I mostly eked out music which was soothing and transported me back in time, but there are also some which diverge from that norm. Thanks to Charles for getting me out to my only concert this year. Xylouris White at the Oriental Theater - July 13th. I look back on that concert as when I began to shake off some health issues that had plagued me for half a year. As the Tao Te Ching says, "Be like the forces of nature: when it blows, there is only wind; when it rains, there is only rain; when the clouds pass, the sun shines through."
As of December 25th eight
Vitamin Fuzz Field Stations have reported their TOP albums of 2015. Scroll through their lists below to read choice reviews and learn about the music you totally forgot about or maybe never knew existed.
For a starter listen to Mindmondo's top ten which took me to where I wanted to be musically and transcendentally.
And now, Vitamin Fuzz top ten countdown beginning with number 1.
[61 minutes, 58 mb, 128kbps]
mp3 download
 |
| Ty Segall, Mr Face |
00:00 Intro
00:27 Ty Segall, The Picture [Famous Class]
04:30 Wand, Stolen Footsteps [Drag City]
07:16 Natural Information Society & Bitchin' Bajas, Automaginary [Drag City]
15:06 Fuzz, Pipe [In The Red]
18:25 White Out with Nels Cline, Exaltation By Proxy [Northern Spy Records]
= / =
~ = ~
+
|
~ = ~
= \ =
 |
| Wand, 1000 Days |
24:58 Jesse Osborne-Lanthier & Robert Lippok, Visit [Geographic North]
32:16 Moon Duo, Cross The Way [7" split] [Jean Sandwich Records]
35:16 KiKagaku Moyo, The Spinning Wheel [7" split] [Jean Sandwich Records]
39:40 Oneohtrix Point Never, I Bite Through It [Warp]
42:49 Nisennenmondai, A [Bijin Record]
56:48 Dyad, Channel 3 [Obsolete Future]
59:58 Exit
= begin field station 2015 Best Music reports =
Mindmondo, Field Station Unknown - Dec 18, 2015
The following musical catalog took me to where I wanted to be musically and transcendentally.
1.
Ty Segall, Mr Face 2x 7" EP [Famous Class]
Could not stand the wait for this four-song EP. Billed as "the world's first playable pair of 3D glasses" meaning you hold the red vinyl over the left eye and the blue vinyl over the right eye and then view the cover art in 3D. UNREAL! 1960s sound all the way… Psychedelic Glam POP, touches of Folk and sprinkles of feedback. This is not the crazy rocker Ty, but the lo-fi glittery San Fran Segall. Fav Track: The Picture
2.
Wand, 1000 Days [Drag City]
This is Wand's third release and the 2nd one this year. This group of songs makes me nostalgic in a good way. Cory Hanson's vocals radiate a Marc Bolan quality. The tracks are more psychedelic than glam and create a lot of mood. The short guitar riffs sprinkle across my grey matter like a bunny rabbit hunted by an alley cat. Fav Track: Stolen Footsteps
3.
Natural Information Society & Bitchin' Bajas, Automaginary [Drag City]
The improvised Zen landscape of Chicago based Natural Information Society collaboration with the analogue drone drift of Bitchin Bajas'. Bells, ARP 2600, harmonium, gong, guimbri, clarinet, flute, maybe a guitar in there somewhere. Is this Chicago underground music or ancient world entwined jazz? More like a continuous hypnotic wave channeling Timothy Leary. Available on vinyl or cassette. Fav Track: Automaginary
4.
Fuzz, Fuzz II [In The Red]
This is my go to for escaping whatever needs to be neutralized. Charles Moothart, Chad Ubovich, Ty Segall. Fuzz keeps the old style stoner metal alive. It's a throw back to speedway music festivals. Loud, exhausting, ever changing tempo and crazed lyrics. Comforting to me. Double LP with great liner notes, lyric sheet and photos. Have you had your dose of Sabbath today? Fav Track: Pipe
5.
White Out with Nels Cline, Accidental Sky [Northern Spy Records]
Nels Cline has collaborated with White Out numerous times over the last 15 years but this is the first time they have produced an album. Spontaneously constructed avant electronica noise with expeditions on the way to Musique Concrete. Most enjoyable as background music. Fav Track: Exaltation By Proxy
6.
Jesse Osborne-Lanthier & Robert Lippok, Timeline [Geographic North]
It may be IDM, but I don't dance. I feed off the abstract, the experiment, the twisting of normal. Per Geographic North, "These recordings were executed in a one-shot jam session in Robert Lippok's Berlin home studio. The session was loosely inspired by a designed timeline that exchanged back and forth, online, throughout the months prior to the artists physically meeting." On cassette. Limited to 100. Fav Track: Visit
7.
Moon Duo/KiKagaku Moyo 7" split [Jean Sandwich Records]
This 45rpm was produced for distribution at Moon Duo shows during their 2015 world tour. Side A is "Cross The Way" by Moon Duo and Side B is a tripy psychedelic cover of Blonde on Blonde's "The Spinning Wheel" by Japanese Psychedelics Kikagaku Moyo. Artwork By Baxter Roy Long, Go Kurosawa, Tomo Katsurada. I was lucky to get a copy of this one. Limited to 666 copies.
8.
Oneohtrix Point Never, Garden of Delete [Warp]
Daniel Lopatin's 7th studio release was recorded in a rented basement studio in Brooklyn. The vibe is terrestrial/subterranean and has even been described as somewhat schizophrenic in some reviews. The use of samples creates an underlying mood of the robotic workforce. The limited amount of vocals were rendered by the software Chipspeech. One thing's for sure I have never heard electronic music like this and for that one reason it makes the list. Fav Track: I Bite Through It
9.
Nisennenmondai, N' [Bijin Record]
I had to find a way to get this one on my list. Reissued in 2015 on Bijin Records… YES! This Japanese trio has got the system down to completely mess your brain with morphing relentless repetition. Acupuncture piercing the core of my existence. It's like nothing I have ever heard before. When you listen keep in mind there is no drum machine, no tricks up the sleeve, just pure musicianship. Guitarist Masako Takada, bassist Yuri Zaikawa and drummer Sayaka Himeno are so in sync they come off like a machine. The joy of it is knowing they are human. Note: this is not safe to play while driving. Fav Track: A
10.
Dyad, Channel 3 [Obsolete Future]
Intelligent Techno by Dyad [we all know who that is]. Spacial futuristic tempos behind flowing repetitve harmonies and various samples all mixed and morphed to perfection by Dyad. I'm hearing a Detroit influence. Limited run of 100 cassettes. Fav Track: Channel 3
MORE in no particular order:
Daniel Bachman, River [Three Lobed Recordings]
This is Daniel Bachman's first LP on the Three Lobed label and his first album recorded in a studio.
Föllakzoid – III [Sacred Bones Records]
Krautedelic vibe.
Kill West, Kill West EP [Drone Rock Records]
Deathsurf/Fogrock from Buenos Aires. Sorta Kraut/Psych hybrid.
Akira Sakata & Jim O'Rourke With Chikamorachi & Merzbow, Flying Basket [Family Vineyard]
71 minute Avant-garde Jazz session recorded in Tokyo.
Majutsu No Niwa, The Night Before [Pataphysique Records]
Japanese VU… sort of. Give em a listen.
Sir Richard Bishop, Tangier Sessions [Drag City]
Acoustic guitar guru. The more I listened the more it grew on me.
Wolf Eyes, I Am A Problem: Mind In Pieces [Third Man]
The industrial bowels of Detroit praying for exoneration. On Jack White's label!
The Necks - Vertigo (Northern Spy) One 44 minute experimental jazz track.
Jason Isbell, Something More Than Free [Southeastern Records]
The best thing that ever happened to Isbell was getting kicked out of TBT. Isabell's lyrics are better than ever.
Merry Christmas and Happy 2016!!!
===
MMD/H. Peach/Z Shaw, Pacific Northwest Field Station - Dec 21, 2015
Here's my list for 2016! All LPs and only one reissue. Not bad, if I do say so myself! I hope the year went well for you all. It was pleasurable to talk with and see many of you.
1.
Joshua Abrams-Magnetoception-Eremite 2LP
Abram’s Natural Information Society collaboration with Bitchin Bajas “Autoimaginary” seems to be the record of Abrams’ that is getting the most praise in 2015. While it is a fantastic droner, and a master class in how a huge group of players can make music that gives space to everyone involved, Magnetoception is the stronger record. To these ears, it is preferable due its more rhythmic focus and emphasis on repetition with slight variations. Long form songs feature Abrams on the Guimbri (a bass lute), with drummer Hamid Drake and guitarist Jeff Parker among the group. The songs take their time establishing themselves, and avoid clutter. Also, the drone is never too far away due to Lisa Alvarado’s harmonium playing. Alvarado also does the ornately covered, geometrically-rigid gatefold artwork that turns the whole thing into a fetish item.
2.
Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld-Never Were the Way She Was-Constellation LP
Colin Stetson is a low reed playing BEAST with circular breathing chops and at least five contact microphones placed strategically around his horns. He plays baritone and tenor sax on this one as well as contrabass clarinet. The other half of this collaboration is violinist and vocalist Sarah Neufeld. I harbor this secret wish that Stetson refuses to play in Bon Iver any more, and that Neufeld quits the Arcade Fire, and that they then just make albums like this one for the rest of their lives. I mean, this one even tops that Stetson record with Laurie Anderson that came out a couple years back. Furthermore, the violin adds a lyrical presence to the impressive technical abilities of Stetson, such that you aren’t drooling over how he can manage to do what he is doing, but rather just bathing in the pure pleasure of listening. I was lucky enough to see these two in Columbia City in Seattle a couple of months back; a fantastic evening with some friends I brought along to the show. It must have been good because it was a school night and I did not even feel the slightest bit uptight!
3.
D’Angelo And The Vanguard-Black Messiah-RCA LP
I had picked up the LP reissue of Voodoo within the last couple of years, and I had also heard talk that D’Angelo was making another record. ?uestlove from the Roots said that he had heard the new record, and that it sounded like a black version of Pet Sounds. Cool! Flash forward. I tune into Saturday Night Live, and I got to see him play one of his political songs and one of his love songs. It got me totally wound up, and interested again. He was playing guitar, there were back up singers, great clothing, some dude ripping out electric guitar solos that looked like Jimi Hendrix’s hobo granddad, and Flamenco guitar runs. Look, you either like the multitracked vocals or you don’t, OK? Secret confession: I used the download code included in the LP, and have listened to this more in the car than I have on my turntable…..for shame! But, you know, it’s a great driving record.
4.
Alif-Aynama Rtama-Nawa LP
Recorded in Cairo, Egypt and Beirut, Lebanon and led by oud player Khyam Allami. This is a serious as fuck Arabic rock group. And these dudes also know how to emote! The secret weapon in this group is the insane electronics and keyboard work of Maurice Louca. Louca’s touch makes the whole affair sound super contemporary rather than nostalgic. I also initially thought that it was hilarious there was a song called The Corpse that comes directly after a love song called Lesson from Kama Sutra. And yet, the brilliance of the song sequencing became evident later when I read the last lines of Lesson from the Kama Sutra that lead into The Corpse, “Only then, take her, gently, to your desired death, and wait for her.”
5.
Tom Kovacevic-Universe Thin As Skin-Immune LP
White dude with an oud. I used to love throwing a long form track from Kovacevic’s old band Cerberus Shoal on the radio back in the 1190 days. I recall those Cerberus Shoal records were way looser and improvisational than this Kovacevic album. These are all songs of finite length. Furthermore, the instrumentation is quite sparse. Light drumming, strings, and clear vocals. I also got more than I paid for with this one, because I got introduced to Hamzaa El Din in the process. How did I miss out on El Din’s The Water Wheel all the way until 2015? Better late than never I suppose….
6.
Jerusalem In My Heart-If He Dies If If If If If If-Constellation LP
One man project Radwan Ghazi with a bunch of guest musicians recording the record in both Beirut and Montreal. The mantra like, religious style of Ghazi’s vocals, choice prepared guitar playing by Sharif Sehnaoui, and noisy song structures are the real selling points on this one. Don’t let the simulated needle tearing track make you fear for your record player’s life. Ghazi’s just fucking with us! Minor letdown: the song titles are translated, and at times seem to allude to greater meanings. Then, one of two lame things happens: the track is instrumental (a total Godspeed You move that I’ve always hated), or the song lyrics are not translated from the Arabic ( what a tease!).
7.
The Necks-Vertigo-Northern Spy LP
The Necks are a three piece on drums, bass and piano. Live, they are improvisers, but their records are much more premeditated and mixed. This is their 18th record, so you all have a bunch of catching up to do. Mr. Shaw has officially assigned you your homework! Bassist Lloyd Swanton was saying that the launch point this time around was to begin with a drone, and then to start hanging other things from it. Mission accomplished. A 42 minute “improvisation” expertly cut onto two sides of vinyl right when there is a silent moment in the action. The fidelity of the experience transfers to LP unbroken! Also, the LP has a locked groove on the end of Side B, so you can make the affair go on for ANY length of time.
8.
