RECKLESS FRIENDS
Emily Elhaj (Love Lion/Angel Olsen)
ALBUMS
Wand – Plum (Drag City)
Arthur Russell – Instrumentals (Audika)
Big Thief – Capacity (Saddle Creek)
Blue Iverson (Dean Blunt) – Hotep (Self-Released)
Thelonious Monk – Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Sam)
Grouper – Paradise Valley 7” (Yellow Electric)
Jaimie Branch – Fly Or Die (International Anthem)
Yellow Days – Is Everything Ok In Your World? (Doobie McQueen / Good Years Music)
Power Trip – Nightmare Logic (Southern Lord)
Slowdive – Sugar For The Pill (Dead Oceans)
SZA – CTRL (TDE)
Matt Jencik – Weird Times (Hands In the Dark)
V/A – Shout Music (Love Lion)
Dominique Lawalrée – First Meeting (Catch Wave)
Steve Lacy – Steve Lacy’s Demo (Three Quarter)
The Paperhead – Chew (Trouble In Mind)
The Feelies – In Between (Bar None)
Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble – Find Me Finding You (Drag City)
Hand Habits – Wildly Idle (Humble Before The Void) (Woodsist)
Daniel Caesar – Freudian (Golden Child)
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma – On The Echoing Green (Mexican Summer)
Gaussian Curve – The Distance (Music From Memory)
Alvvays – Antisocialites (Polyvinyl)
Kendrick Lamar – Damn. (TDE)
Neil Young – Hitchhiker (Reprise)
Dean Blunt & Joanne Robertson – Wahalla (Textile)
Sharon Jones – Soul of a Woman (Daptone)
Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions – Son of a Lady EP (Tendril Tales)
Juana Molina – Halo (Crammed Discs)
Cleaners From Venus (Martin Newell) – Kitchen Table EP (Plastic Response)
Rev. Lonnie Farris – A Night at the House of Prayer (Buked & Scorned)
Kelly Lee Owens – s/t (Smalltown Supersound)
Hans Zimmer & Benjamin Wallfisc – Blade Runner 2049 (Epic)
REISSUES
Selena – Dreaming of You (Capitol)
Radiohead – OkNotOk (XL)
Angelo Badalamenti – Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (Death Waltz)
Elliott Smith – Either/Or (Kill Rock Stars)
Mazzy Star – So Tonight That I Might See (Capitol)
Orange Juice – Coals To Newcastle (AED)
Marisa Anderson – Traditional and Public Domain Songs (MIssissippi)
SHOWS
Chris Cohen tour
Charlotte Day Wilson, 1306
Christian Scott, 3 Keys
Thelma & The Sleaze, Siberia
King Woman, Castillo Blanco
Bonnie Prince Billy & Bitchin Bajas, Music Box Village
Diamanda Galás, The Joy
MonoNeon & guests, Blue Nile
Khruangbin, One Eyed Jacks x 2
Grace Jones, Primavera
Rajasthan Express, Primavera
Seckou Keita, St. Mary’s
Sun Ra Arkestra, Jazz Cafe
Cass McCombs, Halfway Festival
George Clinton, Pitchfork
Newport Folk Festival
Hiss Golden Messenger & guests, Jane Pickens Theater
Frank Ocean, Øya & Flow
Princess Nokia, Flow
Solange, Hopscotch
Ariel Pink, Tipitina’s
RIP Kelan Phil Cohran
Dave Martin (Captured Tracks)
