Quoting D_Davis (view post)
Really liked these 3. I listened to the Hollydrift EP and the first two tracks are fantastic. Loses steam with the last 3, but like you, I really like his sound.
Really liked these 3. I listened to the Hollydrift EP and the first two tracks are fantastic. Loses steam with the last 3, but like you, I really like his sound.
Atlas Sound - Bedroom Data Bank V.1-4
Self Release
Key Tracks
Mona Lisa
Afternoon Drive
Talent Show
Here Come the Trains
When I first posted the link to this amazing collection of tunes, I thought the music fans here at Match Cut would go bonkers. I mean, there are quite a few Deerhunter fans around here (at least from what I can tell), and here there are four free albums from Mr. Cox containing all kinds of cool little tunes and songs. And yet I didn't hear a thing from anyone. There seems to still be a stigma against legitimately free music, and I wonder why? I like each of these four albums more than I like the most recently released Deerhunter album, and I know that album has been highly praised among the Internet blogs. So get these. They're really awesome.
Rushus - Stories
Released by Accessory Takes
Key Tracks
Crimson Turtles
29
And now for something completely different....
Rushus is a a Russian progressive/jazz/fusion trio consisting of an electric guitarist, bassist, and percussionist. This EP has a really nice vibe, and is unlike anything else I listened to this year. While it does sometimes come dangerously close to being the kind of dreadful contemporary jazz that plagues adult radio stations and dentists offices, it stays just on the cool side of that very thin line. The syncopated rhythms often remind me of later-period King Crimson, and the arrangements are minimal enough to avoid that kind of cheesy over-production so prevalent in smooth jazz.
Altus - Black Trees Among Amber Skies
Self Release
Mike Carss is a Canadian-based ambient composer, and this is his best album to date. I don't know if he was trying to conjure the work of Angelo Badalamenti here, but he totally did. Each one of the tracks on this album could easily find itself being played during one of those achingly beautiful moments in a David Lynch film; I can easily imagine this music being played as Laura Palmer sees the angel at the end of Fire Walk With Me, or during the theater performance of Silencio in Mulholland Dr. The music is somber and melancholy, but not dark or scary. It's one of the best pure-ambient albums of the year.
Durlin Lurt - Him Jenson
Released by Leaving Records
Key Tracks
[youtube]CRpm04MIFTs[/youtube]
[youtube]CPvidV6K7Kw[/youtube]
Durlin Lurt's Him Jenson was originally an underground release back in 2008, but it now has a digital home where more people can be exposed to the barely-controlled chaos and insanity. Durlin Lurt covers the entire alphabet here, from "Aahh" to "Junk," and from "Magic" to "Zowie," the album has 26 tracts, each corresponding to a certain letter. And let's get one thing straight - the album is totally insane. It's dirty, grimey, and filthy, featuring super lo-fi beats and samples, rhymes, and a fuck-it-all attitude. It's a mash-up of styles and genres, and is pretty much a perfect album for these modern times. It represents how creative music is made today.
Maps and Diagrams - Cubiculo and Tintinnbulate
Released by Fluid-Audio and Audio Gourmet respectively
Key Tracks
Komagataella
The Melancholy of Weavers
Maps and Diagrams had an incredible year in 2010, as made clear by these stunning EPs, and an LP to be mentioned much later. MaD are at the vanguard of this style of ambient music, a mix of dark, dense drones, glitch, static, and subtle melodies.
I'd also like to draw special attention to the Audio Gourmey netlabel. They have an interesting philosophy in releasing coffee break ambient albums, or ambient albums running 15 minutes in length that can be listened to while enjoying a single cup of coffee. They've put out a ton of great stuff this year, most of which is worth exploring.
http://music.audiogourmet.co.uk/
A few more releases before we get to the top 10.
SineRider - December Embers
Released by BFW Recordings
Key Tracks
The Finer Things of Lines
A Walk
You Lose, Good Day Sir!
SineRider's December Embers EP is a beautiful collection of guitar-based instrumental (with one exception) compositions ranging from aggressive post-rock to introspective acoustic pieces. What's best about the EP is how it is arranged. "The Finer Things of Lines" kicks things off with a bang, and then the album becomes far more subtle and quiet before ending with a couple of tracks that again pick things up. There is a huge variation in dynamics, and thus it makes for an interesting listen.
Variex - Quitting Tomorrow
Self release
Key Tracks
Reside in Waves
Hypnagogic Shrapnel
I didn't hear a lot of netlabel hip hop this year, and that's all my fault. I just didn't explore many of the releases. But it makes sense that the best thing I did hear would come from Variex, or at least from someone from the New Cocoon collective - these dudes are awesome (http://www.newcocoon.com/ collective). I prefer indie, experimental hip hop. I don't get the love for artists like Kanye West - he especially bores me to tears. I think Quitting Tomorrow is a superior release to West's latest. The music and production is far more interesting, and Variex's delivery is great. It's just more my style.
Gaston Arevalo - Marea
Released by Passage
Key Tracks
Latitude
Hielo Norte
We will be hearing again from Mr. Arevalo and the Passage netlabel, but for now lets sink deep into the dense and textured soundscapes of Marea. Gaston Arevalo was at the top of the heap in the minimal techno genre with a number of amazing releases over the last few years. However, in 2010 he switched gears, and ditched the 4/4 beats, kick drums, and sparse electro-percussion in favor of this new, more experimental style. I'm really not sure what to call this subtle, glitch-style ambient music...it's like soft noise, or light drone, and yet it also contains sonic details that offset the dense and murky backdrop.
And now on to the Top 10....
#10
Ballpen - The Dreams Trilogy
Released by La Bel, Netlabel
Key Tracks
The Sea Dream
Pass the Ball and Sail the Days
The Bus Stop Dream
Broken beats, chill vibes, fragmented samples, and acoustic guitar leads combine to form one of the most interesting and enjoyable releases of the year. It's a bit of the old mixed with the new. Ten years ago, this album could've easily been included on Touch and Go's exclusive label, as it borrows heavily from the sound design of Tortoise, Sea and Cake, and even some Trans Am. However, Ballpen also has their own unique take on this kind of collage-based sound recording - it's totally of today and takes advantage of modern, non-linear editing and recording. The songs sound as if they were composed and arranged with found memories washed up on the shores of the nostalgia beach, simultaneously echoing back the days of indie-past and looking forward into the future of DIY recording.
#9
IG88 - EP
Self release
Key Tracks
Limp Notes
Cardboard Houses
IG88's Brandon Clarke is one of the most talented young producers currently rocking the IDM/electronica scene. And the reason is simple: he is, first and foremost, a musician interested in songs, melody, and harmony. He just so happens to work with DAWs, knobs, and sliders as his instruments of choice. His compositions have a unique propulsive drive to them; they are constantly moving forward, evolving, and morphing into new sonic territories. Mr. Clarke is one to watch - I have a feeling he's really going somewhere.
#8
Language of Landscape - Memories Fade Under a Shallow Autumn Snow
Self release
Key Track
...and the rain embraced our closing words
Albums released in January often get forgotten about when the end of the year comes. That this album - released on January 1, 2010 - has stayed with me for twelve months is a testament to its lasting appeal and expert craftsmanship. By far the most minimal thing I've heard all year, Language of Landscape gives Philip Glass a run for his money in the minimalist department. Sometimes the album is so quiet that I forget it's on, the pauses so long that I can't tell if it's a rest in the composition or a break between tracks. The album is over 45 minutes in length, and has only three tracks. The compositions are made up of piano, sustained guitar, and a few sparse samples. Each note, passage, and sound was chosen with skill, and each serves its optimal purpose. There is nothing superfluous at all here. Truly one of the most beautiful and artfully constructed albums of the year.
#7
Rho - Cedarleaf
Released by No-Source
Key Tracks
Mississippi
Day Into Morning
Day Into Night
Last year Rho made by year's end best of list with their album October Turncoat, and this year they've done it again with Cedarleaf, an album that is superior in every way. It is their most accessible, accomplished, and best-produced album to date. In many ways it reminds me of a more rock-orientated Cocteau Twins sans the vocals, with a nice mix of ambiance to smooth things over. The swirling guitars envelope the listener in a blanket of comforting sonic textures, augmented by propulsive bass-lines and some head-bobbing drum programming. "Mississippi" is one of the years best tracks; it never fails to amaze me.
#6
Maps and Diagrams - A Pulsating History
Released by BEKO Digital
Key Tracks
Anti-Clockwise
On Esquiline Hill
The first track on MaD's densely textured masterpiece is "The Modern Century," and that title perfectly captures the sound of this style of music. It is ultra-modern, even futuristic. Ambient music often times looks back to the 1970s for inspiration, but this new style of the genre from artists like MaD, Gaston Arevalo, and Mind Over MIDI, among many others, looks towards to future. I might also call the music here Ballardian, as it expertly captures the tone and feel of one of J.G. Ballard's many masterful science fiction stories. The music is cold and somewhat sterile, and yet also strangely inviting. I feel as though it captures the essence of modern urban living better than any other style of music, or at least it represents the sounds that my ideal kind of modern living would create if it could.
#5
Henrik Jose - The Little Things EP
Released by 23 Seconds
***
#4
Doyeq - Eyelashes of Lanterns
Released by Passage
***
#3
Gaston Arevalo - Habitat
Released by Passage
***
#2
Analog Workshop - Emporium of Broken Toys
Released by Test Tube
***
#1
Magic Man - Real Life Color
Released by Arcade Sound Ltd.
***
Netlabel of the Year...
I'm almost through your list. My favorites so far are Doyeq, which I've heard and love, and Rho, which is new for me. The guitar tracks on Cedarleaf weave a nice warm sonic cocoon around the rhythm lines.
The Red Shoes (Powell, 1948)
Manhattan Murder Mystery (Allen, 1993)
Spring Breakers (Korine, 2012)
Sydney (Anderson, 1996)
El ángel exterminador (Luis Buñuel, 1963)
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