Spotify playlist for the week of November 10, 2024.

• downy – 曦ヲ見ヨ!: As a friend say, the lead singer sounds a lot like Thom York. But on this track, it’s as is Thom York was the lead singer of The Mars Volta, singing in Japanese (maybe?).
• Kyle Brenn – Still/Exist: Gentle Giant voices meet Steve Reich rhythms meet a metal band. Striking!
• Patrick Watson – Silencio

Spotify playlist for the week of November 3, 2024.

• PVA – The Individual: I linked to PVA last January and said one song sounded like Nine Inch Nails. Well, I had linked to the wrong track (Bad Dad). The Individual is the one!

Spotify playlist for the week of October 27, 2024.

• B For Bang – Dear Prudence: I haven’t listened to B for Bang’s creative covers of The Beatles for a while, but they’re really worth it. According to Spotify, they only get 105 monthly listeners. Let’s bump that up! Across The Universe of Languages is the album I listened to the most. Their renditions of Helter Skelter and Julia are riveting.
• Cascadeur – Meaning - Choral Version
• Zen Bamboo – J’<3 vivre: Montreal newspaper La Presse published a list of their “25 new classics” of the 21st century. It’s a good list. Malajube’s 2006 album, Trompe L’oeil, is number two, which is an odd but awesome choice. Malajube stopped releasing new music 2011. But I learned in that article that their leader, Julien Mineau, has continued producing music for a bunch of other artists, including Zen Bamboo’s 2020 GLU and it’s the bomb!

Spotify playlist for the week of August 25, 2024.

• Floating Points – Ocotillo
• Lumidee – Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)
• Fred again.. – leavemealone
• Not on Spotify, but a live show of the Austin band Font, live on KEXP.

Spotify playlist for the week of August 18, 2024.

• Amélie Fortin – Mistassini: Lovely solo piano by a friend and ex coworker.
• White Town – Your Woman and its later version Your Woman 1917.
• Home – Overflow
• Strawberry Hospital has a new album called Nullmatrix. (Is 12 mins and 44 secs an album?) It’s some delicious hyperpop/metal. I find it has a lot in common with Japanese artists like Hakushi Hawawega, but trades the glitchy electronics for more metal.

Spotify playlist for the week of August 11, 2024.

• Rich Ruth – No Muscle, No Memory
• Colin Stetson – Lord I just can’t keep from crying sometimes
• Colin Stetson – Judges
• Colin Stetson – In love and in justice
• Colin Stetson – The Six

Spotify playlist for the week of August 4, 2024.

• Knife Party – 404
• Caribou – Broke My Heart
• Flamingosis – Groovin’: Like the funky grooves of Flamingosis or Ginger Root? Same family

Spotify playlist for the week of July 21, 2024.

• Floating Points – Key103: Delightful drop.
• Hakushi Hasegawa has a new EP, KYŌFUNOHOSHI- Hakushi Hasegawa – Mouth Flash (Kuchinohanabi): A new EP. I can’t say it’s great, but it’s so… singular. The five tracks are worth a listen.
• Relistening to Curtis Mayfield’s 1973 album Back to the World, which I discovered at the Equipment Room in Austin. Still great. Right on for the Darkness is my favorite track.
• Hiatus Kaiyote – Cinnamon Temple

Spotify playlist for the week of July 14, 2024.

• Matthew Herbert – The Horse Has a Voice (feat. Theon Cross)
• Matthew Herbert – The Horse Is Put to Work: One more from the same album. It’s reminiscent of old Cornelius.
• Tristan Perich – Open Symmetry: Section 3: Strong Reich vibes in this systhesizer + vibraphone piece.
• Sam Wilkes, Craig Weinrib, and Dylan Day made an album of guitar, bass, and drum and it’s excellent. I guess it’s jazz, but it’s so lyrical that I’d sometimes call it folk music. Wilkes really is an incredible bassist. I discovered him when Louis Cole introduced him as KNOWER’s bassist at the show I saw in Austin.
• Mildfire – Oh Boy - Part II: Similar to Jazzist, Grandbrothers, and I would even say Aufgang, and Efterklang. This popped up in my Recommend Weekly playlist. Looks like they’re from Oslo+Berlin. The whole EP is great, but too short! 7 minutes and 7 seconds! I want more!
• Well, Mildfire does have an album! Kids in Traffic was released in Feb, 2024. It’s good! The Oak Floor track reminded me of Mice Parade’s eponimous 2007 album.

Spotify playlist for the week of June 16, 2024.

• Sofia Kourtesis – Funkhaus
• This Is The Kit – Hotter Colder - Live at The Minack Theatre
• Stimming – Dfam on the Field
• Sam Gellaitry – MORE!

Spotify playlist for the week of June 9, 2024.

• Virginie B – Hyperboi: Wait, wat? So Louis Cole.
• Ola Kvernberg – Monolith
• Caroline Shaw – Sing On: Joy, oh joy! A new Caroline Shaw album!

Spotify playlist for the week of June 2, 2024.

• Current Value – OFC
• Ola Kvernberg – The Purple Jack - Tuxcore: Very strong loop Jaza Jazzist vibes from this fellow countryman.

Spotify playlist for the week of May 5, 2024.

• vōx – WET
• Sam Gendel – CIRCLE: Very chill “new jazz” from the L.A. scene. The bassist plays bass for Knower.
• Jega – Rigid Body Dynamics: Old school IDM.

Spotify playlist for the week of April 28, 2024.

• Jessie Ware – Pearls: Solid 2023 disco.
• Lankum – Lord Abore and Mary Flynn
• Jorge Ben Jor – Para Ouvir No Rádio: Groovy Brazil track from 1975, discovered at The Equipment Room.

Great music week after two weeks of holidays.

Spotify playlist for the week of April 21, 2024.

• Lemaitre – Forever
• John Tejada – How I’m Wired
• This Is The Kit – Careful of Your Keepers - Live at The Minack Theatre
• Aufgang – Hummus - Reverence Edit: I’m always onboard for more Aufgang.
• FJAAK – And You Feel
• Francesco Tristano – Dotted Line - Francesco Tristano Version: A version of a Brandt Brauer Frick prepared piano piece.
• Louis Cole – Things Will Fall Apart
• Tigran Hamasyan – The Kingdom
• Cornelius – Sketch For Spring: Is a new Cornelius album coming?
• Frédéric Chopin – 12 Études, Op. 10: No. 1 in C Major “Waterfall”: This is so much better than the demo version you get on cheap electric pianos! :D

Spotify playlist for the week of April 7, 2024.

• Calamine – CE GAME-LÀ: Solid new Québec hip-hop.
• Machinedrum – CAPONE
• Oddarrang – White Wall Pt. 2: Reminds me of old Jaga Jazzist. This is a great discovery!

Spotify playlist for the week of March 3, 2024.

The Mocambo Sessions with Shōtarō Moriyasu is a recording from a 1954 session recordded in Yokohama, Japan. It’s the only recording of Moriyasu. He plays the piano. Fantastic bebop.

BrhyM’s Deep Sea Vents album with yMusic is charming mix of folk songs with the contemporay classical touch of yMusic.

• Daniel Avery – Wonderland
• Dolphin Hyperspace – Miniscule Minnow
• Sleepnet – Finality
• 夢ノ結唱 – 最も濃いもの: Another impossible-to-describe track with Hakushi Hawsgawa.
• Elbow – Balu: Elbow really knows how to make rocking intros. The other single, Lover’s Leap, has an equally good intro.
• Jacob Collier – Over You: I’m not in love with Djesse Vol.4, but I like this song.

Spotify playlist for the week of January 28, 2024.

• Elbow – Grounds for Divorce
• Kinga Glyk – The Friend You Call: Groovy with a strong Weather Report vibe.
• Kinga Glyk – Who Cares
• Sofia Kourtesis – La Perla - Edit
• Sofia Kourtesis – Madres: Always good D&B from Current Value. The whole album is worth a listen.
• Broken Shadows – Street Woman
• Reid Anderson – Song One

Spotify playlist for the week of January 14, 2024.

• Brittany Davis – Sepricon: Groovy.
• Arvo Pärt – Tabula Rasa: II. Silentium - Live: This piece accompanied the 2nd half the keepsake choreography by ISHIDA dance company.
• 鈴木 弘 – ウォーク・トール
• BrhyM – Deep Blue: Funk + the unlikely participation of yMuisc, the contemporary classical ensemble.
• Ben Frost – The River of Light and Radiation. Frost also scored one of the dances of the ISHIDA show, but it wasn’t this particular piece.

Spotify playlist for the week of January 7, 2024.

• Lusine – Transonic
• World’s End Girlfriend – Ave Maria: This is one of the strangest pieces of music I’ve heard. Reminds me of William Basinski’s The Disintegration Loops.
• Joshua – ??!?!!??!/&/:?!282928:€/??//?::€:1:1/&&/1:/ (BUG BRAIN)
• Ethan Iverson – Who Are You, Really?: This is the most The Bad Plus sounding track post The Bad Plus’ separation.
• PVA – Bad Dad: Nine Inch Nails vibes.
• PVA – Hero Man: Marie Davidson meets Wet Leg.

Spotify playlist for the week of December 31, 2023.

• The Rapture – How Deep Is Your Love?: How have I never heard of the The Rapture? And how are they supposed to be a punk band?! They’re a very dancy punk band. Clearly, they’ve listened to LCD Soundsystem.
  • The Rapture – Sail Away: It’s like realizing there’s more LCD Soundsystem than you knew existed.
• Marnie Stern – Plain Speak
• Shrimpnose – Melt

Spotify playlist for the week of December 17, 2023.

• Two Shell – bluefairy
• Young Fathers – Holy Moly

Spotify playlist for the week of December 10, 2023.

• Rina Sawayama – Flavour Of The Month
• Spell Songs – Thrift (Dig In, Dig In) - Live at Birmingham Symphony Hall: Would be a really nice around-the-fire song.
• Daniel Brandt – Tha Tian: Delicious loops.
• Reid Willis – Sifting Through The Years - Extended Version: That Mesh sound.

Spotify playlist for the week of December 3, 2023.

• Pasocom Music Club – Ch.XXXX - Milk Talk Remix: Daft Punk-esque, so is Omitnak -AcidGelge Acid House Remix.
• LITE – Crushing: Not as dancy as Artist of the Year, but similar crunchy sounds.
• DJ Re:Code – Prodigal: Some hyper hyperpop.
• Genesis Owusu – Survivor
• PAVANE – Children

Spotify playlist for the week of November 26, 2023.

• Bleu Jeans Bleu – La pure pureté du beurre pur 100% pur beurre: I 100% endorse this song’s message.
• Reid Anderson – Song One: Reid Anderson and Dave King of The Bad Plus, with Craig Taborn. Sometimes feels like a crossover between The Bad Plus and recent Brad Mehldau. What else do need to know?
• Jeremy Blake – Annihilate: Like a dramatic soundtrack song.
• Crystal Fighters – Multiverse
• Four Tet – Feedback Mango - Live at Alexandra Palace London, 24th May 2023: I didn’t love this live album overall, but I like this song.