Fourtet: Rounds
(Reviewed here) In which Hebden refines and outstrips Pause to make an electronic record that actually breathes. I catch something new every time I listen to it. His best work yet.
Xela: For Frosty Mornings…
A modest and wistful album that matches is title. Subtle and evocative; the equivalent of watching frost etch its way across a windowpane.
Postal Service: Give Up
A continuation of last year’s Benjamin Gibbard/Dntel collaboration. Some of the catchiest stuff you’ll hear this year. Good enough that the few glaring mis-steps (read the lyrics to “Nothing Better”) can be easily overlooked.
Notwist: Neon Golden (US version)
A record which channels everything from vintage New Order to Wire without missing a beat. “Pilot” is one of the best singles this year and comes off (strangely enough) as a post-rock successor to REM’s “Driver 8.”
Yasume: Where We’re from the Birds Sing a Pretty Song
Xela side project using source material from the “Twin Peaks” soundtrack. Not nearly as derivative as you’d expect. I defy anyone to find a track as beautiful as “Triumph of Two” this year.
Various Artists: Mas Confusion
Label comp from Michael Fakesch of Funkstorung. Established acts like L’usine and Funckarma turn in solid tracks, but the surprises are Adam Johnson’s ruminative pieces and Mr. Projectile’s “More Music Less Math,” which sports an amazing gamelan orchestration.
Johann Johannsson: Englaborn
Haunting treated string-quartet soundtrack to a Norse film. Minimal and direct, but very effective.
Monolake: Momentum
Everything Basic Channel ever released was a prelude to this. Robert Hencke finally pulls it all together into a coherent and fascinating album.
Starflyer 59: Old
Jason Martin finally grows up and drops the shoegazer schtick. The result is everything we knew he was capable of. A witty, catchy and meticulously arranged pop record. “Passengers” is easily the best thing he’s ever written.
Ned Rorem: Chamber Music (Fibonacci Sequence/Naxos Records)
God bless Naxos for bringing obscure repetoire into the light. Two great pieces by Rorem, performed wonderfully (if, forgivably, a bit roughly) by the Fibonacci Sequence. At 8 bucks, this isn’t a bargain, it’s a treasure.
Keith Fullerton Whitman: Playthroughs
(Reviewed here) If Music for Airports opened the book on ambient music, then this record officially closes it. Never have I heard someone convey so much with so little.
Gjallarhorn: Grimborg
Norse/Finnish music that has to be heard to be believed. Forget what you know about “world music,” this is a genre unto itself. These guys specialize in conjuring the hedonistic pagan spirit of their forbears. Jenny Wilhelms has one of the most amazing voices on the planet, and even when her backing band whips itself into a frenzy, she holds her own in the tempest. Cathartic, exhilirating and sometimes overwhelming.
Chris Clark: Empty the Bones of You and Lexaunculpt: Blurring of Trees
Neither of these records will change the world, but in their own subtle ways, they each bring something unique to the table. Lexaunculpt combines Lp5-era drum frenzy with a strong sense of melody and arrangement, while Clark takes the low road, mingling acid-tinged tracks with beautiful atmospherics and treated piano.
Soundtrack: Haibane Renmei
This year’s big surprise for me. Music from an anime series by the director of Serial Experiments: Lain, which follows the daily lives of people who may or may not be angels, the album mixes late-renaissance/early-baroque instrumentation into a cohesive whole that fits the film perfectly. Enthusiastically performed, and marvelous in its simplicity and innocence.