Monday, November 30, 2009

[BEST OF 2009] My favourite mixes, collections, reissues and live albums

blog 2009/11/30 - [BEST OF 2009]  My favourite mixes, collections, reissues and live albums

This is a bit of a catch-all category, but there can be so many blurred lines involved here.
The definition of a DJ mixtape is far different than a hiphop posse mixtape.
A mix of adult contemporary chill is far different than a hyper-edited digital dance mix.
A massive box of British pop stars is only somewhat comparable to a massive box of Japaese noise stars.  Close, though.

Due to the nature of the categories, there are no rankings.
For the mixes, I will give you a taste of the first 10 minutes of each.  For the posse tapes and collections, I'll give choice selections.
Please note that again, the weird and more experimental stuff is loaded at the end of the playlist.  But quite frankly, every random party playlist needs a 20-minute Hijokaiden track on it.
If you disagree, I highly recommend deleting the last 6 tracks ASAP, lest they surprise you some day...



Let's start with a summary:

2009 BEST MIXTAPES

DJ Rupture & Matt Shadetek - Solar Life Raft
DJ Yoda - How To Cut & Paste: The Thirties Edition
Henrik Schwarz, Ame, Dixon - The Grandfather Paradox
J.Period & K'Naan - The Messengers (Trilogy)
Osymyso - Warp20 (Elemental)
Peter Kruder - Private Collection
Themselves - theFREEhoudini


2009 BEST LIVE ALBUMS

Nirvana - Live At Reading
Tom Waits - Glitter And Doom Live


2009 BEST REISSUES / COLLECTIONS

The Beatles - Mono Box (13 CD)
Bernard Parmegiani - L’Oeuvre Musicale (12 CD)
Eluvium - Life Through Bombardment (7 LP)
Hijokaidan - The Noise (30 CD)
Incapacitants - Box Is Stupid (10 CD)
Modest Mouse - No One's First And You're Next
The Jesus Lizard - Inch



I should also mention that Miles Davis received a 170 CD box set this year...  I mean... holy shit.  That's intense.



And now let's get in to the thick of it...


2009 BEST MIXTAPES

DJ Rupture & Matt Shadetek - Solar Life Raft:  Rupture has a refreshing "and the kitchen sink too" approach to mixes, sliding in a bunch of things that are more about attitude than they are about musical coherence.

DJ Yoda - How To Cut & Paste: The Thirties Edition:  I love 30s big band and had spent a good chunk of the year listening to compilations of 30s big band music.  I was so damn happ to find this mix for DJ Yoda, which includes many of my old timey favourites.  Such a fun time.

Henrik Schwarz, Ame, Dixon - The Grandfather Paradox:  Take a tour on the history of minimalism in many of its incarnations.  This is no Hawtin edit job, this mix stays true to the source material and sucks you in with it's organic chug and eclectic selections.

Osymyso - Warp20 (Elemental):  I hated Osymyso for his bullshit intros mix, but this jaunt through the Warp Records back catalouge redeems him in a big way. 

Peter Kruder - Private Collection:  Another interesting take on the mix, this is more a curated selection that a DJ mix, but it flows quite nice.  For all the DJs that are all growned up now and have babies.  Adult contemporary dinner party hipster music.

J.Period & K'Naan - The Messengers (Trilogy):  K'Naan shares rhymes and beats and thoughts on three influencial musicians in his life:  Fela Kuta, Bob Marley, and Bob Dylan.  He expertly fuses his storytelling with reworked tracks, covers, and tributes.  Works as well as radio art as it does a generally engrossing mixtape.

Themselves - theFREEhoudini:   Dose One and crew are back with the free ish, inviting a whole host of superstars to load up on quaaludes and drop their rhymes and beats.  You can't beat the price, and certainly is one of the most exciting hiphop records to come out in a while.



2009 BEST LIVE ALBUMS

Nirvana - Live At Reading:  What can really be said?  the biggest band of the 90s, rocking out at their peak.

