the of mirror eye

In general, I find “top records of the year” lists very difficult to do. Mostly because I forget what I buy and when things were released. But this year, I got a couple of things that really shook my shingle. And here are some of them (this is by no means an exhaustive list of my favorites), in no particular order. Since there are so many listings here, I decided to not post any samples. But samples are out there and should be pretty easy to find. Good luck searching.

* Various Artists | Invisible Pyramid: Elegy Box : Last Visible Dog : LVD 080-86

An incredible document of the psychedelic folk scene. A monster of a package that will take all of next year to digest.

* The No-Neck Blues Band | Qvaris : 5 Rue Christine : GER052

A rawkus and rowdy exploration into Truth. Apparently found inside of a sequined eggplant.

* Lau Nau | Kuutarha : Locust Music : locust66

My introduction to (and still my favorite release) from the incredible Finnish free folk scene. The music is what I imagine the forests of Finland to be.

* Six Organs Of Admittance | School Of The Flower : Drag City Records : DC282

Always an amazing guitarist. This time Mr. Ben Chasny is really stretching out on this one.

* MF Doom | Live From Planet X : Nature Sounds : NSD113

MF Doom is not only the hardest working hip-hopper, he’s definitely one of the best. He produces, he rhymes, he cuts ill-beats. This live document proves that he’s not just a studio creation.

* Acid Mothers Temple & The Cosmic Inferno | Just Another Band From The Cosmic Inferno : Important Records : imprec058

No end of the year list would be complete without at least one Acid Mothers Temple release. This is their new incarnation and it totally rules. They blast off and never come down.

* Konono No 1 | Congotronics : Crammed Disc : CRW27

Amazing, high energy musics from out the Congo. Incredible music of distortion and rhythms, rhythms and distortions.

* The Mountain Goats | The Sunset Tree : 4AD : CAD 2508CD

The Mountain Goats have never been stronger.

* Ennio Morricone | Crimes And Disonance : Ipecac Recordings : IPC-066

The darker side of the King of movie soundtracks. An amazing 2 discs of rare tracks compiled by Mr. Alan Bishop. Avant-garde and psychedelic. Does there need to be anything else?

* Tony Conrad with Faust | Outside The Dream Syndicate Alive : Table Of The Elements : TOE-CD-48

Minimalist monster.

* Various Artists | Soul Gospel : Soul Jazz Records : SJR CD107

A compilation following the links between Saturday night and Sunday morning. How much better can it get?

* FM3 | The Buddha Machine : Staalplaat : 14671

An iPod killer.

* Doris Duke | I’m A Loser: The Swamp Dogg Sessions And More : Kent Soul : CDKEND 242

Dark soul musics. Some of the best I’ve ever heard. This could draw tears from stone.

* Various Artists | Big Moe - Live At R.C.’s Place : Jones

Yet another superlative collection from the Memphix crew.

* Edan | Beauty And The Beat : Lewis Recordings

Psychedelic hip-hop. Shut up. Just shut up…..You had me at psychedelic. You had me at psychedelic.

—–+—–

So there you have it. A small sampling of the music that ruled my world this year.

Again, sorry, no music today. Just wanted to thank everyone for reading and listening. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed yourselves as much as I have. Remember, there’s an incredible world of music out there, so go out and find it.

Still can’t believe that I’ve been doing this for more than one year. When I first started, I had no idea how long I would be doing this. Sometimes I have visions of me when I’m 80, still posting tracks and talking about how things were so much “real-er back in the day”. That might be kinda cool.

At any rate. Hope everyone is going to enjoy themselves this New Year’s Eve. And here’s hoping that the next year is a great one.

(Ok, I lied. Here’s a track by the Qualities. A vocal group that Sun Ra guided.)

* Qualities: Happy New Year To You (2.0 mb)
From The Singles : Evidence Records : 22164