Blog

The Positive - Wrocław, Rura
Dick4Dick, Mechaniczny Kot - Zielona Góra, 4 Róże dla Lucienne
Afro Kolektyw - Wrocław, Droga do Mekki
Raz Dwa Trzy - Wrocław, Studio Polskiego Radia Wrocław
Voo Voo - Wrocław, Alibi
Lech Janerka, Stanisław Soyka, Nosowska, Pogodno, Czesław Śpiewa, Me Myself & I, Japoto, Hetane - Wrocław, XO, Nowe Brzmienie Lecha Janerki
Sambor Dudziński - Wrocław, Impart
Lech Janerka - Wrocław, Hala Stulecia
Świetliki, Pogodno, Raz Dwa Trzy, Fisz Emade - Wrocław, Wyspa Słodowa, Wrock for Freedom
Lech Janerka - Wrocław, Włodkowica 21
Konrad Imiela, Cezi Studniak itd - Wrocław, Wyspa Słodowa, Noc Świętojańska
Haydamaky (Гайдамаки) - Wrocław, Wyspa Słodowa, Festiwal Mniejszości Narodowych i Etnicznych
Psio Crew, Ojos de Brujo - Wrocław, Wyspa Słodowa, Wroc Love Fest
Pustki, Biff, Micachu, HEALTH, Fucked Up, The Week That Was, Final Fantasy, Lech Janerka, Spiritualized, grupa kot, Gaba Kulka, Cool Kids of Death, Maria Peszek, The National, Hatifnats, Handsome Furs, Crystal Antlers, Wooden Shjips, Miłość- Mysłowice, Off Festival
Asaf Avidan & the Mojos - Berlin, Brama Brandenburska (właściwie to: pod Bramą Brandenburską)
Voo Voo i Haydamaky, Żywiołak, Gadająca Tykwa - Puszczykowo, Muzyka na zakolu
Myslovitz - Zielona Góra, Winobranie
Dagadana - Wrocław, Rura
Waglewski Fisz Emade - Wrocław, Wybryk
Andrew Bird, Josephine Foster - Chorzów, Teatr Rozrywki, Festiwal Ars Cameralis
Voo Voo, Lech Janerka - Wrocław, Browar Mieszczański, Dzień Życzliwości
Pogodno, L.Stadt - Zielona Góra, Kawon

Some albums i survived in 2009:

Al Margolis & Dan Burke - Live April 5, 2008 - Le Bonheur, Brussels, Belgium


Borah Bergman Trio - Luminescence


John Butcher Group - Somethingtobesaid


Chris Corsano - Another Dull Dawn


Barry Chabala - An Unrhymed Chord (for 25 Guitars)


darwinsbitch - Ore


Ekkehard Ehlers / Paul Wirkus - Ballads


Agustí Fernández - Un llamp que no s'acaba mai


Luc Ferrari - L’œuvre Électronique


Flower-Corsano Duo - The Four Aims


Josephine Foster - A Graphic Star


Die Goldenen Zitronen - Die Entstehung der nacht


Grutronic - Essex Foam Party


Barry Guy - Sinners, Rather Than Saints [with Mats Gustafsson]


Jazzfinger - Grief to Grind the Fire


Kluster - Kluster 1969 - 1972


Graham Lambkin - Softly Softly Copy Copy


Loren MazzaCane Connors & Jim O'Rourke - Two Nice Catholic Boys


Greg Malcolm - Leather and Lacy


Toshimaru Nakamura & Tetuzi Akiyama - Semi-Impressionism


Phill Niblock - Touch Strings


Jim O'Rourke The Visitor


Keith Rowe / Sachiko M - Contact


Ruby Ruby Ruby - The Shadwo of your Smile


David Sylvian - Manafon


TwinSisterMoon - The Hollow Mountain


David S. Ware - Live in Vilnius


Jana Winderen - Heated: Live in Japan


The xx - XX


Richard Youngs - Beyond the Valley of Ultrahits


Zola Jesus - The Spoils



5 Compilations worth a listen:

An Anthology of Chinese Experimental Music 1992-2008


Fly Girls! B-Boys Beware: Revenge of the Super Female Rappers!


Spectra - Guitar in the 21st Century


Warp20


Teenage: The Creation of Youth 1911-1946 - Compiled by Jon Savage



Best Concerts 2009:

01. Schlippenbach Trio @ Loft, Köln 22. November

02. Sonic Youth @ 3001, Düsseldorf 24. April

03. Evangelista @ Kulturbunker Mühlheim, Köln 14. Oktober

04. Ekkehard Ehlers / Paul Wirkus @ Stadtgarten, Köln 3. Dezember

05. Sir Richard Bishop @ Kulturrampe, Krefeld 12. Februar

End-Of-The-Year-Charts, I decided not rate them or put them in a special order, because I like them all very much for different reasons - Vinyl, only.

James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game

Will there be a better record this year? I doubt it,... (I just LOVE everything James Blackshaw does!)

Black to Comm - Alphabet 1968

Great record, hopefully the record gets the attention it deserves!

Ilyas Ahmed - Goner

How to play the blues in 2009, excellent record.

Group Bombino - Guitars from Agadez, Vol. 2

Amazing, groovy record to play all day long!

The xx - The XX

It's hyped, but it's good, very good. Sparse but elegant with beautiful boy/girl-vocals. Top-record.

Soap&Skin - Lovetune For Vacuum

She's gorgeous,...

Six Organs of Admittance - Luminous Night

Ben Chasny gets better and better...

Real Estate - Real Estate

„Beach Comber“, Fake Blues“, „Pool Swimmers“- Hits, hits, hits. I listened to this album a lot and I don't get tired of it.

Flower/Corsano Duo - The Four Aims

Free Improvisation at it's best!

Evangelista - Prince Of Truth

Great, great record, but it's even better to see Carla Bozulich perform!

Espers - III

I fell in love with the Espers lately, don't know how long it will last, but for now it's just perfect.

Courtis/Moore - Brokebox Juke

Amazing one,...

Jozef Van Wissem - It Is All That Is Made/Ex Patris


Two new records this year, Jozef's a busy man, delivering high quality constantly.

Sir Richard Bishop - Freak Of Araby

Makes me smile,...

Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor

Waited long enough for the return of O'Rourke, so - of course - it's included here!

Gareth Davis & Steven R. Smith - Westering

Beautiful dark & moody record.

Sun Araw - Heavy Deeds

... perfect for having some cold beer in the sun.

No-Neck Blues Band - At 6 A.M. We Become The Police

... maybe some of the best recordings they've released ever!

Kuupuu - Lumen Tähden

Playful, full of ideas and strange sounds, very nice.

Blues Control - Local Flavour

...their best one yet.

Master Musicians of Bukkake - Totem One

Since the Sun City Girls are no more there is at least those guys...

Sylvester Anfang II - Sylvester Anfang II

S.A. II - more space-/kraut-rocking, nice turn.

Daniel Higgs - Hymnprovisations For Banjo

Impressive person, playful record

Sunburned Hand of the Man - A Grand Tour Of Tunesia

Thanks to Ronnie to remind me about this one!

Chris Corsano - Another Dull Dawn

Killer!

Zola Jesus - The Spoils

Very good, would love to see her live.

Richard Youngs - Under Stellar Stream

Beautiful as ever, it seems like Richard Youngs never fails...

MV & EE With The Golden Road - Barn Nova

Another instant masterpiece!

Die Goldenen Zitronen - Die Entstehung der Nacht

Jochen Distelmeyer go home, listen to this and LEARN!

Steven R. Smith - Cities

... another Steven R. Smith record, another winner

Svarte Greiner - Kappe

Not as good as the „Knife“ record, but still amazing.

Josephine Foster - Graphic As A Star

Amazing vocals!

Neokarma jooklo experience - Peaceful Messages

Had Neokarma Jooklo Trio's „Time's Vibes“ in an earlier version of this list, but I like this one better.


Of course, there's been so much more... Alan Licht, Helena Espvall & Masaki Batoh, Aethenor, Kodama, Le Drapeau Noir, Natural Snow Buildings, Marissa Nadler,.... all beautiful, too.

And on the other hand, there's some records I haven't had in the mail yet like the new Steve Gunn and the new Paul Metzger record... but, anyway, that's it for this year's list.



Three very nice box-sets released this year:

Kluster - 1969-1972

Incredible collection of previously unreleased recordings! (I was stupid enough to buy this expensive LP-Box...)

Bobby Beausoleil - The Lucifer Rising Suite

Beautiful packaged with hilarious posters included. Cool thing.

Various Artist - Open Strings

„1920's Middle Eastern Recordings - New Responses“ - pretty self-explanatory subtitle.



Girls, Girls, Girls.... some incredible 7“-records
Best Coast - Make You Mine


Vivian Girls - Moped Girls


Zola Jesus - Soeur Sewer


U.S. Girls - Me + Yoko




Concerts
Since we started Phantom Limbo this year it's a hard question, which concerts seen this year I liked best. So I decided, not to include those concerts in this year's list. Apart from our own shows I've been to some more gigs and the most remarkeable have been:

Sir Richard Bishop in Krefeld.
Meeting one of the Sun City Girls/Bishop Brothers in person was even better than the concert itself - what a funny guy!

Soap&Skin in Mannheim
It's been impressive to see her perform. She's unique.

Kraak Festival in Bruxelles
Great trip to Bruxelles with Daniel, Marco, Johannes, Markus and Matthias.

Pamelia Kurstin in Frankurt
Supercool Theremin-Performance.

Datashock-Record-Release-Party in Saarbrücken
Good clean fun,...

Keiji Haino in Frankfurt
Free Solo-Vocal-Performance in a bank house. Strange environment, most people in the room didn't seem to know what they were facing. Funny & loud!

Flower Corsano Duo in Stuttgart.
Simply mindblowing. Corsano's crazy!

Evangelista in Köln/Mühlheim
Beautiful intimate, dark performance.


.

1 Josephine Foster - Graphic As A Star
2 M. Ward - Hold Time
3 Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
4 Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor
5 Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP
6 St. Vincent - Actor
7 Wilco - Wilco (The Album)
8 Cass McCombs - Catacombs
9 Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
10 Richmond Fontaine – We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River


M. WardNeko CaseJim O'RourkeBon IverSt. VincentWilcoCass McCombsDirty ProjectorsRichmond FontaineJosephine Foster

Josephine Foster There are Eyes Above (2005)

from the album Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You

It goes: "there are eyes above, there are feet below me; I'm in between... somebody, console me!"

If syrens ever existed they must have sung their laments like this woman. Did I say that before? Well, good, I reiterate it.

Josephine Foster Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You (2005)

from the album Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You

It goes: "so you're throwing stones though your needy hands are meant to play?"

..From Jounal, Argentina 2008

..It’s been a long time since I listened to music whilst I am moving. I don’t know why, I remember my first walkman vividly. I just never got it sorted until now. Maybe I never got a serious enough commute to warrant it. I guess like most people, I have a kind of soundtrack in my mind most of the time, not always a welcome one (‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ was a recent one) but always a hovering, discrete one, regardless of whatever else I'm doing...
.. ..
I suppose in hindsight it is a rather obvious point of reference for a young man travelling around, but I had Nick Drake’s ‘Place To Be’ on mental loop throughout my time in Spain in the late 90’s, it was a kind of leveler, a lithium, a base point for any situation, a true muzak. This time it has been a song by Josephine Foster called ‘The Garden Of Earthly Delights’.
.. ..
In fact this song is so timelessly, spellbindingly brilliant I can’t get enough of it and, as I got increasingly crammed into an airless pocket of the subte (tube), it still made a kind of ironic sense. This is such a common experience for most people that I feel like an idiot for mentioning it but later, as I’m being hurtled out to Avellenada by this semi-psychotic bus driver, this incongruous combination of movement and sound is an utter revelation to me. Through abstinence, or negligence, I’d kind of forgotten.

Nick Drake, Josephine Foster

Releases
I Was So Unpopular in School and Now They're Giving Me This Beautiful Bicycle by Billie the Vision & The Dancers
Feels, Feathers, Bog And Bees by Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love
Safe Haven by Piroth
Conformist by Doveman
III by Espers
Take On Me by Anni B Sweet
Performing Parades by Efterklang & The Danish National Chamber Orchestra
Hors D'Oeuvres by Tickley Feathers
A Cave, A Canoo by Shelley Short
Reservoir by Ah Holly Fam'ly
Know Better Learn Faster by Thao with The Get Down Stay Down
Victorian America by Emily Jane White
Graphic As A Star by Josephine Foster
Run Rabbit Run by Sufjan Stevens
Wrought Iron by Nancy Elizabeth
From The Ground by Heather Woods Broderick

Artists to watch
Bakers at Dawn
Alela Diane featuring Alina Hardin
Emilie Lund
Marie-Flore