Decided to start collecting physical music again yesterday. Digital alone isn't cutting it and we got rid of our vinyl and cds when we bought the tiny house. Went to the local shop and realized I was having a moment. What one, single cd deserves the seat at the head of the table?? Without going into full detail regarding the existential crisis that followed, I cut myself short and went with my gut. 2112
What one release would anchor your new collection?
hey hey. so the #SquirrellyWhirligig “nonlinear” playlist includes music which has “defined my becoming” (whatever that means… highbrow poetics for “favorite music of all time,” I suppose). anyhoo, i want to set the bar a bit lower and start a new thread of current faves. thus… I now present thee “current faves” #WhirlySquirrellygig playlist. https://mastodon.online/@iraantlers/109377724439706582
for pure free-yr-ass-&-yr-mind-will-follow lack of willpower, y’all, i must beseech thee to give lil listen to the discography of clap!clap! the album liquid portraits is exquisite and has, as this playlist thread of living aural memories attests to, placed its imprint upon my identity, if I have such a thing. #clapclap#SquirrellyWhirligig archive https://album.link/de/i/1501274586
julia holter’s album aviary also rearranged my notions of what music means — listening to the songs in reverse order is a slow burn in, tho starting with “turn the light on” with volume up high gives cathartic nerve tinglings.
la monte young's well-tuned piano – unparalleled minimalism/maximus – this just intonation composition and performance has never been finished – most provisional performances last six hours – can be experienced in the regenbogenstadl dream house in polling, upper bavaria, along with marian zazeela’s slowburn imperceptibly moving calligraphy work “symmetry” #SquirrellyWhirligig#lamonteyoung#marianzazeela#minimalism#justintonation#playlist
the album “promises”by floating points, pharoah sanders & london symphony orchestra is still unfolding itself in my bodyheartmind’s landscape of resonances, but i imagine it is a work of perpetual unfolding… as sanders is inevitably still unfolding in the beyond he was already one step ahead in while living… #SquirrellyWhirligig#pharoahsanders#floatingpoints https://album.link/de/i/1550124058
a recording that always stops me in my tracks… (i stop, turn up my glance, ears perked) — its title “fikratchin” translates from amharic as “thinking” — perhaps this song illustrates the principle described by timothy morton, by which thoughts are the past tense of feelings — the music of mulatu astatke is often sublime, but the vocals by menelik wossenatchew shift this next level — a gift, an offering. #SquirrellyWhirligig #MulatuAstatke https://song.link/de/i/335309240
this track opened up for me first fully on playa — a typically hot dusty midday nap-heavy hazy lazy day — when neighbors outta the blue set this sound out into the world full on — and i couldn’t help but be lifted from my horizontal and begin to weave and lithesomely wobble and dip, swirl & slip indirectly with its expansive cadence.
alice coltrane’s “journey in satchidananda” (featuring pharoah sanders)
this album is such an exquisite exploration of where soul can go, and still feels so fresh. thank you sister erykah badu for all you’ve given us. and the madlib-produced track “the healer” is still so damn deep subterranean down.
erykah badu’s album “new amerykah, pt. 1: 4th world war”
still a very strange album. 1995. u.s. maple — long hair in three stages. 10 tracks. 31 minutes.
“before they fell all apart … this is the album that ‘rocks’… disjointed machinations, poppy locksteps & jarring sideways excursions all leading down a path to nowhere's-ville…”
electrelane’s “axes” a lovely album’s worth of edgy jangle-pop of the modularbau (e.g. stereolab) variety — some may say tis youth-sized sonic youth, but still holds up v. well! 10 songs. 39 minutes. too pure (2005)
grass widow’s “past time” may be past its time but still rocks the fucking fields & road where their gear lays strewn. love this record for its v. simple modularbau (e.g. stereolab) raw rock. HLR (2010)
black flower’s belgian freeform whatnot explorations expand a solid base of ethiopian jazz/r&b — their music has been on constant rotation with me for forever-and-a-day — this was the first album i encountered
dirty projectors — one of thee most heaviest rotation bands in my realm ever! hard to imagine not yet on thee #SquirrellyWhirligig thread — ahoy! where to begin? well, the last record with amber swings, a swan song of sorts: #SwingLoMagellan (2012) #DirtyProjectors