With our best records of the year and decade in the books, here’s a chat we had a few weeks ago during the writing process. Let us know if you’d like more of these! (They’d be shorter than this)
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Howie and Cory Talk Best Records
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The Best Albums We Heard 2010-2019
A Tribe Called Quest, “We Got It from Here… Thank You 4 Your Service” (2016) – I worried about this one being way too sentimental or self-aware; a group resting on their laurels of being the best (by FAR) socially conscious jazz-rap bunch of all time. I shouldn’t have worried; this album bangs whether you’ve just heard of ATCQ or waited 18 years to hear it. -C 
Arcade Fire, “The Suburbs” (2010) – Still the template for festival-sized indie pop a decade on, and the record Arcade Fire’s career arc hinges on. And still a great listen. Shoo-in for lists like this. -h 
Autolux, “Pussy’s Dead” (2016) – Next-level musicianship – I’m talking Radiohead, here – that transcends guitarist/bassist/drummer while keeping grounded and maintaining some kind of thread throughout. A follow-up would be incredible. -h 
Bon Iver, “Bon Iver” (2011) – Justin Vernon took a zag into yacht rock and never really looked back to the cabin his debut was recorded in (though he continues to zig, in smaller doses). -h 
Brittany Howard, “Jaime” (2019) – Howard stands on the shoulders of others, from Sly Stone and Prince to her sister in whose memory the album is named, and carries them forward into her own vision of soul, and truth, and living in 2019. Immediate classic, and I can’t wait to hear what she does next. -h 
Carly Rae Jepsen, “E mo tion” (2015) – I’m always searching for pop perfection, and with this album, I found it. Synths, ’80s funk guitar, big beats, even bigger melodies. Look down at your person while listening and you will discover that you are dancing. -C 
D’Angelo, “Black Messiah” (2014) – Have you listened to this album lately? It remains as deep, mysterious, and vital as ever. Arguably the best album of the decade. -h 
Dark Satellites, “Be Still” (2016) – Even after accounting for my bias, Drew’s transformation this decade from Rent Money Big and Mars Lights riff-writer and noise-shredder to a dude who created songs like “Flyover” and “Noflakes” from bottom to top is a phenomenal artistic achievement. “Be Still” is his best to date (emphasis on “to date”). -h 
Derek Jennings, “Bummertown EP” (2014) – I can’t believe this guy. This is the kind of folk record you listen to and feel affirmed, inspired, heartbroken, in love… the whole thing. All the while, you can’t believe these timelessly perfect songs haven’t been around for 50 years; it feels like they’ve always been with you, just waiting to be sung aloud. -C 
Ex Hex, “Rips” (2014) – My favorite power pop record. Maybe ever. Absolutely unbeatable for any mood, any surroundings, and any company. “Rips” is the understatement of the 2010s. -h 
Fleet Foxes, “Helplessness Blues” (2011) – If you thought their self-titled was a rich tapestry of profound wisdom, harmonies, and stories told in ancient sounds, “Helplessness Blues” will kindly put you into space. -C 
HAIM, “Days are Gone” (2013) – Time to face facts: An exceptionally talented power-trio of Jewish sisters from LA gave us the ballsiest (and most fun) rock and roll record of the decade.They filled Laurel Canyon with gated reverb and made a glorious noise. -C 
Julianna Barwick, “Nepenthe” (2013) – About the catchiest ambient music you’ll ever hear, nothing sounds quite like Julianna Barwick’s layers of looped vocals, strings, and reverb. If a dream was a friend who was an autumn afternoon turned into a sculpture, that might be this record. -h 
Kanye West & Jay-Z, “Watch The Throne” (2011) – As a complete work, this record is more rewarding than the bulk of Kanye’s solo discography from the last decade. Kanye’s production is on point as always, but something about Jay-Z’s presence makes him a better (and much more likable) MC. Plus, it introduced the world to Frank Ocean and quoted Blades of Glory. -C 
Kendrick Lamar, “To Pimp a Butterfly” (2015) – Innovative, challenging, poetic, abrasive, intoxicating, haunting, demanding. This is the funkiest weirdest rap album of the decade and it’ll be years before anyone else catches up. -C 
Kurt Vile, “B’lieve I’m Goin’ Down…” (2015) – The spacey fever-dream of a down-home folk singer related through ghost-stories, waking dreams, and reverb. And so catchy! -C 
Major Games, “Major Games” (2015) – Loud, weird, melodic, and like nothing else; Major Games hits every vulnerability I have at once. Prospects of more music from the band appear dim, but there will always be this flawless LP. -h 
Mitski, “Be the Cowboy” (2018) – A pop record that effortlessly and fluidly encompasses disco, folk, torch-singing, and punk through songs you’ll have in your head for roughly 30 years. Even putting the brilliant production choices aside, the songwriting here is next-level; no one does it like Mitski. -C 
Müscle Wörship, “Müscle Wörship LP” (2013) – Some kind of sideways post-punk with incredible Jazzmaster vibrato abuse, I played this a bazillion times over the past six years and it never got stale. -h 
The National, “High Violet” (2010) – Equal to if not the band’s best ever, though it would have been heresy to say it at the time of its release following “Boxer” and “Alligator.” I’m a whole-album guy, but “Bloodbuzz Ohio” gets me going no matter what context I hear it in. -h 
Nine Inch Nails, “Hesitation Marks” (2013) – I keep telling people NIN is an Upside Down version of a soul band, and I feel like no one’s listening. This, Reznor & Co.’s most purely enjoyable record, remains vastly underrated. -h 
Pallbearer, “Sorrow and Extinction” (2012) – Pallbearer got me through a terrible year; these five eternal slabs of down-tuned existential despair let me feel like I wasn’t alone. Things are better, and “Sorrow and Extinction” remains just as great as always. -h 
Phases, “For Life” (2015) – A super-group that’s actually super! Alexander Greenwald from Phantom Planet, Z Berg from The Like, Jason Boesel from Rilo Kiley, and Michael Runion from… Buena High School in Ventura. Big ’80s pitch-shifting synth-pop with songs about dumb ex-boyfriends, convertibles, and havin’ fuuuuuuuuun! -C 
Quilt, “Plaza” (2016) – This is a classic bedroom-pop record that could have come from just about any decade. Like their name implies, their sound is warm and comforting, like your super smart friend from school who wears oversized sweaters and makes collages. Hearing it always makes me think, “Dang it, I need to start a band like this!” -C 
Real Estate, “Days” (2011) – A bunch of introspective sensi-jams bundled together, dipped in a dreamy batter, and fried whole in reverb-coil oil. Delicious. If you need to gaze out an airplane window and wonder where you’re going to land, this is your soundtrack. -C 
Robyn, “Body Talk” (2010) – Club banger after club banger, with twists of whip-smarts and a welcoming kind of gender and sexual openness; Robyn’s heart is on her sleeve, and she’s ready to grind you into the dirt with her heel at the same time, and you’re here for all of it. Undefeatable. -h 
The Roots, “How I Got Over” (2010) – Does anyone else love this record? It seems to exist in a forgotten interlude between their late-aughts barn burners and the more recent experimental stuff. It’s grown-as-hell rap and I think it slays (maybe because I’m grown as hell). -h 
Sheer Mag, “Compilation (I, II, & III)” (2017) – Sounding like a bunch of punks beating up Thin Lizzy in a dirty alley, Sheer Mag’s initial EPs captured lightning in a bottle of Schlitz and never let go. Beneath the scuzz, these are brilliant musicians doing brilliant work, but don’t tell them we noticed. -h 
Susanne Sundfør, “Ten Love Songs” (2015) – If you’re feeling TOO wistful when you hear this, you will likely drive into the country twilight while sighing heavily with remembering. Her voice soars and makes your heart ache. Plus, there are harps and weird Scandinavian pronunciations. -C 
TV On The Radio, “Nine Types Of Light” (2011) – I loved this record hard for several years, and while I don’t play it as often any more it still surprises me with its emotional warmth when I do. Who would have thought Brooklyn’s Radiohead had a song like “Killer Crane” in them, except I guess it makes all the sense in the world. -h 
Vampire Weekend, “Contra” (2010) – From the opening “In December, drinking horchata…” to the final “I think ur a Contra…” this album is flawlessly what it means to be, down to every polo button and Rostam overdub. -h 
Vhol, “Vhol” (2013) – What if some friends tossed of a prog-thrash record? Sounds terrible. But what if their day jobs were in Yob and Hammers of Misfortune?!? Sounds like one of the best metal records of the decade. The effortless beginner’s-mind, fuck-it-do-whatever vibe is key; yeah, it’s harsh at points, but it’s never not *fun*. -h 
The War On Drugs, “Lost In The Dream” (2014) – On paper, revisiting the post-“Born In The U.S.A.” heartland-rock-plus-synths sound doesn’t seem like a formula for emotional weight and resonance, but Adam Granduciel and his band transcend anything specific I can say about this music and make a whole that’s much greater than the sum of its references. -h 
Wavves, “Afraid of Heights” (2013) – Punk rock for the modern age. These songs are self-involved, self-loathing, self-explanatory, and they are SO BIG AND HOOKY! These power chords are monstrous and the lyrics are about weed! -C
Honorable mention:
Bully, “Feels Like” (2015)
Bummer, “Holy Terror” (2018)
Hiss Golden Mmessenger, “Hallelujah Anyhow” (2017)
Sleigh Bells, “Treats” (2010).
