#for solo duo choir etc

[lastchancevillagegreen]

Monday, 12 June 2023:

Energy Beats Perfection Falcon/ Falkland (Chuffed) (released in 2019)

Kelley Stoltz has any number of alternate personas he records under (Willie Weird, Robert Chuffley And The Tranquil Peoples Choir, The Fuckaroos, etc) so it should be no surprise that this album credited to Falcon/ Falkland is Stoltz. But in virtually all cases his pseudonyms are generally when he plays with other people save for Willie Weird. Here, he is working with Garth Steel Klippert who works alone (he has three solos albums) and with a variety of others under various names (Three Piece Combo, Dropsy).

Here, Stoltz and Klippert are masquerading as Reg Falcon and Guy Falkland (I'm not sure who is who) and this album is presented as a hits compilation by the duo. I'm so enthralled by Double Exposure (and The Stylist) that I'm snapping up anything I can find involving Stoltz. (It's not unlike the days of GbV who recorded under a variety of names and released an endless array of limited singles, EPs and even bootlegs And since this album is limited to a limited pressing of 250 albums and it is still available on Stoltz's bandcamp page, I decided I better snap it up. Above you see the album cover followed by the back of the album.

Below are both sides of the inner sleeve.

Both sides of the record label may be seen below. You gotta love the fine print at the bottom of the label that reads, "Unauthorized public performance and broadcasting of this record will be rewarded in the afterlife."

[dreamaze]

wings i read all ur tags !!!! (lucky me being online rn hehe) and i could just agree with you a thousand times over 😭😭😭 like not to be a nerd but this whole thing does stem from the idea in theatre that really happened in the 19th century (male leads/romantic heroes becoming tenors nearly exclusively) and accommodating scores and it just swept over pop music a century later to this day. the idea that tenors > pleasant sound and baritones > bad sound is so ridiculous. (ok nerd time over) and the fact that i still have to wait for bts songs comfortable in tae's range (boy in luv not withstanding and even that pushes it) as well as in his solos is absolutely baffling. i love the way they all distribute lines among each other but it is unbelievable that the usual pattern goes jk's lines > tae's lines when they are not close in range. not to mention that while vmin songs are always sweet, they BOTH talked about how tough it is to sing together. even namjoon mentioned how the rappers have a hard time to adjust to the high vocal line keys (which weren't as high in earlier songs). like in general just let lower voices get their time to shine. very few groups do this (well) but it's 2k21 and we deserve those low notes and beautiful songs for that baritone range too !!!

Al, I went to school for ('classical') music (composition) so these nerd hours are ALWAYS OPEN. And I'm really glad to have someone to discuss it with because it's kinda been plaguing me ever since I started listening to BTS. (I don't listen to much pop music in general, so they were initially a pretty big anomaly for me.) I honestly hadn't thought about how the characterization of tenors as the romantic protagonists in theatre/opera vs. the side roles or antagonists being relegated to lower voice types has manifested in contemporary pop music, but it makes a lot of sense! The dichotomy is so outdated, and the only real bad sound is forcing singers way out of their natural range. (And I have a minor beef with how this also translates to pop singers not developing their chest range because everything is written higher, higher, but I will set that grievance aside for now because part of that is also a genre/style thing.)

this got long so here's a cut to spare everyone else --

I completely agree about the line distributions, and this comes back to the laziness, for lack of a better term, or flat-out indifference in the actual composing process. It should be natural forethought to accommodate your bari's range in the melodic material, rather than always force him to cycle through the same line rotation that the tenors are covering. There are obviously some exceptions in BTS songs (after they moved beyond those early stages of rough belting, which ?? hm, potentially unhealthy for different reasons if not trained properly). Like the ending of Sea is one of the most beautiful and gutting moments to me out of any of their songs. I will also throw out there, before I forget, that the deliberate choice to have Tae sing at the top of his register can be very effective. Specifically, I am thinking of his line 'Kill me softly' in the bridge of Blood Sweat & Tears. It is strained, particularly in that era of recording, but it works because it feels like a conscious choice that both reflects the text and heightens the drama of that moment. But for the most part ... again, it seems like the majority of his assignments are out of convenience to the tenors and to spare the composers the challenge (???) of writing something that is just a little different. And it's not like he would never share lines, because there is overlap between his range and a lower/mid tenor. I suppose the real frustration from me is that with a little bit of creativity and intentionality, this shouldn't be that difficult??

It broke my heart a little when he said that Friends was really challenging for him because I love vmin as a duo. I really wish it was easier for them. I get that the genre is a bit of a limiting factor here because the harmonizing is never going to be that complex. But their parallel octaves in Blue & Grey are SO BEAUTIFUL and showed to me at least that there are ways they can make it work. (Also side note, I think B&G is one of their strongest and most thoughtful instances of line rotation, bless u Tae.) And it's been a little while since I've listened to it, but their Fix You cover was also a fantastic example of how they can all (rap line included!) harmonize comfortably when the key is a little lower. (Rant topic for another time since I'm already rambling too much here: also, why such a hard division between vocal and rap lines?? Give them all good vocal training, it will help their voices grow whether they're singing or rapping! HOBI VOCAL LINE WHEN *ahem* anyway~~~) I love the tenors, I really do, but quite frankly they would benefit just as much from strengthening their lower ends. I think Jimin said parts of B&G were challenging for him because they were so low, but I once listened to his lowest phrase like 10 times in a row because I couldn't get over how striking it sounded. (probably wasn't even the whole phrase, it may have just been the pick-up at 3'02", that's how obsessed I was!! I had to stop myself from doing it again just now.)

I've been rambling a lot and should pipe down now, but I guess I will end with: please, composers, treat your baris more equitably! Also I can't wait for KTH1 because he is finally going to be able to shine in his element without making a tenor cry.

P.S. I am always here for more conversations like this (with anyone!), and to Al specifically, if you ever want to share some theatre recommendations with me, I'd be honored. ♡

[wolfiemozart1787]

In 1991, Philips Classics released The Complete Mozart Edition, 45 themed volumes and, if put together, made up Mozart’s complete compositions, from KV 1 to 626. It was originally released in 45 different volumes, which I’ll list now. 

Vol. 1: Early Symphonies

Vol. 2: Symphonies 21-41

Vol. 3: Serenades for Orchestra

Vol. 4: Divertimenti for strings & wind

Vol. 5: Serenades & divertimenti for wind

Vol. 6: Dances & Marches

Vol. 7: Piano Concertos

Vol. 8: Violin Concertos

Vol. 9: Wind Concertos

Vol. 10: Quartets, quintets etc. for wind

Vol. 11: String Quintets

Vol. 12: String Quartets

Vol. 13: String trios and duos

Vol. 14: Piano quintet, quartets, trios etc,

Vol. 15: Violin Sonatas

Vol. 16: Music for 2 Pianos/Piano Duets

Vol. 17: Piano Sonatas

Vol. 18: Piano variations, rondos etc.

Vol. 19: Masses and Requiem

Vol. 20: Litanies/Vespers

Vol. 21: Organ Sonatas & Solos

Vol. 22: Cantatas, oratorios, Masonic music etc.

Vol. 23: Arias, vocal ensembles & canons

Vol. 24: Lieder & Notturni

Vol. 25: Theatre & ballet music

Vol. 26: Apollo et Hyacinthus

Vol. 27: Bastien und Bastienne

Vol. 28: La finta semplice

Vol. 29: Mitridate, re di Ponto

Vol. 30: Ascanio in Alba

Vol. 31: Il sogno di Scipione

Vol. 32: Lucio Silla

Vol. 33: La finta giardiniera

Vol. 34: Die Gartnerin aus Liebe

Vol. 35: Il re pastore

Vol. 36: Zaide/Der Schauspieldirektor

Vol. 37: Idomeneo, re di Creta

Vol. 38: Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail

Vol. 39: L’oca del Cairo/Lo sposo deluso

Vol. 40: Le nozze di Figaro

Vol. 41: Don Giovanni

Vol. 42: Cosi fan tutte

Vol. 43: Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute)

Vol. 44: La clemenza di Tito

Vol. 45: Rarities & Surprises

These volumes are performed by many of the world’s greatest ensembles, orchestras, vocalists and instrumental soloists. Up to 2016, Philips Classics was the only label that had recorded Mozart’s complete works, either completed or fragmented. That was, until 2016 when Decca and Deutsche Grammophon merged together and formed Mozart 225: The New Complete Mozart Edition. This was a major breakthrough, because it contained newly discovered works by Mozart, including a notturno for soprano and fortepiano, co-written by Italian composer Antonio Salieri. In 2000, Philips Classics released the Complete Compact Mozart Edition, a large richly illustrated box containing 180 CDs, which in total were all 45 volumes from the earlier release. They were compacted into 17 different boxes, ergo it’s called the Compact Edition. The order goes like this:

Vol. 1: Symphonies

Vol. 2: Serenades/Dances & Marches

Vol. 3: Serenades & divertimenti for strings/solo wind

Vol. 4: Piano Concertos

Vol. 5: Violin/Wind Concertos

Vol. 6: Quintets, quartets & trios

Vol. 7: String Quartets & Quintets

Vol. 8: Violin Sonatas/String trios & duos

Vol. 9: Piano Music

Vol. 10: Masses & Requiem/Organ Sonatas & Solos

Vol. 11: Litanies/Vespers/Cantatas, oratorios, Masonic Music

Vol. 12: Arias, vocal ensembles & canons/Lieder & Notturni

Vol. 13: Early Italian Operas

Vol. 14: Middle Italian Operas

Vol. 15: Late Italian Operas

Vol. 16: German Operas

Vol. 17: Theatre & ballet music/Rarities & Surprises

Philips also released a 25 CD set entitled “The Complete Mozart Edition: Highlight”. This is a set of 25 CDs containing highlights from individual volumes. 

Some of the notable performers in the Mozart Edition are as follows:

The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, London Symphony Orchestra, Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Deutsche Bachsolisten, Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Beaux Arts Trio, Quartetto Italiano, Grumiaux Trio, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields’ Chamber Ensemble, Holliger Wind Ensemble, Netherlands Wind Ensemble, Leipzig Radio Chorus, Choir of the Royal Opera House, The Ambrosian Singers, London Symphony Chorus, Alfred Brendel, Henryk Szeryng, Iona Brown, Irena Grafenauer, Heinz Holliger, Anthony Pay, Jack Brymer, Klaus Thunemann, Peter Damm, Maria Graf, William Bennett, Arthur Grumiaux, Arrigo Pelliccia, Gerard Poulet, Blandine Verlet, Walter Klien, Isabelle van Keulen, Ronald Brautigam, Ingrid Haebler, Ludwig Hoffmann, Paul Badura-Skoda, Mitsuko Uchida, Ton Koopman, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Edita Gruberova, Lucia Popp, Thomas Moser, Elisabeth Cooymans, Elly Ameling, Dalton Baldwin, Margaret Price, Brigitte Fassbaender, Barbara Hendricks, Jessye Norman, Luciana Serra, Ingvar Wixell, Wladimiro Ganzarolli, Sir Neville Marriner, Sir Colin Davis, Leopold Hager, Herbert Kegel, Daniel Chorzempa, Sir Alexander Gibson.

