Tenner's worth

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.

"as if waves in a pool"

New Year's Resolutions department (1): hear more William Basinski in 2010...

'"...I got back to work and found yet another lunchbox of ancient tape-loops to go through for possible inclusion in the new piece. I came across the main theme and thought...well, this is gorgeous; let's see if we can use this to coax Viv to come out. I went through the rest of them and found another dozen or so that mixed well used randomly, just under the threshold.

"The next night I performed the piece at Issue with their 16 channel hemispherical speaker system set to move the sounds randomly around the room as if waves in a pool. We all had a really good time. It was mesmerizing."

This version was recorded with microphones and two Norelco tape decks live in my studio in Los Angeles in one take in September 2008.'



William Basinski > Vivian & Ondine [excerpt] (from Vivian & Ondine, 2062)

NB: photo by lowRentz.

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

Curators/custodians/compilers

We noted the exceptional Type as LMYE's label of the year recently - but need to acknowledge more outstanding sound curators/custodians/compilers that were also key in helping shape our listening year.

At the risk of sending the pomposity/self-importance dial off the gauge, they start with four more highlighted labels that had a particularly intense impact here. An additional 15 who all also made a consistent difference bring us up to a top 20 - though this is a wholly arbitrary number, of course, & many other labels are also bringing out great music across a host of genres & styles; we try to acknowledge some below as well.

Implicit in all of this is the well-rehearsed idea that despite all of technology's lowering of barriers to entry labels remain important - perhaps more than ever. When we're flooded with new music their role as visible exercisers of taste, as rallying points, as cultural lenses, seems to really matter. Certainly, it still does to LMYE...

kranky > LMYE's larger label of the year: like Thrill Jockey (see below) only more so: meaning incredible vigour & new avenues even after all these years - especially this, this, this, this, this & this (& still thinking about this...) [previously/more/more] >> Tim Hecker > Visiting An Imaginary Country [LMYE hack] (from An Imaginary Country)


Low Point > LMYE's new discovery label of the year: consistently excellent & now making smart Type-style use of SoundCloud streaming - especially this, this, this, this & this [previously] >> Gareth Hardwick - Versions of Aversions [LMYE hack] (from Aversions)



12k/Line > LMYE's 'staggering consistency' label of the year: an unflagging succession of exceptional releases, whether from its rich Australian connection (see Room40 below), label head Taylor Deupree himself or other sources - especially this, this, this, this, this, this, this & this [previously/more/more] >> TU M' - Monochrome # 03 (from Monochromes, Vol. 1) [re-up]



Anticipate > LMYE's 'if only they would release more' label of the year: regrettably few releases but always a source of, er, anticipation & excitement - especially this, this & this >> Klimek - Movies is Magic minimix (from Movies is Magic; NB: higher-res version available from Anticipate)



Ad Noiseam

Audiobulb

Bine

Fang Bomb

FatCat

Ghostly International/Spectral Sound

Highpoint Lowlife

infrasonics

Miasmah

Modern Love

Raster-Noton

sustain-release

Thrill Jockey

Uncharted Audio

~scape

Also: Amazing Sounds, Bedroom Community, BPitch Control, Constellation, Domino, Erased Tapes, Hessle Audio, Hotflush, Home Normal, Honest Jon's, Hyperdub, Kesh, Kompakt, Mobeer/Moteer, Moving Furniture, Mule Musiq, Ostgut Ton, Overlap, Perlon, Planet Mu, Punch Drunk, Rekids, Room40, Root Strata, Rune Grammafon, Samadhisound, Spekk, Staubgold, Tectonic, Temporary Residence, Touch, Warp, Werk...

NB: further links & references to follow as & when...

>> The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Embers (from Here Be Dragons, Ad Noiseam) >> Tujiko Noriko/Lawrence English/John Chantler - I Can Hear The Heart (Live at Cafe Oto) >> Pausal / Alpine. - Song From A Cloth Pocket / fr:om (from Pausal (EP) / Fr:om Harmed Weather To Stark, Micro, Climates., both Highpoint Lowlife) [re-ups]

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

Just the one

Clumsy rhetorical question department: how many artists feature in both FACT's top 20 mixes of the year & disquiet's 10 ambient/electronica albums of 2009? Answer: just the one, of course - though it/he operates under multiple names...

