I've been working on this for a couple of weeks and rather than continue bogging I thought I'd get it out there and refine/add as time goes on. Please enjoy a few of last year's favs...
“In Rainbows” (Radiohead) :: Radiohead more funky than you've ever heard them. This time with industry-shocking business model where they make everyone except the record labels happy and make themselves a boat-load of profit in the process. But don't let the distribution mechanics distract you from wrapping this album around yourself and being warmed by it. I was lucky enough to see them play many of these songs live in Berkely last year and was pleasantly surprised at how good they sound on wax (yes, I did buy the vinyl disc box set...it's beautiful).
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“Fur & Gold” (Bat for Lashes) :: When my friend KS listened to this she said it inspired her to change. Mysterious hand-claps with string-arrangements that aren't spooky for spookiness' sake. Hooky, inventive melodies give this one staying power. It was stuck in the car CD player for weeks and the kids are asking for it by name now. Kinda like Feist and Dead Can Dance's love child playing violins.
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“Graduation” (Kanye West) :: As a bedroom hip-hop producer there's little Kanye touches these days that doesn't make me shake in my seat and think at the same time. “How does he do that?!” I find myself saying to myself as beats that I didn't think could get any more creative and layered tickle frequencies I didn't realize my Passat wagons stock speakers could reach. His hip-hop swagger feels contrived at times but given his talent for creating sounds that move the genre in new directions he's forgiven.
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“Out There” (The Heliocentrics) :: There's is little that the Stone's Throw label puts out that I'm not digging immediately. Their commitment to real hip-hop combined with their love of the digging for vinyl to find quality almost-forgotten music make them audio philanthropists of the highest order in my book. This release by the UK-based Heliocentrics combines Hip-Hop, Funk, Jazz, Psychedelic, Electronic, Avante-Garde and Ethnic sounds on one record.
“Chromophobia” (Gui Boratto) :: A multi-colored album cover for an album called Chromophobia. This is electronica that, rather than grating, uses repetition and not-entirely-originalsounding synth pads to create an other-worldy landscape. High production values round this one out as a work favorite...the soundtrack to Silicon Valley life.