Listing 41-45 of 45

DERECK DONOHUE

Takehisa Kosugi - Catch-Wave
The purple Taj Mahal Travellers album has a lot of cool sounds. This is the guy who made those going solo. Oscillators, voice, and violin make this a haunting alien/drone masterpiece.

Aaron Dilloway - Lucifer Dilloway/Yeh Squid
Long Live Hanson Records! Too bad both of these are probably outta print. Hopefully they’ll be put on cd sometime. “Lucifer” is the Lucifer Rising soundtrack run through tape machines (?) and looped then deconstructed. “Squid” is a collaboration between Dilloway and C. Spencer Yeh (Burning Star Core), and damn good. Not as harsh as one might think. It does have a strange underwater murkiness that explains the title. Burning Star Core’s “Blood Lightning” on No Fun is another kick ass release and a great addition to a killer discography.

Prurient/Drumm - All Are Guests in the House of the Lord
A lot of collaborations ending up being jams. Which is all good and fine, but sometimes you want something more. Something more composed and thought out. This is it. Prurient’s screaming is planned and placed for maximum effect. A subtle, intense album from start to finish.

Masayuki Takayanagi - Action Direct
Late great improv guitar shredder lays the guitar on the table and runs it through a bank of effects. Added shortwave radio for an AMM effect. Expensive (Like all his stuff), but worth it.

MIKEBEE
aka BATTAGS
It’s 2008, and I feel like 2007’s been done to death already (if you haven’t already bought
and loved Studio’s West Coast then get on it). Let’s see what’s hot for the year to come...

Trus’me - Working Nights (Fat City UK)
Already out and already one of my favorite full-lengths of the year. This Manchesterbased
artist is taking disco, soul, afrobeat and funk and mashing it up into something that’s familiar but different than what you already know, sampling bits and pieces of texture from classic disco jams and adding new drums, keys, bass and more until the finished product is ethereal and atmospheric, bringing to mind Burial in its devotion to creating a mood. Works equally at home or in the club (actually, it works GREAT in the club...) and is my headphone album of 2008 so far. Check it.

Aeroplane - Aeroplane 12”/Pacific Air Race 12” (Eskimo Belgium)
I’m hoping this Belgian duo drop a full album in ‘08 but for now you’ll have to do with tracking down the two 12” singles they released in 2007. Their debut self-titled single is perfect, combining an ‘80s disco aesthetic with modern production values and keeping melody at the forefront. They’re not afraid to drop the tempo to make slow-mo modern disco classics for more exploratory dancefloors, as on “Aeroplane”, whereas “Pacifi c Air Race” amps the energy up for a peak-hour jam that’s selling like hotcakes since it came out at the end of the year. Don’t know when that album is going to drop, but keep an eye out for it, or hit up their MySpace for a fix.

Kelpe - Ex-Aquarium (DC Recordings UK)
Kel Mckeown’s first album Sea Inside Body was a sleeper hit for us in 2004, selling far beyond anything we expected and ultimately garnering a local fan base that made an appearance at the 2007 Symbiosis Festival possible with a sound that sits somewhere between the glitched-out digital hip-hop of Prefuse 73 and the blissful, melodic vibes of Boards of Canada. Kelpe is back in ’08 with this new album that truly takes it to the next level, crafting a ‘new ambient’ vibe while not losing sight of the beats and rhythms that made his loose style gel so exquisitely. Worth buying blind!

