While I prolong the self-important masochism of finalising LMYE's '20 artists of 2009' list (a companion to our '20 labels of 2009' & an attempt to engage with the year's music a bit differently than picking our best albums of the year, which many others already do exceptionally well...) on further into the new year, here's 10 sites that added to the joy of music discovery last year.
10 plus one, that is, plus others needing a mention. Blogs, like this one, that mostly traffic in commercial releases are excluded.
disquiet > ambientronica benchmark still going strong after 13 years & still hugely intelligent & open-eared (& beautifully written)...
FACT > knowing news, smart reviews, daily downloads & - in a seriously competitive field - the best mix series around (so good the New Yorker recently paid its respects!)...
Fluid Radio > now entering some kind of streaming mix nirvana after ending the year with Richard Skelton, Ian Hawgood & Peter Joergensen & about to unleash more...
mnml ssgs > somewhere between a blog & a mix series (enthusiasm of the former, content of the latter) & showing a very welcome, increasing shift beyond its deep techno roots into more experimental territory...
MUTEK > wonderful event, doubtless, but brought closer to this side of the Atlantic by its generosity in sharing epic past performances ("We've opened the vaults!")...
Percussion Lab > because there's always room for another great mix, or three...
Playmytape > plethora of exceptional performances from the ambient/drone/experimental end of the spectrum...
Soundcloud > at play in the fields of sound - endlessly rich home for mixes, promos, full album streaming et al; also a genuinely useful 'upload to me' facility...
Unsound > as with MUTEK above, but its sharing has focused so far more on DJs connected with the festival - Sherburne, obviously, but also bshosa highly recommended (though its most exceptional 'cast is Ben Frost's 2008 Krakow performance - hear below [previous coverage])...
The V.Sessions > eclectic, impressive online performance space, inaugurated by Fennesz...
Plus a slightly different one for luck: Relay > a super-smart, indefinite project in which artists take turns to pick up the relay baton by responding to a previous piece (hear below)...
Also: Bleep, Boomkat/14 tracks, elbo.ws, Hype Machine, Inverted Audio, last.fm, Mixcloud, Spotify, Resident Advisor, XLR8R.
[NB in case anyone's bothered, though it truly made no difference to selection: LMYE participated in a number of disquiet's online MP3 discussions last year.]
Ben Frost > Unsound 08 (LMYE hack) [re-up]
Chequerboard > A Year In Sligo [edit] /Jimmy Behan > Jimmy Behans Relay Piece [in response to Chequerboard] /Loscil > The Sleep Machine [in response to Jimmy Behan] / Hulk > Nightly Sweetly [in response to Loscil] / Polly Fibre > Reconstructing the incredible [in response to Hulk] / Pierre Bastien > Play Scissors Play [in response to Polly Fibre] / Bibio > Hedged-in [in response to Pierre Bastien] / Sunken Foal > Beard of Mercury Switches [in response to Bibio] (all from Relay, modelart.ie)
Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.
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