Louise Landes Levi-From the Ming Oracle-Sloowax LP
Two side-long improvisations within “the structural form of the raga” with Levi on sarangi, a bowed harp, and vocals. There is also a massive trombone drone provided by Hilary Jeffery. Levi’s teachers included master Indian vocalist Pandit Pran Nath and biker babe Le Monte Young. (BTW- I am still super jealous of Connor seeing Young and Zazeela doing the Dream House thing in Berlin. You lucky dog!) The sarangi has such a bright tone, and placed within this dirge like context I am ooohh so content. Only 300 of these bad boys were pressed, and Louise also stashed a book of poems inside the record jacket.
9.
(Gilles Peterson Presents) Sun Ra and His Arkestra
To Those Of Earth and Other Worlds-Strut 2LP There are millions of Sun Ra records, and lots of them have totally rad, eye-catching covers. However this one takes the cake! It has Ra on the cover nestled within all of these colorful geometric shapes. He is holding what looks like a giant version of that metallic head scratcher thingy that someone can place over your head to induce erotic egg-dripping hallucinations.
I sort of drift in and out of buying Sun Ra records. Nowadays, if I hear of a record that is a strong
deviation from the overall canon, I try and buy it. That’s how I have acquired two of my favorite Sun Ra records: Strange Strings (Sun Ra gives the band instruments to play that they’ve never seen before, and pushes record!!) and Hiroshima (devastating, solo long-form keyboard playing by just Ra himself!). From that respect, this release is a similarly intriguing deviation. It is curated by Sun Ra aficionado Gilles Peterson with the permission of the Arkestra. His choices favor lots of vocal tracks from the Sun Ra catalog, pieces that seem very improvisatory (even for Ra), and recordings that are raw and unclean. Giles also doesn’t shy away from the long form bangers like Sleeping Beauty and Blackman. Most importantly, his mix has got me playing my old Sun Ra records again. Yes!
10.
Yair Elazar Glotman-Etudes-Subtext LP
Solo contrabass playing of the highest order! Much like Colin Stetson later on in this list, the decision to record these tracks with contact microphones created a world of sound that would not normally be detected by human ears. Even after building my first contact microphone eight years ago after reading Nicolas Collins’ The Art of Hardware Hacking , I still think contact microphones are absolutely magical devices that yield new surprises with every use. Did I mention that this record has a LOT of bass?!?! The whole affair has a dark drone vibe to it, and the textural rubbing of the strings is extremely pleasurable for fans of the gesture. I’m talking about the glory of acoustic instruments here, people!
===
Charles, Colorado Eastern Plains Field Station - Dec 21, 2015
Yo, here are my favorite albums of the year:
Dean Blunt-Babyfather (follow up to 2014's brilliant record Black Metal, deep soap opera rap/grime)
James Ferraro-Skid Row (this dude is nuts)
Bjork-Vulnicura (great production and accompanying videos are amazing as well)
Stellar Om Source-Nite Glo (one of my favorite electronic composers, romantic, trancy acid)
Holly Herndon- Platform (she rules)
Lupe Fiaso-Tetsuo and Youth (Lupe is a lyrical master, lots of interesting sound design on this one, also, great album cover)
Earl Sweatshirt-I don't like shit, I don't go outside (very cool understated rap album, Music video for 'Grief' is genius)
Squarepusher-Damogen Furies (InZANE jazz fusion blasts with intense cinematic sound design)
Dekkar-Empty Bottle (an Axium Production!!)
Tyler the Creator- Cherry Bomb (interesting solo record from Odd Future prankster)
D'Angelo-Black Messiah (Heavy Record, Super Soulful)
Kendrick Lamar-To Pimp a Butterfly (ft. Thundercat, George Clinton, Kamasi Washington... very cool record, left field production from Flying Lotus and Dr. Dre and other top notch producers)
Lady Leshurr-Queen's Speech
Happy New Year everyone!
===
Eric, LoDo Field Station - Dec 21, 2015
"I just listen to early 1930's
Fletcher Henderson recordings so I probably won't bother with a list this year. An album called "Yeah Man!" on the British label HEP. That and a few 78's on VOCALION that I own. My list is not consumer friendly.
===
Uncle Jeff, Wallstreet Field Station - Dec 21, 2015
Top Ten LPs Foisted on the Consumer This Year 2015. Alright you guys, here it is! In no particular order this time around. Dig in... colored vinyl pictures on Instagram to follow :-)
Mark McGuire -
Beyond Belief 2LP (Dead Oceans)
Making New Age safe again. An opus for his new daughter, this brings the human element to an ambitious 2 LP set. This is the most accessible and constructed McGuire release to date, colored yellow & green vinyl of course.
