My 2023 in music

Time for this dead blog's yearly reanimation. Here are my favorite new and archival albums of 2023 (as of 1/5/24; it changes daily).

FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2023 

(a few are from late 2022, but time is not real)

Meg Baird - Furling

Bill Callahan - YTI⅃AƎЯ

Eddie Chacon - Sundown

Cut Worms - Cut Worms

Yonatan Gat - American Quartet

Guided By Voices - Nowhere To Go But Up

PJ Harvey - I Inside the Old Year Dying

The Lloyd Pack - I Can't Remember

Man On Man - Provincetown

Medicine Singers - Medicine Singers

Dan Melchior Band - Welcome to Redacted City

mssv - Human Reaction

One Eleven Heavy - Poolside

Osees - Intercepted Message

Oxbow - Love's Holiday

Plates of Cake - Got a Feeling That I Live Here

Protomartyr - Formal Growth in the Desert

Purling Hiss - Drag On Girard

Marnie Stern - The Comeback Kid

Sunwatchers - Music Is Victory Over Time

Terry - Call Me Terry

Yo La Tengo - This Stupid World

HONORABLE MENTIONS 

Brown Spirits - Solitary Transmissions

Circus Devils - Squeeze the Needle

Eyelids - A Colossal Waste of Light

Guided By Voices - La La Land

Guided By Voices - Welshpool Frillies

Mamady Kouyate - Proclamation

Dave Lombardo - Rites of Percussion

The Men - New York City

Modern Nature - No Fixed Point in Space

Molina/Talbot/Lofgren/Young - All Roads Lead Home

Janelle Monáe - The Age of Pleasure

Monotonix - On

Mudhoney - Plastic Eternity

The New Pornographers - Continue as a Guest

P.G. Six - Murmurs & Whispers

Quasi - Breaking the Balls of History

Rose City Band - Garden Party

Spotlights - Alchemy for the Dead

Those Pretty Wrongs - Holiday Camp

Tropical Fuck Storm - Submersive Behaviour

Venera - Venera

Kurt Vile - Back to Moon Beach

Wilco - Cousin

Wilco - Cruel Country

Neil Young - Before and After

FAVORITE REISSUE/COMPILATION/ARCHIVAL ALBUMS OF 2023

C-Clamp - Dream Backwards

The Chieftones - The New Smooth and Different Sound

The Ducks - High Flyin'

The Feelies - Some Kinda Love: Performing the Music of The Velvet Underground

Maxx Traxx - Maxx Traxx: Third Rail

Charlie Megira & The Modern Dance Club - Love Police

Arthur Russell - Picture of Bunny Rabbit

Helene Smith - I Am Controlled By Your Love

Sparklehorse - Bird Machine

Barbara Stant - My Mind Holds On To Yesterday

Joyce Street - Tied Down

Various - Eccentric Boogie

Various - Eccentric Northern Soul

Various - Ghost Riders

Various - If There's Hell Below...

Various - L80s: So Unusual

Various - Skyway Soul: Gary, Indiana

Neil Young w/ The Santa Monica Flyers - Somewhere Under the Rainbow

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Isabelle Antena - En Cavale

Bailey's Nervous Kats - The Nervous Kats

Peter Barclay - I'm Not Your Toy

Chisel - Set You Free

Duster - Remote Echoes

Eiafuawn - Birds in the Ground

Everyone Asked About You - Paper Airplanes, Paper Hearts

Andre Gibson's Universal Togetherness Band - Apart: Demos 1980-1984

Isis - Mosquito Control/The Red Sea

Charlie Megira - Charlie Megira und the Hefker Girl

Native Nod - This Can't Exist

Pot Valiant - Never Return

Rex - C

Chuck Senrick - Dreamin'

Shira Small - The Line of Time and the Plane of Now

Various - Mid-Atlantic Story Vol. 3

Neil Young - Chrome Dreams

My 2022 in music

Welcome back to this ghost town of a blog. Here are the late 2021 and 2022 releases I enjoyed this year, in both the new and archival/reissue categories. 

New

Guided By Voices – Crystal Nuns Cathedral

Springtime – Springtime

Metrolight – Copyright Strike EP

John Dwyer, Ryan Sawyer, Greg Coates, Wilder Zoby & Andres Renteria – Gong Splat

Superchunk – Wild Loneliness

Cat Power – Covers

Thurston Moore – Screen Time

Colpitts – Music from the Accident

Destroyer – Labyrinthitis

Freakons – Freakons

King Garbage – Heavy Metal Greasy Love

The Surfing Magazines – Badgers of Wymeswold

Myriam Gendron – Ma délire – Songs of love, lost & found

Aldous Harding – Warm Chris

Kurt Vile – (watch my moves)

