best records of 2009

[RFKorp]

The only Unami disc this year I've really enjoyed is the Hayward thing on Hibari.

not even the duo with Noid? I think I'd rank that even higher than the trio with Hayward and Davies.

edit:
ok, a few first impulse favorites of the year if I'm posting in this thread at all. this is totally not my official list. I'm sure I'm forgetting things I love and including things I don't really need to.

unami/noid - ㄱ + : *
werner dafeldecker - long dead machines
malfatti/filip - imaoto
rowe/sachiko - contact
neumann/palacky - pappeltalks
andrea neumann - pappelallee 5
patterson/halliwell - terrain
takehiro kawaguchi - n
radian - chimeric
hayward/davies/unami - valved strings calculator
russel haswell - wild tracks
stasis duo - 3
nmperign/skeletons out - marvin/live 1978
murayama/ezaki/kinoshita - ready'n
john weise - circle snare

[Daniel Jones]

patterson/halliwell - terrain
takehiro kawaguchi - n

I thought about these two as I like them a great deal, wanted to limit myself to ten though... I think it's been a bloody good year for music this year!

The CFYR releases certainly deserve an honourable mention too Richard - I've particularly enjoyed Delicate Sen a lot!

[mono tony]

does imaoto have more activity on it than goat vs. donkey? is imaoto a better recording?

if i thought goat vs. donkey was too minimal, will i find something to enjoy (more action) on imaoto?

i found goat vs. donkey very un-engaging, unless i turned it up very loud. even then, the recording felt flat.

sorry to request the comparison, i was deliberating buying imaoto after seeing all the mentions on this thread.

[Dan Warburton]

does imaoto have more activity on it than goat vs. donkey? is imaoto a better recording?

if i thought goat vs. donkey was too minimal, will i find something to enjoy (more action) on imaoto?

If it's action you're looking for - since you mention it twice (not that activity is really a synonym, mind) - then, no. But musically Imaoto is far more satisfying to me. And a damn sight better recorded.

The Noid duo was OK, but not on the same level as the discs I mentioned above, imo.

i was deliberating buying imaoto after seeing all the mentions on this thread.

Well, yes, you should. Six shopping days to Christmas, treat yourself.

[jon abbey]

I agree with Richard that the Unami/Noid was my favorite Unami of the year.

and yes, imaoto is decidedly more active musically than Goat Vs. Donkey (which I also like, but it's an entirely different kind of record).

I'm not ready to do my own list yet, although I have been trying to keep a running list of my own, I need to update it. but one that no one's mentioned yet is the amazing double CD of Triadic Memories by John Tilbury on the Italian Atopos label.

[Dan Warburton]

I agree with Richard that the Unami/Noid was my favorite Unami of the year.

Hmm, I'll give it another spin when I've got through reviewing Semi-Impressionism then.

[leroysghost]

the recording quality does not do the music justice.

i think the recording quality absolutely does the music justice. if you are recording Klaus Filip you want to capture those sweet tones really crisply, but if Unami is going to be wandering around and clapping capturing the whole atmosphere of the room is a must i think (and i think Goat vs Donkey does this really well).

that is kind of the appeal of the two different records for me (similar to disk one and two of Futatsu).

amazing double CD of Triadic Memories by John Tilbury on the Italian Atopos label.

this one is really lovely.

[Yii]

Burkhard Stangl / Kai Fagaschinski - Musik-Ein Portrat in Seh (Erstwhile)
Hose - Hose II (Headz)
Kaeru-moku - Wakusei (Compare Notes)
Vanessa Rossetto - Dogs in English Porcelain (Music Appreciation)
Kevin Drumm - Imperial Horizon (Hospital Productions)
EKG - Electricals (Another Timbre)
Benedict Drew - A Folding Table (self released)
Radu Malfatti / Taku Unami - Goat Vs. Donkey (Taumaturgia)
Takefumi Naoshima - Three Lines (Encadre)
Dropp Ensemble - Safety (either/OAR)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
newcomers of 2009

Gilles Aubry
Isohata Shin'ichi
Ben Drew
Kuchiroro(口口口)
Moniek Darge
Satoshi Kanda
and Masahide Tokunaga

[jon abbey]

the recording quality does not do the music justice.

i think the recording quality absolutely does the music justice. if you are recording Klaus Filip you want to capture those sweet tones really crisply, but if Unami is going to be wandering around and clapping capturing the whole atmosphere of the room is a must i think (and i think Goat vs Donkey does this really well).

yes, this is well put. Radu/Unami in Amann Studios would be an entirely different record, much more towards Valved String Calculator territory.

that is kind of the appeal of the two different records for me (similar to disk one and two of Futatsu).

