Ooof. I don't quite know what happened here. I was really clipping along for a second. Banging out almost monthly missives for at least the first half of the year. The last time I made an earnest effort at doing this I began assembling a new post some time in the late summer. It started with this unfortunate first sentence:
"I was recently celebrating a momentous life event when I made the mistake of scanning my telephone to read that the gulf stream could collapse as early as 2025."
I guess I was tooling around with a concept about framing the summer's best releases as specific devices for coping with contemporary feelings of angst and dread. Those which appealed to my sense of escapist nostalgia (see Famous Mammals Ínstant Pop Expressionism Now!), for example, or others that really grounded me in the shit (anything on Lost Domain). But it felt a little dark and I wasn't enjoying writing it. I've been actively spending far more of my time offline since. The bad news hasn't really abated, but my conscious engagement with it has. The unintended consequence of which has been that I'm also a bit less inclined to hang out in a google doc composing 2000 word essays that approximately 55 people will maybe read.
Good things keep happening, too, of course. As do excellent releases (this past November alone has been bananas). So I return to you now, more excited about the state of sonic affairs than I've been all year. Looking back, there's loads to recommend. And while I could labour through the exercise of punching up some thematic essay about what it all means to me in the aggregate, I'm less inclined to do so than I was when I started this newsletter last winter. I'd also rather save the proverbial ink (and literal time) to highlight the individual LPs I dug the most. I hate ranked lists, so everything below is gonna be organised chronologically by release date (we'll break it down month by month). I'll blurb a bit for the records I liked best and do basic links for all other notables of each month too. If I happen to have already written about something I'm listing here, I'm just gonna recycle the original post. That means the blurbs of releases from Jan to June may be something you've already read before. Everything from June onwards will be new, however.
Let's just get down to it.
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JANUARY
Core of the Coleman — Klein Bottles (Ikuisuus)
This tape—from the ever reliable Ikuisuus—starts off positively sizzling. It opens with a blared signal pushed to such a decibel that it's difficult to decipher what instrument, exactly, is generating the sound. It then patiently mellows into a long-form collage of swirling electric pianos and what sounds like a (possibly synthesised?) vibraphone (tasteful nods to Reich and Riley abound). It's a striking piece of music that deftly ebbs between noise and melody, all while forming a sonic cocoon that feels restorative and relaxing. The B side is similarly effective; another long journey that alternates between cluttered gurgling and slow melodic ground swells. When percussive elements do enter the picture, they're buried underneath layers of sound to such an extent you may think they're coming through the wall you share with your neighbour. It's a super heady and stunning release.
best of the rest…
FEBRUARY
Conrad Pack — DOMA4 EXP (Lost Domain)
Lost Domain is easily the best new label of the year, if not the best label of the year, period. I've dug everything they've put out; from their inaugural release (Conrack Pack—DOMA4), to their most recent (Erin Hopes—Lucid Dreaming). That I've chosen to blurb this specific digital only release is somewhat arbitrary. I'm honestly tempted to write about all of them. Part of the label's appeal is just how consistently resonant the vibe has been for me. I've found myself a little bored of most of the predominant trends of a lot of modern electronic music. It's usually either too crisp and digital, too online sounding, or too much of an escapist "good time". This release in particular helped me clarify what I think I'm most after these days; looping, repetitive, mean, and home-made sounding industrial techno.
Cosmic Drag — Bo (Stoned to Death)
This is a jagged and hostile offering of noise rock with transcendent moments of smeared psychedelia. Peaking signals are processed into hypnotic rhythms as eerie formless vocal melodies blur into occasional focus. I'd be tempted to describe it as psychotic if the big picture of it didn't feel so well put together. It's all a bit reminiscent of Hanson Records or Paw Tracks in the early aughts, which I've found myself feeling pretty nostalgic for this year, somehow.
Jef Mertens — No Mathematics (KRAAK)
This outstanding drone record blends a range of borrowed psychedelic motifs into a rich brew that is at once both highly original and expertly studied. Bookended by two stunning tracks anchored in the heady reference tones of a shruti box, the five longform tracks that make up No Mathematics glide between reedy hums, cascading zithers, and waves of feedback strobed through heavy tremolo units. Substantial parts of the album evoke something I might describe as 4-track Fluxus; a soundtrack for turning grotty practice spaces and modest bedrooms into temporary Dream Houses. In other places the drones sound as doped-out as they do psychedelic, à la the early offerings of Peter Kember/Spectrum, say. Taken collectively, No Mathematics plays a bit like meditative head music for people who have little to no interest in wellness whatsoever. Which is to say, it's a psych album for noise creeps.
best of the rest…
MARCH
Günter Schlienz — Current [Muzane Editions]
I hadn't heard Günter Schlienz until last year's "Music that Glows in the Dark" (Eiderdown Records), but he is now likely my favourite contemporary synth-focused artist. If spacious, meditative, and psychedelic moonscapes are your cup of tea you can lose yourself in his robust discography for ages. This release from March on Osaka's Muzane Editions is particularly dazzling (he somehow has, impossibly, 3 new releases so far this April). While never dark or sinister in sound (though Schlienz does that palette well on other releases, too), the compositions gathered here on this release are so vital and concentrated in tone and delivery that listening to them feels like the aural equivalent of bathing in solar flares.
