top of page
Search

The best records of 2021 (part three)

Updated: Dec 4, 2021




Ignatz & De Stervende Honden - An Absolute Pleasure

This record sets the perfect laid-back tone for the third mix in this series wrapping up ‘21. I’ve always been a fan of Miles Devens' work, and have many a cassette, LP and CDr from his various projects. However, it’s been a long time since I’ve grabbed a record by the man and this recent collaboration with rhythm section De Stervende Honden is an absolute belter. In recent years Devens’ Ignatz project has placed his voice forward a little more and lost some of the heavy scuzz of his early recordings. This follows through here with cleaner production, but none of the soulful alien blues has been lost. There is the addition of strong rhythms and grooves throughout that make for an utterly awesome trip. One to enjoy a beer or five to.


Sunburned Hand of the Man - Pick a Day to Die

In a similar vein to the Ignatz score, I hadn’t picked up a Sunburned record in an age. And this blew my socks off in much the same way. All a little cleaner with tighter grooves and the kind of sounds that make you wanna reach for a pint and dance like a tit. This is another classic from Three Lobed and puts them close to the top of my favourite labels of the year list. The title track feels like vintage Sunburned Hand of the Man with a massive dose of Neu! Definitely on a bit of a psychedelic trip with these opening tracks and it feels good as I’ve been missing a good jam. The first three records on this list are well worth bingeing back to back. Just see if you can reach the end whilst still seeing straight.


Vapour Theories - Big Ship

I am a huge Bardo Pond fan and an even bigger Gibbons fanboy. I have so many records by these brothers and never tire of their incredible sound. This record came out soon after my birthday and it’s been a regular spin since February. Pressed on gorgeous gold vinyl it looks and sounds like a dream. If I was to make any other type of music it would be what these guys are doing. Heavy, psychedelic rock full of heart and sky-gazing. For such a balls-to-the-wall heavy fuzzy track, ‘Big Ship’ is deeply emotional and full of hope and sadness. I don’t know how they do it but they truly transcend through their sound. One day I will own everything they’ve both put out. I’m so grateful to Fire Records for releasing so many awesome reissues and side projects. Also kudos to Three Lobed for releasing Bardo Pond in the past. Drift away on this big ship of sound, it’ll take you to some far-out places.


Perila - Desert Blue

I was crazy about Perila’s first full-length LP on Sferic and missed this on cassette back in 2020. I was super excited to see this reissued on vinyl in 2021. This is an audio collage of a record with a hundred ideas chopped and regurgitated throughout. It’s an unusual listen and an exciting one, as it defies repeat listens. There’s a lot to unpick. I love the loose nature of this track and it seemed to fit perfectly after the thunderous sonic assault of the last piece. It also reminds me very much of Ignatz and has that outsider blues glint. She has created something so different from what I’ve heard from her before and this record wowed me like the first time I heard a Deux Filles LP. Desert Blue has that Christina Carter/ Grouper feel and reminds me of some of the best DIY cassette tapes of the late 00’s. Everything she makes is just awesome and I can’t wait to hear more.


Maurice Louca - Bidayat (Holocene)

One of my favourite label newsletters comes courtesy of Sub Rosa. It’s a great label and although you can grab everything via Bandcamp it still feels like the mailorder labels from 20+ years ago. I always listen to what they put out and this record grabbed me by the ears. There is so much going on throughout this record and it’s both exciting and bewildering. This is music from the Egyptian underground and if the scene is producing stuff as magic as this I’m all in. Many parts of the record open up and tread the crazy paving of free jazz, yet all held together with Louca’s playing. There are elements of musique concrete and noise that work incredibly well with the more traditional improvised sounds. There aren’t many records that sound like this and it seems to have captured a deeply live and improvised aesthetic while remaining anchored in a rich narrative. If you were to score a new version on Naked Lunch, then look no further.


