It is a measure of our times that the deplorables evoke an earnest, political singer/songwriter singing truth to power by simply recounting the sadness of these same times, and doing so like a female Woody Guthrie. essential
Angel Olsen Down and Out
Angel was last year’s Courtney Barnett. Except at this point, she’s a musical chameleon mining all sorts of styles birthed before she was, or, working out loud what a grunge chanteuse might sound like. My Woman is a strong record, yet I think it will end up being a table setter.
Wilco Schmilko
At this point, Jeff Tweedy and Wilco own the stage.
Carrie Rodriguez – Lola
last year kicked off with a spectacular record by Ms. Rodriguez.
A second record with Chip Taylor Red Dog tracks gets back to the duo’s dependable, grown-up folk rock.
Bon Iver December 30, 2016
Re-release of Bon Iver in Japan added a bonus disc of live performances from last year. Stellar. This set on the day before the last of day of the year is just as good.
His 2016 release 22, a million is quite good, but not as sharp as this concert.
Wussy Last Year
This short live set from Cincinnati gods Wussy at local KEXP, despite the ad drops, shows the band in a better light than Forever Sounds, their 2016 release brought down by a handful of songs beneath their high standard.
Los Lobos Last Year
No knew release from the lads this year, but the hardest working band delivered some soundboards worth turning up loud. This youtube video is close.
Money House – It Works For Me
recap of 2016 faves – Not Steely Dan, but enough in that vein to say, “almost like Steely Dan is back!”
Julianna Barwick – Same
Silver Lake 66 – Bury My Bones In Arkansas
recap 0f 2016 faves
Alabama 3 – (I’ll Never Be Satisfied)
2016 recap of faves – A3
Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin
2016 Recap of Faves
Bjork Brings It
Björk ‘Notget’ VR Teaser from Analog on Vimeo.
On 3 June 2016 Björk debuted Björk Digital, a virtual reality exhibit showcasing all the VR videos completed for Vulnicura thus far, including the world premiere of “Notget”, directed by Warren du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones, at Carriageworks for Vivid Sydney 2016 in Sydney, Australia. She DJ’d the opening night party [98] and did the same when the show traveled to Tokyo, Japan on 29 June,[99] showing at Miraikan. During the Miraikan residency, Björk made history by featuring in the world’s first ever virtual reality live stream broadcast on YouTube. She gave a live performance of Vulnicura’s final song “Quicksand”, and the footage will be incorporated into the “Quicksand” VR experience to be released at a later date. Björk Digital is expected to tour the globe for 18 months with its next stop in Montreal. source: Wikipedia
via VOX:
You know you’re in for a good rant when the person delivering said rant opens with “dear little miss media.”And when the ranter is Björk, well, buckle up.
On December 16, during a highly anticipated appearance at Houston’s second annual Day for Night music festival, the Nordic singer revealed Björk Digital, a five-room installation where attendees could walk through an art exhibit, immerse themselves in a virtual reality version of “intense footage captured from inside [Bjork’s] mouth,” and listen to a music set programmed and deejayed by the artist herself.
The scene, which saw Björk wearing a mask and deejaying from behind a screen of foliage, drew a mix of responses, ranging from positive to negative to “WTF?” from both audiences and music critics (“The crowd remained rapt and respectful but didn’t always seem to know what to do,” hedged Joey Guerra at the Houston Chronicle). And many of the negative responses also seemed baffled: Why was Bjork obscured behind so many ferns? Why didn’t she perform her own music? Was that even her behind the mask?
Björk had a few things to say in response. In a Facebook post on December 21 (as well as a shorter post on Instagram), the singer used her most recent reviews as a jumping-off point to speak out against gender biases in the music industry (as she’s occasionally done in the past). Björk dismissed critics’ flummoxed response to her DJ set, arguing that they’d held her to a different standard than male artists performing similarly experimental work
Classic from 2011:
björk – crystalline from Björk on Vimeo.
Africa In the House
South African House Music is groovy like house music is meant to be, and, bonus, it’s African. This adds lots of spice and great singing to the mix. Hear for yourself.
Even more ingratiating and upbeat is this long medley of African gospel music videos. These strike me as wonderfully optimistic in the age of Trump, and a growing dark movement of ignorance in the USA.
Roach Burn
Steve Roach is a central figure on my own music. Between the support of Projekt, his own web site, and Bandcamp, the innovative ambient composer, player, producer, is–somehow–able to create lots of new music every year. His Bandcamp releases may be previewed in full at Bandcamp.
MIDI Couture
Ensemble Topogràfic (Anna Hierro and Carlos Martorell) make use of an armband controller. Her arm positions are sent via Bluetooth LE to an iPad controlling granular synths. Aleatoric elements, along with improvisation, mean the piece won’t be the same twice.