheppard - Perfectly Unhappy (Rune Grammofon)
Fatoumata Diawara - Fenfo (Republic of Music)
Field Music - Open Here (Memphis Industries)
Gang Gang Dance - Kazuashita (4AD)
GAS - Rausch (Kompakt)
Gemini Sisters - Gemini Sisters (Psychic Troubles Tapes)
Grouper - Grid Of Points (Kranky)
Guided By Voices - How Do You Spell Heaven? (Guided By Voices, Inc)
Guided By Voices - Space Gun (Guided By Voices, Inc)
Gwenifer Raymond - You Were Never Much Of A Dancer (Tomkins Square)
H.C. McEntire - Lionheart (Merge)
Haley Heynderickx - I Need To Start A Garden (Mama Bird)
Henri Texier - Sand Woman (Label Bleu)
Henry Lowther - Can't Believe, Won't Believe (Village Life)
Henry Threadgill - Dirt...And More Dirt (Pi Recordings)
Hieroglyphic Being - The Red Notes (Soul Jazz)
Hilary Woods - Colt (Sacred Bones)
Hop Along - Bark Your Head Off, Dog (Saddle Creek)
Idris Ackamoor and The Pyramids - An Angel Fell (Strut)
Imarhan - Temet (City Slang)
Insecure Men - Insecure Men (Fat Possum)
Ivo Neame - Moksha (Edition)
Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer (WEA International)
Jennifer Castle - Angels of Death (Paradise of Bachelors)
Jim O'Rourke - Steamroom 40 (Steamroom)
Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas 'Sound Prints' - Scandal (Greenleaf)
John Prine - The Tree Of Forgiveness (Oh Boy)
Jon Hassell - Listening To Pictures (Pentimento Volume One) (Ndeya)
Jonathan Wilson - Rare Birds (Bella Union)
Jonny Greenwood - Phantom Thread OST (Nonesuch)
Jonny Greenwood - You Were Never Really Here OST (Invada/Lakeshore)
Joshua Redman - Still Dreaming (Nonesuch)
Julian Arguelles' Tetra - Tonadas (Whirlwind)
Julian Siegel Quartet - Vista (Whirlwind)
Kadhja Bonet - Childqueen (Fat Possum)
Kamasi Washington - Heaven and Earth (Young Turks)
Khruangbin - Con Todo El Mondo (Night Time Stories)
Kit Downes - Obsidian (ECM)
Laura Veirs - The Lookout (Bella Union)
Lucrecia Dalt - Anticlines (RVNG)
LUMP - LUMP (Dead Oceans)
Lydian Collective - Adventure (Lydian)
Marisa Anderson - Cloud Corner (Thrill Jockey)
Mark Pritchard - The Four Worlds (Warp)
Mary Halvorsen - Code Girl (Red Distribution)
Mary Lattimore - Hundreds Of Days (Ghostly)
Matthew Sweet - Tomorrow's Daughter (Honeycomb Hideout)
Mind Over Mirrors - Bellowing Sun (Paradise of Bachelors)
Mount Eerie - Now Only (1Gd)
Mouse On Mars - Dimensional People (Thrill Jockey)
Natalie Prass - The Future and the Past (ATO)
Neko Case - Hell-On (ANTI)
Norma Waterson & Eliza Carthy - Anchor (Topic)
Olivia Chaney - Shelter (Nonesuch)
Oneohtrix Point Never - Age Of (Warp)
Park Jiha - Communion (Tak:Til)
Pete Lee - The Velvet Rage (Ubuntu)
Phil Cook - People Are My Drug (Psychic Hotline)
Philip Jeck - Arcade (Touch)
Red River Dialect - Broken Stay Open Sky (Paradise of Bachelors)
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs (Sub Pop)
Ry Cooder - The Prodigal Son (Caroline International)
Ryan Porter - The Optimist (World Galaxy)
Ryley Walker - Deafman Glance (Dead Oceans)
Sarah Davachi - Let Night Come On Bells End The Day (Forced Exposure)
Sarah Louise - Deeper Woods (Thrill Jockey)
Samba Toure - Wande (Glitterbeat)
Seabuckthorn - A House With Too Much Fire (876527)
serpentwithfeet - Soil (Secretly Canadian/Tri Angle)
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 - Black Times (Strut)
Sidi Toure - Toubalbero (Thrill Jockey)
Sink Ya Teeth - Sink Ya Teeth (Hey Buffalo)
Sloth Racket - A Glorious Monster (Luminous)
Sonar with David Torn - Vortex (RareNoise)
Sons Of Kemet - Your Queen Is A Reptile (Impulse)
SOPHIE - Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides (Transgressive)
Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks - Sparkle Hard (Domino)
Steve Tibbetts - Life Of (ECM)
The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer (Thrill Jockey)
The Breeders - All Nerve (4AD)
The Nels Cline 4 - Currents, Constellations (Blue Note)
The Sea and Cake - Any Day (Thrill Jockey)
Thumbscrew - Ours/Theirs (Cuneiform)
Tori Freestone and Alcyona Mick - Criss Cross (Whirlwind)
Traveller - Western Movies (Refuge Foundation for the Arts)
Tracyanne and Danny - Tracyanne & Danny (Merge)
Trembling Bells - Dungeness (Tin Angel)
Tune-Yards - I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life (4AD)
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Sex and Food (Jagjaguwar)
Virginia Wing - Ecstatic Arrow (Fire Records)
Witch Prophet - The Golden Octave (88 Days Of Fortune)
Yo La Tengo - There's A Riot Going On (Matador)
Young Fathers - Cocoa Sugar (Ninja Tune)
µ-Ziq - Challenge Me Foolish (Planet Mu)
Friday, December 29, 2017
2017 In Albums Part 3: The Best of the Rest
Sort-of alphabetical order....
Aaron Dilloway - The Gag File (Dais)
Aaron Parks, Ben Street, Billy Hart - Find The Way (ECM)
Actress - AZD (Ninja Tune)
Ahnnu - Special Forces (NNA Tapes)
Aimee Mann - Mental Illness (SuperEgo)
Aine O'Dwyer - Gallarais (MIE)
Alasdair Roberts - Pangs (Drag City)
Aldous Harding - Party (4AD)
Anjou - Epithymia (Krankt)
Amber Mark - 3:33am (Jasmine Music)
Anouar Brahem - Blue Maqams (ECM)
Antibalas - Where The Gods Are In Peace (Daptone)
Arboretum - Song Of The Rose (Thrill Jockey)
Arca - Arca (XL)
Awa Poulo - Poulo Warali (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
Bargou 08 - Targ (Glitterbeat)
Becca Stevens - Regina (GroundUP)
Bicep - Bicep (Ninja Tune)
Big Thief - Capacity (Saddle Creek)
Bill Frisell, Thomas Morgan - Small Town (ECM)
Bill Mackay - Esker (Drag City)
Bill Mackay and Ryley Walker - Spiderbeetlebee (Drag City)
Bill Orcutt - Bill Orcutt (Paralelia)
Billy Woods - Known Unknowns (Backwoodz Studios)
Bing and Ruth - No Home Of The Mind (4AD)
Binker and Moses - Journey To The Mountain Of Forever (Gearbox)
Blanck Mass - World Eater (Sacred Bones)
Bog Bodies - Sligo (Orindal)
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Best Troubadour (Drag City)
Brokeback - Illinois River Valley Blues (Thrill Jockey)
Camilla George - Isang (Ubuntu)
Charles Lloyd New Quartet - Passin' Thru (Decca)
Children Of Alice - Children Of Alice (Warp)
Chino Amobi - Paradiso (NON)
Chris Hillman - Bidin' My Time (Rounder)
Chris Potter - The Dreamer Is The Dream (ECM)
Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Barefoot In The Head (Silver Arrow)
Chuck Berry - Chuck (Dualtone/Universal)
Chuck Johnson - Balsams (Vdsq)
Claire M Singer - Fairge (Touch)
Cody Chestnutt - My Love Devine Degree (One Little Indian)
Colin Stetson - All This I Do For Glory (52Hz)
Colleen - A Flame My Love, A Frequency (Thrill Jockey)
Cornelius - Mellow Waves (Warner Music Japan)
Crescent - Resin Pockets (Domino)
Daniel O' Sullivan - Veld (O Genesis)
Dave Liebman & Joe Lovano - Compassion: The Music Of John Coltrane (Resonance)
Dave O' Higgins - It's Always 9.30 In Zog (JVG)
David Crosby - Sky Trails (BMG)
David Rawlings - Poor David's Alamack (Acony)
Deerhoof - Mountain Moves (Joyful Noise Recordings)
Denys Baptiste - Late Trane (Edition)
Depeche Mode - Spirit (Mute)
Destroyer - ken (Merge)
Dirty Projectors - Dirty Projectors (Domino)
Django Bates - Saluting Sgt Pepper (Edition)
Django Bates Beloved - The Study Of Touch (ECM)
El Michels Affair - Return To the 37th Chamber (Big Crown)
Ellen Allien - Nost (BPitch Control)
Emptyset - Borders (Thrill Jockey)
Entropi - Moment Frozen (Whirlwind)
Favourite Animals - Favourite Animals (Luminous)
Feist - Pleasure (Interscope)
Felicia Atkinson - Hand In Hand (Shelter Press)
Fever Ray - Plunge (Rabid)
Filthy Friends - Filthy Friends (Kill Rock Stars)
Flaming Lips - Oczy Mlody (Warner Bros)
Fleet Foxes - Crack Up (Bella Union)
Fletcher Tucker - Cold Spring (Gnome Life)
Floating Points - Reflections
Flo Morrissey and Matthew E White - Gentlewoman, Ruby Man (Spacebomb)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Luceferian Towers (Kranky)
Golden Teacher - Luscious Life (Golden Teacher)
Goran Kafjes Subtropic Arkestra - The Reason Why Vol 3 (Headspin)
Gosheven - Leaper (Opal Tapes)
Grandaddy - Last Place (Columbia)
Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins (RCA)
Gun Outfit - Out Of Range (Paradise of Bachelors)
Gunn-Truscinski Duo - Bay Head (Three Lobed)
Henry Spencer's Juncture - The Reasons Don't Change (Whirlwind)
Ibeyi - Ash (XL)
Ibibio Sound Machine - Uyai (Merge)
Ifriqqiya Electique - Ruwahine (Glitterbeat)
Injury Reserve - Drive It Like It's Stolen (Las Fuegas)
Jack De Johnette, John Scofield, John Medeski, Larry Grenadier - Hudson (Motema)
J Hus - Common Sense (Black Butter)
Jaimie Branch - Fly Or Die (International Anthem)
Jake Xerxes Fussell - What In The Natural World (Paradise of Bachelors)
James Elkington - Wintres Woma (Paradise of Bachelors)
Jana Rush - Pariah (Objects Limited)
Jan Lundgren - Potsdamer Platz (ACT)
Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound (Southeastern)
Jeff Tweedy - Together At Last (DBpm)
Jen Shyu - Song Of Silver Geese (Pi)
Jesca Hoop - Memories Are Now (Sub Pop)
Joseph Shabason - Aytche (Western Vinyl)
Josephine Davies - Satori (Whirlwind)
Juana Molina - Halo (Crammed Discs)
Juju and Jordash - Sis-boom-bah! (Dekmantel)
Julien Baker - Turn Out The Lights (Matador)
Kamasi Washington - Harmony Of Difference (Young Turks)
Kara-Lis Coverdale - Grafts (Boomkat Editions)
Karima Walker - Hands In Our Names (Orindal)
Kelela - Take Me Apart (Warp)
Kelly Lee Owens - Kelly Lee Owens (Small-town Supersound)
Kendrick Lamar - Damn (Interscope)
Kevin Morby - City Music (Dead Oceans)
King Ayisoba - 1000 Can Die (Glitterbeat)
Klein - Tommy (Hyperdub)
Kneebody - Antihero (Motema)
Lankum - Between The Earth and Sky (Rough Trade)
Laraaji - Bring On The Sun (All Saints)
The Last Dinosaur - The Nothing (Naim)
Laura Marling - Semper Femina (Kobalt Music Group)
LCD Soundsystem - American Dream (DFA/Columbia)
Lee Gamble - Mnestic Pressure (Hyperdub)
Lindsay Buckingham and Christine McVie - Lindsay Buckingham and Christine McVie (Warner Music)
