Ratiofarm 2011 Best Of

We two have run about the slopes, and picked the daisies fine; But we’ve wandered many a weary foot, since auld lang syne.

11.11

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1.  "Drift" by Broken Harbour from Gramophone Transmissions (2011). Crackling,looped orchestral pieces evocative of decomposing landscapes and abandoned cities. Lush depth.

 2. "Ruins Of Stone" by Mark Fry & The A. Lords from I Lived In Trees (2011). The sounds of an old man ruminating on his long passed child hood never sounded so beautiful. Excellent, melancholy psych folk from this elusive master.

 3. "Dry Ice" by Pure X from Pleasure (2011). Gorgeous, sleepy ballads in the vein of Dirty Beaches.

 4. "Endless Summer" by Still Corners from Creatures Of An Hour (2011). Imagine Julee Cruise backed up by Broadcast. Oh, you don't have to.

 5. "Object Of The Source" by Vinyl Williams from Lemniscate (2011). This guy combines some of the best contemporary psych ideas flawlessly and does it better than anyone else out there right now. An album of the year, for sure.

 6. "Soft City" by Seely from Seconds (1997). This was one of my favorite albums of 1997. It still hold up pretty well, I'd say. Seely was one of the few decent bands in Atlanta in the late 90s.

 7. "Kind" by Nils Frahm from Felt (2011). Excellent minimal piano pieces with found sounds and treatments.

 8. "Sketch 9" by Tim Hecker from Dropped Pianos (2011). This is a sort of departure for Hecker, in which he uses piano scotches from his last album to make a bit more stripped down and minimal group of works. Really enthralling and one of his best. 

9. "Ascension Phase" by Kuedo from Severant (2011). It's nice to see real artists emerging from the dubstep scene. Severant is a collection of excellent electronic pieces, one of the best and most original electronic albums I've heard in a while.

10. "Hideaway" by The Olivia Tremor Control from Black Foliage (Remaster) (2011). An amazing remastering that brings new depth to an already amazon-esque album of gold standard psyche rock. Included is a bonus disc of out takes and live jams, plus a download of loads of other extra pieces for the completist.

11. "Surf's Up" by The Beach Boys from The Smile Sessions (2011). I was never remotely a fan of the Beach Boys until Jeff Mangum introduced me to Smile back in 2000. My opinion of the Beach Boys was forever altered. Over the years he had cobbled together recordings of this lost masterpiece into their alleged album order. Like much contemporary bedroom folk, it had the warmth of lo-fi recording
as it stretched the bounds of psychedelic pop. As I listened, I came to understand that Brian Wilson understood more about the true power of music and songwriting than any of his contemporaries. I copied the bootleg CD Mangum had, but lost it in some file transfers. When Smile was officially released back in 2004, I was so disappointed at the atrocious Disnification of the phenomenal album I had originally heard that I wept. But now, we have the original recordings, released as they were originally envisioned, and it is a beautiful thing. A small part of the world is right again.

12. "Indulge Yourself" by E. Dresch from Short Stories (2011). Gentle acoustic guitar pieces perfect for wintery Sunday afternoons spent reading on the couch.

 13. "Remember" by Oneohtrix Point Never from Reflections (2011). This record is probably going to irritate a lot of OPN fans. It's much more experimental, relying on Reichian loops more than sweet, vintage sine waves. Not all of the tracks are perfect, but when he hits the right combination, things get rally interesting. Kudos to Lopatin for jumping way far out and trying something new. Can't wait to see where this leads.

14. "Secrets For Sale" by Kent State from Walk Through Walls  (2011). Great, dirty lo-fi garage rock. Really digging these guys.
Kinda has a 90s feel in some respects, but I can't quite pin down specifically how.









15. "Total Decay" by The Soft Moon from Total Decay 12" (2011). The Soft Moon explores more of the industrial side of their gothy cold wave aesthetic. More please!

16. "Nääksää Nää Mun Kyyneleet " by Tuusanuuskat from  Nääksää Nää Mun Kyyneleet (2011). Collaboration of madness from Fonal and Es helmsman Sami Sänpäkkilä and Kemialliset Ystävät cult leader Jan Anderzen. This might make your brain turn inside out, but once you get "comfortable" with it, it's a pretty amazing feeling.








17. "As Each Tucked String Tells" by Jacaszek from Glimmer (2011). More delectable ambient sound worlds from this brilliant Polish composer. This piece specifically stands out, brimming with fantastic ideas.

18. "La Ouaeynayki" by Farid El Atrache from the El Ho El Kebir & El Khourouj Men El Gana OSTs (1970). Beautiful songs from films by Egyptian director Henry Barakat. 

19. "And Instantly Take Effect" by Christina Vantzou from No. 1 (2011). Breathtaking ambient panoramas from Dead Texan member.

20. "The Art of Mirrors (after Derek Jarman)" by Harold Budd
from In The Mist (2011). This is, so far, the highlight of Mr. Budd's career. Crawling repetitions that truly make the listener feel immersed in some liminal mist. A masterpiece.

Through Glass

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1. "Every Tomorrow" by Adderall Canyonly from Asuuna (2011).
A fascinating blend of electronic soundscapes and noise. Lots of bizarre and beautiful little worlds.

2. "See Thru Eyes" by Active Child from You Are All I See (2011).

I wasn't to keen on this album until I listened to it on headphones. Jaw-dropping production and a very unique stylistic approach. It's interesting that he's moved to a higher vocal register, really the only thing I found off-putting at first, but it grew on me pretty quickly. This is a stand out track. 

3. "Mouves" by Tropics from Parodia Flare (2011).

This album is not as solid as one would hope, lots of instrumental interludes that sound pretty similar, but when they nail down a great pop song, they fucking nail it.

4. "In Dear Tiger's Claw" by Looks Realistic from Sans  (2010).

I just discovered this strange label, Moss Archive, and its interesting, keyboard-based bands, including Looks Realistic and Bastian Void. In the realm of Hobocult Records, wonky keyboard-driven pieces. Charmingly disorienting.

5. "Isfahim Taxim" by Cemil Bey from To What Strange Place: The Music of the Ottoman-American Diaspora 1916-1929 (2011). This collection is a treasure trove of awesome 78 tracks.
If you enjoy Rembetika and dusty, old sounds, definitely pick up this 3 disc set.

6. "Dead End " by Reading Rainbow from the Dead End EP (2011).

A solid new garage-pop jam from this decent garage-pop duo.

7. "Wait" by M83 from Hurry Up, We're Dreaming (2011).
Oh my god! Who knew that back in the 80s, Peter Gabriel found a time machine and journeyed to the year 2011 to make a concept record about what his music would sound like in 20-odd years, as a band called M83?! Not that there aren't a couple of decent songs on HU,WD, but it mostly sounds exactly like a Peter Gabriel record. The awesome thing about Saturdays=Youth and Before The Dawn Heals Us is that Gonzalez was able to combine and distill several genres, making something that was nostalgic while still managing to sound new. This, unfortunately banal, double album is little more than a blatant rip-off of Gabriel's So-era sound. While "Wait" has some staying power and still manages to connect on an emotional, albeit hyper, level (songs by the likes of Arcade Fire and Sigur Ros come to mind), two entire discs of this kind of nonsense threaten to render even the bright moments trite. There's plenty of same-ey instrumental fat that could have been trimmed as well. Oh, there's also a decent Panda Bear song at the end of the first disc?

8. "Vaporware" by Bastian Void from Ported (2011).
Great keyboard work in the arpeggiating vein of Oneohtrix Point Never. Plus weird beats at strange times.
  

9. "J'attendrai" by Rina Ketty from Etoiles De La Chanson.
Another amazing French chanteuse of yesteryear.

10. "Guy De Maupassant" by Dave Cloud & The Gospel Of Power from Practice In Milky Way (2011). Ha ha, get it? Weirdo garage rocker from Nashville and his band of ruffians take it to the next level with this sick slab of wax. Listen to it.

11. "I Heart My Goldifox" by Pow Wows from Nightmare Soda (2011).
Garage-punk freakout.

12. "Roar Churngale" by Tirath Singh Nirmala from Slimp Tench Depth (2006).
Madness in the realm between Angus Maclise and Kemialliset Ystävät. Tread lightly. 

13. "Untitled" by John Fernandes from his self titled LP (2011).

I believe that this is the first solo release from this Elephant 6 stalwart. String arrangements that range from the slightly traditional to the incredibly bizarre. 100% excellent, though it would be nice if there was more.

14. "Soft Disconnect" by Fabric from A Sort of Radiance (2011).

Excellent drone-scapes to drift away to. The gentleman behind Fabric, Matthew Mullane, also makes excellent acoustic guitar music that's sure to please fans of John Fahey and James Blackshaw. 

15. "The Crystal Lake" by Grandaddy from The Sophtware Slump (Deluxe Edition) (Disc One) (2011). This often over-looked classic gets the reissue treatment with some interesting outtakes and b-sides. Mainly, this is a good moment to revisit an album that was kind of perfect for it's time. Dealing with the sadness of being over whelmed by technology and fear of becoming obsolete, there are plenty of breathtaking thoughts and observations on this disc. "The Crystal Lake" is a stand out pop masterpiece of existential crisis.

16. "Weir" by Deaf Center from Pale Ravine (2005).

Excellent, sweeping ambient drone duo from Norway. Minimalist orchestration thick with rich layers of synthy haze and unrecognizable collected sound-debris from here and there. So, so good!








17. "Ix" by Roly Porter from Aftertime (2011).

Industrial done-scapes for a frightening time. Horrific microcosms. Feels like little soundtracks for the automatons of The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes.








18. "Bilawal: Pyara Nazara Nahin by" Khansahib Abdul Karim Khan from the self-titled 
reissue LP (2011). A great collection of 78s from this classical Indian vocalist, recently reissued by the fucking amazing Mississippi Records. 

19. "Steep Hills Of Vicodin Tears" by A Winged Victory For The Sullen from the self titled LP (2011). Luscious drones and minimal orchestration drench your mind with this Stars Of the Lid related release. Pretty much like SOTL, but with more going on.

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1. "The lights that we saw that evening were the passing of distant trains" by Sandcastles from the EP of the same title (2011).

I randomly discovered this young, Swedish ambient composer on his soundcloud page. The first time I listened to this track, I was staring out at Lake Michigan on a humid day, watching fog lift from the water. The way the horizon was blurring combined with  this beautiful track made me feel as if I were passing on from this life into the rest of the universe. It was a quiet, surreal, intense, and beautiful experience, like the majority of the music Sandcastles makes.



2. "A Relationship With the Sublime" by The Caretaker from An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (2011).
I believe I've mentioned before that this incarnation of Leyland Kirby's compositions is inspired by the closing scene from Kubrick's The Shining. Most of The Caretaker's pieces seem to imply some liminal space of waiting and nostalgia that lies beyond our corporeal world. The repetition of phrases creates an unease that suggests atmospheres of tense unknowing, but it's still in a dreamlike haze that the listener floats through various waiting rooms of The Caretaker's estate.




3. "J'Ai Deux Amours" by Josephine Baker from the self-titled collection.
I've been obsessing over Baker's recordings all summer long. This is just another excellent example of her vocal range and the excellent compositions that accompanied her.









4. "Eu Sonhei Que Tu Estavas Tao Linda" by Telebossa from their self-titled LP (2011).
Imagine Nick Drake singing his songs in Portuguese, with Philip Glass having redone the arrangements. Minimal deconstruction of bossa nova and samba.









5. "Beyond The Wychelm" by The Advisory Circle from As the Crow Flies (2011).
It's always exciting when Mr. Brooks releases a new album of his library music-inspired, um, music. This album finds him experimenting more in very specific aural structures. Also known as "songs". Creepy and soothing at the same time. Check out his blog.






