the Wire's top 50
December 08, 2021 01:42PM
The Wire magazine has posted its typically adventurous top 50 albums of 2021: [www.albumoftheyear.org]. No Olivia Rodrigo here, but the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra pops up.
zoo
Re: the Wire's top 50
December 08, 2021 02:27PM
I've only heard of 3 of those artists!
Re: the Wire's top 50
December 08, 2021 06:01PM
I read Aidan Moffat's (Arab Strap) best ofs for 2021 and he had the L'Rain record so I gave it a listen last night. Some nice sounds on there.
Re: the Wire's top 50
December 08, 2021 06:20PM
I can attest that #45 and #13 are great. I just listened to #3 for the first time the other day, and I'm still on the fence. I still haven't gotten to #19, even though I dug the last one and listen to a lot of the bandmembers' other projects, or #5, despite becoming a Bachman fan this year. I've heard of a few of the others, but otherwise I'm with Zoo: most of these artists are unfamiliar to me.

Edit: after reading more about them, putting L'Rain and Moor Mother on the list to check out.

Edit #2: I looked up Moor Mother on Discogs, and was surprised to find that I have a record with her on it: the most recent Art Ensemble of Chicago record. So I've heard her. More exploration will be required.

Edit #3: OK, I'm on board with #3 now (which is the much-ballyhooed Floating Points/Pharaoh Sanders collaboration). I think was expecting it to be more raucous when I first listened to it, more along the lines of Sanders early 70s work like Black Unity, one of my favorite jazz albums. On second listen, knowing what to expect, I was able to better appreciate its beauty.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/2021 01:13PM by Michael Toland.
Re: the Wire's top 50
December 09, 2021 11:33AM
The list and your post got me to check out William Parker at #45. Great combo of jazz and rock!
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Re: the Wire's top 50
December 09, 2021 12:23PM
Parker's guitarist Ava Mendoza (who also has a rock band called Unnatural Ways) is still under the radar, but she won't be for much longer.
Re: the Wire's top 50
December 09, 2021 05:00PM
One review of the Parker album called her playing a cross between Sonny Sharrock and Neil Young. I couldn't imagine what that sounded like till I actually heard the album, but I'm always happy to hear music that suggests the very early, heavy days of fusion or a next step after Last Exit's IRON PATH.
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Re: the Wire's top 50
October 01, 2024 09:51AM
Thanks to our local company Epistrophy Arts, I was lucky enough to actually see Parker's Mayan Space Station perform last week. They basically improvised for an hour, took a break for Parker to talk for about 15 minutes, then improvised for another 10 minutes of so. It was great, and Ms. Mendoza is indeed amazing.
Re: the Wire's top 50
December 09, 2021 07:42PM
The Floating Points album hits such a sweet spot and has such an instant classic sound. It nails what it does perfectly. I hope they do more albums.
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Re: the Wire's top 50
December 15, 2021 05:09PM
If you find yourself liking this year's Moor Mother platter, you would probably like last year's release as well.
Re: the Wire's top 50
December 09, 2021 03:24PM
Interestingly enough I have heard of only four of them [Sons Of Kemet, Anthony Braxton, Circuit Des jeux, and Les Filles de Illighadad]. And I only know the first three because I often attend the Big Ears Festival, where I neglected to see each of them play. I was lucky enough to see Les Filled De Les Filles de Illighadad as my last concert before Covid-19, and this reminds me that I need to buy their new album!

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®
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Bip
Re: the Wire's top 50
December 13, 2021 10:32PM
Just picked up the Floating Points album on vinyl… nice die-cut cover! (lp trivia: most annoying die-cut cover? Possibly Foghat Live…)

I’ve ALWAYS loved year-end lists. If nothing else, they’re a terrific guide to new discoveries. There’s just SO MUCH out there that it’s nice to have a little nudge toward certain things that you might not have found on your own.
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Bip
Re: the Wire's top 50
December 14, 2021 08:46PM
Discovered from perusing year-end lists, two albums which renew my faith in ‘rock’— this year’s album by Dry Cleaning, and ‘glow on’ by Turnstile. Exciting stuff!
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