Harmonic 313 - EP1 12”/forthcoming album (Warp Records UK/US)
Mark Pritchard is an artist whose work I’ve been following and supporting for nearly
20 years - whether as half of ambient pioneers Global Communication and the electro-fied Jedi Knights (both with Tom Middleton) or under his Troubleman alias which turned broken beat on its head and supplied me with many of my all-time favorite tunes of the young century. His dabbles with hip hop, “library music” and exotica under the name Harmonic 33 were standouts over the past few years, and his album Extraordinary People, released on Danny Breaks’ fantastic Alphabet Zoo imprint, was criminally overlooked due to its limited release. Heads weren’t ready. Pritchard’s back ona hip-hop tip for 2008, subtly changing his name to Harmonic 313 - an obvious tip of the hat to Detroit and local heroes like Jay Dee - and getting down and dirty with it. Influences range from Dilla to Dubstep, with wonky oscillating rhythms setting the stage for analog synth attacks and throbbing basslines that bring to mind Flying Lotus - an obvious comparison. His first 12” single is out now and limited, so grab it while you can. If vinyl isn’t your thing, wait until later in the year when his new full-length for Warp will be released on CD.

Chaz Jankel - My Occupation: The Music of Chaz Jankel (Tirk UK)
Chaz Jankel is one of these artists who I seriously can’t believe I hadn’t heard before. I couldn’t fathom how music so freaking fantastic could have passed me by completely, but it happened. Now I’m making up for lost time after having checked out this retrospective of Jankel’s work from the late 70’s to mid-80’s. Jankel was keyboard wizard and songwriting partner to Ian Dury and The Blockheads, helping pen many of their hits including “Spasticus Autisticus” and “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick”. On the side, he had a lengthy solo career making R&B-influenced disco hits like “Glad To Know You” and “Ai No Corrida” (later covered by Quincy Jones!) which are big room, somewhat offthe-beaten-track disco jams. What makes Jankel truly interesting though, is that, as a result of having his own studio to record in when he liked, his pop singles would often be paired with far more esoteric and intriguing tracks that didn’t fit into the pop mold, like “Too Woo Lady Kong”, a track that uses the hit “Glad To Know You” as its basis, but instead turns it into a clavichord reggae jam with a slower tempo and is one of the funkiest tunes he recorded. The man seriously has the funk, and a lot of these tracks could stand up with anything else from the time period as classics. Get to knowin’!

Other stuff to check out for 2008: Rustie (sick low-end theories sitting between glitchy hip hop, grime and dubstep without permanently adhering to either), Hercules & Love Affair (fantastic NYCbased throwback house/disco jams on DFA featuring Antony Hegarty on vocals!), Windsurf (two local boys coming together to make killer new music fusing krautrock and synthrock with house and disco), new Jamie Lidell album!!! and new music from The Emperor Machine.

CORRIE
part time lover. full time friend.

Juno - DVD & Soundtrack
The movie and the soundtrack are both equally ADORABLE!!! The soundtrack is peppered with sweet tunes by the likes of Belle and Sebastian, The Kinks, and the lovely Kimya Dawson... the last song is a diabetes inducing cover of the Moldy Peaches’ “Anyone Else But You” as sung by the film’s stars Ellen Page and Michael Cera. Cuter than Carebears in love.

Black Mountain - In the Future
Heavy and Delicious

There Will Be Blood - DVD & Soundtrack
Another double whammy, the movie is stunning to look at, and the score is done by Jonny Greenwood, who lowered his guitar and showed his classically trained chops. Great music to strap onto your head while adventuring (or walking) around the city.

No Country for Old Men DVD
The Coen Brothers at their creepiest. Warm  up the edge of your seat for maximum comfort.

Radiohead - In Rainbows
The album was long awaited, and this band never disappoints, Thom Yorke’s precious wail, and layers of sound make my heart jump...just a lil’ bit.

GABRIEL WHEELER
Locked away in Area23

Agent Ribbons - And the Star Crossed Doppelganger 7”
These Sacramento ladies are at it again with a brand new single. Limited to 500 with amazing art by Dame Darcy on 70 gram green vinyl and we managed to get our paws on few here in SF. After marveling at the package the songs will take you away. “That’s Not Edgar’s Heart” has fast become my favorite song of 2007. Comes with a download code for the turntablely challenged.

Grace Sings Sludge
Wow, Wow, Wow! When your ears find this they will thank you. Dark, raw, humorous and fucking intense. Sludgehammer writes and Grace sings. I’ve been waiting for something like this for a loooong time.

