Audiversity: December 2006

It goes without saying that all year-end lists are completely arbitrary, ones with rankings doubly so. Whether music is good or not is complete opinion, so any list of this sort is the result of one person's (or a group of persons) personal choice. It's impossible to hear every one of the 20,000+ albums released in a particular year, and even then, whether you like something or not can depend on the quality of music as much as the state of mind you happened to be in at the time of listening not to mention a million other conscious oddities of the human mind. So why make a year-end list at all you ask; it's a labor of love. It's your chance of announcing to the world what really impacted your life sonically during the last 365 days of your existence. And being the geeks we are (I'm assuming if you've gotten this far, you care enough about music to be considered in the geekdom), we like to share our tastes and, for some odd reason, be judged by them. This is by no means a cohesive list of the music that I dug in 2006; I actually had to whittle down a significant amount even to get this far. But it does reflect what I suggest to be a good starting point to deciphering the year that was 2006 in an independent musical sense, and to some of us that significantly matters. So whether you are here out of curiosity, to judge, in research or even accidentally, this is a list of 60 artists and albums in no particular order that I recommend as completely worth your much coveted earbud time and record store cash. Enjoy, because that's what year-end lists are all about.

Grizzly Bear - Yellow House / WARP

If there was one album from 2006 that was truly a treat for your eardrums it was Grizzly Bear's sophomore album, Yellow House. Originally a moniker of the solo recordings of Brookyln via Boston's Edward Droste, GB has expanded into a foursome of multi-instrumentalists whose sole desire is to tease the most gorgeous sounds possible out of their attic collection of guitars, woodwinds and hand percussion. The psychedelic post-folk of Yellow House is simultaneously epic and intimate with the help of incredibly warm, lo-fi recording and canonic song structures that layer and fold back on top of each other to create a sea of engaging frequencies. An amazing major label debut sets the bar ridiculously high for these four immensely talented fellows.

Dosh - The Lost Take / Anticon

For this third LP, Minneapolis’s finest one-man-show, Martin Dosh, completely out does himself and any prior indications of what this album could be with 12 amazing tracks of shimmering post-rock that sounds like Steve Reich reading The Books while tripping out to some Tortoise vibe. With the help of frequent tour-mate Andrew Bird as well as members of Fog and Tapes ‘n Tapes, Dosh has masterfully strewn together the warmest characteristics of all things post- into one of the best albums of the year.

Jeffrey & Jack Lewis - City & Eastern Songs / Rough Trade

On his third properly released full-length, NYC’s Jeffrey Lewis along with his brother Jack continue to hone their anti-folk sound with a great deal of success. Behind Jeffrey’s everyday voice and hyper-literate, idiosyncratic lyrics, the Lower East Side products jump back and forth from Velvet Underground-inspired rock to loosely crafted punk to wavering folk without it ever feeling particularly forced. The lyrics are incredibly specific and visual, obviously thanks to Jeffrey’s other gig as a comic book artist, but I wouldn’t call the album personal because there is a completely relatable quarter-life crisis vibe throughout. There is also a certain classic, DIY indie-rock feel to the album; as if it was recorded half structured, half improved on the bedroom 4-track after a particularly inspiring high, but with expanded instrumentation, mixing and mastering.

Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory - Tree Colored See / Mush/Rough Trade

As far as collaborations are concerned, the pairing of Elvin Estella aka Nobody, beat-driven psychedelia producer/DJ and typical Guillermo Scott Herren (Prefuse 73) touring mate/collaborator, and Mystic Chords of Memory, bedroom indie-pop duo, Chris Gunst (Beachwood Sparks) and Jen Cohen (the Aislers Set), is about intriguing as it gets. As their repertoires predict, the resulting sound is a mix of late 60s psychedelia, subtle, fractured beats, sunny folk-rock and hushed bedroom pop… what else could you ask for? Nobody paints colorful backdrops using his steady drum patterns and hazy samples while Gunst and Cohen add their respected musicianship and wistful vocals. The album is sure to swivel, bob or relax the heads of stoners, indie-hoppers and hipsters alike.

Roger O'Donnell - The Truth in Me / Great Society

Roger O’Donnell, the man stroking the keys for both The Cure and The Psychedelic Furs, was asked to contribute a song to the Moog soundtrack and he enjoyed the experience so much that he upped the ambition and set out to create an entire album solely composed and performed on the Moog Voyager, an updated monophonic analog synthesizer based on the popular keyboard of the 70s. While using a restrictive and essentially cold-sounding instrument, O’Donnell was able to side-step a sci-fi sound and instead crafts a very warm and endearing album that relies heavily on timing and tone due to its monophonic restrictions.

Testbild! - Imagine a House / Friendly Noise

Testbild! is a band with music as mysterious as their bio is, but this is Sweden we’re talking about, the land of sugary, snowflake-laced indie-pop, so their foundation is cemented in melodic pop and folk. Their innate sensibility to experiment is too strong though, and variations range from Reich-influenced loops to fragmented, jazzy song structures to plodding avant-folk to glitch-infused subtleties echoing Hood’s most serene songs. As a whole, Imagine a House is the perfect soundtrack for the hypnotic window-gazing of an urban public bus ride as your eyes trace the sweeping, unpredictable architecture of random passing neighborhoods.