Sturgill Simpson, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (2014)
Weedpecker, “II” (2015) -
The Best Artists We Heard 2010-2019
This list represents the best discographies or bodies of work we heard in the past decade. A best albums list will follow. We chose to put artists on one or the other list, so don’t freak out that some of the top artists of the decade aren’t here.
Howie highlighted 19 artists with impeccable bodies of work; Cory went in-depth on his top three.
When I (Howie) sat down to write a few sentences about these artists, I struggled. Many of their records have already been on my best-of-year lists. I thought instead about what it means to create a strong series of works.
If you’re curious about any of these artists, go to your favorite streaming service (Spotify’s free tier is a decent option) and find their top tracks; it’s not like you can go wrong.
If I could earn a spot on a list like this, or a best albums list, I’d choose this one. These are the albums I reach for more often than not. These are the artists I trust to get me through an entire day. Brilliance is undoubtedly brilliant, but when you combine it with craft, and evolution, and call-and-response, you get something more.
These artists are doing what I aspire to do.
Aesop Rock, “Skelethon” (2012) / “The Impossible Kid” (2016) 
Alessandro Cortini, “Forse 1” (2013) / “Forse 2” (2013) / “Sonno” (2014) / “Forse 3” (2015) / “Risveglio” (2015) / “SPIE” (2016) / “Avanti” (2017) / “Volume Massimo” (2019) 
Baroness, “Yellow & Green” (2012) / “Purple” (2015) / “Gold & Grey” (2019) 
Beyonce, “4” (2011) / “Beyonce” (2013) / “Lemonade” (2016) 
Cosmic Ground, “II” (2015) / “III” (2016) / “The Watcher” (2016) / “Live” (2017) / “IV” (2018) / “Relics vol. 1” (2018) / “Relics vol. 2” (2018) / “Relics vol. 3” (2018) 
Craig Finn, “Clear Heart Full Eyes” (2012) / “Faith In The Future” (2015) / “We All Want The Same Things” (2017) / “I Need A New War” (2019) 
Dessa, “A Badly Broken Code” (2010) / “Castor The Twin” (2011) / “Parts of Speech” (2013) / “Chime” (2018) 
Doomtree, “No Kings” (2011) / “All Hands” (2015) 
Elder, “Dead Roots Stirring” (2011) / “Spires Burn / Release” (2012) / “Lore” (2015) / “Reflections of a Floating World” (2017) 
High On Fire, “Snakes For The Divine” (2010) / “De Vermis Mysteriis” (2012) / “Luminiferous” (2015) / “Electric Messiah” (2018) 
Janelle Monae, “The ArchAndroid” (2010) / “The Electric Lady” (2013) / “Dirty Computer” (2018) 
Jessie Ware, “Devotion” (2013) / “Tough Love” (2014) / “Glasshouse” (2017) 
Ka, “Grief Pedigree” (2012) / “The Night’s Gambit” (2013) / “Days With Dr. Yen Lo” (2015) / “Honor Killed The Samurai” (2016) / “Orpheus vs. the Sirens” (2018) 
Radiohead, “The King Of Limbs” (2011) / “A Moon Shaped Pool” (2016) / “NOTOK” (2017) 
St. Vincent, “Strange Mercy” (2011), “Love This Giant” (with David Byrne” (2012), “St. Vincent” (2014), “Masseduction” (2017) 
Tame Impala, “Innerspeaker” (2010) / “Lonerism” (2012) / “Currents” (2015) 
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, “Volume 1” (2010) / “Blood Lust” (2012) / “Mind Control” (2013) / “The Night Creeper” (2015) / “Wasteland” (2018) 
Wye Oak, “Civilian” (2011) / “Shriek” (2014) / “Tween” (2016) / “The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs” (2018) 
Yob, “Atma” (2011) / “Clearing The Path To Ascend” (2014) / “Our Raw Heart” (2018) 
Honorable mention:
Aleph Null
Big K.R.I.T.