Haudat — Energiavampyyri [Satatuhatta]
Exquisite harsh toke comprised of two side-long scorchers. Each composition is bifurcated into channels of hiss and static so dense and (occasionally) rhythmic that they produce a magic sensation of thrust and forward motion. It's like struggling to stand on the prow of a cigarette boat being launched through a toxic fog. Maybe it's my un-diagnosed adhd, but I find the sensation this record produces strangely relaxing. It also features some of my favourite album artwork of the year.
best of the rest…
APRIL
Little Skull — untitled [Horn of Plenty/Anomolous]
If someone blindly put this on for me and told me it was a demo for Obscure Records that somehow didn't happen, I would believe them. This is flawless homespun ambient music in a classic fashion. To listen to it is like watching rain fall on a placid lake in slow motion through a veil of smoke rings. Its moments of pure texture are focused and time-dilating. Its moments or melody are utterly enchanting and (dare I say it…) Satie-like. And — much as I'm prone to gush about a synth record or something made in ableton — nothing quite does it for me as much as a record this transportive and meditative being composed of looped strings, bells, tines, and minimal electronics. I love that there is audible tape hiss over everything, too.
Saul Adamczewski—Adventures in Limbo [Juicy Juice]
Saul Adamczewski—Music of Hate Songs of Frustration Jigs of Lust [self-released]
I've been anticipating the release of Saul Adamczewski's solo debut, Adventures in Limbo, since the rumours about it started in 2020 or so. I was never much interested in the Fat White Family outside of a small handful of Saul-sung tunes that crop up throughout their discography (see the Christmas card "The Drones" or the closer "Goodbye Goebels" from the second FWF LP for reference). I've also been mixed about Saul fronted FWF spin-off, Insecure Men, where I often felt objectively great songs were occasionally over-stylised. Starting sometime around 2018/2019 a series of true "solo" performances started circulating as videos online; sometimes just voice and acoustic guitar, others accompanied by sax and flute. Pared-back, lean, and focused, these videos showcased just what a serious and fascinating songwriter Saul Adamczewski is. He has a unique gift for balancing irreverence with earnestness, of spinning the political and the absurd into the banal and the morose in a way that can be alternately moving, hilarious, and soberingly frank. It's rare that something so ostensibly clever can often feel so personal and vital. Much of this is aided by Adamczewski's gift for melody and his strengths as a vocalist. Run the standard lazy music criticism exercise of "two parts artist a, one part artist b" with Adventures in Limbo and you'll be surprised by the names you'll find yourself saying; Lou Reed, Harry Nilsson, Van Morrison, Tim Buckley. Maybe even a tunesmith like Bacharach will come to mind (though, admittedly, a very narcotic version of one). Strong AOTY contender, to be sure.
Much to my particular delight, however, Adamczewski is equally compelling as a noise artist. Music of Hate Songs of Frustration Jigs of Lust was announced shortly before the release of AIL and deserves every bit as much attention as its pop counterpart. What's notable here is how this release feels in conversation with both the legacy of higher-brow atonal music of the 20th century (Legeti, Varese) as well as the legacies of more pedestrian approaches to "noise" (KK Null, etc.) This is a heavily composed, controlled, and intentional piece of abstract music that is also produced in high fidelity. Music of Hate is a fascinating counterpart to Adventures in Limbo and, when taken together, comprises one of the more dynamic and captivating artistic profiles of anyone currently working (be sure to scope his Dubuffet-like paintings too).
best of the rest…
MAY
Juho Toivonen — Kasveille ja Eläimille [Ultraääni]
This LP makes a great double feature with the Little Skull record reviewed above in that it's another expert study in slow head music built around both organic instruments and technique. It evokes the type of psychedelic experience one might achieve whilst simply sitting still in a beautiful place for a long time, regardless of whether there is a lysergic element to it or not. Listening to the 5 tracks assembled here is like watching the morning sun transform a frozen field into a lilting haze of spiralling vapour. Which is to say, these deceptively simple compositions reveal immense depth and complexity if you're patient enough to let them. It's another impressive release for Toivonen, whose elegant output consistently plays like a lo-fi extension of drone heavyweights from Yoshi Wada to Wolfgang Voight.