[musicollage]

Brendan Perry — Ark. 2010 ; Cooking Vinyl.     ~ [ Album Review |   1) Washington Post  +  2) Get Ready to Rock  +   3) Higher Plain Music ]

1) As Dead Can Dance evolved from Australian goth-rock quartet to pan-European world-music duo, Brendan Perry moved away from electronic keyboards and electric guitars. With “Ark,” his second solo album and first release in 11 years, the Ireland-based multi-instrumentalist revisits brooding synth-rock. In fact, the set includes some of his most techno-oriented sounds to date.

Perry’s return to action could be explained by the lyrics of such new songs as “The Bogus Man,” “This Boy” and “Inferno,” which chide politicians, warmongers and TV junkies. Alas, these broadsides are more vehement than incisive. And even Perry’s indignation can’t inspire him to significantly vary the deliberate tempos of these nine longish songs.

Yet the music beguiles, thanks to Perry’s skills as a composer and producer. Impeccably recorded and richly layered, the tunes pit jittery beats and cascading synth-strings against silvery harpsichord and chattering hand drums. It’s hardly surprising that the acoustic ingredients recall Dead Can Dance’s later style: Versions of two of these songs, “Babylon’’ and “Crescent,” were performed on the group’s 2005 farewell tour. Perry and longtime collaborator Lisa Gerrard recently announced they’ll restart Dead Can Dance next year. But the reunion has already begun — musically, at least — with “Ark.”

2) For those familiar with Dead Can Dance there are few surprises here. In fact 'Ark' is more a continuum of Brendan's imposing sense of the gothic - think Nick Cave, post Jim Morrison and Iron Butterfly's Doug Ingle style vocals - without a band. But' Ark' is a solo album in the true sense of the word as Brendan sources his own samples, utilises his own electronics and draws upon libraries of choral sounds, horns and strings and the like. Or to quote his own words; 'One cannot underestimate the influence that living and working in relative isolation has had on the making of this album'.

Initially the whole album appears infused with the dark, the doomy and the dreamy but in fact Brendan takes a wider view ultimately uncovering as much hope as desperation. His voice takes you on a meandering vocal journey in cinemascope uncovering the greed corruption and myopia of our rulers but ends on an optimistic evocation of love.

In a sense, the concluding balanced resolution is one that the observational narrator has to take if only because objectivity demands that the spotlight be pointed on the positive forces in the planet as well as the opposite corporate extremes. And for all the uncompromising observations that make up both 'Babylon' and 'Bogus Man' (the corrupt politicians etc) he cannot truly remain detached. Politicians and their corporate backers are after all but part of the same system that incorporates and distributes art like this.

On 'Wintersun' Brendan's gothic sounding vocals soar beautifully above a sampled choir bolstered by insistent percussion. The suitably titled 'Utopia' is full of portentous synth and drum machines and its lyrical richness is brought to life by Brendan's deliberate phrasing as he makes his main point at the end of each brief verse;

'Trapped within a walled suburbia, I'm building my Utopia, In this world of Dystopia'

Dark looming synth lines soar over buzzing harpsichord sounds and if you never heard DCD before this track will knock you off your feet, while long time fans will recognise as it a return to form some 11 years after his last studio album.

Of course with such an imposing voice you tend to be suckered into the maelstrom. Indeed, you may be dazzled by his vocal range which just about carries more difficult tracks like 'Inferno'. This is a song that conceptually explores alienation and isolation via the concepts of war, love, hell and joy that the narrator apparently sees on his TV. The lyrics are a shade too impenetrable and the song relies too heavily on choral voices, synth beats and a cod dramatic vocal line and frankly drags on a little. The following 'This Boy,' has plenty of merits but the music comes very close to sounding like a film soundtrack.

In many ways this is unsurprising, particularly given that Brendan's explorations of light and shade and his shift from the pessimist to strands of optimism mirrors a dramatic film script. He emotes a quite beautiful vocal line on the penultimate verse; 'Sometimes it's hard for us to find the truth in a world we no longer seem to understand. But don't let them break us, and don't let them nail us into boxes for the old man's parade'. His voice soars to effortlessly in one line to explore his startling range before swooping down to finish with an assertive lyrical posture; 'This boy's is coming home from the war, coming in from the cold, to settle old scores'.

On 'The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea' he sources the perfect samples to establish long linear lines of evolving soundcapes that evoke time and space, albeit with a retro sounding cascading sythn stutters. Electronic music has to often been tied up with the limitations of the machines that create the incredible sounds, but Brendan retains the primacy of his voice and finds a subtle balance between his words and the electronics that help bring them to life.

He finishes on the contemplative 'Crescent', looking to the stars but catching only their reflections as life on earth. He turns his back on the corruption of life placing his trust in love, life and paradise on earth; 'The heart must speak to me, In Tongues of forgotten voices, in ancient harmonies, so that I can see' He continues with an affirmation of love, 'She brings me flowers to ease the pain, She brings me light where only darkness waits'. The closing poetic flourish is delivered over a repeated synth motif, lustily dancing harpsichords, a sumptuous bass line and deep-toned tablas.

And overlooking one little vocal wobble, shortly after the 7 minute 20 second mark, it's a moving finale to a heartfelt, lovingly crafted album, worthy of your purchase.

3) For many (myself included) Ark at one time just seemed to be an album that would never be made. I for one am just grateful to have Brendan back making music again. To say “Ark” is a master stroke of genius is possibly the greatest understatement as from start to finish it is utterly mesmorising.

“Babylon” opens to a fanfare of sythersized brass and strings before cracking out some heavy percussion and huge gong smashes as the calm and assured confidence of Brendan narrates over the top with prowess. The yang-qin is back as are various archaic reed instruments. For some, you may know the song from the 2005 Dead Can Dance tour as “Saffron” but to hear it in full studio glory in a new almost journeyman tempo, its a fantastic transformation and a great mood settler.

“The Bogus Man” opens to electronic pulses in a downtrodden lowfi trip hop world music fusion fest. It’s mixture of different electronic riffs and eerie choral overlays make for an unsettling backdrop as Brendan laments “politican, model citizen… blind ambition” to jangling bells. The sheer scope and different instruments and sounds used in just the two opening tracks alone is immense. This track also see’s Brendan’s lyrics at their most outspoken for me personally too and I found it very interesting to delve into what Perry has been thinking of the world’s state of being lately.

“Wintersun” is the most electronica based we’ve seen Perry to date and he works the wires perfectly with a wordly wisdom that his especially voice and the keyboards he meshes together creates. The mix of the old and new, the synthetic and the natural – is really key to Ark, its sound and the themes that run through it and as on all the track, here it’s perfectly pitched, especially with the percussion. This song is like an aural free fall and is utterly beautiful.

“Utopia” is the single from the album and is a swirling dramatic track full of harpsichord (automatic win for HPM!) and lots of dramatic string arrangements as Brendan slowly builds himself into a frenzy over the song. It’s such a well constructed song as it starts off quite cathartic with its massaging riffs and slowly gets more darker and foreboding as it progresses. It’s the only song that clocks in under six minutes on the album.

“Inferno” is a disquieting look at people who choose to live without social interaction. It starts off eeriely for the first half with twinkles washed over by harsh basslines until broken string arrangements and a down tempo beat are thrown into the mix. The last minute or so is my favourite section of the track as the end coda repeats to mystical rhythms.

“This Boy” starts off desolate, with a great little trick by delaying the echo on the drum stick slaps and so everything sounds very empty and dry. It’s a very lyrical track and the strings are particually moving, as its Brendan’s vocals as he can switches from outcries to creaking whimpers in a single breath. All the while keyboard choral pads gentley seranade you behind the bigger noise. This Boy is epic – as really is almost every track on the album. Nothing is done in small measures here!

“The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” is possibly the most dance floor worthy track on the album, its also on the surface the most upbeat. The lyrics gave me a little chuckle too. It’s warm and full bodied keyboard synths fill the speakers while bleeps and buzzing bass swirl around in stereo.

The closing track is the epic “Crescent” which encompasses and holds everything I have loved and enjoyed about Ark the album. Starting off in a mysterious shroud, Brendan enters stage left to impart with his wisdom and tales of long ago. As the song continues it builds up with more and more natural and digital instruments until your whole audio spectrum is filled with pure hedonism.

Brendan Perry’s “Ark” has been a long time coming but within two minutes you can see exactly where all the time and effort has gone to. It is a masterpiece and quite unlike anything that is currently being made or released generally these days. Absolutely hands down my favourite album of 2010 so far, and quite possibly one of my favourites in the last decade. Pitch perfect!

[continuo-docs]

April 2020 music reviews, or, music I enjoyed in previous weeks L. Fairon

Meredith Monk & Bang on a Can All-Stars – Memory Game (2020) Lemna – Storytelling #1 (2020) Beatriz Ferreyra – Echos+ (2020) DakhaBrakha – Alambari (2020)

Meredith Monk & Bang on a Can All-Stars – Memory Game (Cantaloupe Music) https://bangonacan.bandcamp.com/album/memory-game Memory Game is a revivification of some previously published works – including pieces from the Do You Be (1987) and Impermanence (2008) albums, among others –, plus selections from The Games, an unreleased sci-fi opera co-created with Ping Chong and performed in Berlin in 1983. But what seemed at first a kind of retrospective album, in fact embodies everything we love about Meredith Monk: a dedicated vocal ensemble specially trained to her repertoire, incredibly moving songs and lyrics, interesting arrangements and a great instrumental accompaniement by classically-trained players. Indeed, NY contemporary music ensemble Bang on a Can bring their rhythm accuracy and instrumental prowess to the project – electric guitar and clarinets are especially great. The vocal trio around Monk is also totally convincing. And then there are the songs themselves: disarmingly simple, unbelievably sad or full of gaiety, based on basic English words (or occasionally German), embarking casual conversation or cabaret song, onomatopeia, child babble or bird imitation – at the end of the sublime Memory Song, for instance, Monk ullulates like a flock of cranes in the sky to devastating effect for this listener. Granted, the album lacks an 18mn mothership ala Turtle Dreams, and the instrumental opener is but a distraction, but apart from these quibbles, the album is just fantastic.

Lemna – Storytelling #1 (Horo) https://lemna.bandcamp.com/album/storytelling-1-reminiscences-of-inner-scenery Oneiric, intricately crafted miniatures for electronic sounds by Japanese composer Lemna aka Maiko Okimoto. Usually avoiding regular rhythms or beat, the music is based on sequences of a few highly filtered notes slowly creeping back and forth, while undescript white noise agitation is obsessively crawling to reach the surface. Lemna is interested in timbres and tones, their proximity, homophony or dissonance. Her music is an exploration of the surreal and the hypnagogic – the album is said to have been recorded during insomnia nights. Reverb is used to mingle sounds together and blur their individualities, while a minute attention to details in the sound processing and the arrangements ensure that the small tickling sounds reach out amid a sea of shifting tonalities. Storytelling #1 is a long album at 70+mn, but Lemna manages to captivate the listener throughout this well thought-out collection of tracks.

Beatriz Ferreyra – Echos+ (Room40) https://room40.bandcamp.com/album/echos Archival material from Argentine-born Beatriz Ferreyra – a member of the INA-GRM from 1963 to 1970. Dating from 1978, 1987 and 2007, these pieces complement our knowledge of this fine musique concrète composer. With the various tracks already published by Fylkingen in 1977, Mego in their Recollection GRM series in 2012 and 2015, and her synth+tape recorder duo with Christine Groult on Trace Label in 2015, we're slowly gaining a more accurate view of Ferreyra's œuvre and individuality. Openner "Echo – In Memoriam Of Mercedes Cornu", a piece from 1978, is a poignant tape collage based on a unique sound source, that of Ferreyra's late niece Mercedes talking and singing. Vocal excerpts are subject to collage, superposition, accumulation, plus various sound effects and tape manipulations of the analog domain. Dating from 1987, the second piece uses the composer's own voice, heavily manipulated to create disembodied choirs, grotesquely elongated syllables and onomatopeia. Titled "L'autre ... Ou Le Chant Des Marécages" [Otherness... or, the Swamp Chorus], the track presents Ferreyra's poetic and phantasmatic vision of sound poetry. With #3 L'autre Rive [The Other Shore], from 2007, Ferreyra added computer and synthesizer to her beloved tape recorder. The music is much more abstract here, based on a diversity of artificial sounds and electronic textures, plus occasional percussion samples used to great effect. A lively, almost restless piece, with  internal dynamics that catches the attention. Generally speaking, Ferreyra's poetry and individuality shines through these fine works of musique concrète, though I can't help thinking she stays too much within the limits of the INA-GRM canon.

DakhaBrakha – Alambari (self release) https://dakhabrakha.bandcamp.com/album/alambari New album by Ukrainian folk & jazz quartet DakhaBrakha, dominated by the splendid voices of Olena Tsybulska, Iryna Kovalenko and Nina Garenetska, also doubling on cello, piano, percussion, etc, and all brilliant, classically-trained multi-instrumentalists by themselves. The inspiration for each track is stylistically varied, based on lullaby, ballad, folk and traditional or jazz, and is peppered with scat vocals, slap bass, cabaret song or Serbian turbo-funk elements, delivered in playful arrangements. But the vocals dominate here, with their exquisite vibrato and beautiful, Eastern-European female timbres, soloing, alternating or singing in unison. To us Westerners, the group singing is occasionally reminiscent of 1980s Bulgarian choirs. The man of the band, Marko Halanevych, also contributes vocals as a counterpoint to the women's section, and provides great accordion accompanyment. I found Nina Garenetska particularly impressive on cello throughout the entire album. Incredible traditional reed instrument solo (the zhaleika) by Iryna Kovalenko on track #5 Torokh.

[huahsu]

YEAR OF THE BUTTERFLY

previous years: A SONG THAT DEGRADES EACH TIME YOU PLAY IT :: 2018 A CHURCH AND JOHN LENNON’S “IMAGINE” :: 2017 SIKH DEVOTIONAL MUSIC :: 2016 SPOOKY BLACK :: 2015 this year: I’ve spent the past few months working on a book that I’ve always wanted to write but never figured I’d make the time for. At a really basic level, it’s about listening to music with friends. A couple weeks ago, I devoted a few days to reading a stack of books and articles about the emotional experience of music. They were written by philosophers, critics, cognitive scientists, historians. I took from them two overarching questions. First, what does it mean to assign a piece of music a feeling, like “happy” or “sad?” Is the song itself “sad,” or does it just model a kind of sadness proximate to how we feel? What elements of a song do this? The fraying of a voice? Minor keys? Tempo? Is it all a trick of memory? None of the answers really satisfied me, since music is such an intimate thing. A song makes us feel a way for reasons that are often either blindingly obvious or remote and mysterious. An expert can tell you that humans are wired to feel joy when a certain configuration of notes are struck in tandem, but maybe it just reminds you of looking at the front door.

The other question was whether music itself facilitates any unique emotional possibilities--a mode of feeling that we can’t get anywhere else. Music doesn’t mimic the real world, it doesn’t make arguments. One writer suggested that the thrill of music was its capacity to remind you, foremost, that music can thrill you. In essence, each time we hear something new and feel something, we are being reminded of all the times we’ve felt this way before. We’re living in the echo of a former enchantment. Maybe you’ll hear it again, process it, assign it a genre or context, and the mystique evaporates. But music is one of those things that doesn’t happen on our time. We don’t stand in front of it and train our gaze on this quadrant or that. We don’t flip back to make sure we didn’t miss something. You can’t slow it down as it is happening, you merely let it happen. 

In the spring, the Museum of Chinese in America in Manhattan showed “The Moon Represents My Heart,” an exhibition I worked on with MOCA’s curators, Herb and Andrew. The basic idea was to look at all the ways music had enriched immigrant life, from early opera troupes touring America’s Chinatowns to karaoke bars, church choirs, and after-school violin lessons, fifties doo-wop trios to garage punks and self-taught dance music producers. There’s no legible tradition of Chinese American music so we just wanted to present it as a textured and everyday thing--the experience of the fan could be as legitimate as that of a Mando-pop superstar. While working on the show, people would often ask me for a playlist, but I didn’t really have any to share. It wasn’t really about the music itself, which could sound derivative or amateur to some. It was about the fact that they sought to express themselves through music, in contexts that made them outliers and oddballs. I came to love all the music in our show because of that second-hand thrill--that sense that these moments had been deeply meaningful to everyone in the room. 

You can hear it in the voice of Stephen Cheng, who ended up being the show’s most memorable star. He put out a rocksteady gem in the sixties and then spent the next decade in New York trying to get the Dragon Seeds, his Chinese “folk-rock” band, off the ground. Cheng died years ago, but Andrew found his children, who brought some reels of unreleased music to the museum. I remember staring at them, wondering what was on them. It was a kind of anticipation and wonder that I often miss, when the operative feeling I associate with music-listening on the internet is the frenzy of opening and closing windows, clicking links, proving my humanity to a captcha.

Stephen’s singing wasn’t great, but it was perfect. His version of “Yesterday,” all warbly and over-the-top, has now supplanted the original for me. Somehow, we played some of Stephen’s songs on the radio, including one about butterflies and love. Somehow, one of the people listening was a butterfly expert, and he was about to marry another butterfly expert. Who knew such a song was possible, the groom-to-be told me. Stephen was too obscure to be properly forgotten. Or maybe his song was just dormant all these years. It awaited just the right listener, and now, over forty years later, he would get his propers, sandwiched somewhere between the vows and Kool and the Gang, a couple minutes of people scratching their heads, searching for the right smile, saying Can you believe this? to one another.

### TEENAGE DREAM

Warren Defever/His Name is Alive, All the Mirrors in the House

EXCELLENT USE OF “P.S.K.” Kindness feat. Robyn, “Warning” EXCELLENT USE OF A TELEPHONE Mavi, “Guernica” TECHNICALLY 2018, BUT TAIWAN’S ANSWER TO COIL, JOY DIVISION, ETC SEN, “The Cicada” SAME (2018) BUT TAIWANESE DREAMBOAT VIBES Linion, “Can’t Find” ANOTHER, KINDA BILLY BRAGG-Y Wayne’s So Sad, “Wanderer’s Guide to Taipei” SUMMER IN TAIWAN, AND SO I BOUGHT A LOT OF CDs, INCLUDING THE LIMITED EDITION SIGNED 9M88 DEBUT 9m88, “Love Rain” THEY ARE VERY INTO THE “FUTURE SOUL” THING Andrea, “You Better Kiss Me” THIS GUY HAS THE SAME NAME AS MY COUSIN Yo Lee demos LOTS OF BACKPACKS Hsien, Lately AMAZED TO SEE LIM GIONG REISSUES THERE, THIS IS THE DANCE ALBUM HE RECORDED IN 1994 IN THE UK BEFORE BRINGING RAVE CULTURE BACK TO TAIWAN Lim Giong, Entertainment World (IF YOU ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH LIM GIONG, THIS IS THE GREATEST SONG EVER Lim Giong, “A Pure Person) AND HERE’S 9m88 COVERING “PLASTIC LOVE” 9m88, “Plastic Love” AIR SUPPLYERS Oso Leone, Gallery Love Sunset Rollercoaster, Vanilla Villa I ENJOYED THIS WHEN IT CAME OUT BUT HONESTLY FORGOT IT CAME OUT THIS YEAR, OR THAT I ENJOYED, BUT FOR THE LONGEST TIME MY “2019″ EMAIL DRAFT JUST READ “CHIEF KEEF HNIA KAIL MALONE (sic)” Chief Keef and Zaytoven, GloToven

ANOTHER DEVASTATING DUO Pink Siifu and Akai Solo, Black Sand

MYSTIC CHORDS OF MEMORY Kali Malone, The Sacrificial Code Clarice Jensen, Drone Studies I AM A SLOW WALKER, BUT I NEVER WALK BACKWARDS Michael Vincent Waller, Moments ana roxane - ~~~ A THOUSAND POINTS OF LIGHT Caleb Giles, Under the Shade Medhane, Own Pace WE ARE THE ONES WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR Angel Bat Dawid, The Oracle Art Ensemble of Chicago, We are on the Edge READ JOSEPH JARMAN Joseph Jarman, Black Case I and II RESPECT YOURSELF Helado Negro, This is How You Smile Deb Never, “Swimming” LET’S DO IT AGAIN Tommy Holohan & Casper Hastings- RVE001 Eris Drew, Raving Disco Breaks LET’S DO IT AGAIN AGAIN, BUT SMEARED Burial, Tunes 2011-2019 OR PERHAPS YOU WERE THERE Callisto, Guidance is Eternal, Part I PERHAPS YOU WERE THERE FOR MICROHOUSE AND PEAK MEGO AND BLOGS Barker, Debiasing AT A WAREHOUSE PARTY, ABLE TO HEAR TOO MANY FLOORS, ROOMS, SOUNDS AT ONCE, IN A GOOD WAY Dies Smely, “Neptune Rises” AT A WAREHOUSE PARTY, BUT THINKING ABOUT PLUNDER, THE TRAIL OF TEARS, THE SANCTITY OF EARTH Kelman Duran, 13 Month A KIND OF BLUE Steve Hiett, Down on the Road by the Beach POSSIBLY MY MOST PLAYED ALBUM, 2019 Galcher Lustwerk, Information R.I.P. PRINCE, FOREVER AND ALWAYS Serpente, Parada Moodymann, Sinner Nelson Bandela, Purprain THE OPPOSITE OF “I AM A GOD” Nelson Bandela - “i'm mortal” YOU GOT ME Shane Eagle feat. Santi and Bas, “Vanya” HARD TO BELIEVE JAZMINE SULLIVAN REMAINS SO OVERLOOKED Kindness feat Jazmine Sullivan, “Hard to Believe” WATCH FOR THE HOOK Quando Rondo, “Gun Powder”