I agree, but I think I'd actually group them into two separate 2 disc sets along these lines: Kushikushism/Goat Vs. Donkey and imaoto/Berlinerstrasse 20 (the duo with Lucio Capece).

[jkudler]

jon sort of said it, though i'd go slightly farther in saying imaoto and goat v donkey are apples and oranges, recording-wise. one is a studio record, close mic'd, apparently taken from multiple takes. the other is a room recording documenting a concert, and the resultant cd very clearly includes a lot of room ambience on purpose. personally, this one took a little while to grow on me and for me to find a way in to, but i really like the balance between playing and the space, the musicians' sounds and the room. it's proven very engaging, sometimes in a kind of puzzling, curious way that keeps (or kept, when i was first "discovering" it) me returning.

-j.

[Stephen]

As ever this thread has sent me scavenging through slsk wondering what i missed and generally making my experience of the year in records feel incomplete, and will likely account for much of my January shopping list. Anyhow in the approximate order they arrived at my house:

Haptic – The Medium [FSS]
Kodama – Turning Leaf Migrations [olde english spelling bee]
Corsano Flower Duo – The Four Aims [vhf]
Red Horse – s/t [rel]
Lee Patterson – Seven Vignettes [shadazz]
Patrick Farmer – Apis Mellifera moved to and fro [organised music of thessaloniki]
Pedestrain Deposit – Austere [monorail trespassing]
EKG – Electricals [another timbre]
Cardew (Rowe/Ambarchi) – Treatise [planam]
Neumann/Palacky – Pappeltalks [uceroz]
Jeph Jerman – Vinyl [easydiscs] (strictly speaking a reissue of a 2007 cdr)
Pierre Berthet – Extended Loudspeakers [sub rosa]
Keith Fullerton Whitman – Dream House Variations [arbor]
Sebastian Lexer – Dazwischen [matchless]

________________________________________________

3"/tapes/eps

Foster/Parks – Prince Rupert Drops [homophoni]
Michael Vorfeld – Ringing Light [esquilo]
Steve Roden – Ecstasy showered its petals with the full peal of the bells [ferns]
Work/Death – Ruptural Strictures [arbor]
Eubanks/Hankil – 777 [cathnor]

[jcg]

Here's my top 20 (+ 5 reissues) from what I've been able to listen to in 2009. Really great year music-wise I think. Some artists are really on top of their game (John Wiese -still need to hear Circle Snare-, Lionel Marchetti, Burkhard Beins and a few others), same goes for a handful of labels (amazing year for Intransitive, Sonoris, Monotype or Pica for example). I missed plenty of stuff obviously (haven't listened to any of the frequently discussed Ersts except the disappointing neuschnee) so this is certainly not a definitive list. So here we go, in some sort of "particular order". In fact there was for me this year the Tenney 2-CD set (technically released in late 2008) and the rest.

James Tenney / Quatuor Bozzini -- Arbor Vitae (Collection QB)
Phill Niblock -- Touch Strings (Touch)
Sophie Agnel -- Capsizing Moments (Emanem)
Lionel Marchetti & Olivier Capparos -- Equus (Pogus)
Phosphor -- Phosphor II (Potlatch)

Peter Evans -- Nature/Culture (Psi)
Bertrand Gauguet, Franz Hautzinger, Thomas Lehn -- Close Up (Monotype Records)
Seth Nehil -- Flock & Tumble (Sonoris)
Lucio Capece & Mika Vainio -- Trahnie (Editions Mego)
Burkhard Beins -- Structural Drift (Künstlerhäuser Worpswede)

Matt Shoemaker -- Erosion of the Analogous Eye (Helen Scarsdale Agency)
Nmperign -- Ommatidia (Intransitive Recordings)
Eliane Radigue -- Triptych (1978) (Important Records)
Alfred 23 Harth, Hans Joachim Irmler, Günter Müller -- Taste Tribes (For4Ears)
Evan Parker & John Wiese -- C-Section (Second Layer)

Jim Haynes -- Sever (Intransitive Recordings)
John Wiese & C. Spencer Yeh -- Cincinnati (Drone Disco)
Marc Behrens -– Compilation Works (Crónica)
Werner Dafeldecker -- Long Dead Machines I-IX (Presto!?)
Cremaster -- Noranta Graus A L’Esquerra (Monotype Records)

