2011: The Bluefat Aesthetic
You hate lists /
you love lists? Well, hereÕs The List: Call it A Lot of Great Music of
2011. You will notice that this particular list is not broken down into
categories; we did that on purpose. The idea is, again and again, that
weÕre past all that genre-fication of music. A lot of people canÕt seem
to get beyond that; increasingly, though, a lot more people can and wonÕt
have a problem with mishmashing all this excellent art together in their
daily immersion in sound.
Friends,
isnÕt the world entirely made of blue fat? Here is a list of significant
(high quality, adventurous) music we heard this year. Seek them out, be
curious, you stand a good chance of liking them ÐÐ and if not, well itÕs
not the end of the world.
ÐÐ John Payne
400 Blows ÐÐ Sickness and Health (Original Recordings Group)
13 & God ÐÐ Own Your Ghost (Anticon)
Absolute
Fusioon (Finders
Keepers / B Music)
Adam Rudolph,
Go Organic Orchestra ÐÐ
Can You Imagine the Sound of a Dream (Meta)
Aimer et
Perdre ÐÐ To
Love & To Lose Songs, 1917-1934 (Tompkins Square)
Alexander
Tucker ÐÐ Dorwytch (Thrill Jockey)
Allen
Karpinski ÐÐ Red Echo (VDSQ)
AM &
Shawn Lee ÐÐ Celestial
Electric (ESL)
Amir el
Saffar Two Rivers Ensemble ÐÐ
Anana (PI)
Amon Tobin ÐÐ Surge (Ninja Tune)
Ancestors ÐÐ Invisible White EP (Teepee)
Andre
Williams ÐÐ Can You
Deal With It (Bloodshot)
Anika (Stones Throw)
Anna
Netrebko, Marianna Pizzolato
ÐÐ Stabat Mater: A Tribute to Pergolesi (Deutsche Grammophon)
Anthony
Braxton ÐÐ Trillium E (Braxton House)
Arrica Rose
& the ...'s ÐÐ Let
Alone Sea (192)
Augustin
Hadelich, Robert Kulek
ÐÐ Echoes of Paris
(Avie)
Azalia Snail ÐÐ Celestial Respect (Silbur)
Azita ÐÐ Disturbing the Air (Drag City)
Baby Dee ÐÐ Regifted (Drag City)
Baloji ÐÐ Kinchasa Succursale (Crammed Disques)
Beep ÐÐ City of the Future (Third Culture)
Berne Black
& Cline ÐÐ The Veil
(Cryptogramophone)
Blackfield ÐÐ Welcome to My DNA (Kscope)
Bombino ÐÐ Agadez (Cumbancha)
Boots
Electric ÐÐ Honkey
Kong (Dangerbird)
Boris ÐÐ Heavy Rocks and Attention Please (Sargent House)
Boston
Spaceships ÐÐ Let It
Beard (Guided by Voices)
Britten: Winter Words: Seven Sonnets of
Michelangelo (Avie)
Caithlin de
Marrais ÐÐ Red
Coats (End Up)
Can ÐÐ Tago Mago 40th anniversary edition
(Spoon)
Carlos
Paredes ÐÐ Guitarra
Portuguesa (Drag City)
Casiokids ÐÐ Aabenbaringen Over Asskammen (Polyvinyl)
Charles Lloyd,
Maria Farentouri ÐÐ Athens
Concert (ECM)
Chiara String
Quartet + Matmos ÐÐ
Jefferson Friedman Quartets (New
Amsterdam)
Chick Corea,
Stefano Bollani ÐÐ Orvieto (ECM)
Chico
Hamilton ÐÐ Revelation (JS)
Choo
Young-Wuk ÐÐ Oldboy soundtrack (Milan)
Christine
Owman ÐÐ Throwing
Knives (River Jones)
Cliffie Swan ÐÐ Memories Come True (Drag City)
Cluster ÐÐ Curiosum (Sky / Bureau B)
Colin Vallon
Trio ÐÐ Rruga (ECM)
Connie
Converse ÐÐ How Sad
How Lovely (Lau Derette)
Corridor ÐÐ Real Late (Manimal)
Craig Taborn ÐÐ Avenging Angel (ECM)
D. Charles
Speer & The Helix ÐÐ
Leaving the Commonwealth
(Thrill Jockey)
Daedelus ÐÐ Bespoke (Ninja Tune)
Damon &
Naomi ÐÐ False Beats
and True Hearts
(20/20/20)
Daniele Luppi ÐÐ Malos Habitos (Ipecac)
David Kilgour
and the Heavy Eights ÐÐ Left
by Soft (Merge)
David Lynch ÐÐ Crazy Clown Time (Play It Again Sam)
Declaime (Dudley Perkins) ÐÐ Self Study (Someothaship)
Deerhoof
vs. Evil (Polyvinyl)
Delicate
Steve ÐÐ Wondervisions
(Luaka Bop)
Dengue Fever ÐÐ Cannibal Courtship (Concord)
Dennis
Coffey (Strut)
Derek
Sherinian ÐÐ Oceana (Music Theories)
Deru ÐÐ Say Goodbye to Useless (Mush)
Dessa ÐÐ A Badly Broken Code (Doomtree)
Dimlite ÐÐ Grimm Reality and My Human Wears Acedia Shreds (Now-Again)
Dino Saluzzi,
Anja Lechner, Felix Saluzzi
ÐÐ Navidad de Los Andes
(ECM)
Dirty
Projectors and Bjšrk ÐÐ Mount
Wittenberg Orca (Domino)
Don Gere ÐÐ Werewolves on Wheels soundtrack (FinderÕs KeeperÕs / B-Music
)
Dos ÐÐ Dos y Dos (Clenched Wrench)
Dunya ÐÐ A Story of the City:
Constantinople, Istanbul
(Dunya, Inc.)
Ebo Taylor ÐÐ Life Stories, Highlife
and Afrobeat Classics 1973-80
(Strut)
Eleanor
Friedberger ÐÐ
Last Summer (Merge)
Emperor X ÐÐ Western Transport (Bar None)
Enrico Rava
Quintet ÐÐ Tribe (ECM)
Eternal
Tapestry & Sun Araw
ÐÐ Night Gallery
(Thrill Jockey)
FatherÕs
Children ÐÐ WhoÕs
Gonna Save the World
(Numero)
Faust ÐÐ Something Dirty (Bureau B)
Fergus &
Geronimo ÐÐ Unlearn (Hardly Art)
Fleet Foxes Ð Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop)
FoolÕs Gold ÐÐ Leave No Trace (I Am Sound)
Ford &
Lapotin ÐÐ Channel
Pressure (Mexican
Summer)
Francis
Couturier ÐÐ Tarkovsky
Quartet
Frank
Fairfield ÐÐ Out on
the Open West (Tompkins
Square)
Gary Lucas ÐÐ The Ordeal of Civility (Knitting Factory)
Gidon Kremer,
Giedre Dirvanauskaite ÐÐ
Kissine/Tchaikovsky Piano Trios (ECM)
Gilad Atzmon ÐÐ The Tide Has Changed (World Village)
Girl in a
Coma ÐÐ Exits &
All the Rest
(Blackheart)
Giya Kancheli ÐÐ Themes From the Songbook (ECM)
Glenn Jones ÐÐ The Wanting (Thrill Jockey)
Googoosh (FinderÕs Keepers / B Music)
Graham
Reynolds ÐÐ The
Difference Engine
(Innova)
Greg
WardÕs Phonic Juggernaut
(Thirsty Ear)
Gregory
Spears ÐÐ Requiem (New Amsterdam)
Grimes ÐÐ Halifaxa (Arbutus)
Gruff Rhys ÐÐ Hotel Shampoo (Wichita)
Hanni el
Khatib ÐÐ Will the
Guns Come Out
(Innovative Leisure)
Hazmat Modine ÐÐ Cicada (Barbes)
Heinz
Holliger, Erich Hobarth, Camerata Bern ÐÐ Bach Concertos and Sinfonias for Oboe (ECM)
High Places ÐÐ Original Colors (Thrill Jockey)
Hilary Hahn,
Valentina Lisitsa ÐÐ Ives
Four Sonatas (Deutsche
Grammophon)
Himalayan
Bear ÐÐ Hard Times (Absolutely Kosher)
Howlin Rain ÐÐ The Good Life EP (American)
Iggy Pop ÐÐ Roadkill Rising (Shout Factory)
Ilhan Ersahin ÐÐ Istanbul Sessions (Nublu)
Iro Haarla
Quintet ÐÐ Vespers (ECM)
Ivan Julian ÐÐ The Naked Flame (Bloody Hotsak)
Ivy ÐÐ All Hours (Nettwerk)
Jakszyk,
Fripp and Collins ÐÐ A
Scarcity of Miracles
(Discipline Global Mobile)
James
Elkington & Nathan Salsburg
ÐÐ Avos (Tompkins
Square)
Jean-Claude
Vannier ÐÐ Electro
Rapide and Roses
Rouge Sang (Finders
Keepers / B-Music)
Jenny
Scheinman with Nels
Cline, Jim Black, Todd Sickafoose ÐÐ Presents Mischief & Mayhem
Jeremy Jay ÐÐ Dream Diary (K)
JimWhite ÐÐ Sound of the Americans (Loose Music)
Joan As
Police Woman ÐÐ The
Deep Field (PIAS)
Joe Henry ÐÐ Reverie (Anti-)
John Martyn ÐÐ Heaven and Earth (Hole in the Rain)
John Tejada ÐÐ Parabolas (Kompakt)
John Wesley
Harding ÐÐ The Sound
of His Own Voice
(Yeproc)
J.Rocc ÐÐ Some Cold Rock Stuff (Stones Throw)
Julianna
Barwick ÐÐ The Magic
Place (Asthmatic Kitty)
Junior Boys ÐÐ ItÕs All True (Domino)
Kashmere
Stage Band ÐÐ Texas
Thunder Soul 68-74
(Now-Again)
Kate Bush ÐÐ 50 Words for Snow (Anti-)
Khatia
Buniatishvili ÐÐ Franz
Liszt (Sony)
Kid Creole
& the Coconuts ÐÐ
I Wake Up Screaming
(Strut)
Kid Koala ÐÐ Space Cadet (Ninja Tune)
Kourash
Yaghmaei ÐÐ Back From
the Brink (Now-Again)
Kreidler ÐÐ Tank (Bureau B)
Kristjan
Jarvi, Absolute Ensemble
ÐÐ Arabian Nights (Enja)
Krystian
Zimerman ÐÐ Bacewicz:
Piano Sonata No. 2, Piano Quintets Nos. 1&2 (Deutsche Grammophon)
Kronos
Quartet, Pohjonen/Kosminen
ÐÐ Uniko (Ondine)
Latebirds ÐÐ Last of the Good OlÕ Days (Second Motion)
Lee Konitz,
Brad Mehldau, Charlie Haden, Paul Motian ÐÐ Live at Birdland (ECM)
Leo Brouwer,
The Havana String Quartet
ÐÐ The String Quartets, String Trio (Zoho)
Lisa Moore
& So Percussion ÐÐ
Martin BresnickÕs Caprichos Enf‡ticos (Cantaloupe)
Liturgy ÐÐ Aesthethica (Thrill Jockey)
Lorraine Hunt
Lieberson, Nicholas McGegan
ÐÐ Berlioz Les Nuits DÕete,
Handel Arias (Philharmonia Baroque)
Lumerians ÐÐ Transmalinnia (Knitting Factory)
M.E.D. ÐÐ Classic (Stones Throw)
Maholy Nagy ÐÐ Like Mirage (Temporary Residence)
Malika Zarra ÐÐ Berber Taxi (Motema)
Marcin
Wasilewski Trio ÐÐ
Faithful (ECM)
Marianne
Faithfull ÐÐ Horses
and High Heels (Naive)
Marilyn Mazur ÐÐ Celestial Circle (ECM)
Marissa
Nadler (Box of
Cedar)
Mathias Eick ÐÐ
Skala (ECM)
Matt
Haimovitz ÐÐ Matteo:
300 Years of an Italian Cello
(Oxingale)
Matthew
Bourne ÐÐ Montauk
Variations (Leaf)
Matthew Shipp
Trio ÐÐ Elastic
Aspects (Thirsty Ear)
Matthew
Shipp, William Parker, Beans, Hprizm ÐÐ Knives From Heaven (Thirsty Ear)
Mayer
Hawthorne ÐÐ Impressions:
The Covers EP (Stones
Throw)
Meat Puppets ÐÐ Lollipop (Megaforce)
Mekons ÐÐ Ancient and Modern (Bloodshot)
Metamono ÐÐ Tape EP (Ho Hum)
Mia Doi Todd ÐÐ Cosmic Ocean Ship (City Zen)
Michael
Formanek ÐÐ The Rub
and Spare Change (ECM)
Mighty
Sparrow ÐÐ Sparrowmania! (Strut)
Mike Watt ÐÐ Hyphenated-Man (Clenched Wrench)
Mungolian
Jetset ÐÐ Schlungs (Smalltown Supersound)
Na•m Amor ÐÐ Soundtracks Vol. IV (Amormusic)
Neptune ÐÐ Silent Partner (Northern Spy)
New York
Dolls ÐÐ Dancing
Backward in High Heels
(429)
Nick Lowe ÐÐ The Old Magic (Yeproc)
Night
Beats (Trouble in
Mind)
Nils Okland,
Sigbjorn Apeland ÐÐ Lysoen:
Hommage ˆ Ole Bull (ECM)
Nous Non Plus ÐÐ Freudian Slip (Aeronaut)
Norbertine
Fathers of St. MichaelÕs Abbey
ÐÐ Gregorian Chant, Requiem (Jade)
Old
Californio ÐÐ Sundrunk
Angels (Californio)
Omar
Rodriquez Lopez ÐÐ Telesterion (RL Productions)
Orchestre
Polyrhythmo ÐÐ Cotonou
Club (Strut)
PAPERCUTS -- FADING PARADE (SUB POP)
Patrick Wolf ÐÐ Lupercalia (Hideout)
Pedro Soler
& Gaspar Claus ÐÐ Barlande (Infine)
Pelican ÐÐ What We All Come To Need (Southern Lord)
P.G. Six ÐÐ Starry Mind (Drag City)
Philharmonia
Baroque, Nicholas McGegan
ÐÐ Vivaldi: The Four Seasons, Violin Concertos (Philharmonia Baroque)
Picastro
& Nadja ÐÐ
Fool, Redeemer
(Alien8)
Plug ÐÐ Back on Time (Ninja Tune)
Priestbird ÐÐ Beachcombers (Benzod)
Pterotactyl ÐÐ Spills Out (Brah)
Pyrolator ÐÐ Neuland (Bureau B)
Quilt (Mexican Summer)
Raffertie ÐÐ Visual Acuity (Ninja Tune)
Ralph
CarneyÕs Serious Jass Project
ÐÐ Seriously (Smog
Veil)
Ricardo
Villalobos, Max Loderbauer
ÐÐ Re ECM
(ECM)
Robert
Pollard ÐÐ Lord of
the Birdcage (Guided by
Voices)
Roedelius/Schneider ÐÐ Stunden (Bureau B)
Roll the Dice ÐÐ In Dust (Leaf)
Rudresh
Mahanthappa ÐÐ Samdhi (ACT)
Ry Cooder ÐÐ Pull Up Some Dust and Sit Down (Nonesuch)
Sachal
Studios Orchestra, Lahore
ÐÐ Jazz Interpretations of Jazz Standards & Bossa Nova (Sachal)
Satoko Fujii
Orchestra New York ÐÐ Eto (Libra)
Serengeti ÐÐ Family and Friends (Anticon)
Shabazz
Palaces ÐÐ Black Up (Sub Pop)
Sinnika
Langeland ÐÐ The Land
That Is Not (ECM)
Sister Crayon ÐÐ Bellow (Manimal)
Slide to
Freedom ÐÐ 20,000
Miles (Northern Blues)
Six Organs of
Admittance ÐÐ Asleep
on the Floodplain (Drag
City)
Son Lux ÐÐ We Are Rising (Anticon)
So Percussion ÐÐ Steve Mackey: It is Time (Cantaloupe)
Social
Climbers (Drag City)
Solla
Solla: Maestro Ilaiyaraaja and the
Electronic Pop Sound of Kollywood 1977-1983 (Finders Keepers / B-Music)
Stan Getz
Quintets ÐÐ The Clef
& Norgran Albums
(Hip-O Select/Verve)
Stefano
Battaglia Trio ÐÐ The
River of Anyder (ECM)
Susan James ÐÐ Highways, Ghosts, Hearts and Home (SusanJamesMusic)
Tarwater ÐÐ Inside the Ships (Bureau B)
Tecumseh ÐÐ Return to Everything (Beta Lactam Ring)
The Bo-Keys ÐÐ Got to Get Back (Electraphonic)
The Book of
Knots ÐÐ Garden of
Fainting Stars (Ipecac)
The Claudia
Quintet + 1 ÐÐ What
Is the Beautiful?
(Cuneiform)
The
Complete Recordings of Amede Ardoin, 1929-1934 (Tompkins Square)
The Galactic
Cowboy Orchestra ÐÐ All
Out of Peaches (New
Folk)
The
Goldberg Sisters
(PIAS)
The Gurdjieff
Folk Instruments Ensemble, Levon Eskenian ÐÐ Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff (ECM)
The High
Llamas ÐÐ Talahomi Way (Drag City)
The Howling
Hex ÐÐ Victory Chimp (Drag City)
The Howling
Hex ÐÐ Wilson
Semiconductors (Drag
City)
The Jigsaw
Seen ÐÐ Winterland (Vibrophonic)
The Ladybug
Transistor ÐÐ Clutching
Stems (Merge)
The Legendary
Pink Dots ÐÐ The
French Collection (BRR)
The Lijadu
Sisters ÐÐ Danger (Knitting Factory)
The Natural
Yogurt Band ÐÐ Tuck
in With (Stones Throw)
The One AM
Radio ÐÐ Heaven Is
Attached by a Slender Thread
(Dangerbird)
The
Persuasions & Friends
ÐÐ Persuasions of the Dead
(Zoho)
The Real
Tuesday Weld ÐÐ The
Last Werewolf soundtrack
(Six Degrees)
The Residents ÐÐ Lonely Teenager and Dolar Generar (Cryptic Corporation)
The Sea and
Cake ÐÐ The Moonlight
Butterfly (Thrill
Jockey)
The Skull
Defekts ÐÐ Peer Amid (Thrill Jockey)
The
Soundtrack of Our Lives
ÐÐ Golden Greats No. 1
(Akashic)
The Stepkids (Stones Throw)
The War on
Drugs ÐÐ Slave
Ambient (Secretly
Canadian)
Thomas
Zehetmair, Ruth Killius
ÐÐ Manto and Madrigals
(ECM)
Thurston
Moore ÐÐ Demolished
Thoughts (Matador)
Timothy Young ÐÐ Gravitational Lensing
Tony
MacAlpine (Sundog)
Travis &
Fripp ÐÐ Live at
Coventry Cathedral
(Panegyric)
Ty Segall ÐÐ Goodbye Bread (Drag City)
Various ÐÐ Boddie Recording Co., Cleveland,
Ohio (Numero)
Various ÐÐ True Soul: Deep Sounds From the
Left of Stax (Now-Again)
Various ÐÐ Persian Funk (Secret Stash)
Various ÐÐ This May Be My Last Time Singing (Tompkins Square)
Various ÐÐ Bollywood Bloodbath (Finders Keepers / B-Music)
Various ÐÐ Eccentric Soul: The Nickel &
Penny Labels (Numero)
Various ÐÐ Life Is Dance! Plugged In Sounds
of Wonder (Finders
Keepers / B Music)
Various ÐÐ Nigeria Õ70: Sweet Times (Strut)
Various ÐÐ The Illusionist soundtrack (Milan)
Various ÐÐ To What Strange Place:
The Music of the Ottoman-American Diaspora, 1916Ð1929 (Tompkins Square)
Various ÐÐ Whaur the Pig Gaed on the Spree:
Scottish Recordings by Alan Lomax 1951-1957 (Drag City)
Vas Deferens
Organization ÐÐ Transcontinental
Conspiracy (Niklas)
Vetiver ÐÐ The Errant Charm (Sub Pop)
Vex Ruffin ÐÐ Crash Course EP (Stones Throw)
Vieux Farka
Toure ÐÐ The Secret (Six Degrees)
Wadada Leo Smith ÐÐ HeartÕs Reflections (Cuneiform)
Willie Wright ÐÐ Telling the Truth (Domino)
White Hills ÐÐ H-p1 (Thrill Jockey)
Wolfert
Brederode Quartet ÐÐ Post
Scriptum (ECM)
Yellowbirds ÐÐ The Color (Royal Potato Family)
YOY ÐÐ Like a Stunt Man (Bureau B)
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