Afrirampo - SUUTO BREAKOR
The ladies from Osaka are back. Exploring other dimensions and showing a mellow side. Amazing!

Puffy Amiyumi - Honeycreeper
Recovering from “Splurge” Puffy come back with a great guitar pop record that would make Cheap Trick proud. They still rule live too!

Dieselhed
Buy their five cds: “Dieselhed”, “Tales of a Brown Dragon”, Shallow Water Blackout”, Elephant Rest Home” and “Chico and the Flute”. Some are out of print but each one is unique and a treasure in its own right. Highlights: Happy Donut, Wedding Song, B A Band, Yellow Kitchen, Fog it Up, Tying Flies, Corrine, Tidepool, Gentle Grooming, Tag it up and the list goes on and on. The best San Francisco band of the ‘90s songs’ are amazingly crafted. Their unique style of country tinged rock will bring a smile to your face and a tear to your eye. Real working man’s music that was all I wanted to listen to in 2007.

DOUGLAS PAGAN
borrowed. blue. old.

Joan As Police Woman - Real Life
2 years old and still resonating in my household. Ex-Dambuilder Joan Wasser’s solo debut was easily my most played album of 2007. Featuring production that is intimate, Wasser crafts indie-soul songs full of longing, sorrow, & comfort. Stand out songs include; “The Ride”, “Eternal Flame”, and her soul stirring duet with Antony “I Defy”. If you missed it...

Abbey Lincoln - Abbey Sings Abbey
Abbey Lincoln is renowned for many things: former screen vixen turned jazz protest singer, fierce diva orchestrating red wine fueled performances that swing from erratic genius to sublime to just plain swingin’, icon for women of color who walk their own path...What is sometimes overlooked is her
songwriting. She has written songs such as “And It’s Supposed To Be Love” that have already become standards. On “Abbey Sings Abbey” she gets a guitar driven backdrop reminiscent of Cassandra Wilson
(one of her stalwart heirs). The stripped down backing allows the blues in her music and the always raw beauty of her voice to shine.

Alela Diane - The Pirate’s Gospel
Her friend and cohort Mariee Sioux has gotten the shine in the press but Alela Diane’s work is just as evocative. Using a call & response (for the most part with her) approach on most of her songs creates a trance like feel that emulates the best repetitive music. It’s the voice that hooks you, though. It’s a clean, sure instrument that should thrill for years to come.

Burial - Untrue
The fun house soul of uk garage is boiled bone white on this haunting work by uk artist Burial. Sounding both futuristic and old as dirt-ghosts haunt the tracks while beats usually meant to pound the dance floor
skitter off into dark corners compressing & decompressing. Under the underground dub music.

Terence Blanchard - Tale of God’s Will
Terence Blanchard’s expansion of his soundtrack to Spike Lee’s “When the Levees Broke” was simply the most thrilling listening experience I had in the store last year. On further listening it stands as one
of the few great works of art of this young century. Matching symphonic sophistication with the urgency & sorrow of the blues this piece is equal to its ambitions: to say something significant, painful, and yet
beautiful about one of the great American tragedies. This native son of New Orleans gives us a fitting tribute to the city & people, and culture that is lost as we knew it.

Honorable Mentions:
Colleen - Les Ondes Silenciuses

The Politik - self-titled

Dengue Fever - Venus on Earth

Fiery Furnaces - Widow City

Jill Scott - The Real Thing

Dee Dee Bridgewater - Red Earth

Dilettantes - 101 Tambourines

Rewind That!
The Four Tet catalogue (including the Steve Reid collaborations)

4hero - Creating Patterns & Two Pages

Colleen - Golden Morning Breaks

Soul Jazz Acid House Collections

Watch That!
Lost - Season 3

Bernie Worrell - Stranger On Earth

Read That!
Y - The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier by Alan Moore

The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkham

Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz