staticbullets

I think this year was actually quite good for music, unfortunately however my musical attention span was at an all time low. By that I mean, I rarely had regular opportunities to really absorb and appreciate new music. I'm working to rectify this now, and my new job encourages lots of headphone time.. as well as commute time.

The following albums are records I loved this year. By the looks of it I had a rather electronic year.

Byetone : Death of a Typographer & Frank Bretschneider : Rhythm
I came to these two albums after seeing Byetone / Bretschneider / Alva Noto (Raster Noton) perform in San Francisco earlier this year. A stunning show to say the least, easily the best electronic performances I've seen this year. All three artists work with very basic sound components: rhythm, noise, texture, space.

but the result is so special because of how these components are arranged. The emphasis is pushed to structure, audible design, and the drama of building and decomposing. Bretschneider's performance really stood out, primarily on the basis of his visuals, which were incredibly basic but perfectly tied to the music in a way that was utterly spellbinding.

This show was more or less comprised of material from these two albums, and I'm thrilled to be able to almost relive the experience.

Autechre : Quaristice
This one took a little while, and I really only came to appreciate it fully with the addition of the second disc. Autechre post LP5/EP7 has left me.., well,  wanting a bit. They've released a wide range of material since then, and I've enjoyed every album in one way or another. Everything up to that point made me think of humans reporting back on an alien sound universe through music, after that it sounds a bit like they were absorbed into the alien hive mind. OK weird analogy, but I think it holds, their music is always an amazing listen but there is something really special about the interplay of odd sounds and structures juxtaposed with accessibility present in their earlier albums. Quaristice is, well a whole new odd tangent. The album is interesting composed mostly of short vignettes and snippets of improvisation. However, the album is a bit on the anemic side and makes a whole lot more sense when paired with the "limited edition" 2nd disc and even more so with the Quaristice.Quadrange.ep.ae. Using all of this material a fantastic album can be compiled.

subtractiveLAD : Apparatus
This one really surprised me. I was expecting something on the idm tip, and was delivered something closer to the Robin Guthrie axis, which is always appreciated. Gorgeous, utterly absolutely beautiful.

Portishead : Third
Somehow both anxious and soothing.

The Fun Years : Baby it's Cold Inside  & Gas : Nah Und Fern & Kevin Drumm : Imperial Distortion
Dense, textural, melodic, sleek, dark. I'm a sucker for this you see.

Tim Hecker : Atlas
Everything Tim Hecker has released is amazing. Something about this is exceptionally special.

DJ Olive : Triage
Triage is the third in a series of 'sleeping pills' designed to create deep warm enveloping environmental textures which become soft company for those who have trouble sleeping. The first of these editions published by Room40 was Buoy (2004), followed by the aptly titled 'Sleep' (2006, though composed in 2001).

M83: Saturday = Youth
Fennesz : Black Sea
Hecq : Night Falls
Barry Lynn : Balancing Lakes
Ø : Oleva