The first of several previews of music new to 2021, including:
Sault – Untitled (Rise) (2020)
XTC – English Settlement (1982)
Jose Aponte – From Here; From There (2020)
Zara McFarlane – Songs of an Unknown Tongue (2020)
Machine Listener- Metonym (2020)
The Brendan Eder Ensemble – To Mix With Time (2020)
Relevant Links:
The Chomsky review mentioned above
A brief look at the process I used to curate my Top 20 of 2020 list.
The Top 10 from my Top 20 of 2020 list.
Relevant Links:
Post on Floating Points Crush
Post on Venetian Snares Rossz Csillag Alatt Született
Post on Kate Davis’ Trophy
Here's a Spotify playlist with representative tracks from the Top 20 of 2020
Review and discussion on Van Halen’s 1979 sophomore album, Van Halen II
Relevant links
Previous post in this series on Van Halen I
A freestanding post on 5150 from last year
Review and discussion over Frank Zappa’s 1991 release You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore vol. 4.
Relevant links:
This is the fourth entry in a series covering these releases.
Review and Discussion on Mdou Moctar’s Ilana (The Creator), with
a focus on the cultural exchanges that surround his unique style.
Relevant Links:
Hama’s Houmeissa
D’addario’s Guitar Power interview
Review and Discussion on Dana Jean Phoenix’s 2018 album Pixeldust.
Review and discussion on Van Halen’s 1978 debut. Thanks to special guest commentator Jose “Boobie” Estrada.
Relevant Links:
Previous review on 5150
Roundup of new listening for Fall 2020, including comments on:
Bad Brains- I Against I (1986)
Sault- Untitled (Black Is) (2020)
Johann Johannson- IBM 1404, A User’s Manual (2006)
Tiger Moth Tales – Storytellers Parts 1 & 2 (2016/2018)
Aiming for Enrike – Music for Working Out (2020)
The Flaming Lips – American Head (2020)
Relevant links
An older text post on Johann Johansson
Review and discussion on Miles Davis'1970 album Bitches Brew.
Here's a previous post on Kind of Blue.
Review and discussion on Lunatic Soul’s 2017 album
Fractured.
Relevant links
Starting point of the Marillion series mentioned in the post
Review and discussion on Ludwig Göransson’s 2018 score to Marvel’s Black Panther movie.
Relevant Links:
The Making of the Black Panther Soundtrack with Ludwig Goransson
Hot takes and overviews of recent albums in rotation, including:
The Rentals – Q36 (2020)Review, discussion, and anecdotes surrounding Living Colour’s 1988 album Vivid.
Review and discussion on Marillion’s 1987 album Clutching at Straws
Relevant Links
Part 1 – Script for a Jester’s Tear
Part 2 – Fugazi
Part 3 – Misplaced Childhood
Review and discussion on Fela Kuti’s 1977 album Zombie with special guest commentator Digital D.
Relevant links
A old text post on the Budos Band and Fela.
Zombie was a top 10 album for me in 2004
Digital D’s Soundcloud page
