Our Annual Orgy of Self-Congratulation, Grandstanding & Overconsumption : Matador Artists & Staff Select Their 2020 Favorites
(Congratulations to the landslide winner of the Matador Artists & Staff Poll for Person Of The Year 2020 to Clorox Scentiva Wipes.)
(Around this time every year, your underappreciated editor attempts to coax a list of favorite recordings, books, television programs, life events, etc. out of the label’s artist roster and our entertainment business cronies. In the past, this exercise has been an exacting process, fraught with nagging, GUILTING and no shortage of reluctant participants, some of whom actually changed labels or places of employment or their identities/physical appearances to avoid the chore. Even worse, we sometimes overlook persons currently recording for or working for the record label (either that or they saved their list for Brooklyn Vegan)
Keep in mind, we're about to close the books on the WORST YEAR EVER and perhaps persons with some sense of perspective or empathy have other things on their mind than shouting from the rooftops about their cultural cachet. Thankfully, none of those persons can be found below or it would be a really short list.
For some historical perspective, here’s last year’s selections. Questions or comments about our predictable tastes and/or inexcusable omissions are welcome (but not so welcome that we’re inclined to comment or reply). Last year, industry titan Mike Sniper correctly predicted that such lists would be broken down thusly, “half hugely famous commercially viable things that TMZ would report on, the other half off-kilter and ‘weird.’ McDonalds Weird. Like The McRib.”, but in 2020 I am happy to report that all participants had some much extra time to bask in new creations, we're no longer confined to a Carly Rae / McRib dichotomy. That's what passes for progress, at least in list-compilng land.
On behalf of Matador's owners, investors, legal representatives and street team (none of whom are allowed on the actual street any more due to liability issues, so we just pay them to make crank calls to Sub Pop), here's wishing you, your families and friends a safe & happy holiday and thank you, as always, for putting up with us. And without further ado, let the coronoation of 'Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley Chapter One : Snake Oil' commence. – Gerard Cosloy)
Mikey Coltun, Mdou Moctar
2020 favorite albums
-Jeff Parker - Suite For Max Brown
-Bill Nace - Both
-Horse Lords - The Common Task
-Kiko Dinucci - Rastilho
-Kate NV - Room For The Moon
-Tidiane Thiam - Siftorde
-Duma - Duma
-J. Zunz - Hibiscus
-Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl - Artlessly Falling
-Deerhoof - Love-Lore
-Maghreb K7 Club - Synth Raï, Chaoui & Staifi
-Raven Chacon - ‘An Anthology Of Chants Operations’
-Hiroshi Yoshimura - Green (reissue)
-Moor Jewelry - True Opera
-Black Myths - Birth Of A Nation
-DJ Diaki - Balani Fou
-T. Gowdy - Therapy With Colour
-Mary Lattimore - Silver Ladders
-Meitei - Kof?
-Curved Light - Vita Ex Machina
-METZ - Hail Taxi
Steve Gunn
Don Cherry - Om Shanti Om Black Sweat Record
The Sadies - Union Pool
Black Unity Trio - Al-Fatihah reissue Gotta Groove
Johnathan Richman & Will Oldham Town Hall
FIrst Cow - Kelly Reichhardt director/William Tyler Soundtrack
Marc Orleans - RIP
Patrick Amory on mixcloud
Complete films of Agnes Varda Criterion
Steve Potts - Musique Pour Le Film D'un Ami - Aguirre Records
Mary Oliver - Devotions
How to with John Wilson
How the River Ganges Flows - Sublime Masterpieces of Indian Violin 1933-52 Third Man Records
Georgia Hubley, Yo La Tengo
TEN THINGS I DISCOVERED IN 2020
1 George Sanders was married to Zsa Zsa Gabor.
2 You can freeze just about anything and it’ll taste pretty good weeks, months later.
3 Potatoes and onions don’t like to be stored together.
4 Viola Smith, “fastest girl drummer in the world” died this year at the age of 107. I’d never heard of her. theLAnd Magazine quoted her as saying “Maybe it’s the drums that have kept me spry, or the wine, or going to the casino.”
“Why not let the girls play in the big bands?” she wrote in an editorial for Down Beat titled “Give Girl Musicians a Break!” that I read about in her NYT obituary. “In these times of national emergency, many of the star instrumentalists of the big name bands are being drafted. Instead of replacing them with what may be mediocre talent, why not let some of the great girl musicians of the country take their places? There are many girl trumpet players, girl saxophonists and girl drummers who can stand the grind of long tours and exacting one-night stands,” she continued. “The idea of girls being able to play only legitimately is a worn-out myth now.”
That did the trick.
5 There were two US presidents named Harrison and one of them was President Benjamin (1889-1893) who declined to take advantage of the new electricity recently installed in the White House. I found out about this by watching chef David Chang impressively win a million dollars for his charity Southern Smoke Emergency Relief fund on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
6 I like Elvis a lot. I watched four Elvis movies in the last 3 months. One documentary, two concert films and one that he starred in.
7 I see a neighbor, whose window is about 10 or 12 yards across from my kitchen window, spending a lot of time at a desk, presumably in front of his computer. I worry about his blood circulation. And also that he can see me opening and closing my refrigerator about 70 times a day.
To be fair, some of those times are when I’ve opened it and forgotten why, and then I reopen it about 3 seconds later.
