Dan Worland
Disappears – Guider

Implodes – Black Earth

Eternals – Approaching The Energy Field

Obits – Moody, Standard & Poor

Yuck – s/t

White Wires – White Wires II

Night Beats – s/t

Death Ships – Circumstantial Chemistry

Sloan – The Double Cross

crooked fingers – Breaks In The Armor
Mannequin Men – s/t

Arpad Lep
2011 baker’s dozen
Bitchin Bajas – Water Wrackets
Clams Casino – Rainforest
The Eternals – Approaching the Energy Field
A Hawk & A Hacksaw – Cervantine
Implodes – Black Earth
Little Dragon – Ritual Union
The Rentals – Resilience
Spank Rock – Everything Is Boring and Everyone Is a F—ing Liar
Ssssnake – Hostile Snakeover
The Stepkids – S/T
Tune-Yards – W H O K I L L
A Winged Victory For The Sullen – S/T
&
Throbbing Gristle – Second Annual Report (2011 Edition)

Dave Hofer
-in no order-

JAM OF THE YEAR:
Chris Brown feat. Twista & Lil’ Wayne – Look at Me Now (remix)

Everything else . . .
Gigan – Quasi-Hallucinogenic Sonic Landscapes
Random Axe – Random Axe
Fuck the Facts – Die Miserable
Madlib & Frank Nitt – Madlib Medicine Show #9: Channel 85 Presents Nittyville
Brutal Truth – End Time
Beach Boys – Smile Sessions
Bongripper – Sex Tape b/w Snuff Film (7″)
Noisear – Subvert the Dominant Paradigm

Exhumed – All Guts, No Glory
Decapitated – Carnival Is Forever
Natural Yogurt Band – Tuck In With the Natural Yogurt Band

Gridlink – Orphan
Harpoon – Deception Among Birds
Vakill – Armor of God
Blasted Diplomats – Unreleased Shit
Origin – Entity

Shabazz Palaces – Black Up
Putridity – Degenerating Anthropophagical Euphoria

Sarah Frier
WILD FLAG – WILD FLAG

RED BARKED TREE – WIRE

C’MON – LOW

ONLY IN DREAMS – DUM DUM GIRLS

SMOKE RING FOR MY HALO – KURT VILE
HELPLESSNESS BLUES – FLEET FOXES

SLAVE AMBIENT – WAR ON DRUGS

SMILE SESSIONS – BEACH BOYS

SKYING – HORRORS

BECOMING A JACKAL – VILLAGERS



MY FAVORITE INTERNET THINGS:

ROOKIEMAG.COM,
THE BEST SHOW ON WFMU,

DRUNK HISTORY &
OCCUPYTOGETHER.COM

Billy Smith
Foo Fighters “Wasting Light”

J. Mascis “Several Shades Of Why”

Soundgarden “Live On I-5″

Mumford & Sons “Sigh No More”

Beastie Boys “Hot Sauce Committee Part Two”

Urge Overkill “Rock and Roll Submarine”

Bon Iver “Bon Iver, Bon Iver”

Caretaker “An Empty Bliss Beyond This World”

Winged Victory For The Sullen “s/t”

Washed Out “Within & Without”

Mason Jennings “Minnesota”

Office of Future Plans s/t (Dischord)

Sigur Ros “Inni”

Pearl Jam “Twenty” DVD
Muhly: Seeing Is Believing/ Gould; Aurora Orchestra

”Two Souls” Mikhail Simonyan/ Jarvi; London Sym Orch

Ives: Four Sonatas/ Hilary Hahn/ Valentina Lisitsa

Gar Brandt
New releases

1. Horrors “skying”

2. Tom Waits “Bad As Me”

3. Washed Out “within & without”

4. Brian Eno “Drums Between the Bells”

5. David Lynch “Crazy Clown TIme”

6. Chris Connelly “”Artificial Madness”

7. Indian “guiltless”

8. Death Ships “Circumstantial Chemistry”
9. Mannequin Men “Mannequin Men”

10. Tame Impala “Innerspeaker”

11. Implodes “Black Earth”

12. Willie Nelson “Remember Me”

13. War On Drugs “Slave Ambient”

14. Black Cobra “Invernal”



Best Live Record

Sweet Cobra “Live at Dark Lord Day 2011)


Best Reckless Wicker Park in-store

Kurt Vile
Best Wicker Park in-store comedian

Hannibal Buress


Best Wicker Park in-store book reading/signing

Patton Oswalt



Best DJ set at a craft fair
Matt Jencik

CHRIS CONNELLY
LULU-LOU REED/METALLICA

LET ENGLAND SHAKE-PJ HARVEY

SLAVE AMBIENT-THE WAR ON DRUGS

BLACK EARTH-IMPLODES

CIRCUMSTANTIAL CHEMISTRY-DEATH SHIPS

LAST SUMMER-ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER

ZOLA JESUS-CANATUS

RED BARKED TREE-WIRE

DOA REISSUE-THROBBING GRISTLE

2ND ANNUAL REPORT REISSUE-THROBBING GRISTLE

Emily Elhaj
The Best Albums of 2011 (in no particular order)

Krallice – Diotima (Profound Lore)
Brain Idea – Cosmos Factory (Mexican Summer)
Craft –Void (Southern Lord)
Kate Bush – 50 Words For Snow (Anti/ Fish People)
Yuck – Yuck (Fat Possum)
Dirty Beaches – Badlands (Zoo Music)
Pure X – Pleasure (Acephale)
Belong – Common Era (Kranky)
Caretaker – An Empty Bliss Beyond This World (History Always Favours the Winners)
Ga’an – Ga’an / Black Equus (Captcha)
Wishgift – Folk Twain 12” (Sophomore Lounge)
Disappears – Guider (Kranky)
Bitchin Bajas – Water Wrackets (Kallistei)
Telebossa – s/t (Staubgold)
Harold Budd – In the Mist (Darla)
Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica (Software)
Burzum – Fallen (Back on Black)
Fielded – White Death 7 (Sophomore Lounge)
Merchandise – (Strange Songs) In the Dark (Drugged Conscience/Katorga Works)
Julian Lynch – Terra (Underwater Peoples)
John Maus – We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves (Upset the Rhythm)
Geffika – II cassette (Love Lion)
Bjork – Biophilia (One Little Indian)
Sleep Over – Forever (Hippos in Tanks)
Marisa Anderson – Golden Hour (Mississippi)
Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi (Domino)
Bleached – Think of You/You Take Time 7 (Art Fag)
Bloodiest – Descent (Relapse)
Grouper – AIA: Dream Loss/ AIA: Alien Observer (Grouper)
Alex Barnett/ Fielded split (Nihilist)
Broken Water – Peripheral Star (Perennial)
Deathspell Omega – Diabolus Absconditus/Mass Grave Aesthetics (Norma Evangelium Diaboli)
Angels in America – Narrow Road to the Interior (Ehse)
Wolves In the Throne Room – Celestial Lineage (Southern Lord)
Holy Other – With U 12” (Tri Angle)
Clams Casino – Rainforest 12” (Tri Angle)
Absu – Abzu (Candlelight)
Caethua – The Summer Is Over Before It’s Begun (Water Wing)
Broken Water – Whet (Night People) 2010
No Joy – Ghost (Mexican Summer) 2010
Anika – Anika (Stones Throw) 2010
—
Beach Boys – Smile Sessions (Reissue) (Capitol)
Ramases – Space Hymns (Reissue) (Mexican Summer)
Enslaved – Yggdrasill (Reissue) (Peaceville)
You – Electric Day/ Time Code (Reissues) (Bureau B)
Angel Olsen – Strange Cacti EP (Reissue) (Bathetic)
Craig Leon – Nommos (Reissue)
Talk Talk – Spirit of Eden/ Laughing Stock (Reissue) (Ba Da Bing)
Mark Hollis – Mark Hollis (Reissue) (Ba Da Bing)


