30 December 2010





Ok, time for a few more lists.

Hivern Discs Top 11

- Justin van der Volgen - Clapping Song
- Kenton Slash Demon - Sun
- Delorean - Real Love (Pional Remix)
- Panda Bear - Arsatian Darn
- El Guincho - Bombay
- Gunnar Wendel - 587 (Omar S remix)
- Balam Accab - See Birds
- Moodymann - Old Dirty Vinyl
- Siriusmo - Einmal in der Woche schreien
- Teengirl Fantasy - 7am
- Caribou - Swim
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Versus Magazine Top 10

-Pional - In Another Room
-Tim Paris - Edges of Corrosion
-The XX (Four Tet remix) - VCR
-Art Department - Without You
-Audio Werner - Mean
-Autre Ne Veut - Drama cum drama
-WU LYF - Split It Concrete Like The Colden Sun God.
-Oh No Oh No - Eleanor Speaks (Caribou remix)
-Siriusmo - Einmal In Der Woche Schreien.
-Girl Unit - Wut
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I'd Rather Be Fat Than Be Confused Top 10 ambient/experimental/drone albums of the year.


1. Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Love Is A Stream (Type)
A beautiful mess of static waves, magical and strangely beautiful. An album that finally gave this man's solo pursuits the attention they have long since deserved.


2. The Fun Years - God Was Like, No (Barge)
All too many bands have failed to follow up killer albums, and due to my own imperfections I almost always overly build up my anticipation of any new album from a band that I love as much as the Fun Years.

With God Was Like, No, The Fun Years did not disappoint. Nothing was too new but their own brand of gentle ambience mixed with the soft crackle of static is near enough perfect to reaffirm the old statement, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.


3. Eleh - Location Momentum (Touch)
At times no more than the hum of machinery left on standby, yet strangely fascinating, less was certainly more for the majority of this album. It carried the same kind of ability as Phill Niblock or Saito Koji of being able to evolve very slowly and yet never lose the listeners interest.


4. Counterspark - The Halpern Experiment (Resting Bell) Free download
In a year when my drone/experimental needs were mostly spent in anticipation of the release of the latest album by The Fun Years, which seemed to be put back month after month, Counterspark did a more than admirable job in catering for my needs with an album, a free one at that of sublime, warm and welcoming drones, not a million miles from The Fun Years, that begged to be listened to on headphones and played again and again.


5. Frank Bretschneider - EXP (Raster Noton)
A new name to me but one I won't be forgetting in a hurry. Delightful miniatures of clicks, beats and sine waves. This won't be to everyone's taste, the songs are songs within songs but from 1:50 of "mass, blue: aluminate, ventilator" through to the end of "Lightweight, Satellite" four songs later, it simply went from strength to strength.

If you even remotely like this then you will absolutely adore his better still 2007 album rhythm.


6. Taylor Deupree - Snow (Dusk, Dawn) (12k)
I'm still waiting for his long player Shoals, also from this year, to sink in. However the preceding single track to the album, Snow (Dusk, Dawn) was an instant hit, maybe bettering my favourite Deupree moment to date, that being Weather and Worn. 16 minutes of snow falling, crackling ambient elegance that was not a second too long.



7. Eluvium - Static Nocturne (Watership Sounds)
I rarely have the patience to sit through a single track that clocks in at almost hour, even albums that last that long rarely capture my attention for their entire length, but then it a rare case that the quality is this high. I'd long since been a fan of Eluviums crisp piano opuses that I'd pretty much ignored his more experimental side, that being until I discovered Zerthis earlier this year. Static Nocturne takes a similar approach, as the title would suggest an instrumental compostion, dreamy and pensive in sound and full to the brim with wonderful wonderful static.


8. ibreathefur - Every Day You Look Different (Under The Spire)
The Under The Spire lable seemed to take a back seat this year, or at least avoid the limelight it was given upon its launch in 2009, still the continued to fire out some great, sadly for th most case critically ignored, records.

The pick of the bunch was ibreathefur's Every Day You Look Different. Four songs of crunchy ambience and decay that were neither too long nor too short, basically, just right. Certainly an artist capable worth keeping an eye on.


9. Roll The Dice - Roll The Dice
Whilst everyone got excited about Emeralds new sound and Oneohtrix Point Nevers never ending list of releases, dropping the word "Kosmiche" into every sentence, very few bands of such a trend really impressed me. Maybe the aforementioned artists albums will hit me next year like Jacaszek's Treny took a long long time to register.

I was however completely won over by the collaboration of Swedes Peder Mannerfelt and Malcolm Pardon, namely Roll the Dice, from the opening Arpeggios of The New Black, it was evident that their sound was filled with nostalgia and this is something that they delivered with great expertise. Axee and the aforementioned The New Black stand out.


10. BvDub - The Art of Dying Alone
BvDub cemented his place in my heart last year topping my album of the year charts with both We Were The Sun and the much underrated A Prayer to False Gods.

This years not so positively entitled The Art of Dying Alone only served to further strengthen the already sturdy foundations. Nothing massively new except perhaps the more prominent presence of fragments of wordless vocals, particularly on the beautiful 19 minutes that are the closing eponymous track. A prime example of how beauty can be strectched out into near perfection. Truly Epic.


Also, The Alainfinkielkrautrock Poll 2010 is good.

Still got mine and another couple to come.








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