Lindstrøm - It's All Right Between Us (Small-town Supersound)
Lorde - Melodrama (Universal)
Man Forever - Play What They Want (Thrill Jockey)
Margo Price - All American Made (Third Man)
Mark Eitzel - Hey, Mr. Ferrymen (Decor)
Mark Lewandowski - Waller (Whirlwind)
Mark McGuire - Ideas Of Beginnings (Vin Du Select Qualitite)
MHYSA - Fantasii (Halcyon Veil)
Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band - Adios Señor Pussycat (Violette)
Miguel - War and Leisure (Sony)
Miles Mosley - Uprising (Verve)
Misha Mullov-Abbado - Cross Platform Interchange (Edition)
Mogwai - Every Country's Sun (Temporary Residence)
Mokoomba - Luyando (Outhere)
Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me (P.W. Elverum and Sun)
Morten Schantz - Godspeed (Edition)
Moses Sumney - Aromanticism (Jagjaguwar)
Mountain Movers - Mountain Movers (Trouble In Mind)
Nadia Reid - Preservation (Basin Rock)
Nikki Lane - Highway Queen (New West)
Offa Rex - Queen Of Hearts (Nonesuch)
Oli Rockburger - Sovereign (Whirlwind)
Ollie Brice Quintet - Day After Day (Babel)
Omar Souleyman - To Syria, With Love (Mad Decent/Because)
Once and Future Band - Once and Future Band (Castle Face)
Open Mike Eagle - Brick Body Kids Still Daydream (Mello Music Group)
Oneohtrix Point Never - Good Time OST (Warp)
Pan Daijing - Lack (Pan)
Partikel - Counteraction (Whirlwind)
Perc - Bitter Music (Perc Trax)
Peter Oren - Anthropocene (Western Vinyl)
Pharmakon - Contact (Sacred Bones)
Phronesis/Julian Arguelles/NDR Big Band - The Behemoth (Edition)
Prurient - Rainbow Mirror (Profound Love)
Randy Newman - Dark Habits (Nonesuch)
Rhiannon Giddens - Freedom Highway (Nonesuch)
Richard Dawson - Peasant (Weird World)
Richard Thompson - Acoustic Classics 2/Acoustic Rarities (Beeswing/Proper)
Rick Tomlinson - Phases Of Daylight (Voix)
Rivers Of Sound (Amir El Saffar) - Not Two (New Amsterdam)
Ride - Weather Diaries (Wichita)
Rina Sawayama - Rina (Self Released)
Roscoe Mitchell - Bells For The South Side (ECM)
Saicobab - Sab Se Purani Bab (Thrill Jockey)
Sananda Maitreya - Prometheus and Pandora (Self Released)
Sarah Davachi - All My Circles Run (Students Of Decay)
Shabazz Palaces - Quasarz (Sub Pop)
Shobaleader One - Elektrak (Warp)
Seabuckthorn - Turns (Lost Tribe Sound)
Shinochi Atobi - From The Heart, It's A Start, It's A Work Of Art (DDS)
Sinkane - Life and Livin' It (City Slang)
Six Organs Of Admittance - Burning The Threshold (Drag City)
Sleater-Kinney - Live In Paris (Sub Pop)
Sloth Racket - Shapeshifters (Luminous)
Slowdive - Slowdive (Dead Oceans)
Songhoy Blues - Resistance (Transgressive)
Sote - Sacred Horror In Design (Opal Tapes)
Sparks - Hippopotamus (BMG)
Susanne Sundfør - Music For People In Trouble (Bella Union)
Syd - Fin (Columbia)
Tamikrest - Kidal (Glitterbeat)
The Afghan Whigs - In Spades (Sub Pop)
The Bug vs. Earth - Concrete Desert (Ninja Tune)
The Cairo Gang - Untouchable (Drag City)
The Como Mamas - Move Upstairs (Daptone)
The Dream Syndicate - How Did I Find Myself Here (ANTI-)
The Heliocentrics - A World Of Masks (Soundway)
The Inward Circles - And Right Lines Limit And Close All Bodies/Scaleby (Corbel Stone Press)
The Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir (Nonesuch)
Tift Merritt - Stitch Of The World (Yep Roc)