Goya
In Solitude
J Mascis
LCD Soundsystem
Mastodon
The New Pornographers
P.O.S.
Spoon
Torche
Kacey Musgraves – With the advent of streaming, I rarely listen to the radio. It only happens when I’m stuck in a musical rut and need to shake things up.
That’s what happened for me during a morning commute in 2013, when I randomly tuned the FM dial to the local country station just in time to hear the beginning of “Merry Go Round,” Kacey’s single from debut “Same Trailer, Different Park.”
I remember being shocked that something this good was on the radio, and on the pop-country station to (cowboy) boot! With each passing lyric and transition, I kept getting nervous that the other boot would drop, and it would go into a shitty modern faux-nky-tonk bridge… but it never happened, and I was bowled over. I was also late to work, because I had to listen to the full song in my car first.
Once I got to my desk, I Googled the lyrics to find the name of the song, and I listened again immediately. I loved it even more, and gave her whole album a shot, and my heavens, what an absolute gem of a pop-country record. And I don’t mean pop music dressed up like country; I mean actual country music possessing actual choruses a la Patsy Cline or Willie Nelson or whomever else you want to name to sound hip.
Since that time, she’s just gotten better. She’s also been fully accepted and lauded by every type of music fan, a rare feat. “Golden Hour” turned her into Pitchfork’s Twangy Pet AND won her the Grammy for Album of the Year.
This proves how much Pitchfork has changed, but more to the point, it illustrates just how universal Kacey’s music is. She’s managed to speak to every soul in the world! Except for Howie because he does not feel, and because he has a complicated history with chaps and lassos.
Run The Jewels – Everything about this group is an anomaly, and everything about their success makes perfect sense.
I’d heard them referenced plenty of times without paying much attention, as much of the new (even critically praised) hip-hop in 2013 didn’t do it for me. How many times did Pitchfork trick me into listening to Lil’ Wayne before they became The Boy Who Cried “Dope”?
It was actually Howie that finally convinced me. He was visiting and said “Look up the video for ‘Run the Jewels’ (song) right now.” We did, and two things happened. One, I fell in love. Two, I realize that these weren’t new rappers at all. They were two middle-aged rappers with a lot of cred but nothing more than a cult following to that point. I would have said that individually, each had already peaked. But something about them trading verses over El-P’s production is lightening in a bottle.
Seven years and three monstrously powerful albums later (with a fourth dropping any day now), RTJ has established themselves as perhaps the most important “new” hip-hop duo so far this century. It’s heartening to know that such previously underground mainstays still have something new and exciting to say, AND that people were able to get on-board, zero hesitations, with two middle-aged regular-looking MCs who bear zero resemblance to anyone else on the charts. It makes no sense and perfect sense at once.
Surfer Blood – I love pop songwriting, an art that’s a lot more discerning than it gets credit for. You have to do something highly interesting in about three minutes, without overstaying your welcome, being TOO weird, or sounding trite. Really, it’s almost impossible to do with any regularity.
That’s why Surfer Blood is, no-question, my band of the decade. Album after album, they put out grunge-surf rock that recalls weirder and less commercial influences while exhibiting the same level of pop melody and sensibility that made Foo Fighters and Weezer famous. There’s something about power-chords, reverb, vulnerable lyrics, and driving rhythm sections that gets me every time, and no other band has done it better.
They’ve also defied some serious challenges, including original guitarist Thomas Fekete’s untimely death in 2016 from cancer. Few bands survive something like that; of the ones that soldier on, most of them sound watered-down, like they’re going through the motions. Surfer Blood went on to put out one of the more experimental and profound albums of their career with 2017’s “Snowdonia.”
I have no idea what the future holds for Surfer Blood. What I do know is that JP Pitts’ songwriting hasn’t faltered yet, and I feel only joy when I hear their music. For my money, no other band has given us this many records at this level of quality this consistently in recent memory.
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The Best Music We Heard In 2019
Aesop Rock and Tobacco, “Malibu Ken” – AR drops more of his hyper-literate, yet easy-flowing narration of life’s mundanities over 100% analog synth beats. I love this album and have listened to it a thousand times, with no sign of tapering off. -h 
Alvvays, “Alvvays” (2014) / “Antisocialities” (2017) – Got into this band in a huge way this year. They are most everything I want in a new-to-me band. Dreamy, catchy, short-song writers, uh… ’90s-sounding? This is what my crush would have put on my mixtape in ’97 if this band had been around back then. And if I had a crush who had made me mixtapes. One day! -CK 
Aspect Deletion, “Isolation” (2008) / “Coercion” (2014) – Ambient-ish music that feels like it was made personally for me; that’s how close it comes to my tastes and interests. I don’t mean to appropriate its brilliance, it’s just that part of my love for it is my feeling of “get out of my head!!” when I hear it. -h 
Baroness, “Gold & Grey” – The mighty Baroness, now with Gina Gleason on lead, casts a wide net that yields a varied and heavy catch. “Borderlines” is my song of the year. They’re one of the best live acts on the road, too. -h 
Brittany Howard, “Jaime” – Howard stands on the shoulders of others, from Sly Stone and Prince to her sister in whose memory the album is named, and carries them forward into her own vision of soul, and truth, and living in 2019. Immediate classic, and I can’t wait to hear what she does next. -h 
Carly Rae Jepsen, “Dedicated” – A slightly different strand of pop than E-MO-TION. More… innocent AND nasty somehow. Still incredibly catchy. The production is a little subtler, too. I mean, it’s still in-your-face, but it isn’t AS bombastic. Although it is very fantastic. (Lord forgive me for what I have done.) This record flirts with me for nearly an hour, and that’s all I want from CRJ. -CK 
Chad & Jeremy, “Yesterday’s Gone” (1964) – I’ve heard “Summer Song,” I love “Summer Song,” everyone’s heard “Summer Song.” It’s extra-white cheese. I think it also may be one of the prettiest songs of all time. It’s 10 pounds of wistful in a three-minute bag. -CK 
DJ Richard, “Grind” (2015) / “Dies Irae Xerox” (2018) – DJ Richard’s minimalist-ish synth music isn’t always dance-able. It’s more about choices and curation, like wandering a sculpture garden. I spent a lot of car time with these records this year; that’s where they seemed to make the most sense. -h 
Everly Brothers, “Cathy’s Clown” (1960) – I’d heard the name of this song 1,000 times in Elliott Smith’s “Waltz 2” before actually hearing it. I finally decided to listen and discovered that I am a huge Everly Brothers fan. WTF. The part where they harmonize over “And I die each time I hear the sound.” Phew. Sign me up to smooch them BOTH. -CK 
Ex Hex, “It’s Real” – Mary Timony and company move out of the garage and in to the ’80s, taking the hooks with them and answering the question “What if Helium and Def Leppard exhanged a few members?” -h 
Hans Zimmer, “Inception: Music From The Motion Picture” (2010) – Spooky horns. Ominous. Perfect for driving at night. The WORST for driving at night, depending on whether you’re alone and whether you’re thinking about the fact that there might be someone on the floor of your backseat just waiting to slice open your Achilles’ BUTT. Also, the music is better than the movie. That movie still seems like all flash and no substance to me. Whatever! -CK 
Heldon, “Electronique Guerilla (Heldon I)” (1974) – A standout from my still-in-progress buy list after reading Jason Heller’s “Strange Stars.” Sounds shockingly similar to Drew’s Night Mode records, as though he’d gone back in time, and I’m 99% sure he’s neither heard Heldon or time-traveled. -h 
howie&scott, “V for Voice” – When I make my year-end list, I first look at my Spotify stats, and this almost eluded me; it was the CD from their release show that I played nonstop. This record is the culmination of everything h&s does well. The songwriting is diverse, the arrangements weird, the lyrics earnest yet not naive, the message both heavy and uplifting. This is near the top for me this year, and I STILL haven’t unearthed it completely. -CK 
Jeff Tweedy, “Warm” (2018) / “Warmer” – After ambling – very productively! – since 2007’s “Sky Blue Sky,” Tweedy picks up the thread and carries it forward both here and on Wilco’s “Ode To Joy.” He’s happy, healthy, and has turned his eye directly and openly on the big questions: death, joy, and the tiny moments that add up to a life. “Warm” is the equal of anything else he’s done (i.e. some of the best records of the last 30 years). -h 
Jon Hopkins, “Singularity” (2018) – Another Howie-told-me. Started listening early this year… well, actually right after reading Howie’s 2018 list last year, and it was EXACTLY what I was looking for. Eerie beautiful electronic soundscapes hinting at universal themes of danger, sex, laundry, NFL strikes, EVERYTHING. This one’s an icy twilight banger. -CK 
Kacey Musgraves, “Golden Hour” (2018) – This record is bizarre. It came it at #1 in Pitchfork’s 2018 list, #1 on Rolling Stone’s 2018 list (I think), and won the Album of the Year Grammy for 2018. Well-deserved, as it’s an amazing record… and yet it’s still just the third-best proper Kacey record! This one’s a little less country and a little more lite rock n’ roll, but you can get past the gloss and relish in the songs like always. -CK 
Laurie Spiegel, “The Expanding Universe” Unseen Worlds reissue (2012) – Beautiful, playful, experimental synth music that only becomes more interesting as I’ve learned about how it was made. Spiegel is a giant and a gem in multiple fields, and while she was an accomplished musician before these recordings were made, they’re what brought her into wider public consciousness. -h 
Lizzo, “Cuz I Love You” – I am just getting to this now. Every time I hear it, I like it more. A week ago, I heard it for the first time without distraction, and I was like “Oh hey EFF who is this? Siri? Alexa? Shazam? KAZAAM? SHAQUILLE?” and once I found out it was Lizzo, I finally understood the hype. Not sure about “Juice” yet but that’s only because I need to hear it a few more times. -CK 
Mitski, “Be the Cowboy” (2018) – On Howie’s list last year [It was not; ??? -Editor], so of course I got way into it this year. Second-to-none songwriting, superb arrangements, funny AND haunting lyrics like a clown cemetery. When the double-vocal comes in during “Why Didn’t You Stop Me?” I lose my MIND. And “Meet Me at Blue Diner,” well, if that doesn’t make you pine for even the exes you didn’t like that all that much, I am not sure what to say. -CK 
Prince, “Originals” – Most artists (Hi!) would kill for records as good as Prince’s *demos,* as this collection demonstrates. This could be your first Prince record or your 100th, and it’s equally enjoyable either way. The estate is headed in the right direction for his legacy (and the wrong one for my wallet). -h 
Pusha T, “Daytona” (2018) – Absurd. Sinister. Scary. Brutal. Caustic. Pusha T is a fucking monster and I would never, ever want to rap-battle with him. Or regular-battle. Maybe a Battle of the Sexes since we’d be on the same side, or a Battle of the Bands if the rules were that you had to play guitar. But that’s IT. If anyone wrote a diss-track about me like the one Push wrote for Drake with “Infrared,” I would change my name and sail away. -CK 
Stephen Malkmus, “Groove Denied” – Malkmus’ post-Pavement output is criminally underrated, and he turns in a concise set of nuggets here. There are a few electronic experiments (which work quite well!) including the lead single, but this is mostly familiar-but-great territory; cantankerous, funny, and charming. -h 
Superdrag, “In The Valley Of Dying Stars” (2000) – When Cory told me Superdrag’s career didn’t end with 1998’s “Head Trip In Every Key,” I was intrigued. When I tracked down ITVODS it blew me away, taking me straight back to the music of my college years with all of the gratification and none of the baggage. -h 
Surfer Blood, “Covers” – I love this whole record, even though you couldn’t have convinced me that we needed another version of “Hey Ya!” floating around. We probably still don’t, but they really bring out the sadness that goes over our heads in the original. Most of all, I love this record because I got to hear songs I already love PLUS it FINALLY helped me get into Liz Phair. “Fuck & Run” is SO. GOOD. And man, is it sad. -CK 
Talk Talk, “Spirit Of Eden” (1988) – On P4k’s rec, I bought this unheard. This recording defies description. It obeys, and defies, the logic of dreams. It is wild; it gives the sense of animals and elements and storms and growing plants. It whispers and screams. By some coincidence it became my soundtrack for driving Kansas Highway 36. -h 
The Sluts, “Break Their Heart” – Lawrence, KS’s local punk-ish, alt-ish guitar-and-drums duo refine their sound with every release, reaching a new concentration of hooks, heaviness, and a kind of knowing, winking meatheadedness on this year’s EP. A must-have for ’90s kids. -h 
