Wire Magazine Records of the Year 2011 (Spoilers)

[Brian Olewnick]

I'm sure other regular contributors to this board (Jon) and beyond (Brian, Richard) will admit to similar narrowing of preference fields with the passing time .. though I suspect mine are still a bit wider than theirs.

Very much the case, in largely similar areas. However, it's more than compensated for by a branching out into areas that have been previously poorly explored (by me) like acoustic blues, 20th century classical, Indian classical, Mid-Eastern music, etc.

(fwiw, I stopped getting the Wire 5-6 years ago so don't really care about these lists. Aside from the occasional missed article of interest, no regrets about the decision. I agree with Alex that the necessity for it vanished a long time ago.)

[mudd]

actually other areas of music i'm interested in are even more neglected that improv these days. but that's probably partially self-inflicted in a world of editions of 75 on cassette.

m

[Dan Warburton]

Just a thought after reading Tony's scoring system on the Wire blog (see link above) - I didn't actually produce a list in any order: I only chose one fave album of the year, because that's what I thought we had to do - (and in previous Rewinds writers' Albums Of The Year are listed.. are they this time?) - the other nine weren't in any order at all, so I have no idea how the folks at Wire HQ scored my own contributions. Matt W, did you order yours, first, second, third etc? Curious.

[anasara]

actually other areas of music i'm interested in are even more neglected that improv these days. but that's probably partially self-inflicted in a world of editions of 75 on cassette.

m

although head boggle makes an appearance...

[Damon_Smith]

William's 3 disc solo is my album of the year, the Malfatti/Rowe a close second. I'd like to hear Dörner/Dafedecker/Johannson. The rest on the improv list I heard and would put other work by same musicians/labels on the list before.
I listened to a ton of music this year, I can't really narrow it except those first two seem to tower above the rest. You EAI guys should get William's solo from slsk and sit through it once. It is quality, and well worth the listen.
For the Wire to even mention the Beach Boys is lazy. Sure, it is good pop music. The Wire should other priorities.

[Matt Wuethrich]

50. MICHAEL CHAPMAN - THE RESURRECTION AND REVENGE OF THE CLAYTON PEACOCK

Just got my copy of the Rewind issue. The record at 50 is Trainsong: Guitar Compositions, 1967-2010 on Tompkins Square, not the Ecstatic Peace LP (which appeared higher).

Matt W, did you order yours, first, second, third etc? Curious.

I did. I think the request for the lists says "in order of preference". The first year I submitted a list (2007) I didn't realize I was supposed to put any order on it, so they just took the first one on my list and made that my record of the year. I think a little more about the order now, at least for the first five or so. And, yes, Dan, the issue does list all of our top picks.

[Dan Warburton]

I'd like to hear Dörner/Dafedecker/Johannson.

You will - it's excellent (I couldn't place a review of it in The Wire so that's why I stuck it on the ten best Improv discs)

For the Wire to even mention the Beach Boys is lazy. Sure, it is good pop music. The Wire should other priorities.

Oh, don't let's get started on that "pop music isn't music" debate again

[schiksalgemeinschaft]

You EAI guys should William's solo from slsk and sit through it once. It is quality, and well worth the listen.

yeah, I got it at a show of his some time ago, indeed good stuff, the only "jazz" improv I bought this year.

[Damon_Smith]

For the Wire to even mention the Beach Boys is lazy. Sure, it is good pop music. The Wire should other priorities.

Oh, don't let's get started on that "pop music isn't music" debate again

Oh it isn't that. I am fine with the Beach Boys and fine with the Wire covering pop, I just think it is a little obvious. I might even like the the Beach Boys more than I'd like the pop music they should cover!

[johnson]

Man, I just actually listened to that Ferraro album and that is positively horrible.
As for the Wire being underground or mainstream, yeah that has everything to do with geography. It's not at all surprising that it's sold at train stations in Berlin, but I live in a small town in the southeastern US and we have no news stands and only one bookstore and it offers two music magazines: Rolling Stone and Spin.

[anasara]

i can't say that i hate the ferraro album, or deny that i've listened to it a few times, intentionally, but it really is sort of a one-time shtick.

"oh, heh, i get it."

[notoriousd]

They give album of the year to stuff like Burial, calling it innovative and experimental (wtf lol)

So, on what grounds was it neither of those? Of course most innovations seem pretty tiny and insignificant when observed as an outsider, without proper literacy of the field - the same thing definitely happens to EAi and such. It sounded pretty much like nothing else, which can't be said about most EAi releases, which I suppose are still automatically labeled as experimental.

There was nothing in Burial that hadn't been done before. The rhythms, while extremely similar in structure and timbre to those of the glitch era of the early 00's, do not develop over the course of the song, but remain in a loop. The whole atmospheric RnB thing had also been done before, by Sasu Ripatti under the moniker of AGF/Delay. Check out the song "Melt", and then tell me Burial isn't terrible in comparison.

Drawing attention to your phrase "most innovations seem pretty tiny and insignificant when observed as an outsider, without proper literacy of the field", (which you incorrectly attributed to me), I now point out your lack of expertise in the field of EAI. What about FURT, Bark, Konk Pack, Isambard Khroustaliov, Scott Looney, Chris Brown, Trevor Taylor and Gino Robair? (to name a few off the top of my head). EAI isn't comprised solely of hyped artists like Sachiko M and Taku Unami. "literacy of the field" LOL

[jon abbey]

"hyped" LOL

FWIW, EAI is not the same as electroacoustic, although that is the least interesting discussion in the world to have.

[presquepartout]

what a travesty, no eai in p4k's list!

[yonhosago]

"hyped" LOL

[leroysghost]

what a travesty, no eai in p4k's list!

What a relief, that would be almost as embarrassing as being nominated for an Oscar.

[jon abbey]

FWIW, Pitchfork reviewed a handful of Ersts back in the day, pretty favorably as I recall. didn't seem to help sales at all, though...

[Jesse]

FWIW, Pitchfork reviewed a handful of Ersts back in the day, pretty favorably as I recall. didn't seem to help sales at all, though...

panzner!

[mudd]

no, that was mostly dominique leone. and i think mark richardson, who loved fennesz in any context including erst.

joe wrote for stylus at the time, they had a much better group of improv and noise writers.

m

[Jesse]

that's what i meant-i get my hip music journals confused.