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A Look Back at 2023

Note:

2023 has been such a busy year that I haven't been maintaining this site at the pace I'd like and will hopefully be able to devote myself better in the coming year, 2024. So, here are some brief blurbs on some albums of the year which'll end just under two weeks from today (December 10th, as I write this). This is by no means a hierarchical list of my top X albums in order from most to least loved, least to most, alphabetical, chronologically, grouped by country or even continent of origin, or anything like that. Just music I've enjoyed from the rotation around the sun which, at the time of writing, has almost completed.

Matana Roberts - Coin Coin, Chapter Five: In the Garden
Released September 29, 2023

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Genre(s): Free jazz, folk, poetry

Blue Lake - Sun Arcs
Released June 23, 2023

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Genre(s): Folk, ambient, acoustic
Danish multiinstrumentalist Jason Dungan creates a new take on what has less politically correctly been known as "American primitivism", the instrumental fingerpicked acoustic form associated with John Fahey, although here there is not only acoustic guitar but a good measure of zither, autoharp, pump organ, and clarinet. The latter of these is not used enough in my mind, since it really does add some depth to the sound field of the album. Both the artist name and album title here are indeed both good indicators of the sound found herein. If there was an equivalent word to pastoral but for waterscapes, that would be how I'd summarize this, along with yes, arcs of the sun's light.
https://hitorri.bandcamp.com/album/just-another-day

Annette Krebs - Munich 2023
Released October 30, 2023

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Genre(s): Electroacoustic improvisation, electroacoustic, sound art
Munich 2023 is a recording from a performance of the great German improvisor/electroacoustician Annette Krebs. Here she does a mix of field recording approach with heavily processed sounds and offers it as both a continuous piece between 20 minutes long and half an hour, or in four bitesize pieces. Feels like a gourmet meal of various

Ben Vida with Yarn/Wire & Nina Dante - The Beat My Head Hit
Released May 5, 2023

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Genre(s): Poetry, postminimalism, chamber music, chamber pop
Composer/performer Ben Vida has been involved in many different musical projects over the years, releasing on labels like ambient/postrock/shoegaze heavyweight Kranky, Greg Davis' Autumn Records, and Bill Kouligas' PAN. He is probably best known for his albums as Bird Show and has played with others including Joan of Arc, a group known for their highly idiosyncratic (idiosyncretic, if you will) experimental and art pop inflected take on posthardcore and emo, as well as various other bands in the Chicago new music and jazz related scenes. Here, Vida is accompanied by classical composer/harpist/vocalist Nina Dante (who is also a member of the contemporary Fonema Consort) and the chamber quartet Yard/Wire, who have interpreted works by modern composers like Sarah Hennies, Annea Lockwood, and have also played with Pete Swanson of the highly prolific Yellow Swans, and improvisor/performer Marcus Schmickler. These four pieces, which have been likened to the works of 20th century Robert Ashley largely consist of poetry being not quite speaksung as the "tune" such that there is of the words is mostly one, sometimes two, rarely more note up and down, no real melody to speak of. Memorable and probably more rewarding on repeated listens.

North Americans - Long Cool World
Released April 7, 2023

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Genre(s): Ambient, folk, Americana
Long Cool World is the newest album by North Americans, the musical project of guitarist Patrick McDermott which since 2020 has been a duo with the addition of pedal steel player Barry Walker. 39 and a third minutes of acoustic guitar, pedal steel, and subtle but lush synthesizer pads filling in the gaps all contributing to sheer bliss. Almost exceedingly pleasant but nonetheless the farthest thing from saccharine. The sounds, along with the album artwork, and release date all together create for me a mental picture of watching snow melt in the early spring from indoors wearing a warm sweater and drinking some hot cocoa, but really, it's just my illustration which is so trite, not the music. Strange that a band from Los Angeles, California would be so good at evoking such an un-Californian tableau.

Angharad Davies & Phil Julian - Neutral Red
Released November 1, 2023

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Genre(s): Electroacoustic improvisation, free improvisation
Drawing from four years of collaboration, Neutral Red is a collaboration between violinist Angharad Davies (known for her amplified and sometimes prepared violin) and Phil Julian on electronics featuring two different recording dates at London, England's highly touted improv hub Cafe OTO.

Atsuko Hatano & Ryotaro Miyasaka - Dinosaur and Gems
Released August 13, 2023

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Genre(s): Electroacoustic improvisation, free improvisation
The evocatively titled Dinosaur and Gems is a live performance which took place in April of the year at Tokyo's beloved Ftarri venue. Atsuko Hatano plays viola and contributes vocals on this album (she is a composer/performer who also plays other stringed instruments and has played with many other instrumentalists including Jim O'Rourke and had her music featured in films, commercials, TV and elsewhere. Here she is joined by Ryotaro Miyasaka who plays everything from improvised music to pop including playing in a philharmonic orchestra.

Natural Information Society - Since Time Is Gravity
Released April 14, 2023

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Genre(s): Jazz, psychedelic, fusion, gnawa
Longtime heavyweight of the contemporary Chicago jazz scene Joshua Abrahams has graced us with a new album by his group the Natural Information Society, which on this recording is an 11 piece band. In addition to his usual sound of psychedelic jazz dirges, the seventh album of NIS also includes some prominent influence from Moroccan gnawa music heard in the addition of the guimbri and tar to the instrumentation. Naturally, the album is released by Eremite, who have released Abrahams' other excursions. Also as expected, there is a beautiful psychedelic album cover by harmonium player Lisa Alvarado, who I must say has really outdone herself this time around. It has been almost 15 years since the NIS first got together and every single one of their albums is worth a listen and Since Time Is Gravity is no exception whatsoever. To those who would be thrown off by the label of jazz fusion, worry not! This sounds nothing like the likes of Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra, or whatever else scares you off about the pairing of those two words. Almost a full CD at 73 minutes and change, Abrahams and his group can very deftly bend your sense of time as you tune in to what is undoubtedly one of the year's highlights.

Zopp - Dominion
Released February 3, 2023

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Genre(s): Neo-prog, Canterbury scene, symphonic progressive rock, jazz rock
It's essentially a picture perfect evocation of the Canterbury scene of the progressive rock scene of the 1970s with some updates you'll need to listen closely for. Ultimately, it's whether or not you're a fan of that cult subsubgenre that will determine how much you can enjoy this. I'm often skeptical about modern progressive rock but I found myself enjoying Dominion quite a lot. Certainly it cannot be called progressive in the sense of forward looking anymore, but in the sense of music that involves extended thoroughcomposed pieces, absolutely! If you love prog, here's lovely 42 minutes! If not, steer clear.

Steve Lehman & Orchestre National du Jazz - Ex Machina
Released November 1, 2023

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Genre(s): Spectralism, big band, modern composition

Paavoharju - Yön mustia kukkia
Released September 3, 2023

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Genre(s): Psychedelic folk, folktronica, ambient

London Brew - London Brew
Released March 31, 2023

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Genre(s): Jazz, fusion, avantgarde

PoiL Ueda - Yoshitsune
Released November 3, 2023

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Genre(s):

.cutspace - 2022: you can still hear the Specters arguing overhead.
Released March 15, 2023

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.cutspace - 2022: the Morningseeds can't help but Blush into thick verdures of Anguish.
Released March 22, 2023

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and

.cutspace & Xang - the angels floss their teeth with my bones
Released February 24, 2023

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Genre(s): Postindustrial, microsound, glitch hop, ambient
Hailing from Tartus, Syria is a singular producer who is helping glitch hop alive and well, .cutspace! They take a very distinctive approach to a style largely thought of as a relic of the '00s by updating both the hip hop and glitch halves of the equation. Scott "Prefuse 73" Herren may have had the exposure that releasing on Warp Records could afford but he remains seen as a figure whose glory is behind him, and it must be said, the level of wizardry that he was able to conjure on his MPC alone has solidified him a place in the history books as more than a mere novelty act. Tadd "Dabrye" Mullinix may have worked with the likes of underground rap favourites like Guilty Simpson, Roc Marciano, and Danny Brown and legends like Ghostface Killa, Jay Dee, and A.G. to great effect but often found himself more heavily rooted in boom bap than would be comfortable all the time for some tastes, though as an act that could bring glitch hop to wider audiences, one could scarcely ask for someone better. More recently artists like clipping. and JPEGMafia have both made names for themselves as artists who both produce their own industrial/postindustrial instrumentals along with being the rappers

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Released November 1, 2023

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Released November 1, 2023

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Released November 1, 2023

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Godflesh - Purge
Released June 9, 2023

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Genre(s): Industrial metal

The Necks - Travel
Released February 24, 2023

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Animal Collective - Isn't It Now?
Released September 29, 2023

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Magic Tuber Stringband - Tarantism
Released February 17, 2023

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Genre(s): Folk, Appalachian folk, acoustic



Reviews from 2021
Reviews from 2022