3rd Of February 2012 Update of New and Key Restocked Items
at Redscroll Records

LPs & 12″s
______________________
Alkaline Trio    “Goddamnit”
Ambarchi, Oren / O’Rourke, Jim / Haino, Keiji    “Imikuzushi (2LP Gatefold)”
Battles    “Dross Glop 1”
Bayside    “Acoustic”
Between The Buried And Me    “Between The Buried And Me”
Birthday Party    “Peel Sessions”
Black Flag    “First Four Years”
Blood For Blood    “Spit My Last Breath”
Bolt Thrower    “Honour Valour Pride (2012 Reissue)”
Bolt Thrower    “Those Once Loyal (2012 Reissue)”
Bolt Thrower    “Mercenary (2012 Reissue)”
Caravels / Gifts From Enola    “Well Worn”
Caretaker    “Patience (After Sebald)”
Cocteau Twins    “Stars And Topsoil: A Collection (1982-1990) (2LP Gatefold)”
Cohen, Leonard    “Old Ideas (180 Gram + CD)”
Cruise Family    “We’re In Heaven”
Deftones    “Saturday Night Wrist (Rerelease)”
Dispatch    “Four Day Trials”
Doozer, The    “Keep It Together”
Electric Wizard    “Come My Fanatics”
First Aid Kit    “The Lion’s Roar (180 Gram + D/L)”
Fucked Up    “Year Of The Tiger (+ D/L)”
Golden Calves    “Golden Calves Money Band LP + Century Band 12″ (Pre-Wooden Wand 1996)”
Gotan Project    “La Revancha Del Tango (2LP)”
Hit The Lights    “Invicta (+ D/L)”
Hospitals, The    “The Hospitals”
House Of Low Culture    “Poisoned Soil “
Iron Lung    “Sexless // No Sex”
Johnson, Robert    “The Complete Collection”
Kimono Draggin’     “Kimono Gold”
King Khan & BBQ    “The King Kahn & BBQ Show”
Kweller, Ben    “Go Fly A Kite (Deluxe Diorama Package 180 Gram + CD)”
Ladytron    “Witching Hour (Ltd. Ed. Red Vinyl)”
Lanegan Band, Mark    “Blues Funeral (Ltd. Ed. Colored Vinyl + D/L)”
Led Zeppelin    “BBC Sessions (Fanclub Edition)”
Lilacs & Champagne    “Lilacs & Champagne (Ltd. Ed. + D/L; The Producing Team Behind Grails)”
Lonely Forest, The    “Arrows”
Make Do And Mend    “Part And Parcel”
Morgan, Neal    “In The Yard (+ D/L)”
Of Montreal    “Paralytic Stalks (Deluxe Ed. Gatefold 2LP Yellow Vinyl + D/L)”
Peaking Lights    “936 Remixed (Ital, Xander Harris, Innergaze, Cuticle)”
Perispirit    “Spiritual Church Movement”
Pink Floyd    “London 1966/1967”
Queens Of The Stone Age    “Vinyl Firsts, B-Sides & Remixes (Fanclub Edition; 2LP)”
Reggie And The Full Effect    “Greatest Hits ’84 ’87 (Ltd. Ed. White Vinyl)”
Rene, Wendy    “After Laughter Comes Tears: Complete Stax & Volt Singles + Rarities 1964-65”
Residents, The    “Sonidos De La Noche: Coochie Brake (+ D/L)”
Royal Baths    “Better Luck Next Life (+ D/L)”
Schnauss, Ulrich & Mark Peters    “Underrated Silences (+CD)”
Schneider, Marc & Aera    “The Taylor & Smith EP”
St. Vincent    “Actor (+ D/L)”
Sunn O)))    “00 Void (2xLP Finally On Vinyl; Originally Recorded In 2000 On 2″ Tape)”
Trailer Trash Tracys    “Ester (180 Gram + D/L)”
Various Artists    “Michigan Meltdown: Post-Garage Pandemonium And Pre-Punk Fuzz Freaks From The Mitten State’s Milken Era (Astaroth, Air, Master Danse, …)”
Various Artists    “We Are The Works In Progress (Four Tet, Karin Dreijer Andersson, Terry Riley, Blonde Redhead, Deerhunter, Liars, Broadcast…)”
Wiese, John    “GGA”
Witch Cross    “All That’s Fit For Fighting (4LP Set)”
Womack, Bobby    “Facts Of Life (Reissue)”
Woollen Kits    “Woollen Kits (+ D/L)”

