again with the minimalism

In the end it was 2 minimalist composers who served the dish most savoured, these being Julius Eastman from the States and Roberto Cacciapaglia from Italy.



Anybody that writes 'Sei Note in Logica' and 'My Time' in the same career is bound to achieve prime status in these parts.


Eastmen is a story that must be told later but thanks to Mr Harper I was introduced to his unique world of piano repetition which sounds nothing like the others. His output also contains the kind of angry message that has me thinking that not all contemporary artists posit themselves as self satisfied saviours of culture.

As it turned out most of this year was spent sifting through the archives. Not one to be so enamoured with the music that has been coming out this year. Fair enough, working at a shitty distro would contribute to this, a place where the art as commodity dichotomy is magnified to an appalling level. Moreso when you are dealing with No Fun in one hand and Danni Minogue on the other.

Mississippi records was a great catalyst to dive head first into various waters from decades past and the LA hip hop humans behind Stones Throw (Peanut Butter Wolf, Edan etc) injected fresh life into the obscure psych world, unveiling with glee all kinds of continent hopping obscure gems for ALL to enjoy. The hip hop approach of 'check this out' sits in stark contrast to the hoarding Tasmanian bum crack approach found at records fairs where the record is kept hidden, expensive and unobtainable.

Finders Keepers likely stand as the start to all this with their zealous unearthing of obscure gems from all over the globe releasing and djing these to ears craving soemthing beyond your safe assed cool school dj shadow approach. Whilst i rant here Gaslamp Killer must be noted for following a similar path and provided one of the better mix cd's which did not get me castrated for repeated plays on the work stereo.

Electronic music and abstract music both floundered again, Hecker's 'Acid in the style of David Tudor' was a singular pearl as is to be expected at this point but my financial situation simply did not provide the neccesary moniters to fully enjoy and hear the detail that i know is lurking there.

Nate Young's 'Regression' which was an enthralling stripped back take on that whole Wolf Eyes/ American Tapes schtick. A superb example of tension via minimalism and silence.

Mattin's ball kept rolling with Billy Bao's May 08 release gaining recognition
and along with Gary Mundy providing some real pleasure grit to Philip Best's Consumer Electronics incredibly satisfying 'Crowd Pleaser'.

Emeralds 'What Happened' gave a solid 30 minute rip of classic 60's soviet avant electronic joy until buddy boy whips out his guitar and kleenex boarding back on the space craft for an unwanted smooth voyage home.

Some glumes, lemmas and paleas in the increasing muck but as mentioned at the start it was mostly old gold that blocked out the bleak and opened up shop on my street.

Let's run through some of those.


Various - The Sound Of Wonder! (Finders Keepers Records)
Pakistan showed up India for less quirk, more melody and a lower quotient of 'shrill' factor which makes most bollywood frightening to the bass crowd.



Schimpfluch-Gruppe - Paris Aktionen (Tochnit Aleph,Beniffer Editions)
The recording of 2 men slamming their faces into plates of bologanese appears. Thank you.



Eugeniusz Rudnik - Studio Eksperymentalne Polskiego Radia / Polish Radio Experimential Studio (Polskie Radio)
I went to Poland 11 times this year (!) - the output of the Polish Radio Experimential Studio has long since remained out of reach, gather dust and moisture about 15 minutes from where i sit. It's a frustrating situation, moreso for my pals who have tried and failed to negotitate releasing, or at least saving the gems that lurk here. This box set was the first sign of hope with it's exhaustive overview of one of the more obscure (to the west) and prolific composers. Love the love.


Josef Anton Riedl: Klangregionen 1951 - 2007 (edition rz)
Again, a much needed re-issue to enlighten the masses to experiments conducted by some chap who spent too much time every day carving his niche with labour intensive experiements. Go home and have some warm broth my friend.


Various - String Of Pearls: International 78s (Mississippi Records / Canary Records)
notable for finest lp cover of 2009 also!


Various - Mata La Pena (Mississippi Records)


The Pyramids - Birth/Speed/Merging (ikef)
Late arrival hyped by my housemate who, like most of the ctas i share my life with in London, like nothing more than some pounds in the pocket and a trip down to Honest Jon's where the fruit is always ripe and the financial damage is kind. Jazz somewhere between the playful melodic side of Sun Ra and the let's hop freak side of Art Ensemble of Chicago. A diamond discovery.



Various Psych Funk 101 (world psychedelic funk classics)
Example #1 of the hip hop excavation programme that worked so well for music fans of all ilk. Great mix from around the globe, neither of which are particular psych or funk when it comes down to it but 4 sides of hybrid musics which can be concocted only when moogs enter egypt, a library records brief states 'propulsive crime' and Magma's influence takes root in skilled fragile skull.



Various - Forge Your Own Chains (Now-Again)
This being the day after music for the heady brew of the record above.

