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even when in need of a late pass my taste is top notch...pay attention...
so, most of my 2013 in music listening involved a general transition from primarily instrumental hip-hop (certain sample based members of the international "beat scene") to a much deeper & wider appreciation of (mostly instrumental) music, dominated by a nearly uncontrollable urge to explore jazz of the 60s/70s & 80s, particularly from labels like ECM, Soul Note/Black Saint, ESP Disk & others (as outlined in my legendary & all time best lesson post about Jazz Labels)...i also explored some other music, such as Brazilian artist Marcos Valle (shouts to the late 2012 reissues by light in the attic), some prog rock, soul etc ... this was all fostered by an utter explosion in digging & vinyl collecting...i likely tripled or quadrupled my vinyl collection this year, changing it from a miserable collection of a crate or two w/ minimal gems to a collection that could be relied upon for very long periods of varied & quality musical enjoyment
all that said, i did not foresake new music altogether...there were several great releases that i chose to purchase...this was another development in 2013 that continued from the last year or two: anything i note here is something i *chose* to *purchase*, i did not list or really even listen to other stuff that i did not buy...i like pretty much everything i chose to support, so this method of choosing & valuing music worked very well for me...i discovered that when i support music w/ earnings from my labor (or additions to my debt lol) i feel more connected to it & entitled to enjoy & celebrate it
long intro, short list, wanna hear it, here it go...
2013 new releases
RAP/HIP-HOP:
generally ive taken a hostile attitude toward much of the genre...this attitude is mainly self serving & an attempt to define my relationship to the genre/culture & not necessarily an overall true hostility...im hip-hop thru & thru, always...these lists are not in any order BTW
Sean Born/Dunc - Organic ... Dunc's raw soul chopping is top notch, Born's insightful rhymes on his life & true to life thug posturing are some of the most enjoyable available...his attitude & insight are fresh & unique but never make u believe this isn't a real live dude who can handle his biz ... xo makes a particularly strong guest appearance & kaimbr & hassan mackey (as well as the god kevin brown) contribute great veses..."work it out" is my favorite, boom bap boogie u can dance to w/ a killer triumvirate of born/kaimbr/mackey slappin u up
Oddisee - Beauty In All/Tangible Dream ... Statement of Artistic Superiority of the Year in hip-hop...as xo so rightly states on TD's closer "Oddisee better than Kanye"...if you have any doubt after this masterful double release of an instrumental album & a "mixtape" that is every bit as good as O's 2012 classic "debut" solo album then, sir, philpot can't help you ... O's techniques & sounds are fresh, complex, groovy and evident of supreme skills...his rhymes are every bit the match...the song "Caprice Down 301" is a song that will indeed put you in a trance of cool & have you feeling like you are indeed riding a Caprice Down 301...true story: this song came on my phone while i was riding UP 301 a few mos ago...TD's towering piece is easily "Yeezus Was a Mortal Man" (shouts to "Back of my Mind" tho), an utter evisceration of your shallow views of the rap landscape & a clear statement of what Oddisee stands for
Asheru - Sleepless in Soweto ...a suprising treat for the god Asheru to FINALLY release a proper solo (dude's been too busy educating children & fostering the development of his community to give us a lot of music, what a jerk huh?) this year...i first remember Ash from my college campus, his Unspoken work is the stuff of legend & it was great that he dropped this this year ... aside from 2 tracks that just aren't my thing, this album is a great & well put together album w/ vibrant production & lyrical godliness ... Omar Hunter (aka Mr Hu) may be the sleeper (lol) on this album, apparently he produced most of it & his rhymes all over have him playing the 2013 Blue Black to Ash ... the theme of diasporic unity among Africans is very well done & the release was timely, occuring just before the passing of the Father of SA & on the date of the founding of the Zulu Nation... key song here to me is "Sleepless" a hypnotic piece fueled by a classic bassline, cool "vocal" samples about the reality of the world & destructively beautiful verses by the MCs (Ash, Hunter, Heron Gibran & Dimes)
Ka - The Night's Gambit ... this is better than GP...Ka is a poet & a student...a soldier & an elder...the depth of emotion & meaning in his rhymes, the power he can pack into a brief statement ("ancient book got em shook in modern day"), the cleverness he has ("find me baggin adam's murderous son", "effortless til specialist raise my chart") set him apart & above all of your favorites ... he is the face, to me, of what NY can still offer the culture ... his soundscapes are perfectly constructed to foster his delivery of truth, experience & ideas ... key track is "Barring the Likeness"
Kev Brown - Brazil Dedication ... dope little instro EP from the Low Budget Legend ... if u kno Kev u kno its dope ...
Madlib the Beat Konducta - Rock Konducta Vol 1 ... after my initial bitching about the exclusive nature of the release, i gave Lib my dough & im a better listener for it ... amazing collection, what else to say? the GOAT wins again
Madlib - Deeper EP ... Freddie Gibbs raps on this? oh yeah, i dint really fuck w/ shallow nihilist rappers so, that's cool, but this is about the 4 beats the GOAT dropped off on this EP ... all bangers, even the seemingly live chop of "King Heroin"... the "Harold's" instro is the standout, a testament to the lasting simplicity of a well constructed exercise in sample chopping & manipulation...i once had the beat on repeat for almost 2 hours
Ohbliv - blk lt EP, "magnetic coast", Ritual Swing, Outsider Soul, 3 14 13, Zen Vapors (& other loosies) ... VIRGINIA ya bishes ... Magnetic Kemeticim plus supreme 404 skills? the gawd Ohbliv is that dude, the Dark Twaine of the beat scene, Knx may hold the crown but bliv is the high priest & sage of the scene...a man who can flip obscure boogie or pop hits (see "Level 24") into mystical hip-hop magic that speaks to the ancient and the future ... please stop sleeping on this dude, PLEASE
Ugly Heroes (Apollo Brown, Verbal Kent & Red Pill) - s/t ... this is Rap music for ME, lol ... blue collar realness, rugged Apollo production (to my estimation his best fully produced project to date & that's saying A LOT) ... Pill & Verbal are really the surprises here ... both construct verses that say something, each song has a specific theme & they construct a near "story" of the battle to overcome the "Desperate" nature of post-industrial America & to make themselves responsible (see bonus track "Me") to continue to "Push" themselves to a better life ... while the MCs expertly deconstruct wage-slavery on "Graves" & testify to the power of Love on "Heart & Soul", my favorite track remains the battle rap manifesto "Sweet Love", a track anchored by one of the nastiest hooks ever & Pill & Verbal verses that obliterate the shit talkers & wack mc's relying on who they think they *are* instead of what they actually can *do* on the mic
Ghostface Killa/Adrian Younge/Apollo Brown - 12 Reasons to Die/The Brown Tape ... 12 Reasons was dope enough ... Soul Temple fumbled the release & came across like petty hustlers but the music & project worked well ... for the most part GFK & his cohorts meshed well w/ the instrumentals & the project achieved its vaguely Noir meets Horror meets Blaxploitaition theme ... but honestly, the Brown Tape blew the OG project out the water & illustrated that, as much as some want hip-hop to "progress" away from its true musical foundation (the extended vinyl break, or simply "the sample"), real deal beats & breaks STILL trump studio instrumentation & orchestration ... Apollo Brown put together a project that became the most cohesive & enjoyable GFK project since Supreme Clientele ... perfectly placed Verocai loops, static, raw drum breaks...Apollo "orchestrated" a remix that transformed a cool but lacking project into a precise & frightening tale of betrayal & revenge over a supreme boom bap based soundtrack ... rawness wins! also, gotta shout out Ghost for coming thru & sticking to the script while dropping classic gems like "piss on your motherfucking lawn while im stupid high", "black super hero, crime boss' arch nemisis, good vs evil since the 1st book of genesis" and managing to say "im a humble killer bee" and later "ain't shit about me humble" on the same album ... never change Ghost ...
Quasimoto - Yessir Whatever ... oh, a random collection of Quas loosies spanning the last decade plus is better than most Rap released in the last 10 years? shocking ... great CD, esp for Lib devotees..."Catchin the Vibe" is my favorite
FAVORITE FREE RELEASE OF THE YEAR:
DJ Preservation - SePtember1200 ... beat tape of Barry White sampled joints by the underrated Mos Def producer, all on the SP 1200 & containing a hilarious track centered on Barry's fumbling over reading an Ad for the radio ... the various Barry White statements/interviews are expertly placed & that classic break, my favorite drum break ever, is used to excellent effect, showing why those drums are so immortal
JAZZ
Tiger Hatchery - Sun Worship ... this NEW ESP Disk rrlease is what you would expect from that amazing label, free, creative & crazy as fuck ... damn near free jazz meets heavy metal, this joint is short but sweet & will take you on multiple peaks & valleys while the trio (s/b/d) creates expanding & exploratory soundscapes for the open minded, adventurous & in-tune listener
Ralph Alessi - Baida ... very nice ECM release by the trumpeter, also featuring Jason Moran, Drew Gress & Nasheet Waits, the album illuminates the continued relevance & creativity of America's greatest art form
John Abercrombie Quartet (Marc Copland, Drew Gress, Joey Barron) - 39 steps - i fell in love w/ Abercrombie's music this year (sidenote: Abercrombie is a prominent surname on the maternal side of my family) & scooped this new release as soon as i saw it on the shelf, ultimately buying it for my dad for Xmas too...its not 70's Abercrombie, not really 80's or 90's either...but it's a great album, mature, calming, complex & marked by the amazing engineering that define ECM releases...my favorite track is "Shadow of a Doubt" which is, not coincidentally, the only free improvised track but the album is magic regardless, never thought 4 old white guys playing Jazz in 2013 would hold more meaning to me than the vast majority of Rap music, but when we awaken & expand, things happen that connect us back to parts of who we are
Chris Potter - The Sirens ... with Craig Taborn, David Virelles, Larry Grenadier & (the very dope) Eric Harland ... while Potter's sax is too prominent in the otherwise great mix, this is a beautiful & charming album inspired by some sort of Greek myth or something like that...a purchase Im very happy with
Tim Berne's Snakeoil - Creative & Free jazz from a great unit, i really enjoyed this one, another ECM release
Prism (Dave Holland, Kevin Eubanks, Craig Taborn, Eric Harland) - great album on Holland's label (another guy whose music i fell under the spell of this year, thanks, as w/ Abercrombie, to my introduction to Gateway), rock elements, fusion elements, at times very straightforward & rarely too out at all, it's still a great listen & a great band, i would LOVE to see these cats live ... Taborn plays some rhodes on here too
Jazz reissues or officially released "unheard" music:
The Miles Davis Quintet (Shorter, Corea, Holland, DeJohnette) - Live in Europe 1969 ... amazing collection of 4 concerts (3 on CD, 1 on DVD) showcasing this group of Miles' that never recorded a proper studio album...its a document of Miles & his mates incorporating compositions of the past & present into a mix of forward thinking explorations into out jazz & fusion...amazing & opened me up a lot
Thelonious Monk - Paris 1969 ... im not sure i can say this is "great" or "amazing" ... what i can say is that this brief capturing of the mature Monk, late in his career, adds to his legacy & shows that he could still master a band & a crowd, even as he headed towards isolation
Paul Bley - Closer ... ESP reissue of great trio set, calm but free, great music (w/ Steve Swallow & Barry Altschul who quickly became one of my favorite jazz drummers as i explored his work)
New York Eye & Ear Control (Ayler, Cherry, Tchicai, Rudd, Peacock, Murray) ... another great ESP reissue ... if you like Free/Out, i'd say you must listen to this (i friggin LOVE Don Cherry yo), if not...lol, not for you ... great wildness, i love the raw vibe of the recording too...