Blake Miller - Together with Cats / Exit Stencil

Blake Miller’s lo-fi recordings are perfectly imperfect as multi-layered vocals drift in and out of harmony, acoustic guitar strums strive to resonate in the thin frequency bandwidth and consistent rhythms are nowhere to be found. Which you would assume equals a bad album, but Miller’s immensely strong songwriting and innate musical ability translates the imperfections into engaging bedroom folk echoing early recordings from Iron and Wine, Will Oldham and that lost Nashville charm. The 19-year-old upstart is currently in the studio recording a proper full-length though it seems like that was the request of label; as he puts it in Rain and Sunrise, “I want to be a superstar, but only in the bedroom.”

Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies / Merge

I will admit to being a latecomer to the realm of Dan Bejar. While always aware of his and fellow New Pornographer's reputation, I had just neglected to meander my way over to that province of avant-indie-pop. In my case, Rubies was a hell of an introduction as Bejar has fine-tuned his swirling psychedelia, cluttering rhythms, hyper-visual lyrics and otherworldly voice. He's in that new class of artists, that seem to be mostly Canadian, whose ear drums seem to be structured like a Picasso painting and just hear pop music in a completely different way than the rest of us. Thankfully though, Bejar and company share their unyielding musical creativity with the world, and we can get to experience just a touch of their imagination.

Coach Fingers - No Flies on Frank / Locust

Jason Meagher sounds like a man possessed. It sounds as if all of the great spirits of 60s/70s Southern Rock are battling their way to the forefront of the main Coach’s music, but none seem to really take priority over the other so styles wish and wash in and out of a song almost as if Meagher can’t control it. And while the Southern tag does define the rural, bearded swagger of Coach Fingers’ sound, the influences range much wider, especially into the realms of psychedelic rock and backwoods blues. In just one song, you can hear John Fogerty jamming with Ray Manzarek (keyboardist from The Doors) while Zappa arranges, The Free Design adds a touch of color and Pink Floyd hints on their studio trickery. Any way you define it, Meagher, and a couple of his fellow members from the No Neck Blues Band, have created a thoroughly enjoyable, challenging and unpredictable album that stays humble in its lo-fi production and does an amazing job of embracing its influences without straight copping them.

Nino Moschella - The Fix / Ubiquity

If Jamie Lidell is white independent music's Marvin Gaye, then Nino Moschella is Al Green. Where Lidell's modern blue-eyed soul is crisp and clear, Moschella brings a welcomed degree of rawness to the mix; Gaye had the streamlined, big money production of Motown, Green had the makeshift arrangements of Hi. Neither (Gaye vs Green, Lidell vs Moschella) can really be considered better, because all exist on different plains of soul music. The Fix excels with the help of the lo-fi, makeshift backing tracks to Moschella's sensual but raw voice. Live drums rattle out a backbeat, the bass sputters underneath, guitar and keyboards meander here and stumble there and Moschella yelps with urgency while hand claps, foot stomps and vocal overdubs string everything together. This is an extremely fun album that is the perfect soundtrack to your next party.

Thee More Shallows - Monkey vs Shark EP / Turn

Thee More Shallows are an indie-rock trio out of San Francisco consisting of Dee Kesler, Chavo Fraser and Jason Gonzales. For a relatively young band, they have a very mature sound, enlisting characteristics of chamber and post-rock with just a touch of goth and electronics strewn throughout. The perfectionists spent three years mixing their sophomore album, More Deep Cuts, and it has been well received causing a bit of a stir in the indie-rock press. This EP of loose ends was put out in only months after MDC and includes five new songs, including a stirring, almost stalkerish rendition of 'I Can't Get Next to You' (popularized by Al Green in the early 70s) as well as a remix by Anticon’s Odd Nosdam and Why?

Archie Bronson Outfit - Derdang Derdang / Domino

The London based trio’s blues infused garage rock packaged with shotty equipment, deceptively simple song structures and a singer that quivers as he howls seems like it was made for the dank acoustics of some hole-in-the-wall pub named after some ridiculous duke. Don’t be fooled though, the Outfit bring in influences from the 60s creative high of garage rock and the 70s colorful psychedelia, soak them in a pint full of distortion and execute in a precisely sloppy manner.

Chin Up Chin Up - This Harness Can't Ride Anything / Suicide Squeeze

Chin Up Chin Up showed infinite promise on their first full-length, a combination of mathy post-rock and ADHD Midwestern indie outbursts. For their second album, they have left hometown imprint Flameshovel for Seattle’s slightly larger Suicide Squeeze with an expanding and progressively accessible sound. Their down-to-earth foundation, anchored by Jeremy Bolen’s so-bad-its-good rasp and literate lyrics, remains intact, as well as the shifting dynamics, post-rock leanings and early Modest Mouse-like structures. Their confidence, on the other hand, is rising exponentially, and the arrangements are increasingly buoyant; sing-a-long choruses are imminent. With slightly expanded instrumentation, most notably the occasional strings, CUCU’s Midwestern avant-pop is a good direction for the band and the scene, underlying optimism, challenging musicianship and a need to have fun.

Psapp - The Only Thing I Ever Wanted / Domino

The sophomore full-length from the London-based duo of producer/programmer/studio wizard Carim Clasmann and sultry vocalist Galia Durant feature a new polished and concise sound set and ready to grace sterling white ear buds everywhere. Much like Architecturein Helsinki, Psapp enlists an attic full of bright sounding toys and odd, clunking bric-a-brac cleverly programmed by Clasmann into highly catchy sequences and curious collages. Durant’s voice is a cross between Broadcast’s Trish Keenan and Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier, and her lyrics tend to ride that perfect line between (p)sappy poignancy and, thanks to the background music, uplifting optimism.

Swan Lake - Beast Moans / Jagjaguwar

Made up of Daniel Bejar (Destroyer, New Pornographers), Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes) and Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown), three immensely creative and renown Canadian songwriters and musicians, Swan Lake paints a skewed, oddly colored creature not wholly unlikable, but attractively weird in the same way… well Destroyer, Frog Eyes and Sunset Rubdown are. At the same time what you’d expect and surprising, Beast Moans gurgles, hiccups and purrs through 13 songs of fractured indie-rock both brittle and confident, detached and sentimental, anxious and reflective… you get the point.

Califone - Roots & Crowns / Thrill Jockey

Califone is very much a band living in a world all their own. Their blend of folk, blues and Appalachia may not be a combination out of the usual, but the eclectic accentuations of electronics, noise, hand percussion and odd instrumentation send their sound spiraling into a completely new stratosphere. With an incredibly inviting atmosphere and warm, unobtrusive tones, Roots & Crowns tantalizes yours ears and soul into a state of enchanting hypnosis. The songs are complexly structured and masterfully played with an apparent perfectionist approach to detail, but generously remain accessible and welcoming. This is Chicago music to the core with its loyalty to artists past and unyielding spirit to push forward.

The Low Lows - Fire on the Bright Sky / Warm

Fire on the Bright Sky is a wonderfully intriguing album. An enormous sound of melodic explosions and dissonant feedback struggles to release itself from your speakers, but is continuously held back by the lo-fi recording techniques/equipment making the tension that much more tumultuous. Made up of three-fourths of former NYC band Parker and Lily, The Low Lows (named after P & L’s final album) ride a line between Jim James leaning alt-country and the raucous rock of The Velvet Underground never completely aligning itself with either side of the spectrum. P.L. Noon’s voice demands your utmost attention while sloppy guitars and teasing organs do everything they can to loosen his fragile grasp and asphyxiate him beneath their sea of feedback. At times this record sooths and caresses, seconds later it’s making a murderous beeline for your throat which obviously makes for an immersing listen that will repeatedly keep you coming back for more.

A Cloud Mireya - Singular / Eastern Developments

Guillermo Scott Herren's teaming with Claudia Deheza of On!Air!Library! is the latest in his series of fantastic projects, i.e. Prefuse 73, Piano Overlord, etc. Most closely resembeling the Savath & Savalas moniker, A Cloud Mireya shares the same ethereal beauty and sonic pleasantness but without the cultural focus; instead including a large barrage of influences from bossa nova to psychedelia to folk and many, many more. Structured and arranged by Herren utilizing his unparalleled touch of laptop manipulation and caring ear for melodic layering, Singular showcases the numerous talents of both artists involved. Deheza's angelic croon flutters through each song like a hummingbird in search of the most colorful flower blossom, and her voice is just the sonic material that Herren loves to weave textures from. Sadly though, this was a vastly overlooked album upon its release and barely registered on the map.

A Hawk and a Hacksaw - The Way the Wind Blows / Leaf

A Hawk and a Hacksaw, the brainchild of former Neutral Milk Hotel drummer Jeremy Barnes, built it’s following by exploring 20th century American music, but for their third album in as many years, Barnes has dove into the mesmerizing world of Eastern European Balkan music. After finding himself in the Moldovan village of Zece Prajini, Romania, Barnes became obsessed with the mixture of Jewish and gypsy music that remained intact since the early 20th century. With the help of local group, Fanfare Ciocarlia, the beginnings of The Way the Wind Blows was recorded; notably the music is not representative of traditional Romanian music, but a progressive fuse of both artists’ personalities. Back in the states, AHAAH’s other member, Heather Trost, and Zach Condon, the young and very talented trumpet player better known as Beirut, rounded out the recording to create a very intriguing and compelling album that is both very influenced and individual in itself.

Madlib - Beat Konducta, Vol. 1-2 / Stones Throw

This CD collection of the two Beat Konducta vinyl-only releases finds Madlib in his comfort zone: sitting alone in the hazy Bomb Shelter tapping out wonderfully askew instrumental hip-hop jams that are oddly familiar but always completely individual. With 35 tracks in just under an hour, each of the songs featured here only last for about a minute-and-a-half which is just enough time to clearly define itself as bangin' before stepping aside for the next to take the stage. Without emcees, Madlib's production is the focus and even at a microscopic level the seams between samples are invisible though you obviously know they are there (and without the use of a computer!). As one of the few releases solely under the Madlib moniker in Otis Jackson's gigantic discography, Beat Konducta stands up easily to the reputation and expectations of the name synonymous with highly creative hip-hop.