(So many) Performances
Big Freedia – Beauty Bar, Chicago
Valis/ oOoOO – Berlin, Chicago
Burial Hex/ Oakeater – Reuben’s Palace
Absu/ Immortal – the Bottom Lounge
Lee Relvas/ Ancestral Diet/ Ono/ Tabou/ Mayor Daley – Situations
Thou – Albion House
Mars – Dragon’s Den, New Orleans
Cacaw/ Supersonic Piss/ Mayor Daley – White Lightning Warehouse, Iowa City
Broken Water – Fair Grinds, New Orleans
Anna Calvi – Schubas
Zath/ Fielded/ Verma – the Hideout
Zath – the Dustbowl (x2)
Zath – the Empty Bottle
Alex Barnett/ Brain Idea/ Implodes – Lincoln Hall
Motorhead – the Congress
Tinsel Teeth/ Cacaw – Crown Liquors
US Girls/ Noveller/ Talk Normal – the Empty Bottle
Brett Naucke/ Alex Barnett/ Streetwalker – S Blue Island
Joan of Arc/ Implodes Tour 
Angels in America/ Fielded – Mortville
Enslaved/ Alcest – the Bottom Lounge
Kurt Vile/ Yuck – Pitchfork Festival
John Maus/ Geneva Jacuzzi – the Empty Bottle
Dusk Variations: Chicago Counterpoint: A Steve Reich Celebration featuring Eighth Blackbird and Third Coast Percussion – Millennium Park
Stevie Nicks – Rosemont Theatre 
Brain Idea/ Zath – Mortville
Ken Camden/ Winged Victory for the Sullen – Lincoln Hall
Angels in America/ Angel Olsen/ Bill Orcutt – Cropped Out Festival, Louisville, Kentucky
Danava/ Thrones – the Empty Bottle
Hoax/ Culo/ Crazy Spirit – W Huron
Oozing Wound/ Psychic Steel – the Empty Bottle 
Meeting the Raincoats & Steve Shelly

Reckless Records In-store Performances
Raw Nerve
Bleached
Thou
Dirty Beaches

Labels
Hippos In Tanks
Sacred Bones
Dust to Digital
Type
Kranky
Tri Angle

Mike Gillilan
Records and music I enjoyed from 2011 in no order:
–       Skúli Sverrisson – Sería II (12 Tónar)
–       Cass McCombs – Wit’s End (Domino)
–       Sidi Touré – Sahel Folk (Thrill Jockey)
–       Grouper – A I A: Alien Observer (Yellowelectric)
–       Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo (Matador)
–       Michael Gordon – Timber (Cantaloupe)
–       Luke Temple – Don’t Act Like You Don’t Care (Western Vinyl)
–       Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbauer – Re: ECM (ECM)
–       Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica (Mexican Summer)
Reissues that excited me:
–       Talk Talk – Laughing Stock (Ba Da Bing!)
–       Mark Hollis – Mark Hollis (Ba Da Bing!)
–       Van Dyke Parks – Arrangements, Vol. 1 (Bananastan)
–       The Beach Boys – The Smile Sessions (Capitol)
Shows that rocked my face:
–       Cross Record – All of them!
–       Zath @ Dustbowl
–       Omar Souleyman @ Empty Bottle
–       Grouper @ Empty Bottle
–       Streetwalker @ Rueben’s Palace
–       K. Serra @ room under the Double Door

Matt Jencik
Absu – Abzu
Aluk Todolo – Ordre 10”
Beach Boys – Smile Sessions
Belong – Common Era
Bitch Magnet – reissues
Brain Idea – Cosmos Factory
Burzum – Fallen
Can – Tago Mago: 40th anniversary edition
Circle of Ouroborus – Eleven Fingers
Chris Connelly – Artificial Madness
Craft – Void
Dead Reptile Shrine – Sun of Circles and Wood
Deathspell Omega – Diabolus Absconditus/Mass Grave Aesthetics
Enslaved – Sleeping Gods (free digital e.p. Download it here: http://www.preemtiv.com/emails/enslaved/
Enslaved – Thorn 7”
Fugazi – Live Series downloads
Ga’an – Black Equus
Harald Grosskopf – S/T (reissue)
Grouper – AIA: Alien Observer
Grouper – AIA: Dream Loss
PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972
Higuma – Pacific Fog Dreams
Horseback – Gorgon Tongue/ Impale Golden Horn/ Forbidden Planet
Mannequin Men – S/T
Kim Jung Mi – Now (reissue)
Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica
Peaking Lights – 936
Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon (live disc from reissue)
Radiohead – King of Limbs
Radiohead – Butcher/Supercollider 12”
Ride for Revenge – Under the Eye
Spacemen 3 – Transparent Radiation 12” (reissue)
Starfuckers – Metallic Diseases LP (reissue)
Talk Talk – Laughing Stock LP (reissue)
Television – Live at the Old Waldorf LP (reissue)
Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo
A Winged Victory for the Sullen – S/T
V/A – Those Shocking Shaking Days

Shows
Ken Camden/ A Winged Victory for the Sullen – Lincoln Hall
Danzig Legacy – Congress theater
Enslaved – Bottom Lounge
Immortal/Absu – Bottom Lounge
Mayor Daley – Happy Dog
Mayhem – Reggies
Kurt Vile & the Violators – Subterranean
Kurt Vile: acoustic in-store – Reckless Records Milwaukee Ave
Neil Young/ Bert Jansch (RIP) – Chicago Theater
Chris Connelly – Hideout

