favorite releases of 2010

[WCrap]

Hermann Nitsch - Sinfonie IX - 2CD (Gramola)
Martin Kippenberger - Musik 1979-1995 - 3x10"-Box (Kröthenhayn)
Catherine Christer Hennix - The Electric Harpsichord - CD (Die Schachtel)
Robert Haigh - Anonymous Light - CD (Siren)
Sudden Infant - My Life's A Gunshot - 4LP-Set (Hrönir)
Walter Marchetti - Il Divano Dell’Orecchio - 5LP-Box (Alga Marghen)
Jean-Louis Brau - Instrumentations Verbales - LP (Alga Marghen)
Anton Bruhin - Deux Pipes - LP (Alga Marghen)
Zeitkratzer - Whitehouse - CD (Zeitkratzer)
Valeska Gert - Baby - 7" & Ästhetik der Präsenzen - Book (Martin Schmitz)
Trevor Wishart - Fanfare & Contrapunctus - LP (Pan)
Rolf Julius - Music For The Ears - CD (Western Vinyl)
Hartmut Geerken - Orpheus - CD (Hybriden Verlag)

[D.D.]

Well, I have only 15 releases of 2010 (give me another five years, will you), and my favorite is Martin Küchen - the lie & the orphanage (mathka).

[RFKorp]

Working on a list! I swear! Will presumably have it done by the end of the month..... better than not doing it at all again like last year.

[diederich]

I'm aiming for March for mine.

[Snow Dog]

Ingar Zach - M.O.S.

I was wondering if should get it, what was it like?

If you liked anything else with Ingar Zach I think you'll like it because it traverses all of his different playing styles. It starts off with a lot of bell ringing with some other delicate percussion, building up a cloud of shifting overtones over the rhythm; then it becomes full on drone with motorised percussion, electronics, and sruti boxes. After that the tonal presence dwindles, leaving a lot of nice clicking and whirring sounds behind . He then starts to use more silence, which he surrounds with some of that crazy bass drum wailing stuff closer to his old-style of playing (which was influenced by drummers like Oxley and Lytton) before he goes back to some crisp bell-ringing. The sound quality and mix of this album is also impeccable and much better than that of his previous solo album.

ok, thanks!

[MRS]

Caldera Lakes -- s/t (død univers)
Joe Colley -- Disasters Of Self (C.I.P.)
Dām-Funk -- Adolescent Funk (Stones Throw)
DJ Ambidekstres -- New Blood 3: Got Bay Edition (d/l)
Kevin Drumm -- Necro Acoustic (Picadisk)
Luc Ferrari -- Didascalies 2 (Sub Rosa)
Gomeisa -- Ego Death (Stasis)*
Walter Marchetti -- Il divano dell'orecchio (Alga Marghen)*
Cédric Peyronnet -- kdi dctb 146 [e] (Gruenrekorder)
Michael Pisaro/Greg Stuart -- July Mountain (Three Versions) (Gravity Wave)
Sewer Election -- Kvävd (A Dear Girl Called Wendy)
Orlando Silva -- o Cantor Das Multidões (Revivendo)*
v/a -- Experimental Music Of Japan Vol. 4: Early Works 1983-1986 Agencement [1] (Edition Omega Point)
v/a -- Gamelan Of Central Java (XII: Pangkur One) (Felmay)
v/a -- Imaginational Anthem IV: New Possibilities (Tompkins Square)

*gunpoint

[mono tony]

Michael Pisaro/Greg Stuart -- July Mountain (Three Versions) (Gravity Wave)

what do you think of the austin version?

do you keep the disc packaged three (4) layers deep?

[MRS]

what do you think of the austin version?

It's certainly the wettest of the three, I think the added bits prop up the whole in a different light, absolutely addicted to this album.

do you keep the disc packaged three (4) layers deep?

Yes, and I always appreciate cellophane bags for irregularly sized paper packaging.

[Daniel Jones]

This has all gone a bit quiet! I was looking forward to seeing some more people's lists... As it happens I think the following were the releases I got the most from last year:

Vanessa Rossetto - Mineral Orange
Annette Krebs & Taku Unami - Motubachii
Kevin Parks & Joe Foster - Acts Have Consequences
Michael Pisaro - July Mountain
Graham Lambkin & Jason Lescalleet - Air Supply
Yoshio Kuge - The Fist
Seijiro Murayama & Eric La Casa - Supersedure
Anne Guthrie - Standing Sitting
Off-cells - 60/40
Chip Shop Music - You can shop around but you won't find any cheaper

I apologise if I've missed anything

[RFKorp]

OK. Fine. I can't say I'm 100% settled on a list. It keeps fluctuating so much...... but here's a top 30.

1. Annette Krebs & Taku Unami - motubachii (Erstwhile)
2. Mark Fell - UL8 (Editions Mego)
3. Tomas Korber/Ralf Wehowsky - Walküren Am Dornenbaum (Entr'acte)
4. Billy Bao - Urban Disease (PAN)
5. Taku Sugimoto & Michael Pisaro - 2 seconds/b minor/wave (Erstwhile)
6. Joe Foster & Kevin Parks - Acts Have Consequences (no label)
7. Sabine Ercklentz & Andrea Neumann - LAlienation (Herbal International)
8. Pascal Battus & Christine Sehnaoui Abdelnour - Ichnites (Potlatch)
9. Hecker - 3 Track 12" (Editions Mego)
10. David Kirby - Opus (Homophoni)
11. Anne Guthrie - Standing Sitting (Engraved Glass)
12. Taku Sugimoto - Musical Composition Series 1 (Kid Ailack)
13. Mattin - Object of Thought (Presto!?)
14. Jason Lescalleet & Graham Lambkin - Air Supply (Erstwhile)
15. Hwaet - Hwaet (Abrash/Music Appreciation)
16. Sudden Infant - My Life's A Gunshot (Hröner)
17. Michael Pisaro & Barry Chabala - Black, White, Red, Green, Blue (Voyelles) (Winds Measure)
18. Russell Haswell - Value + Bonus (No Fun Productions)
19. Joe Colley - Disasters of Self (Crippled Intellect Productions)
20. Vanessa Rosetto - Mineral Orange (Kye)
21. Kevin Drumm - Necro Acoustic (Pica Disk)
22. fanlab DUO - historically innocent and sexually indifferent (no label)
23. Work/Death - Tender Comrades (Semata Productions)
24. Choi Joonyong - I Am Scratching a CD In a Room (Reductive)
25. Michael Pisaro & Greg Stuart - July Mountain (three versions) (Gravity Wave)
26. Miguel Prado - Within (3.2) (Heresy)
27. Pita - Talking Head-Baltimore + Contemporary Gallery-Detroit (Raw Special Effects)
28. Gullibloon - MUH (Alku)
29. Mike Shiflet - Llanos (no label)
30. Ben Byrne - Disposition (AvantWhatever)

[grisha]

how did you manage to hear so much stuff?

complete agreement on number one here (shared with Pisaro/Sugimoto, but i haven't heard your #s 2, 3 & 4)

[RFKorp]

how did you manage to hear so much stuff?

It's a sickness. I have no willpower to stop myself from buying every potentially interesting release that comes out.

[Jesse]

Annette Krebs & Taku Unami - motubachii (Erstwhile)
Tomas Korber/Ralf Wehowsky - Walküren Am Dornenbaum (Entr'acte)
Taku Sugimoto & Michael Pisaro - 2 seconds/b minor/wave (Erstwhile)
Joe Foster & Kevin Parks - Acts Have Consequences (no label)
Jason Lescalleet & Graham Lambkin - Air Supply (Erstwhile)
Vanessa Rosetto - Mineral Orange (Kye)
Michael Pisaro & Greg Stuart - July Mountain (three versions) (Gravity Wave)
Mike Shiflet - Llanos (no label)

our shared picks, fwiw.
if i had heard chambel's within [3.2] by my list-making, i would consider it's inclusion.
sorry i missed out on the colley stuff.
i need to hear work/death.

[jon abbey]

Jesse, you mean Prado, not Chambel.

thanks for the kind words, guys! Grisha, I hope you write a bit on those recent acquisitions after you've had them for some time, but glad to hear you're enjoying them...

[mudd]

i think most of my top 10 is in richard's top 30, but position-wise there is little overlap. maybe i'll try to put together a list.

m

[Antoine]

My 10 favorites (in no particular order, except the first one):
Michael Pisaro / Taku Sugimoto - 2 Seconds / B Minor / Wave
Michael Pisaro & Greg Stuart - July Mountain
Magda Mayas - Heartland
Koboku Senjû - Selektiv Hogst
Jason Lescalleet - Fantasy and Electricity
Coffins / Stormcrow - Split
Factums - Gilding the Lilies
Jason Kahn, Ryu Hankil, Jin Sangtae, Hong Chulki, Choi Joonyong & Park Seungjun - Dotolim
The International Nothing - Less Action, Less Excitement, Less Everything
MURAL - Nectars of Emergence

And ten compilations / reissues:
Dadawah - Peace & Love
VA - California Funk: Rare Funk 45s From the Golden State
Ethiopiques 26: Mahmoud Ahmed & Imperial Bodyguard Band
VA - Ecstatic Music of the Jemaa El Fna
VA - Afro-Beat Airways: West African Shock Waves from Ghana & Togo 1972-79
VA - Ivory Coast Soul: Afrofunk in Abidjan From 1972 to 1982
VA - The Sound of Siam: Leftfield Luk Thung, Jazz & Molam in Thailand 1964-1975
VA - Afro Tropical Soundz Vol.1
John Coltrane - At Temple University 1966
VA - The World Ends: Afro Rock & Psychedelia in 1970's Nigeria

[jon abbey]

nice, Antoine! your top release and reissue are both the same as mine, even though I put out the first one myself. that Dadawah record is so so so so so good, easily my most played disc of 2010 (not counting Ersts).

[mudd]

funny, i agree with pretty much everything in that reissues list, but i think only 1 of the new releases would be on my top 10.

m

[presquepartout]

the end of 2010 was a rather fruitful time for awesome music. i probably heard upwards of 10 releases from that span which would've made into a top 50 list. luckily, the place i submit my year end lists to includes late november and december of the year prior in their best of lists.

[Gerardo A]

Haven't heard as many CDs 2010 as some people here of course, and this is way anticlimactic given that we're in May 2011 already, but here's my 2010 top 10 (I just remembered I had made it after chatting with Jon at FB):

1. Graham Lambkin y Jason Lescalleet - Air Supply [Erstwhile]
2. Michael Pisaro - A Wave and Waves [Cathnor]
3. Kevin Drumm - Necro Acoustic [Pica]
4. Vanessa Rosetto - Mineral Orange [Kye]
5. Vomir - Renonce [Crucial Blaze]
6. Annette Krebs y Taku Unami - Motubachii [Erstwhile]
7. Joe Colley - Disasters of Self [Crippled Intellect]
8. Kevin Drumm - The Obstacles of Romantic Exaggeration [Karl Schmidt Verlag]
9. Choi Joonyong - Burn Yoido Burn [Ghost and Son]
10 [tie]. Group Inerane - Guitars From Agadez Vol. 3 [Sublime Frequencies]; Pedestrian Deposit - East Fork/North Fork; Billy Bao - Urban Disease