YTD recordings listened to: 538
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 310
Not good music:196
Buys: 17 (not all 2012 releases)
Possibles: Le Super Borgou De Parakou, Left Lane Cruiser/James Leg, Dennis Bovell, Seluah, Donnie and Joe Emerson, Zani Diabate, Isaiah Toothtaker (2011), Ondatropica, Lianne Le Havas, Alexandra Grimal, Sidsel Endresen & Stan Westerhus, The Ones to Blame, Boyd Rivers, Abdoulaye Alhassane Toure
@@@ Terakraft – Kel Tamasheq (World Village, 2012). A lot of similarities to Tinariwen, but more uptempo and a little tighter vibe. Frankly, I was not super enthused to hear Tinariwen singing in English on their last record — it could be the beginning of the end. The second tune Aima Ymaima is most uplifting with fat choruses — I would not be surprised if there’s some sort of religious connection with this tune.
@@@ Abdoulaye Alhassane Toure: Sahara Spirit (Self-released, 2012) I got hip to this guy via a musician on my label. A little more lo-fi, but the vibe of the music is sweet, laid back but dense. His guitar picking is plucky and circularly repetitive in a very cool way.
@@@ Royal Thunder: CVI (Relapse, 2012) A more traditional metal band with a singer singing instead of shouting/shredding/ruining vocal chords (not that I don’t dig that). Very riffy and a much less compressed sound. Long epic tunes and an aesthetic not super common in today’s metal. I dig the chunkiness of the third tune Shake and Shift.
@@@ William Cody Watson: Her Tusk Was Adorned with Rose Petals (Bathetic Records, 2011) Ambient electronic music with some classical undertones and a little less static than what you sometimes find in the ambient genre. Short pieces, that’s unusual, with surreal poetic titles like ‘Tiger Eating Cake’ and ‘A Slow Immersion into Ice Water’. Waves, people, waves of sound, and a lot of panning from left to right.
Deep In the Music 