Implodes tour with Joan of Arc

Jim Magas
Wolfgang Voigt – Kafkatrax

Andy Stott – We Stay Together / Passed Me By

Implodes – Black Earth

Bill Orcutt – How the Thing Sings + tour 7″s

Danava – Hemisphere of Shadows

Various Artists – Reckless “Lifers” RSD 2011 cassette

Nate Young – Regression

Mutant Beat Dance – Another World 12″

Don Gere – Werewolves on Wheels OST

Throbbing Gristle reissues

Theo Parrish – Uget (Ugly Edits)

I Teoremi – s/t

Erkin Koray – Mechul – Singles & Rarities

Sog 12″s on Profan & Kompakt
Various Artists: Gene Hunt Presents Chicago Dance Tracks

Michael Yonkers & the Blind Shake – Period

Endless Boogie – 20 Minute Jam Getting Out of the City

Moon Duo – Mazes


Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (game)

Steve Rahman
The Roots – undun
Wale – Ambition
J.Cole – Cole World: The Sideline Story
Oddisee – Rock Creek Park
Phonte – Charity Starts at Home
Blueprint – Adventures in Counter Culture
Jay & Kanye – Watch The Throne
Yuck – Yuck
The Cool Kids – When Fish Ride Bicycles
Foreign Exchange – Dear Friends: An Evening w/…

Angela Ziles

V/A- Motown”s Mowest Story (Light In The Attic)

Blouse- S/T (Captured Tracks)

Ringo DeathStarr- Colour Trip (Sonic Unyon)

Iceage- New Brigade (What’s Your Rupture)
Colin Stetson- New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges (Constellation)

A Winged Victory For The Sullen- S/T (Kranky)

The Men- Leave Home (Sacred Bones)

TV Ghost- Mass Dream (In The Red)

Danava- Hemisphere of Shadows (Kemado)

The War on Drugs- Slave Ambient (Secretly Canadian)

Fire! With Jim O’Rourke- Unreleased? (Rune Grammofon)

Total Control- Henge Beat (Fuse Group)

Dylan Posa
Best albums of 2011
Tori Amos – Night Of Hunters
Anthrax – Worship Music
Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2
The Body & Braveyoung – Nothing Passes
Cake – Showroom Of Compassion
Dead Rider – Raw Dents
DJ Shadow – The Less You Know The Better
Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
Ghost – Opus Eponymous
PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
Havok – Time Is Up
Liturgy – Aesthethica
Low – C’Mon
My Violent Ego – One Day You’ll Laugh…
Radiohead – King Of Limbs
The Roots – undun
Sloan – The Double Cross
St. Vincent – Strange Mercy
Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 2
Wilco – The Whole Love
 
Best reissues of 2011
Beach Boys – Smile Sessions
Dug Dug’s – s/t
His Name Is Alive – King Of Sweet LP
Human Switchboard – Who’s Landing In My Hangar anthology
Bill Orcutt – New Way To Pay Old Debts CD
Pale Saints – The Comforts Of Madness LP
V/A – Motown’s Mowest Story
 
Biggest waste of an ex-This Heat member: About Group
 
Best shipment box of 2011: 9/12/11 Carrot Top box

Michelle Hodges
total abuse – prison sweat

sqrm – rodeo

raspberry bulbs – nature tries again

bone awl – bowing heads

brian eno – panic of looking

total control – henge beat

ice age – new brigade
bastard noise – skulldozer



7″s:

vile gash – deluded

hoax – s/t

ropes – s/t

raw nerve – midnight

population – s/t

manipulation – 2

divine right – pray for me

double negative – hardcore confusion vol. 1 + 2

neo cons – s/t

no comment – common senseless (reissue)

no comment – downsided (reissue)

school jerks – control

screaming dead – children of the boneyard stones

sea of shit – s/t

Steve Shoup
BEST OF 2011

Absu – Abzu

Bloodiest – Descent

Brain Idea – Cosmos Factory

Burzum – Fallen

Circle Of Ouroborus – Eleven Fingers

Craft – Void

Dead Moon – reissues

Deathspell Omega – Diabolus Absconditus

Faith – Subject To Change reissue

Fielded – White Death 7″

Fielded / Alex Barnett – split LP

Ga’an – Black Equus

Ga’an – Ga’an

Harold Grosskopf – Synthesist reissue

Grouper – Alien Observer

Grouper – Dream Loss

Tim Hecker – Ravedeath

Iceage – New Brigade

Implodes – Black Earth

Leather – Sterile 7″ & Wretch 7″

Louvin Brothers – Satan Is Real reissue

Lungfish – Unanimous Hour reissue

The Men – Leave Home

Morbid Angel – Covenant reissue

No Comment – 7″ reissues

Doris Norton – Personal Computer

Reatards – Teenage Hate reissue

SQRM – Rodeo

Television – Live At The Old Waldorf

Throbbing Gristle – reissues

Truth & Janey – No Rest For The Wicked reissue

Void – Complete Sessions

You – Electric Day reissue

You – Timecode reissue

v/a Boddie Recording Company: Cleveland, Ohio

v/a Those Shocking Shaking Days



LIVE SHOWS:

Absu & Immortal

The Body

Cave

Enslaved

Hoax

Leather

Mayor Daley

Melvins

Reigning Sound

Samhain & Misfits

Scratch Acid

Swans

Wire

X

Zath



FILMS:

Drive by Nicolas Winding Refn

Tabloid by Errol Morris

Whitney Mercer
Ga’an – “Black Equus”
High Places – “Original Colors”
Tim Hecker – “Ravedeath, 1972”
Typhoon – “A New Kind of House”
Fugazi – LIVE ARCHIVES
Cacaw – “Rat Skin Robes” cassette
Bad Drugs – “Raw Powder”
Belong – “Common Era”
Implodes – “Black Earth”
Kurt Vile – “Smoke Ring For My Halo”
Wild Flag – “Wild Flag”
Thurston Moore – “Demolished Thoughts”
PJ Harvey – “Let England Shake”
v/a – “i listen to the wind that obliterates my traces ” (dust to digital)
v/a – “Those Shocking Shaking Days: Indonesian Hard, Psychedelic, Progressive Rock”

Anthony Illarde
Alice Cooper – Old School Box Set (Universal)
Blind Shake – Seriousness (Learning Curve)
Jim Ford – Harlan County (Reissue, Light In The Attic)
Good Weather For An Airstrike – A Winter / A Summer (Sonic Reverie)
Government Issue – Boycott Stabb Complete Session (Dischord)
KD Lang & The Siss Boom Bang – Sing It Loud (Nonesuch)
Implodes – Black Earth (Kranky)
Left banke – Left Banke Too (Reissue, Sundazed)
Leopards – Kansas City Slickers (Reissue, Sing Sing)
Mickey – Rock & Roll Dreamer (Hozac)
Stepkids – The Stepkids (Stones Throw)
Jim Sullivan – U.F.O. (Reissue, Light In The Attic)
Thee Oh Sees – Castlemania (In The Red)
Void – Sessions 1981-1983 (Dischord)
White Mystery – Blood & Venom (White Mystery)

and a film:

Errol Morris – Tabloid

Dan Maloney
Best Records of 2011
 
1.) Kurt Vile: Smoke Ring For My Halo 
2.) Cass McCombs: Wit’s End

3.) War On Drugs: Slave Ambient
4.) Destroyer: Kaputt
5.) Thee Oh Sees: Carrion Crawler/ The Dream
6.) Tom Waits: Bad As Me
7.) Anna Calvi: Anna Calvi
8.) William Elliott Whitmore: Field Songs
9.) Desertshore: Drawing of Threes
10.) Stepkids: Stepkids
11.) Leyland Kirby: Eager to Tear Apart the Stars
12.) PJ Harvey: Let England Shake 

13.) Ty Segall: Goodbye Bread
14.) Peaking Lights: 936


Reissues:

1.) Louvin Brothers: Satan Is Real
2.) Beach Boys: Smile

3.) Jim Sullivan: UFO

4.) Paul McCartney II
5.) Jim Ford: Harlan County
6.) Mickey Newbury (Drag City Vinyl Reissues)
7.)  Boddie Recording Company Box (V/A)

8.) Social Climbers: Social Climbers

9.) Delta Swamp Rock (V/A)

10.) Michael Chapman: Fully Qualified Survivor


Favorite Local Releases

1.) Chris Connelly: Artificial Madness

2.) Mannequin Men: Mannequin Men
3.) Radar Eyes: Best Friends

4.) T’Bone: Mount Trashmore

5.) Implodes: Black Earth

6.) Apteka: Gargoyle Days

7.) Laureates: Spells

8.) Bloodiest: Descent


Favorite Chicago Area Poster Artists in 2011    
 
1.) Ryan Duggan

2.) Ethan D’Ercole
3.) Rick Leech
4.) Josh Davis (Deadmeat Designs)
5.) Alana Bailey

Courtland Green
1. STONE COAL WHITE 

2. CULT CARGO: SALSA BORICUA DE CHICAGO

3. EAST OF UNDERGROUND

4. BODDIE RECORDING COMPANY

5. McCARTNEY II

6. TRUE SOUL: DEEP SOUNDS FROM THE LEFT OF STAX

7. BEACH BOYS “SMILE SESSIONS”

8. DINOSAUR L “24-24 MUSIC”

9. WILLIE WRIGHT “TELLING THE TRUTH”

10. OMAR SOULEYMAN “HAFLAT GHARBIA

11. HAYVANLAR ALEMI “GUARANA SUPERPOWER”

12. BILL ORCUTT “HOW THE THING SINGS”

13. MEATY ORGE & CRUSHCON “SWORD”

14. LAWRENCE PETERS OUTFIT “WHAT YOU BEEN MISSIN'”

15. SUPEREGO
16.
BEST SHOW ON WFMU

Luc Rogers
(In no order)


1. Racebannon “Six Sik Sisters”

2. Indian “Guiltless”

3. Bloodiest

4. Iceage “New Brigade”

5. The Men “Leave Home”

6. Cursed “Last Session” 7″

7. Tim Hecker “Ravedeath 1972”

8. Nirvana “Nevermind” reissue (no shame)

Cole Cooney
1) Fleetwood Mac – Rumours 45 RPM reissue: I’ll take any reason to put Rumours on a year-end best of list. Best record of always.

2) Bill Callahan – Apocalypse: His best record since “A River Ain’t Too Much to Love” shows a fine example of Bill doing what he does- well-timed, minimal arrangements and the dense lyricism that alternates between sardonic and piercingly poignant, all with that familiar stoic baritone delivery. 

3) Implodes – Black Earth: With comparisons ranging from Can to My Bloody Valentine, these dudes summon a haze you can’t (nor want to) escape.

4) Black Angels – Phosgene Nightmare 10″: A mellow, melancholic display of their talents works surprisingly as well as, and sometimes better than, their heavier material.

5) Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring for My Halo: This album is a stoney sleeper hit. It’s feel-good with bedraggled depth and shimmer.

6) Heavy Times – Jacker: Short spurts of fuzzy garage with hooks for days. All killer.

Laura Deutsch
SQRM – Rodeo
SQRM – White Saints 7”
HOAX – s/t 7”
Implodes – Black Earth
Ga’an – Ga’an/Black Equus
Fielded – White Death 7”
Geffika – II cassette
Alex Barnett/Fielded split
Brain Idea – Cosmos Factory
Marisa Anderson – Golden Hour
Zombi – Escape Velocity
Cacaw – Rat Skin Robes
Void – Sessions 1981-1983
Monopoly Star Child Searchers – Bamboo for Two
Julian Lynch – Terra
 
 Shows:
 
Mayor Daley/White Hills/Cave– Empty Bottle
Mayor Daley/Bad Drugs/High Castle – Empty Bottle
Hoax/Raw Nerve/The Ropes/Salvation – Water Works
Hoax/Crazy Spirit/Culo – W Huron
Hume – Treasure Town
Monopoly Star Child Searchers/Dolphins Into The Future – Glowsticks
Raw Nerve – Record Store Day – Reckless Broadway
Fielded – Reuben’s Palace
Ga’an/Pillars & Tongues/Axis: Sova/Ancient Ocean – Empty Bottle
Implodes – Empty Bottle
Alex Barnett/Brain Idea/Implodes – Lincoln Hall
Brain Idea / Zath – Mortville
Zath – Dust Bowl
Cacaw/Liturgy/Dope Body/Spanyurd – Empty Bottle
Oozing Wound/Pyschic Steel – Empty Bottle

Lauren Jobe
1.  Shin Joong Hyun “Beautiful Rivers and Mountains”  (cd/lp) (light in the attic)

2.  Pussy “Invasion”  (cd) (rockadrome)

3.  Black Tusk “Set the Dial”  (cd/lp) (relapse)

4.  Caretaker “Empty Bliss Beyond This World”  (cd/lp) (History Always Favours The Winners)

5.  Bloodiest “Descent”  (cd) (relapse)

6.  Dirty Beaches “Badlands”  (cd/lp) (zoo music)

7.  Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats “Bloodlust” (cd/lp) (rise above records)

8.  Various Artist “True Soul: Volume 1”  (cd/lp) (Now-Again Records)

9.  Jim Ford “Harlan County”  (cd/lp)  (light in the attic)

10. Rodd Keith “My Pipe Yellow Dream”  (lp) (Roaratorio)

Kate Ruggeri
NO PARTICULAR ORDER:


Social Climbers – S/T

V/A – Those Shocking Shaking Days

Mannequin Men – S/T

Bill Orcutt – How The Thing Sings

Implodes – Black Earth

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

Alvarius B – Baroque Primitiva

Beach Boys – Smile Sessions

Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo

Illuminati Congo – All Eye See

Stone Coal White – S/T

Lijadu Sisters – Danger

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Soul Time!

Bill Callahan – Apocalypse

Cosmic Relief – Dekalb EP

Madlib & Frank Nitt – Madlib Medicine Show #9: Channel 85 Presents



I MISS YOU PETER FALK

Rebecca Crawford
Autumn “Synthesize” (awesome minimal wave re-issue) 

Davila 666 “Tan Bajo”

Fathers Children “Who’s Gonna Save the World”

The Feelies “Here Before”

Shin JoongHyun “Beautiful Rivers & Mountains: The Psychedelic Rock Sound of South Korea’s Shin JoongHyun 1958-1974″

The Soft Moon “S/T” 
The Soft Moon
“Total Decay EP”

V/A: “Those Shocking, Shaking Days.  Indonesian Hard Psychedelic, Progressive Rock and Funk: 1970-1978″

The War on Drugs “Slave Ambient”

Kevin Hein
Full lengths, in no particular order..
HTRK- Work (Work, Work)- Distorted 808 beats, deep bass grooves, and a drugged-up sounding female vocalist create music that is depressingly pretty.
The Caretaker- An Empty Bliss Beyond This World- Leyland Kirby is at it again, sampling and reprocessing old 78 records into his own creation. While his last record focused on repetition, this one dives into slightly different territory by focusing on abrupt starts and stops and the space between them.
Leyland Kirby- Eager To Tear Apart The Stars- Not released under his usual Caretaker moniker, this record is less about his reprocessed 78’s shtick, focusing more on his own minimal ambient compositions. More subdued, but still beautiful.
Tim Hecker- Ravedeath, 1972- Shimmering, icy, glacial drones. One can easily get lost in it’s layers, and every listening experience seems to be different.
Ringo Deathstarr- Colour Trip- Comes off sounding like a mixture of My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain, this album blends the 90s shoegaze aesthetic with modern production techniques. Noise pop at its catchiest.
Ringo Deathstarr- Sparkler- A compilation of their pre-Colour Trip EPs, more catchy noise pop in the vein of Jesus and Mary Chain.
My Violent Ego- Some Day You’ll Laugh At The Sad Saga That Was..- A compilation of hard-to-find EPs by a duo who create shimmering ethereal pop in the vein of My Bloody Valentine. Haunting female vocals over swirling, warping guitars.  
Cold Cave- Cherish The Light Years- Extremely catchy 80’s New Order-esque synth-pop. These riffs will get stuck in your head for days.
Jamie XX and Gil Scott Heron- We’re New Here- Jamie XX remixes Gil Scott Heron’s last album (RIP) in its entirety, surpassing the original.
Sepalcure- Sepalcure- Full length debut from the duo of Machinedrum and Praveen/Braile. Generally less organic sounding than the preceding EPs, this record is aimed at the dance floor.
Wagon Christ- Toomorow- Another classic-sounding mash of samples from Luke Vibert’s long-running Wagon Christ moniker.
Laurel Halo- Hour Logic- Synth-worship from the biggest babe of the Hippos In Tanks crew. 
Daedelus- Bespoke- Monome master Daedelus presents us with his version of a pop record. The old-timey samples are still here, amidst a clustered production of dusty drum rolls and heavy bass, but this time featuring a guest vocalist on almost every track.
FaltyDL- You Stand Uncertain- New York producer Drew Lustman attempts to create a  “timeless” electronic record by combining  all of his influences in one bucket. Boards of Canada-esque detuned analog synths, 90s rave stabs, jungle/D’n’B breaks, and UK Garage drum patterns shine through amidst dusty layered samples. This is the sound of a producer who has been working hard honing his craft, and has developed an instantly recognizable sound which deserves more attention.
Machinedrum- Room(s)- Electronic veteran machinedrum has mastered almost all genres of dance music and decides to crank up the BPM to the 160 range. This release brings footwork/juke music to a new level, going heavy on auto-tuned vocal samples with hints of UK Garage drum patterns. He’s still using the same chord progressions and scales, but the beats are more forward thinking.
Oneohtrix Point Never- Replica- Daniel Lopatin bought $100 worth of 80’s TV commercial compilation DVDs for sampling, and this is the result. Weird, repetitive sound clips swim amongst his trademark Juno 60 synth-drones.
Martyn- Ghost People- A fine addition to Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder crew, Martyn tries his hand at techno. Sounding entirely different from his previous releases, the unfolding layers of repetition are still here, but pack a harder punch. 
Zomby- Dedication- This second full length (as well as debut on 4AD) from this masked london producer sounds less like an album and more like a collection of songs, but no one’s complaining here. Minimal 8-bit blips and bleeps over dark, brooding beats.

EPs 
Zomby- Nothing- Zomby revisits his love of the 90’s rave sound originally explored on Where Were You In ’92, combining it with the minimal production aesthetic displayed on his Dedication LP.
Burial- Street Halo EP- The master returns to work (finally) and gives us another three track teaser of his trademark crackle-y dark textures over broken UK Garage beats. Before you knock or dismiss this man’s music, remember that Burial’s output is made entirely by cutting and pasting samples by ear, no sequencer or grid involved. 
Blawan- Bohla EP- Blawan takes his tribal pounding bass groove to the next level by throwing in a Roland TB-303. Neo-acid house at its best.
FaltyDL- Mean Streets Part 1 EP- FaltyDL expands on the genre-bending sound established on You Stand Uncertain. This man has established a sound, and this release sounds so undeniably FaltyDL.
Machinedrum- Sacred Frequency EP- A teaser for his Room(s) LP, this EP contains more future-juke tracks that don’t appear on the full-length.
Sepalcure- Fleur EP- A beautiful collage of samples, each layer unfolding like a flower to reveal new timbres and patterns. Earthy organic textures, female vocal samples, and dusty neon synths float in and fold over a cluster of woodblocks, bells, and metallic clanks. Heavily influenced by the current crop of future garage producers, Fleur takes off where the Sepalcure EP left off, managing to be forward thinking while still evoking a certain nostalgia.

12″s
Burial/Four Tet/Thom Yorke- Ego/Mirror 12″- Burial and Four Tet collaborate once again, this time with Thom joining the fray. The result sounds exactly like what you would expect.
Phon.O- Slavemode/Abbey Road 12″- UK Garage beats over huge trance-y sounding synths.
Objekt- Objekt #2- Surpassing his first EP, Objekt continues perfecting the genre of “future garage”/bass music, building slow and erupting with synths.
Daedelus- Tailor Made 12″- The Tokimonsta and Floating Points remixes surpass the original song.
Lando Kal- Further/Time Out 12″- Newcomer Lando Kal gives us a slab of chopped vocal samples and smooth synths over a bed of shuffled futuristic house.
George Fitzgerald- Don’t You 12″- A member of Scuba’s Hotflush crew and protege of producer Joy Orbison. Infectious, repetitious future bass music.
Falty DL- Hip Love 12″- More broken UKGarage shuffle from NY’s future garage master FaltyDL.
Falty DL- Jack Your Job/Make It Difficult 12”- FaltyDL makes 90’s feel-good house tunes.

Bryan Smith
Absu – Abzu

Beach Boys – Smile Sessions 2lp

Bitch Magnet deluxe re-issue

Chris Connelly – Artificial Madness

Craft – Void

Dead Moon LP re-issues

Deathspell Omega – Diabolus Absconditus

Mark Hollis – s/t LP re-issue

Talk Talk – Laughing Stock LP re-issue

Television – Live At The Old Waldorf (2LP, RSD 2011)

Void – Sessions 1981-1983

Various Artists – Guitar Music From The Western Sahel

Various – Those Shocking Shaking Days 3lp

Melissa Grubbs
anna calvi – s.t.

beach boys- smile sessions

belong – common era

can- tago mago (40th anniversary edition) 

chris connelly- artificial madness

darondo- listen to my song
pj harvey- let england shake 

howlin wolf- this is howlin wolf’s new album… (reissue)

implodes- black earth

lefte bank- lefte bank too (reissue)
lijadu sisters – danger

radiohead – king of limbs 

raphael saadiq- stone rollin’
Michi Sarmiento y su Combo Bravo 1967-77- Aqui Los Bravos!

stone coal white- s.t.

talk talk- (reissue)
ebo taylor – life stories (reissue)

television – live at the old waldorf

kurt vile- smoke ring for my halo

a winged victory for the sullen s.t.

v/a- boddie recording company

v/a- cult cargo: salsa boricua de chicago

v/a- Motown”s Mowest Story 

v/a- soweta tropicalia comps & 12″s

v/a -soundways 45s (andre tanker/ colombia set, etc they were all good!)

v/a-those shocking shaking days 

v/a- true soul: vol.1

bonus:
game of thrones!

Mark Lux
in no particular order 2011/LUX
yes ‘fly from here’
hebden/ reid/ mats ‘live @ south bank’
shin jun hung ‘beautiful rivers & mountains’
implodes ‘black earth’
loudon wainwright ’40 odd years’
danava ‘hemisphere of shadows’
mannequin men s/t
brain idea ‘cosmos factory’
vee dee s/t
lawrence peters outfit s/t
v/a ‘those shocking shaking days’
group inerene ‘guitars from agadaz vol 4’
belong ‘common era’
tim hecker ‘dropped pianos’
stepkidsV
little dragon ‘ritual union’
grimble grumble ‘september sun’

Beth Klacko
BEST OF 2011.
No order

Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Pt 2
LFO – Frequencies (Reissue)
Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo
Can – Tago Mago (Reissue)
Washed Out – Within and Without
Oneohtrix Point Never – Replica
Tim Hecker – Ravedeath
Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread
Cave – Neverendless
The Horrors – Skying
Charles Bradley – Dreaming
Alela Diane – Wild Divine
John Maus – We Must Become Pitiless Censors of Ourselves

Friends of Reckless

Erika Hendrix

Alvarius B – Baroque Primitiva

Dirty Beaches – Badlands

Dirty Beaches/Ela Orleans (split) – Double Feature

Disappears – Guider

Grouper – A I A : Alien Observer

Grouper – A I A : Dream Loss

Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972

Implodes – Black Earth

Kurt Vile – Smoke Ring For My Halo

Moon Duo – Mazes

Bill Orcutt – How the Thing Sings

Thee Oh Sees – Castlemania

A Winged Victory for the Sullen – s/t

Yuck – Yuck

Brett Andrew Grossman
Papercuts “Fading Parade”

Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi “ROME”

Peaking Lights “936”

Dum Dum Girls “Only in Dreams”

Oneohtrix Point Never “Replica”

Radiohead “TKOL RMX 1234567” / “King of Limbs”

Belong “Common Era”

Ducktails “Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics”

Fleet Foxes “Helplessness Blues”

Panda Bear “Tomboy”

Implodes “Black Earth”

Coma Cinema “Blue Suicide”

White Fence “…Is Growing Faith”

Woods “Sun and Shade”

Beirut “The Rip Tide”

Tropic of Cancer “The End of All Things”

Real Estate “Days”

Youth Lagoon “The Year of Hibernation”

Grouper “A I A : Alien Observer”

Kurt Vile “Smoke Ring For My Halo”

Baths “Pop Music / False B Sides”

Trouble Books & Mark Mcguire “Song For Reinier Lucassen’s Sphinx”

Tape “Revelationes”

M83 “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming”

Taylor Brode (Sacred Bones Records, ex-Reckless employee)
Alphabetical as always, this does not include anything on Sacred Bones because that would just be cheating.  I didn’t have a lot of time to listen to a lot of albums other than the 23 we released this year but the few that got through to me (3 LP’s in total), really deeply got through.
 
Cold Cave Cherish the Light Years (Matador)
I give zero fucks about people judging me for loving this band. Wes Eisold has been cutting his heart out and letting his audience crawl inside the hole remaining since we were both teenagers (well since he was a teenager, and I was in my early 20’s), and we are all the better for it.  His courage in writing openly about his own psychological shortcomings have in-numerous times given me the courage to acknowledge and address my own. Their live set up which has been stripped down to remove all ironic blonde “goth” women now includes only the other essential songwriter Dominick Fernow, and fantastic drummer Alex Garcia-Rivera.   The new line-up allows Wes and Dom the public freedom to become exactly the kind of Pet Shop Boys they have always privately wanted to be. Trust me it’s working for them.  I threw my underwear at them every night on stage for an entire week this summer and would do it all again in a heartbeat.  This band grows light years with each release and I simply could.not.be.more.proud. of them.  If you have never seen them you should do yourself a favor next year, and make sure to bring delicates to toss c/o Taylor & Christiana.
 