Electronic 12″s & LPs
______________________
Alfabet (Awanto3 & Tom Trago)    “Hell Of Samba / Too Shy”
Ango    “Another City Now (6 Track EP)”
Diplo Vs. Tiesto    “C’mon”
Duck Sauce    “Big Bad Wolf”
Exaltics, The Meets Gosub    “The Exaltics Meets Gosub (Part One)”
Fluxion    “Traces EP 1/3”
Gao, Mike    “Finest Ego: Faces 12″ Series”
GB (Gifted & Blessed)    “7 In 24 / Dogon”
Gray, Chris    “Moonchildren / Go Away”
Joker    “On My Mind”
Jones, Lee    “The Moose Mingles EP”
Lonely C + Baby Prince    “Not So Lonely Remixes EP”
Machinedrum (AKA Tstewart)    “SXLND”
Madteo    “Bugler Gold Pt. 1”
MRSK    “Twirl / Pinkman”
Obsolete Music Technology    “Mmmmmusic / Distance”
Onra    “Chinoiseries Pt. 2”
Parker, Lewis    “Shark”
Pollyester    “Concierge D’ Amour / Voices”
Regis    “Speak To Me / Model Friend”
Rrose    “Artificial Light (1969-1909)”
Rrritalin    “Nutter Magnet EP”
Sid Vaga    “Brazuca”
Svreca    “Obscur. Final (Remixes By Regis, Orphx, Silent Servant & Skirt)”
Tejada, John / Truncate (David Flores)    “Maximiliano / Veinticinco”
Toth, Andras    “Would U?”
Two Armadillos    “Golden Age Thinking Part 1 Of 3”
Unit Moebius Anonymous    “Permabu”
Various Artists    “A Tribute To Richard Polson (Surgeon, Oliver Ho, Regis, 65D Mavericks)”
Xosar    “Ghosthaus”

10″s
______________________
Husker Du    “Eight Miles High / Makes No Sense At All / Love Is All Around”

7″s
______________________
Black People    “Brain Wash / Fallen Down”
Code Orange Kids    “Cycles”
Colouride    “Amor Y Neon / Your Master Is Calling”
Creem    “Good Riddance / I Hate”
Doubledealer    “Whose World Is This”
End Of A Year / Shook Ones    “End Of A Year / Shook Ones”
Futility    “Forward / Deluge”
Gallows    “Death Is Birth”
Ivy League    “Ivy League”
Murder City Devils    “Every Day I Rise / Ball Busters In The Peanut Gallery”
Snake Oil    “Snake Oil”

CDs
______________________
Alcest “Les Voyages De L’Ame”
Current 93 “Thunder Perfect Mind (2CD Reissue)”
Del Rey, Lana “Born To Die”
Katy B “On A Mission”
Regis “1994-1996” (Slipcase)
Rene, Wendy “After Laughter Comes Rain…”
Timelords “History Of…”
Unthanks, The “The Songs Of Robert Wyatt…”
Void “Sessions…”

DVD/Blu-Ray
_____________________
Radiohead “King Of Limbs: Live From The Basement” (Both the DVD and Blu-Ray Versions)

Magazines
_______________________
Savage Damage Digest Issue #2
Tape Op Issue #87

Reviews
______________________

(NNA Tapes)
NNA Tapes has developed a good and respectable reputation off of releaseing a nice variety of left of center synth oriented (and many very droney) music. The variety hasn’t quite reached the level where I would have expected this release however. Co La has a very sample heavy and constructed album (closer to plunderphonic stuff than mashups – not that those aren’t related to each other) here.  It’s fun and quirky and nostalgic (many Motown and roots reggae sounding samples) and entirely danceable at times and serenely chill at others. Looping rhythms.

