At the first half of this year, there was a temptation to include The Money Store in Ineffable, which passed as we got to know the albums that would actually populate the category. Looking back at last year, Ineffable was kind of a cop-out category. We don’t intend on having a folk category, so the three folk albums that had an effect ended up there. We thought tUnE-yArDs was too “weird” to be in pop and so we excluded it. 13 & God and Colin Stetson were the only legitimate candidates, and Stetson was the reason the whole category existed.
This year, I’ve taken advantage of the term to go and experience some truly far out shit, so the things in Ineffable are mostly of my own footwork and discovery. Pure noise recording, ambient non-electronic recordings, and a repeat appearance.
So the obvious candidate here is “Gen” by B L A C K I E. Andrew wrote a review over at BPM that nails it. Honestly, at this point, the opinion I have of it is that you should hear it for yourself, and then we can engage about what it is later. It is a record that, I feel, can be spoiled. It’s on both iTunes and Amazon. There is a vinyl purchase option, but none of that shit has shipped and I ordered back in June (something that B L A C K I E is also frustrated with (not my personal case- it seems that he’s yet to get the records so he can start shipping them out)).
Modern post-rock seems like a misunderstanding of a few bands, a misunderstanding made more poignant by the re-emergence of three of them (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Swans, and Neurosis). You would think that a genre devoted to three of the greatest rock acts yet to exist would be filled with gold, but for the most part it’s just jerking off. Except for Aaron Turner. His well-known band Isis caught my attention, but the thing I always heard is that his side projects were more interesting. “Bless Them That Curse You” is the first time I’ve listened to anything else he’s done, and it’s been more engaging than Isis’ catalog. I’ve returned to it more than almost any other record this year, in an attempt to derive what it is that pulls me in. While those notes are personal, for a record to pull so tightly requires me to respect it. What it comes down to is if you’ve ever had an interest in post rock then you need to have this record in your life.
Also worth noting that it’s not an Aaron Turner solo thing. Locrian is a Chicago-based drone metal band, Mamiffer is a collaboration between Aaron and Faith Coloccia, pianist. This record is a collaboration between both acts.
DO NOT PRESS PLAY ON THIS VIDEO UNTIL YOU’VE TURNED YOUR SPEAKERS DOWN.
Aaron Dilloway is known for his band Wolf Eyes, a nightmarishly prolific noise band. He left in 2005 to live in Nepal for a year, and nothing about his prolific nature changed. He’s been quietly releasing dozens of records while sitting below the radar of most eyes, including mine. That was until I started seeing such glowing things being said about “Modern Jester.” The first listen to it was like an assault upon all senses, which is precisely why the video is the first song of his I heard. Sharing the love. The record is kind of like this: almost entirely structureless (or non-traditional structure) sound studies.
This is Doseone’s second time being on here (Dose being the rapper from 13 & God), and this time it’s with his interpretation of an electronic pop record. It swings around on familiar structure, but it’s bewildering shape and palette causes it to place firmly in this category. Dose’s vocal delivery is just as impressive and wide as it was on Own Your Ghost, but it lingers on the words for longer since the only space he needs to occupy is the space he creates. It’s probably the easiest listen out of everything in here.
After Chris Reimer’s passing, the Chris Reimer Legacy Fund was created to fund dance and music programs, as well as to professionally produce records from the library of music Chris left behind. This is the first of those releases, entitled “The Chad Tape” as it was a collection of recordings Chris was working on with Chad VanGaalen to put out on Flemish Eye. It sounds ethereal in a way that fucks with my head and my heart.
There’s more to research, so I’m going to go ahead and cut it off here. There’s lots of records I’m entertaining for the final spot, and I’ll try and forge some kind of review when I come to a decision on the last one. And then I guess the other writers will stab themselves with six weird-ass records and begrudgingly pick one.
NEXT TIME: Rap! Find out what’s nominated that isn’t Death Grips, Killer Mike, or Kendrick Lamar!
Fermata over Whole Rest 