new discoveries this year

jon abbey · Post by **jon abbey** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 10:44 pm

the only rule here is anything cultural that you were exposed to for the first time this year, and that seriously impacted you, whenever it was made.

finally seeing the 15 hours of Berlin Alexanderplatz, and it didn't disappoint, powerful and lingering.

the Edition RZ David Tudor release, which somehow the Wire managed to leave off their top 10 reissues of the year. some of the best piano work I've heard from him on disc 1, and the seminal proto-EAI piece Variations II on disc 2:

"The astonishing recording here is of Cage's 'Variations II' (26.30), where Tudor for the first time - it was his decision, not suggested by Cage, or the score - wired the piano with both contact and directional microphones as well as LP cartridges, and worked with the piano guts, incipient feedback loops and noise to realise the score. Instantly recognised as a landmark at the time (1961), it remained for Cage one of his 'most significant productions'. "

Mitsuhiro Yoshimura, the first exciting new voice from the Tokyo scene for me in a few years. I'm very curious to see how his career develops from here, especially in collaborations.

being in the Rothko Chapel, sitting there alone in the morning. maybe the most charged atmosphere I've ever sat in, I couldn't do more than 20 or 30 minutes at a time before I needed fresh air.

that's a start, I'm sure I'll think of more.

jon abbey · Post by **jon abbey** » Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:03 pm

Dinosaur-Kiss Me Again, the 13 minute version from the Sire 12 inch, my favorite Arthur Russell track ever, and maybe the best disco track I've ever heard. this was thanks to MP3s from the late lamented Oink, it's a crime that this hasn't been reissued by anyone yet (Steve Knutson tells me he isn't interested in licensing anything).

user_294 · Post by **user_294** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 12:58 am

polmo polpo - like hearts swelling. just listening to this tonight for the first time. *so nice* it's reminding me of soft and hazy yo la tengo guitar moments, slowly looping and gently crescendoing in a smouldering, philip jeck-like manner. i guess there are some godspeed-y guitar figures in there. but it hits a sweet spot

jpeatt · Post by **jpeatt** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 1:03 am

Flamenco doesn't suck.

Vangelis made a couple of albums that are 'okay', and possibly even 'good'.

sound plague · Post by **sound plague** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 3:13 am

A few thing old and new that I discovered this year.

Emergence of Korea:
Thanks largely to Manual's "5 Modules" series a new wing of eai emerged to a wider listening population. Although I wasn't 100% taken with any of the 5 modules releases the promise is there and I'll be keeping an ear aimed in that direction as I'm sure several others around here will.

The Dave n' Graham show:
Who would have thought the Quam was more than just a pretty face and an ihm namesake? No way, he and Graham had to go and record one of the best things to grace my ears all year. A real jolt to what I viewed as an overly samey musical landscape this year.

Emaciator:
I went on a buying binge and loved everything that I heard.

Diving into the hip hop pool:
I cast my net wider this year and absorbed myself in more hip hop than ever before. I thank the following, old and new for what has been one of the grooviest years of my life. Damo, Babbletron, Binary Star, Black Star, Percee P, Kool G Rap, Mic Geronimo, O.C, A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Wu Tang Clan, Prodigy, Mood, Ras Kass.... and too many others to mention.

Written Discoveries:
Thanks to the recommendation of friends and ihmers I've had alot of great material to read this year. Shout out to Jonathan Lethem, D. Harlen Wilson, Kenneth Patchen, Amos Tutuola, Denis Cooper, Steven Hall, Jane Bowles and many others.

I've enjoyed this year.

bedouin · Post by **bedouin** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 3:29 am

eai / erstwhile

as a consequence of:

the improvisation meeting at bar aoyama - sugimoto opposite

in paralel with:

trapist - polwechsel (is this the best super-group ever?)

I am stunned that so many of these recordings are already 10+ yrs old and most often out of print.

user_5204 · Post by **user_5204** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:37 am

Klaus Lang.
Four sure one of the best "composers" of the XXI century. This year I've got five cds of his music, and all of them are excellent: Trauermusiken (1995), Sei-Jaku f?r streichquartett (2003)
and Einfalt.Stille (2007) in Edition RZ, Missa Beati Paupers Spiritu (2006) in Col Legno and Die ?eberwinterung der Mollusken (1999) in Durian. Absolute astounding music!

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck.
His film "Das Leber der Anderen" is the best movie I've seen in 2007. It's the first movie I've seen from this young german film director, and we can wait better things in the future.

J.F. · Post by **J.F.** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:44 am

In my teens I basically only cared for the prog/Zappa-side of rock-things and my musical interests spread from there into free jazz and contemporary classical stuff (roughly speaking).
In between, I tended to ignore the (post-)punk-phenomenon, which I eventually started to approach this year. Well - approached it from the distance via historical documents only (CDs, books, interviews), but what I learned about several relevant exponents changed my thinking, not only in musical terms, but to a small degree also on a more general level.

Many bands I checked out are not really my cup of tea, but there are two I had a mild week-long craze about after discovering them:
early Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle (FSK) and Public Image Limited, Wobble-era.

I'd say I only scratched the surface so far, and I'm looking forward to discover more.