Full length records
1. Sweet Apple – Sing The Night In Sorrow – Tee Pee
2. feedtime – Gas – In The Red
3. Thurston Moore – Rock N Roll Consciousness – Caroline
4. Circuit des Yeux – Reaching For Indigo – Drag City
5. Matt Jencik – Weird Times – Hands In The Dark
6. Protomartyr – Relatives in Descent – Domino
7. Julie Byrne – Not Even Happiness – Ba Da Bing!
8. David Nance – Negative Boogie – Ba Da Bing!
9. The Stroppies – S/T – Tough Love
10. Brian Case – Spirit Design – Hand In The Dark
11. Power Trip – Nightmare Logic – Southern Lord
12. Outside inside – Sniff a Hot Rock – Machine Age
13. Sanhedrin – A Funeral For The World – Sanhedrin
14. Stefan Christensen – Shake Off the Village – C/Site
15. The Terminals – Antiseptic – Ba Da Bing!
16. Escape-ism – Introduction To Escape-Ism – Merge
17. Roe Enny – Glare – Root Strata
18. Kacy & Clayton – The Siren’s Song – New West
19. Damon & Naomi – Everything Quieter Than Everything Else – Ghost Future Archives
20. Obnox – Niggative Approach – 12XU
21. Glue – S/T – Glue
22. Exit Order – Seed Of Hysteria – Side Two
23. The Feelies – In Between – Bar None
24. Terry – Remember Terry – Upset The Rhythm
25. V/A – Tokyo Flashback P.S.F. – Psychedelic Speed Freaks Dbl CD – Super Fuji Discs
Singles / EPs
1. Superchunk – I Got Cut & Break The Glass 7”s – Merge
2. Cate Le Bon – Rock Pool 12” – Drag City
3. The Original Panther Burns – OGPB 7” – Spacecase / Selection
4. The Shifters – A Believer b/w Contrast of Form 7” – Market Square
5. Stefan Christensen – Open Day 7” – I Dischi Del Barone
6. Mordecai – What is Art 7” – Sophomore Lounge
7. Acteurs – Corridor 12” – MILD VILNC
8. Rakta – Oculto Pelos Seros 7” – Iron Lung / La Vida Es Un Mus
9. Rixe – Baptismo 7” – La Vida Es Un Mus
10. skiftande enheter – 4-Spårs 7” EP – Levande Begravd
Reissues / Old music
1. Crystalized Movements – Mind Disaster LP – Twisted Village
2. V/A – Tokyo Flashback Vol. 1 Dbl LP – Black Editions
3. World of Pooh – Land Of Thirst LP – Starlight Furniture
4. Can – The Singles 3xLP – Mute
5. Keiji Haino – Watashi Dake? LP – Black Editions
6. Hüsker Dü – Savage Young Dü/ Extra Circus 4xLP/7” – Numero Group
7. Stooges – Highlights From the Funhouse Sessions Dbl LP – Run Out Groove
8 Richard Hell – Blank Generation 40th anniversary Dbl LP – Sire
9. Gotobeds – Fucking In The Future + 5 LP – Comedy Minus One
10. Gillian Welch – The Harrow & The Harvest LP – Acony
11. Chris Bell – The Complete Chris Bell 6xLP box – Omnivore
12. Lurkers – 5xCD box – Beggars Banquet
13. Madrigal – S/T LP – Subliminal Sounds
14. Pin Group – Ambivalence 7”, Coat 7” & Go To Town 12” – Superior Viaduct
15. Def Leppard – The Def Leppard EP 12” – Universal
16. V/A – Warfaring Strangers – Acid Nightmare Dbl LP – Numero Group
17. Blue Oyster Cult – Rarities Vol. 1 Dbl LP – Real Gone Music
18. The Nurse – Discography 1983-1984 LP – La Vida Es Un Mus
19. Dead Moon – What A Way To See The Old Girl Go LP – Voodoo Doughnut
20. Suicide – First Rehearsal Tapes LP – Superior Viaduct
Cassettes / digital releases
1. Midnight Mines – We Are the Primitives of a New Era – Loki
2. Private Sorrow – Fake Lions – Mystery Plane / Loki
3. Blank Statements – Signs Are Rampant – Hobbies Galore
4. Obedience – 2017 Demo – Obedience
5. Fully Glazed – S/T Cassette – Loki
And every other release on the Loki label.
Live shows
1. Shame – Babys All Right / L’Escogriffe
2. Protomartyr / Gotobeds – Monty Hall
3. The Everymen – Monty Hall
4. Tyvek – Union Pool
5. Warthog / La Misma / Concealed Blade / D.O.G. Brillobox
Haley Fohr (Circuit Des Yeux/Jackie Lynn)
Here are my top five colors for 2017:
Red as found in: The party flags that billow at the car lot on Cicero & George St. + a baseball cap bought & worn in Connecticut while on tour with Animal Collective.
Yellow as found in: A shirt titled “Acapulco” seen worn on a rooftop at 21st & Loomis on the 4th of July.
Green as found in: Hearing a viola while looking at the wet grass after a storm at Bohemian National Cemetery.
Blue as found in: The mirrored horizontal flip scene in the greenroom at Lincoln Hall on Nov 18, wearing a peacock robe.
Indigo as found in: You know… !