ANTE UP Polo G feat Lil Tjay, “Pop Out” “PANTS GON BE SAGGIN TIL I’M FORTY” Freddie Gibbs and Madlib, “Thuggin”

“WHY THEY LET THE TERMINATOR WIN THE ELECTION?” Sault, “Why Why Why Why Why”

HOLLOW BONES Showbiz and Milano, “Guillotine” LADI LUV, “GOOD TO THE LAST DUB” City Girls, “Act Up” MONEY BOSS PLAYERS Benny the Butcher feat 38 Spesh and Jadakiss, “Sunday School” Roc Marciano, “Richard Gear” WARP 30 (1989-2019) Droop-E, “The Droop-E Way” INTERSTELLAR SPACE, PROBABLY KILLER LIVE Blacks’ Myths, Blacks Myths II ALICE NEVER WENT ANYWHERE Sam Wilkes, “Sivaya” Alice Coltrane, Live at the Berkeley Community Theater 1972 RIYL: LYRICHORD, EFFECTS PEDALS Seungmin Cha, Nuunmuun RIYL: EFFICIENCY, INTERLUDES Solange, “Binz” “WHO HERE IS STILL LISTENING TO JOHNNY MAY CASH’S “DRUGS” IN 2019?” Playboi Carti, “Molly” “MOLLY” CZ Wang and Neo Image, “Just Off Wave”

YOU’VE SUBSCRIBED TO “UK STREETSOUL YOUTUBE PLAYLIST” Apiento feat Harriet Brown, “Down That Road” WHERE WERE U IN 2092? Jai Paul, “He”

LIL B, INNIT Voldy Moyo, Paper World SCREAMADELICA Vampire Weekend, “Harmony Hall” Humeysha, Nusrat on the Beach FOLKTRONICA Aldous Harding, “The Barrel” TOO PURE Springfields, Singles 1986-1991 MY AQUARIUM Rod Modell, Captagon ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE Vagabon, Vagabon 4-TRACK TWEE BEDROOM COVERS OF BLINK-182′S DUDE RANCH Colleen Green, Blink-182′s “Dude Ranch” as Played by Colleen Green

KINDA AS THOUGH A PART OF MY 2016-19 LP PURCHASES FORMED THEIR OWN BANDS Anunaku, Whities 024 75 Dollar Bill, I Was Real Joshua Abrams and Natural Information Society, Mandatory Reality

JUST 30 OR SO GECS Cool Fang, Sparring I’M A DEADHEAD BUT FOR STANDING ON THE CORNER SOTC Art Ensemble, SOTC Double Bass Ensemble * Merciful Allah Black Hole Theater * 4/24/19 SOTC Art Ensemble, Variation 9 * Merciful Allah Black Hole Theater * 4/27/19

SONG OF THE SPRING, SUMMER, WINTER, YEAR, STILL UNDEFEATED

[carryonproject]

DEADLINES & SUBMISSIONS:

Please read this post VERY, VERY THOROUGHLY. It is all incredibly important and will answer like 90% of current questions our admins are getting.

DEADLINES & SUBMISSIONS -A TIMELINE:

Musicians & Singers

All musician roles (both instruments and singers) have a sign-up deadline of April 15. After this, if you want to contribute, we'll take you on in another capacity until other deadlines limit those.

It’s fine if you can’t be super active between then and recording, but if you want in, we have to KNOW by then. Recording deadlines are below.

Instrument-musician roles seeking a solo have a deadline of April 6 to present why you're a bawss and can be worked in for a solo.

Between these dates and the end of April, our Music Directors are finalizing writing and distributing the sheet music to incorporate everybody.

Recording will come in May. We have a tentative projected deadline for these recordings at the end of May, meaning recording for instruments and singers will be May 1-May 31, give-or-take.

Contributors

If you are planning to submit a video to this project aside from the above, we'll be taking these from April 15 through May 31st. After this, our video editors will begin our long and arduous process.

If you are expecting a video shortly after this deadline (like, you're gonna meet your 10 year digital BFF at a con, or something, early June), contact us.

Ping the Video Editors and let them know, and we WILL discuss that and be willing to hold a spot for you within reason.The above point also covers if you’re planning to arrange a con-choir akin to how we’re cooperating with DarkLight in Paris. If your convention date is past this, but you at least get a confirmed schedule before the general submission deadline is past, let us know and we’ll hold a place for your con-choir. Please note this is only for con-sized events, not small individual groups. 

If you personally orchestrate a gathering of friends singing the song outside of our digital choir, standard submission dates apply.

As-before, we're looking for major life events or super wild things this fandom has done to encourage you to live life. Crazy GISH vids are encouraged. Emotional meetings. Etc. But if you wanna just flex that SPN tat you got in a two second video clip to show it off, that works too.

So to clarify: Submissions for video content will open April 15 and close May 31, with the above exception. 

If you are submitting static/unmoving art for use in the video, we will use it as best we can. Not all art will be able to make it into the video. Art that does not make it into the video will be included in a zine. This zine will have PDF format and be printed out to be presented to the crew. We don't have the financials to make it open distribution/printing and we're not gonna beg for money to do so, but in everybody here leaving with a copy of the zine, you can all find your own resources to print it individually so you will always have a copy of this, and of course -- yes, we're going to make sure the crew gets it.

Art submission deadlines for video inclusion mirror video submission deadlines (Apr15 - May31). However, please see "The Zine" below.

News on how to submit will be provided when submissions are open. Please do not ask until then, for my sanity.

Dev Team Our dev team is everything from music directors, sound mixers, and video editors. Once music & singing recording is completed around the end of May, early June becomes their terrain. The end of the year is our goal to have the video project finished -- which may sound excessive, but we're going to be dealing with several hundred tracks of video alone, much less audio clean-up and so forth. Those will be five-to-six very busy months for our post-production crew, so the above deadlines are incredibly important. There will be no specific deadline in signing up for any related post-production team elements because, let's face it, if somebody shows up in August and thinks they can help with sound or video, odds are, they probably can. We'll update you if this changes.

The Zine The zine itself is going to handle overflow from the video and accept longer contributions. We don't have a specific date on it beyond wanting it done by the end of January. If you miss the video submission deadline for art, we can still include it in a tribute also intended to be delivered to the crew. We do not yet have a decided deadline on this, and will update as we get a better idea of our future horizon.

Art is not to have shippy content, but should be designed in a fair and balanced display of the crew. Team Free Will, Found Family, undersung heroes, and yes, Sam and Dean. And hell, Dean and Cas, as long as that's an ampersand and not a slash, if you feel me. But please also respect that we don't want a bunch of "gen" representation of a specific ship alone, either. Because I know the Destiel fandom is a tentacle monster of love, and extremely digitally engaged. So it's something to keep in mind. If too much of a specific duo is submitted, it'll be on zine handlers to consider what to use and what to not, and we don't want anybody's stuff getting disregarded!

That said, if you want in as a musician or singer, even if you can’t contribute RIGHT NOW, now is the time to climb into the server. Just be available to record some time in May.

And of course, as always, the discord link >> https://discord.gg/y3TGebk

If you are part of this project, or know anyone that is part of this project, PLEASE reblog this for a signal boost of the important deadlines and information above. We have our plan in gear. We need all of our participants or interested parties aware. We’re already over 250 people on our server in the last 3 days since we opened the project, so this next few weeks of sign ups will determine a lot more for us. Make sure nobody misses their chance.

[myrecordcollections]

AK Musick

AK Musick

@ 1972 Germany Pressing

*****

AK Musick formed back in the early 70’s. They were interested in producing music in a very democratic way. Their legendary LP is now a very rare item of what I would call “German experimental era”. More about it in the following interview with Hans Kumpf, clarinetist. Special thanks goes to René Debot for helping me to get in contact with Hans.

There is not much known about your group AK Musick. Tell us about the formation of the band? Where did you find other members? We all five members were studying at the Teacher’s College (“Pädagogische Hochschule”) in Ludwigsburg close to Stuttgart in Southern Germany. Three of us (Alfred Lell, Winfried Koch, Hans Kumpf) had the same clarinet teacher. The singer Angela Weber I have known already from my hometown of Schwäbisch Hall, where we joined the same pupils’ choir. The Keyboarder Helmut Grab also studied with the famous composer of contemporary music Helmut Lachenmann, a Luigi Nono alumnus. Were you and other band members of AK Musick involved with any other projects before 1972? Helmut Grab was busy in improvised rock music; the others were more active in classical music. I was the only one who was really involved in jazz before. Let’s share a few words about your childhood and teen years. You grew up in Stuttgart. What did you study and what influenced you the most? I was born in Stuttgart in 1951, but the next six years I grew up in Markgröningen in the Stuttgart area. My parents moved then to Schwäbisch Hall, quite in the middle between Stuttgart and Nuremberg, in 1957. There I was impressed by foreign students of the University in Heidelberg who performed in my hometown: I could listen to the original music of Africa, Asia and America. When I was a teenager I was already interested in the music from the whole wide world. In an alternative youth club (“Alpha 60”) I attended interesting jazz concerts (like pianist Wolfgang Dauner and trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff) and later I organized “music weeks” (including classical + contemporary music, jazz an             advanced pop/folk music). In my school, which was specialized in music, I as a pupil/student had the responsibility for culture. In May 1969 I organized a bus trip to Stuttgart, where Jimi Hendrix performed – even some months before the Woodstock festival. When I was eight years old, I began with a recorder (simple flute), later I learned in lessons trumpet, piano and clarinet. Now clarinet is my main instrument. AK Musick is a really avant-garde project consistent of free jazz influences. What can you tell me about the concept behind it and what does the name actually mean? We all were eager in new things, we wanted to make music in a very democratic way. Everybody had a classical education – this was the base. Of course we were also influenced by the avant-garde  composer Helmut Lachenmann (who also was in the studio during our LP recording). He writes very intellectual compositions, and the parameters are very important (this we learned with the Stockhausen alumnus Johannes Fritsch in Darmstadt, too!). AK Musick? “AK” is a German abbreviation for “Arbeitskreis” (“workshop”), which was used at the universities quite often at that time. “Musick” is a mixture of the English “music” and the German word “Musik”. Even in medieval times they wrote “musick” in England. And in “Musick”, there is included the English word “sick”. We had humor.

