2001 half gone

Aw, fuck it. I'm going for a WALK. In the FRESH AIR!!! I am going to turn off the computer and the CD player and go see what is outside in the world.

Slight negative tendency with: Tricky, not-so-great-Jaxx album and 50% shite Spiritualized album. Still, minor points.

I think this year has been quite disappointing up till now. My favourite (everyone will crucify me I am sure) up to now is the new REM. They have never made any better music. It is melodious, light, a little experimental and Michael's voice and lyrics are great. Maybe Amnesiac is a good album, I did not buy it yet but from what I heard it is quite good. The othert stand-out disc I bought has been recorded twenty years ago. Les Bains Douches by Joy Division. Their best concert which has been released officially. That seems to be symptomatic. There is so much hype and rubbish around. Think of the new acoustic movement or how were they called, it seems to be already over (it probably never started). And then something like kitschy Sigur Ros which is only bearable with 5 kilos of wax in the ears (Odysseus is greeting). I cannot say anything about Techno, it is not my cup of tea, it is not really creative music, it is only programming.

Last year was great with Giant Sand, Yo La Tengo and Godspeed YBE! releasing landmark albums. Let's hope the second half of 2001 will be better.

250 Albums of 2001 So Far The first 6 Months - a memory jogger list

1. Aarktica - Morning One (Ochre) 2. Abigor - Satanized (A Journey Through Cosmic Infinity) (Napalm) 3. Dan Abrams - Stream (Mille Plateaux) 4. Adult - Resuscitation (Ersatz Audio) 5. The Advent - Time Trap Technik (International Deejay Gigolo) 6. Air - 10,000 Hz Legend (Virgin) 7. The Album Leaf - One Day I'll be on Time (Tiger Style) 8. Alder And Elius - Parental Guidance (Skam) 9. Ambidextrous - Errorism (Shaped Harmonics) 10. Amp - Saint Cecillia Sinsemilla (Space Age) 11. Appliance - Imperial Metric (Mute) 12. Atlon Inc - Main Things (Force Inc) 13. AndOceans - A.M.G.O.D (Century Media) 14. Angels of Light - How I Loved You (Young God Records) 15. Aphelion - Aphelion I-iV (Iris Light) 16. Appendix Out - The Night is Advancing (Drag City) 17. Arab Strap -The Red Thread (Chemikal Underground) 18. A Quiet Revolution - A Quiet Revolution (Poptones) 19. Assemblage 23 - Failure (Gashed) 20. Atomsmasher - Atomsmasher (Hydrahead) 21. Autechre - Confield (Warp) 22. The Avalanches - Since I Left You (XL) 23. Bad Company - Digital Nation (Bad Company Recordings) 24. Badmarsch & Shri - Signs (Outcaste) 25. Bardo Pond - Dilate (Matador) 26. Basement Jaxx - Rooty (XL) 27. Bed - The Newton Plum (Ici d’ailleurs) 28. Below The Sea - Loss of Our Winter (Alice in Wonderland) 29. Beneath Autumn Skies - Enki Dus Mono (Hefty) 30. Justin Berkovi -Transit (Music Man) 31. Blue Foundation - Blue Foundation (April) 32. Bogus Blimp - Cords.Wires (Jester) 33. Bolz Bolz - Human Race (Feis) German Import 34. Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun (Birdman) 35. Bows - Cassidy (Too Pure) 36. Frank Bretschneider - Curve (Mille Plateaux) 37. Bridge & Tunnel - Without Ghosts (Harmsonic) 38. Bronx Dog - Enviro (Marble Bar) 39. Paul Brtschitsch - Venex (Frisbee) 40. Burnt By The Sun - Burnt by the Sun (Relapse) 41. Cage Decay - Radio Penetration (Syncromesh Productions) 42. Calla - Scavengers (Young God Records) 43. Cane141 - Garden Tiger Moth (Décor) 44. Cannibal Ox - Cold Vein (Def Jux) 45. Nick Cave - No More Shall We Part (Mute) 46. Cex - Starship Galactica. (555) CD Ep 47. Chris Clark - Clarence Park (Warp) 48. Nels Cline - Destroy All (Atavistic) 49. Clouddead - Clouddead (Big Dada) 50. Coloursound - Auspicious Beginnings (Space Age) 51. Loren Muzzacane Connors - Portrait of a Soul (FBWL) 52. Continous Mode - Disinformation Design (Klang) 53. Couch - Profane (Kitty Yo) 54. Crane A.K - Pink Eyed Pony (Force Tracks) 55. Cranes - Future Songs (Dadaphonic) 56. CRUNCH - Nullpluz.Nz (Musik Aus Strom) 57. Daft Punk - Discovery (Virgin) 58. Dashboard Confessional - The Places You Have Come To Fear the Most (Vagrant) 59. Defenestration - One Inch God (Dream Catcher) 60. Delarosa and Asora - Agony (Schematic) 61. Vladislav Delay - Anima (Mille Plateaux) 62. Depeche Mode - Exciter (Mute) 63. Richard Devine - Lipswitch (Warp) 64. Diablerie - Seraphyde (Avant Garde) 65. Diabolical Masquerade - Deaths Design (Avant Garde) 66. Dimmu Borgir - Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia (Nuclear Blast) 67. DJ Shufflemaster - Exp (Tresor) 68. Downer - Downer (Roadrunner) 69. Durutti Column - Rebellion (Artful Records) 70. Eblake - Limit (Deluxe) 71. Echo & the Bunnymen - Flowers (Cooking Vinyl) 72. Elbow - Asleep In The Back (V2) 73. Electrelane - Rock it to the Moon (Let’s Rock) 74. Electric Company - Slow Food (Planet mu) 75. Electro Group - A New Pacifica (Omnibus) 76. Eltro - Velodrome (Absolutely Kosher) 77. Brian Eno & J Peter Schwalm - Drawn From Life (Virgin) 78. Ester Drang - Goldenwest (Burnt Toast) 79. EU - Reframing (Pause 2) 80. The Ex - Dizzy (Touch & Go) 81. Exos - Strength (Force Inc) 82. Fennesz - Endless Summer (Mego) 83. Fidel Villeneuve - Kill Life (Digital Hardcore) 84. Flux Information Sciences - Private / Public (Young God Records) 85. Foetus - Flow (Nois O Lution) 86. Four Tet - Pause (Domino) 87. Burnt Friedman - Burnt Friedman Plays Love Songs (Nonplace) 88. Frolic - To Dream, Perchance to Sleep (Projekt) 89. Funckarma - Solid State (Dub) US Import 90. Funk D’ Void - Dos (Soma) 91. Further Seems Forever - The Moon is Down (Solid State) 92. Anja Garbarek - Smiling & Waving (Virgin Norway) 93. Geiom - Sellotape Flowers (Neo Ouija) 94. Gimmik - Slow Motion Process (Worm Interface) 95. Gnac - Biscuit Barrel Fashion (Poptones) 96. Gridlock - Trace (Possesive Blindfold) 97. Hanged up - Hanged up (Constellation) 98. Haste - When Reason Sleeps (Century Media) 99. Herbert - Bodily Functions (Studio K7) 100. Jori Hulkonnen - When One is Watching (F Communications) 101. Icarus - Squid Ink (Output) 102. The Icarus Line - Mono (Crank) 103. Ikon - On the Edge of Forever (Metroplois) 104. Isan - Lucky Cat (Morr Music) 105. Isis - Celestial (Hydrahead) European Release 106. Jan Jelinek - Loop Finding Jazz Records (~scape) 107. Juno - A Future Lived in Past Tense (de Soto) 108. Kammerflimmer Kollekief - Maander (Temporary Residence) 109. Kante - Zweilicht (Kitty Yo) 110. Karaboudjan - Sbrodj (Relapse) 111. Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gone Down (Peaceville) 112. Keelhaul - Keelhaul 2 (Hydrahead) 113. Inigo Kennedy - The Bigger Picture (Missile) 114. Kettel - Dreim# CD (KracFive) 115. Kinski - Be Gentle With the Warm Turtle (Pacifico) 116. Alexander Kowalski - Echoes (Kanzleramt) 117. Labradford - Fixed Context (Kranky/Mute) 118. Ladytron - 604 (Invicta Hi fi) 119. Leafcutter John - Microcontract (Leaf) 120. Hakan Lidbo - After the End (April) 121. Hakan Lidbo - Tech Couture (Poker Flat) 122. Leisurehive - Spasm (Operative Records) 123. Life Without Buildings - Any Other City (Tugboat) 124. Lift to Experience - The Texas Jurasalem Crossroads (Bella Union) 125. Longstone - Static (Ochre) 126. Low - Things We Lost in the Fire (Kranky) 127. Lowsunday - Elesgiem (Projekt) 128. Machine Drum - Now You Know (Merck) 129. Madder Mortem - All Flesh is Glass (Century Media) 130. Mahogany - The Dream Of A Modern Day (Darla) 131. Jake Mandell - Love Songs for Machines (Carpark) 132. Manitoba - Start Breaking My Heart. (The Leaf Label) 133. Manual - Until Tomorrow (Morr Music) 134. Markant - Infam (Markant) 135. Martin - Male Caucasian (Skint?) 136. Matmos - A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure (Matador) 137. Chris McCormack - There are Better Ways (Potential) 138. Meat Katie - Long to Belong (King Size) 139. Melodium - QuietNoiseArea (Disasters by Choice) 140. The Mercury Program - All the Suits Began to Fall off (EP) (Tigerstyle) 141. Robert Merdzo - Wide/Out (Disko B) 142. Metamatics - Dope for Robot (Hydrogen Dukebox) 143. Mice Parade - Mokoondi (Fat Cat) 144. Minus - Jesus Christ Bobby (Smekkleysa) 145. Mira - Apart (Projekt) 146. Mogwai - Rock Action (Southpaw) 147. Monomorph - Departure Can’t Wait (Nature) 148. Roy Montgomery - Silver Wheel Of Prayer (VHF) 149. Christen Morgenstern - Hawaii Blue (Forte) 150. Mouse on Mars - Idiology (Domino) 151. National Skyline - This = Everything (Exit 13) 152. Neotropic - La Prochaine Fois (Ninja Tune / Ntone) 153. The New Year - Newness Ends (Touch & Go) 154. No Man - Returning Jesus (3rd Stone) 155. Raz O'Hara - Reality (Kitty Yo) 156. Old Man Gloom - Seminar II: The Holy Rites of Primitivism Regressionism (Hydrahead) 157. Ooioo - Feather Float (Kool Arrow) 158. Optic Nerve - Pharaoh’s Doorway (Delsin) 159. Orbital - The Alltogether (ffrr) 160. Roland Orzabal - Tomscats Screaming Outside (Eagle) 161. Ovuca - Wasted Sunday (Rephlex) 162. Pan Sonic - Aaltopiiri (Mute) 163. Paradise Lost - Believe in Nothing (EMI Chrysalis) 164. Andrea Parker - The Dark Ages (Quatermass) 165. Penfold Plum - Scribbled I Infant (Wichita) 166. Penumbra - Skandinavien (Iris Light) 167. Laurent Pernice - yypah (Moloko) 168. Phoenecia - Brown Out (Schematic) 169. Phonem - Hydro Electric (Morr Music) 170. Pilote - Do it Now Man (Certificate 18) 171. Plaid - Double Figure (Warp) 172. Anton Price - Collapse of the State Vector (Audioview) 173. Portal - Tristesse (Alice in Wonder) 174. Prefuse 73 - Vocal Studies & Uprock Narratives (Warp) 175. Project Pitchfork - Daimonion (east west Germany/Metropolis) 176. Proem - Negativ (Merck) 177. Stacey Pullen - Today is the Tomorrow you Were Promised Today (Science) 178. PSI Performer - Art is a Division (Kanzleramt) 179. Radiohead - Amesiac (Parlophone/EMI) 180. Rainer Maria - A Better Version Of Me (Polyvinyl) 181. Re: Mnant - Remnant (Constellation) 182. Red House Painters - Old Roman (Sub Pop) 183. Retina - Volcano Waves (Hefty) US Import 184. Rollerball - Trait Of The Butter Yeti (Road Cone) 185. ROTOR+ - Aileron (Statra Recordings) 186. Rothko - In the Pulse of the Artery (Bella Union) 187. Rovo - Imago (Incidental) 188. Esa Ruoho (Lackluster) - Spaces (Undercover) 189. Ed Rush & Optical - Wormholes (Virus) 190. Safety Scissors - Parts Water (Plug Research) 191. Salvatore - Clingfilm (Racing Junior) 192. Janek Schaefer - Above Buildings (Fat Cat/Bubble Core) 193. 2nd Gen - Irony Is (Blast First) 194. Duncan Sheik - Phantom Moon (Atlantic) 195. The Shipping News - Very Soon, And In Pleasant Company (Quarterstick) 196. Shudo - Shudo (Quatermass/555) 197. Shun - Michael in Reign (Own) 198. Shur-i-Kan - Advance (Freerange) 199. Silo - Alloy (Swim) 200. Sirius - Spectral Transition - Dimension Sirius (Nocturnal Art) 201. Sister Sonny - While Others Dance (Sister Sonny) 202. Skitz - Countryman (Ronin) 203. Skycamefalling - 10:21 (Ferret) 204. Slam - Alien Radio (Soma) 205. Somatic Responses - Augmented Lines (Hymen) 206. Sonna - We Sing Loud Sing Soft Tonight (Temporary Residence) 207. South - From Here on in (Mo Wax) 208. Spoon - Girls Can Tell (Touch & Go/Merge) 209. Squarepusher - Go Plastic (Warp) 210. Starflyer 59 - Leave Here a Stranger (Solid State) 211. Mikael Stavostrand - Reduce (Force Inc) 212. Styrofoam - The Point Misser (Morr Music) 213. Supersilent - 5 (Rune Grammofon) 214. Systematic - Systematic (Elektra) 215. Nobukazu Takemura - Hoshi no Koe (Thrill Jockey) 216. Dave Tarrida - Paranoid (Tresor) 217. Thorns - Thorns (Moonfog) 218. Thread - Abnormal Love (Middle Pillar) 219. 310 - After All (The Leaf Label) 220. Thursday - Full Collapse (Victory) 221. Andreas Tilliander - Ljud (Mille Plateaux) 222. TLM - Electrastars (Hydrogen Dukebox) 223. Tool - Lateralus (Music For Nations) 224. To Rococo Rot - Music Is A Hungry Ghost (City Slang) 225. Tortoise - Standards (Warp) 226. Trance to the Sun - Atrocious Virgin ((Precipice Recordings) 227. Twig - I Sweat Tobasco (Rabid Badger) 228. Ufeari - Killing Time (Isolated) 229. Ulver - Perdition City (Jester Records) 230. Underwater - This is Not a Film (Submarine) 231. Unearth - Stings Of Conscience (Eulogy) 232. Unwound - Leaves Turn Inside You (Matador) 233. Ilpo Vaisanen - Asuma (Mego) 234. Gez Varley - Bayou Vardis (Force Tracks) 235. Vert - Nine Types of Ambiguity (Sonig) 236. Violet Indiana - Roulette (Bella Union) 237. Void Construct - Estramay Aleph (Cyronica) 238. Vitriol - I-VII (Neurot Recordings) 239. Otto Von Schirach - 8000 B.C (Schematic) 240. Windy & Carl - Consciousness (Kranky) 241. Woe - Last Stop (Some) 242. Xploding Plastic - Girlfriends Go Proskirt (Beatservice) 243. Susumu Yakota - Grinning Cat (Leaf) 244. Yellow 6 - Music For Pleasure (Rocket Racer) 245. Kevin Yost - Road Less Travelled (Distance) 246. Zao - Self Titled (Solid State) 247. Zero 7 - Simple Things (Ultimate Dilemma) 248. Zorn - The City's Collapsing (But Not Tonight) (Lux Nigra) 249. Zoviet France - The Decriminalization of Country Music (Tramway) 250. Zyklon - World OV Worms (Candlelight)

Oh dear. And you started out so well, too...

Personally, I've really enjoyed 2001 so far. I do think that Daft Punk and the Avalanches are somewhat overrated and I haven't heard the air album, but I do have the new Depeche Mode, the new Tool, the new Unwound, the new Radiohead, the new Squarepusher, the "Tomb Raider" soundtrack, the new Orbital, and I've heard much of Bjork's new one. All of these are DA BOMB.

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I cannot say anything about Techno, it is not my cup of tea, it is not really creative music, it is only programming.

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Yawn.

Fortunately, there's Built To Spill, Beta Band and Super Furry Animals releases this month alone.

Oh, I know this is a 2000 album, but we didn't get it over here until this year, so Mum's Yesterday was Dramatic is also very good. Selon moi, anyways.

Favourite albums so far this year:

Daft Punk - Discovery; Herbert - Bodily Functions; V/A: Andrew Weatherall - Hypercity; Basement Jaxx - Rooty; V/A: Masterstepz - Ayia Napa 2001; Missy Elliot - Miss E... So Addictive; Skitz - Countryman; V/A - Clicks & Cuts 2; Cannibal Ox - Cold Vein; Air - 10,000 Hz Legend; Radiohead - Amnesiac, Matmos - A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure

The Avalanches' album was my favourite album from last year, so it would be greedy to list it again.