Tigran Hamisyan - An Ancient Observer (Nonesuch)
Tinariwen - Elwan
Tom Millar - Unnatural Events (Spark)
Tom Rogerson and Brian Eno - Finding Shore (Dead Oceans)
Trio Da Kali and Kronos Quartet - Ladilikan (World Circuit)
Trish Clowes - My Iris (Basho)
Van Morrison - Roll With The Punches (Exile Productions)
Vieux Farka Toure - Samba (Six Degrees)
Vince Mendoza/WDR Big Band - Homecoming (Sunnyside)
Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory (Def Jam)
Visible Cloaks - Reassemblage (RVNG Intl)
Wadada Leo Smith - Najwa
Waxahatchee - Out In The Storm (Merge)
William Eggleston - Musik (Secretly Canadian)
Zara Macfarlane - Arise (Brownswood)
Zimpel/Ziolek - Zimpel/Ziolek (Instant Classic)
Aaron Dilloway - The Gag File (Dais)
Aaron Parks, Ben Street, Billy Hart - Find The Way (ECM)
Actress - AZD (Ninja Tune)
Ahnnu - Special Forces (NNA Tapes)
Aimee Mann - Mental Illness (SuperEgo)
Aine O'Dwyer - Gallarais (MIE)
Alasdair Roberts - Pangs (Drag City)
Aldous Harding - Party (4AD)
Anjou - Epithymia (Krankt)
Amber Mark - 3:33am (Jasmine Music)
Anouar Brahem - Blue Maqams (ECM)
Antibalas - Where The Gods Are In Peace (Daptone)
Arboretum - Song Of The Rose (Thrill Jockey)
Arca - Arca (XL)
Awa Poulo - Poulo Warali (Awesome Tapes From Africa)
Bargou 08 - Targ (Glitterbeat)
Becca Stevens - Regina (GroundUP)
Bicep - Bicep (Ninja Tune)
Big Thief - Capacity (Saddle Creek)
Bill Frisell, Thomas Morgan - Small Town (ECM)
Bill Mackay - Esker (Drag City)
Bill Mackay and Ryley Walker - Spiderbeetlebee (Drag City)
Bill Orcutt - Bill Orcutt (Paralelia)
Billy Woods - Known Unknowns (Backwoodz Studios)
Bing and Ruth - No Home Of The Mind (4AD)
Binker and Moses - Journey To The Mountain Of Forever (Gearbox)
Blanck Mass - World Eater (Sacred Bones)
Bog Bodies - Sligo (Orindal)
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Best Troubadour (Drag City)
Brokeback - Illinois River Valley Blues (Thrill Jockey)
Camilla George - Isang (Ubuntu)
Charles Lloyd New Quartet - Passin' Thru (Decca)
Children Of Alice - Children Of Alice (Warp)
Chino Amobi - Paradiso (NON)
Chris Hillman - Bidin' My Time (Rounder)
Chris Potter - The Dreamer Is The Dream (ECM)
Chris Robinson Brotherhood - Barefoot In The Head (Silver Arrow)
Chuck Berry - Chuck (Dualtone/Universal)
Chuck Johnson - Balsams (Vdsq)
Claire M Singer - Fairge (Touch)
Cody Chestnutt - My Love Devine Degree (One Little Indian)
Colin Stetson - All This I Do For Glory (52Hz)
Colleen - A Flame My Love, A Frequency (Thrill Jockey)
Cornelius - Mellow Waves (Warner Music Japan)
Crescent - Resin Pockets (Domino)
Daniel O' Sullivan - Veld (O Genesis)
Dave Liebman & Joe Lovano - Compassion: The Music Of John Coltrane (Resonance)
Dave O' Higgins - It's Always 9.30 In Zog (JVG)
David Crosby - Sky Trails (BMG)
David Rawlings - Poor David's Alamack (Acony)
Deerhoof - Mountain Moves (Joyful Noise Recordings)
Denys Baptiste - Late Trane (Edition)
Depeche Mode - Spirit (Mute)
Destroyer - ken (Merge)
Dirty Projectors - Dirty Projectors (Domino)
Django Bates - Saluting Sgt Pepper (Edition)
Django Bates Beloved - The Study Of Touch (ECM)
El Michels Affair - Return To the 37th Chamber (Big Crown)
Ellen Allien - Nost (BPitch Control)
Emptyset - Borders (Thrill Jockey)
Entropi - Moment Frozen (Whirlwind)