Dälek – Precipice

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever – Endless Rooms

Mark Lanegan & Joe Cardamone – Dark Mark vs Skeleton Joe

Guided By Voices – Tremblers and Goggles by Rank

Sessa – Estrela Acesa

The Delines – The Sea Drift

Ty Segall – Hello, Hi

Daniel Villarreal – Panamá 77

Kikagaku Moyo – Kumoyo Island

Beyoncé – Renaissance

Oneida – Success

Chris Forsyth – Evolution Here We Come

Osees – A Foul Form

Duster – Together

Naima Bock – Giant Palm

Built to Spill – When the Wind Forgets Your Name

Noori & His Dorpa Band – Beja Power! Electric Soul & Brass from Sudan’s Red Sea Coast

The Afghan Whigs – How Do You Burn?

Melvins – Bad Mood Rising

Lambchop – The Bible

Cass McCombs – Heartmind

The Bobby Lees – Bellevue

Metrolight – Metrolight

Dead Cross – Dead Cross II

Makaya McCraven – In These Times

Weyes Blood – And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – World Record

John Wesley Coleman III – Kiss Apocalypse

Nurse & Soldier – Let’s Spend the Day Together

Mike Baggetta/Jim Keltner/Mike Watt – Everywhen We Go

Björk – Fossora

Dry Cleaning – Stumpwork

Aoife Nessa Frances – Protector

Archival/Reissue

Jeff Phelps – Magnetic Eyes

Branko Mataja – Over Fields and Mountains

Karate – The Bed Is in the Ocean

Various Artists – V4 Visions: Of Love & Androids

Sonic Youth – In/Out/In

Suburban Lawns – Suburban Lawns

Ponderosa Twins Plus One – 2 + 2 +1 = Ponderosa Twins Plus One

Robert Pollard – Our Gaze

Neil Young – Citizen Kane Jr. Blues

Various Artists – Valley of the Sun: Field Guide to Inner Harmony

Various Artists – Super Hits of the 70s

Super Djata Band – En Super Forme Vol. 1

Neil Young – Royce Hall 1971

Neil Young – Dorothy Chandler Pavilion 1971

Archie James Cavanaugh – Black and White Raven

Various Artists – Eccentric Deep Soul

Various Artists – Eccentric Soul: The Shiptown Label

Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Toast

Various Artists – The Chicago Boogie Volume 2: This Love Will Last

Various Artists – The Chicago Boogie Volume 3: Set It Out

Neil Young + Promise of the Real – Noise & Flowers

June Chikuma – The Midas Touch

Blondie – Against the Odds 1974-1982

Various Artists – Bound for Hell: On the Sunset Strip

Birdlegs and Pauline – Birdlegs and Pauline

Codeine – Dessau

Unwound – Live Leaves

Current – Yesterday’s Tomorrow Is Not Today

Karate – Time Expired

Can – Live in Cuxhaven 1976

Guided By Voices – Scalping the Guru

Jenny Mae – What’s Wrong with Me? Singles + Unreleased Tracks 1989-2017

The Hated – The Best Piece of Shit Vol. 4

Various Artists – Penny & The Quarters & Friends

Neil Young – Harvest: 50^th Anniversary Edition

Allan Wachs – Mountain Roads & City Streets

Laraaji – Segue to Infinity

My 2021 in music

Hello friends and enemies,

It's been a while. In lieu of a best music of the year list (I no longer pretend to rank things in some kind of permanent hierarchy), here is every 2021 (or 2021-ish) new release and reissue/archival release I added to my collection in physical media form, in rough order of acquisition. I'm ignoring digital releases, so Myriam Gendron and Springtime will just have to wait until 2022. Goodbye until 2022, suckers. 

New releases

Thurston Moore - By the Fire

Cub Scout Bowling Pins - Heaven Beats Iowa 7"

Jeff Tweedy - Love Is the King

Damaged Bug - Bug on Yonkers

Osees - Metamorphosed

Kurt Vile - Speed, Sound, Lonely KV (ep)

Yo La Tengo - We Have Amnesia Sometimes

Melvins - Working with God

Tamar Aphek - All Bets Are Off

USA/Mexico - Del Rio

Tomahawk - Tonic Immobility

The Peacers - Blexxed Rec

Guided By Voices - Earth Man Blues

Dinosaur Jr - Sweep It into Space

Field Music - Flat White Moon

Bobby Lee - Origin Myths

Mush - Lines Redacted

Kid Millions & Jan St. Werner - Imperium Droop

Three-Layer Cake - Stove Top

Rose City Band - Earth Trip

Writhing Squares - Chart for the Solution

Mr. Bungle - The Night They Came Home

Lambchop - Showtunes

Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime

Birds of Maya - Valdez

Cub Scout Bowling Pins - Clang Clang Ho

Anthony Joseph - The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running for Their Lives

Human Impact - EP01

Amaro Freitas - Sankofa

Guided By Voices - It's Not Them. It Couldn't Be Them. It Is Them!

