Paper Pieces
Fall on the concrete curb
Not a highway
Clocking and organizing
Ticking and clicking
Organizing
Tight-roped and gullible
With fortunate flowers
Not in the rainforest
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Records of 2010 - 01- Beach House - Teen Dream
Records of 2010 - 01- Beach House - Teen DreamThis is pristine. I love this. I love a lot of things. What's a stronger word for love? Here we hear from my good friend Rob Cassell:"
"treat your ears to a little aural sex". Thanks Rob. Well, this album has cleared up in a lot of the end of year polls, maybe just behind Kanye West - he's not on here, I don't like his voice - but enough hyperbole about my scruffy friend Rob. Kanye West may populate the lists and this list acknowledges him. I have to clear it up that I think he's not worthy. He tries. A little too hard for my liking.
So, this list. What does it mean? It's so hard to choose anything. Is 41st better than 7th? I'm confused. I just tried to compare them. Mount Kimbie and Four Tet are both brilliant. Anyway, back to base, Beach House delivered to the nth degree with "Teen Dream" - 2008's excellent "Devotion" was like looking for treasure in a cave and with "Teen Dream" we've found it - full-bodied and glorious music.
Records of 2010 - 03 - Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
Records of 2010 - 03 - Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
Sufan Stevens? Yes. When he released "All Delighted People," it dropped out of heaven on August 20th and nobody knew. Most albums leak 2 months in advance nowadays and this "EP' was 59 minutes long. Is it worth kicking up beef about this? No. Let's praise "The Age of Adz." It's a great album because like I predicted, Sufjan turned away from the incredible delicacy of 2005's "Illinois" and went a lot darker and self-referential here. "Vesuvius" directly references the creator:
"Sufjan, follow the path
It leads to an article of imminent death
Sufjan, follow your heart
Follow the flame
Or fall on the floor"
Let's talk about the electronics. Sure, it's no Kid A. Everyone keeps talking about the comparison. This is more orchestral. More bombastic. It's not Kid A, but it's a meanly crafted electronic album. The 25 minute closer "Impossible Soul" is something else entirely and brings home one of the best records in an erm... age?
Records of 2010 - 04 - Forest Swords - Dagger Path
Records of 2010 - 04 - Forest Swords - Dagger PathIn which cowboy music meets dub. In which subtlety meets coyness. In which dark nights meet bright mornings. In which intelligence meets soul. In which rustiness meets a search for oil. In which Leftfield meet Ennio Morricone. In which craft meets texture. In which roughness meets a smooth execution. In which a promising start means a great future. In which lo-fi should be played on your hi-fi.
Records of 2010 - 5. Mark McGuire - Living With Yourself
Records of 2010 - 5. Mark McGuire - Living With YourselfWhat a great year for Mark McGuire. The Emeralds guitarist released the space-age album of the year in "Does It Look Like I'm Here" allowing listeners to meditate to the moon and back. On this debut, solo release however, McGuire steps back, strips down his down and gives an acoustic, glistening album about memories of family and friends. The sounds he creates are grainy and mesmeric, hushed and intimate. The childhood dialogues he plays over make for some of the most nostalgic shit I've heard in an age. I feel I'll look back in a few years, savoring 2010, the first time I heard it.
Records of 2010 - 06 - Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here
Records of 2010 - 06 - Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New HereGil Scott Herren has made perhaps the best comeback of all time in this unbelievably touching LP. Normally age softens up a man, but this poet, soul singer, legend still has more edge than a sharp side of paper. There's no papercuts here though, just on-the-beam spoken word over sharp DJ Shadow esque production. After 16 years out of the game, this return brings rap, dub, gospel and poetry to shady, shimmering and self-deprecating effect. Essential.
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