Number Five: i.o – The Complete 2021 Releases VIDEO Blasted Sentinel , No Guardians for Rusted Remains , and The Same as My Red add up to an insane 2 309 minutes! That’s about 38 hours and a half! And before you ask: yes, I listened through it all. Not in one go, I paused for sleep, but it was a truly transcendental experience. These three humongous albums each have a personality of their own, but they definitely deserve a mention on my top 5.
Number Four: Toned – Tricky VIDEO Tricky just reiterates that. Hop in for Leo Suarez’s outstanding percussions, Nathan Corder’s eclectic strumming, and Tom Weeks’s honking, you won’t regret it!
Number Three: Punkt. Vrt. Plastik – Somit VIDEO Somit , which is closer to your typical jazz sound than Toned was. Somit is just such a wonderfully magical album to listen to!
Number Two: 苦しみ – Chaos Remains VIDEO Chaos Remains is only the latest example of Kurushimi’s mastery of this sort of performance!
Number One: Kuba Cichocki & Brandon Seabrook – Brisk Distortions VIDEO Brisk Distortions is improvised (please, check this video and others if you want). This album is just so much fun and pain!
Notable Releases Hover over foreign scripts for pronunciation and romanization.
Thursday, 14 January Sandy Ewen & Weasel Walter – The Paradox of Tolerance 64:28New York, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. (12:22) [12:22]
2. (9:37) [09:37]
3. (42:29) [42:29]
Friday, 22 Patrick Shiroishi – Hard Luggage 21:57Los Angeles, California
Tracklist (click to display) 1. flightless bird and waterless well [05:21]
2. if you have ghosts [05:19]
3. glacierism [08:22]
4. the frog’s throat filled with pebbles [02:55]
Saturday, 23 Jun Trun Gor – Jun Trun Gor 57:37Barcelona, Spain
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Nóu [04:56]
2. Rönurtnüj [06:11]
3. Andestán [06:26]
4. Lisen [10:06]
5. Petriflai Flores [04:20]
6. Dú [10:32]
7. Ran Ran Ran [07:12]
8. Fin [07:54]
Sunday, 31 January The Simns 2 – Apartment Life 37:13Brisbane, Australia
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Grilled Cheese (Aspiration) [02:46]
2. Mortimer Goth [02:46]
3. Klapaucius [02:24]
4. unlockcareerrewards [04:02]
5. roofslopeangle (15-75) [03:38]
6. The Pleasant Family [07:09]
7. Marky Sharky [03:22]
8. faceBlendLimits (on/off) [02:08]
9. Veronaville [04:28]
10. changeLotClassification [low | middle | high] [02:18]
11. Rodney’s Death Creator [02:12]
Thursday, 4 February Thom Nguyen – Exits 41:18Vashon, Washington
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Blackout Meditation [06:08]
2. On top of the water tower looking up, looking down [02:02]
3. Apart of, too, or before [08:40]
4. This Cold Heat [07:00]
5. Present Point of Necessity [03:50]
6. Nor is harmony more or less complex [08:26]
7. Leaning Towards Dementia [05:12]
Friday, 5 Kuba Cichocki & Brandon Seabrook – Brisk Distortions 48:34New York, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Scribbles [02:04]
2. Push [01:12]
3. Bounce [00:43]
4. Solid [05:43]
5. Field Trip [02:25]
6. Rays [02:48]
7. Cosmic [01:01]
8. Spots [05:24]
9. Chitchat (aka The Gloves) [02:20]
10. Bubbles [00:57]
11. Dark Green [01:43]
12. Leftovers [00:35]
13. Spikes [06:10]
14. Dribbling [01:09]
15. Now Turn the Ladder [01:30]
16. Naptime [00:26]
17. Holes [00:37]
18. Vabling [03:13]
19. Scribbles (take 2) [01:00]
20. Chainsawing [01:34]
21. Breathe Out [06:00]
Friday, 19 Patrick Shiroishi & Dylan Fujioka – のの 29:28Los Angeles, California
Tracklist (click to display) 1. salt the earth behind you [13:00]
2. Chisato [09:07]
3. and Dorothy never looked back [07:21]
Friday, 26 苦しみ – Chaos Remains 29:30Sydney, Australia
Tracklist (click to display) 1. The Omen [02:38]
2. Black [03:02]
3. Relentless Beating [00:18]
4. The Mysteries of Chaos [08:26]
5. Chaos Dub [02:40]
6. Ambulance Run [01:54]
7. Choke [00:44]
8. Funeral Moon [02:45]
9. Necrosis [01:28]
10. Wormhole [05:35]
Calle Neumann, Ketil Gutvik, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, and Paal Nilssen-Love – New Dance 63:04Oslo, Norway
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Å så et Frø [11:02]
2. New Dance [30:53]
3. Det er Kjærlighet [11:24]
4. Dett var Dett [09:45]
Thursday, 4 March Dolphin Worship – Cetacean Creation 87:57Chicago, Illinois
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Gate Awareness [15:04]
2. New Resonance [08:07]
3. Voyage of a Star Seed : Water Key Code [12:42]
4. Voyage of a Star Seed : Forest Threshold [13:06]
5. Voyage of a Star Seed : Anchoring Harmony [27:18]
6. Museum Grade Crystals [11:40]
Friday, 5 Patrick Shiroishi & Zachary Paul – Of the Shapes of Hearts and Humans 43:06Los Angeles, California
Tracklist (click to display) 1. At The Moment Of Being Heard [23:57]
2. Ghosts [09:25]
3. Journey From The Fall [09:44]
Rafael Toral, Mars Williams, and Tim Daisy – Elevation 36:44Chicago, Illinois
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Stratus [14:53]
2. Cirrus [09:41]
3. Altostratus [12:10]
Friday, 19 March Punkt. Vrt. Plastik – Somit 45:30Berlin, Germany
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Helix GA [02:18]
2. If Asked [03:23]
3. Membran [04:16]
4. Natt Raum [02:46]
5. Amnion [05:54]
6. Morgon Morfin [03:47]
7. Fraustadt [04:32]
8. Somit [01:23]
9. Axon [03:38]
10. Enbert Amok [03:52]
11. Trboje [04:08]
12. Ribosome [03:17]
13. Vrvica [02:16]
Friday, 2 April Patrick Shiroishi – Staying Human 20:13Los Angeles, California
Tracklist (click to display) 1. staying human [20:13]
Saturday, 3 Toned – Tricky 39:36Brooklyn, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Hard in the Paint [02:52]
2. Helmet Up [07:28]
3. Black Ice [07:12]
4. Garbage Time [07:31]
5. Blocked [05:31]
6. The Calculus of Power [09:02]
Tuesday, 27 Absolute Terror Field – Music for a Post-Empirical America 81:25Chicago, Illinois
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Escape From Planet Youth Movement [14:17]
2. Triumph of Sky Visibility [07:55]
3. Ecocritical Neopastorialist Theology [08:50]
4. Lifted F150 Blasting Merzbow [06:16]
5. Pollinator Friendly Lawncare As Metaphor For Decolonized Self Care [14:12]
6. Financialized Transcendental Subjectivity [10:30]
7. Backalley Enculturation [06:51]
8. Pan-Psychic Supply Chain Reorganization [03:48]
9. Auto-Appropriation Traumies [05:58]
10. American Civic Eschatology [02:48]
Friday, 30 April Lisa Cameron & Sandy Ewen – See Creatures Too 105:27Austin, Texas
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Plaidypus [14:05]
2. Tigersaur [08:20]
3. Bananasaurus Rex [06:01]
4. Meerkatstoat [03:43]
5. Rhinodactyl [12:47]
6. Red Spotted Chimerabee [08:32]
7. Giant Kid [04:20]
8. Live at Lawndale 1 (Houston) [13:13]
9. Live at Lawndale 2 (Houston) [09:19]
10. Live at Dobb’s (Austin) [25:07]
Wednesday, 5 May Jennifer Allum, John Butcher, Ute Kanngiesser, and Eddie Prévost – Sounds of Assembly 48:27London, UK
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Shot silk [05:50]
2. Bright as ink [08:10]
3. Angelica green sky [04:35]
4. Stars like needlepoint [18:47]
5. Crooked lines of grey [11:05]
Friday, 7 Chris Williams & Patrick Shiroishi – Sans soleil 65:11Los Angeles, California
Tracklist (click to display) 1. cherry [09:31]
2. the last rhodesian was a lie [09:31]
3. history is violent [10:26]
4. in the pines, in the pines [12:36]
5. present looms [06:07]
6. [mis]quoting spirituals [10:24]
7. winters flow into springs [06:36]
Claire Rousay & Patrick Shiroishi – Now Am Found 34:16San Antonio, Texas
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Spring Dawn House [03:17]
2. I Remember What It Was Like [05:48]
3. Last Of Many Times Over [08:06]
4. Silent Moon [08:42]
5. Brushed Too Hard [08:23]
Noel Meek, Guro S Moe, Martín Escalante, and Håvard Skaset – Scrap 39:57Christchurch, New Zealand
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Seven Feet of English Soil [02:22]
2. Three Suns Appeared In The Sky [06:39]
3. Hypolith [02:20]
4. The Skandia Man [05:07]
5. Night Runner [04:00]
6. Half Buried, Half Alive [19:29]
Monday, 10 Roscoe Mitchell, Sandy Ewen, Damon Smith, and Weasel Walter – A Railroad Spike Forms the Voice 72:23New York, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. A Railroad Spike Forms The Voice [01:12:23]
Friday, 21 The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan – The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan 40:55Brussel, Belgium
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Halite [11:50]
2. Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan [09:02]
3. Grammatic Qu Stiones [07:14]
4. Aqua Lemura [05:21]
5. Kunzite [07:28]
Thursday, 27 i.o – Blasted Sentinel ~1728:00Victoria, British Columbia
Tracklist (click to display) 1. blasted sentinel_001 [31:43]
i.o – No Guardians for Rusted Remains ~1033:00Victoria, British Columbia
Tracklist (click to display) 1. no guardians for rusted remains_001 [30:23]
i.o – The Same as My Red ~548:00Victoria, British Columbia
Tracklist (click to display) 1. the same as my red_001 [28:40]
Friday, 28 May Jessica Ackerley – Morning/Mourning 36:12Hawai’i
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Henry [03:06]
2. Inner Automation [04:31]
3. Conviction [03:35]
4. Departure Into Sound Memory [04:54]
5. mourning [04:30]
6. Untitled 3 [05:40]
7. much gratitude to you, for you [02:27]
8. Coaxial II [04:32]
9. Morning [02:57]
Sunday, 20 June Noel Meek & Patrick Shiroishi – Throw Away Your Books, Rally the Streets 44:51Christchurch, New Zealand
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Throw Away Your Books, Rally the Streets [44:51]
Friday, 9 July Eric Zinman, Mario Rechtern, and Weasel Walter – Mermaids and Sirens Know 73:00New York, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Mermaids in the water; Sirens on the sands. [34:30]
2. When seas go high, [09:47]
3. Where do we go? [09:16]
4. Mermaids and Sirens know. [19:27]
Mike Forbes, Andrew Scott Young, and Weasel Walter – Hard Living 41:02New York, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. The Price of Genius [13:13]
2. The Hell’s Satans of Free Jazz [07:59]
3. Embrace The Darkness [10:25]
4. Sleeping on Floors [09:25]
Friday, 16 Camila Nebbia & Patrick Shiroishi – 壊れやすい人間 39:30International
Tracklist (click to display)
1. Un niño llamado cuervo /「からす」という名の少年 [0:03:49]
2. El ser humanx como un articulo frágil / 壊れやすい人間 [0:02:19]
3. Al costado de los recuerdos / 思い出の隣 [0:07:09]
4. Olvido / 忘却 [0:02:25]
5. Mis pies son tan fuertes como mi corazón / 僕の足は 僕の心臓と同じ位強い [0:03:00]
6. Mentiras y silencio / 嘘と沈黙 [0:03:04]
7. El espacio entre el lenguaje / 言語の間 [0:03:39]
8. Tierra seca / 乾燥した土地 [0:01:16]
9. Apagar el televisor / TVを消して [0:01:55]
10. Mientras el cisne blanco se eleva al cielo, no deja rastros acá abajo / 白鳥が天に昇る時 地上には何も遺さない [0:11:15]
Friday, 30 July Dylan DiLella – Human Shield 42:14Brooklyn, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Human Shield [15:15]
2. Telepath [14:22]
3. Dredging Futility [12:37]
Thursday, 5 August Ted Byrnes – Moving My Body through Space 26:20Cincinnati, Ohio
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Preparation [04:04]
2. Spin [04:30]
3. Through Water [04:05]
4. As If A Friend [04:23]
5. On [05:06]
6. Metallic [04:12]
Friday, 6 Michael Foster & Ben Bennett – Negative Externality 43:56New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Negative Externality [43:56]
Friday, 27 Joëlle Léandre, Pauline Oliveros, and George Lewis – Play as You Go 43:59Vienna, Austria
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Play as you go [43:59]
Monday, 30 August Alex Maerbach – Untitled on Broken Guitar 27:40Chicago, Illinois
Tracklist (click to display) 1. xixxixxixxixxxi [01:30]
2. ixxixxixxixxxixi [02:36]
3. xixixxixxixxixxxi [02:08]
4. ixxixxixxixxxixixi [02:33]
5. xixixiixxixxixxixxxi [03:00]
6. ixixiixxixxixxixxxi [02:33]
7. ixxixxixxixxxixixixixix [02:14]
8. xixixixixixixix [02:44]
9. ixxixxixxixxxi [02:22]
10. xxxixxxixxixx [00:54]
11. xxixxxixxxixxix [02:40]
12. xixixxixxixxixxixx [02:26]
Friday, 10 September Jessica Ackerley & Daniel Carter – Friendship: Lucid Shared Dreams and Time Travel 51:10New York, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Welcome, Our Friends [05:35]
2. Converging [08:25]
3. A Glimpse Into [03:17]
4. Dream State [07:34]
5. Lucid Dreamer [10:44]
6. Hidden Truths [07:58]
7. Foreknowledge [03:51]
8. Awakening [03:46]
Tuesday, 5 October The Antistandard – Ain’t Got Rhythm 40:54Barcelona, Spain
Tracklist (click to display) 1. 666 Steps To… [06:04]
2. Menuetto [06:56]
3. Lunar [05:28]
4. Red Rum [04:45]
5. There Will Always Be Another Truth [04:46]
6. Aint Got Rhythm [09:00]
7. Hostia Reds [03:55]
Friday, 15 Fred Frith Trio – Road 104:08Oakland, California
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Lost Weekend 1 [11:38]
2. Lost Weekend 2 [03:18]
3. Lost Weekend 3 [05:02]
4. Lost Weekend 4 [12:12]
5. Lost Weekend 5 [04:05]
6. Lost Weekend 6 [07:55]
7. Lost Weekend 7 [04:49]
8. Color of Heat [18:49]
9. The Trees Speak [13:46]
10. Sinking In [07:41]
11. Color of Heart [14:53]
Paulina Owczarek & Peter Orins – You Never Know 56:34France
Tracklist (click to display)
1. What Might Happen [0:07:38]
2. How People Behave [0:18:12]
3. Oh Anything [0:07:28]
4. Three Rules That Live [0:17:59]
5. In The House Next Door [0:05:41]
Wednesday, 10 November Jessica Ackerley – EP 1 18:35New York, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. A side [10:28]
2. B Side [08:07]
Friday, 12 Daniel Wyche – Earthwork 42:47Chicago, Illinois
Tracklist (click to display) 1. This Was Home [17:15]
2. Earthwork [13:23]
3. The Elephant-Whale II [05:24]
4. This Was Home (Single Edit) [06:45]
Friday, 26 November Ava Mendoza – New Spells 37:51Brooklyn, New York
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Sun Gun [05:55]
2. New Ghosts [09:40]
3. Ampulex Compressa [05:53]
4. Apart From [09:30]
5. Don’t Look [06:53]
Monday, 6 December Alister Spence, Joe Williamson, and Christopher Cantillo – Curve 58:08Sydney, Australia
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Örnsberg Songbook 1 [00:53]
2. Deflect [04:59]
3. Opening [08:42]
4. Örnsberg Songbook 2 [01:53]
5. Slow Spin [07:55]
6. Point of Rest [06:54]
7. Örnsberg Songbook 3 [00:43]
8. Modulus [08:21]
9. Generation [07:26]
10. Örnsberg Songbook 4 [01:01]
11. Distribution [07:50]
12. Örnsberg Songbook 5 [01:31]
Wednesday, 15 Flouxus – Kind of the Blues 32:43Paris, France
Tracklist (click to display) 1. One kind of blues [01:15]
2. ça [02:30]
3. Traveling riverside blues [02:48]
4. Moquette [06:47]
5. Bribes blues [01:30]
6. Worms [02:18]
7. Geoffroy Collage [02:44]
8. Yeck [04:54]
9. Bicylindre [04:20]
10. Plinthe [03:37]
Thursday, 16 John Russell, John Butcher, and Dominic Lash – But Everything Now Left before It Arrived 40:21London, UK
Tracklist (click to display) 1. I [09:32]
2. II [05:13]
3. III [07:44]
4. IV [06:30]
5. IV [11:22]
Wednesday, 29 December Allen Moore, Ishmael Ali, and Bill Harris – Hearsay free improvisationChicago, Illinois
Tracklist (click to display) 1. Stille Post [07:26]
2. Russian Scandal [03:04]
3. Téléphone Arabe [05:56]
4. Rumors [04:15]
5. Spazmeno Tilefono [04:10]
6. Kulaktan Kulağa [04:58]
7. Chinese Whispers [04:41]
Best of 2021 01/01 – Best of Afrobeat 01/02 – Best of Atmospheric Black Metal 01/03 – Best of Avant-Garde Black Metal 01/04 – Best of Brutal Death Metal 01/05 – Best of Classical 01/06 – Best of Death Metal 01/07 – Best of Deathcore 01/08 – Best of Doom Metal 01/09 – Best of Folk 01/10 – Best of Grindcore 01/11 – Best of Hardcore
[…] Metal 01/09 – Best of Folk 01/10 – Best of Grindcore 01/11 – Best of Hardcore 01/12 – Best Improvisation 01/13 – Best of Indie Rock 01/14 – Best of Jazz […]
[…] Metal 01/09 – Best of Folk 01/10 – Best of Grindcore 01/11 – Best of Hardcore 01/12 – Best Improvisation 01/13 – Best of Indie Rock 01/14 – Best of Jazz Fusion 01/15 – Best of Jazzcore […]
[…] Metal 01/09 – Best of Folk 01/10 – Best of Grindcore 01/11 – Best of Hardcore 01/12 – Best Improvisation 01/13 – Best of Indie Rock 01/14 – Best of Jazz Fusion 01/15 – Best of Jazzcore […]
[…] Metal 01/09 – Best of Folk 01/10 – Best of Grindcore 01/11 – Best of Hardcore 01/12 – Best Improvisation 01/13 – Best of Indie Rock 01/14 – Best of Jazz Fusion 01/15 – Best of Jazzcore […]
[…] Metal 01/09 – Best of Folk 01/10 – Best of Grindcore 01/11 – Best of Hardcore 01/12 – Best Improvisation 01/13 – Best of Indie Rock 01/14 – Best of Jazz Fusion 01/15 – Best of Jazzcore […]
[…] Metal 01/09 – Best of Folk 01/10 – Best of Grindcore 01/11 – Best of Hardcore 01/12 – Best Improvisation 01/13 – Best of Indie Rock 01/14 – Best of Jazz Fusion 01/15 – Best of Jazzcore […]
[…] Metal 01/09 – Best of Folk 01/10 – Best of Grindcore 01/11 – Best of Hardcore 01/12 – Best Improvisation 01/13 – Best of Indie Rock 01/14 – Best of Jazz Fusion 01/15 – Best of Jazzcore […]
[…] Metal 01/09 – Best of Folk 01/10 – Best of Grindcore 01/11 – Best of Hardcore 01/12 – Best Improvisation 01/13 – Best of Indie Rock 01/14 – Best of Jazz Fusion 01/15 – Best of Jazzcore […]
[…] Metal 01/09 – Best of Folk 01/10 – Best of Grindcore 01/11 – Best of Hardcore 01/12 – Best Improvisation 01/13 – Best of Indie Rock 01/14 – Best of Jazz Fusion 01/15 – Best of Jazzcore […]