(...& was featured here previously under a fair few of them).

Nomenclature aside, though, The Village Orchestra/TVO's unique appearance in two such contrasting lists (each stuffed with goodness, mind) underlines how much of a hinterland there is to Ruaridh Law's music - without even getting into his past with the underappreciated Marcia Blaine School for Girls & other projects. One part Drexciya homage-paying techno-lord (both as DJ & artist), one part electronica ground-breaker & one part open-eared adventurer into drone & even noise, his epic Coil to Lil' Louis FACT mix (archived here) exemplifies this uncommon breadth.

So too does the mix's reception. Besides the obvious sources, it won more unexpected appreciation from The Onion AV Club & - yes, really - The New Yorker...

Below, an attempt to capture that breadth (also evident in Ruaridh's judgement on this year's mixes: "a shame so few strayed outside niche genre confines") via a few recent releases - key among them an alternate edit of Tober that must rank as one of the most satisfying takes on dub techno in an age (something to do with this version's electronica roots refreshing an increasingly predictable genre, perhaps? Compare Marcia's The Ratio, also below...).

Also included: an extract from the "deathly beautiful journey into sound processing and manipulation" of I Can Hear the Sirens Singing (featuring a host of collaborators, including yesterday's post subject Erstlaub)

Finally, get ready for Ruaridh & (another HPLL-related Sirens participant) Production Unit's Past Papers: "an mp3 label of sorts, releasing archive material from Marcia history and eventually new slants on past releases."

The Village Orchestra/TVO > Non-euclidian (from The Starry Wisdom, Highpoint Lowlife) > Tober [alternate edit] (from The Dark is Rising, Stuff) > I Can Hear the Sirens Singing [extract] (from I Can Hear the Sirens Singing, Highpoint Lowlife)

BONUS: The Marcia Blaine School for Girls > The Ratio (from Magnetism, That Electricity..., Highpoint Lowlife) [re-up]

NB: higher-res version of Tober available from The Wire. Photos by Dave Fyans/Erstlaub

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.

Forest rose

Since his fascinating interview here in March & the subsequent release of his immense Broadcasting on Ghost Frequencies on Moving Furniture (full Bandcamp stream below), rumbly drone-meister Erstlaub has morphed into an increasingly full-time art student & psychogeographic explorer.

Thankfully, though, he continues to knock out resonant slabs of dense, one-take sound - both as part of his art works & otherwise. Indeed, he's even recently shared an unexpected, Supersilent/Arve Henriksen-flavoured ethereal trumpet piece (Rose Made of Time) - under his own name since "I’m not really sure it belongs to Erstlaub as such".

It's invigorating to hear as distinctive a voice as Erstlaub's take a fairly different form. It's also thrilling to hear contemplative newer pieces like the fine Lost in the Forest & thestartisalsotheend - even the more abrasive Long Grind, of the same vintage, has a gentleness among the squeals & static storm...

Lost accompanies the striking installation piece A Mind Divided: "very much a product of the creature known as Erstlaub (it definitely turned out a bit more sinister than intended), here is the soundwork. Built and recorded in one sitting with the G2 and the first time I’ve used my DD20 and RE201 pedals in that context for ages, it felt nice to be back in familiar territory and that I’ve not lost my knack."

UPDATE: Erstlaub will "break cover" for a rare live appearance at next month's Hidden Door festival in Edinburgh (January 31): " I will be playing an entirely new set (which I’m also in the process of making visuals for) which at the moment may or may not be floating around in my head with the title of “Sleepwalking into the Underworld” but I can’t be sure yet."

Erstlaub > A Farewell to Song > Long Grind / thestartisalsotheend (In Darkened Corners EP) > Lost in the Forest

D. Fyans > Rose Made of Time

NB: all tracks unreleased/self-released via erstlaub.co.uk (longer pieces available in higher-res versions than here). Also hear/download Blown from archive.org.

Photos by Dave Fyans/Erstlaub

Important: LMYE only makes music available that artists/labels have chosen to share freely. Let us know if something here shouldn't be.