This album started when husband and wife duo Reading Rainbow recorded three songs in one day for Shaking Through studios. It's raw, simple, and full of emotion. It might get overlooked if you're already sick of the beach / garage sound that hit new levels of hype in 2010 but don't miss out on this. Seriously. Every moment perfectly follows the last and the combination of Rob and Sarah's voice is exquisite. They belt out some killer, blissed out minor-key harmonies and the song writing is full of subtle nuance. The layered vocal harmonies are actually pretty complex and intricate at times (e.g. the way it climbs on I See The Light). It's the kind of album you might hear in the background at a clothing shop, not really paying attention, until about halfway through where you drop everything and ask the clerk what that beautiful sound coming out of the speakers is. As with most full length LPs deemed worthy enough for release on HoZac, this is truly a start to finish labor of love. By the way, they have the coolest myspace username evar. Look it up.
This album gets referred to a lot as California sunshine pop but it's not a 60s revival album. It's more like what The Free Design might produce today if Boards of Canada loaned them some of their synths and drum machines. It has the same playful melodies and free spirit and is often backed by acoustic guitar for sunshine pop authenticity. The subtle electronic sounds are warm and inviting, while all songs are rooted in these lovely, mystical folk vocals. After listening start to finish you get this feeling that you've just woken up from an epic dream where you can't remember every last detail but you remember how vivid and strange everything was. It has an atmosphere to it -- an openness -- like one might experience after a vision quest deep in the desert. I come back to this album again and again for that feeling.
This duo from Copenhagen captured my heart the moment I heard the angelic vocal inflections of front woman Coco O. She could easily be mistaken for an ebony diva from Philly with her range and depth. It was released in March but I still put it on time and time again -- the secret to its success is how silky smooth it sounds. The production pulls from the soft electronics of 90s R&B to soul dripping 60s horn arrangements, and then there are those amazing breathy vocal harmonies. Songs like Day, as it opens with a majestic baritone clarinet before Coco O begs, "Day, treat me bright / Treat me warm;" it just melts my heart. This is a phenomenal listen start to finish, melancholy at times but always sincere.
I'm a sucker for shoegaze / dream pop but this album will reach deep into your consciousness and change you. Right about halfway through, something clicks and the rest just falls into place. As with most things Bradford Cox has a hand in, it swirls and floats and lifts you up, lets you down easy. This album is, in its entirety, an impressive work of art. Its shimmering melodic texture ebbs and flows and the structure of each song builds on the last. Each wall of gorgeous harmonic sound and each progression feels so perfect, so well crafted. At the end you are rewarded by a majestic, shining prize in the epic piece, He Would Have Laughed. However, it's an ending that wouldn't be near as effective without every leading minute.
As co-owner of the Addenda label I'd be in the wrong business if one of the releases I had worked tirelessly to put out didn't make my best of the year list. Son of the Stars gripped me right from the beginning in the way it shifts and progresses in mysterious ways. The drums dance around negative space and completely mess with your head if you try to follow each stab and shuffle. The vocals are in a new wave style yet are completely submerged in a murky abyss of harmonic soup. The album has been in the works for years and it shows; it's a monumental cathedral of collaboration between a talented trio of musicians and outside collaborators from all corners of the Chicago scene. The sound crosses over from post rock to dub and even simmers down into a heavy Black Sabbath pace at times. I honestly can't stop listening to this album.
This sounds like a lost Bruce Ditmas live album as Moog destroyer Ben Vida improvised with a crew of Chicago all-stars one day in the legendary Shape Shoppe studio. It bubbles and squeaks and twists your brain into a pulp. But it's not alienating like some free jazz -- it's controlled and calculated. You can sense the acute listening that was taking place throughout the entire session. This is one of those jazz albums where something extremely exciting was etched into time and thankfully it was caught on tape. It's been in my heavy rotation all year.
Yep, you guessed it, this is the third album from massive Staten Island afro-soul ensemble, The Budos Band. As their bio accurately states, "The cobra is poised to strike if anyone dares challenge The Budos on their quest." This album is literally that cobra. It is by far their most viscous, dark, and sinister melodic masterpiece. It cuts you like a razor and takes no prisoners. It makes you want to commit malicious crimes using it as a soundtrack. I didn't fully appreciate how intricate these compositions were until I saw them performed live--full horn section, keyboards, guitars, percussion--on the big stage this summer at the Chicago Folk and Roots Festival. It blew me away. This album for me is partly a souvenir from that show but is also a huge milestone for this band. They have transcended the classic afrobeat tendencies (the Fela sound, etc), proving that the Budos is real.
For some reason 2010 was the year in which all rare Turkish psychedelia from the 60s and 70s finally saw the light of day. This comp of reissued 7"s and select songs from LPs has some crossover with others like Anatolia Rocks but each song is a gem and the track order is careful and poignant. These records are impossible to find but you've probably heard bits and pieces when sampled by the Gaslamp Killer, a huge Turkish psych collector in LA. Just like 60s rock, the rhythms cross over into funk and soul, but unlike western rock, the Turkish sound is emblazoned with heavy minor-chord emotion. The beautiful and somewhat melancholy vocals from singers like Beyaz Kelebekler offer a glimpse into a dark and mysterious time in Turkish history. Above all, the funky rhythm shared by all of these records is breathtaking; it's unlike anything produced in modern times.
Since I'm a west coast kid I'm a harsh critic of Midwest hip hop; Chicago emcees usually sound like cheap imitations of Busdriver to me. However, the third album from Qwel & Maker is a new milestone in independent Midwest hip hop. It actually has more of classic east coast sound but don't read too much into that. It just sounds smooth. It samples some really choice funk and soul cuts and packs a punch on every well composed verse of rhymes. The Galapagos4 label is a little inconsistent for my tastes but I'm glad I crossed paths with this release -- it's been in my heavy rotation ever since.
I've only just discovered this modern psych/folk band and this album really caught my ear. The title is for real; it honestly takes you on a voyage. From beginning to end each melody and texture bends into the next, captivating your imagination. It's very visual. Their sound thrives on all the best parts of 70s psych, the epic glory of Hawkwind or the unpredictability of King Crimson. And just as any decent psychedelic album should, it comes complete with sitar and crickets.
DJ Bylamplight's Best of 2009
Throughout the month of December we’ll be posting lists of the best music of the year as determined by the volunteers that make CHIRP what it is. Today’s is from CHIRP DJ and programmer extraordinaire, Kumar McMillan, a.k.a. DJ Bylamplight.
- Pisces – A Lovely Sight (Numero Group) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
This is not a reissue, it’s a discovery of unheard 1969 material that was lost and buried in a fascinating story about a perfectionist rock group from Rockford, Illinois, who couldn’t catch a break. Besides earning Pisces a page in Steve Krakow’s Secret History of Chicago Music series, this album (compiled by the Numero crew) is an enjoyable listen start to finish and is essential for any fan of Rockadrome-esque swirly psychedelic fuzz. This album was built like a cathedral; it almost seems appropriate that it took over thirty years to finally see a proper release. Not only is this undisputedly my pick for best album of 2009, I think it will shine for years to come as a truly remarkable achievement both sonically and historically. - Exile – Radio (Plug Research) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
The Akai MPC 3000 sampler has revolutionized hip hop and has proven to be one of the most expressive electronic instruments ever invented. Exile has mastered the MPC. He plays samples like instruments — stripping them down to the core and tapping out new melodies and rhythms. But there’s a twist: this album was sampled entirely from FM radio in Los Angeles. Commercials, jingles, call-ins, cheesy smooth jazz, late night battle raps, pop songs, they have all been artfully munged into catchy instrumental hip hop jams and interludes sometimes with a political or spiritual message. FM radio today is a strange corporate beast and this album exploits that beast, leaving no stone unturned. Besides a great work of art, every song keeps my head nodding and it’s been in very heavy rotation ever since I picked it up. - Little Dragon – Machine Dreams (Peace Frog) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
My introduction to this album was a little 7” of Blinking Pigs and the first thing that grabbed me was the majestic vocals and harmonies floating up and down like a Cocteau Twins song. The second thing that grabbed me was the great treatment of the drum sound — the beats bounced around in a really groovy way, hollow yet still “live” and powerful. The rest of the album was even better! From start to finish it has a really fresh, live electronic sound; the songs range from catchy to mellow to dance worthy and each synth sound is deliberate and cleverly placed. It was an instant classic for me but upon each listen it kept growing until Machine Dreams was in my heavy rotation. - Hollows – Self-Titled (Addenda) Insound / Addenda
Even though I’m involved with operating Addenda Records, I have no shame in admitting that this stunning debut from Chicago’s Hollows is one of the greatest neo-garage albums I’ve ever heard. The first five seconds drop you straight into the action and it doesn’t let up until the epic second-to-last song, Love Will Find You. Often described as a haunting retro 60s or 50s album, the song writing breaks free from the past and takes you on a fast ride with a killer all-girl-except-for-one-guy getup of bass, farfisa-like organ, guitar, and drums. The songwriting is superb and the two minute arrangements are ingeniously concise. - Javelin – Self-Titled (Thrill Jockey) Amazon / Insound / Thrill Jockey
Supposedly this Brooklyn instrumental hip hop group have been turning quite a few heads at live shows but I never knew about them until the Thrill Jockey 12” subscription sent me a mysterious thrift store record called The World of Boots Randolph with some weird painted shapes over the woman’s face. I later found out that those were actually letters spelling the word Javelin. The 12” labels both had what looked like a B written in sharpie as if to suggest there were two B-sides, how clever. That was all the information I could fetch from it but the tunes were so catchy that the record soon claimed a permanent spot in my stack of heavy rotation. I naturally dug deep into the Net to find out what I was listening to but I didn’t stop there. My obsession with Javelin has since grown to epic proportions — I’ve nabbed their CDR releases, their incredible Lukabop podcasts, basically anything I can get my hands on at this point. Their limited 12” is now sold out (try Ebay) but an MP3 release is available for purchase from Thrill Jockey. - Various Artists – Black Rio Vol. 2 Brazil Soul Power 1968-1981 (Strut) Amazon / iTunes
DJ Cliffy already put out volume one of similar cuts but I never knew about it. After catching up with that, this compilation is definitely not the out-takes, it’s a brilliant collection of softer hitting, obscure Brazilian soul. As with most Brazilian music, each track enchants you immediately and fills you with that feel good fuzzy happy feeling. And as a compilation it is very well planned out from start to finish by a DJ who obviously knows how to set a deliberate mood. It has just the right amount of energy for any moment of the day, any day of the week, and I can’t seem to get enough of it. - Pax Nicholas and the Nettey Family – Na Teef Know De Road of Teef (Daptone) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
Frank from the famous Voodoo Funk record digger blog has organized his first reissue! I’m hoping there will be many more to come. He had discovered a rare Nigerian piece recorded in the 70s then supposedly banished by decree of Fela Kuti himself after its soft rhythms failed to “move” people on the dance floor. Well, it’s arguably a fine dance record but for me it’s one of the most relaxing and charming Afrobeat records I’ve ever heard. I play this time and time again in my living room, usually to help unwind after a day at work. - Black Wyrm Seed – Self-Titled (PlusTapes) PlusTapes
This is the cassette—yes, cassette—debut of a new Chicago band, Black Wyrm Seed. Despite its heavy doom metal opener, this album grows prettier, softer, and more psychedelic with each song. On myspace they accurately describe their line-up as batterie, bong-rattling bass, electric / acoustic guitars, and vox. I listen to it over and over in my car tape deck and the nuance in every note is inexplicably wonderful. Although a stoner metal blog showcased this release a while back, it still seems to exist as an undiscovered gem. - Dam-Funk – Toeachizown (Stones Throw) Amazon / Insound / iTunes
If “gangster” was a genre of music it would include 70s RnB songs like Does Your Mama Know by Rudy Love & The Love Family and William Devaughn’s Be Thankful For What You Got. Then chronologically it would move on to include Parliament / P-Funk, G-Funk, and finally Dam-Funk. This LA producer has put together a massive release of electronic instrumentals (some with background vocals) in five—count ‘em—five volumes. This is gangster theme music. In fact, it’s done so well that any tongue and cheekiness is overshadowed by the brilliance of nuance in the programmed drums or well placed synth chimes. It feels so smooth and so right and makes me want to drive around LA with my seat real low and pimp like. - Shepherd – Riddle of the Unflocked (Acroplane) Liquid Dilemma
This is a bass heavy new electronic project by Belgian producer Shepherd (a.k.a. Julien Itterbeek). The style is akin to the sinister breakbeat sound of Scorn or Push Button Objects but hidden beneath its murky swamp of squelchy synth lines are intriguing, alien-like emcee vocals. When listening, sometimes I imagine a b-boy battle on a space station between Martians and Mercurians, each crew doing weird twists and flips. It was released as a free MP3 download on the obscure Acroplane label, so be sure to grab it while you can. This is one evil, mind bending album and it accompanies me very often these days from start to finish.
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