OLD SUN, NEW SUN

John's Favorite Albums of 2007

2007-12-28T05:08:00.000-08:00

The following albums have sustained me. They have taken me to inimitable places and taught me unexplainable things.

50. Psychedelic Horseshit
Magic Flowers Droned

49. Aaron Dilloway and C Spencer Yeh
False Speech

48. MV + EE w/ the Golden Road
Gettin’ Gone

47. LSD March
Constellation of Tragedy

46. Siren
Living Light

45. Fursaxa
Alone in the Dark Wood

44. Panda Bear
Person Pitch

43. Mountain Home
Mountain Home

42. Ignatz
II

41. Burning Star Core
Blood Lightning

40. Ex-Cocaine
Esta Guerra

39. Hototogisu
Spooked Summer

38. Samara Lubelski
Parallel Suns

37. RV Paintings
Trinity Rivers

36. Misty Mountain
Misty Mountain

35. Black Dice
Load Blown

34. Eric Copeland
Hermaphrodite

33. Excepter
Tank Tapes CS

32. Robedoor
Rancor Keeper

31. MV + EE
Mars Delta

30. Six Organs of Admittance
Shelter from the Ash

29. Death Unit
Infinite Death

28. Jana Hunter
Carrion EP

27. Robedoor and Pocahaunted
Hunted Gatherer

26. Cloudland Canyon & Lichens
Exterminating Angel

25. Om
Pilgrimage

24. The Brain Band
The Brain Band

23. Castanets
In the Vines

22. Starving Weirdos
Shrine of the Post-Hypnotic

21. MV + EE
Eye in the Pines

20. Blues Control
Puff
(Woodsist)

19. Sunburned Circle
The Blaze Game

18. Jackie-O Motherfucker
Valley of Fire

17. Raccoo-oo-oon
Behold Secret Kingdom

16. Sir Richard Bishop
Polytheistic Fragments

15. GHQ
Square Growth Sessions

14. Wooden Wand
James & the Quiet / More from the Mountain 7"

13. MV + EE
Ragas of the Culvert

12. Robedoor + Pocahaunted
Mouth of Prayer

11. Mammatus
The Coast Explodes

10. Jakob Olausson
Moonlight Farm

9. The Plants
Double Infinity

8. MV + EE
Goodbye Moonface

7. Magic Lantern
At the Mountains of Madness

6. Super Minerals
The Vooh

5. Marissa Nadler
Songs III: Bird on the Water

4. Giant Skyflower Band
Blood of the Sunworm

3. Hush Arbors
Row Life

2. Rameses III
Honey Rose

1. MV + EE w/ the Bummer Road
Green Blues

Album of the Week

2007-08-28T16:19:00.001-07:00

Eric Copeland: Hermaphrodite [Paw-tracks, 2007]

Twelve cuts of sheer toxic mindfuck on this first solo release for Black Dicer Eric Copeland. This is the eternal outerspace mixtape. "La Booly Boo" throws world music around in the cave a lil bit, "Oreo" will make u lose ur cookies, "Spacehead" reaches back to Here Comes the Indian, "Tree Aliens" return from the Creature Comforts era. The first five tracks alone made a friend very ill. Highly recommended album.

halfway through '07: my favorite albums so far

2007-06-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

alphabetically:

death unit - infinite death
excepter - tank tapes
the giant skyflower band - blood of the sunworm
hototogisu - spooked summer
mammatus - the coast explodes
mv & ee w/ the bummer road - green blues
mv & ee - mars delta
marissa nadler - songs 3: bird on the water
panda bear - person pitch
plants - double infinity
raccoo-oo-oon - behold secret kingdom
rameses III - honey rose
robedoor & pocohaunted - mouth of prayer
sinking infinities - the life of riley
soft circle - full bloom
starving weirdos - shrine of the post-hypnotic

07

2007-04-13T22:34:00.000-07:00

i'ev been asked to update my list of 2007 releases that i have heard so far, to keep those friends who care updated. whether or not it is healthy that i've downloaded over 70 albums and it is still early april, i am not entirely sure...

rough favorite 10-15 so far (in no order; pretty much all brilliant, essential albums):
mv+ee and the bummer road - green blues
panda bear - person pitch
marissa nadler - songs 3: bird on the water
soft circle - full bloom
death unit - infinite death
plants - double infinity
robedoor & pocahaunted - mouth of prayer
excepter - tank tapes
raccoo-oo-oon - behold secret kingdom
rameses III - honey rose
mv + ee - mars delta
mv + ee - goodbye moonface
hototogisu - spooked summer
mammatus - the coast explodes

very great albums:
ignatz - II
boris with michio kurihara - rainbow
tom ze - Danç-Êh-Sá
richard youngs + tirath singh nirmala - s/t
sinking infinities - the life of riley
birchville cat motel with anla courtis - three sparkling echoes
dungen - tio bitar
titan - a raining sun of light & love for you & you & you
charlemagne palestine - a sweet quasimoto between black vampire
master musicians of bukkake - s/t

really good albums:
fursaxa - alone in the dark wood
burning star core - blood lightning
lichens - OMNS
wolf eyes - black wings over the sand
GHQ - crystal healing
frog eyes - tears of the valedictorian
carlos giffoni - arrogance
blonde redhead - 23
acid mothers temple - the soul of a mountain wolf
nadja - thaumogenesis
lambsbread - stereo mars
battles - mirrored
david thomas broughton - it's in there somewhere
baikal - s/t
alligator crystal moth - bones of the great divide
aaron dilloway - white hair amputation bloodlust 7"
cold bleak heat - simitu
starving weirdos - shrine of the post-hypnotic
of - the awful cloud
badgerlore - we are hopeful farmers
wold - screech owl
egypt is the magick # - the valentine process
frode haltli - passing images
ettrick - sunder arrythmic death vol. 2
tovah olson - waves and i don't get along
jesse sykes and the sweet hereafter - LLL

disappointing/non-essential/probably skippable, but still interesting albums:
wooden wand - james and the quiet
avey tare and kria brekkan - pullhair rubeye
500mg - apocatastisis
omar rodriguez-lopez & damo suzuki - please heat this eventually
rio en medio - the bride of dynamite
maher shalal hash baz - l'autre cap
boris & merzbow - walrus and groon
haunting - hallway
marnie stern - in advance of the broken arm
deerhunter - cryptograms
arcade fire - neon bible
jesu - sundown sunrise
jesu - conqueror
bill callahan - woke on a whaleheart
hauschka - room to expand
sir richard bishop - staged
magik markers - you can't fuck a clock
magik markers - last of retsin

2007-04-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

Congrats are in order to my brother Phil and my soon-to-be sister-in-law Myste, who are now engaged!

What a team, eh?

HEAVY ROTATIONS

2007-03-21T23:41:00.000-07:00

on heavy rotation the last week:

Excepter - Tank Tapes cassette release
Pacahaunted & Robedoor - Mouth of Prayer
MV / EE - "Poor Boy" / Mars Delta
Raccoo-oo-oon - Behold Secret Kingdom
Fursaxa - Alone in the Dark Wood
The Plants - Double Infinity
Rameses III - Honey Rose

all HIGHLY recommended

yad eht fo pilc dnoces evif

2007-02-27T21:07:00.000-08:00

2007 albums (update)

2007-02-14T00:18:00.000-08:00

this post is for ryland, phil, and nick so that we can all keep tabs on the year so as not to miss anything. i'll add albums as i get them and comment me if you have anything i've missed out on.

get these:
dungen - tio bitar
titan - a raining sun of light & love for you & you & you
charlemagne palestine - a sweet quasimoto between black vampire
master musicians of bukkake - s/t
mv+ee and the bummer road - green blues
panda bear - person pitch
ignatz - II
marissa nadler - songs 3: bird on the water
soft circle - full bloom
boris with michio kurihara - rainbow
tom ze - Danç-Êh-Sá
richard youngs + tirath singh nirmala - s/t
sinking infinities - the life of riley
birchville cat motel with anla courtis - three sparkling echoes
death unit - infinite death

good albums:
of - the awful cloud
badgerlore - we are hopeful farmers
wold - screech owl
egypt is the magick # - the valentine process
frode haltli - passing images
ettrick - sunder arrythmic death vol. 2
tovah olson - waves and i don't get along
jesse sykes and the sweet hereafter - LLL
bill callahan - woke on a whaleheart
hauschka - room to expand
sir richard bishop - staged
magik markers - you can't fuck a clock
magik markers - last of retsin

skippable albums:
haunting - hallway
marnie stern - in advance of the broken arm
deerhunter - cryptograms
arcade fire - neon bible
jesu - sundown sunrise
jesu - conqueror

Cayce Lindner (Flying Canyon), R.I.P.