Favourite Animals - Favourite Animals (Luminous)
Feist - Pleasure (Interscope)
Felicia Atkinson - Hand In Hand (Shelter Press)
Fever Ray - Plunge (Rabid)
Filthy Friends - Filthy Friends (Kill Rock Stars)
Flaming Lips - Oczy Mlody (Warner Bros)
Fleet Foxes - Crack Up (Bella Union)
Fletcher Tucker - Cold Spring (Gnome Life)
Floating Points - Reflections
Flo Morrissey and Matthew E White - Gentlewoman, Ruby Man (Spacebomb)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Luceferian Towers (Kranky)
Golden Teacher - Luscious Life (Golden Teacher)
Goran Kafjes Subtropic Arkestra - The Reason Why Vol 3 (Headspin)
Gosheven - Leaper (Opal Tapes)
Grandaddy - Last Place (Columbia)
Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins (RCA)
Gun Outfit - Out Of Range (Paradise of Bachelors)
Gunn-Truscinski Duo - Bay Head (Three Lobed)
Henry Spencer's Juncture - The Reasons Don't Change (Whirlwind)
Ibeyi - Ash (XL)
Ibibio Sound Machine - Uyai (Merge)
Ifriqqiya Electique - Ruwahine (Glitterbeat)
Injury Reserve - Drive It Like It's Stolen (Las Fuegas)
Jack De Johnette, John Scofield, John Medeski, Larry Grenadier - Hudson (Motema)
J Hus - Common Sense (Black Butter)
Jaimie Branch - Fly Or Die (International Anthem)
Jake Xerxes Fussell - What In The Natural World (Paradise of Bachelors)
James Elkington - Wintres Woma (Paradise of Bachelors)
Jana Rush - Pariah (Objects Limited)
Jan Lundgren - Potsdamer Platz (ACT)
Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound (Southeastern)
Jeff Tweedy - Together At Last (DBpm)
Jen Shyu - Song Of Silver Geese (Pi)
Jesca Hoop - Memories Are Now (Sub Pop)
Joseph Shabason - Aytche (Western Vinyl)
Josephine Davies - Satori (Whirlwind)
Juana Molina - Halo (Crammed Discs)
Juju and Jordash - Sis-boom-bah! (Dekmantel)
Julien Baker - Turn Out The Lights (Matador)
Kamasi Washington - Harmony Of Difference (Young Turks)
Kara-Lis Coverdale - Grafts (Boomkat Editions)
Karima Walker - Hands In Our Names (Orindal)
Kelela - Take Me Apart (Warp)
Kelly Lee Owens - Kelly Lee Owens (Small-town Supersound)
Kendrick Lamar - Damn (Interscope)
Kevin Morby - City Music (Dead Oceans)
King Ayisoba - 1000 Can Die (Glitterbeat)
Klein - Tommy (Hyperdub)
Kneebody - Antihero (Motema)
Lankum - Between The Earth and Sky (Rough Trade)
Laraaji - Bring On The Sun (All Saints)
The Last Dinosaur - The Nothing (Naim)
Laura Marling - Semper Femina (Kobalt Music Group)
LCD Soundsystem - American Dream (DFA/Columbia)
Lee Gamble - Mnestic Pressure (Hyperdub)
Lindsay Buckingham and Christine McVie - Lindsay Buckingham and Christine McVie (Warner Music)
Lindstrøm - It's All Right Between Us (Small-town Supersound)
Lorde - Melodrama (Universal)
Man Forever - Play What They Want (Thrill Jockey)
Margo Price - All American Made (Third Man)
Mark Eitzel - Hey, Mr. Ferrymen (Decor)
Mark Lewandowski - Waller (Whirlwind)
Mark McGuire - Ideas Of Beginnings (Vin Du Select Qualitite)
MHYSA - Fantasii (Halcyon Veil)
Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band - Adios Señor Pussycat (Violette)
Miguel - War and Leisure (Sony)
Miles Mosley - Uprising (Verve)
Misha Mullov-Abbado - Cross Platform Interchange (Edition)
Mogwai - Every Country's Sun (Temporary Residence)
Mokoomba - Luyando (Outhere)
Mount Eerie - A Crow Looked At Me (P.W. Elverum and Sun)