Tom Waits - Glitter And Doom Live:  Not the ultimate jumping on point for those that don't know, but really, if you don't know Waits, why are you reading this blog???  It includes an entire disc of Tom's Tales, just stories he told on the stage.  Utterly essential for any Tom Waits fan.



2009 BEST REISSUES / COLLECTIONS

The Beatles - Mono Box (13 CD):  Like the Nirvana disc, what else can be said?  I hate it when record companies try and get people to buy the same releases multiple times, but damn, it's so awesome that it is worth it.

The Jesus Lizard - Inch:  Collecting the series of 7"s, this collection captures some of my favourite JL songs of all time.  Gruff, and flamboyant so. 

Modest Mouse - No One's First And You're Next:  This is a collection of B-sides and such, and is almost as awesome as a new album would be.  So many top-notch goodies, all collected in to one place.

Eluvium - Life Through Bombardment (7 LP):  Drone ambient, sludge, and contemporary piano.  The Eluvium box set is far more gorgeous of a journey that I was expecting, and a must for ambient fans.

Bernard Parmegiani - L’Oeuvre Musicale (12 CD):  OK, this is rfom 2008, but it took a year to listen to.  It's pretty much everything ever done by this musique concrete pioneer.  One of the most important innovators of modern experimental music and contemporary sound design methods.

Hijokaidan - The Noise (30 CD):  Like the Beatles, like Nirvana, there's no much more that can be said.  Except this:  30 CDS OF JOJO!!!!!  WOOOOOT.

Incapacitants - Box Is Stupid (10 CD):  Oh right.  Stupid is Stupid.  Box Is Stupid.  Noise Is Stupid.  Awesome.  The only thing I love better than drunk Japanese bankers making noise is...  wait, no.  There is nothing I love more than drunk Japanese bankers making noise.  That is the epitome of love.

OK sue me, I love me my noise.



That's it!  My hands are hurtin' from prepping like 2 hours and 43 minutes of music for you, so no fancy pants descriptions, just the goods.
Stay tuned for the next update:  best of experimental music 2009!


TRACKS INCLUDED

DJ Rupture & Matt Shadetek - Solar Life Raft (excerpt)
DJ Yoda - How To Cut & Paste, The Thirties Edition (excerpt)
Henrik Schwarz, Ame, Dixon - The Grandfather Paradox (excerpt)
Osymyso - Warp20 (Elemental) (excerpt)
Peter Kruder - Private Collection (excerpt)
J.Period & K'Naan - Africa (Fela Kuti Tribute)
J.Period & K'Naan - Don't Think Twice (Dylan Tribute)
Themselves - Back2burn (Feat. Pedestrian)
Themselves - Keys to Ignition (Feat. Serengeti)
Themselves - Long Time Coming (Feat. Lionesque)
Nirvana - Stay Away (live)
Nirvana - Spank Thru (live)
Nirvana - The Money Will Roll Right in (live)
Nirvana - D-7 (live)
Tom Waits - Dirt In The Ground (live)
Tom Waits - Falling Down (live)
Tom Waits - Live Circus (live)
Jesus Lizard - Mouth breather
Jesus Lizard - Puss
Modest Mouse - Autumn beds
Modest Mouse - King rat
Eluvium - All The Sails
Eluvium - Under The Water It Glowed
Bernard Parmegiani - Métamorphose du vide, Lumière
Hijokaidan - Live 2005.10.15 at ???????·??????05 (excerpt)
Hijokaidan - Live 2009.4.25 at ??·??????? ???1 (excerpt)
Hijokaidan - ??????? _ ??? (Kuruwa)
Incapacitants - I, Residuum Part 2 (excerpt)
Incapacitants - Stupid Is Stupid (excerpt)



Oh fun!  OMG the fun!  Why does fun bleed so much?  http://thetastates.com/mp3s/blog/blog20091130.zip

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Enjoy!
~CPI

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