[Reviewer: Rick]

(Katorga Works)
Creem is a pissed off hardcore band from New York that is shooting for an 80s Boston (Jerry’s Kids / SSD / Last Rites) sound and manages to hit the nail on the head straight down to the low recording quality, which is probably what separates them from the other modern bands doing the style, like COA. Two short songs that will make you want to stomp around, throw beverages and punch a stranger in a cramped BO smelling basement. Featuring members of Natural Law & Nomos, these guys know how to channel the “mysterious guy” aesthetic with blank labels and the absence of a lyric/info sheet. This is the second press (small hole, new cover).
[Reviewer: Josh]

Machinedrum Room(s) CD/LP

(Planet Mu)
Producer/musician Travis Stewart constructs some very trippy, abstract and elaborate IDM landscapes on this record. Generous helpings of scattered hip-hop beats, hypnotic vocal samples and all sorts of spacey electronic bursts provide an intoxicating experience throughout. “Sacred Frequency” is an instant standout with its ultra-tight, infectious beat pattern splashed with endless electronic glissandos that sound like shooting stars. Stewart is very effective at manipulating sample loops: for example, “Come1,” “The Statue” and “Door(s)” all utilize invigorating keyboard patterns that sound perfect for jaunting through an old-school video game world. The closing track “Where Did We Go Wrong?” provides a surprising finale, with the beats replaced with a cascade of soft white noise and celestial ambience. I should probably listen to this record before going to sleep; it might just spawn some new dream worlds.
[Reviewer: Mark]

We’ll be in Boston on Saturday (Saturday only) for Ladyfest with thousands of 7″s. If you are going to be at Ladyfest and want us to bring something for you specifically that is not a 7″ please drop us a line (email or phone or message in a bottle or… probably just email or phone really) and we’ll bring it with us. Otherwise, it will be a fine time to check out what we’ve got in the 7″ variety.

You can check out all the information on the blog or facebook pages.  There are tons of bands and workshops (click on the above image to enlarge – the blog also has a full line up and a couple more posters too).

||Facebook Event Page||

Waxahatchee 
Ex-PS Eliot singer plays gloomiest acoustic pop. New LP on Don Giovanni.

If you don’t know the secret of the location, stop by Redscroll (24 N Colony Rd. Wallingford CT) sometime before the show and they’ll tell you where to go.

Yo, you want to know what I liked from this past year of 2011? If the answer’s no stop lying to yourself (You got past the title for some reason, yea?).  Here’s my alphabetical list. The past couple of year’s favorites lists included some sort of disclaimer introduction (2010 LPs, 2010 EPs, 2009). I’m foregoing it this year. I definitively find these to be my favorite releases from 2011. No digital only releases. I own a store that sells strictly physical releases so you can put the digital ones on your cloud and pray they’re still there in the next hour. Preaching to the converted et cetera ad nauseum blah blah blah.  In addition to the write ups are links for the places online we have them for sale (for the ones still available; for some it might be temporarily out of stock while others may be out of print). Of course, it is verily encouraged that you just come by the store and get ‘em (and maybe tell me how dumb some of this is or how great something you didn’t even know existed before is or something in between).

Bestial Mouths Hissing Veil (Dais)

Goth is definitely the knee-jerk reaction response to first hearing this and it’s totally understandable to think that with the warbling feminine vocals, the synth melodies and the production that makes it echo as if you’re listening down the other end of a hall. More accurately, this is dark rock and roll that really resonates (literally and figuratively) with me.
[Buy Online]

Big Freedia Azz Everywhere (540 Records)

I have a booty bass collection. That is pretty much all you need to know. You might also like to know this is Nola bounce music. Nola, as in New Orleans. Bounce music as in that which lies between Miami bass and Chicago juke. Big Freedia is also a transgendered artist and she got booed off the stage at a festival in Hartford in May last year (if you’re as contrarian as I can be then that’s as much a reason as any to check it out; live on Jimmy Kimmel recently).

Bjork Biophilia (and related singles) (One Little Indian / Polydor / Universal / Nonesuch)

This one is bigger than just the release itself. It was an event and continues to be an event. It’s an application for computational devices. It’s classes in Iceland for young school children. I understand why people overlook this record. Bjork has a way of building up expectations; teasing her new instrument made specifically for this album for instance. When it isn’t a monumental extraordinary piece of bliss people get disappointed. This album itself is good, but it is not just an album and if you only see it that way you’re missing out.
[Buy Online]  [Original Review]

Blawan What You Do With What You Have (R&S Records)

I really enjoy the name Blawan. It’s fun to say. This is my favorite release of his from last year. Bass music for dancing or head nodding (as I mostly do these days). He’s also got a track on another release done with Hessle Audio that I’ve got on this list. I’ll probably be more specific about what attracts me to this type of music there.
[Buy Online] 

Borden, Ferraro, Godin, Halo, Lopatin Frkwys Vol. 07 (Rvng. Intl.)

I’m going to continue to address how I like OneOhTrix Point Never’s latest release (“Replica”), but somehow continue to leave it off this list. This list includes 2 releases that Daniel Lopatin is a major contributor to which I personally enjoy more. This one would be a record you might think should suffer from too many chefs in the kitchen, but somehow just ends up being sublime. Perhaps no one wanted to get in the others’ way. Perhaps they all agreed to keep it simple ahead of time so that not one person was ever conducting the rest. Whatever the circumstances, this ended up being a favorite for putting on and zoning out to and then coming out of that zone and realizing the record is ready to be flipped (and re-flipped and repeat and repeat and replicate [derp]).

Clams Casino Instrumentals (Type)

Clams Casino is a hip hop producer who has worked with Lil B and Souljah Boy and many in between and out of bounds. He released a free pack of instrumentals. Those are fine and good and worth hearing. These are far better. I’ve listened to those once through (the free ones) and can listen to one track at a time from those within a larger playlist. These (the main focus here) are phat beats that work collectively as an album. For me it all builds up to side D and drops the hammer and leaves me wanting more (but not those others mentioned – more like this album).
[Buy Online]  [Original Review]

Com Truise Galactic Melt (Ghostly International)

If you haven’t heard anything from this guy yet go track down “VHS Sex” and by the end if you don’t want to hear more then forget all about it. Elektro green computer graf-x soundtrack time.
[Buy Online] 

Cut Hands Afro-Noise 1 (Susan Lawly / Very Friendly / Dirter Promotions)

I almost left this off because the LP versions didn’t come out until January 2012 (this month). The CD has been out for a while though so it should be on here (which is a bit contrary to a couple other releases on here, but blah blah blah it’s a list).  The title of this pretty much explains what you’re getting into. Beyond that, it’s the project of William Bennett of Whitehouse. He’s recently done some podcasts for Radio Web MACBA about his sound collecting from around the world – if you want deeper insight into how much this album makes sense to come out of him. I really did go into listening to this expecting to like it, but after repeated listens it really shines brighter and brighter each time.
[Buy Online]  [Original Review]

DMX Krew Cosmic Awakening EP (Shipwrec)

Ed DMX released a bunch this past year (12”s) and this is my favorite of the batch. Electro funk. I went to a loft party he played at in the financial district of Manhattan (probably 8 years ago at this point). I had to say “No” to the question “Are you a cop?” I’m so glad people don’t believe cops have to identify themselves anymore (wouldn’t that make things a little more quaint though?). How dumb is that notion? Pretty dumb. The party he played was pretty dumb too (there was lots of cigarette (and other) smoking in an enclosed not well ventilated area). His performance was great though. Fun story. That place also had a secret room that I learned about on a previous visit.  I think it just ended up being a storage area (maybe wrong/doesn’t matter).
[Buy Online] 

Dream Boat Widow (AMDISCS)
 
Disaffected pop from Providence, but it really could be from space or anywhere isolated (bedroom production bedroom listening music).
[Buy Online] [Original Review] 

Elzhi Elmatic (Jae B. Group)
Will Sessions Elmatic Instrumentals (Fat Beats)