best of the rest…
JUNE
Laure Boer — Les cités englouties [Kashual Plastik]
It's now my feeling that — despite the cultivated obscurity that defines so many of my favourite records/labels in the last 5 or so years — a specific lane of European experimental music has calcified as a distinct aesthetic or "sound". There are now reissues of "classic records" (Erinnerungen An Gesichter, Det Finns Ett Hjärta Som För Dig, for example), unmistakable stylistic hallmarks, and acolytes aplenty (releases from Kou and Johannes Björk spring to mind). What's unique about this release from Laure Boer isn't that it sounds novel (she's an OG, to be sure), but that it sounds like a idealised and nearly perfectly executed distillation of this particular scene or sound. A watermark, even. Les cites englouties deftly blends melody and noise, evoking both the intergenerational pathos of ageless folk songcraft (see "Lapin") as well as a cathartic approach to noise which I feel grounds this record in the singular angst of our contemporary moment.
best of the rest…
JULY
William Henry Meung — Hiraeth and Limerence [Horn of Plenty]
"Chain of Birds" is one of the loneliest side one/song one lead-offs I've ever heard. It hooked me as soon as this album was announced. As an album, Hiraeth and Limerance feels both claustrophobically private and intimate while also feeling incredibly spacious in its imaginative scope. It's as if WHM, in pulling you inside this densely internal meditation on pain and longing, is also showing you that the flipside of bottomlessness is a space full of possibility.
best of the rest…
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
The Dengie Hundred — Tube [Sagome]
Another good one from one of my favourite London labels. The Dengie Hundred released a proper LP this past autumn, but I actually prefer this cassette release. Something about these long form pieces plays like an atmospheric thread connecting Throbbing Gristle to the type of vibe you're likely to find turning up to the right weeknight at Oto, Iklektik, or New River Studios. Solid industrial dub.
7FO — Homemade Inspirations [Conatala]
I flipped for the 7FO compilation, 'Moment', that came out on Metron records in 2017 and have been chasing that vibe with them (with slightly diminishing returns) ever since. This release is the first 7FO in a minute to hit the same sweet spots. As with 'Moment', this tape is a phantasmagoric riff on the atmosphere of dub without actually trading in the standard motifs and affectations of the genre. It's quite a magic trick, and it stakes them as an artist who — when they're on fire — can sound pretty singular.
best of the rest…
OCTOBER
Rest Symbol — Rest Symbol [AN1MA]
Don't know much about the provenance of this release or project other than the fact Wendy Lavone is involved. So much of what comes out lately is heavily 90s influenced. Normally that's a turn off. This debut, however, is a stunner that recalls (in key moments and places) the best of late 90s trip hop. I think the reason it works so well for me is that the updates Rest Symbol bring to their revivalism are seamless and successful. Time dilates entirely differently here than it does on something like a Portishead or Peace Orchestra LP. The moods and atmospheres are wholly enveloping, too. And just when you start to feel lost there's a central vocal performance so vital and magnetic you won't forget where, and when, you are.
best of the rest…
NOVEMBER
Francis Plagne — Into Closed Air [Bison]
The definition of a grower. I've always admired Plagne's output without ever fully falling for it. I bought this LP on a whim right when it came out (liked the cover, had store credit), and it hasn't really left the rotation since. Three long form pieces which all sound incredibly tight and live. This is very much a "band" record, and the performance captured here alternately recalls jazzy prog rock (a la Matching Mole, or something) and the gentler side of the 'classic' records Ghost released on Drag City. The most striking element, however, is the melodic command Plagne has as a songwriter. The compositions here are long enough to feel like they should be improvised, but spend the time and you'll find rich, patient, melodically deep, and expertly crafted compositions.
Static Cleaner Lost Reward — Breathing Under Honey [Low Company]
Apparently the final LP from Low Company. Major shame on the one hand, but also a fitting choice for a great label's farewell release. This record is catnip to me. It's dubby, it kinda sounds like Clarke/Ferraro, and there's a bit of Black Noise records in there, too. Sounds great when you're domed, makes you feel domed when you're straight.
best of the rest…
DECEMBER
memotone – Tollard [Trilogy Tapes]
I ran outta steam and energy in the end, folks. Not much grabbed me in the final month of this calendar year. To be fully transparent, I also took a much needed holiday to a country where my cell phone wouldn't work and intentionally left my computer at home. I loved this record, though. Never heard anything else by memotone before, though there seems to be a decade plus worth of back catalogue to look forward to. When paired with something like the recent EP from the Tara Clerkin Trio, one gets the feeling something particularly special is always happening in Bristol.