Morten Schantz - Godspeed (Edition)
Moses Sumney - Aromanticism (Jagjaguwar)
Mountain Movers - Mountain Movers (Trouble In Mind)
Nadia Reid - Preservation (Basin Rock)
Nikki Lane - Highway Queen (New West)
Offa Rex - Queen Of Hearts (Nonesuch)
Oli Rockburger - Sovereign (Whirlwind)
Ollie Brice Quintet - Day After Day (Babel)
Omar Souleyman - To Syria, With Love (Mad Decent/Because)
Once and Future Band - Once and Future Band (Castle Face)
Open Mike Eagle - Brick Body Kids Still Daydream (Mello Music Group)
Oneohtrix Point Never - Good Time OST (Warp)
Pan Daijing - Lack (Pan)
Partikel - Counteraction (Whirlwind)
Perc - Bitter Music (Perc Trax)
Peter Oren - Anthropocene (Western Vinyl)
Pharmakon - Contact (Sacred Bones)
Phronesis/Julian Arguelles/NDR Big Band - The Behemoth (Edition)
Prurient - Rainbow Mirror (Profound Love)
Randy Newman - Dark Habits (Nonesuch)
Rhiannon Giddens - Freedom Highway (Nonesuch)
Richard Dawson - Peasant (Weird World)
Richard Thompson - Acoustic Classics 2/Acoustic Rarities (Beeswing/Proper)
Rick Tomlinson - Phases Of Daylight (Voix)
Rivers Of Sound (Amir El Saffar) - Not Two (New Amsterdam)
Ride - Weather Diaries (Wichita)
Rina Sawayama - Rina (Self Released)
Roscoe Mitchell - Bells For The South Side (ECM)
Saicobab - Sab Se Purani Bab (Thrill Jockey)
Sananda Maitreya - Prometheus and Pandora (Self Released)
Sarah Davachi - All My Circles Run (Students Of Decay)
Shabazz Palaces - Quasarz (Sub Pop)
Shobaleader One - Elektrak (Warp)
Seabuckthorn - Turns (Lost Tribe Sound)
Shinochi Atobi - From The Heart, It's A Start, It's A Work Of Art (DDS)
Sinkane - Life and Livin' It (City Slang)
Six Organs Of Admittance - Burning The Threshold (Drag City)
Sleater-Kinney - Live In Paris (Sub Pop)
Sloth Racket - Shapeshifters (Luminous)
Slowdive - Slowdive (Dead Oceans)
Songhoy Blues - Resistance (Transgressive)
Sote - Sacred Horror In Design (Opal Tapes)
Sparks - Hippopotamus (BMG)
Susanne Sundfør - Music For People In Trouble (Bella Union)
Syd - Fin (Columbia)
Tamikrest - Kidal (Glitterbeat)
The Afghan Whigs - In Spades (Sub Pop)
The Bug vs. Earth - Concrete Desert (Ninja Tune)
The Cairo Gang - Untouchable (Drag City)
The Como Mamas - Move Upstairs (Daptone)
The Dream Syndicate - How Did I Find Myself Here (ANTI-)
The Heliocentrics - A World Of Masks (Soundway)
The Inward Circles - And Right Lines Limit And Close All Bodies/Scaleby (Corbel Stone Press)
The Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir (Nonesuch)
Tift Merritt - Stitch Of The World (Yep Roc)
Tigran Hamisyan - An Ancient Observer (Nonesuch)
Tinariwen - Elwan
Tom Millar - Unnatural Events (Spark)
Tom Rogerson and Brian Eno - Finding Shore (Dead Oceans)
Trio Da Kali and Kronos Quartet - Ladilikan (World Circuit)
Trish Clowes - My Iris (Basho)
Van Morrison - Roll With The Punches (Exile Productions)
Vieux Farka Toure - Samba (Six Degrees)
Vince Mendoza/WDR Big Band - Homecoming (Sunnyside)
Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory (Def Jam)
Visible Cloaks - Reassemblage (RVNG Intl)
Wadada Leo Smith - Najwa
Waxahatchee - Out In The Storm (Merge)
William Eggleston - Musik (Secretly Canadian)
Zara Macfarlane - Arise (Brownswood)
Zimpel/Ziolek - Zimpel/Ziolek (Instant Classic)
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