reappearing

favorites from 2014

as i looked back at my favorite music releases from 2014, i realized it would be way too hard to trim down to a simple top-10 list like i've done with my previous yearly picks. there was just way too much good music, including, very happily enough, a lot of great ambient and experimentally-inclined stuff, to try and limit myself. so this time around, i've made three lists covering more than 60 total releases, and i'm keeping words to a minimum. first, a group of albums i loved and listened to more than anything else. then, a set of "honorable mentions" or whatever - great albums i discovered (and remembered) throughout the year, along with a few key reissues. lastly, another long list of some of my favorite EPs. also, i've included links to free full online streams (bandcamp and soundcloud) when i could find them.

i'm sure i've missed something, but for now this will do. in no particular order (and with discogs links for more info), my absolute favorites:

anjou - anjou 

kranky (discogs)  

 

vladislav delay - visa

ripatti (discogs) (free stream)

Ø - konstellaatio

sähkö (discogs) 

 

pan sonic - oksastus (live in ukraine)  

kvitnu (discogs) 

 

peder mannerfelt - lines describing circles 

digitalis (discogs) (free stream)

 

HTRK - psychic 9-5 club

ghostly international (discogs)

 

abdulla rashim - unanimity 

northern electronics (discogs) (free stream)

 

eric holm - andøya

subtext (discogs) 

 

kassem mosse - workshop 19 

workshop (discogs)

 

... and in alphabetical order, here's more great albums, including a few reissues, that are definitely worth a trip or two (or more).

alan backdrop - eria | ekar (free stream)

alessandro cortini - sonno | hospital productions

ambarchi/o'malley/dunn - shade themes from kairos | drag city

angel - terra null. | editions mego

black rain - dark pool | blackest ever black (free stream)

cloudface - untitled | opal tapes (free stream)

deru - 1979 | friends of friends (free stream)

dj sprinkles - midtown 120 blues | comatonse [reissue]
donato dozzy & nuel - the aquaplano sessions | spectrum spools [reissue]

the durian brothers - das macht modern | kontra-musik

efdemin - decay | dial

function : vatican shadow - games have rules | hospital productions

grouper - ruins | kranky
hands - the soul is quick | ecstatic (free stream)

imaginary softwoods - the path of spectrolite | archives intérieures [reissue] (free stream)

jo johnson - weaving | further records (free stream)

jonas reinhardt - ganymede | constellation tatsu (free stream)

kettenkarussell - easy listening | giegling

lawrence - a day in the life | mule musiq
lawrence english - wilderness of mirrors | room40

lee gamble - KOCH | pan

lucy - churches schools and guns | stroboscopic artefacts

millie & andrea - drop the vowels | modern love (free stream)

murcof & eric truffaz - being human being | mundo recordings

NHK'Koyxeи - dance classics vol. III | pan [december '13 release but whatever]

patricia - body issues | black opal (free stream)

perc - the power & the glory | perc trax (free stream)

sons of magdalene - move to pain | audraglint (free stream)

scuba death - nitrogen narcosis | further records (free stream)

talker - hari/LP | downwards

ulwhednar - 1520 | northern electronics (free stream)
various - collection | field records [compilation]

... lastly, a stack of very nice EPs that proved to be keepers, including lots of techno records. alphabetical order, again:

arkadelphia - new sun | NORD

bookworms - compact visual nature | NORD

broken english club - jealous god 04 | jealous god

casual violence - expression unrelated | plector

 

claudio prc - moderskärlek | trolldans

conforce - depth over distance | delsin

dasha rush - timid ocean drawings | deep sound channel
dscrd - panopticon | DEMENT3D

donato dozzy - dimensions | mental groove [reissue]

donato dozzy - terzo giorno | stroboscopic artefacts

drøp - vasundhara | arboretum

earthen sea - mirage | lovers rock

 

erika - hexagon cloud RMXD 2.0 | interdimensional transmissions

ESHU - chlore | ESHU records

grey branches - lower bounds | inner surface music

J&L - ramayana chant | ESHU records 
juho kahilainen - dyson sphere | M_REC LTD

ko-ta - festimask | tikita [reissue]

ligovskoï - dilip EP and remixes | DEMENT3D

 

max_m & fabrizio lapiana - 1002 | M_REC LTD

orphx - sacrifice | sonic groove

outer space - phantom center | editions mego 

phil moffa - elevation / ENO-UGH | most excellent unltd

PMH - entrance | finitude music

samuel kerridge - deficit of wonder | blueprint

sigha - the purification loops | avian

skarn - revolver | avian

stanislav tolkachev - right angle | semantica

surgeon - fixed action pattern | token

T.E.W. - eighteen | electronique.it

yuka - episodes of yesterday | silent season

various (stephanie sykes, fjäder) - luna tactus | fullpanda
various (etapp kyle, mod21, artefakt) - prologue portefuille 3 | prologue

voices from the lake - velo di maya | the bunker new york

wata igarashi - junctions | midgar

.... and that's that. lots of great music, i say!

