Ghost FM’s Favorite Music of 2011

This is the part of end year lists people usually don’t read! They just want you to cut to the chase and…buzz off! There you go. So, what’s this urge for me to write nonsense here? Well, it may sound as an introductory page to the people who’ve either never come across this blog or simply deny it. Like the majority of my friends. So, without further bollocks, Hey every one! It’s Pedram and I’ve been blogging since 2007. It’s not my occupation and I’ve never taken myself seriously, neither have I ever earned a dime out of it. But I happen to have listened to a lot of music and I always wanted to have a joint somewhere to share them. In 2010, I suddenly went berserk and shut down my previous blog. So Ghost FM is the aftermath of a big cyclic redundancy check that dragged me into a neat new blogging platform in which you could follow or be followed by nice people. As of this very day I have some 1049 followers who were kind enough to let me in. I’m currently studying my Masters in Stockholm and I don’t think I’ll ever regret it. 

At the end of each year, I make a list of (only) 10 albums and 10 songs I loved the most. It’s actually not a very nice thing to do, knowing you’re missing quite plenty of work and I hate to hold that banner up as a pointless manifest of “Yeah! That’s it!” The songs and albums here are not the harvest of any specific statistics. The numbers does not necessarily signify my play counts. They are merely…how I feel, you know? But I suppose if you want to see what sounded pleasant to my ears, it’s better you browse back in the archive.

These two lists, of course, lack dozens of fascinating albums and songs this year: I think Dan Bejar recorded his best Destroyer album with Kaputt’s superb freelance poetry. James Blake’s delicate fragility made dubstep sound pop balladry, Mazzy Star returned, Brad Cox brought his latest Deerhunter tenderness into Atlas Sound, Grouper got even ghostlier and distant, R.E.M. broke up with an album handpicked out of their whole three-decade career, Smith Westerns played adorable noisy guitar pop, Nicolas Jaar made brilliant spacey vibes out of breath and snaps, Steve Malkmus played at his most rock ‘n roll, Oneohtrix Point Never reached its pinnacle, Tom Waits returned with favorable material after seven years of no studio albums, etc. See? It was not a bad year for music unlike some heavy ears think.

Anyhow here are our favorite albums in 2011:

And song-wise, the following ten glitter and shine! Not that Battles “Futura” was not instrumentally astounding. And how can you not love Ty Segall’s beloved garage hit “Goodbye Bread”? Does this stop just there? Feist’s “How Come You Never Go There” for instance, or the gentle quality soft rock of Bodies of Water on “Open Rhythms”. That addictive bass line on Peaking Lights’ “Tiger Eyes (Laid Back)”, or the window-shattering industrial of Zola Jesus’ “Vessel”. How to float with anything better than Bill Callahan’s “Riding For the Feeling”. But for now, let’s put an end to all that blatherings of regret. These are my top ten favorite songs of the year:

And just like last year, here’s a little streamer of our favorite songs. If you want to listen to the albums as well. I think you already know what to do, right? Good.

Alright townies! That’s all for 2011 on Ghost FM. Hope you all have a wonderful vacation. Don’t forget to come back in January. Love, hug, peace, candies, cocktails, comic books, caviar, sunny-side ups, iPods, horns, birds, whiskey, bargains, hopscotch, Scarlett Johansson, Blade Runner, hammer, bees, fruits and headphones. Hej då!

P.S. Thanks for all the precious souls taking part on the blog’s polling. I scrutinized the ones I hadn’t already tried. You’re sweet.

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posted 5 months ago

The Offset: Spectacles | 憬观：像同叠 EP

Ok! Been searching for days on and off; failed to find a proper digital format of this on the global village. Well, maybe I was not wise enough to pay attention to that “analog” word everywhere I searched. These two works are the only audible material I’ve found from this phenomenal rising band from Hong Kong. It’s like Lou Reed taking Sonic Youth courses. It’s like Joe Strummer going grunge and singing with a mouthful of blood and it can get even trippier than that. If my translator works correct these astounding lo-fi native rhythm echoes come from a threesome formed by multi-instrumentalist Vince Li in 2006. The motto can be impressing alone:

“We absolutely don’t record anything digitally. When you just listen to MP3s, you miss so much of the richness of the original sound, that handsomeness you can only find on vinyl.”

Now this is the serious wry caressing garage drone in a long while I admit. The band is willing to get digital sometime soon but until then, go full-circle wild-night-long dope with all you can get i.e. the two song Naked City EP.

NB: I did my best to embed the bandcamp player here. Sorry, but it didn’t turn out that pretty. It created so much unnecessary blank space. If you know how to properly embed them here, let me know. Thanks in advance and sorry again. Go to the provided link to hear The Offsets please.

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posted 1 year ago