Detroit state of mind full time from this. It’s Illmatic transplanted. It’s really that simple. It’s a fresh take on a fresh golden age classic. Will Sessions’s instrumentals are a fresh take on the beats of “Illmatic” and harkens back to the golden age of hip-hop production. There’s been a lot of that trend lately and I’m really enjoying it.
[Buy Online]  [Original Review]
 
EMA Past Life Martyred Saints (Souterrain Transmissions) 

Erika M. Anderson is a singer song-writer with a background in experimental droning less-than-rocking music (Gowns). These songs are promising and good of themselves. “Marked” had a loop in my head for a few weeks after my initial listen. They are songs, however, that don’t really always complement each other and this often comes across as a compilation (it didn’t help that I’ve read an interview where Ms. Anderson says that this is basically how the album came together – a bunch of songs she’s written over a long stretch of time and collected to make this).  Forgot I was writing about favorites right now.  This is entirely melancholic and cathartic and other things that rhyme with icepick and feel like one going into your numb abscess of a heart (frikkin’ deep, eh?).
[Buy Online] [Original Review]
 

Fatima Al Qadiri Genre Specific Xperience (UNO)

Water themes and electronic music work well. Well, Drexciya works. I can’t think of a hundred other examples. Drexciya has been getting some much appreciated reissues lately. Electro funk goodness. I have now hardly discussed Fatima Al Qadiri. It’s great. I like it quite a bit more than the Ay Shay stuff from the same artist. It’s way more fun and way more Drexciyan. Have I mentioned how much I love Drexciya? The Fatima Al Qadiri videos are really fun too. View them.
[Buy Online] 

Ford & Lopatin Channel Pressure (Software)

Pop jams from the present (not like all those Full Sail University factory pumped tunes relying on equations from the past). Daniel Lopatin also released a record as OneOhTrix Point Never recently. That made a lot of year end lists. It’s good, but this is more my personal speed. Synth-pop jams. Yea, they have a 1980s aesthetic, but there’s no mistaking it for something from the 80s.
[Buy Online] 

Fostercare / †‡† (Ritualz) †‡† vs. Fostercare (Robot Elephant Records)

Witch house still exists. Stop taking heed of any words to the contrary. It exists. I like it. Industrial EBM goth club stompers and slow hip-hop faded.
[Buy Online]  [Original Review]

Jason Grier With Nite Jewel Heart Shaped EP (Human Ear Music)

Twin Peaks songs that were made far too late to appear on the series (this is not factual).
[Buy Online] [Original Review]

Laurel Halo Hour Logic (Hippos In Tanks)

Hypnotic rhythms and drones. Hip knotted. Disaffected overlapping techno down the hall behind a closed door (Zipperspy in the basement while you’re in the bathroom 2 stories up and a young woman is humming while making a snack in the kitchen on the first floor).
[Buy Online] 

HTRK Work (Work, Work) (Ghostly International)

There are a couple albums in this list I hold a bit closer to the heart than the others. This is one of ‘em. I’ll point out the other as well. Le petite morte post coital blues plague tunes.
[Buy Online] [Original Review]

Holy Other With U (Triangle)

Disaffected pop in the witchy realm (Have I mentioned how I enjoy freestyle jams? Yes, I did.). This is definitively my favorite Triangle release this year. This has gotten plenty of love and plenty of descriptive ramblings so I’ll just say yep.
[Buy Online] 

Hudson Mohawke Satin Panthers (Warp)
Hud Mo Pleasure Principle (Pleasure Principle)
Super fun polished dance jams for attention deficit dance music fans.
[Buy Online] 

Iceage New Brigade (What’s Your Rupture?(currently))

These young dudes play rock and roll with a ton of energy and the arrogance of youth
(specifically the arrogance of youth; don’t get it confused with actual arrogance). It’s a combination that people seem to embrace or reject. I embrace it and definitely listened to this multiple times in a row multiples of multiple days and nights throughout the year. 
[Buy Online] [Original Review]

Jam City Waterworx (Night Slugs)

Party party party. Bass bass bass. Neck cramps.
[Buy Online] 

Katy B On A Mission (Rinse)

Party ballads with dance production. It’s basically pop drum ‘n’ bass. Her voice isn’t flawless. Really, to me, this has the same attraction as 80s freestyle jams. I like the imperfections of it. It doesn’t aspire to be an Adele record (for instance). It aspires only to be hot dance tracks. It succeeds. “Lights On” all night. I’m also hoping this gets an LP release; it’s only on CD now.
[Buy Online] 

Knxwledge Klouds (All City)

Hip-hop beats with a disaffected treatment. This label, All City Records, is also one of the most consistent label with quality releases again and again. This is the only release that’s made this list, but plenty others definitely come close. All City is a hip hop beat label out of Ireland at its heart and it occasionally veers off that, but never extremely far and all of it is quality.
[Buy Online] 

Kuedo Severant (Planet Mu)

Fresh take on italo-disco soundtracks from half of the Vex’d duo.
[Buy Online] [Original Review]

Light Asylum In Tension (Mexican Summer)

Dark dance pop. Crazy good voice and crazy good New Order loving songs.
[Buy Online] [Original Review]

Lykke Li Wounded Rhymes (Warner / Atlantic / EMI / LL / You get it, a bunch of majors in different sectors of the world)

This came out really early in the year and this is the other (this and HTRK) that I hold a little higher than the rest of the list. Crazy, right? Unexpected? Probably. Shouldn’t PJ Harvey’s album (“Let England Shake”) be on here and probably higher than the rest (even HTRK!)? No, I did like the PJ Harvey album, but not enough to even make this list and not nearly as much as this. It definitely owes or more accurately pays homage to older PJ Harvey recordings mixed with some Phil Spector styled producing (well-orchestrated girl pop done melancholic in other words).
[Buy Online] 

Maria & The Mirrors Travel Sex (Parlour Records)

If this was a full length it’d probably be on that upper echelon too. Primal noisey pounding and squelching.
[Buy Online] [Original Review]

Mater Suspiria Vision Crack Witch (Living Tapes)
Mater Suspiria Vision Seduction Of The Armageddon Witches (Mishka)

The “Crack Witch” cassette came out in 2010, but the LP in 2011 and even so the “Seduction…” 7″ definitely came out in 2011 so just go with it. I love this band and they release a ton of material all the time. I just ordered another LP of theirs in fact. The best band easily to fully embrace the term witch house. Zombie raves. Oh, and the Living Tapes label has also been solid this past year with releases also by Mellow Grave and Crypt Thing among others. Mishka is more a culture accessory (read: t-shirt/clothing/streetwear) company, but the few releases they’ve had on 7” have been solid too (I don’t think I need to even mention all they do; they’re active and doing a solid job of it all). The Hussle Club single almost got to this list as well.
[Buy Online] [Original Review]

Nguzunguzu Timesup EP (Fade To Mind)

There a bunch of 12”s in the bass realm on this list that I actually thought about grouping together. I like them all for basically the same reasons. Bass bass bass. Head snapping goodness. Fade to Mind is a new label subsidiary of Night Slugs headed by Kingdom and so far he’s off to a good start (this is the first release and there is just one more so far – MikeQ released just a week or so ago). Looking forward to more from this upstart.
[Buy Online] 

Pure X Pleasure (Acephale)

Shoegazin’ melodic indie rock. Derp. Yo, it’s good. Forget all the trappings that come along with saying something is shoegaze. I know as well as anyone how tired it is to use that phrase. This is refreshing and great. They did a split with Sleep Over as Pure Ecstasy (I don’t know what made them switch to just the X) and I thought Sleep Over outshined them on that, but Pure X outshined Sleep Over with their full length. Sleep Over’s LP is also well liked, mind you, but it is another release of the past year I liked not quite enough for this list. Blam-O!
[Buy Online] 

SBTRKT SBTRKT (Young Turks)

Post dubstep in the utmost or just modern dubstep. Either way, this record is pure alt-pop goodness. He also has done a lot of work outside of this full length and truthfully if this wasn’t so great as a whole I probably would have included a few 12”s or EPs. Delicious.
[Buy Online] 

Shabazz Palaces Black Up (Sub Pop)

My man from Digable Planets is doing it! I don’t actually know him. I’d hang though. This is easily my favorite hip-hop release from the past year. Do it.
[Buy Online] [Original Review]

Shlohmo Bad Vibes (Tall Corn)

This is the third of the couple albums (yea, I maybe should have said few) that I hold a little closer to my favorite heart than the rest from the year’s hearts. This is an album of down tempo hip-hop beats that at times is sick azz chillbient and at times is just chill and not so ‘bient.  
[Buy Online]  [Original Review]

Andy Stott Passed Me By / We Stay Together (Modern Love)

The Modern Love camp this past year has been unsurpassable. Love it. I’m a little late to the party and am just digging into some of the archives. Andy Stott is top of the heap (Miles, GH, Demdike Stare and the lot are not far behind). Techno dark and mangled.
[Buy Online] 

Supreme Cuts Trouble (Small Plates Records)

Illbient is a phrase I probably should use more. This is hot illbient jams to the roof and back down to the bassment (shout to Lokash). It’s a 10” record EP and I really do wish it was twice as long because I have yet to listen to it just once through and then move on. I usually play it 3 times actually before pushing on. There is promise of a full length somewhat soon.

Teeth Swarm/Shift/Sequence/Spawn (Ramp Recordings)

This is chill dubstep or post dubstep or just cool electronic music that’s mostly about head nodding (I seem to do a lot of that).
[Buy Online] 

//TENSE// Consume EP (Desire)

This is another instance of having come out in one form in 2010 (CDr) and then getting an LP release a bit later (actually in 2011). Tense also released a 12” (“Escape”) in 2011, but I have not gotten my hands on that yet. I do want it. Heavy bat cave vibes filtered through early Ministry.
[Buy Online] 

Trust Bulbform (Sacred Bones)

Trust played a show with Balam Acab at Le Poisson Rouge (NYC) that I attended. I had seen Balam Acab at Wesleyan a couple weeks (week and a half perhaps) prior and I actually enjoyed that performance from him (and her; live accompaniment) a bit more. Trust however blew me away with how much I enjoyed it. Keeping on the bat cave theme I remember saying how transported I felt back to the days of the Bat Cave / Albion at club Dowtime in Manhattan or the Bank on Houston Street (clubs that are now long gone). It was a pleasurable dark dancing time. Looking forward to more than just an EP from this act (next month!).
[Buy Online] 

Various Artists 116 & Rising (Hessle Audio)

For a while I had a hard time getting the Hessle Audio stuff into the shop and then when I finally could with ease this came out and I listened to it in abundance. Forward thinking bass music; not dumbed down square wave tsunami drum n bass for certain. I’d love to mention just about every track on this (James Blake is on it which is easily the most recognizable name).
[Buy Online]  [Original Review]

Various Artists Bangs & Works Vol. 2 (Planet Mu)

I loved volume 1 of this. I love volume 2 equally. Equally. Volume 1 was on my favorites list last year. Here’s number 2! Chicago juke joints.
[Buy Online] 

White Ring Hey Hey, My My + Felt U (Handmade Birds)
White Ring Black Earth That Made Me (Rocket Girl)

The “Black Earth…” release is another that is technically a re-release. The Neil Young covering release however is definitely a fully-fledged 2011 release. Cathartic and hovering droning darkwave glitch (witch house).
[Buy Online] 

So, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed that. Again, feel free to come in and tell me how much you disagree or agree with any of it or let me know what I left off (I know I’ll be telling myself some things down the line). Yell at me for including basically ZERO hardcore or metal releases (oh well, that’s how it fell for me this past year). There’s already been a couple releases of 2012 I’m pretty sure will make a year-end list. Here’s to music! If you’d like to keep more up to date with what I’m listening to I also run a podcast/radio show/mixtape/a bunch of music that I introduce and occasionally talk about/blog/tumblr over at NothingUnderTheSun.Tumblr.com.