the Ratiofarm

1. "Halloween Main Theme" by Zombie Zombie from Plays John Carpenter (2010).
Disco keys channeling Carpenter through Giorgio Morodor start your Samhain observances off right. Creepy, kitchy and groovy.

2. "Les Enfants Du Paradis" by World's End Girlfriend from Seven Idiots (2010).
WEG serves up more hyper active madness that builds and builds with this latest disc. Echos of Mr. Bungle, without the jibber jabber.

3. "ミラクルラッキーガールズ" by Afrirampo from WE ARE UCHU NO KO (2010).
These ladies are, sadly, calling it a day with this epic double disc album of metal-noise insanity.

4. "Ghost of John" by Elf Power from their self-titled 2010 LP.
Yet another gorgeous, challenging and introspective album from one of my all-time favorite bands. Metaphysical songs dealing with mortality and loss. Do yourself a favor and go see them if they come through your town, their live shows are always balls to the wall rock and they frequently update older tunes. Such and amazing band.

5. "I'm Dead" by the Limiñanas from the I'm Dead 7" (2010).
Interesting 60's inspired garage from a band I know little about but look forward to hearing more from.

6. "Fuck Downtown" by Zyklon Beach from the 2010 EP.
Heavy garage scuzz from these French dudes. Fucking their brains out.

7. "Vanity Affair" by Ghost Animals from Summertime in Heaven (2010). Raw rock ready to rip it to shreds with snarky snarls, garage riffs and a drum machine.

8. "Camouflage" by Small Black from New Chain (2010).

Small Black prove they're not a flash in the pan with this full-length follow up to last year's EP. Great, danceable tunes with some of the best melodies in the "chill wave" set.

9. "Above Your Head" by Anoraak from Wherever the Sun Sets (2010).
Man, the sounds this dude comes up with for his eighties-inspired dance floor songs are great, but someone needs to help him with in the lyric department. The vocals are usually way too up front and not delivered very well. Every now and then, however, he's able to get around those setbacks and deliver something great. This track is almost there.

10. "Metal" by Gary Numan from The Pleasure Principal (1979).
For some reason, I had never listened to Mr. Numan until this past month. These are some chilly jams!

11. "A Phantasy" by The Octopus Project from Hexadecagon (2010).
These folks always deliver on exciting, well composed instrumentals. The new album is no exception.

12. "D1" by Northampton Wools from their double cassette (2010).
Fucking awesome dueling guitar noise drones from Thurston Moore and Bill Nace. Shredding your mind.

13. "Dagger II" by White Ring from the self-titled 2010 album.
One of the better bands to emerge from the one-foot-in-the-grave genre known as witch.house, White Ring

serves up great atmospherics with enough savvy to get minimal at the right times. Very compelling, chill sounds.
What Salem might be if they cared enough to try.

14. "Mumbai" by oOoOO from a bandcamp EP (2010).
Another witch.house artist. oOoOO (pronounced "oh")
mixes some sweet tones into the ghetto beats and bizzare, post-human lyrics filtered to sound like a young girl is singing when it's actually a 50 year old man from Winnipeg.

15. "Serve In Silence" by Failing Lights from the self-titled 2010 LP.

Mike Connelly of Wolf Eyes and Hair Police gets sparse and erie with these sonic landscapes, perfect for creeping around and stealing candy from your neighbors to.

16. "Untitled 2" by Hertta Lussu Ässä from You Are Such An Pretty Sucker (2005).

These amazing witches, Lau Nau, Kuupuu and Islaja, are contributors to Kemialliset Ystävät, so naturally I love them. And this rare little CDR. They'll cast a creepy spell on you.

17."Rakkauden palvelija / 14. käsky" by Islaja from Keraaminen Pää (2010).
Imagine if Björk threw all convention out the window and really followed her natural instincts as a composer and demi-god.

18. "Leave" by Whirl from the Distressor EP (2010).
If you've got a jones for My Bloody Valentine but with a little something extra thrown in, this might do the trick. References to the guitar structures of Failure take the sound to a new, interesting level.

19. "Loveshines II" by Sunset from the Loveshines But The Moon Is Shining Too (2010).
Very mellow, groovy tunes to get baked and relax to. Heavy nods to Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper's and Black Foliage.

20. "Are We Gonna Work It Out" by Sweet Lights from the self-titled 2010 LP.
This is an excellent one man band, inspired by early 90s indie rock and taking that sound to a new, modern level. Really great stuff.

21. "Returnal" by Oneohtrix Point Never (Fennesz Remix) from the Returnal 7" (2010).
This is a complete overhaul of the original version of "Returnal,"
in which Antony sings and Fennesz remixes the affair into an ethereal, majestic piece. I'm not remotely a fan of Antony's flouncy head-voice, but it works pretty well (for me) in this group effort. Really gorgeous.

22. "Feeding Your Vanity" by Grasslung from Sincere Void (2010).
Another astounding ambient album. Fans of William Basinski, Philip Jeck, Fennesz, and Stars of the Lid will most likely enjoy these emotionally evocative textures.

If you haven't seen them yet, here are a couple of weird videos by Wolfgore Show:

And Paula Deen spoke unto thee: