First Half Highlights - The Top 20

A Closer Listen

We’ve reached the midway point of 2018, and polled our staff to discover their first half highlights!  This is a great way to keep track of what we’ve reviewed so far and are still enjoying in July.  We suspect many of these will end up on our Year-End lists!  A couple of things stood out in our survey.  No album received a consensus, as only one album was listed by three writers.  This means the year’s #1 album may still be out there!  And each of our genres received some love.  We hope you’ll enjoy our selection, and perhaps discover something you may have missed!

Our cover image is taken from Pinterest ~ wow those cookies look good!

Ambient and Drone With so many ambient submissions coming in, it’s easy to be overwhelmed.  At one stretch, we received over a hundred ambient albums in a single month!  That’s a lot to sort through, but we’ve still managed to find some favorites.  Ian Hawgood + Danny Norbury‘s Faintly Recollected (Home Normal) is an early highlight we received in time for the holidays.  This 33-minute piece is decorated with segments of soothing chimes, perfect for contemplation and meditation.  The calm vibe continues in Cheekbone’sつかの間 [Tsuka no Ma], especially on the track “Hidden Dancefloor,” which may inspire slow dancing in the chill-out room.  This is just one of a host of tapes covered in our article on Muzan Editions.  Early in the year we were also reunited with site favorite Strië, whose Perpetual Journey (Serein) provides a thoughtful elegy for Laika the Space Dog.  With the 2018 World Cup taking place in Russia, it’s a great time to revisit this elusive and engaging EP.  Winter also brought us Stories of Disintegration from Swoop And Cross, a moody yet lovely release on the consistently impressive Time Released Sound, featuring the usual over-the-top packaging (pictured above).  Gray Acres‘ self-titled album on Sound in Silence splits the tonal difference between ambient and drone, offering a soft option that washes over the listener like fog.  But for all-out drone, the clear standout is Rafael Anton Irisarri‘s Midnight Colours on Geographic North.  Expanding on the theme of The Shameless Years, he provides a soundtrack to the Doomsday Clock, existing in a space of “morbid optimism.”  We still have the opportunity to change.  But will we?

Electronic A variety of moods come to play in our Electronic section.  Sonae‘s I Started Wearing Black (Monika Enterprise) is a personal and political proclamation: music that is tired of living in an ambient house and is ready to let loose.  The transformation is incredibly empowering.  The prolific Brett Naucke spent a lot of extra time – years, in fact – on The Mansion (Unifactor Tapes), and it shows.  The album is so nuanced that even multiple plays are not enough to illuminate its hidden treasures.  Months after release, it still sounds new.  Erased Tapes may be known for their modern composition artists, but Rival Consoles beats them all for inclusion on our list.  The creative Persona may fold in a few of those classical instruments, but nothing stops the beat.  It’s hard to tell from the cover who’s red and who’s black, but wow, what an image!  And a pair of seeming opposites unite as Venetian Snares x Daniel Lanois on Planet Mu, their wild inspirations performing a pas de deux the likes of which we haven’t heard since Rossz Csillag Alatt Született.

Experimental This has always been our most exciting category, and 2018 is no exception.  We’ve already encountered an album inspired by poisonous wort; a co-composition with a machine; etched records used as art; a three-dimensional die-cut CD; a USB stick embedded in a branch; and a release of one.  Ricarda Cometa tops them all with an insane cover and music to match, bursting with energy and verve.  Ricarda Cometa 2 (Nefarious Industries) may not be the official score to the Mexican World Cup, but it still may cause a small earthquake.

Field Recording & Soundscape Field recordings and soundscapes have been hard to find this year, as many of the top labels have gone on hiatus or have reduced their output.  But our intense searches have been rewarded, and in terms of variety and intrigue, this has been an incredible year for the genre.  At the end of the year, it’s going to be hard to choose just ten.  But at least one is a lock:  the Institute of Landscape Architecture‘s Melting Landscapes, which makes a powerful environmental statement through sound and image.  Watch this teaser video for a sneak peek at the images found in the album booklet.

Modern Composition The newest selection is this article was only released last Friday, but is already making an impact.  Floex & Tom Hodge’s A Portrait of John Doe (Mercury KX) is an expert blend of modern composition and electronic experimentation, accompanied by a series of remixes, the latest by Max Cooper.  Many artists attempt to cross-pollinate, but this is the rare duo that succeeds.  Anders Lauge Meldgaard‘s  At Synge Verden Ind I En Ny Og Mangefoldet tid (Singing The World Into A New And Manifold Time) (År & Dag) is a very different sort of experiment, this one involving eight tempi played by eight performers at the same time.  Miraculously, it all works.  On Closing Statements, (Mirakel), Kaada offers a series of pieces inspired by last words, yet avoids both sadness and treacle.  “It Must Have Been the Coffee” is the standout track in this inspired set.  In contrast to such restraint, Maciek Dobrowolski embraces loss on Ephemera, reflecting an emotional poem by W.B. Yeats.  The listener can hear the sorrow, but hope floats on its tears like a sturdy raft.  This brings us to the most recent album on our list to have been reviewed: Rachel Grimes‘ tender soundtrack to the documentary The Doctor From India.  Her piano compositions are bolstered by violin, flute and sax, making this a standout in the film score category as well.

Rock, Post-Rock, Folk & Jazz For a while, we were getting worried about this category, as the highlights seemed slow to arrive.  At last things started to pick up this spring with the arrival of a new EP from World’s End Girlfriend, who won our Album of the Year award two short years ago.  MEGURI (Virgin Babylon) is a statement of grief, but oh-so-beautiful, in the manner only WEG can achieve.  Then came Spurv‘s titanic Myra, still the album to beat in the post-rock category this year and the only overall listing to receive more than two votes.  This is exactly what we’ve been missing in post-rock: power and purity, woven in a coat of strings.  And finally, we have a dark horse candidate (or perhaps in this case a light horse candidate).  Here at A Closer Listen, we review very little folk and even less music with lyrics, but Birds of Passage‘s The Death of Our Invention (Denovali) is both.  It’s fair to say that Alicia Merz has won us over.

How will these albums stack up come year’s end?  Stay tuned to find out!  For now, we wish all of our readers a wonder-filled second half ~ we can’t wait to hear what happens next!

Richard Allen

A Closer Listen

The year is half over, but the listening has just begun!  Once again, we’ve asked our staff to list their favorite albums released from January through June.  Like last year, we have no frontrunner; only two albums were listed by multiple writers.  But if the year were to end today, everything on this list would be in somebody’s Top 5.

It’s been a crazy year so far.  The United States almost went to war, then didn’t.  England almost split from the European Union, then didn’t.  We’re living in a state of extended anxiety, waiting for the other shoe to drop. This edgy feeling is reflected in the music we’ve been hearing, from pointed criticisms of border disputes to quieter offerings of calm.  Fear is on everyone’s mind, but nearly every musician we’ve met is trying to help. We’re proud to be part of this industry ~ it’s one of the better aspects of the world.

Ambient Ambient music on traditional instruments?  The presence of bass, clarinet and trombone makes Trio Ramberget‘s Musik att somna till (Music for falling asleep) stand out despite its intention not to stand out.  And these are indeed perfect timbres for drifting away, elegant in a time-honored fashion, a connection to a bygone age.  But let’s say you’d like to stay up a little longer.  In that case, Mount Shrine‘s haunted Ghosts on Broken Pavement may be the panacea.  Rain falls throughout the recording, which thrives on static and sluggish transmissions (Cryo Chamber).  The theme continues on Lillien Rosarian‘s a day in bel bruit, which imagines an entire town in which the residents have been replaced by radio waves.  One of the later additions to our list, we’re glad we caught it just in time.  These latter two releases owe a debt to The Caretaker, who simply owns the hauntology genre; Everywhere at the end of time/everywhere, an endless bliss completes a multi-year project inspired by progressive dementia, and its glorious conclusion is housed in a keepsake hardback book, highlighting the art of Ivan Seal.

Drone Kyle Bobby Dunn‘s follow-up to 2014’s The Infinite Sadness is a labor of love five years in the making. Guests from Loscil to Pan-American contribute to this stellar effort, a massive, nearly three-hour opus that moves from melancholy to muted hope, From Here to Eternity.  It’s worth the time to listen, because it makes time disappear (Past Inside the Present).  Also working in the extended form we encounter Simon Scott, who follows the single “Grace” with the album Soundings, concluding with the enveloping, quarter-hour “Apricity.” The album is about travel and perspective, shifting time zones, and leaving and coming home.  Hurricane Barney even makes a surprise appearance on “Hodos” (Touch). Black to Comm continues to impress, although Seven Horses for Seven Kings is more cool than comforting.  If anything, the album revels in agitation, confronting the rulers of this world and reaching for “transcendence through noise, beauty through intensity.”  This July, the follow-up EP Before and After extends the journey and thickens the plot (Thrill Jockey).