if you've made it this far, thanks for reading! smilecoldanatomy will continue to be slow-moving for the time being, so feel free to follow me on twitter. i post fairly often there, including about music and art and science things.

end: 2014, begin: 2015

FIVE YEARS

on september 29th, 2009, i started smilecoldanatomy, which means this blog is now five years old! thanks a bunch to everyone who has ever found anything of interest here - music, words, art, whatever - and special thanks to the artists who've joined the fun and shared their sounds by way of the anatomy mix series. the next set will be coming soon, and i'm really excited to say that it'll be the very first to come from a US artist. stay tuned...

monday moods

it is now labor day, which will mean a nice and lazy monday... so here's all this:

LOOK OUT FOR A NEW CASUAL VIOLENCE EP the manchester DJ and producer of dark, abstract techno is returning with a new four-track EP, expression unrelated, on plector. you might already be familiar with some of the music, which was actually layered into casual violence's extra-twisted anatomy mix from late 2011. this is his first vinyl release in a long time, and there will be more coming soon... in the meantime, try previews of the plector EP, apparently due in late september, below/on soundcloud.


DIVE INTO THIS MYSTERIES OF THE DEEP PODCAST it's the 21st entry on the very nice new york-based podcast, and it's from the russian-born LA-based artists ed vertov and lena deen. this includes tracks from the likes of mika vainio, gas and aphex twin, which is a good way to keep me listening. very nice, slowly developing soundscapes here.


also of note: mysteries of the deep will also host an event in new york in october, featuring live sets from alessandro cortini and ricardo donoso. cortini, a member of the nine inch nails live band, put out an intriguing solo album on hospital productions a few months ago, called sonno. you should give this track "di passaggio" a try:


ALBUM FROM FUNCTION AND VATICAN SHADOW COMING SOON again on the ambient tip - and on that hospital productions tip - is a new collaboration from function (dave sumner) and vatican shadow (dominick fernow). the album is called games have rules, and it'll come through fernow's label on september 22nd. sadly no previews but it sounds like a promising collaboration... you can read about it here.

another event alert, this time for chicago: function will play smart bar in october to headline oktave's five-year anniversary event. more details here.

NOW DIGITAL: THE PATH OF SPECTROLITE the album from john elliott's imaginary softwoods alias, originally put out just on vinyl on amethyst sunset in 2011, was issued on CD by peter van hoesen and yves de mey's label archives intérieures a few months ago. now the artist himself has made it digitally available for the first time. check it out below/on bandcamp, where you can - and if you haven't yet, you must! - listen to it in full.


LISTEN TO THIS FELIX K MIX it's from earlier this year, for the experimental techno label diametric.'s podcast. you can only stream it, but it's worth your time: felix k, who in 2013 released his debut LP, the excellent flowers of destruction, turns in a 57 minute-long set that's mostly light on drums but heavy on moody, abstract ambient.

... AND THEN LISTEN TO THIS STANISLAV TOLKACHEV MIX two years old now, but still (really really) good. this set of all original material was recorded for the addicted podcast, and i can't even count how many times i've listened to it since it first came out. to me, tolkachev is uniquely talented, and definitely one to keep track of. if you're not familiar, this set is a perfect, free introduction to his sound. and oh yes... it can be downloaded!


OH, AND A NEW APHEX TWIN ALBUM IS COMING SOON you've maybe, probably heard all about it. the hype is almost suffocating and certainly a bit annoying. anyway, it's called syro, it's the first aphex album since drukqs (2001), and it'll come out on september 22nd. details, tracklist etc here.

... and that's all for now. happy monday...

coming in november: a new VLADISLAV DELAY album!

the best news for a monday morning: vladislav delay has a new album, visa, in the works!

compounding the excitement, this is being described as the first ambient album from sasu ripatti's longtime alias in more than ten years. it was crafted in just two weeks, apparently in the time period when ripatti *should* have been touring the US. unfortunately, like countless others, the finnish artist seems to have had "visa issues" and couldn't make it into the country. fortunately, he took the time to focus on new productions, and if the seventeen-minute "medley" he's just posted to his soundcloud page is any indicator, this sounds like it should be a good one...

visa will come through ripatti's newer, self-titled imprint on november 10th. you can find a short interview and a few more details at RA. now, listen in and get ready: