Best Kranky Release

Mosquito Dream because its my, let me think, fourth favourite ambient album ever. close second for Aix Em Klemm.

this is so ridiculously hard.

Out of curiosity, what are your top three?

I'm tempted to go with Labradford or Growing, who I suspect will be underrepresented in the results, but my true choice has to be The Tired Sounds of Stars or the Lid, which has lulled me to sleep countless times in the years that I've owned it.

Out of curiosity, what are your top three?

ambient 4: on land, selected ambient works volume ii, shouting at the ground.

The Dead Texan for me.

tired sounds

ambient 4: on land, selected ambient works volume ii, shouting at the ground.

I need to give Shouting at the Ground another listen, it's been too long.

I have about 75% of the albums listed above and cannot decide.

Clear Horizon isn't going to get as many votes as it should, since (as far as I can tell) huge numbers of Flying Saucer Attack fans never found out that it existed (and that it was just about as good as FSA's best).

However, I think I have to go with whatever Jessamine album has that song where the chorus goes "la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la" (give or take a la or three).

clear horizon was pretty good.

KRANK 006 Labradford - A Stable Reference

though i also really like

KRANK 014 Bowery Electric - Beat
KRANK 068 Charalambides - Joy Shapes
KRANK 103 Christina Carter - Electrice

and jessica bailiff.

do i need to hear the autistic daughters album?

Clear Horizon isn't going to get as many votes as it should, since (as far as I can tell) huge numbers of Flying Saucer Attack fans never found out that it existed (and that it was just about as good as FSA's best).

I am now the next example of the proof of this. *I* didn't know it existed.

had no idea there was a new strategy record

i never got into prazision like other people i know/knew who did.

i've always really liked that first bowery electric album.

i might vote for that first magnog album just so it gets one vote. i still play my double vinyl once a year or so.

why do i still own those amp albums. such a snooze. wait, one was one of those darla things i think. then again, snooze is kinda what they were going for.

actually this will be good to see what people pick cuz i haven't heard a lot of these.

what an amazing label, though

why do i still own those amp albums. such a snooze.

Mean. The new three disc rarities comp is a trip.

ive been gettin into the keith fullerton whitman shit!

I went with Bird Show's Lightning Ghost, though Labradford's debut is the sentimental favorite.

Kranky has been one of the best labels in the world for nearly 15 years. Respect.

It's a great debut for both band and label, Prasizion -- it doesn't encompass everything either of them would ever do, of course, but I think as inadvertant manifesto it still is pretty quietly monumental.

the fact that I am not even thinking about voting for any of the GYBE albums says a lot about either Kranky, Godspeed, me, or ILM. I'm not sure which.

i dont see how I can vote against charalambides, low or keith fullerton whitman. this is really killing me.

Bernard, they'd be on the bottom of my choices as well.

ned, do you hate godspeed more than sigur ros?

aren't those your two most famous hates?

I actually probably do hate them more than Sigur Ros! But in both cases now it's mostly just a dull memory.

Clear Horizon isn't going to get as many votes as it should, since (as far as I can tell) huge numbers of Flying Saucer Attack fans never found out that it existed (and that it was just about as good as FSA's best).

This obsessive FSA fan bought it the second it came out, and yeah - it's as good as the best of FSA. It'll be a tough call between it, the s/t Labradford album, Dadamah, and Low's Trust

I caught sight of Roy Montgomery's Temple IV right after voting for Tired Sounds. I'd change my vote if I could but it would have been a close race even if I'd remembered.

ahh, man, i forgot/missed dadamah and temple IV. those are both great. temple IV was my bedtime music for years...

why do i still own those amp albums.

because who else wants them? astralmoonbeamprojections will probably be in my collection until i die because i know i'd only get a ha'penny's worth of credit if i traded it in.

the fact that I am not even thinking about voting for any of the GYBE albums says a lot about either Kranky, Godspeed, me, or ILM. I'm not sure which.

I might go for Slow Riot, fuck a hivemind. But there is also Prazision and Secret Name and STREETDAD, which are all really great. There's a lot of stuff in the last few years that I'm not familiar with at all

KRANK 063 Dean Roberts - Be Mine Tonight - this record is an absolute belter and definitely my pick of the bunch. The good sound of wood and wire creaking away in the twilight. Big cheers too though for Labradford on Mi Media Naranja for really nailing their Morricone thing there and also Low's Secret Name is def. the secret jewel in their back catalogue.

Would I like Flying Saucer Attack?

I still really like Amp's Darla Blissout thing. Their Kranky stuff hasn't aged so well though. astralmoonbeamprojections is worth more than half a cent in my book but Stenorette I liked at the time and now sounds like some horrible grab at "whoa, what did Bowery Electric do back there? can we try that too?"

I think this has to be Ballasted Orchestra (people choose Tired Sounds over this?) but I'm a little sad not to vote for Roy Montgomery or Windy & Carl. And Prazision was my introduction to Kranky (I actually didn't realise it was the first release) and fondly remembered for that. Needs a lot more thought.

Would I like Flying Saucer Attack?

Dunno Scik, but you might well like that Dean Roberts one. Not a million miles away from Mark Hollis in feel, except it's somewhat more dimly lit and low key, maybe some sort of dusky spectral counterpart.

dadamah

The 3CD Amp collection mentioned upthread holds up pretty well IMO, although I guess they were pretty second tier in the grand scheme of these things

I think this has to be Ballasted Orchestra (people choose Tired Sounds over this?)

Actually, in a decade or so I think And Their Refinement of the Decline may turn out to the consensus SOTL pick, but for now, it's a bit too recent. It's nice how the ambient genre tends to age much more gracefully than others. Maybe that's part of the reason why the Kranky catalog as a whole still stands up quite well.

i like the dadamah and christmas decorations albums a lot.

xpost you could be right, I do think the new SOTL will eventually reach a wider audience as well

i still never heard xmas decorations even tho them's my buddies steve and nick. ;_;

a stable reference

their new album on the community library label is really good too

x-post

i haven't listened to the autistic daughters cd in a while, but i remember it fondly. i'm a big fan of brandlmayr (drumming) and dafeldecker. and roberts of course. cool cover of 'rainy day in june.' for who's involved it struck me as being less than it should have been though.

i'm gonna have to vote for 'be mine tonight' even though i heart prazision, stars of the lid, dadamah. 'temple iv' is great too for montgomery fans. that magnog cd is soooo spacey and great! lots of cool stuff on this label, but i remember hearing a lot of duds too. i never liked windy and carl, doldrums were uhhh ok but not great either, didn't care for greg davis/bird show, out hud, tim hecker, kfw (though i definitely need to hear more of the latter). to be honest though, it was either 'be mine tonight' or 'things we lost in the fire' for me. i really don't get people who say they like this label but don't like low.

I was just listening to This Is Not a Dream the night before last, actually. Dadamah is one of my favorite bands of the '90s.

Dadamah are great. I still need one of their singles, though. Not "Radio Brain"; I have that one.

I voted for Tired Sounds, though.

I was looking up what happened to Roy Montgomery as of late and he appears to be teaching in either Canterbury or Christchurch, which makes sense. Anyway, yes, Dadamah, roxor.

oh ian the other single is the best!

is that why i always get outbid on it?

my top 5, vote in bold

Jessica Bailiff - Hour of the Trace
Low - Things we Lost in the Fire
Stars of the Lid - The Tired Sounds of...
The Dead Texan - The Dead Texan
Brent Gutzeit - Drug Money

great poll, btw

yah, which is why i wrote this:

magnog were ahead of the curve. if they were still around southern lord would snap that shit up.

-- scott seward, Tuesday, June 26, 2007 3:49 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Link

Ha. Whoops. Glossed over that. It is awesome.

the new strategy record is fricken amazing

has any label been so poorly served by offering 1 minute samples of tracks?

i broke down and voted for 'multiples' by keith fullerton whitman

maybe the best label ever

i broke down and voted for 'multiples' by keith fullerton whitman

If the 1st half of Multiples was as good as the 2nd half, I might've voted for it too. As far as KFW goes, I usually go for Playthroughs or Lisbon. I've never heard Hrvatski...am I missing out?

i went for KRANK 100 because it's still blowing my mind, and this poll is far too big for my tired brain.

i should probably have voted for KRANK 052, only i don't associate low with kranky in the UK, like.

Fuck it, I went with Streetdad. Although I love KFW much more as an artist.

hrvatski is not very similar to keith fullerton whitman's stuff. it is very idm / drum and bass frantic stuff. That being said, i love hrvatski, but not as much as his kfw stuff.

The descriptions I've always read of Hrvatski always make me think it sounds a bit like Venetian Snares. I'm not sure what I think about that, as I own several Venetian Snares releases, and never seem to feel like listening to any of them.

