Most recently heard ringing in my ears;
ADEM – Homesongs (wating for the new one) (sadly not as good as the first)
BJORK – Medulla (this album is incredible, i’m listening to it right now. Bjork is an inspiration, i can’t think of the words to describe her) Volta – not sure about this one yet
JACK BRUCE – Harmony Row (rediscovered after 30 years)
CALIFONE – Heron King Blues (but come on guys 35 minutes of music and a jam is not an album)
COLLEEN – Everyone Alive Wants Answers (headphones on the plane)
CORNELIUS – Sensuous (Just saw them at a festival and they are truly incredible, best band I have seen in years)
DNTEL – Life is Full of Possibilities (Jimmy Tamborello before the Postal Service beautiful melodies and intriguing rhythm) Dumb Luck
EFTERKLANG – Tripper (verging on goth but good, thanks LJon) Parade (Saw them live in Toronto, a fantastic and inspirational show) In fact I am a bit blown away by this right now to be honest….I don’t think I have ever seen a band like this. New album 02/10 Magic Chairs again inspirational but for different reasons. To see this band progress and bloom is amazing!
ELBOW – Cast of Thousands (I love his voice) New record not sure yet seems to have a weird production
FOUR TET – Everything Ecstatic, a lot of drums ! Rounds (working in the office)
BEBEL GILBERTO – Bebel Gilberto (any time, amazing live)
JOSE GONZALEZ – In Our Nature ( took me a long time to work this out, he sounded too much like other people but now I see it and I love it)
JAMES FIGURINE – Mistake Mistake Mistake Mistake (yet another Jimmy Tamborello project, a very talented musician)
LALI PUNA – Faking the Books (amazing production and very interesting sound )
LOW – not a huge fan but saw them live and they were excellent.
JUANA MOLINA -Tres Cosas (everyday on tour in hotel rooms)
MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA – Birds of Fire (a pivotal album in my musical journey and still blows me away)
BARBARA MORGENSTERN – The Grass Is Always Greener (excellent German indie electro music interestingly featuring acoustic piano)
Ms.JOHN SODA – No P. or D. ( the album that led to my using Mario Thaler to mix my album and produce Erins)
CAT POWER – Jukebox ( Never been a fan before but I love the feel and atmosphere of this record)
STINA NORDENSTAM -The World is Saved (just got it, amazing)
THE ALBUM LEAF – In a Safe Place
TONTO’S EXPANDING HEADBAND – Zero Time (got this on ebay last week and a record player, haven’t heard it in 30 years, amazing!)
TORTOISE – It’s All Around You (track 4 a lot) – A Lazarus Taxon (The perfect way into Tortoise)
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT – Want (gave up on this on first listening but after seeing him in April I love it )
These people have been and should be a constant reminder to us that you can make music that is different and you can and should take risks and don’t have to rely on the past. If I can achieve anything near what these people have done I will be very happy
I’d also like to thank Soundscapes record store in Toronto without whom I wouldn’t have discovered a lot of this music, a truly different and amazing place to find music.
Occasionally, let’s say once every six months I listen to BBC Radio 1. I can handle about 30 seconds of it and it doesn’t matter how long it’s been, I swear it sounds exactly the same as the last time. Often it’s interrupted by the moronic DJ and his gang of sycophantic idiots laughing and joking amongst themselves … Is this music ? Do people really sit in a studio somewhere saying to themselves how good it is before thousands of people go out and convince themselves thats it’s good ? Thank god for internet radio and god help the people growing up listening to this crap … rant officially over …..