Is the musical content a live-recording from the 13. German Jazz Festival Frankfurt, that held on 14.11.1972? Would you like to tell us a bit more about the pieces on the LP?

No, no – be careful! In March 1972 we played at the German Jazz Festival in Frankfurt at the Newcomer’s Concert – with more than thousand listeners and “live” a radio/TV recording. In the same hall the Rolling Stones and Janis Joplin performed before, later Miles Davis and many others. On November 14 in the same year we recorded the LP at the famous Bauer Studios in Ludwigsburg. We prepared the studio session very carefully – time is money. At least we did it in three hours. The sound engineer was Martin Wieland, who had recorded before the popular cologne concert by Keith Jarrett for the ECM label.

“Impro-Vision” sounds like electronical music – but we used only natural instruments, “Hava” is a feature for three clarinets, “Ron Do” is like a classical rondo, but with solo improvisations as the new parts. The theme we played only once, and it was later technically copied to fulfill the rondo form.

The “composition” of the first track of the AKM LP.

What can you tell me about the label AKM Records. Was this your label? The cover artwork and everything is all handmade. How did you decide to do so and how many copies were released. I believe 200?

We released 150 LP’s. We were students and had less money. Therefore it was the cheapest way to make the cover art for our own as handwork – with templates. The booklet we printed with the help of the student’s association. We worked for a December weekend at the floor of the Ludwigsburg teachers college. It made fun.  It’s crazy: Today at Ebay they pay more than 700 Dollars for our old and historic long playing disc.

How long did the project last and did you play anywhere else? Are there perhaps any other recordings still unreleased? Besides of Frankfurt, we only played in the area round Stuttgart. AK Musick as quintet xisted for a decade. In 1980 we did the performances “Spuren einer Russlandreise” („Tracks of a Russian Trip“) after Winfried Koch and me were in Moscow and Leningrad/St.Petersburg. It was a multimedia combination of art and music. We all stayed friends, but we didn’t play in the old quintet ensemble. For instance, Angela Weber, Alfred Lell and me were singing in the choir of the musical “Cabaret” at the Stuttgart State Theater…

Twelve years ago I went with a radio tape of the Frankfurt festival concert to the Bauer Studios for digitalizing the analog recording. Then I burnt CD’s for my own. That is all.

‘Free Blacks’ is your next music project. You joined forces with Perry Robinson. Wolfgang Dauner was also part of this album. What can you tell me about it? This was again a very limited issue? Perry Robinson was famous as the leading free jazz clarinet player. So he was interesting for me. I heard him several times before, but when he played in 1974 (2 years after AK Musick) at the Frankfurt festival I spoke with him, and soon we settled a duo on a bark bench outside the festival hall. We played in harmony like two brothers. After that I organized a studio recording in Stuttgart. It was after a concert he did with Gunter Hampel – between 1 and 3 o’clock in the night. Because there was time left for the LP I added three solo pieces. There is one (“Mona-a-gogo”) with a little help of my friend Wolfgang Dauner. He had invited me for recordings at the Radio Stuttgart before, and after that I arranged this peace for me as a clarinet on two different tracks. These two tracks he transformed with a ring modulation of his synthesizer. I produced 200 LP’s of “Free Blacks” (it means the free black clarinet instruments…)

AKM Records released ‘In Time’, feat. Theo Joergensmann, Bernd Konrad, ‘Jam Session Leningrad’, feat. Anatoly Vapirov, Sergey Kuryokhin, Alexander Alexandrov and ‘Jam Session Moscow’, feat. John Fischer, Leonid Chizhik, Alexey Zubov. What can you tell us about projects you had together with previously mentioned musicians? You know, I established the AKM label for my own – with no business strength. Just for fun. My clarinet colleague Theo Jörgensmann (we met us in Remscheid – close to Cologne – at a jazz clinic in 1969) had no own label, then I said he could write “AKM” on the sleeve. My second trip to the passed away Soviet Union was in December 1980/January 1981 when I had my regularly vacancies as a teacher. But then I smuggled my clarinet in and a tape out – Jam Session Leningrad. There I improvised together with saxophonist Anatoly Vapirov, bassoon player Alexander Alexandrov and the late pianist Sergey Kuryokhin. I was the first Western jazz avant-gardist to play in USSR together with resident musicians. I came as normal tourist and had to hide my ambitions against the KGB. Some months later, I traveled with my New York based friend John Fischer (piano), to Russia and we did a Session in Moscow together with the well-known players Leonid Chizhik (p), and Alexey Zubov (ts). Chizhik now lives in Munich, Zubov moved to Los Angeles. In 1984 you released ”On a Baltic Trip” album on Leo Records. What’s the story behind it and what followed after this? Leo Feigin is a refugee of former Leningrad, who worked for the Russian Service of the BBC in London and found the label “Leo Records”. He had presented my LP’s recorded in Leningrad and in Moscow already in the British radio. And so he was so friendly to release my sessions done in the Baltic metro poles of Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn as a “real” record company. In Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia I played together with leading jazz musicians there. Of course I was quite famous in whole Soviet Union thanks to the underground propaganda of the free jazz dissidents…

What are you currently working on? In meantime I am retired as a teacher. I am busier in writing articles and working as a photographer than as a clarinetist. So have no special planes as a musician. If the people ask to perform with my Polish wife Katarzyna “Polish Poetry + Jazz”, I can do it. On other sides I like to play at openings of art exhibitions, and often I play a kind of Klezmer music at events for killed Jews by the Nazi regime. If you look back in the late 60’s and 70’s. How did you see this German scene. You were more part of jazz scene, rather than rock experimental scene with acts such as Amon Düül II, Embryo etc. But were you connected with what was happening at the time and what was the scene in your city? Hitler time was not long far away. We wanted to have a better Germany. We wanted to make a democratic and world open minded music. Of course, I have known and listened to Embryo, Amon Düül, but it was no influence to AK Musick. When we played at the Frankfurt festival Paul and Limpe Fuchs (often partner of the piano player Friedrich Gulda!) joined us as surprising guests on the stage. The best concert of my hometown Schwäbisch Hall in 1969 was “Black Sabbath” with Ozzy Osbourne… They played for 600 Deutsche Marks (approx. 200 Dollars) in a former church.

AK Musick with Limpe Fuchs. Thanks for taking your time. Would you like to send a message to It’s Psychedelic Baby readers?

Keep the eyes and ears open. International understanding is so important. Maybe music can help.

Klemen

[aintshitbiz]

Lenny Williams "Weekend Blues" Single | @LennyWilliams

“Weekday Blues” is about the everyday struggle that most people experience. Traffic jams, day care, eight hours at the job etc. Then finally the Weekend comes and you have two days to do you. What ever that may be. - Lenny Williams

Click Here to Stream/Add to Spotify Playlist

The ultimate soul crooner, Oakland, California native Lenny Williams possesses one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary music. With his rich, passionate vocal style, he is rightfully regarded as one of R & B’s most influential soul men. Williams began his musical career making records that have subsequently become R & B and Pop classics, tunes like the mega-hit “Cause I Love You” (recorded on his solo album) and “So Very Hard To Go,” which he recorded as the lead singer for Tower of Power. Lenny Williams' style has transcended into the new millennium, influencing many of today’s newest R & B and Pop vocalists.

Lenny himself sounds better than ever as he continues to keep the focus on love. “Love is what has gotten me through all of these years. I look for love and I surround myself with it,” Lenny says. When it comes to singing love songs, one must “go there to know there,” and Lenny never left. He is able to take the listener to the heart of love with such soulful aplomb because love will never go out of style and no one does it better. Then...Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Lenny moved to Oakland at a very young age. Learning to play the trumpet in elementary school fueled his interest in music. Lenny’s skills as a vocalist were first nurtured by singing in gospel choirs and groups around the Bay Area, where he was in good company, working alongside up-and-coming artist Sly Stone, Andre Crouch, Billy Preston and members of the Hawkins family--Edwin, Walter and Tramaine. After winning several local talent contests, Williams signed his first record deal with Fantasy Records. He cut two singles for the label, including “Lisa’s Gone,” now regarded as an R & B classic among British soul music lovers, and “Feelin Blue,” written by John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Lenny then spent a brief time with Atlantic Records, before deciding to put his solo career on hold in 1972, when he joined the emerging funk band Tower of Power. A string of hits ensued, including “So Very Hard To Go,” and “Don’t Change Horses (In The Middle of The Stream),” written by Lenny Williams and Johnny “Guitar” Watson. During his two years with the group, Lenny participated in three milestone albums, the Gold LP Tower Of Power, Back To Oakland, and Urban Renewal, while touring non-stop throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. At the end of 1975, Lenny returned to his solo projects. Initially signing with Motown in 1972, he later moved to ABC Records in 1977 (which was then purchased by MCA Records in 1979). Over the next four years, Lenny scored ten charted hits, including “Shoo Doo Fu Fu Ooh,”, “Choosing You,” “You Got Me Running,” “Love Hurt Me Love Healed Me,” and “Midnight Girl.” Lenny recorded four more albums from 1977 to 1980-- Choosing You, his first gold LP, Spark of Love, Love Current, and Let’s Do It Today. These albums established a solid and loyal following for Lenny, and the impact of his music can still be felt, particularly the mega-hit “Cause I Love You”, from Spark Of Love. This song crosses generational boundaries, and has frequently been used on “old school” and “slow jam” compilations throughout the years. In 1986, Lenny was invited to sing vocals on “Don’t Make Me Wait For Love,” a track from superstar sax man Kenny G’s multimillion selling album Duo Tones. When released as a single in 1987, the song became a Top 20 Pop and R & B hit. Now...Over the past few years, Lenny has continued his solo career, touring the US, Europe and South Africa. In 2004 and 2005, Lenny and Kanye West were honored recipients of the BMI Songwriters Award for the song “Over Night Celebrity,” recorded by rapper Twista. In the Summer of 2018, Lenny's smooth tones were on display in the song “I Love My Momma,” a collaboration with superstar rapper Snoop Dogg, featured on the popular HBO miniseries Sharp Objects. Over the years, he has shared stages with Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, K-Jon, Anthony Hamilton, The Whispers, Rick James, Boney James, Bobby Womack, The Ohio Players, Al Green, Usher and Frankie Beverly and Maze. Lenny has also expanded his multi dimensional career to include acting, starring in several popular stage plays. As an icon of the past and the present, Lenny Williams continues to expand his musical prowess and flex his newly found acting skills. He is sure to continue wowing his fans in the United States and beyond for decades to come. Now a Doctor, since receiving his honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree from California State University, Lenny Williams has the right musical prescription to soothe real music lovers. “I’m going to continue to evolve and grow as I learn and experiment lyrically and musically. I’ve been doing this for a long time now and I’ve been watching all of the changes going on in the music business. I have my own label now (Bridle Ridge Records); let me do my thing,” Lenny says. Yes, indeed, music lovers everywhere want him to do those things that he is the musical master of. Like a flowering perennial, prolific soul man Lenny Williams is always prepared for the spotlight that he belongs in. Connect w/ Lenny Williams: Facebook: @ohohohLenny Twitter: @LennyWilliams Instagram: @ohohohLenny YouTube Channel: Lenny Williams