Some Hrvatski is in that sphere but a whole bunch is fairly removed from that. The collection of stuff Planet Mu put out, 'Swarm & Dither', covers most of his bases I'd say

I finally figured out the Jessamine song I was thinking of (curse bands who give non-intuitive titles to their songs). It's "You May Have Forgotten" from The Long Arm of Coincidence. One of the best songs ever, so that's my favorite Kranky release. Wish Jessamine had been slightly more consistant within their albums.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I always found Stars Of The Lid very boring.

Aw, lay off Stenorette, it's really nice! I appreciate that I may just have damned it with faint praise, but there you go.

I wouldn't have voted for GY!BE, but that's because Yanqui UXO appears to have been released on a different label.

I always found Stars Of The Lid very boring.

yep!

KRANK 098 Benoit Pioulard - Precis

this is the only one that got votes that i've never even heard of.

I always found low, gybe!, kfw, etc. very boring.

tired sounds ftw

aces!

Low was robbed :(

three votes for IAMKRANKY (I hate Kranky, Chicago, and music in general) even better

Heh, a fair few anonymous GYBE boosters here evidently (I voted for Slow Riot like what I said I would)

KRANK 098 Benoit Pioulard - Precis

this is the only one that got votes that i've never even heard of.

yeah, that and the Dadamah were the two with the highest votes that I'd never heard. I'm curious now.

I voted Growing in the end as I figured GYBE would get votes, I didn't realise that others would be into Growing as well.

KRANK 036 James Plotkin/Brent Gutzeit - Mosquito Dream

I finally got around to listening to this, and I think the first poster was OTM.

The first song is a slow motion battle between SOTLesque soft-edged drones and the shadows in the corner of the room. Second song sounds like a whip-it trip that won't end, and "Cloud Cover" would fit nicely next to Windy & Carl's "Balance (Trembling)". Do they have anything else out I should know about?

I reviewed that for KCOU back in the day LOL.
I don't know if those two guys ever collaborated on anything ever again.
Plotkin has done a ton of stuff (he was in Khanate, for instance).

http://www.godhaven.org.uk/blogimages/krankies.jpg

What a great label. It was a bit early in the year, otherwise I'd have thought 108 Strategy - Future Rock would have gotten votes. I think it made The Wire top 10.

Strategy - Future Rock

yeah, fine record indeed. has anyone heard his 'pacific agenda' 12" on dreck? i've been meaning to check that out.

I'm digging this Atlas Sound album (the dude from Deerhunter)--some really nice blissy stuff

^^YES YES YES

I've been trying to hold off on blowing my wad on this, but I've been listening to this nonstop since december and it never gets old. It's the perfect soundtrack to doing anything.

PS Plz to someone start the Atlas Sound thread because I don't want to suffer the indignity of starting both the Deerhunter and Atlas Sound threads.

IT IS INCUMBENT ON YOU TO START THE ATLAS SOUND THREAD.

I'm actually quite looking forward to the disc, tho I have no idea what it will sound like.

To All Record Labels: Plz to release at least a few interesting new discs in 2008.

This year is -- thus far -- horrid.

the atlas sound will not save 2008.though it's a nice record.

This has been a bad year, no? And it looks sorta bleak on the horizon.

What's up, 2008?

destroyer>boris > vampire weekend >the rest that i've heard from 2008, and the rest is boring mostly

Those ain't bad. I think I got spoiled last year. It seems like every week another album I highly anticipated came out, and didn't often disappoint. This year, by contrast . . . not so much.

It seems like every week in 2007 another album I highly anticipated came out, and didn't often disappoint.

Fixed.

we have 11 months left...

I know, but I'm judging it from the METACRITIC Upcoming Releases page, which I think you posted in a thread. YOUR THREAD DEPRESSED ME.

(j/k)

it's always my fault!

maybe it's time to dig the old stuff instead.

plus, i have a tiny little hope on the upcoming Flipper record.
i'm one of the few who think "american grafishi" is a great record.
and roxy music...who knows, maybe the old guys will save this year

I thought that Roxy Music disc was supposed to come out last year. I'd given up hope for it.

Ahh. I've driven this thread off a cliff. Sorry. Maybe we need a "Why Is 2008 So Lousy Thus Far" thread. I ain't starting it, tho.

What happened to the results of this poll?? :(

Uh? They're all there.

I still can't see them. Oh, and I just started another poll. Oops:

TS: Best Kranky Catalog of Any Artist on Kranky

Oh Lord there they are! Nevermind. Wow. Oops.

One can never have too much Kranky? :(