Milosh - Meme / Plug Research

For his latest outing on Plug Research, Meme, Milosh concocts 11 strong songs with absolutely no fillers (of which plagued his debut album). An extremely delicate album featuring no more than Milosh’s almost R&B, whispery voice teamed with gentle micro-electronica and layered keyboards, Meme is the perfect progression for the one-man show. The songs build in layers, never sitting still, but never overpowering, constantly soundtracking a slew of emotions, all of which fall on the love/longing side of the spectrum. Not meant for being the center of attention, Meme is beautiful background music for the tail end of a party, a contemplative night alone and of course, a sloppy, sensual session of making-out.

The Octopus Project & Black Moth Super Rainbow - The House of Apples and Eyeballs / Graveface

Now nearly two years since their last album, The Octopus Project is back and this time teaming with Black Moth Super Rainbow, a like-minded Pittsburgh outfit who lives in a world of cartoonish psychedelia, for a one-of-a-kind collaboration. Over a full year, the bands traded material back and forth with each group listening intently, deciding that they could skew a notch better, completely dismantling the track and rebuilding it with new vibrant sounds in structures so ridiculous that they would make a Doozer blush a reddish-green. Like power drills somehow making sweet love to colorful balloons, each song is constructed from poppy keyboard and theremin melodies, over-modulated blasts of guitar, stumbling, half-drunk rhythms and an assortment of other indiscernible sounds from either broken or mutated instruments.

Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped / Geffen

The now O’Rourke-less original Sonic Youth line-up continue their strand of Velvet Underground/Stooges inspired indie-rock showcasing their ever-maturing songwriting and letting the noise remain, but subtly in the background. As with ‘Sonic Nurse’, Kim Gordon remains a pivotal vocal force singing on a third of the album and adding an extra dynamic to the album. While a few songs do verge on bland, tracks like ‘Rats’ and ‘Turquoise Boy’ echo the noisy Sonic Youth of old, and the rest feature a comfortable teaming of the past and present. ‘Rather Ripped’ stands as yet another solid album from the aging veterans of all things indie, and hopefully not their last.

Sparklehorse - Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain / Capitol

Nearly 5 years since the last Sparklehorse record, singer/songwriter Mark Linkous returns with his fuzzy rural-pop for another demographic-spanning attack on the music industry. With the help of music conspirators Dangermouse, Tom Waits and Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips, Linkous crafts hushed ditties that melt Beatles-esque melodies into a sea of fuzzy guitars, quivering moogs and gurgling electronics. As with previous albums, Sparklehorse seems to have the ability to please fans of mainstream and indie music alike, a trademark of fellow-travel bands like The Flaming Lips and Grandaddy. The production excels at appearing lo-fi and Linkous’s subdued vocals retain the bedroom quality of this particular brand of pop music (while on a major label budget).

Subtle - For Hero: For Fool / Lex

I once described Subtle’s sound as the aural equivalent of postmodern abstractionism, a sort of skewed refinement. Well for the second full-length from the Oakland sextet, the analogy remains appropriate, but their music this time around has a particular crispness to it, less bedroom, more studio. Think a Rauschenberg recreated with Photoshop. This is no knock on Anticon stalwarts Doseone, Jel and company, but For Hero: For Fool does miss some of the immediacy because of the polish especially for a sound so fractured; the mistakes and restrictions of lo-fi equipment contain a lot of character. I am impressed with the progression of their almost indefinable avant-hop meets chamber pop sound though, it remains as unpredictable and surprising as ever.

Jab Mica Och El - ABC Hej I'm Cola / Ache

So next time you are looking for a CD to listen to while riding your Scooty Puff Junior over the sugary, multi-colored hills of Mars enjoying the playful dances of the little green Martians clad in bright orange spandex, racing the flying rainbowed seahorses to the third pineapple tree past kool-ade lake and basking among the giant tulips with a 64-ounce margarita as miniature orangutans cartwheel in complicated spirals all around you… I suggest the Danish duo Jab Mica Och El. The aptly titled ABC Hej I’m Cola is a microfractured joy of elastic instruments, bouncing blips and bobbing bloops meticulously programmed into structures that would make Frank Lloyd Wright proud. Like The Books on a mammoth sugar rush or the pop side of Mouse on Mars, Jab Mich Och El tweak and bend their instrumentation to its brink before letting it snap back to familiarity evoking infinite grins from the listener.

Daedelus - Denies the Day's Demise / Mush

Daedelus and his dancing, twinkling, sample triggering magic box (which makes abundantly more sense if you have seen his amazing live shows) have always made for interesting listens, but each album seems to contain a few enlightening moments and a bunch of excursions into confusing territory. Finally, on his fifth full-length in five years, the Santa Monica producer has found just the right niche to fully realize his immensely creative ideas without over exhausting the audience. Most beneficial is his turn to more Latin and South American influences, which gives the music a much more inviting aura than the mechanical IDM and techno he typically utilizes. Finally, here is the album that lives up to his fantastic chops and debonair coattails.

