YTD recordings listened to: 723
Good music, not recommended for purchase: 452
Not good music: 223
Honorable Mentions: 9
Buys: 13
Possibles: Boyd Rivers, Chris McGregor, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Dave Arner Trio, Bill Horist, MAKU Soundsystem, Zomby, Retox, About Group, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Kendl Winter, Bone Dance, Defeater, Jonwayne, Okkyung Lee, The Ballantynes, Debruit and Aljawal, Slidhr, The Whammies, The Chewers, La Misa Negra, Alexander Hawkins, Cheryl Pyle, Toxic Holocaust, Equal Stones, Comeback Kid, Susie Iberra/Roberto Rodriguez, Eccodek, Bio Ritmo, Pacifika, Lenguas Largas
@@@ Cold World: How the Gods Chill (Deathwish Inc, 2014). Off the CFUV weekly email and while the intro is hip hop ditty, I expect some skull crusing in the immediate future. I try to check out Deathwish releases as I really liked a couple of them last year. Ah, there you go, some big rolling waves of distortion and an emo sounding singer. I really dig the guitar sounds on this but I’m not connecting with the singer — he’s a bit macho for my taste.
@@@ Cities Aviv: Come to Life (Not sure, 2014). I thought this was going to be a hip hop record but thus far it’s an ambient affair with some nice static and echoing voices. The second tune, Fool, comes out more club-y but still trippy, oh here’s the MC. I don’t like the rapping half as much as the trippy hammered marimba/xylophone run that circulates in the background. There’s some interesting arranging going on here.
@@@ Derek Piotr: Tempatament (Monotype, 2014). I have not liked a lot of the records on the Quietus best of 2014 list thus far, but this one I dig more. It’s a bit funky with a lot of ambient sounds and processed vocals. Sort of lo-fi mashed up electronica. Abstract but focused like tunes.
@@@ Echoes of Yul: Tether (Zoharum, 2014). Off said Quietus list we’ve been chewing through at a glacial pace. The second tune, Guess, is some guitar riffage with synth clouds, twinkles and synth bass over big spacious drums. You can’t stream all the tunes that are available for download but the formula is the same. The drums sound really good, the guitars not as much.
Deep In the Music 