[iamacolor]

yesss i agree with the melodies/rap/instrumentals not 'matching' and honestly that's why i'm kinda impressed by how well 127 are pulling it off like?? how hard must have it been to record it?? and oohhh mad props to the choreographer especially for being able to choreograph something to cohesive for such an unconventional song (esp those textures like during the sticker x3 part in the chorus)!!

i Loooveee how you talked about their vocals and how they play around with them, youre so observant and well spoken i need to listen to the album again to pay attention to all those details now!!

goooddddd lemonade is Totally jaehyun's song YOU RIGHT like ive missed his deep rapping voice that he hasnt used for a while now if im remembering correctly?? like since he's got such a great singing voice but this. soft. extra. deep. voice. was A Lot. its Such a nice contrast to the really loud pre chorus of the song and just yeah. jaehyun supremacy

cant believe you said promise you is a perfect end of concert song bc thats the Exact thought i had (and now i wanna go to a concert so bad 😫) and its literally what im feeling the most right now - that fun elated feeling it gives but at the same time its kind of sad? nostalgic? almost bittersweet and i love it. focus is also kind of mellow and makes me feel like im in outer space or floating and gooosshh magic carpet ride almost made me cry. maybe im just in a bad mood and inclined to the sad-ish songs lmao but these are the ones i cant stop listening to!

oooh you're right, when i watched the performance earlier i was thinking that it's such a hard son to pull off live with the mix of the dance and the changes in flow and melodies but i didn't even think about the recording, especially because even the vocalists have lines with very intense flow this time. and yes the choreo really fits the song and kind highlights different details and each members gets to show some personnality, it plays with dynamics a lot so it fits the song well in that sense (going from slow or very fast, alternating between solo/duo moves or unison, members at the back are often moving very little while the person at the front sings and also there are several moments where they kind of "control" each other? i'm really looking forward to the dance practice to be able to see everything lol) it also must've been quite hard to follow the beat while learning the choreography!

haha their vocals are what i usually get lost in because they always showcase new things while building on to what they've already proven to be great at so i love talking about them, they never let you forget that they have many different members and that they are a group meaning they can bring both harmonies and volume as well as different colours, ranges and powers in solo parts and that is sooo cool (like that part in lemonade where doyoung and yuta do the same part at the same time? or in bring the noise i think there's this part where taeyong is rapping kind of agressively so you get his own voice grit and in the back someone is doing the same line but super high! or how in rainy nights they add harmonies and runs at the end of some lines and not on all the words etc i love the different levels of fullness in a sound a group of that size can bring, it reminds me of when i did choir lol)

honestly jaehyun is such a versatile member vocally, he's not necessarily the most powerful one (but that's also because he's in the same group as taeil and doyoung lol), he's the only baritone so he naturally has a lower range than the others while still being able to go high but also that means he can play around like he does in lemonade and brings a lot of depth without any strain and always sounding full and soft in contrast to the instrumental but also he can do his parts in sticker (some of which are quite high for his range) or do ballads and sounds so fitting and emotional !! he can also make harmonies fuller because of his range, they utilize him so differently depending on the genre of the song (like how in punch he was the only vocalist who also did the whisper rap with mark and taeyong but then he opens rainy night!) and i personnally love lower voices ((i'm still waiting for my lower voices nct unit 🙏🙏) so lemonade thank you 🙏🙏

aaah that's the perfect description of this song, also fitting since it's the end of the album lol it's an ending and a promise to get more so it has a very lingering feeling, and on re-listen magic carpet is so soft but also so emotional omg and you're right focus feels like there's no gravity with all the little soft beeps and distorted little synths in the back and the little runs and echos in their voices, honestly they're all good and they explore so many moods that all selection is a good one haha

[yellowunited632]

Antares Auto Tune Efx 3 For Mac

Antares AutoTune Pro 9.1.1 Crack (zip mac) with Serial Key 2020

Antares AutoTune Pro Crack is an unusual audio processor developed under the name of Antares Audio Technologies. This software used to measure or change video content vocals and music performances. Antares Auto-Tune’s central task is to do correct off-key inaccuracies and allowing vocal tracks to perfectly tuned despite initially being slightly off-pitch. The application is essential for speech and hyperlink tones; thus, the Antares AutoTune Activation Code executes it clear, and it deletes all the music. So, the user can do an outstanding job and display. Therefore, Cooling is an essential condition for use during the stay, so it is easy to utilize.

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Auto-Tune EFX+ is the powerful production tool which combines the core features of Auto-Tune with the powerful Auto-EFX multi-effects rack (vocoder, tube distortion, filters etc.) and Auto-Motion pitch-shifting melodic pattern generator. Must-have vocal plugin for producers and sound engineers.

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Auto-Tune Vocal Studio; AVOX 4; Auto-Tune. Auto-Tune Pro; Auto-Tune Artist; Auto-Tune EFX+; Auto-Tune Access; Auto-Key; Auto-Tune 7 TDM/RTAS; Compare Auto-Tune Editions; Vocal Effects. Aspire EVO; Articulator EVO; CHOIR EVO; DUO EVO; Harmony Engine EVO; Mic Mod EFX; Mutator EVO; Punch EVO; Sybil EVO; Throat EVO; Warm EVO; Noise Reduction. Free Auto-Tune Demo downloads, free Harmony Engine Demo downloads plus free demo downloads for other Antares vocal plug-ins via the free AVOX Demo download. All product demos require an iLok USB key and an iLok account. Inbuilt Auto-Tune vocal effect for removing variations and forcing quick note transitions. Furthermore, Auto-Tune EFX bundles a so-called vocal effect designed to abruptly limit notes to an accurate and fixed value which, although precise and fast, will also add sudden and rapid shifts between your track’s notes. Feb 04, 2020  How To Free Download & Install Auto Tune EFX 3 For Windows & MAC saleonplugins.com. With Auto-Tune Pro, Antares’ industry-standard pitch and time correction plug-in has received a serious.

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AutoTune Torrent is the most complete and advanced edition of Autotune. It involves both Auto Mode, for real-time pitch fixing and effects, and Graph Mode, for a specific pitch and time editing. For twenty years, Auto-Tune has been the known standard for pitch correction, and the tool of option for the most iconic vocal effect in popular music. Now, with the preface of Antares AutoTune Crack, it’s more versatile and more comfortable to use than ever before, thanks to a redesigned interface and powerful new processing, editing, and navigation features. It has added crucial automatic detection with the new Auto-Key plugin (included with Auto-Tune Pro purchase), Classic Mode for the “Auto-Tune sound,” and real-time MIDI control.

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Go to the 'Antares Audio Technologies' folder within your Applications folder, open the specific Antares plugin folder, double-click on the included uninstaller utility, and follow the instructions in the Terminal screen prompt.

For example, if you're trying to uninstall Auto-Tune EFX 3 go to Macintosh HD/Applications/Antares Audio Technologies/Auto-Tune EFX 3 and double-click on Uninstall Auto-Tune EFX 3.command

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If you have an older Antares plugin that does not have an included uninstaller utility, please use option 2 below to uninstall the plugin.

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Option 2: Manually delete the plugin file

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AU MacHD/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components

AAX MacHD/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins/Antares Audio Technologies

RTAS/TDM MacHD/Library/Application Support/Digidesign/Plug-Ins

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Albums Of 2017

WHAT. A. YEAR. So much so, that my Top 50 isn’t big enough to contain all the fab albums released. So here are some bonus albums, that missed the main countdown, but couldn’t go unmentioned.

This lot are great….

Aly & Fila / MC Lars / Lowly / Einar Stray Orchestra / Public Service Broadcasting / Bare Infinity / The xx / Fire Red Empress / !!!  / Kedr Livanskiy / Sleeping Romance / Daughter / Grandbrothers / Black Sun Empire / Cairo Knife Fight

This lot are even better (and rather superb)!…

Cellar Darling / Charly Bliss / Ali Barter / Paul Van Dyk / Tired Lion / Death From Above / Gothic Tropic / Engine-Earz Experiment / Algiers / Moby & The Void Pacific Choir / Shed Seven / Elsaine / Blanck Mass / SPC ECO / Me The Tiger

And now the spendid albums that DID make list proper…..

50.

St. Vincent  ‘MASSEDUCTION’

Emotional, catchy, quirky, sexy, (mostly) electronic pop from St. Vincent on her 5th album. Some great production touches, fab melodies, and her sultry vocals, with some gorgous ballads, and upbeat tunes. Actually, if it weren’t for a couple of unfortunate appearances from the worst instrument in the world, the pedal steel guitar, it may be a bit higher on the list.

49.

Paul Draper  ‘Spooky Action’

The former Mansun frontman releases his debut solo album, 14 years after Mansun announced their split. What’s taken so long? Who cares? The results are satisfying. It doesn’t sound exactly like Mansun of course but there are certainly familiar elements in his songwriting. There are proggy touches, and a nice variety in the sound. Classy, slightly experimental, indie rock.

48.

Jane Weaver  ‘Modern Kosmology’

This sounds like if a 60s psychedelia album was made using modern equipment. Except apparently Ms. Weaver used loads of retro kit to make it. Either way it’s a fab trip.

Have a listen: https://janeweaverfire.bandcamp.com/album/modern-kosmology

47.

Hundredth  ‘Rare’

Apparently before this album Hundredth were a melodic hardcore band. You wouldn’t know it from this. This is a mesh of 90s shoegaze (in the spacey, floaty production, and the hazy, glidey vocal delivery), and modern punk rock (in the big riffs and pounding drums). It’s a fantastic idea, and for the most part works brilliantly.

Have a listen: https://hundredth.bandcamp.com/album/rare

46.