Re-issues :
Various Artists -- Source Records 1-6 - Music of the Avant Garde, 1968-1971 (Pogus)
Incapacitants –- Box Is Stupid (Pica Disk)
Luc Ferrari –- L’Oeuvre Electronique (INA GRM)
Various Artists -- Institute Of Sonology 1959-1969 (Sub Rosa)
Borbetomagus -- Snuff Jazz (Agaric)

[RFKorp]

key forgotten albums from my first attempt at a list:

David Rafn - Sustentacula
Annie - Don't Stop

[Jesse]

Addendum: I wasn't mindful of net label *releases*, until Stephen's post-add Foster/Parks, Prince Rupert Drops [Homophoni], which received frequent spins here.

[jon abbey]

oh, I missed this...

jon sort of said it, though i'd go slightly farther in saying imaoto and goat v donkey are apples and oranges, recording-wise. one is a studio record, close mic'd, apparently taken from multiple takes.

not multiple takes, one recording session, two pieces. each was cut down some (from around 90 combined minutes to 50), but no edits within the sections that were kept.

[MRS]

Future Islands -- Feathers & Hallways (Upset! The Rhythm)

Jean-Luc Guionnet/Eric La Casa/Philip Samartzis -- Soleil D'Artifice (Swarming)*

Victor Herrero -- Anacoreta (Bo' Weavil)

Jason Kahn -- Timelines Los Angeles (Creative Sources)

Garth Knox -- Viola Spaces (Mode)

Gregg Kowalsky -- Tape Chants (Kranky)

Helmut Lachenmann -- Salut für Caudwell/Les Consolations/Concertini (Kairos)

Stephan Mathieu/Taylor Deupree -- Transcriptions (Spekk)

Seijiro Murayama/Michael Northam -- moriendo renascor (Xing Wu)*

Brendan Murray -- The Cold Piano (Students of Decay)

Brendan Murray/Mike Shiflet -- Sentimental Gentlemen (SRA)

Alberto Pinton/Jonas Kullhammar/Kjell Nordeson/Torbjörn Zetterberg -- Chant (Moserobie)

Israël Quellet -- soni sclavus (Sub Rosa)

Robedoor -- Exorcist Blues (Monorail Trespassing)

Damion Romero -- I Know! I Know! (Banned Production)

Philip Samartzis/Michael Vorfeld -- Schekenrock (Non Visual Objects)

Sewer Election -- Raset (Utmarken)

John Tilbury -- Triadic Memories/Notti Stellate a Vagli (Atopos)*

v/a -- Au Claire de la Lune (Infrequency)


*gun to head

[reed]

thanks all for these lists. giving me a lot to catch up on over the holidays. i didn't really listen to too many out records this year but i think ihm's own richard kamerman's "and she sat up in the street in the sun" is a very awesome record and i'm not just saying that because he's my buddy and improv partner and in addition to i think it deserves a mention here.

[Gerardo A]

David Kirby's Cittacaura deserves a mention here as well.

[diederich]

Popish
Why? - Eskimo Snow
Mewithoutyou - It's All Crazy....
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Grass Widow - S/T
Sleigh Bells - Demos
Sonic Youth - The Eternal
Julie Doiron - I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day
Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem
Wavves - Wavves
I Come to Shanghai - S/T


Honorable Mentions :
Mirah - (a)spera
Lily Allen - It's not Me, It's You
Krallice - Dimensional Breakthrough
Brilliant Colors - Brilliant Colors LP


Not Popish
Ami Yoshida / Toshimaru Nakamura - Soba to Bara
Keith Rowe / Sachiko M - Contact
Radu Malfatti/Klaus Filip - imaoto
Nmperign - Ommatidia
Vanessa Rosseto - Dogs in English Porcelain
Nick Hennies - Lineal
Robin Hayward, Rhodri Davies, Taku Unami - Valved Strings Calculator
Robert J Kirkpatrick - Sounds from the Floating World
Brendan Murray - s/t
Michael Pisaro - Hearing Metal 1

[jkudler]

not multiple takes, one recording session, two pieces. each was cut down some (from around 90 combined minutes to 50), but no edits within the sections that were kept.

oh, ok. i thought somewhere else here you said they had several studio sessions/"attempts." still, i think my point stands - it wasn't a performance, and it wasn't in its complete form.

-j.