Born Ruffians - Born Ruffians EP / Domino

The last indie-rock EP I heard with this amount of youthful exuberance, creative intensity and limitless potential was Bloc Party’s self-titled EP, and we all know what’s happened to them. That vibe you get when you’re absolutely sure that you are listening to the next big thing is almost visibly spewing from the Born Ruffians’ 6-song self-titled debut (the eerie parallel to B.P. is ridiculous). Stylistically the Ontario trio plays a completely infectious brand of loose, jaunty indie-rock, as if The Libertines were influenced by angular art-punk rather than pub rock. Front man Luke Lalonde sounds like the long lost son of Frank Black Francis and sings with the energy of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s Alec Ounsworth while bassist Mitch DeRosier and drummer Steve Hamelin yelp background vocals that would make Isaac Brock swell with pride. The music is attacked with an angular pop approach keeping things minimal but never lacking with unexpected turns at every corner.

Dr. Who Dat? - Beat Journey / Lex

Dr. Who Dat?, Lex’s next superstar producer in grooming (following in the steps of Dangermouse), may be the most promising beatsmith to emerge in the last few years and with time could someday climb the Mt. Olympus of hip-hop (where Dilla and Madlib sit atop). Influenced by his extended stays in Philly, NYC and Houston, Jneiro Jarel flips beats with creativity and gusto easily servicing the title of a poor man’s Dilla. His instrumental songs tend to derive from jazz and Brazilian samples while doing a good of job of not becoming redundant by trailing off at the 3-minute mark. An extremely promising producer, Jarel is already receiving praise from the likes of Q Tip, Spinna and more while working on some new Pharcyde tracks.

HiM - Peoples / Bubblecore

Taking elements of Miles’ fusion, dub, jazz, post-rock, afrobeat and rootsy reggae, Doug Scharin and his rotating cast of characters always are on top of their game with tight, percussion-oriented compositions. Recorded during 2004, ‘Peoples’ sat on the shelf for two years before its official release, and it was well worth the wait. Featuring guitarist Josh Larue and multi-instrumentalist Adam Pierce (Bubblecore, Mice Parade), the songs are well-crafted and precise centering mostly around polyrhythmic percussion grooves and marimba or vibraphone melodies. It is yet another exceptionally solid release from Scharin as his painfully underrated and underexposed outfit continues to evolve and please the knowing fans to no end.

Four Tet - Remixes / Domino

This 2-disc set compiles 12 Four Tet remixes and 12 remixed originals from a wide array of singles, 7 inches and internet exclusives which will save you the time it would take scouring the internet for them. From Radiohead to Pole, from Jay Dee to Beth Orton, Kieran Hebden fans are as diverse as his music is, and his respecting peers had their work cut out in trying to out-creative the creative mastermind himself. There is not a dull track on either disc and this comp is essential for any Four Tet fan and progressive music lover alike.

The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely / 4AD

Prolific songwriter John Darnielle returns with his 4th full-length since leaving the analog 4-track behind and stepping to the big stage with 4AD. Get Lonely finds Darnielle seemingly drained from the gloves-off autobiographical struggle that was The Sunset Tree, and in a much calmer, reflective mood… almost as if he is still lying spread-eagle on the boxing-ring floor exhausted and sporting a wicked black eye. Obviously, the hyper-literate lyrics are still center-stage, but the accompaniment is stripped way back, typically just Darnielle’s feisty acoustic and a radiant piano with additional appearances by cello, shuffling drums, vibraphone and even a few horns. Producer and studio-wizard Scott Solter does a good job matching the somber lyrical tones with an appropriate musical backdrop that is just as subtly distressing as Darnielle himself.

Outkast - Idlewild / LaFace/Zomba

Probably the most unexpected entry to the list, I very much enjoyed Idlewild the album and movie. Obviously, this is no Outkast circa the late 90s, but who really expected it to be? It is what it appears to be, a heavily cinematic and epic hour-plus album of highly polished rap-pop songs. But this is Outkast we're talking about, a name synonymous with creativity and quality hip-hop and they deliver on point with maturity and ease. They will certainly not be winning any street cred here, but I'll be damned if this isn't one of the most fun rap records I've ever heard. Big Boi continues to surpass his counterpart with his bouncing rhymes and unrelenting breathless verses of streetwise prose, while Andre 1936 persists in his adventures into undiscovered worlds of pop-hop and, for the most part, continues to excel in qwirk. Again, Idlewild is not the groundbreaking rap Outkast has come to symbolize, but it's incredibly fun and enjoyable and sometimes that's all you want.

Tortoise - A Lazarus Taxon / Thrill Jockey

In the late 60s, Miles Davis bravely crossed a clearly defined line infusing his wailing free-jazz with rock into the then unthinkable genre we now call fusion; in the early 90s (the heyday of pure grunge remember), Tortoise once again stepped across this line blending their textural post-rock with free jazz (not to mention drum n bass, Brazilian music of all kinds, ambient, dub, IDM, etc etc) into a genre dubbed fringe-rock. Evoking a similar wave as Miles, Tortoise somewhat reluctantly led the new breed of rock musicians specializing in a textural, challenging and hypnotic clash of rhythm and melody; a much needed cerebral escape from the predictable cock rock of the day. A Lazarus Taxon (the paleontological term for a reappearing species) is not an anthology, but more of an ode to the band’s ideal of never concluding with a finished product, that there were always more possibilities to be realized. Made up of rarities, remixes and compilation tracks, it is a 3-disc (and 1 DVD) ark of ambition, experimentation and wonderful creativity.

TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain / Interscope

With OK Calculator, TV on the Radio raised many a curious eyebrow with their 4-track antics, with Young Liars they emerged as an amazingly innovative band with infinite potential, with Desperate Youth, they began to realize their musical prowess with intriguing experimentation and finally, with Cookie Mountain, they blossom as the most inventive, interesting and indefinable band in quite possibly the entire music industry. In retrospect, the biggest void in early TotR was the restrictions set in by using a mechanical drum machine, but a void no more as Jaleel Bunton finally gives the band a human enough backbeat, whether it be in the style of marching bands or mile-a-minute prog, to complete the textural centrifuge already stirring between Adibimpe and Malone’s swirling vocals, Sitek’s embankment of sound and the barrage of instrumentation that encompasses each song.

Darc Mind - Symptomatic of a Greater Ill / Anticon

Slated for a ’97 release date, emcee Kevroc and DJ/producer GM Webb D aka X-Ray finally finished their 2-year in the making hip-hop opus that embraced the 15-year existence of NYC rap right down to the rawest snare clap as well as keeping a steady eye on the future of the game, insisting on pushing the genre forward. Already jaded by the business end of the music industry, the duo known as Darc Mind took a career ending blow as their label, Loud(/RCA) folded and Symptomatic of a Greater Ill would seemingly never see the light of day. Nearly 10 years later, avant-hop crew Anticon steps in and finally gives the album a chance to see the light of day. Falling somewhere between the near-perfect Illmatic and Cannibal Ox’s The Cold Vein, Symptomatic teams Kevroc’s feisty baritone and top-tier phrasing with X-Ray’s simple but effective production and snare-steady beats. You have to wonder if the album would have had any influence on late-90s rap, but as it is, it’s certainly an eye-opening artifact in the evolution of NYC rap.

The Cheebacabra - Exile in the Woods / Mackrosoft

Holy shit is this a skeletal funk-fusion gem, tight drum grooves, synthesizers… um synthesizing from every angle, boisterous bass and the occasional trumpet/sax/clavinet/melodica solo, future-funk finally has it’s bandleader. Who is this funky man of mystery? I have no idea, but he calls himself Cheeba and he has his credentials. Drafted into the Dust Brothers (Beck, Santana, Madonna, etc) production team at 18, Mr. Cheeba honed his skills before departing on his own which was followed with the soundtrack to ‘Fight Club,’ his label Mackrosoft started with his brother Aja West and a critically acclaimed 2003 debut album under the Cheebacabra moniker. This follow-up doesn’t come close to disappointing either; songs range from stripped down Curtis Mayfield on 'The Annunciation' to Blaxploitation meets the Mario Bros. on 'Chatter' to voiceless Barry White on 'The Treehouse.'

Adem - Love and Other Planets / Domino

Adem Ilhan has an amazing talent of patch working endearing and meandering folk songs with unconventional percussive patterns, burbling glockenspiels, teasing acoustic, textured synths and cooing samples. Co-mixed with Fridge bandmate Kieran Hebden (Four Tet), a welcomed, like-minded and frequent collaborator, Love picks up where Homesongs left off while letting Adem take another step closer to perfecting his pastoral, lovesick folk. His unobtrusive and instantly warming voice is still center-stage with lyrics dripping in optimistic humanism, but I constantly find myself losing his voice in the mix and embracing the song as a whole thanks to the inventive musical palette provided. Love is a wonderful and intimate record that is undeniably sexy, in the sensual sense.

Bob Dylan - Modern Times / Columbia

Part of Bob Dylan’s attraction as a wily, prophetic youth was his warbling joke of a singing-voice that proudly displayed in bright blaring lights: substance over appearance. 40+ years later and 30 studio albums under his belt, Dylan’s voice should be squeezed dry of the youthful exuberance, but instead it has aged endearingly into your grandparent’s world-wise neighbor who enjoys reminiscing in the past and pointing out what’s wrong with the world, but all while snickering about his immature antics at the bar last night. Modern Times is a collection of re-imagined folk songs brought to your ears care of a precisely loose backing band and Dylan’s wavering blues ramble that continually contradicts the album’s mood and direction thanks to his equal affection of rock, blues, folk, R&B and jazz. The subject matter is primed for the flashing clarity concerning love, mortality and politics that comes about 4 or 5 drinks into the night and the rollicking vibe accentuates this as well.

Dudley Perkins - Expressions (2012 A.U.) / Stones Throw

Carving an immensely individual niche, Dudley pairs a truly distinctive voice with mischievous lyrics about his favorite subjects, weed, music, women and his god (whom, in the final track, he has a conversation with about his proud addiction to marijuana). While the album is solid as a whole, the first five tracks are simply amazing in comparison to his sporadic debut. Madlib paints a colorful canvas of 70s funk and soul, while Dudley enlists his strongest assets to the nth degree, unconventional note-hanging and scatting with unparalleled adlibs and vocal layering. His debut definitely left questions about where could he go, if anywhere, from there; ‘Expressions’ is a potent answer, but only really entices more questions about the possibilities of Dudley and his beloved music.