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, “The Social Network (Soundtrack)” (2010) – Love this for many of the same reasons I love Jon Hopkins, except this one’s a little rowdier and more aggressive (because it’s NIN, even though Atticus didn’t officially join until later, I think). It’s great! Really captures the rage we feel when Mark Zuckerberg helps commit treason. -CK 
Vampire Weekend, “Father of the Bride” – This is a near-perfect album, and by that I mean ~14 of the 18 tracks are transcendent… and the others are bizarre. They’re not even bad, but they disrupt the flow. Make the duets with D-Haim a stand-alone EP, and I’d love both the record and the EP more! And if you took out the pitched “Boy” from “2021,” and the autotune at the end of “Bambina,” even better. I only nit-pick because this is a truly stellar record. -CK
Honorable mention:
Alessandro Cortini, “Volume Massimo”
Craig Finn, “I Need A New War”
Fennesz, “Agora”
J. Robbins, “Un-Becoming”
remst8, “Droneuary” / “Chrysalism v2”
Selvedge, “Don’t Sweat Infinity”
Sunn O))), “Life Metal”
Torche, “Admission”
Varma Cross, “Varma Cross”
Wilco, “Ode to Joy”
Wild Eye, “Mandalas III – VIII” / “Step Into The Temple”
William Basinski, “On Time Out Of Time”Contenders we still need to check out:
Bon Iver, “i,i”
Sunn O))), “Pyroclasts”
Solange, “When I Get Home”
Thom Yorke, “Anima” -
Updated: Just In Time For Thursday
In the years since I published Just In Time For Thursday, a fall/holiday/anytime vegetarian^ main course inspired by a Sweet Tomatoes pasta dish, it’s evolved quite a bit. Pasta is out (though you could still add it), chick peas are in, and whole spices are added at the start of the sauté, Indian-style.
^ Vegan, with the cheese garnish omitted
My normal batch is a double, in a giant 14″ skillet – 8-10 servings – but I’ve put measurements for normal humans below.
I love barleywine or any brown ale with strong hop characteristics and a good ABV kick as a pairing. The dish is quite sweet for a main; many regular browns don’t provide enough contrast. Stouts and porters can also work well, again if they’re not overly malty.
Recipe:
In a large skillet or shallow pan, sauté in olive oil over medium heat until browned:
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 4-6 clove garlic, peeled, smashed, and diced
- Crushed red pepper to taste (1-2 tsp?)
- Salt to taste
Add and sauté until just cooked through:
- 1-2 sweet potatoes, diced
Add and sauté until liquid is mostly absorbed/evaporated and apples are slightly softened:
- 2 cans chick peas, drained (or about 1 1/2 C dry chick peas, cooked ahead of time however you like)
- 1-2 Granny Smith apples, diced
- Optional: 1/2 bag spinach, roughly chopped
- 6 oz. or so raisins (or other dried fruit)
- Apple cider vinegar to taste (1-2 tsp?)
- Liquid aminos to taste (1-2 tsp?)
- Maple syrup to taste (1 T?)
- Salt to taste
Serve garnished with:
- Roasted, salted almond pieces, chopped or crushed
- Optional: shredded cheddar cheese
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Korg Monotribe Mods – Complete!
A couple months ago – September, after the h&s release and shows? – I impulse-bought a Korg Monotribe, which I’d always thought looked fun. The Monotribe is an analog synth, drum machine, and sequencer. It sounds kind of like The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou soundtrack (the Mothersbaugh pieces) in a box, but weirder and angrier if you want it to be.
It arrived, and little jams immediately started pouring out. Designer Tatsuya Takahashi and the Korg team did incredible work on this project, incorporating a wide variety of cool sounds into a simple interface. The 1-shot LFO, per-part Active Step sequencer, Flux mode for the synth sequencer, and sequenceable VCO gate time, drum roll, and VCO volume are particularly brilliant.
By necessity it has limitations – the drum sounds are fixed, the VCO can’t be turned off to play the filter or external input, the VCA is clicky, and all sounds get mixed down to mono – but the Monotribe’s PCB has some test points that open up possibilities for addressing most of these limits.
I read a bunch of message board threads, made a list, tested things, made a hardware plan, drilled the case, fixed some issues with the hardware plan, soldered, re-soldered, and did a couple more days’ worth of troubleshooting than I expected, but here’s what I’ve come up with.
