Reissues:
1. The Soft Machine – Third (Sony)- Never sounded better. I think this new edition actually opens up whole new levels of appreciating this recording.
2. Terry Riley – Les Yeux Fermés / Lifespan (Elision Fields)- Some of the finest Terry Riley recordings available again for the first time in 30 years.
3. Nico – The Frozen Borderline (Rhino)- If I were ever to orchestrate a pop album, I'd have to settle for less, because I would've wanted it to be Marble Index.
4. Lubomyr Melnyk – KMH: Piano Music In The Continuous Mode (Unseen Worlds)
4. "Blue Gene Tyranny – Out of the Blue (Unseen Worlds)- I'm giving myself a pass on these because people still don't know. And they don't knock anything down in the list, so everyone wins.
4. Christina Kubisch – Night Flights (Important)- Great. The best recording I know of by the always good Kubisch.
5. Richard Crandell – In the Flower of Our Youth (Sound Advice)- We'd planned on doing this for Unseen Worlds. Now we don't have to.
6. Michael Harrison – Revelation: Music in Pure Intonation (Cantaloupe Music)- Reissue of a small (perhaps private) CD edition. This has grown on me a lot. Kudos to Cantloupe for bringing it to light, and taking the leap of faith with a lesser known composer.
7. Pauline Oliveros – Accordian and Voice , The Wanderer (Important)- Overlooked Oliveros records thankfully brought back into circulation, if only because they've got great covers. There's already so much great Oliveros available that it's hard to put these in perspective in her catalog, but they stand as very solid efforts all around.
8. Bobb Trimble – Iron Curtain Innocence (Secretly Canadian)- I prefer the heavily stoned trance vibe of this record to the loose folk of Harvest of Dreams.
9. Yoshi Wada – Lament for the Rise and Fall of the Elephantile Crocodile (Editions Omega Point/EM)- I may have actually enjoyed this more in it's abbreviated LP version, but it's a very good record still and not as easy to pin down as you would think given it's humble approach.
10. Liliantal – Liliantal (SPV/Revisted)- The whole new SPV reissues of the German scene are top notch in packaging and sound. I chose this because it's one of my new favorites from the Krautrock scene and as far as I know never before available on CD, which is odd for a Brain release.
11. Daphne Oram – Oramics (Paradigm, UK)- Very well done early electronic music.
12. William Basinski – Shortwavemusic (2062)- One of the more distinctive Basinski records.
New Recordings:
1. Fovea Hex – Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent (Die Stadt/Janet)- Glad I decided to invest in this set after all. A record that feels like an old classic already.
2. Grand State University New Music Ensemble – Steve Reich "Music for 18 Musicians" (Innova)- Perhaps the very best version available.
3. Johnny Greenwood – There Will Be Blood (Nonesuch)- I've listened to this many, many times since I got it in December. Very balanced listening with an adventurous streak.
4. Percurama Percussion Ensemble, Paul Hillier – Terry Rily "In C" (Ars Nova)- One of the better versions of this as well.
5. Radiohead – In Rainbows (Radiohead)- I probably had more fun listening to this record the night it was released on the internet than I have had in a long long time. Made me feel young again. Really young.
6. Paul Zukofsky – Krauze/Ichiyanagi/Cage (Musical Observations)- Stellar.
7. Robert Wyatt – Comicopera (Domino)- Supremely pleasant listening.
8. Carl Stone – Al-Noor (Intone)- I meant to write a full review on this, but the politics of it got to my head (since Woo Lae Oak was released on CD this month). This release, even for Stone, is impressively diverse, fun, and interesting. In my opinion, it's not even worth scratching your head over whether it's more fun or more interesting. The answer's just in wanting to listen to it again.
9. Field Music – Tones of Town (Memphis Industries)- Great art rock. Not so much into this new School of Language solo stuff.
10. Fennesz/Sakamoto – Cendre (Touch)- A beautiful record whose quality will show with time, I think.
11. Rilo Kiley – Under the Blacklight (Warner)- I think I actually prefer this record to the other Rilo Kiley I've heard. Light, yes, but also fairly tense in a good way. I think this got heavily underrated.
12. Panda Bear – Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)- I go back and forth on this record a lot. Essentially I wish it were heavier on the low end. Maybe with a different mastering job I'd have thought that it was great, but right now I just kind of admit that I've heard it and thought it was good.
13. Dinosaur Jr – Beyond (Sub Pop)- Surprisingly great sounding effort with some great guitar hero moments.
Movies:
1. The Black Book (Paul Verhoeven)- More epic and saddening than any other movie I saw this year. It was also a bit fantastical, but I can live with that.
2. There Will Be Blood (P.T. Anderson)- Despite it's flaws, lots about this movie was deeply heartfelt.
3. Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (Sydney Lumet)- For sheer storytelling, this has to be the best movie this year, but I'm going to put it third because life's unfair.
4. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Cohen)