Yoshi Wada - The Appointed Cloud (excerpt)

After the tragic passing of Yoshi Wada this year, listening to this glorious performance again felt even more moving and impactful. The actual performance is huge so I have included an excerpt here. The pipes are so devastatingly piercing that you are instantly taken to an alternate plane in an instant, like passing through a black hole. This recording captures the opening performance, staged at the Great Hall of the New York Hall of Science, for which Wada brought together four musicians on bagpipes (Wada, Bob Dombrowski, and Wayne Hankin) and percussion (Michael Pugliese) to perform with the installation, operated by David Rayna. Quite a few live performances have made my list this year and it’s incredible to see and hear many of these come to vinyl for the first time. This is one of those performances I would have loved to have witnessed, but somehow the music is so captivating I am transported there by just closing my eyes. Many things are described as awesome but this genuinely is. The scale and scope is huge and the sound even bigger. Well done Saltern for putting this out. It’s like having a million wasps in your space helmet but in the best possible way. And when the percussion hits it’s just incredible. Not for the faint-hearted.


Jim O’Rourke - Too Compliment

This is the second time Jim O’Rourke has turned up on this year’s list, but this time he’s on his own. O’Rourke produces more quality music than any other artist I know and that’s probably why he’ll always have a record on my best of the year list. Too Compliment landed out of the blue and was a welcome fresh blast from O’Rourke. The record kicks off like Autechre has swallowed The Little Book of Pierre Henri. Things move at pace as O’Rourke travels the realms of abstract electronic sound-play, in intricate and incredible ways. This definitely feels like a GRM suite, yet this one landed on DDS, which was a real surprise. This is a record you could hear once and be totally satisfied; not like an instant earworm - but like seeing an event movie like Hard to be a God or The Turin Horse. It also warrants repeat listens, and I’m yet to uncover all its mysteries. For some reason, I could also hear this scoring a Safdie brothers movie.


Pavel Milyakov & Bendik Giske - 3

Another repeat. Second up for Bendik Giske, but this time he’s joined by Pavel Milyakov. He really has become one of my new favourite discoveries this year. His playing is incredible and his sound is so unique and gorgeous. I’m not sure whether I like this record more or less than his solo effort ‘Cracks’. To be fair I think they are on par and work perfectly as a double. The additions that Milyakov adds are so wonderfully restrained and well-placed that you can only marvel at how he’s elevated the sound without trashing it with overproduction. Giske’s voice is still clear and present throughout. This record is a delight.


Crys Cole & Oren Ambarchi - Weather Report

I won’t bang on about just how important Oren Ambarchi is to me as a lover of music. There are several LPs on this list where you can hear him play, as well as a solid number of releases from his label Black Truffle. Crys Cole is also another artist I adore and this is her second appearance on my list. This time she teams up with Ambarchi for a live set. Yes… another live recording. Maybe this is fulfilling the absence of live shows in my life over the last two years. The music was recorded at White Room, upstairs at 4 Church Street in downtown Nanaimo. The label says “on this night in Nanaimo BC, Oren and Crys sat at a pair of tables. Oren held a guitar and his table was covered with electronics. Crys held no instrument in her hands, but her table contained a mass of objects, some clearly electric in nature, others looking more like random bits found in a kitchen drawer. Working with these tools and microphones to amplify their voices and/or gestures, the pair created the two pieces here -- wonderfully flowing soundscapes from imaginary vistas of otherness.” This was the last performance at the venue which no longer exists. Another casualty of the times.


Lawrence English - A Binding

From one Australian to another. This time over to Room 40 owner Lawrence English. This is not the first time he’s been on one of my AOTY lists. The reason for this… he makes the most incredible walls of sound. I have painted and read to this record so many times this year. I have found myself creating as the drones engulf me, and for me that is a true sign of something special and beautiful. This record landed on the wonderful Hallow Ground, a young Swiss label with the most incredible line-up of artists. No idea how you build a portfolio of work like they have. But go check them out and listen to everything. There is something about the track ‘A Binding’ that captures the Goldilocks drone. It’s a balance of sounds that one could drift away with indefinitely. Gentle shifts evolve but I would happily stay in this bubble of noise for an age. This is a big record and one that welcomes a loud listen. Another great thing about this record is that you can absently drift along with it, but you can also actively swim in its waves of sound. This is a marvel and the reason I keep returning to it.



You can buy the music featured here:






 
 
 

Comments

©2021 Peter Taylor

bottom of page