Electronic Catarina Barbieri‘s Ecstatic Computation was released in spring, but sounds like summer.  This Berlin artist makes the complex seem simple and the mechanical seem organic.  Her adventures in synth are perfect for a drive, a run or a walk, but they’ll sound even better in clubs, where pulsating rhythms and flashing lights produce an encompassing experience (Editions Mego).  Meanwhile, Andi Toma‘s Damn Luei Lit invokes a different sort of trance: that of the jungle, where primal chants meet pounding drums.  This single-track, silkscreened record brings listeners back to their original roots, while representing the playful side of the Mouse on Mars composer (Infinite Greyscale).

Experimental Crickets and clocks, seagulls and strings ~ one could be forgiven for thinking Sophie Delafontaine is writing a Dr. Suess book.  Her natural curiosity is just as great, and on Accord ouvert she translates her alliterative collections into electro-acoustic studies (empreintes DIGITALis).  After years of composing commissioned work, AGF found she had enough for an album; but the pieces didn’t fit.  Going back to the original masters, she terraformed her compositions until they began to flow as a unified work.  Machines and mushrooms, Indri and ice hockey all find rooms in this welcoming house.  And then there’s the wild set Anthology of Contemporary Music from African Continent, which sounds nothing like what we might have imagined.  The music is original and thrilling, drawing on local lore while introducing juxtapositions we never thought possible.  As part of a special offer, one can now purchase the digital edition of this release along with last year’s Lebanese compilation at a reduced price (Unexplained Sounds).

Field Recording & Soundscape The Black Isle caught our attention with a great cover, courtesy of artist Simonida Rajčević.  Then the blended field recordings and soundscapes of Manja Ristić drew us in.  She returned to the Korčula Island of her youth, only to encounter more modern sounds: nature and commerce at war, pristine ecosystems endangered.  She manages to find balance between opposing worlds, and in so doing invites others to attempt the same (Flag Day Recordings).  In related fashion, Kate Carr‘s Contact is a commentary on connection and disconnection in the digital age: zeros and ones delivered by human speakers atop the sounds of phones and computers.  If we could only stop communicating with thumbs, we might one day make contact (Gleaming Silver Ribbon).

Modern Composition Given the number of piano and orchestral albums we receive here, it comes as a huge surprise that a saxophone album is the placeholder for modern composition this season.  But it’s not just any old sax album.  Daniel Thorne (Immix Ensemble) layers his lines in such a way as to make the album sound like anything from an avant-garde troupe to a full brass band.  Lines of Sight slides from peaceful to raucous, demanding the attention – and the admiration (Erased Tapes).

Rock, Post-Rock, Folk & Jazz The lead story this year has been the number of high-quality post-rock releases, a huge relief to those who have encountered a dwindling supply in recent years.  But which are the best of the best?  No offense to the younger bands, but the veterans aren’t sharing their cake.  MONO takes some chances on Nowhere Now Here, and while not all of them work, we admire the band’s willingness to test boundaries; and there’s no denying that new energy abounds.  This release was followed by a reissue of Hymn to the Immortal Wind, perhaps the band’s finest mid-career album (Temporary Residence).  The Pirate Ship Quintet also made some adjustments, returning after seven years, dumping the screamo and adding choir and wordless voice to their already string-laden lineup.  Emitter is the follow-up we wanted after the band’s debut; we just had to wait a little longer to receive it (Denovali).  Our first half highlights also include a few outliers.  Mosaismic is a groovy, jazz-laden affair featuring gorgeous onomatopoeia, an improvisation trio and an electronic frosting.  The IKARUS quintet caught us off guard with this one, leading us where we didn’t know we wanted to go (Ronin Rhythm Records).  Replacing vocals with instrumentals is something we always encourage, and on Snaketime: The Music of Moondog, Dustin Laurenzi does this and much more.  He manages to reinvent these original songs while remaining true to their genesis, and improvises in such a way as to inject them with new life (Astral Spirits).  As for Euglossine?  Just look at that art; it virtually oozes summer.  Is this jazz fusion?  IDM lite?  It depends what track you’re on.  Coriolis flies by like a rogue cloud on a sunny day, offering contrast without that pesky rain.  Extra points awarded for making the sun look like a 45 adapter (Hausu Mountain).

What’s next? Fall is the music industry’s biggest season.  To provide some perspective, only two of last year’s First Half Top 20 appeared in our Year-End Top 20 (although many appeared in the top tens of their genre).  We’ve already received albums being released as far out as November, and we’re especially excited about the Red Dead Redemption 2 score (although we’re hoping for a full multi-hour release on USB stick or giant box set, rather than the highlight CD); Mute’s “4:33” tribute (delayed from April 1, when we weren’t sure it was for real) and the fourth part of Matana Roberts’ COIN COIN project (which we’ve already heard in full and can vouch for).  There’s plenty of great music ahead, but we hope this article has helped you catch up on music you may have missed!  (Richard Allen)

A Closer Listen

Happy July!  At the halfway point of the year, we’ve asked our staff to list their favorite albums of the year to date.  While not a complete indicator of year-end honors, last year six of our First Half Highlights made our Year-End Top 20.  We are especially thrilled to see that a few of the albums on our mid-year list were prophesied in our New Year’s Day article, The Top Ten Albums of 2023.  They’ve made it halfway; will they complete the race?

Another fun thing about this list is that only two albums were nominated by multiple reviewers, which means that 2023’s top prize is still up for grabs.  We’re already eyeing second-half releases by Spurs, Lawrence English & Lea Bertucci, and Jóhann Jóhannsson, Iceland Symphony Orchestra & Daníel Bjarnason as possible contenders.

Whether you’re catching up or looking back, we hope that you’ll enjoy this review of winter and spring.  We wish all of our readers a happy summer as well!

Alexander Stratonov ~ Bucha: Final Destination Original Soundtrack A harrowing event, partially caught on camera, has now become a documentary, a flashpoint for the Ukrainian people and a sobering reminder to the world not to look away.  The lives taken by Russian soldiers in Bucha cannot be resurrected, but neither can they be forgotten.  Stratonov’s score provides the requisite drama and sorrow.

Cruel Diagonals ~ Fractured Whole (Beacon Sound) A change of direction for the artist has led to the finest album of her career.  Every sound here stems from her voice.  In the same way as these sounds were first whole, then fractured and reassembled, so is the soul of Megan Mitchell and by extension, the listener’s psyche.

Drum & Lace ~ Frost EP (Self-Released) Does anyone remember winter?  Frost was released in January, and while the music may be melting now, its time will come around again.  The EP combines compilation appearances and remixes with new material, and comes across like a mini-pastry; after one has enjoyed it, one immediately wants more.

Erik Hall ~ Casto Ostinato (Simeon ten Holt) (Western Vinyl) Everything old is new again.  These pieces were written for piano in the 70s, and half a century later they reappear in a new form, multitracked with electronics.  The joy is palpable, while 106 sections flow like a single piece, each generation passing the baton to the next.

GoGo Penguin ~ Everything Is Going to Be OK (Sony XXIM) The sentiment may seem unrealistic, but it’s exactly what we need to hear right now.  Better yet, GoGo Penguin seems to believe it with every fiber of their existence.  The interplay between jazz, modern composition and electronics produces a palette of comfort.  Even though the album is instrumental, the title permeates the music.

Hammock ~ Love in the Void (Hammock Music) We started cheering for this album on January 1, and our accolades continue at the mid-year point.  While the preceding trilogy delved into personal heartbreak, the new album addresses communal uncertainty.  Shoegaze and post-rock seem uniquely suited to act as salves, and on this album, the guitars wash over the listener like grace.

Hollie Kenniff ~ We All Have Places That We Miss (Western Vinyl) The title is a perfect descriptor of the sounds within.  Literally, Kenniff’s family had to part with their multi-generational vacation home during the pandemic.  Literally and figuratively, we’ve all lost something ~ whether a location, a person or a feeling, and often all three.  The album is the personification of hiraeth, nostalgic and empathetic all at once.

Kate NV ~ WOW (RVNG Intl.) This is a fun one: no pretense, no guile, just a childlike joy in making sound.  The videos are bright and colorful, like toy boxes brought to life.  If one likes cats, birds, dinner and/or naps, they’re all here.  Bring the crayons; WOW is a play date for all ages.

KMRU ~ glim (Self-Released) With glim, the Nairobi artist returns to the ambience that established his name, yet adds field recordings and drone, and ends on an unsettling note.  Even in the middle, the notes wobble like kingdoms or mindsets waiting to topple.  The world is in flux right now, and so is the artist; the music is like a mirror, but it’s up to the listener to decide if it’s distorted.

Maud the Moth & tradedesaliva ~ Bordando el manto terrestre (Time Released Sound) Combining forces and strengths, Maud the Moth & trajedesaliva produce a unique document, a gothic-ethereal tribute to Spanish painter Remedios Varo, who lived in exile in Mexico but whose influence continues today.  Time Released Sound gives the release the treatment it deserves; the film can edition is especially evocative.

Neal Cowley ~ Battery Life (Mote) Battery Life asks a modern question: what is the value of a memory when virtually everything can be stored and replayed?  The music approaches this question at an angle, its melancholy timbres calling up memories and their associated feelings without use of words or images.  Neal Cowley’s conclusion: memories cannot be captured by one sense alone.

Oksana Hritseva ~ Mundane Levitation (система|system) This Ukrainian Field Notes gem may have been produced in 2001, but still sounds contemporary, especially when considering the contrast between titles such as “Love” and “Mindfield.”  How much of Ukrainian culture will be destroyed by the war?  For once, it’s encouraging to hear something unearthed, rather than eradicated.

PALLADIAN ~ Ocra (Loci Records) The music of this Barcelona duo exudes a pure Mediterranean vibe, arriving on the cusp of summer, eager to dive into the salty sea.  A slightly retro vibe permeates the recording, bringing back memories of an Ibiza DJ set or mix tape.  Let the music play, and let your soul be soothed.

Penelope Trappes ~ Heavenly Spheres (Nite Hive) Filtered, ethereal and solitary, Heavenly Spheres was recorded with only voice, a piano and reel-to-reel.  Fittingly, it was originally released on cassette tape, so listeners might create impressions of impressions, ghosts of ghosts.  Time seems to unravel along with the spools; Trappes is present yet disembodied, a mournful spectre.

PoiL Ueda – S/T (Dur et Doux) Evil spirits, naval battles and clan clashes populate the bizarre grooves of PoiL Ueda, which is itself a combination of forces: PoiL and Junko Ueda.  The music is as busy as the cover; there’s a lot going on here.  No single timbre dominates; the album is the epitome of experimental, characterized less by genre than by energy.

Sabiwa ~ Island no. 16 – Memories of Future Landscapes (Phantom Limb) If one were to sneak through the forest and happen upon a ritualistic ceremony from a lost Thai tribe, it might sound something like this.  Sabiwa draws on the traditions of the Thau, Bunun and Atayal people, yet creates an original melange.  The title is disorienting; in the story, as well as in the music, one wonders what happens next?

Sergio Diaz de Rojas ~ Muerte en una tarde de verano (Nettwerk) The album’s intimacy is apparent from its opening moments: the birds in the tress, distant family conversation.  Muerte en una tarde de verano is a mediation on mourning and loss, a tender piano suite that recalls loved ones gone and others in danger, and considers the worth of a single day.

Sigur Rós – ÁTTA (KRUNK) The event album of the year to date has yet to sink in, but it’s already made an impact on our staff. ÁTTA is pure emotion, exactly what one expects from the Icelandic trio.  But this time, they’ve been through the wringer as well as us; the album is a reflection of struggle and hard-won peace.

Tujiko Norito ~ Crépuscule I & II (Editions MEGO) This double album is gentle as a cirrus cloud.  Beginning with a prayer and ending with a promise (the nearly 19-minute “Don’t Worry, I’ll Be Here”), Norito sings and sways like a flower in the wind.  Less an album that one listens to than one experiences, Crépuscule I & II may change the emotional trajectory of one’s day.

ummsbiaus ~ Enerhomor (Mystictrax) The cover image was taken in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone; the label resides in the same area.  The world is still on edge, wondering if terrorists will cause a meltdown that affects all of Europe.  This industrial-edged EP emphasizes the danger while gracing it with a strange, unnatural glow.