2007-02-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

I just found out that Cacye Lindner, aka Flying Canyon, took his own life yesterday. This is sad news. The Flying Canyon album, which was my #5 of last year, has been very influential on my own music, and it truly was a beautifully written and performed album. I was strongly looking forward to hearing what more this man had to offer, and i hope that the music community will learn from this tragedy. Sometime this week i will upload the Flying Canyon album, which i do deem a classic folk masterwork, in memory of the man's life and art.

[From Pitchfork:]
Cayce Lindner, frontman for self-described "California doom folk" band Flying Canyon, took his own life yesterday, February 6. No further details are available regarding his death, nor do we know how old he was.

Lindner, who lived in the Bay Area, was in the bands the Golden Hotel and the Goodwill Tapes before forming Flying Canyon with the Jewelled Antler collective's Glenn Donaldson and Shayde Sartin. He was also a filmmaker.

Sidney Alexis Lindner, Cayce's brother, fronts the Portsmouth, New Hampshire band the Hotel Alexis. He was also in Golden Hotel with Cayce.

Last fall, Soft Abuse released Flying Canyon's enchanting self-titled debut album. Our own Brandon Stosuy wrote, "Lindner and friends carve out an erudite haze that foregoes caricature and wardrobe changes in favor of melody, inventive instrumentation, strong songwriting, and an honest, riveting charisma."

07 albums so far (update 2-14)

2007-02-06T20:54:00.000-08:00

tune in

2007-02-03T22:07:00.000-08:00

late saturday nights/ early sunday mornings, at 1 am, nick dj's a radio program for kcpr, his college's radio station in california. if anyone is up at this time, tune in to the sweet show, he knows how to spin some good shit

www.kcpr.org, then click to 'stream now'

My Favorite Album of 2006

2007-01-31T22:10:00.000-08:00

this is a big deal. friends, i present to you, the greatest album that i have heard from 2006, and my favorite and will-be-most played album since Feels came out in summertime 2005......

GOSLINGS - GRANDEUR OF HAIR
[archive recordings; 2006]

this seriously is better than anything i have heard from last year, and few albums coming out this year will top it. i am SO psyched about this album. Grandeur of Hair is everything i love about music. this is noise, psychedelia, metal, fucking everything sweet about music in this decade. this album is the new Loveless, at least for me... if i had heard Grandeur 2 months ago, it would hands down have been # 1 on my '06 list...

http://www.mediafire.com/?2numjhjz01l

2007-01-27T01:57:00.000-08:00

my cell phone fell and snapped in half today and you have no clue how psyched i am about that, He and i shared a good laugh all day about this, and it wasn't over the phone

Obligatory 2007 post

2007-01-03T11:52:00.000-08:00

a lot of people are making some goals and shit because new years just happened or whatever. there are some things i would like to see myself do in the next year, but near the top of the list is that i really want to grow a moustache. i seriously cant wait man.

podcats

2007-01-02T19:30:00.000-08:00

podcasts are coming!!!!!
check in friday for '06 jams pt. 1

Dec. 20, 2006

2006-12-21T00:43:00.000-08:00

in rain i consider the words sun and son
how they feel the same, sound the same
how i much i miss the sun and how much i love the rain.

i was standing on the sidewalk outside of work tonight because we had no business. i was drifting around some thoughts about a far older me sitting on my front porch or something, when this transient yelled at me from in front of the next store down...

-you live far away from here???
-yeah man, just a little
-well you'd better drive safe, all these cars....

as the rough guy started walking my way and becoming incoherent in his speech, i thought about how nice it was that a stranger who probably has very little other than himself would take it upon himself to wish me safety. about five feet from me he stopped and started making a little bit of sense again...

-i tell you what. i was driving with a coffee sitting right here (he points to his crotch) and it spilled all over me. totally ruined my privates.
-oh, damn dude
-yeh i also had a really pretty girl with me...

after this he sat on a bench and started muttering some shit that i could barely hear. we sort of sat there and watched the rain fall onto the parking lot, and after about three more minutes of muttering and two more minutes of silence, he got up, told me again to drive safe, and walked off into the night.

i was left fairly amused. he was probably the nicest old guy and i really felt bad about his balls.

alone again in the rain i started to consider the words sun and son,
how they feel the same, sound the same,
are the same. how much i love the rain.

