2011

Albums: ‘Don’t take my life away’

Jenny Hval and Braids are faith-placements, here because my ears still find more to peel back in them each time I listen: here because I might become crazy about them. tUnE-yArDs is sheer fucking joy. The Caretaker and Tim Hecker are poles of ambient: shared-historic and private-modern, ballroomy and grimy, reverie and 5 am wakefulness. The wife and I love the Weeknd. I’m basically a happy person. But if Dust to Digital’s Opika Pende had been the only new music I’d heard this year, I’d still be a happy person.

Opika Pende: Africa at 78 RPM

Braids, Native Speaker

The Caretaker, An Empty Bliss beyond This World

Tim Hecker, Ravedeath, 1972

Jenny Hval, Viscera

St. Vincent, Strange Mercy

tUnE-yArDs, W H O K I L L

The Weeknd, House of Balloons

Songs: ‘love ’em but can’t trust ’em’

Men with echoey guitars and bad voices singing great melodies with a kind of ardent seriousness (Withered Hand, the Bats, the War on Drugs, Comet Gain). Longass dance songs (Junior Boys, Gang Gang Dance). Two Nas appearances, the hell with the haters who say he’s out of steam, just listen. Is Jamie XX cool now? I wonder what Danny Brown is like as a person. The E-40 song makes me wish I could drive. Didn’t have a dirty-guitar record I loved all the way through but the songs by Forgetters, True Widow (‘stonegaze’?), No Joy, Craig Wedren, Mogwai (the riff that eats itself) and Defiance OH are good loud. Or (clean, Franco-y) Fool’s Good for a guitar hook for an imaginary barbecue. Speaking of guitars, Delicate Steve. Thanks for reading!

The Bats, “Fingers of Dawn”

Beyonce, “Countdown”

Blue Scholars, “Lumiere”

Danny Brown, “Pac Blood”

Bill Callahan, “Baby’s Breath”

Comet Gain, “Clang of the Concrete Swans,” “Ballad for Frankie Machine”

The Creole Choir of Cuba, “La Mal de Travay”

Defiance, Ohio, “Hairpool”

Delicate Steve, “Butterfly”

DJ Quik, “Nobody (feat. Suga Free)”

E-40, “That Candy Paint (feat. Bun B and Slim Thug)”

Elbow, “Lippy Kids”

Fool’s Gold, “The Dive”

Forgetters, “The Night Accelerates”

Foster the People, “Helena Beat”

Eleanor Friedberger, “Roosevelt Island”

Gang Gang Dance, “Glass Jar”

Junior Boys, “Banana Ripple”

Mamani Keita, “Gagner l’Argent Français”

A Lull, “Weapons for War”

Lykke Li, “I Follow Rivers”

Laura Marling, “Sophia”

Mogwai, “Rano Pano”

Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire, “Huzzah! (remix feat. Despot, Das Racist, Danny Brown & El-P)”

Nas, “Nasty”

No Joy, “Heedless”

Raekwon, “Rich & Black (feat. Nas)”

Royal Bangs, “Fireball”

Gil Scott-Heron and Jamie XX, “I’ll Take Care of You”

Shabazz Palaces, “Swerve”

The Smith Westerns, “All Die Young”

St. Vincent, “Cruel”

Thunder & Lightning, “Hourglass Figure”

True Widow, “Skull Eyes”

tUnE-yArDs, “Bizness” and “Riotriot”

The War on Drugs, “Comin’ Through”

Craig Wedren, “Cupid”

The Weeknd, “House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls,” “Wicked Games”

Withered Hand, “Religious Songs”

The Young Evils, “Get Over It”