Extra Golden - Ok-Oyot System / Thrill Jockey

The four-piece band dubbed Extra Golden is made up of two pairs of musicians separated by 7000 miles of earth, water and culture, but when brought together in a musical context sound as if they grew up jamming in a garage with each other. Ian Eaglson (DC’s Golden), Alex Minoff (Golden, Weird War), Otieno Jagwasi and Onyango Wuod Omari (both of Kenya’s Orchestra Extra Solar Africa) team American boogie blues with Kenya’s popular guitar-heavy dance music, benga, for a groove-heavy album of amazingly toned, interweaving guitars dancing over a traditional benga beat and life-worn lyrics (Ok-oyot translates to “it’s not easy”) sung in both English and Luo. Recorded mostly in one afternoon in a crudely constructed Kenyan club, Ok-Oyot System is an once-in-a-lifetime album, especially singe Jagwasi passed away in May 2005.

Michael Columbia - Stay Hard / Galapogos4

This collaboration between Need New Body's David McDonnell and Icey Demon's Dylan Ryan, deemed Michael Columbia, is certainly not as noisy as you would expect, but still builds on the Faust and mid-70s experimental rock and jazz influences so heavily present on their early projects. This time they opt for much more relaxed and ear-friendly compositions, even swaying them into the avant-pop field similar artists like Why? (minus the goofy but loveable singing). If this 6-song EP is any indication, the potential on this group is extremely exciting. With synthesizers, layered electronics, live drumming, an Eddie Harris-inspired sax and a slew of other indefinable sounds constantly twisting in a slow-moving psychedelic swirl, you have to wonder how the sound is crafted by just two people.

Oh No - Exodus into Unheard Rhythms / Stones Throw

For his second full-length, Madlib's younger sibling, Oh No, clears away some of the cluttered haziness that plagued his promising debut to focus down on exceptional sampling and production with heavy guest emcee use. Granted full access to heralded composer/arranger Galt MacDermot’s gigantic back-catalogue by the man himself, Oh No passed out 70+ beats to his favorite emcees and then whittled down the responses to the best 19 for the album. From veterans like De La Soul’s Posdnous and DITC’s AG to unheralded underground rappers like Wordsworth and Frank N Dank, ‘Exodus’ gives a wide-range of styles all held down by Oh No’s tight production.

Señor Coconut - Yellow Fever! / Essay

The brilliantly named Señor Coconut, or German DJ/producer Uwe Schmidt who left the dismal blandness of Germany for the bright colors of Chile, has already produced albums consisting of Latin Big Band covers of Kraftwerk, Sade and Michael Jackson, and this time he is paying homage to Japan’s answer to Kraftwerk, the Yellow Magic Orchestra. With all three original members on board to contribute, as well as a full ensemble of Latin Jazz artists and other more electronic-minded artists like Mouse on Mars, Towa Tei and Burnt Friedman, Schmidt had ample and able musicians and creative minds to give YMO a proper Latin makeover. The results are amazing and sound truly like authentic Latin music for the most part, and I would assume that most unaware listeners would consider it to be just that.

The Brown Party - The Brown Party / self-released

With a DIY attitude (they design, print and package all of their own releases and promos) and undeniable pop sensibilities, The Brown Party fuse a Stereolab-inspired sound with falsetto voices and ample percussion. Taking cues from 60s pop, psychedelia, jazz, Krautrock and worldly rhythms, they layer keyboards, percussion, guitar and an assortment of other instruments (from sitar to glockenspiel) into pulsing jams of rhythmic avant-pop. Think a less schizophrenic Of Montreal with a love of Fela-inspired keyboard hooks, harmonic layering and Krautrock experimentation.

Various Artists - Congotronics 2 / Crammed

These ensembles of musicians, recorded by engineer/producer Vincent Kenis, have left the Congo bush to settle in the capital and are bringing their individual musical styles with them. The need for more amplification has led the groups to concoct their own equipment of homemade instruments and amplifiers that has heavily influenced the evolution of their music. The result is a new genre of African music that is almost indescribable, less formulaic than afrobeat or highlife, more African than krautrock, less repetitive than ethnic dance music, and more modern than tribal music. Every one of the 6 groups featured on the disc is bringing their own style, instrumentation, equipment and culture to their music, so every song is one in it’s own. It makes for a very interesting and intriguing listen that is like nothing else; trash can percussion, layered harmonies, over-amplified electronics, lead singers screaming through megaphones and swirling, half-working keyboards all float in and out of the mix.

Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds / Tomlab

Final Fantasy's first album, 2005’s ‘Has a Good Home,’ gave the Canadian wonder, Owen Pallett, the chance to let his classically inspired string arrangements be the song rather than just an accentuation and the results were promising to say the least. Master of the loop pedal, his songs really brought new light to the possibilities of orchestrational music in modern indie-rock through layers of chamber music. Pallett returns with his ensemble of strings, piano, harpsichord, percussion and voice to further develop his sound with much success. The music remains consistently appealing, and the biggest void in the last album, his individual but extremely hit-or-miss voice, is coming into its own. The album also won the prestigous Polaris Music Prize, the Canadian equivalent of the Mercury Prize.

Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid - The Exchange Sessions / Domino

A collaboration between musicians, genres and generations, the teaming of Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid is one of infinite promise and exciting results. Steve Reid is one of the few remaining jazz drumming legends; beginning as a Motown session drummer, he backed an amazing range of artists from James Brown to Sun Ra to Fela Kuti to Miles Davis and on and on, compiling a forte of mammoth proportions. Kieran Hebden is best known for his folktronic work as Four Tet and also as one third of post-rock experimenters Fridge. With Reid on drums and Hebden on electronics/samples/triggers, the duo create an indefinable sound that spits, gurgles, swirls and transports the listener into a completely different aural world. Recorded without overdubs or any foreseen arrangements, the excitement of improvisation is strewn throughout keeps the music unpredictable.

Tom Ze - Estudando o Pagode / Luaka Bop

When I turn 70, I just hope that I have not completely lost my hearing nonetheless remaining active and creative; Brazilian music revolutionary Tom Zé on the other hand is still composing 7 decades deep and bringing the same quirky, complex Brazilian pop that he was at a spry 33 as a part of the Tropicaliá movement in 1969. Zé’s latest offering, the operetta ‘Estudando o Pagode,’ finds the composer/back-porch musician still atop his seemingly endless creative plateau mixing the best characteristics of Brazilian pop, MPB, samba-pagode, progressive rock and all around instrumental and studio playfulness. The thick overall concept of the record will be more than lost on all of us non-Portuguese speaking listeners, but fun music is fun music and this is ridiculously fun music.

The Coup - Pick a Bigger Weapon / Epitaph

A good rap album should be political and humorous, racy and ridiculous, forward thinking and reminiscent, not mention funky as hell, and 15-year veterans of the political rap scene, The Coup, do just that as they drop the irresistible Pick a Bigger Weapon. Emcee Boots Riley and DJ Pam the Funkstress return after a five-year hiatus with the second best rap album of 2006 (behind Ghostface’s Fishscale). Boots’ always present political activism shines brightly through his lyrics, but it never gets too serious with a healthy does of comic-relief strung throughout the album. His vocal styling never flat-lines as he raps with emphasis and vigor, coloring each track with his off-kilter rhyme schemes and odd syllable stresses. The music is boisterous and damn funky as well, echoing Parliament and Prince from start to finish.

Georgia Anne Muldrow - Worthnothings EP / Stones Throw

Georgia Anne Muldrow’s future funk-soul sound fits so snuggly into the Stones Throw niche its eerie. Written, composed and produced solely by her lonesome, this debut EP is an emotional, multi-layered take on deep soul with a gritty hip-hop pulse that echoes back to free jazz and more specifically, Sun Ra vocalist June Tyson. Coming from a deeply musical family, her fathered invented instruments for Eddie Harris and her mother performed with experimental soul-jazz pioneer Pharoah Sanders, its easy to decipher Muldrow’s influences, but her strongest characteristic seems to be the freshness she brings to the hip-hop/soul/funk genre. The EP, originally self-released in 2004, sounds simultaneously modern and classic, not to mention light-years ahead of what the now 22-year-old singer should sound like at her age.

Juana Molina - Son / Domino

Building on her previous two albums, Segundo and Tres Cosas, Molina creates delicately intricate Spanish folk songs enhanced infinitely by an array of swirling instrumentation and bubbling electronics. Produced, recorded and mixed on her own, Son is simultaneously laid back and adventuresome with Molina’s soft voice as the centerpiece in her musical un-still life. She layers each song tenfold with light, and typically fun, scatting, acoustic guitar, warm keyboards and a variety of ethnic percussion. The metaphor made with her artwork seems the most appropriate, sheets of softly colored cloth and tapestry unorthodoxly stitched and embroidered into invigorating patchwork landscapes.

São Paulo Underground - Sauna: Um, Dois, Tres / Aesthetics

São Paulo Underground is a project featuring cornetist Rob Mazurek of the Chicago Underground collectives, Mandarin Movie and Isotope 217 and percussionist and electronics manipulator Mauricio Takara of Hurtmold and M. Takara as well as a slew of local Brazilian musicians. The music, as expected, his heavily influenced by Brazil and it’s wide variety of traditions and customs, especially the rebellious Tropicália, the heavily percussive maracatu and Brazil’s most famous native style, samba. Of course Mazurek and Takara also enlist their personal styles deriving from free jazz, minimalist electronica and dub. Sauna: Um, Dios, Três is as collage of Brazilian influences and ideas, taking as much significant inspiration from Pernambuco’s colorful Afro-Brazilian maracatu nação performances as São Paulo's impossibly dense traffic jams. In just one song, styles weave in and out of electronic noise while Takara holds down a drumbeat buried softly in the background, Mazurek’s cornet appears sporadically adding a splash of color to the musique concrète, and instruments are reversed creating sweeping brush strokes that lavishly paint over mysteriously dubbed vocals. You can hear Gilberto Gil

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