Papa Roach  ’Crooked Teeth’

Back in 2000, listening to a radio rock show, I heard both Linkin Park’s ‘One Step Closer’ and Papa Roach’s ‘Last Resort’ for the first time. I loved them both. Then back in my student radio station promos for both of the songs arrived near enough at the same time and I started playing both on my show. After reading a five star review for Linkin Park’s ‘Hybrid Theory’ I decided I needed that album in my life. I popped along to Virgin Megastore and LP was in a multibuy chart deal so I picked up Papa Roach’s ‘Infest’ album too. It felt right as these two seemed to have been partnering each other so far. ‘Hybrid Theory’ blew me away, and is still up there in my favourite ever albums to this day. ‘Infest’ however disappointed me, apart from 2 or 3 tracks, and I never really paid much attention to Papa Roach again. Who would’ve thought 17 years later, both bands would be releasing albums again, and the Papa Roach one would be vastly superior. To be fair Linkin Park’s ‘One More Light’ was the worst album I heard in it’s entirety in 2017. It seems awful to say under the circumstances, but the sad tragedy that came later doesn’t suddenly mean that it isn’t a terrible album. Anyway, back to Papa Roach. I only gave this album a  go as it was getting some good reviews, and I’m glad I did. It’s a cracker! They haven’t chaged their style much, still the rap rock they are known for, but every tune is as good as the last, from the hip hop of ‘Sunrise Trailer Park’ to the raucous ‘Traumatic’ which I imagine would cause more than a few circle pits.

45.

Bent Knee  ‘Land Animal’

At times it feels like Bent Knee have managed to stuff elements of every genre ever played by real instruments onto this album… indie, rock, metal, jazz, swing, classical etc…. as such it is often not the easiest listen, but it is repeatedly incredibly impressive, and there are some massive hooks, and moments of beauty in amongst the insanity.

44.  

Zola Jesus  ‘Okovi’

This album isn’t always the most comfortable of listens, being about the aguish of a close friend / loved one being depressed and suicidal, but there are moments here that are musically astounding, and gorgeous, and her voice is never less than stunning. Electronic, orchestrated soundscapes, with beats that range from glitchy to pounding. Fab.

Have a listen: https://zolajesus.bandcamp.com/album/okovi

43.

Sløtface  ‘Try Not To Freak Out’

Norwegian pop-rock band Sløtface (pronounced Slutface) release their debut album, and it is catchy, chirpy, uplifting, and will fill you with joy.

Have a listen: https://slotface.bandcamp.com/album/try-not-to-freak-out

42.

Awaken I Am  ‘Blind Love’

Epic, dark rock with huge melodies, and a fantastic vocalist (who has left the band since the album’s release for personal reasons). This is cracking stuff.

41.

PVRIS  ‘All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell’

Dark, electronic pop rock trio PVRIS return with their second album. The production is widescreen and atmospheric, ‘Heaven’ and ‘Half’ are arguably their best songs yet, and the performance is as strong as ever.

Have a listen: https://thisispvris.bandcamp.com/releases

40.  

Bad Sign  ‘Live And Learn’

Straightforward, no frills raaaaaawk! Huge riffs, pounding drumming, and gruff but melodic vocals. Huge! At the album launch show, they managed to start a mosh pit in an upstairs of a pub by the guitarist jumping off stage and running into people backwards whilst still playing.

Have a listen: http://music.basickrecords.com/album/live-learn

39.

The Dark Element  ‘The Dark Element’

Former Nightwish vocalist Anette Olzon and guitarist and songwriter Jani Liimatainen (once of Sonata Arctica, more recently Cain’s Offering), join with some other musicians to form The Dark Element. It’s got a symphonic metal vibe, as you may expect, but it’s quite accessible, and highly melodic. Great stuff.

38.

Lana Del Rey  ‘Lust For Life’

Float away, with Lana’s stunning voice, the etheral production, and gorgeous melodies. It’s a smidge too long, and I’m not entirely convinced by the two A$AP Rocky appearances, but otherwise this is beautiful.

37.

Loadstar  ‘I Need The Night’

These days, drum & bass seems to mostly fall into two camps. Either it’s heavy noisy underground fare, or it is pop songs, with exactly the same simple, fast beat under every song. Loadstar manage to successfully stradle both camps here, in the way the first couple of Chase & Status albums did. The catchy songs have somewhat more inventive beats underneath them, and the heavier dancefloor stuff has more in the way of hooks than most. There are a couple of deviations into other bass heavy music styles (in fact the attempt at grime ‘Talk Too Much’ is the album’s only mis-step, but that’s more the fault of the vocals than the production). Generally ace stuff.

36.  

The Anix  ‘Ephemeral‘

Electro-Goth? Darkwave? Industrial pop? Bah… labels eh? Fantastic production, songs structured like a rock band but sounding entirely electronic, with moody melodic vocals. Parts of this heavily remind me of Innerpartysystem, and the best tracks nearly match some of those from my 2008 album of the year.

Have a listen: https://theanix.bandcamp.com/album/ephemeral

35.

HAIM  ‘Something To Tell You’

HAIM return with more of their brand of 80s inspired pop-rock. MOR but with interesting quirky bits, and most importantly 3 very talented musicians, with fab voices and a knack for writing an almighty tune.

34.

Itchy  ‘All We Know’

This is an album of fantastic, uplifting, catchy, musically accomplished pop-punk-rock. This is the first I’ve heard of this German band, but this is their 7th album. Apparently before this they were known as Itchy Poopzkid. Whether the slight name change is a sign of an increasing maturity I don’t know, but this is great stuff.

33. 

Brutus  ‘Burst’

Brutal, relentless, but catchy and melodic as well. A good description from their website: ‘This trio from Leuven, Belgium create expansive, stratospheric punk not quite like any other band around. With post-rock construction, black metal dynamics, hardcore energy, prog and math-rock flourishes and pure pop melodies all detectable’. Will leave you exhausted but thrilled.

Have a listen: https://wearebrutus.bandcamp.com/album/burst

32.  

Steven Wilson  ‘To The Bone’

‘The most successful British artist you’ve never heard of’ stated a poster on the tube for Steven Wilson this year (can’t remember whether it was for the album or tour - I think the latter), and that may be true. He, or more his band Porcupine Tree, are massive in Europe, but have only had decent success here (to be fair they and he solo, have done multiple night stands at The Royal Albert Hall, but that’s in London, and who lives in London? Lots of Europeans). However this album may be where that starts to change. His highest chart postion yet (straight in at no 3 on the UK album chart), and the material contained within is certainly his most accessible yet. He’s known for contemporary prog rock, but calls this album prog-pop. It is certainly less drawn out, much catchier, and not as heavy, but still retains some of the musicality and unexpectedness of prog. Excellent stuff.

31.  

Liquid  ‘Energy Flows’

Rave legend Liquid (of ‘Sweet Harmony’ & ‘Liquid Is Liquid’ fame) returns with his 2nd album, 22 years after his first. If his excellent 1995 debut album was a step away from the hardcore sounds which made his name into more housey territory, this one is a jump straight back into them. Breakbeats, classic rave stabs, uplifting piano… cracking stuff.

30.

Greywind  ‘Afterthoughts’

Irish, brother-sister, alternative-rock duo Greywind unleash their debut album. Massive epic sounding production, weighty guitars, fab melodic vocals, and hooks that won’t leave you for days.

29.  

Gudrun Von Laxenburg  ‘Panic!’

A huge electro house album of the Jus†ice / Boys Noize variety, but with more humour and lightness of touch, not to mention greater musicality and ample hooks. Will ram into your head and make you want to move.

28.

Gary Numan  ‘Savage: Songs From A Broken World’

Admission time, I’d never previously heard a Gary Numan album before. I’d always meant to, as I’ve liked every song I’ve heard by him, but just never got round to it. So when this came out I thought I’d change that. Ordered the special edition CD after one listen. Fantastic dark electronics, great vocal melodies, superb production. Not many people can still sound this good, and current, 40 years and 21 albums into their careers. Time to delve into the catalogue and see whether this is a refreshed, return to form Numan, or whether every album is this good.

27.  

INHEAVEN  ‘INHEAVEN’

For a new and reasonably young band, INHEAVEN sound ridiculously 90s. For those that love 90s music of course, this is no bad thing at all. There’s touches of grunge, shoegaze, post-punk, and even a pinch of Britpop all in the blender, all poured out into 12 excellent, catchy, spikey tracks.

26.  

4 Strings  ‘Sunset Aftermath’

Dutch trance legends 4 Strings release their first album in 11 years (their 4th in total), and it brings together many singles released in the last 2 years into one immense collection. Alternating instrumental tracks with song based ones, featuring excellent vocalists (including scene heavyweights such as Audrey Gallagher, Sue McLaren, Cathy Burton etc) every one of these tracks is aiming for the label of ‘anthem’. Top drawer trance, and 4 Strings’ most solid album yet.

25.

The Beautiful Monument  ‘I'm The Sin’

Aussie all female rockers The Beautiful Monument unleash their debut album. Apparently they are making a few waves down under and it isn’t hard to see why. Plenty of chunky riffs and pounding drums, with loads of huge melodies and some dashes of beauty and moments of epicness. This is hopefully just the beginning...

24.

The Birthday Massacre  ‘Under Your Spell’

You know roughly what to expect from a new album from The Birthday Massacre. This is their 6th / 7th album (depending on how you want to look at it) of their gothic electro-rock (sounding like it is inspired by industrial, metal and a heavy dose of Depeche Mode). The combination of the gorgeous melodies delivered by singer Chibi’s lovely voice, mixed with big riffs, atmospheric synths and driving drums, you know it’s unlikely to be bad, but this is a particularly good collection from them, and probably a good starting point for anybody unfamiliar with the band.

Have a listen: https://metropolisrecords.bandcamp.com/album/under-your-spell

23. 

Anathema  ‘The Optimist’

Admission time again, I’d never previously heard an Anathema album. I’d meant to, as a friend kept raving about them, but I never got round to it. So when this came out, I thought I’d give it a play. By the outstanding third track ‘Endless Ways’ (one of my fave songs this year), I was ordering the CD (with the DVD containing the even more impressive 5.1 surround sound mix). This is a mesh of alternative rock & prog rock, very accessible melodies, a massive epic sound, some songs sung by original singer Vincent Cavanagh and some by the more recent addition to the band, Lee Douglas (it’s her fabulous vocals that lead ‘Endless Ways’). It’s huge & spine-tingling, and the back catalogue will be delved into.

22. 

Vessels  ‘The Great Distraction‘

Vessels started life as a post-rock band, and released 2 albums in this style, then for their 3rd album, 2015′s ‘Dilate’ (a top 10 of the year for me), they went all electronic, but still were delivering the epic soundscapes you might find in post-rock, just with completely different sounds. For this, their 4th album, the electronics are still the order of the day, and they are still vast and somewhat soundscapey, but this time they are pointed slightly more at the dancefloor. There are also more guest vocalists this time around, John Grant and The Flaming Lips among them. Not quite the masterpiece that ‘Dilate’ was, but not many people sound like Vessels, and this is still an excellent album.