Paul Motian ECM box - Amazon sells this 6 album box w/ great liners by great pianist Ethan Iverson in CD for $35 ... best.value.ever. (ask my mom, she got it for me for Xmas) ... 6 Motian albums spanning 72-85, varied personell, GREAT music ... won't go too far into it but Paul Motian is that dude
OTHER RELEASES:
Charles Bradley (w/ the Menahan Street Band) - Victim of Love ... i was lucky to see this man perform this year...amazing show...this LP was also great, a varied homage to soul of different varieties (there's an Otis inspired song, a James Brown inspired song or two, etc) ... he can sing his ass off, his emotion & passion are palpable & the project works well as a whole & proves that a man like Charles can do this retro-soul thing better than your Mayer Hawthornes & sundry white post-millenium "soul" men ... the whiteboys in the band kill it tho!
CSC Funk Band - Funkincense ... random RSD pickup ... like it a lot, more whiteboys playing funk/soul to good effect...its instrumental too & i didn't realize Obama was such a stoner until i heard the Choom Gang intro lol
Bobby Rush - The Deep South King of Blues Funk ... this was another random RSD pickup ... very pretty clear blue vinyl ... It's only 6 songs, previously released, some cheese, but BOY OH BOY, "Chicken Heads" & "Bow Legged Woman..." are a chopper & looper's wet dream ... i recommend looking for the Q Tip youtube where he needle drops a beat manually w/ the Chicken Heads 45, very cool ... random quote from another song on here: "you're just like a dresser baby, somebody's always in your drawers"
Otis Redding - Lonely & Blue, the Deepest Soul of Otis Redding ... a "compilation" of hits & deep ballads from Otis which is quite masterfully designed to be a cohesive "album" ... these are ballads & heart wrenching love songs, the song selection is amazing & it really is incredible how the project feels like a real deal *album* (down to the packaging & fake liners) instead of a compilation-cash-in ... get this now or Otis will righteously slap the fuck out of you from heaven ... nobody did it like him
TAPES:
i really need to wrap this up but here's the cassettes i copped in 2013
Tuamie - Masta Killa ... good, not great first release on Grand Garden tapes ... i love the dude & was a big supporter early on but the repetitiveness of his loops & the frequent use of annoying vocal snippets looped releatedly (there's a super annoying Nas one on here) is wearing very thin at this point...his stuff is still enjoyable & supremely head nodding but he's venturing into "one note" territory, he lacks the richness of an Ohbliv & seems to be heading more in the "same shit over & over again" direction like a dude like Knx
Dirty Tapes 2 (Ohbliv/Dil Withers), 3 (Brrd/Wodoo Wolcan) & 4 (Tropes & Lomaji) ... no one does beat tapes like DT ... i haven't heard 5 but the first 4 (Dink/Tuamie was the first, released in 2012...Tuamie's side much better than Masta Killa) are all great tapes ... the Ohbliv/Dil stands head & shoulders over the rest but the other two are great as well ... varied sounds & styles, all w/ a real tape vibe & they all flow well & are cohesive projects ... the dedication to split tapes is a plus & i look forward to future DT releases ... the packaging in & of itself is art, particularly #3 & gives real meaning to buying the physical cassette
KVZE - Smudge Specialist/Space Smudge Serenade ... two tapes by the youngin now known as David Straange released on Paxico ... i fux w/ this RVA cat's style & will continue to support "saii loot"...
abrupt ending, im sure no sane person got this far & ive invested too much time in this list/post
peace & have a great 2014
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whenever you did these things to the least of my brothers you did them to me
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