6. "Notre Silence" by Michel Cloup (duo) from Notre Silence (2011).
Excellent spoken word pieces with moody, Mogwai-esque music.










7. "Hypnotic Light" by Jon Brooks from Music For Thomas Carnacki (2011).
Brooks is indeed a busy fellow. Here's more creepy music, this time Brooks focuses on an Edwardian fictional detective who explored supernatural cases.










                         
8. "Hoop Earrings in the Slush" by Trouble Books & Mark McGuire from their self-titled LP (2011).
Laid back acoustic jamming with Mr. McGuire providing some awesome layers.









9. "Beyond the Tide" by Jürgen Müller from Science of the Sea (2011).
In which Mr. Müller evokes the otherworldly realms of the ocean via swirling keyboard arpeggios and drones. Simply stunning on headphones.









10. "Bataille" by The Men from Leave Home (2011).
At this point, Sacred Bones Records has a pretty amazing track record. Here's another stellar entry, this time from aggressive punk-garage rockers The Men.










11. "Solid Space" by Tunnels from The Blackout (2011).
Nicholas Samuel Bindeman of Jackie-O Motherfucker and Eternal Tapestry presents another side of his musical rates with this excellent visitation of minimal cold-wave. One of the best albums of the year.
















12. "Earth Radar" by Charlatan from Voyagers (2011).
Minimal IDM with chilly spaced-out synths.






















13. "Memory Lost" by Snowman from Absence (2011).
A singular and final release from these Aussies. Hard to describe without sounding cheesy, which would be a shame because this is a really fantastic album. Too bad they've called it quits.
















14. "Hounfour" by The Haxan Cloak from the Observatory EP (2011).

This is one of two spectacular releases by Bobby Krlic this year. This one focuses more on electronic, gothy atmospherics, while the other, a self-titled full length, utilizes traditional instruments to the same, if not more sparse, effect. Definitely get them both.












15. "Palm Tree Corpse" by Prurient from Burmuda Drain (2011).
Prurient is a well established noise artist, but here we find him taking a slightly more melodic approach to his explorations in sound. Round and ominous synthesizers replace grinding noise, for the most part, as he emulates Rodan and Slint in his angst filled vocal deliveries. 












16. "Coto" by Kashiwa Daisuke from 88 (2011).
Daisuke steps away from his usual intense mashup of cinematic experimental chamber/electronic music with this collection of introspective piano pieces. 


















17. "Minnie the Moocher" by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra from Selected Favorites.
Here's the original "Minnie the Moocher" from the brilliant Cab Calloway. The entire collection is a must for any true music collector.
















18. "La Banane" by Katerine from Philippe Katerine (2010).
Katerine is hands down my favorite contemporary French musician (that's him in the baseball t-shirt). Throughout his musical career he has challenged the conventions of art, music and society. He continues to do so on last year's Philippe Katerine, which is full of silly but infectious pop gems.  










19. "Light Echoes" by Barn Owl from Lost In the Glare (2011). 
Barn Owl's third release in less than a year finds them still out exploring the boarders of psychedelic dronescapes and reporting back with another mind-bending recording. 














20. "Fooling No One" by Cut Off Your Hands from Hollow (2011).
Bright, jangly pop that brings to mind early R.E.M. and the shoegaze/britpop merger of the early 90s. Perfect end of the summer album.
















21. "Nightscape" by EL Heath from Shropshire Hill County (2011). 
Strangely nostalgic, eerie, experimental sound pieces from Mr. Heath. The music is evocative, timeless, gorgeous. He continues to delight and amaze. 














22. "Kokyu" by Teruyuki Nobuchika from Sonorité (2011). This is an exquisite collection of minimal piano pieces, mostly optimistic, at times child-like. "Kokyu" in particular struck me with its overlapping, repetitive phrasing. As the field recording of waves gently washes in, the piano work seems to evoke sunlight sparking off of the water's ripples, as the tide ebbs and flows.