Have a listen: https://vesselsband.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-distraction

21. 

Youth Killed It  ‘Modern Bollotics’

In 2014 there was an album in my top 15 of the year - ‘The Struggle’ by a band called Under The Influence. It was an excellent rap metal album, with cool raps, huge melodies and massive riffs with a dash of thrilling electronics. In early 2016 they decided their musical direction had changed enough that it warranted a name change and Youth Killed It was born. This is more light hearted and humerous, more indie-punk (with a dash of ska-like rhythms), but it still has some rapping, and the huge melodies and massive riffs are still present. It is a joy, very relatable and hugely uplifting. Great fun.

20.

The Animal In Me  ‘Helping Won’t Help’

Once again TAIM deliver an album that’s a bit like a punch in the face followed by a gentle stroke of the brow and a loving smile. Huge guitar riffs, pounding drums, Shane Gould’s screaming, Laura Vierra’s incredible voice delivering some superb melodies. Monster stuff.

19. 

UNKLE  ‘The Road: Part 1′

UNKLE seem to deliver a cracker every other album…. ‘Psyence Fiction’, ‘War Stories’ & now ‘The Road: Part 1′. Very song based, but with epic melodies, and a decent amount of variation between and within songs…. acoustic guitar led ballads to euphoric house influenced tunes to dark moody trip-hop to lush orchestration, featuring vocalists of all sorts from gruff male singers (Mark Lanegan) to uplifting, unique voices (Eska), to Tricky-esque rapping (Elliott Power) and many more. And it all works beautifully.

18. 

Kaleida  ‘Tear The Roots’

Minimal but intricate, icy, moody, floaty, sexy, electro-pop, from the London based Anglo-German duo of mesmerising vocalist Christina Wood and keyboard / production wizard Cicely Goulder. It has to me a Scandinavian or Icelandic sound, but maybe Berlin is an influence too. It is stunning, magical and more than a little catchy.

Have a listen: https://kaleida.bandcamp.com/album/tear-the-roots

17.

Doll Skin  ‘Manic Pixie Dream Girl’

Doll Skin are an all female band from Phoenix, Arizona and have had their brand of punk/pop/rock compared by others to The Donnas, The Go-Gos & The Runaways. Worthy comparisons and not too far off the mark.

16.

Turtle  ‘Human’

Gor Ge Ous. Lovely, floaty electronic soundcapes, the occasional beautiful vocal track, with some dancefloor leaning numbers in between. Lush pads and slow breakbeats. There are 2 alternate tracklists for this album, the standard digital one, and the edited vinyl only one. Both fab (though the vinyl is missing ‘Limbic’, one of my faves here).

Have a listen: https://turtle.bandcamp.com/album/human

15. 

Marnie  ‘Strange Words And Weird Wars’

Ladytron’s Helen Marnie unleashes her 2nd solo album, and it’s fabulous. Atmospheric electronic pop - take Ladytron’s sound and make it warmer, more human, and even catchier. Quite frankly ‘Lost Maps’ and ‘Electric Youth’ are two of the best tracks of the year, and 2 of the best electro-pop tracks in many years. But you won’t be reaching for the skip button at any point, as the rest are very nearly as good.

Have a listen: https://helenmarnie.bandcamp.com/album/strange-words-and-weird-wars

14.

Solarstone  ‘.—-’

Trance legend Solarstone has been rocking the term (and record label) Pure Trance for a few years now, and this certainly has an old school feel to some of it. It’s certainly not all the regimented structure of many of the genre’s (often excellent) floor fillers. This is a proper album of 8 tracks, that sound different, but flow excellently as a whole. From the atmospheric, old school sounding opener ‘Leap Of Faith’, to the minimal ‘Untitled Love’ with excellent vocals from Rabbii, via the gorgeous Orkidea collab ‘Slowmotion IV’, through the big single ‘I Found You’ to the closing Hybrid-esque breakbeat stomper ‘Cafuné‘, this is Rich Mowatt’s best album for sure, and I’d imagine a future genre classic.

13.  

Sumo Cyco  ‘Opus Mar’

The Canadian punk-rock/metal/ska-ish band fronted by Sever (aka Skye Sweetnam) returned with their 2nd album this year, and it is a fabulous, hook laden (and catchy as foooook), riff-tastic collection of mosh pit fuel. Fantastic stuff.

12.  

Way Out West  ‘Tuesday Maybe’

Way Out West are one of the most underrated dance acts of all time. The fact I can easily say that an album as good as ‘Tuesday Maybe’ is not a patch on their early stuff shows how good they were. They were a progressive house (in the proper sense of the term, not the new meaning) / breakbeat / trance hybrid that made incredible dancefloor fillers and epic soundscapes that were so intricate and layered that you could still discover new sounds years after first listen. These days they are moving along a simpler deep house path, though they are far better than pretty much any other example of the genre, and there are certainly familiar elements which are distinctly WOW (’A Sheltered Place’ being closest to the epic soundscapes of old). They haven’t lost their knack for a gorgeous melody that’s for sure.

Have a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npp5tif4Brc&list=PLOftnzGIKwJCwAE6nYyrmFjzroH747e0o

11.

Bicep  ‘Bicep’

‘Who the hell are Bicep?’ I wondered when this album crashed into the UK album chart earlier this year. Wiki described them as an ‘electronic duo’. ‘Uh, more crap EDM no doubt’ I thought ‘I’ll give it a listen on Spotify in case’. I did, realised I was so, so wrong, and I went and bought the CD later that day. This album sounds like Bicep have studied the last 30 years of dance music, taken inspiration and elements from nearly ALL of it, mashed them together, and somehow created something pretty fresh sounding, that both works as music to dance to, and music to chill at home to. It’s pretty special and look forward to hearing what they do next.

Have a listen: https://feelmybicep.bandcamp.com/album/bicep

10.

Rews  ‘Pyro’

The 10 songs on this album, from the ‘London/Belfast based high energy alt-rock duo consisting of songstress Shauna Tohill and beat-maker Collette Williams’ are nearing classic status in my life already. Yes, all of them. The only reason this album is not higher, is the production. It feels like many of the songs are being held back. Having seen them live 3 times this year, I know how much more kick these tunes can have (go see them if you get the chance). Still, great songs are great songs, and this is an awesome album (top 10 in a year of this quality is no mean feat), I just can’t stop myself thinking it could’ve been even better.

9. 

Pumarosa  ‘The Witch’

How to describe Pumarosa? They call themselves, on their Facebook page, ‘Industrial Spiritual’. Hmm, nah. Art-rock? Indie-prog? Space-rock? It’s arty, proggy (in the sense that tracks build and build), it has a depth and a swagger but it’s not particularly heavy, it has an expanse of sound and beauty but it’s not post-rock. Anyway, stick this on and give it your attention, you may well float away on the musical journey they put you on.

8. 

Enter Shikari  ‘The Spark’

Talk about a grower. On first listen, this disappointed me. ‘Worst thing Shikari have done’ ‘Far too restrained’ ‘Might not even make my Top 50′. On further listens though….. Yes, it is the most accessible album Enter Shikari have released, and there are less massive metal riffs or screamy bits. But it is no less inventive, with tracks taking suprising left turns, containing the typical genre mashups that Shikari are known for, but it also contains some of the most truly moving, raw (break-up fuelled) emotion I’ve heard in a long time. Fabulous record.

7.

Arcane Roots  ‘Melancholia Hymns‘

Incredible, riffmongous, jittery, smash you in the face, epic rock tunes, of the early Biffy Clyro ilk, interspersed with gorgeous, spacious, electronic, chilled moments. This is album of the year quality, and in many years, it would’ve been just that. Just not this year.

6.

London Grammar  ‘Truth Is A Beautiful Thing’

Just gorgeous. Hannah Reid’s voice is otherwordly, and Dan and Dot’s stunning soundscapes take you to another place. Epic and stunning, this is pure musical beauty.

5.

Blood Command  ‘Cult Drugs’

A relentless onslaught of awesome. Massive riffs, beastly drumming and harsh yet melodic vocals, with impressive electronic elements that are woven into the very DNA of the sound, rather than being nice window dressing. For a group who are at their core a hardcore punk band, the musicality is astonishing. They like to describe themselves as ‘Deathpop’ which is fairly accurate.

Have a listen: https://bloodcommand.bandcamp.com/album/cult-drugs

4.

Vukovi  ‘Vukovi’

Tune after tune after tune, not a drop in quality throughout. Experimental enough to remain interesting, catchy and melodic enough to ram into your head and stay there. Cracking debut album from this Scottish rock 4-piece. They deserve to be huge.

3.

Wolf Alice  ‘Visions Of A Life’

Wolf Alice’s EPs were brilliant, their debut album was excellent, but here on their second album, they’ve become arguably one of the best bands in the world right now. Ranging from raging riffs, to etheral gorgeousness via some retro sounds… the way some songs end up in a completely different place to where they started is stunning, the songwriting and musicianship sublime. They could go anywhere from here (though a death samba drum & bass album is probably unlikely).

2.

Craig Connelly  ‘One Second Closer’

Craig Connelly started making waves on the trance scene about 5 years ago with his electro-infused singles, but his big breakthrough came in 2013 when he changed to a more uplifting style and released the huge Christina Novelli collaboration ‘Black Hole’. Since that he’s been releasing anthem after anthem, and this year he released his debut album which apart from a re-recorded version of ‘Black Hole’ was all new material. And what an album. Spine-tingling euphoria, amazing guest vocal performances, huge synths, and some more chilled reflective moments too. A couple of my favourite times of this year were attached to this album (taking part in the video for ‘Elevate’, the ‘One Second Closer Live’ event in London’s Lightbox venue) and therefore I’d so love it to be number 1 (& it was for about 6 months) but….

Have a listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FjMLko4cNE&list=PLAF8A2FwG0TZrLq534hzdEgNkarf2vOOJ

1. 

Bullet Height  ‘No Atonement’

Jon Courtney (formerly of Pure Reason Revolution) returns, teaming up with Sammi Doll (of IAMX) and presents us with the debut album from Bullet Height. If you know PRR, take the sound of their last album Hammer & Anvil and make it darker and heavier. This album thrills at every turn with a barrage of electronic noise, huge guitar riffs, and stop you in your tracks vocal melodies. Just breathtaking.

Well, there you go. Hopefully this won’t get amended too much in the forthcoming weeks / months :-) It’s taken me long enought as it is.

YouTube playlist, counting down 50-1:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSWMYBJKcPo1OyFGmQNQpfzsO6L3ChKbr&disable_polymer=true

And a Spotify playlist doing the same, but with different tracks from each of the albums:

https://open.spotify.com/user/offbeatmusic/playlist/0Pp1xJI1kA3N4bPqevwofo