Gaendaal · Post by **Gaendaal** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:09 am

Hiking for 5 days along the Great Wall of China (hopefully that counts as cultural...) - An utterly mindblowing experience and transforming in so many ways. The scenery, the people, the physical and mental strain, doing it all for charity. Quite honestly the best, most rewarding experience I've ever had.

Boredoms live in Glasgow - Transcendental. A superb gig that was not only excellent for its own sake but came at ba time where I really needed something as positive and energetic as it turned out to be.

user_4664 · Post by **user_4664** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 6:25 am

Peter Evans- The Peter Evans Quartet-s/t

GODOT · Post by **GODOT** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 7:47 am

Discovering the joys of Borges for the first time.

Labyrinths (collection of short stories) blew my mind like nothing else sine Blake and Beckett. The man is a genius.

Three Version of Judas especially is fantastic. Such a simple concept, but beautifully written.

If you haven't checked him out, do so now.

Other than that, seeing Mr Gira perform solo again. Devestating.

Dohol · Post by **Dohol** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 7:49 am

Cheese steak.

Whithout the Whiz...

schiksalgemeinschaft · Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:02 am

i finally fully realized the power of Roman Signer's work.

sadly you can't experience it's full power on the internet or youtube.

I also think I discovered Joanna Newsom this year.

faster · Post by **faster** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 8:34 am

GODOT wrote:Discovering the joys of Borges for the first time.

Man, I envy you that feeling.

dohol wrote: Cheese steak

Man, I had one a couple weeks ago & it definitely underwhelmed. I really didn't get it.

bryan · Post by **bryan** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 9:41 am

Faster wrote:
dohol wrote: Cheese steak
Man, I had one a couple weeks ago & it definitely underwhelmed. I really didn't get it.

even in the proper context (drunk and/or in philly)?

faster · Post by **faster** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 10:04 am

SeventhHarmonic wrote:
Faster wrote:
dohol wrote: Cheese steak
Man, I had one a couple weeks ago & it definitely underwhelmed. I really didn't get it.
even in the proper context (drunk and/or in philly)?

Well, in Philly at least.

Dohol · Post by **Dohol** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 1:23 pm

Faster wrote:
GODOT wrote:Discovering the joys of Borges for the first time.
Man, I envy you that feeling.

dohol wrote: Cheese steak
Man, I had one a couple weeks ago & it definitely underwhelmed. I really didn't get it.

The source of said cheese steak is important since the quality is quite variable ( to say the least ). The best I had was pretty damn good, the rest were ho-hum to hideous.

Just like everything else in life..

And..

Borges!!!!

I would agree..

Richard Pinnell · Post by **Richard Pinnell** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 2:29 pm

javier4w wrote:Klaus Lang.
Four sure one of the best "composers" of the XXI century. This year I've got five cds of his music, and all of them are excellent: Trauermusiken (1995), Sei-Jaku f?r streichquartett (2003)
and Einfalt.Stille (2007) in Edition RZ, Missa Beati Paupers Spiritu (2006) in Col Legno and Die ?eberwinterung der Mollusken (1999) in Durian. Absolute astounding music!.

Agreed, all great discs, nice to have another Lang convert here!

Have you heard Jakob Ullmann's A Catalogue of Sounds on RZ? If you enjoy recent Lang then I thoroughly recommend that disc.

---

Nice thread.

For me, this year has been less about discovering new things, and more about spending time delving into areas I've been meaning to investigate for years.

Classical (as opposed to contemporary) composition has been my biggest "discovery" in 2007, I've been on a massive Mahler journey for about six months now in particular.

I watched a few good films this year too. I haven't really watched any film or TV at all for many years so just sitting and enjoying a film has been a bit of a discovery, even if I've only actually seen four films...

hatta · Post by **hatta** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 2:56 pm

Like Richard, I've spent more time delving into things that I had discovered in previous years. Probably the most encompassing of these has been the music of John Cage. That festival I attended in Vancouver last year really had opened my ears to his music. Before that I was in the camp that thought he was more of an idea man. That festival where I heard nearly 30 pieces across his entire career really demonstrated that he made amazing, fascinating, beautiful music throughout. Many of his pieces are very open ended and can be performed in such a way as to sound incredibly contemporary while still rigorously following the score. This I think is an amazing achievement and something that will allow his music to be of every age. So anyway I spent a lot of time getting more of his music this year. Not fiendishly, I'm not the sort that gets obsessed and then buys every single thing on day one. I like to let it stretch out and just get things as they strike my fancy. So I was probably getting several things a month from him with plenty more still to discover.

Likewise I filled out my Tudor collections and spent a lot more time with other members of the New York School. I really got into Earle Brown and Christian Wolff this year, again both of whom I'd listened to previously but now started to really explore. This will continue into next year.

In improv, there really wasn't much to discover this year. A lot of the maestro's did solid, engaging work but little to raise eyebrows. The biggest discovery, as Jon started this off with was, Mitsuhiro Yoshimura. Loving his stuff and excited to hear what he does next.

Hubajube · Post by **Hubajube** » Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:23 pm

Heavy Winged
speed games (like this)
Lacinato kale and garlic sauteed in olive oil
Raw cabbage