Several of the mods came directly from the massive thread on Muffwiggler, including:
- VCO mute (allows for playing the noise, resonant filter, and/or external audio input on their own without the VCO)
- VCA slew (the Monotribe’s VCA is notoriously clicky. This is an on-off-on toggle with two levels of click suppression. Internally, I also replaced the one-turn VCA biasing trimpot with a 10-turn trimmer and re-biased the VCA)
- Bass drum / Rhythm mix / Hi-hat direct outs (the Rhythm mix out becomes a snare out when all three are used)
- BD and SD gain controls (higher gain = longer decay)
- SD noise and HH decay toggles
Stuff I came up with on my own:
- VCF touch controller (lets you play the filter with your fingers. Pressure-sensitive! Can do some fun almost-formant sounds)
- Giant arcade button to mute the drums while held down
- Put the SD noise and HH decay capacitors on a IC socket in the battery compartment so they can be any value, instead of hard-wiring in two decay lengths. Using small value resistors instead of caps can turn the SD into a tom sound and mute the HH
This should be great for little jams around the house, taking on the road, and as the heart of a pretty versatile mini rig with a few guitar pedals or other small boxes for collaborations or performances.
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Synth Pioneer Interviews
Waveshaper Media makes documentaries about electronic music and puts incredible, bite-sized versions of its interviews on YouTube. I’ve been making my way through their archive, and here are some highlights.
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Listening Rig
I finally had to buy an external hard drive to house my music library. (I’d replaced the old Mac Mini’s internal one 5+ years ago.) Below is my current daily listening rig.
Intel Core 2 Duo Mac Mini (circa 2007)
1 TB WD Elements external HD
OS X 10.5.8
iTunes 10.6.3 (<– a version that’s still good!!)
160 GB iPod classic (<– best ever!!!!!!!!)
Library: 35,000 items; 100 days of music end-to-endThe iPod will die some day – it’s already been through a few total fritz-outs and and full re-syncs – but that’s survivable. (This will probably be the event that prompts me to enter the smartphone era.) I’m not sure I can go on living without iTunes 10 and my library, though. I probably need to investigate some kind of solid state drive machine that will boot Leopard.
Or maybe there’s library management software on Linux that could replace iTunes.
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“Utopia Parkway” 20th Anniversary
The other week as I read the liner notes for Fountains of Wayne’s Out-of-State Plates while importing it to iTunes (yeah, still do that) I realized the 20th anniversary of their album Utopia Parkway had come and gone this past April, and I hadn’t seen anyone mention it.
Below is a lightly edited version of the email conversation Cory and I had about it.
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Monotribe Modding
A couple months ago I impulse-bought a Korg Monotribe synth. It proved even more fun than I expected to play, but its variety of sounds are necessarily limited.
After a lot of googling, planning, and testing, parts arrive tomorrow for a suite of modifications that will expand the Monotribe’s palette in some moderate but meaningful ways.
Enhancements include:
- Hi-hat, Bass drum, and drum mix (snare when the other two are used) direct outputs
- Hi-hat and snare noise decay toggle switches
- Bass drum and snare frame decay knobs
- Drum mix momentary mute button
- VCA de-click trim pot and toggle switch (the Monotribe’s amp envelope is notoriously clicky)
- VCO mute toggle switch
- VCF touch-sensitive cutoff control
Together, I hope these mods will take the Monotribe from the top end of the “fun-to-mess-around-with” bracket into the lower end of “serious instrument” territory. I fully intend to make a Monotribe-focused Night Mode record or two, and make it the centerpiece of a travel/jam synth rig with a very small footprint (think briefcase).
My hat is off to Korg for this incredibly creative and inspiring design. There are a lot of features that may not be obvious from the front panel, but that make the Monotribe incredibly musical, including:
- The various LFO modes
- Per-part active step (polyrhythms!)
- Gate length and amp level automation
- Wide mode on the ribbon controller
- Flux mode on/off on the VCO sequencer
- The interaction of the sequencer and the VCO active steps, which allows some really distinct sequences to be made easily
I could go on. Nothing could replace the MS-20’s place in my heart of hearts, but for instant playability I don’t know what beats the Monotribe.
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Photos of h&s in Crete
Thanks to Katie (who took the four of us on the street after the show) and Cory (sunset & indoor shots) for these pics from our August show in Crete.
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Nash on Songs
“Songs, they have to be recorded or they drive you crazy just being inside your head.”
What pushed Graham Nash, the quiet one, to record his solo masterpiece
— Graham Nash, summer 2019Rings true to me.
Sometimes it’s not even songs; it can be synth patches, or guitar sounds, or circuit ideas. Wrestling ideas out from the imagination and into the world.
Today it’s a drum beat, and maybe some synth mods.
Who knows what it might be tomorrow.
