The other half of things I found and loved over the course of this year. These are the tunes that stabbed me in the heart or colored the world in a different way. The songs/spaces distinction is obviously porous and often ambiguous, but in general, I think of stuff that hits this list as landscapes or sculptures, atmospheres, not as much telling a linear story. Frequently instrumental. But there’s probably 20% if you asked me in a week, I’d put it on the other list. Continue reading for my rambling notes.
As per the last couple years, my comments will be with more wide-ranging playlists going up in a week or so, this is a place holder because I do like to look back at a snapshot of what records spoke to me as I looked back on the year. Bandcamp links where available.
New Material
Allison Russell, Outside Child
Tyshawn Sorey and Alarm Will Sound, For George Lewis/Autoschediasms
John Paul Keith, The Rhythm of The City
Moor Mother, Black Encyclopedia of the Air
Genesis Owusu, Smiling With No Teeth
(Could not find Bandcamp)
Marisa Anderson and William Tyler, Lost Futures
Reigning Sound, A Little More Time With The Reigning Sound
Sons of Kemet, Black To The Future
Powers/Rolin Duo, Strange Fortune
William Parker, Migration of Silence Into and Out of the Tone World
Adia Victoria, A Southern Gothic
Moviola, Broken Rainbows
Arooj Aftab, Vulture Prince
Gentleman Jesse, Lose Everything
James Brandon Lewis’s Red Lily Quartet, Jesup Wagon
Yasmin Williams, Urban Driftwood
Jojra Smith, Be Right Back
(Couldn’t Find Bandcamp)
James McMurtry, The Horses and The Hounds
Elizabeth King, Living in the Last Days
Sylvie Courvoisier and Mary Halvorson, Searching For the Disappeared Hour
Reissue and/or Archival
Various Artists, It’s a Good, Good Feeling: The Latin Soul of Fania Records
(Couldn’t Find Bandcamp)
PJ Harvey, Stories From The City, Stories From the Sea – Demos
(Couldn’t Find Bandcamp)
Various Artists, The Daptone Super Soul Revue LIVE at the Apollo
The Long Blondes, Someone To Drive You Home: 15th Anniversary Edition
Screen of Distance 