E.M.A Past Life Martyred Saints (Souterrain Transmissions)
I have been a huge fan of Erika’s since she was in Gowns, i was at Touch and Go, and I heard the song White Like Heaven. On her 1st solo effort she manages to take all the rawness of that song and add a layer of sexual realness to it so thick it has an aftertaste. Her lyrics touch on everything from narcotic addiction to abusive relationships to eternal love so real it carries through to the next life.  Her sense of timing, hook and ability to both create and release tension (sometimes simultaneously) is simply unparalleled in modern music.  My boyfriend and I are both recovering addicts and had difficult childhoods (to say the least); we have an extra closet at home where all of our skeletons hang out together actually. We’ve both been working in music since we were teens and we argue vehemently over who’s good and who sucks.  Needless to say this album is a household favorite, and the only thing we argue over is who has listened to which track on repeat more times in a row.
 
Iceage New Brigade (Escho/ Dias)
 
In an effort to keep up the mystery I am going to attempt to translate this into the band’s native tongue.  To put it bluntly: no other punk album has changed me so singularly in the last decade as these four kids’ has.  I am not going to bore you with the details of how we came into each others’ lives, instead I am just going to speak in the abstract.  This record is about three things:  faith, loyalty, and trust.  What these young men and their extended family in Denmark have re-taught me in the last year is that if you have faith, loyalty and trust you do not need anything else.   Sleep, food, clean clothes, money, etc. –it is all meaningless if you do not have amazing friends in your life.  This is not business; this is love.

Stephen Sowley (ex-Reckless employee, Studio manager at Electrical Audio)
No order. 2011: Shelf It. 
Bill Orcutt—How The Thing Sings // Tour 7”s (Ill Bill keeps going; I don’t want to know of a world without him)
V/A—Boddie Recording Company: Cleveland, Ohio // Local Customs: Pressed At Boddie (Numero culls the ghosts of a lost DIY era)
The band Leather (Philly behemoths take an archeological dig through your past embarrassments. Full Frontal Jock Shaming. MORE NOW)
Implodes—Black Earth (the dreamiest band in Chicago that refuses to make eye contact with you)
The band Raw Nerve (if they’ve done anything, they’ve proven how Trad H.C. Bobby Hill really was.)
Slices—Modern Bride 7” (the victory anthems for when Roethlisberger blows his knee out.)
Fantasia In Best Show Minor DVD (chump steam rolling in visual form)
Tim Hecker—Ravedeath 1972 (Key People, Blur Shit, Art School)
The band Wild Flag (Men: move to the back, put the phone down, and stop trying so hard)
Andy Stott—We Stay Together // Passed Me By (wherein Richie Hawtin meets Wolf Eyes and they burn your house down…slowly)
Byron Coley—C’est la Guerre: early writings 1978—1983 (Gather round, it’s xmas and dad’s gonna tell us about the war)
Kurt Vile—Smoke Ring For My Halo // So Outta Reach (Shroom Tea Franks, Ganja Peanut Chew, Spuds McKenzie Poster sold separately) 
The comedian Eddie Pepitone (Blue Collar Life Coach, Bitter Buddah…hating the things you can’t stand to live without.)
Void—Sessions 1981—1983 (Finally)
The band Population (Nepotism. Drink it up, Gothdrips)
Peaking Lights—936 (Lovers Rock for your resin stained walkman)
True Radical Miracle—Cockroaches (reissue LP) (Watch your summer vacation go down the toilet in the other direction)
Iceage—Youth Brigade (prison tattoos, unnecessary drama, and primal urgency get every number cruncher with a live-journal way too wet.)
Swans live (your band sucked compared to this…sorry boutcha.)
Total Control—Henge Beat (imagine the guys that refer to this as “friend rock.” I want to see their lists!)
Bjork—Crystalline 12” (1 out of 10 ain’t so bad, I guess)
Psychic Paramount—Psychic Paramount II  (Repeat, repeat, repeat until maximum health and efficiency)
Sandwell District–Feed-Forward (free dinner with me for whomever bootlegs the vinyl for this and/or convinces these pricks to repress it.)
Dean Whitmore (Sub Pop Records)
Bakers 10 records both new & reissued that I bought & liked a lot this year. Alphabetically:
Mahmoud Ahmed – Jeguol Naw Betwa (Mississippi)
Bloodloss – Lost My Head for Drink (Dirty Knobby)
Broken Water – Peripheral Star (Perennial)
Condiminum – Warm Home 12″ (Condominium)
Cruddy – Negative World (12xU)
Fungus Brains – Ron Pistos Real World (Load)
L’orchestre Kanaga De Mopti – Kanaga De Mopti (Kindred Spirits)
Shabazz Palaces – Black Up (Sub Pop)
Shin Joong Hyun – Beautiful Rivers & Mountains (Light in the Attic)
Sonskull – Wiped Clean (Perennial)
Total Control – Henge Beat (Iron Lung)
Records from last year that hooked me this year:
Hype Williams – Find Out What Happens (De Stijl)
Kemialliset Ystavat – Ullakkopalo (Fonal)
No Balls – Less (Who Can You Trust/Streaks)
Something that I just got & think I am going to totally love end of ’11 & beyond:
Opika Pende Africa at 78 RPM Box
Other great stuff:
Camping w/ Cassidy
Tour w/ Uzi Rash
Getting rid of cable TV.
Squire Park
Living in a house again / playing records late etc.
Riding bike & ditching car.
Sloop Tavern.
20/20 Cycle
Getting to know Vancouver
Lopez & Shaw Islands

Mike Venutolo-Mantovani (Matador Records)
1. Brain F≠ – Sleep Rough (Grave Mistake)
2. Crooked Fingers – Breaks In The Armor (Merge)
3. The Shrine – Featherheads 7″ (Eliminator Records)
4. Mark Sultan – Whatever I Want (In The Red)
5. Mark Sultan – Whenever I Want (In The Red)
6. Mastodon – Live At The Aragon (WBR RSD Exclusive)
7. Wild Flag – S/T (Merge)
8. Crisis Of Conformity – Fistfight In The Parking Lot 7″ (Drag City)
9. Reigning Sound – Abdication… For Your Love EP (Scion A/V)
10. Total Babes – S/T (Old Flame)

WHITE MYSTERY: Miss Alex White & Francis S.K. White
(http://www.whitemysteryband.com)
Thee Oh Sees: Carrion Crawler (In The Red)
Heavy Times: Jacker (HoZac)
Cave: Neverendless (Drag City)
Night Beats S/T (Trouble in Mind)

Joe Wetteroth (BRAIN IDEA)
1. Cave, Neverendless

2. Grateful Dead, Europe ’72 Vol. 2

3. Fucked Up, David Comes To Life

4. Heavy Times, Jacker

5. James Ferraro, Far Side Virtual

**also started collecting Dead Bootlegs so that i can fulfill my 2012 new year resolution of listening to one live Grateful Dead set a day
from that particular day of the year. an idea given to me by Cooper 
from Cave.