Calexico - Edge of the Sun (City Slang)
A pleasant surprise, Calexico has been at it a while and comes back with one of their best releases since 2003's 'Feast of Wire'. Edge of the Sun has plentiful great melodies and literate songwriting, plus that x-factor of melding spaghetti western, surf and mexican music into a happy mix. Highlights include 'Cumbia de Donde' with it's cheesy 8-bit synthisizer riff which I would expect to hear blaring out of an open car in Mexico City. Not surprising, since the LP was recorded there. Get the version with the 6 extra tracks, they're all great. Turqouise & sky blue vinyls.
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty)
Finest record of Sufjan's storied career, this one is so personal it seems like a risc, but somehow elevates death and loss into a cathartic release. I think half the tracks on this will last through time and grow in meaning. Highlights include 'Fourth of July' with the lines "We're all gonna die" repeated over and over... This grew from the folksong on the LP to a massive 15 minute opus in concert filled with synths and swells and flickering fireflies. Clear vinyl.
Ryley Walker - Primrose Grean (Dead Oceans)
How a 26 year old kid can come ot of the box playing guitar like John Fahey, singing like John Martyn and channeling Bert Jansch is one of the great mysteries. Primrose Green is filled with a pastoral and loose decidedly English folk-rock vibe with a thouroughly modern spin. 'On the Banks of the Old Kisswaukee' is a good place to start. An obvious reference. Camo-green splatter vinyl.
Panabrite - Pavilion (Immune Recordings)
Uncle Jeff's fall-back corner of beautiful melodic analog synthi-lushness would not be complete without mentioning Norm Chamber's fine new release. Panabrite continues to mine modern electronica's wide open field of actual song construction conveying emotional depth, with occasional brushed acoustic guitars reminiscent of Pink Floyd's 'Grantchester Meadows'. Tasty. Pale dawn greenish-clear vinyl.
Kama
si Washington - The Epic (Brainfood)
Mind opening jazz pulling the strings of Coltrane & Miles into a broth of current expansive jazz. This 3 LP set is "Sun Ra, for people who dont think they like Sun Ra". Easily accessible, but incredibly dense... one to go back to for years to come. Thanks Tyler for turning me on to this. Epic in concert! Big fat-ass 3LP box set.
Bob Dylan - The Cutting Edge '65-'66 (Columbia)
One of the most completeist of complete session releases ever let loose, this one is like going to the Museum, and seeing the sketches and abandoned ideas of the Great Masters. There is no refuting that this was Dylan's best period for writing and inventiveness. Some of these cuts have circulated among collectors (like me) for years, but the bulk of this has been unobtanium for years. Now you can have it all. Available as an 18 CD set for half a mont's salary, the best version is the 3 LP set with some accurate cherry-picking summing up the 'Thin Wild Mercury Sound' years. Essential. If you don't like Dylan or understand, leave the room. 3LP set with a coffee table book AND the 6CD compendium.
Jamie xx - In Colour (Young Turks)
'Stranger In A Room' was the song of the year for me. Standing alone in a sweaty dripping room at the 1Up in Denver, the crowd was over-sold & over-stimulated, but the power of Jamie xx's songs were directed to the isolated listeners in the room. He used 3 turntables and crates of records to build samples and the songs off the record. No frickin' lap-top lameness... The 3LP set came out in magenta, yellow & cyan vinyl, cut at 45rpm for super-fidelity.
Kurt Stenzel -Jodorowsky's Dune (Light In the Attic)
Holy cow, late in the year, this double vinyl drops out of nowhere with a warm and oscillating soundtrack to a movie about the failed attempt to make a movie out of the greatest Sci-Fi novel ever, Dune. The equipment is all vintage, but the sounds are timeless and enveloping. There is a lot to digest here... On 'Spice" colored purple white and pink blob vinyl.
Kill West - Smoke Beach (Echo Drug)
It's in the water. Kill West is a young band out of Buenas Aires that blow the water out of the current crop of garage-revivalists with their new release 'Smoke Beach'. The music combines the gauzy-ness of shoegazers before with a meld of surf and kraut-rock. Seems obvious, but you've never heard it before like this... cavernous vocals drenched in reverb and a hint of Jesus & marychain remind me of Fields of the Nephlim and other gother's before, but the songwriting is strong and so are the drugs. Great label to watch, their vinyl is some of the tastiest colored LPs ever to emerge. On smoke translucent vinyl, of course!
===
Conor, Central Texas Field Station - Dec 21, 2015
As a gift to myself, my list is without order and uncatalogued.
Bjork - Vulnicura [One Little Indian]
A poignant breakup record as affecting as Blood on the Tracks, Third/Sister Lovers and Shoot Out the Lights, yet more honest than them all three combined.
Jasmine Guffond - Yellow Bell [Norman Records]
A gorgeous stretch of drone and drowned voice.
Dimitris Petsetakis - Endless [Into the Light]
Unreleased for 30 years, Endless is another brilliant unearthing of Greek ambient electronics.
Abul Mogard - Circular Forms [Ecstatic]
Serbian, devastating and sweeping.
Andrew Chaulk - A Light At The Edge Of The World [Faraway Press]
A dripping drifter of a release like a good neti pot of Funchal reef salt.
DJ Rashad - 6613 [Hyperdub]
RIP you funky footworkin’ freq.
Alvo Noto - Xerrox Vol. 3
Noto’s Xerrox Trilogy inspired me to explore my new favorite instrument, the Epson V600 scanner.
Joey Anderson - 1974 [Dekmantel]
Jersey City techno with gobs of swag.
Elizabethan Collar - /\\10 [Aught]
Chain Reaction meets Philly cassette corrosion. Aught is the most important post-techno label in America. Sorry Obsolete Future.
Arthur Russell - Corn [Audika]
I can finally say with certainty, Arthur Russell is my desert island artist. Each new release broadens my understanding of the island’s topography. I think we just found a waterfall!
Mike Cooper - Fratello Mare [Room 40]
Sometimes Mike Cooper sails around my island while I’m trying to picture the craters of Arthur Russell’s face superimposed across the beach. Sometimes I wave to Mike, chuck him a coconut; sometimes I show him my bush, pull my ass cheeks apart and tell him to bugger off. There’s enough guitar on Fratello Mare to give Jeff a stiffy, luckily there’s also enough tropical bird recordings to give me one as well. I often reach for the Durutti Column’s LC after this one.
Micachu - Feeling Romantic Feeling Tropical Ill [DDS]
I don’t even know how to describe this piece of filthy saffron. It’s my favorite mixtape of the year: lo-fi via haunting pseudo-classical weepers and techno without skin. Mica Levi’s score for Under My Skin (2014) is without comparison the greatest soundtrack of the decade.
Automatics - Group Summer Mix [The Death of Rave]
Collapsing ambient techno masterpiece hushed in transients, glacial filters and unrecognizable vocals.
Beatrice Dillon - Face A/B [Where to Now?]
Scronking dub techno panty dropper
William Basinski - Cascade [2062]
Another sinking monument of ephemera and melancholia.
Black Mecha - AA [The Death of Rave]
Saskatchewan winds are cooing south. Fortress Crookedjaw of WOLD forays from black metal noise to maimed electronics. What a fucking mess!
Lawrence English - Viento [Tiaga]
Lawrence English inspires me to throw everything away and dedicate the rest of my life to field recording. Viento features two unadulterated wind recordings; one from Patagonia, the other from Antarctica. Recording wind is the ultimate field recording taboo because it ruins so many recordings. Viento is a real up yours.
Peder Mannerfelt - The Swedish Congo Record
Field recordings from the Belgian Congo in the 1930s resculpted via synthesis and drum machines. It's a post-colonial mélage of cheek and criticism.
===
Dave, Larkspur Field Station - Dec 24, 2015
Go to
davealex.com for his complete rundown of 2015 including local musicians, sound clips and artwork.
===
Vagabond Danny, Arizona Field Station - Dec 25, 2015
Top 10 for 2015 are:
Jason Isbell - Something More Than Free
Joe Ely - Panhandle Rambler
Ryan Bingham - Fear and Saturday Night
Eilen Jewell - Sundown Over Ghost Town
Ray Wylie Hubbard - The Ruffian's Misfortune
Webb Wilder - Mississippi Moderne
Rhiannon Giddens - Tomorrow Is My Turn
Calexico - Edge of the Sun
Lucero - All a Man Should Do
Whitey Morgan & the 78's - Sonic Ranch
Fortunate to see Ryan, Ray, Calexico & Lucero live this year. Ryan's show was in Flagstaff to a sold-out crowd! Track down the Luther Dickinson CD Blues & Ballads on New West this February. You will not be disappointed. RIP Vagabond Danny.
= over and out for 2015 =
