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“What are you listening to at the moment,” he asked me over a coffee? My mind went blank and I said so, adding “I could give you five different answers in five different moments, just not right now. Let me get back to you.”

So here's one answer.

walking around – Cabaret Voltaire + adjacent work

If we look at the overall life span of Cabaret Voltaire, 1994 isn't strictly “late” but it's at the very end of Stephen Mallinder's time with the band, when they'd gone fully instrumental, morphing well beyond their delightfully scuzzy early years and mid-80s frontier synthpop deep into house territory – remember the 90s? The Conversation hits a groove and still feels like the band, though, and also feels like plenty of other Richard H Kirk work, such as Electronic Eye's Neutrometrik from 2000.

I discovered a 2022 album from Stephen Mallinder called tick tick tick this morning, and it made a good accompaniment to my Saturday suburban wander. The album keeps that same late-CV house vibe, with some of his familiar vocals lingering amongst it. I hope I could be a tenth as creative when I'm 67!

resting at home – Sparklehorse

On the way home from the gym yesterday, I popped into the bottle shop to get a bottle of wine for the weekend. The young person behind the counter was listening to Sparklehorse, rather surprisingly. I told her how I appreciated the reminder, and she said “I'm trying to listen to whole albums.” What a great choice!

If you haven't tried them, the first two albums vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot and Good Morning Spider are worth your time – they careen between fuzzy noise and careful, heartfelt moments.

working from home – Fennesz

I'm fortunate to find myself in a position, after some years of crazily busy jobs, where I have space to listen to some background music as I work. (Christian) Fennesz' work is a long favourite of mine for his warm fuzz and enveloping tones that take a different tack from shoegaze-y acts, which might be the first thing you think of when you read “warm fuzz and enveloping tones”. Quieter, and more contemplative, and closer to drone-like bands. You could try Venice or Endless Summer but my favourite by far is one he did with Jim O'Rourke, cunningly called It's hard for me to say I'm sorry.

#music #NowPlaying #CabaretVoltaire #Sparklehorse #Fennesz

This was a post from Cos.

You can follow this blog on the Fediverse at @cos@apintandaparma.club or subscribe in your RSS reader.

I don't often have the energy to write anymore, but I'll ride it while it's suddenly here. My listening this year wasn't particularly exploratory – I let my sub to The Wire lapse a few years back, and I miss the serendipitous references it brought me. With that, here we go:

Favourite things released this year

  • Tindersticks – Soft Tissue – I’m calling it a comeback, as this grabs me somehow more than other recent and not-unpleasant work. It hits a definite groove, and it's a masterpiece.
  • Cindy Lee – Diamond Jubilee – A box full of experiments, some of which work, and a couple of which are transcendent – Not unlike a Guided By Voices album of old in that respect, except that it’s a two-hour behemoth with a bit more 60s-inspired fuzz/reverb. Glorious.
  • DIIV – Frog in Boiling Water – Warm, familiar, and making the sounds they’re so good at, but the feeling that Something’s Not Right is unavoidable. A strangely unsettling album.
  • Jessica Pratt – Here in the Pitch – when I inevitably wake up from whatever dream this life is, I expect to hear Jessica Pratt's music softly playing, before the grand revelation that my existence was all part of some late-60s experiment.
  • Adam Wiltzie – Eleven Fugues for Sodium Pentothal – what I'd probably be listening to just before I wake up from that dream.
  • Klein – marked – Definitely the kind of album I’d only hear about from one of two places – The Wire magazine, or one of Boomkat’s e-mails. I heard about it purely by chance, but it's the kind of discovery I relish – someone's out there pouring themselves into slabs of noise like this, and it's beautiful.
  • Snarski vs Snarski – Waiting for the Bell – Two musical brothers take their turns with each others’ songs through the ages, giving a bit of new life to familiar tunes via each of their lovely voices. Come for Crossing off the miles, stay for Be careful what you put your name to.

Pleasant Discoveries from other times

  • The Sorcerers' Ethiojazz-inspired tunes. I saw this video playing silently in the window of a shop in Northcote one evening. Not long afterwards, I saw some other reference to the band, which led me to In Pursuit of Shai-Hulud. Sometimes the universe sends you signals, I guess.
  • Tony Molina (thank you acb!) who reminds me of Elliott Smith, Guided by Voices and something else.
  • Hollie Cook – Happy Hour in Dub which I found hard not to enjoy.
  • Voice Actor – Sent from my telephone – what if your stoner friend popped in every now and then with some random dream memories or other observations? I've listened through the whole album, but this feels like the perfect kind of source material to drop into a mixtape or two.

Continuing Earworms

  • Drab Majesty gives us the 80s of our dreams.
  • Spunsugar gives me one take on the 90s in my dreams.
  • Night Tapes – drifting felt like a fine slice of dream-poppy excellence.

Recent releases I'll take into next year

I need to spend some time with these to form proper opinions.

Late 2023 releases I brought into this year

  • bdrmm – I don't know – nice fuzzy noise that hits the spot. I see the next album's on the way in February, too.
  • Blonde Redhead – Sit Down for Dinner – if you're looking for a soundtrack to feeling overcome by wistfulness, this might be it. Had I seen them play back in June, I may well have drowned in my own tears.
  • Hermanos Gutiérrez – El Bueno Y El Malo – currently replacing Khruangbin as the band you'll hear in many inner-suburban situations, and rightfully so – a second example of brotherly excellence in this list, too.

Three albums I keep coming back to

No notes on these three – I encourage you all to find out for yourselves.

#music #EndOfYear #NowPlaying

This was a post from Cos.

You can follow this blog on the Fediverse at @cos@apintandaparma.club or subscribe in your RSS reader.