Skitz's "Countryman" is definitely up there, but that's partially because we've been waiting so long for a decent british hip-hop album. It's no "Low end theory" but it's full of solid tracks, really interesting british mc styles and a dollop of soul.

I love the new J-Live album as well, (can't remember the name of the damn thing - only bought it last week) as it's just a great example of really sensitive subtle production and intelligent complex lyrics, without slipping off into pretension.

Missy is quite clearly in there, as ever.

And 5Deez have been producing amazing singles all year, so hopefully there'll be an album to come soon...

That's it, DJ Martian has finally flipped. Since my finances don't allow for new records, I have a grand total of 3 new 2001 records. The Daft Punk album is pretty great.

But, anyway.

Unlike the majority of the NYLPM / ILM posse, I don't have much to say about the Daft or the Air or the Jaxx. Still an indie rocker at heart, I guess - ashes to ashes, blah blah. Albums by Rainer Maria, Ida, Low, Radiohead, and many (more obscure) others have kept me happy these past 6 months. I really want to say that the Lightning Bolt disc (_Ride the Skies_ - a bass / drum duo from Providence, RI; they roXor, I think; similar to Ruins, but with more oomph and no prog-rock flourishes) is my 2001 #1, but it's early, and I hate ranking.

(I've a list of notable faves on the frontpage of my website, if you're deathly curious. Complete with linkage, too, except where there's no linkage.)

Off to post about upcoming thingies.

This feeling is contradicted, though, by the fact that of all the records everyone has mentioned on this thread (as far as I know - DJ Martian mentioned so many), I have either not heard them or, if I have heard them, I consider them Duds.

Daft Punk: Aberdeen Dud. Air: perpetual Dud. Nick Cave: always and invariably Dud. Tricky: always utter unspeakable Dud. Spiritualized: feeble Dud. Yo La Tengo: pretentious ATP Dud. Sugababes: totp Dud. Radiohead: Later Dud.

As far as I can remember, I have not heard a single good new record this year. I could be forgetting something, though.

Oh, yes, I was forgetting something: Costello's OK new collaboration with Anne-Sophie Mutter (much of it covers).

The best way I can think of to describe it is some cross between _Wings Of Joy_ and _Loved_. It's very good (but some of this reaction may stem from being surprised that it isn't as dire as _Population Four_). I will give a better description once I've played it again.

Plus the Boredoms' Vision Creation Newsun.

Still trying to get my hands on Toulouse's New Points New Lines. . .

Also, Pinefox, I wonder how much time you spend looking for new music. Maybe it's just not important & there is plenty of back catalog to mine. No big deal.

Anyway, what I was getting at w/ the first part of my question is that gathering information about new music is so much easier now. Get on a few mailing lists, check out some boards and listen to some stuff online, and you can zero in on something you might like in no time. And it doesn't neccesarily take a lot of dough. I probably like 90% of what I buy, because I've done my homework before laying down the cash.

When I was growing up in 80s I never even bothered to think what was happening in Japan, Germany, etc. That stuff was so far off the radar it never entered my conciousness. Now I can just surf over to Amazon, check out some reader reviews, listen to Realaudio, and One-click it (I actually rarely buy from there, but you get the idea.) I'll bet there are 1,000 albums released every year that I would enjoy if I had the chance, and I'll be lucky to hear 1/10 of them.

Good stuff so far: Matmos, Mouse on Mars, Mum, Clicks + Cuts 2, Labradford, Windy & Carl, Vert, Jan Jelinek, Nobukazu Takemura. I bought the Boredoms last year but it's also excellent.

Other greats: the new Gravitar called "Freedom's Just Another Word For Never Getting Paid", New Pornographers' "Mass Romantic", the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra record, the Christian Marclay / Otomo Yoshihide record on Asphodel, Lesser's "Gearhound", and the William Parker Quartet's "O'Neal's Porch". I can't decide whether or not to add Autechre's "Confield" to that list, it might be a bit early.

Honourable mentions also to Bonnie Prince Billy, Radiohead and Daft Punk. High hopes for the Jackie Leven CD - Creatures of light and darkness which I'm getting soon.

1. 'Listen to music online' - may be available to you - not available to me.

2. Lloyd's Negatives LP is great, but came out in 2000.

Best reissues - Neu! Neu! 75 and Joy Division's Les Bains Douche live. Side one of Neu! 75 is beyond beautiful.

biggest disappointment of 2001 so far: square-fucking-pusher