1. Louis-Ferdinand Celine - Journey To The End Of The Night (left on a bus 60 pages before finishing)
2. Roberto Bolano - 2666: A Novel (3rd book left on a plane 40 mins after finishing)
"It is mainly Literature that allows us to see the worst. And to know how to face it, how to overcome it. on the whole the man who play finds in the game the strength to overcome what the game leads of horror" - Georges Bataille
My most enjoyable read this year. Contemporary with dignity intact. Complex without the bravado. An extreme exploration of traditional narrative where endless threads unfold, move on, escape and contribute. On a macro level the arc's are unstable, on a micro level numerous punctuations amuse. Most feared the third book which details hundreds of murders of women in the desert borderlands of northern Mexico (I recall a man telling his friend he was stuck in this section at a second hand book store recently) but this section is a prime example of Bolano's 'range' as events wash past
the reader detailing a world continually operating at a larger scale, beyond any means of control. The individual is left drifting amongst these larger mechanisms contributing what they will and on occasion finding themselves caught in a tide from which they struggle to negotiate.
3. Gertrude Stein - Tender Buttons
4. Isaac Bashevis Singer - Love and Exile: An Autobiographical Trilogy
5. Dorota Maslowska - A Couple of Poor Polish-Speaking Romanians
6. Alain Robbe-Grillet - Project for a Revolution in New York
7. Guillermo Cabrera Infante - Three Trapped Tigers
8. Raymond Queneau - Exercises in Style
9. Ken Knabb (Editor) - Situationist International Anthology
10.Venedikt Erofeev - Moscow Stations

01 Zelia Barbosa - Funeral do Lavrador
02 Frog - Witch Hunt
03 I.D Company - Bhagavad Seite
04 Roberto Cacciapaglia - My Time
05 S.E.M Studios - lvresse des profondeurs
06 Magma - Udu Wudu
07 Kim Sun - The Man Who Must Leave
08 Morocco - Opa Kukla
09 Santo & Johnny - Slave girl
10 Ursula Bogner - Begleitung für tuba
11 Ramases & Selket - (In My) Mind's Eye
12 The Sound Off's - The Angry Desert
13 Nino Rota - L'Uccello Magico A Dresda
14 Lori & the Chameleoons - The Lonely Spy
15 Salah Ragab and the Cairo Jazz Band - Ramadan in Space Time
16 Harvey Avenue - You're No Good
17 Wadih Essafi - Aandak Baharia Ya Rayess
18 Wanda Jackson - Funnel of Love
19 Morocco - Ela Tho
20 US69 - 2069 - A Spaced Oddity
21 J Matthews - Electrotwist
22 Screamin Jay Hawkins - I Hear Voices
23 Armando Sciascia - Circuito Chiuso
24 Jacques Thollot - Cécile
25 Unkwown Artist - Ahlan Wa Sahlan
26 Nelson Angelo and Joyce - Comunhão
27 Nino Rota - Ecclesiastical Fashion Show (Part 3)
28 Miguel Abuelo - El Muelle.mp3
29 Chico Buarque & Ennio Morricone - Funeral de Um Lavrador
30 Voices of Walter Schumann - Haunted House.wav
31 Francois de Roubaix - Judo
32 Lee Hazelwood - My Autumn's Done Come.m4a
33 Milton Nascimento - Pablo
34 Eddie Lang - Prelude in C Sharp Minor, Op. 3, No. 2
35 Omar Khorshid - Rakset El Fadaa
36 Nelson Angelo and Joyce - Tudo começa de novo
37 US69 - 2069: A Spaced Oddity
38 Baligh Hamdy - Gada
39 Terauchi Takeshi + His Blue Jeans - Edo Komoriuta
40 Faiza Ahmed - Nootet Al Daaf
41 Baligh Hamdi - Raks El Asie
42 Little Egypt - Snake Charmer's Delight
43 Naushad - Dream Ride
44 S. Hazarasingh - Aa Jane Jaan
45 Charanjit Singh - Jaaneman Jaaneman
46 Amon Duul II - Mozambique
47 Ash Ra Temple - Jenseits (always)
48 Allahu Akbar - Fantastic Group
49 Blossom Toes - Peace Loving Man
50 Mehnaz - Bolo Na Kuch Bolo Na
51 Mehnaz - Khawab Mujhe Dikhlao Na
52 Brainbombs - Jack the Ripper Lover
53 Brainbombs - Drive Around
54 Brainbombs - Lipstick on my Dick
55 Oliver - In Vain
56 Klaus Nomi - Cold Song
57 Brian Eno - Driving me Backwards
58 Julius Eastman - Gay Guerilla
59 Fryderyk Chopin - Funeral March
60 Ake Hodell - Mr.Smith in Rhodesia
61 Jean-Marc Foussat - Images & Jalousies
62 Henry Mancini - Arabesque
63 Roberto Cacciapaglia - Sei Note In Logica
64 Quarteto En Cy - Tudo Que Voce Podi
65 Sparks - Escape Parts 1 + 2
66 Jorge Ben - Errare Humanum Est
67 Magma - De Futura
68 Moniek Darge - Turkish Square
64 Julius Eastman - The Holy Presence of Joan D'Arc
65 Brian Eno - Dead Finks Don't Talk
66 Julius Eastman - Evil Nigger
67 Tages - You're Too Incomphrehensible
68 Talking Heads - The Great Curve
69 Peter Cook & Dudley Moore - The L.S Bumble Bee
70 ZNR - Senete