It being the end of the year, I'm struggling under the weight of endless Top Ten lists for this year that was. And just like how movie studios hang on to their Oscar bids for the end of the year, there are some great albums that I loved more than 8 months ago and just kind of forgot about. This is them:
!!! Myth Takes
This was my commuting album for a good month or so. The line between !!! and its more Tortoise-y sister band Out Hud was pretty much obliterated (are the latter even around any more?), by tightening up the party jams and getting a bit more jazzy and progressive with the instrumentation. Its a solid album and another testament of a band that could only get more attention by delivering a stinker.
Stars of the Lid and Their Refinement of the Decline
The duo's 2nd 2-disc set in a row is like watching a glacier; there are huge forces at work, but the landscape changes at such a slow rate that one can imagine only some huge supernatural force could see it moving quickly. Though they essentially play 20th century classical music, SoTL seem to get a lot of attention from semi-mainstream media duo to their affiliation with Kranky, their humorous David Lynch-obsessed song titles, and their laid back, indie-dude image. While their latest is a masterpiece, this kind of music exists in its own strange world that its kind of unfair to include it next to four-piece rock bands singing about girls. Its great to study and zone out to, and hopefully it can act as a stepping stone to the world of avant garde composers.
Black Moth Super Rainbow Dandelion Gum
Truth be told I just kind of forgot about this band. You need to be in the right headspace to enjoy their 70's referencing acid trip soundscapes. Once again this is an example of a band creating its own world, with little to compare it to, that it rests in a category all its own. If I can say anything bad about it, it's that there may be just a bit too much vocoder.
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