Dean Whitmore (Sub Pop)
Neutral, The Stevens, Alvarius B, Steve Gunn, Omni, Naomi Punk, Anthony Pasguarosa w/ John Maloney, Feral Ohms, Wolf Eyes, Pissed Jeans, David Nance, Uranium Club, Anxiety, Dream Decay, La Feline, Davy Kehoe, Protomartyr, Odyssey Cult (X2), Matt Jencik, Heron Oblivion, Housewives, Tunic, Kaleidoscope, FNU Clone, Juana Molina, Aaron Dilloway, Colleen, Ordnungsamt Et La Politesse, Richard Dawson, Karl Blau, Power, Sleaford Mods, Tiny Vipers + others
Taylor Brode (Semaphore mgmt)
Lil Peep – Come Over When You’re Sober Pt.1
Brian Foote [kranky/peak oil/leech]
john beltran ‘moth’ [detuned]
bulbs ‘anomalons’ [bulbs]
cloudface ‘super you’ [moodhut]
Kara-lis coverdale ‘grafts’ [boomkat]
cybe ‘tropisch verlangen’ [stroom]
demen ‘nektyr’ [kranky]
digital release ‘positive approach’ [drawing room records]
dj python ‘dulce compañía’ [incienso]
dj sports ‘modern species’ [firecracker]
kelman duran ‘1804kids’ [hundebiss]
richard horowitz ‘eros in arabia’ [freedom to spend]
indoor plants ‘udacha 15’ [udacha]
los & dj sotofett ‘jugando con fuego’ [wania]
mr. yt ‘brand new day’ [apollo]
nummer ‘second sight’ [going good]
olo ‘hardcore’ [help]
palta & ti ‘ep’en andre hjem’ [gravity graffiti]
porn sword tobacco ‘2017’ [acido]
ramzi ‘peze-pinton’ [12th isle]
s.o.n.s. ’shimokitazawa one night stand’ [s.o.n.s.]
sw. ‘untitled[sue16]’ [sued]
vtgnike ‘collection’ [gost zvuk]
wanderwelle ‘lost in a sea of trees’ [silent season]
xyr ‘labyrinth/reflections’ [not not fun]
hiroshi yoshimura ‘music for nine postcards’ [empire of signs]
Audrey Ewell (NY-based director of films, including black metal documentary Until the Light Takes Us)
This is stuff I liked – no order – and there was tons more that I just haven’t gotten to yet. But you can’t go wrong here. Unless you have bad taste, so.
Leyland James Kirby (aka The Caretaker) – We So Tired of All This Darkness
Fletcher Tucker – Cold Spring
Blut Aus Nord – Deus Salutis Meæ
Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Luciferian Towers
Chelsea Wolfe – Hiss Spun
Forest Swords – Compassion
Laurel Halo – Dust
James Holden and the Animal Spirits – The Animal Spirits
Sarah Davachi – All my Circles Run
Anjou – Epithelia
Alice Coltrane – The Ecstatic Music Of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda
Circle – Terminal
Honorable Mentions
Charlotte Gainsbourg – Rest
Fever Ray – Plunge (I miss the melancholy and moodiness)
DREAD (aka Lustmord) – Dub
Liars – TFCF
Equinoxx – Colon Man
Delia Gonzalez – Horse Follows Darkness
EPS
The Body – A Home on Earth
Grouper – Paradise Valley (released December 21, 2016)
Oranssi Pazuzu – Kevät / Värimyrsky
Other:
Mount Eerie – A Crow Looked At Me
I could only listen once to this album about the death of his wife, the pain too real, raw, and familiar after losing my partner, Aaron Aites, filmmaker (Until The Light Takes Us), musician (IRAN), and former Reckless Records list contributor. So I can’t be remotely objective, but I found it shatteringly effective.
And since there are no rules anymore, and we’re all hurtling toward certain fiery death at the tiny hands of a fat orange misogynist, as we try to love and create and not just angrily piss into the wind on Twitter, my favorite music of 2017 is by London-based producer/composer/dj Karen Gwyer: but it’s not her 2017 double lp Rembo, which is sort of clean techno and as such just not quite up my alley. Nope, it’s her older works, a little grittier and trippier and lovely, and new to me: Needs Continuum, Kiki the Wormhole, Prophase Metaphase Anaphase Telophase, and she has more I haven’t yet investigated. Sublime.
Morgan Cuinet / Hands In The Dark
NEW ALBUMS
-Carlos Casas “Pyramid of Skull”
-Félicia Atkinson “Hand in Hand”
-Gregg Kowalsky “L’Orange, L’Orange”
-Colleen “A Flame my Love, a Frequency”
-Visible Cloaks “Reassemblage”
-Tomoko Sauvage “Musique Hydromantique”
-Carla Dal Forno “The Garden”
-Sarah Davachi “All My Circles Run”
-Lee Noble “The Hell of you Come In”
-Justin Walter “Unseen Forces”
-Greg Fox “The Gradual Procession”
-Bitchin Bajas “Bajas Fresh”
-Roe Enney “Glare”
-Jefre Cantu-Ledesma “On The Echoing Green”
-Roger Tellier-Craig “Instantanés”
-Sonja Labianca “About Room, Room To Be, Rooms”
-Ekin Fil “Ghost Inside”
-UUUU “s/t”
-Jessica Moss “Pools of Light”
-Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe “Marlek”
-La Tène “Tardive/Issime”
REISSUES
-Hiroshi Yoshimura “Music for Nine Postcards”
-Knud Viktor “Ambiances/Images”
-Midori Takada “Through The Looking Glass”
-Pauline Anna Strom “Trans-Millenia Music”
-Graeme Miller & Steve Shill “The Moomins”
-Yasuo Sugabayashi “The Mask Of Imperial Family”
-Marc Barreca “Music Works For Industry”
-Pep Llopis “Poiemusia La Nau Dels Argonautes”
-Richard Horowitz “Eros in Arabia”
-Coil “Time Machines”
-Jocy De Oliveira “Estórias Para Voz, Instrumentos Acústicos e Eletrônicos”
-Svarte Greiner “Knive”
-Emmanuelle Parrenin “Maison Rose”
-Barney Wilen “Moshi”
-François Tusques “Free Jazz”
Top 10 Bachelor Nation moments of 2017
By: Adam Luksetich (The Numero Group and the great state of Iowa)
1. Demario and Corinne get freaky in the pool causing ABC to SHUT DOWN production of Bachelor in Paradise one day into shooting.
2. Dean not giving his rose to Kristina. What was he thinking?!?
3. Danielle M making out with the “off limits” bartender Wells before she leaves the show. Get it girl!
4. Bachelor Season 21 ends in March with Nick getting engaged to Vanessa!
5. Nick and Vanessa separate in August.
6. Peter’s reluctance to propose to Rachel after multiple group dates, two 1-on-1 dates and an overnight date. Come on bro!
7. Host Chris Harrison confronts Lee about being racist on the Bachelorette: Men Tell All Special.
8. Demario’s ACTUAL girlfriend confronts him during the taping of The Bachelorette. He’s #notherefortherightreasons
9. Amanda is back for a THIRD time hoping to find love again . . . again.
10. Nick chooses Corinne over Taylor on a 1-on-1 date. Taylor then turns into some sort of voodoo priestess??
Also, Power Trip “Nightmare Logic” was killer.
Brett Andrew Grossman (Once was)
2017 In Order of How I Remember things:
1. The Clientele “Music for the Age of Miracles” (Merge)
2. Caterina Barbieri “Patterns of Consciousness” (Important)
3. Faith Healer “Try ;-)” (Mint)
4. Ty Segall “Ty Segall” (Drag City), “Fried Shallots” (Drag City)
5. Colleen “A Flame My Love, A Frequency” (Thrill Jockey)
6. The Proper Ornaments “Foxhole” (Slumberland)
7. William Basinski “A Shadow in Time (Temporary Residence Limited)
8. Slowdive “Slowdive” (Dead Oceans)
9. Justin Walter “Unseen Forces” (Kranky)
10. Klein “Tommy EP” (Hyperdub)
11. Various “Eleven into Fifteen: a 130701 Compilation” (130701)
12. Perfume Genius “No Shape” (Matador)
13. Fleet Foxes “Crack-up” (Nonesuch)
14. Konrad Sprenger “Stack Music” (PAN)
15. Angel Olsen”Phases” (Jagjaguwar)
16. Ellen Arkbro “For Organ and Brass” (Subtext)
17. Jay-Z “4:44” (Roc Nation)
18. Juana Molina “Halo” (Crammed Discs)
19. Carla dal Forno “The Garden” (Blackest Ever Black)
20. Larry Achiampon “Untitled (Back to Church)” (Look Mama)
21. LCD Soundsystem “American Dream” (DFA)
22. Avey Tare “Eucalyptus” (Domino)
23. Chad VanGaalen “Light Information” (Sub Pop)
24. Ka Baird “Sapropelic Pycnic” (Drag City)
25. Destroyer “Ken” (Merge)
26. Big Thief “Capacity” (Saddle Creek)
27. Kara-Lis Coverdale “Grafts” (Boomkat Editions)
28. The New Pornographers “Whiteout Conditions” (Collected Works)
Reissues/ Archival/ Heard for the First Time:
1. Daniel Schmidt “In my arms, many flowers” (Recital Program)
2. Remote Viewer “Us In A happier” (Other Ideas)
3. Dominique Lawalree “First Meeting” (Wave Ltd.)
4. Hüsker Dü “Savage Young Dü (Numero Group)
5.The Boats “Static Clings” (The Boats Archive)
6. Various Artists “Trax Test (Excerpts from the Modular Network” (Ecstatic)
7. Bernard Parmegiani “Rock (Soundtrack)” Transversales Disques”
8. Graeme Miller and Steve Shill “The Moomins” (Finders Keepers)
9. Chris Bell “Complete Chris Bell” (Omnivore)
10. Acchiappashpirt “Tola” (Canti Magnetici)