New Music Recommendations 2012

A couple I have really been enjoying recently and highly
recommend:

Juju & Jordash "Techno Primitivism"

"Staggering new album of fusioneering 'Techno Primitivism'
from the A'dam-based Israeli ex-pats, Juju & Jordash. It's
fair to call this their debut album proper - following their
eponymous set of singles and an early digital collection
with this striking mission statement, a mazy and immersive
sound distilling elements of dub, jazz and psychedelia in a
tactile house and techno framework. It's testament to both
their nuanced skills as live musicians and studio boffins
par excellence, a mind-melt moire of analogue hardware
knowledge and hands-on vibes rendered with a diffuse sense
of synthesised space. We could be here all day picking out
highlights, but if you're only gonna check a few then the
unfathomably wide mixing trickery applied to 'Stoplight
Loosejaw' is a great start, as is the Mark Ernestus-meets-
Sun Ra vibes of 'Backwash', or the Augustus Pablo-in-Chicago
styles of 'Shakshuka Dub', while you can't go wrong with the
stoned descent of 'Dr. Strangepork' (great name!) and the
pensile, Carl Craig-like Detroit romance of 'Track David
Would Play'. It's kinda hard to believe these guys aren't
praised more widely, but with 'Techno Primitivism' now out
there, we suspect that's about to change. Outstanding."

Memotone "I Sleep. At Waking"

"Following a slew of 12”s, avant beatmaker William Yates has
finally rustled up this delicious full length for the Black
Acre label. Blending a passion for experimental classical
music with a clear understanding of bass music, Yate’s
vision is quite strikingly unique, fitting somewhere between
James Blake’s pointed piano experimentations, Demdike
Stare’s murky atmospherics and late-period Third Eye
Foundation. Yates’s talent is finding a connecting thread
between the sounds he’s obsessive about, and this makes for
an an absorbing full length."

I couldn't really describe either one so I included the
summary from Boomkat.com. I'll just say I concur and love
them both.

Some 2012 releases I'm diggin':

Frankie Rose - Interstellar. Ex-Dum Dum Girls hits a home run. Great indie-pop-rock.

Animal Collective - Centipede HZ. Not as immediate as Merriweather Post Pavilion but still mighty fine and deep.

the XX - Coexist. More of the same but that's a good thing.

Santigold - Master Of My Make-Believe. Not nearly as good as her debut but still pretty decent.

Corin Tucker Band - Kill My Blues. The one from Sleater-Kinney who is NOT in WILD FLAG. Much improved over her first solo record from a few years a go.

Robert Rich - Nest. Ambient masterpiece.

Liars - WIXIW. Lots of electronics added to their usual sound.

Swans - The Seer. Bombastic beauty that is the Swans.

Tame Impala - Lonerism. Been wating for this. Psychedelic rock fans can do much worse than this and their first album.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!. Crescendo-core ala Mogwai meets Stars Of The Lid.

Alcest - Les voyages de l'âme. Black-metallers turned shoegaze.

Eclipse - Bleed & Scream. Total dirt-rock and throwback to 1987.

Really enjoying The Bad Plus release "Made Possible".

Glen Hansard!!!! Rhythm and Repose may be the best folk album I have heard in years!! If you like male folk singers , this album will amaze you.

"Lowe Country," a Country/Folk tribute to Nick Lowe, if it hasn't been mentuoned (or if it has been mentioned).

John

Just picked up the new Dave Matthews album "AWay from the world". His best yet IMO. Very introspective, beautiful melodies. Literally heard it once on my way to work and am hooked already. My favorite 2012 album to date.

Andy Stott "Luxury Problems"

Ok, this one is 10/10 for me and if you liked "We Stay Together" and "Pass Me By"....you'll love this. The master of totally f**k*d bass, beats and twisted vocals weaving in and out of rhythms from some dark warehouse in the wee hours. Playing this is a physical experience. Your innards will pulse and vibrate from the depths of the bass. Wicked or downright nasty.

Vatican Shadow

"Atta's Apartment Slated For Demolition"
"Ghosts Of Chechnya"
"Jordanian Descent"
"Ornamented Walls"

Yup, four releases over the past couple of weeks. Dominick Fernow's been quite the busy man and I'm quite happy about that. His VS work always leaves me at a loss for words when I think about describing it. There is nothing quite like it out there. All I'll say here is that it's one of my go to artists, this stuff sticks. Military, Middle Eastern balance of noise + rhythm that drones from attack to religious to orchestral. Brilliant work.

Old Apparatus "Alfur"

Electro acoustic bass beauty from another unique artists. As brilliant as his other work, highly recommended.

Featherface . They just put out a full-length called Actual Magic that hasn't left my car stereo for a month.

Awesome I love Andy Stott I will be checking out the new one today

The new collab between Tim Hecker and Daniel Lopatin "instrumental tourist" is sounding pretty good

Ejlif...is that available anywhere?! I saw it was coming and have looked around on the web but no luck so far. Feel free to PM me some directions. That has the makings of a great one on paper.

Jon Cleary - Occapella - Having fun with the songs of Allen Toussaint.

I 1st heard Cleary briefly on HBO's Treme (a great source for new music!). After digging a bit I came to the realization that I've been listening to him and his music for years! He recorded with Taj Mahal on 2 favorite Taj records; 'Phantom Blues' & 'Senor Blues'. Also on Bonnie Raitt's 'Silver Lining' & 'Souls Alike'. He was a member of their bands, playing keyboards, with Bonnie and Taj both recording songs of his on their albums. So I owned performances of his and his music, I just wasn't aware of it! Cleary originally hails from England (!) but he's been a New Orleans native for over 15 years, the dude's a phenom!! Funky, soulful, bluesey good-time music, a great score!!

Terrence Dixon "From The Far Future Part 2"

Tresor release that had been on my list for a while and I finally got around to picking it up. I'd sure been missing a fine one. Real nice bit of dark tech/house with lots going on under the hood, just how I like it.

Changing musical gears....

I've been listening a lot to the older J. Tillman release, Vacilando Territory Blues so I picked up a few of his other older records. Singing Ax, Cancer And Delirium, Minor Works and Year In The Kingdom. All just outstanding albums, especially Singing Ax. Very highly recommended.

Richard, I likewise couldn't find Terrence Dixon From the Future Part 2 I did really like the samples I heard. PM some directions if you have them. Thanks, Ryan

Spiritualized new album Sweet Heart Sweet Light is fantastic !!

New LPs getting a lot of play on my system:

Dirty Projectors "Swing Lo Magellan"
Jamey Johnson "Living For A Song"
Tame Impala "Lonerism"
Storm Corrosion

Chaz,

Thanks for the heads up on Jon Cleary - looks like it should be fun.

Marty

Jack White - Blunderbuss. I've not liked much of what he's done to date, but this release is interesting and very good.

Really love the new Killers album