My favorite songs of 2006

2006-12-19T19:13:00.000-08:00

By request from the anonymous commenter on the albums list, here is a very rough list of my favorite songs of the year. I tried not to include more than one song by any one artist although I had to in some cases. I highly recommend all of these for download!

28 Animal Collective - Tikwid
27 Bardo Pond - Destroying Angel
26 Excepter - Second Chances
25 Fiery Furnaces - Benton Harbor Blues
24 Magik Markers - Infinite Regress
23 Danielson - Did I Step on your Trumpet?
22 Growing - Fancy Period
21 White Magic - What I see
20 Axolotl - Uroburos
19 Wolf Eyes - The Driller
18 Skygreen Leopards - Marching Band
17 Six organs of Admittance - River of Transfiguration
16 Black Dice - Gore
15 Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice - Dead End Days with Caesar
14 Birchville Cat Motel - 55000 Flowers for the Hero
13 Wooden Wand and the Sky High Band - Crucifixion, pt. II
12 Om - At Giza
11 Liars - Drum gets a Glimpse
10 James Blackshaw - Transient Life in Twilight
9 Magic Lantern - At the Mountains of Madness
8 Sunn0))) & Boris - The Sinking Belle (Blue Sheep)
7 Excepter - If I were You
6 Vetiver - Down at El Rio
5 Liars - The other side of Mt Heart attack
4 Joanna Newsom - Sawdust & Diamonds
3 MV & EE - East Mountain Joint
2 Flying Canyon - At Night When the World Grows Quiet
1 Magic Lantern - Chance Encounter

More lists!

2006-12-05T19:42:00.000-08:00

Here are some more year-end best-of lists that are very worth your while to check out:

Phil's List

Ryland's List

Top 50 Albums of 2006

2006-11-30T15:47:00.000-08:00

50. Mouthus
Sister Vibration

49. Axolotl/Skaters
Split LP

48. Current 93
Black Ships Ate the Sky

47. Xasthur
Subliminal Genocide

46. Animal Collective
People EP

45. John Wiese
Teenage Hallucination

44. Hush Arbors
Landscape of Bone

43. Entrance
Prayer of Death

41 & 42. Magik Markers
For Sada Jane / Feel the Crayon

40. Juana Molina
Son

39. Birchville Cat Motel
Chaos Steel Skeletons

38. Yellow Swans
Psychic Secession

37. William Basinski
Variations for Piano & Tape [Variation #9: Pantelleria]

35 & 36. Wolf Eyes
Equinox (w/ John Wiese) / Black Vomit (w/ Anthony Braxton)

34. Mammatus
Self-titled

33. No-Neck Blues Band & Embryo
Embryonnck

32. Excepter
Sunbomber EP

31. Vetiver
To Find me Gone

30. White Magic
Dat Rosa Mel Apibus

29. Axolotl
Way Blank

28. Fiery Furnaces
Bitter Tea

27. Mouthus
The Long Salt

26. Danielson
Ships

25. Magic Lantern
Tapes

24. Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice Gipsy Freedom

23. Sightings
End Times

22. JOMF
America Mystica

21. Magik Markers
A Panegyric to the Things I do not Understand

20. Black Dice
Manoman 12"

19. Comets on Fire
Avatar

18. Espers
Espers II

17. Bardo Pond
Ticket Crystals

15 & 16. James Blackshaw
Walking Into Sleep / O True Beleivers

14. Sunn0))) & Boris
Altar

13. Excepter
Alternation

11 & 12. MV & EE with the Bummer Road
Green Blues / Mother of Thousands

10. Growing
Color Wheel

9. Skygreen Leopards
Disciples of California

8. Six Organs of Admittance
The Sun Awakens

7. Om
Conference of the Birds

6. Birchville Cat Motel
Our Love Will Destroy the World

5. Flying Canyon
Self-titled

4. Wolf Eyes
Human Animal

3. Wooden Wand and the Sky High Band
Second Attention

2. Liars
Drum's Not Dead

1. Joanna Newsom
Ys