Ben Scott (BRAIN IDEA)
In no particular order
James Ferraro- Far Side Virtual

Destroyer- Kaputt

Jay-Z and Kanye- Watch the throne

Cave- Neverendless

Heavy Times- Jacker

Oneohtrixpointnever- Replica

Omar S.-It can be done, but only i can do it

Tyler The Creator- Bastard

Kurt VIle- Smoke ring for my halo

Azari and III

Real Estate- Days

YES- CLOSE 2 THE EDGE

Widowspeak- S/T

Todd Curtis (Music Direct)
new stuff i listened to the most this year:
true widow – as high as… (kemado)
bats – free all monsters (flying nun)
absu – abzu (candlelight)
pj harvey – let england shake (vagrant)
seapony – go with me (hardly art)
inquisition – ominous doctrines of the perpetual mystical macrocosm (hell’s headbangers)
ice age – new brigade (dais)
violeta vil – toronjil ep (discoteca oceano)
lorelle meets the obsolete – on welfare (captcha)
chancha via circuito – rio arriba (zzk)
 
reissues:
v/a – cartagena! (soundway)
voivod – to the death ’84 (alternative tentacles)
sisters of mercy – first and last and always (mobile fidelity silver)
dug dug’s – s/t (lion productions)
dead brain cells – s/t & universe (war on music)
lee perry – return of pipecock jackxon (honest jon’s)
blossom toes – we are ever so clean (sunbeam)
above ground – gone aiwa (siltbreeze)
junior kimbrough with the soul blues boys – do the rump (klimpt)
television personalities – they could have been bigger than the beatles (1972)

Pete Klockau (Bloodshot Records)
In no particular order…
 THE JIM JONES REVIEW- “Burning Your House Down” (Punk Rock Blues)
“Explosive” is probably the best word to use here- it’s like if Little Richard were a demonic hellion fronting
a band of ex-convicts playing to earn back their freedom. This thing smokes… their show at Schuba’s (with
Kid Congo Powers) was pretty damned incredible, too.
 
DEX ROMWEBER DUO- “Is That You In The Blue” (Bloodshot)
Not to toot our own horn (though I will here), Dex & his sister Sara turn in their second phenomenal
record as the Dex Romweber Duo. I love(d) me some Flat Duo Jets… but dare I say this is (gulp)… even better?!
I dare you to listen to his version of “Brazil” and tell me this album doesn’t do anything for you.
 
JC BROOKS & THE UPTOWN SOUND- “Want More” (Bloodshot)
A local favorite, not only local to Chicago, but local to my adopted neighborhood Uptown. Our little neighborhood that
could has been in the news for so many shitty reasons this year, it’s great to see some local boys make good.
Oh, and this record kicks 10 kinds of ass (count ’em!) Speaking of ass, if “Want More” doesn’t make
you shake yours, it must be broke.
 
KID CONGO POWERS- “Gorilla Rose” (In The Red)
Ex Cramp, Bad Seed, and Gun Clubber makes his third record of weirdo glammy gutter garage noir
and makes it all seem so easy to pull off. Extra props to In The Red for also releasing a limited edition LP
of Kid & his band playing live at a prom in the Southern California suburbs this year.
 
JACK OBLIVIAN- “Rat City” (Fat Possum)
This is Jack O’s fourth record with the Tennessee Tearjerkers, and I’ll be good god damned if they
don’t keep getting better and better. “Rat City” is every bit as gritty and sinister sounding as that title
would have you think. Who would’ve thought back when the Oblivians were kicking my high school
ass with “Soul Food” and “Popular Favorites” that (between Jack O and Greg Cartwright’s multiple and
meritus projects) they’d still be tickling my ear drums in exactly the right way 15 years later?
 
JERRY SUN- “Exotic Sounds” (Dionysus)
I am an admitted Exotica and Lounge junkie. Unfortunately most of the new stuff that turns up is hokey and, frankly,
awful. Thank god for Dionysus who are still out there finding exotica master tapes from the original era. Much
like last year’s Beachcomber Trio “Live at Kahiki Supper Club” LP, this one gets a special spot next to the hi fi.
JD MCPHERSON- “Signs & Signifiers” (Hi-Style)
His voice swings from Wilson Pickett to Big Sandy to everything in between. It’s timeless, with production so
authentically vintage sounding you’d swear this was some lost Hi Records or King 45 from the late 1950’s. It’s
nice to know there are still people out there able to make vintage sounds fresh again.
 
TONY CHRISTIE- “Now’s the Time” (Acid Jazz)
60’s British lounge singer Tony Christie was dormant for many years, but unlike Tom Jones (who returned with
an album of gospel folk songs last year), Mr. Christie stuck to what he did (does) best and made one catchy-
and-fun-as-all-shit album of vintage brassy lounge-pop. This album sounds like all the songs you like by Neil Diamond
with a healthy dose of classic Sinatra. When you go to Las Vegas and want to see a show, this is what you want to
see… or at least it’s what I want to see. The key here is that there is nothing remotely hokey or ironic about this
album- the whole package is just GOOD.
 
HAYES CARLL- “Kmag Yoyo” (Lost Highway)
Hayes continues to prove he’s one of the finest songwriters going these days. From open to close, the
lyrics are clever, the songwriting is tight, and it is exceedingly enjoyable throughout.
 
THE BLACK SWANS- “Don’t Blame the Stars” (Misra)
This record is a joy to listen to- I am biased as I have had a copy for some time now. But I am so
glad to finally see this immensely enjoyable album get released. Totally contemporary, occasionally
absurdist lyrics, but wrapped in a warm analog package that sounds like it could’ve been made this
year, or could be some lost gentle country-folk masterpiece from a bygone era.
 
Some reissues I never thought I would see:
 
MR GASSER & THE WEIRDOS- “Surfink”, “Hotrod Hootenany” & “Rods & Ratfinks” (Sundazed)
Ed “Big Daddy” Roth surf novelty records? Yes, please!
 
JIM FORD- “Harlan County” reissue (Light in the Attic)
I’ve loved this record for years- so glad to see it finally get a full-on reissue. This is the absolute
funkiest white dude you will ever hear (Tony Joe White and Dennis Coffey… watch yourselves…)
 
YMA SUMAC- “Miracles” (Omni)
The “Incan Princess'” bizzaro rock record from the early 1970’s… Les Baxter (Exotica and soundtrack king of
the 1960’s) wrote and produced this album, adding another layer of weirdness to the proceedings.
 
VARIOUS ARTISTS- “Delta Swamp Rock” Vol. 1 thru 3 (Soul Jazz)
All three of these comps are excellent. The title gives you an idea of what to expect- country music from
that weird-and-awesome crossroad in the mid 1970’s where country got funky and soulful.