The Scientists - Negativity

Melvins - Five Legged Dog

Ty Segall - Harmonizer

Circuit des Yeux - -io

White Denim - Crystal Bullets/King Tears

Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert

Marissa Nadler - The Path of the Clouds

Tropical Fuck Storm - Deep States

Bill Callahan & Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Blind Date Party

Modern Nature - Island of Noise

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Barn

Reissue/Archival

Various - Reach

Various - Numero 95

A.R.T. Wilson - Overworld

Anthony Moore - Out

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Way Down in the Rust Bucket

The Haskels - Taking the City by Storm

Neil Young - Young Shakespeare

Female Species - Tale of My Lost Love

Various - Rust Side Story Vol. 24

Can - Live in Stuttgart 1975

Various - Eccentric Disco

Various - Country Funk III: 1975-1982

Karate - Karate

Karate - In Place of Real Insight

Seam - Headsparks

Neil Young - Carnegie Hall 1970

Various - Driftless Dreamers in Cuca Country

Phew - Phew

Various - Christmas Dreamers: Yuletide Country 1960-1972

Pastor T.L. Barrett & The Youth for Christ Choir - I Shall Wear a Crown

Charlie Megira - Da Abtomatic Meisterzinger Mambo Chic

Can - Live in Brighton 1975 

My 2020 in music

I wrote about my incredibly strange and traumatic year on my movie blog, so I'm not going to do much writing here. Instead, here is every new release and newly reissued archival album I enjoyed and acquired this year. 

 

 

 

 

2020 albums

Bent Arcana - Bent Arcana

Bohren & Der Club of Gore - Patchouli Blue

Built to Spill - Built to Spill Plays the Songs of Daniel Johnston

Bill Callahan - Gold Record

Ora Cogan - Bells in the Ruins

Sam Coomes - True Death

Brigid Dawson & The Mothers Network - Ballet of Apes

Destroyer - Have We Met

Greg Dulli - Random Desire

Field Music - Making a New World

The Flaming Lips - American Head

Aoife Nessa Frances - Land of No Junction

Grand Veymont - Persistance et changement

Guided By Voices - Mirrored Aztec

Guided By Voices - Styles We Paid For

Guided By Voices - Surrender Your Poppy Field

Human Impact - Human Impact

Mark Lanegan - Straight Songs of Sorrow

Jackie Lynn - Jacqueline

Alain Johannes - Hum

King Buzzo w/ Trevor Dunn - Gift of Sacrifice

Lambchop - Trip

Magik Markers - 2020

The Magnetic Fields - Quickies

Stephen Malkmus - Traditional Techniques

Melvins/Mudhoney - White Lazy Boy EP

The Men - Mercy

METZ - Atlas Vending

Million Lands - The Ochre World

Mint Mile - Ambertron 

Modern Nature - Annual EP

Mourning [A] BLKstar - The Cycle

Mr. Bungle - The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo

Nap Eyes - Snapshot of a Beginner

North Americans - Roped In

Obnox - Savage Raygun

OOIOO - Nijimusi

Osees - Protean Threat

Joe Pernice - Richard

Mike Polizze - Long Lost Solace Find

Protomartyr - Ultimate Success Today

Lee Ranaldo & Raul Refree - Names of North End Women

Gwenifer Raymond - Strange Lights over Garth Mountain

Cash Rivers & The Sinners - Bad Side of the Coin

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Sideways to New Italy

Rose City Band - Summerlong

Tobin Sprout - Empty Horses

Moses Sumney - grae

Sunwatchers - Brave Rats EP

Sunwatchers - Oh Yeah? 

Tamikrest - Tamotait

tētēma - Necroscape

JG Thirlwell & Simon Steensland - Oscillospira

U.S. Girls - Heavy Light

Wasted Shirt - Fungus II

Waterless Hills - The Great Mountain

White Denim - World as a Waiting Room

Yo La Tengo - Sleepless Night EP

Neil Young - The Times EP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2020 Reissues, Repressings, Archival Releases

24 Carat Black - III

Otis Brown - Southside Chicago

Dhaima - Love Lives Forever

Trey Gruber - Herculean House of Cards

Masumi Hara - 4 X a Dream

Tommy McGee - I'm a Stranger

Silkworm - live albums on Comedy Minus One's Bandcamp page

Silver Jews - complete discography

Valium Aggelein - Black Moon

Various - Eccentric Funk

Various - Louis Wayne Moody High

Various - NuLeaf: Smooth Jazz Underground

Various - Whispers: Lounge Originals

Neil Young - Archives Vol. II

Neil Young - Homegrown

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Return to Greendale 

 

2019 late to the party

Jim Sauter & Kid Millions - Safe & Sane 

2019 in music

Happy new year, jerks! Here are the albums I enjoyed in the old year.

Favorite records of 2019 in no particular order
Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains 
Guided By Voices - Zeppelin Over China
Lorelle Meets the Obsolete - De Facto
The Delines - The Imperial
Julian Lynch - Rat's Spit
Cass McCombs - Tip of the Sphere
Jessica Pratt - Quiet Signs
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba - Miri
House of Hiss - Sand Never Sets
Solange - When I Get Home
Aldous Harding - Designer
Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising
Spiral Stairs - We Wanna Be Hyp-No-Tized
Ex Hex - It's Real
Lambchop - This (Is What I Wanted to Tell You)
Stephen Malkmus - Groove Denied
Priests - The Seduction of Kansas
USA/Mexico - Matamoros
Spotlights - Love & Decay
BITW - BITW
Sunwatchers - Illegal Moves
Chris Forsyth - All Time Present
Mdou Moctar - Ilana: The Creator
Boogarins - Sombrou Duvida
Mourning [A] BLKstar - Reckoning
Sad Planets - Akron, Ohio
Rose City Band - Rose City Band
Kotokoto - Institute
75 Dollar Bill - I Was Real
Vanishing Twin - The Age of Immunology
School of Language - 45
Fox Millions Duo - Biting Through
Tropical Fuck Storm - Braindrops
Ty Segall - First Taste
White Denim - Side Effects
Kid Millions & Sarah Bernstein - Broken Fall
Modern Nature - How to Live
Mike Patton & Jean-Claude Vannier - Corpse Flower
Oh Sees - Face Stabber
Pernice Brothers - Spread the Feeling
Mudhoney - Morning in America EP
Thurston Moore - Spirit Counsel
Diagonal - Arc
Malibu - One Life
Imani Coppola - The Protagonist
Guided By Voices - Sweating the Plague
Bill Callahan - Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest
Mark Lanegan Band - Somebody's Knocking
Battles - Juice B Crypts
Kim Gordon - No Home Record
Angel Olsen - All Mirrors
Wilco - Ode to Joy
Cunts - Cunts
Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Colorado
The Flaming Lips - King's Mouth
Omni - Networker
Sessa - Grandeza
Desert Sessions - Vol. 11 & 12
Fitted - First Fits
The New Pornographers - In the Morse Code of Brake Lights
Ramblin' Deano & Ice Cold Singles - Ramblin' Deano and Ice Cold Singles
Mistresses - Define "Relationship"
Kel Assouf - Black Tenere

Favorite older records and archival collections reissued or issued for the first time in 2019 in no particular order
Gelbart - Egg Ray Test Hits Cow Action
New World Music - Intellectual Thinking
Duster - Capsule Losing Contact
Jah Division - Dub Will Tear Us Apart ... Again
Kele Goodwin - Hymns
Rupa - Disco Jazz
Chasman - Synth-E-Fuge
Various - Escape from Synth City
Guided By Voices - Warp and Woof (new album assembled from four 2018 EPs)
Jeremy Freeze - Breaking the Skin
Various - Planisphere
Various - You're Not from Around Here
Don Slepian - Sea of Bliss
Elisa Waut - Elisa Waut
Prince - Originals
Andy the Doorbum - Art Is Shit
Indian Summer - Giving Birth to Thunder
Joanna Brouk - The Space Between
Normil Hawaiians - What's Going On?
Various - Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood soundtrack
Coolies - South Auckland Girls in the Garage
Hug - A Young Person's Guide to Hug
Various - Visible and Invisible Persons Distributed in Space
Charlie Megira - Tomorrow's Gone
Gary Davenport - Scattered Thoughts
Screaming Females - Singles Too
Hamlet Minassian - Armenian Pop Music
Jim Shepard - Heavy Action
Arthur Russell - Iowa Dream
Sanford Clark - They Call Me Country
Antena - Camino del Sol EP
Neil Young & Stray Gators - Tuscaloosa

Favorite records of 2018 I didn't get to until 2019
Tropical Fuck Storm - A Laughing Death in Meatspace
Obnox - Templo del Sonido
Obnox - Bang Messiah
Sunwatchers - II
U.S. Girls - In a Poem Unlimited

My band's record
My band The Early Stages released our album, Terrible Business, in 2019 on our own Self-Satisfaction label. I'm proud of it. Get it on vinyl or digital download here or here or stream it on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, and the other streaming sites, but we'd love you forever if you make a vinyl or download purchase if you like the music and can afford it. Thanks! 

 

Random number generator news headline cutup poetry #5

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Random number generator news headline cutup poetry #4

BOWL WALL VORTEX

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TEXAS BOWL TEEN

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TEXAS DENMARK PRO TEXAS SHUTDOWN