As the Roman calendar nears its end for another lap around the cosmos, it’s time to take stock of all of my favourite Music for the year.
The New Music Jason Prize is a non-prestigious award that recognizes my Favourite Album released in a given year. Its second year of existence brings a strong list of contenders ranging from Hip-Hop to Classical and Country. To Soul and Punk, to Pop and Reggae, and even to gut-wrenching Singer-Songwriters. Have your fill!
The Longlist is a list of my twenty favourite albums of the year, compiled by a panel of one bearded Music fan, and listed in chronological order. Links to the original posts are embedded in the dates, and the albums are linked accordingly.
Boy, I love Fridays! I don’t know if you get as excited as I do when I wake up in the morning and realize I have a huge bounty of New Music to dazzle and delight, but it makes me feel pretty darn good. (Typos and run-on sentences-the recipe for a successful blog! 😳🪴🫏)
After I plumbed the depths of all that is on offer I’ve been able to find ten titles to share with all my friends. Ready, friends?
A single from Brooklyn vocalist and Producer Yaeji starts this week’s Deep Plumbing. Her album With A Hammer is in contention for the 2023 New Music Jason Prize (scheduled to be awarded on Monday, January 1, 2024) and is back with easy breezy. It’s a lively and upbeat track with a Brazilian flair, led with acoustic guitar and deep bass. The vocals are exquisite, with charming harmonies and challenging production. I’m picturing the beaches of Rio: I’m wearing a Speedo and holding a delicious fruity cocktail that has a big hunk of pineapple sticking out. If you’re also picturing that, I apologize.
Another single that came out this week (and is, coincidentally, the same tempo as the previous one) comes from Atlanta. Revival Season is a Hip-Hop duo that has been releasing quality singles this year. They’ve announced a new full-length, due in February, but in the meantime they’ve dropped Pump. It’s a banger that cannot be denied, and it comes with a righteous remix by Skin Teeth. On the mic they’ve been joined by Shaheed Goodie for this Boom Bap joint.
Julia Holter is a Singer/Songwriter and a Producer based in Los Angeles. Her latest release is Sun Girl; an atmospheric Single that snares you in it’s beautiful web. Nearing six minutes, the track, with its enticing flute and entrancing vocals, takes you on a journey beyond Music. Soul-stirring stuff.
For an abrupt face of turn, we have a three-song EP from Canadian Punk Legends Fucked Up. The Toronto Band, led by Damian Abraham, has been shouting truth to power for over twenty years. Show Friends reveals they have no plans of slowing down. The songs show a complexity in their arrangements beyond that of “boom-twang-yell”, with grand harmonies on Spot The Difference and the off-kilter timing of What The Sun Saw. Support your local Punks!
While I was on My Imaginary Vacation to South America (and after the Brazilian authorities ask me to cover up or leave the country) I left Brazil and cruised up to Colombia, where I was introduced to a Label called Putivuelta, based out of Bogotá. They’ve released a new Various Artists compilation, featuring 28 Artists from Colombia and beyond. SIGNO DESTINOinstantly signed up for an extended stay at My Imaginary Nightclub with its array of energetic beats and styles.
Back in Brooklyn there’s an Experimental Hip-Hop/R&B Artist named Dawuna that has released a BandCamp exclusive. Naya is lo-fi Funk that shines a light on missing Black Women in the US. Tasty guitar licks with emotional understated vocals are couched in grooves untold.
An Experimental Electronic Artist from Japan, known simply as foodman, first caught my attention back in 2021 with his album Yasuragi Land. He’s back with a new five song EP and Uchigawa Tankentai is playful synthetic sounds with quirky vocals and interesting twists and turns.
A twelve-piece Big Band from Belgium has just released their second album. Alpacas Collective is a refreshing a soulful mix of horns, percussion, keys, guitar, and sitar to give it an Eastern flavour. Big Wordsis eight tracks that spread out between Afrobeat, Hindustani Raga, and Funk. The arrangements are on point, and the Production is exemplary.
An album that I discovered in BandCamp a few weeks ago has a title I couldn’t get past, and I instantly added it to my Wishlist on its merit. Music Is A Victory Over Timeis the fantastic title for New York four-piece Sunwatchers’ fifth album. Their sound is bigger than their size, with seven instrumental tracks that harken back to early-70’s Frank Zappa/Mothers with an Electronic sheen.
My Feature Pick for this week is a trio based in Austin, Texas that is led by the sister duo of Sylvia and Erica Rodriguez. After moving North to Austin from the southern panhandle, they met up with Daniel Doyle and formed Wet Dip. Their debut album, Smell Of Money, opens with the the anxious Rollercoaster, with scratching guitar and edgy vocals. Somehow, magically, a sweaty mosh pit has emerged in the living room, which has transformed into My Imaginary Dive Bar. This kicks all kinds of ass.
Is that ten already? Well, it’s a hearty mix, I can assure you, full of protein. I hope your soul is nourished, and I’ll that I’ve been able to turn you onto something that makes you happy. Take care, my friends!
A great Good Morning, Afternoon or Evening to each and every one of you. As we go into another Christian holiday weekend, the New Releases are noticeably quieter this week. If you were to believe Apple Music, there wasn’t a single New Release to be had from the continent of Africa. But despite the lull, I was still able to come across eight new titles to cruci-fix all your needs.
Everyone likes Steve Buscemi. You’d be hard-pressed to find a negative thing to say about this indie film stalwart you have seen in The Big Lebowski and Reservoir Dogs. He seems like your affable Everyman, filled with humanity. It is no surprise that Buscemi has a working relationship with Toronto’s Hayden Desser. In 1996, Steve Buscemi directed and wrote the film Trees Lounge. Hayden provided the title song for the soundtrack, beginning their friendship which continues today. Buscemi appears in Desser’s most recent promo videos for Hayden’s new album, Are We Good. Hayden isn’t the most musically flashy, and his voice sits somewhere between J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. and fellow Canadian songsmith Ron Sexsmith. What reveals itself in his music is his humanity. An unabashed romantic with mixed fortunes. In other words, Hayden is Steve Buscemi. You can’t help but like the guy.
I’m the kind of person who thinks that deep regular meditation is important for a healthy mind. Cultures around the world have known this for centuries, and spiritual wisdom comes from these inner examinations. “The Huni Kuin people live on the banks of the Jordan River, inside the Amazon Forest…almost at the border of Peru, and have, in the NixiPae, Ayahuasca, their medicine and vehicle to The Spirit of the Forest.” (from BandCamp) Ibã Huni Kuin is a master of the songs of his people, and with Brazilian sound artist Marco Scarassatti you are brought into the inner circle during their communal spiritual journeys, on Ni yuxibū xinã rewe (Sound Of Sprit Forest) Just the ambient outdoor noise alone is enough to lower your heart rate. Calm and truly entrancing.
Albany, New York is just across the border to the US from where I sit, and is a no less magical place than the forests of Brazil. I have always seen their commercials Used Cars and Ice Cream Cakes since I was a child. Bruiser and Bicycle is a three-piece Rock combo that makes a noise much larger than the sum of their parts. Holy Red Wagon is their second “official album”, and it has a nine tracks steeped in Prog, and proves that it doesn’t have to mean a bad thing. Long pieces that have movement, virtuosity, and invention. Not only is Rock not dead, it already has its bloated genius cousin. Modern Prog Rock, new and improved.
An Experimental Synthesized Music composer and performer from Germany caught my attention. Detlef Funder records as Konrad Kraft. Nifbin Circleis his most recent release, and it is as ambient as it is rhythmic. Textured sounds combine with downtempo Dance grooves.
Bernard Edwards, Jr. is DJ and Producer from NYC that was signed by Dr. Dre to Aftermath Entertainment in 2002. He has since gone on to work with some of the biggest names in Music, such as Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé. Known as Focus… (ellipsis included), he has just released the ninth edition of his aNALOG iN a dIGITAL wORLD series of Beat Tapes. Distinctive and flavourful beats with creative percussion makes even going shopping for groceries that much cooler.
An EDM Producer from Johnston, Pennsylvania named Tatania Triplin has released her debut album as Nondi_ (underscore included). Flood City Traxis twelve tracks of what she envisions as Detroit techno and breakcore, from having only experiencing it via the internet. It’s a dreamy and exciting journey.
An album that graduated from my BandCamp Wishlist on this BandCamp Friday comes from Brooklyn’s Yaeji. She has been recording Electronic Pop and Dance Music in Korean and English since 2018, and her latest release, With A Hammerincorporates breakbeats and atmospherics that creates a complete world of her own.
TatzumaKiii is a DJ and Producer from Sydney, Australia that has just twisted my mind. His new album, GURUcontains some of the mostingeniousproduction I’ve heard in my life. The Artist’s use of samples, both micro and micro, to create an aural collage, and ultimately “The Beat” (be it ever so wonky). Experimental Hip-Hop of the highest order, and my Feature Pick for the week.
New Music Jason’s Picks 