8 Elvis really liked Monty Python. I knew that and forgot, but I just relearned it.
9 Little Richard used to defecate in his mother’s jarred preserves as a youngster.
10 I can make chopped chicken liver from scratch and it’s not bad!
Bill Nace, Body/Head
1. Friday nite zoom readings by Byron Coley
2. Friday nite "zooms" with Kesin and Krefting
3. Text chain with Twig and Dillo
4. Basement "jam" vids from Mark Morgan
5. Milford Graves: A Mind-Body Deal - ICA Philadelphia
6. Upcoming Emily Robb solo LP
7. Coffee with Richie
8. Drawing with Hunter
9. Painting
10. Kim Gordon roughs for Gus Van Sant short
Top 5 staff 2020, in order
1. Gerard
2. Lombardi
3. Josh
4. Rian
5. Alex
Honorable Mention: Patrick
Jean-Paul Aline, Beggars Group
Albums
What’s Your Pleasure ? – Jessie Ware
b7 – Brandy
souvenir – Jonah Yano
All The Time – Jessy Lanza
Regresa – Buscabulla
Roisin Machine – Roisin Murphy
3.15.20 – Childish Gambino
Sin Miedo – Kali Uchis
Untitled (Rise) – Sault
Circles – Mac Miller
Will This Make Me Good – Nick Hakim
Miss Colombia – Lido Pimienta
Bonus : Le Jeune (EP) - Quinzequinze
Shows
Madonna – Madame X Tour / Lisbon
Algiers – Paris / La Maroquinerie
Roisin Murphy – Live On Mixcloud
TV SHOWS
Small Axe : Lovers Rock
I may Destroy you
The Crown
Book :
Where The Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens
Nabil Ayers, 4AD
JYOTI Mama, You Can Bet!
Keeley Forsythe Debris
Kelly Lee Owens Inner Song
SAULT Untitled (Black Is)
Alan Braufman The Fire Still Burns (the family biz)
Alabaster DePlume To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1
Mourning [A] BLKstar The Cycle
Grimes pausing her New York Times interview to talk about Raisin Bran
Dry Cleaning’s NYC shows in March… my last
U.S. Girls at The Dance
Post Malone’s Nirvana live stream
Chris Bithell - Beggars Group
Fave tracks released in 2020 (-ish)
Heavy emphasis on the party music... We needed it.
Warmduscher - Midnight Dipper (Soulwax Remix) [The Leaf Label]
Eris Drew - Transcendental Access Point [Interdimensional Transmissions]
SAULT - Free [Forever Living Originals]
Peter Cat Recording Co. - Portrait of a Time [Panache]
lau.ra & Secaina - Sideways [Needwant]
Róisín Murphy - We Got Together [Loaded]
Paul Epworth & Ishmael - Space Inc. [Sony]
Kaytranada & Pharrell Williams - Midsection [RCA]
Dua Lipa - Hallucinate (prod. SG Lewis & Jacques Lu Cont) [Warner]
Bonobo & Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Heartbreak [Outlier]
Corridor - Domino [Sub Pop]
Ruthven - Have You Decided? [XL]
Jessica Winter - The Other (Chambermix) [Roya]
Erika de Casier & El Trick - Little Bit (El Trick Remix / Sydlandsmix) [Jeep]
The Organism - Jhana [Eklektisch]
Kiwi & Ghost Culture - I Feel Better [Crossbreed]
Pregoblin - Love Letters [eOne]
Hot Chip & Jarvis Cocker - Straight To The Morning [Domino]
Red Axes - Arpman [Dark Entries]
LA Priest - Beginning (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Remix) [Domino]
Låpsley - Speaking of the End [XL]
The Avalanches - Oh The Sunn / We Go On [Modular]
SAULT - Monsters [Forever Living Originals]
1010 Benja SL - Dobby [Young Turks]
Nick Boyd, Beggars Group
Everything released this year by AceMo, MoMa Ready, Bored Lord, Kush Jones, DJ Swisha, DJ Delish, Ali Berger, Eris Drew, Octo Octa, Huey Mnemonic, Max Watts, Nikki Nair, Tim Reaper, OSSX, James Bangura, INVT, An Avrin, El Blanco Nino, Fear-E, Allergy Season, musclecars, A. G. Cook, Haus of Altr, Towhead Recordings, Moveltraxx, Sweat Equity, Scuffed Recordings, C Powers, Chucky73 and the whole Sie7etr3 crew, Alex Falk, Amal, ART DLR, Bad Bunny, Bad Boy Chiller Crew, Drummy, Kindergarten Records, Bastiengoat, Juke Bounce Werk, Nick Leon, Black Cadmium, Black Girl / White Girl, Boof, Charli XCX, Lil Uzi Vert, Kiwi Rekords, Private Caller, Sammy Virji, Rico Nasty, Mark Archer, They Hate Change, Tyga Paw, DJ Girl, ROOM, Coloring Lessons, Super Tuff, T5UMUT5UMU, quest?onmarc. Honorable mention to the fourteen releases we did on Sorry Records this year.
Emma Buchanan, Matador Records
PYLON - BOX
Augustus Muller - Machine Learning Experiments
Aurat - Poison
Beatrice Dillon - Workaround
Chronophage - Th’pig’kiss’d Album
Constant Smiles - Control
Cool Greenhouse - s/t
Duma - Duma
GISM - Detestation reissue
Gwenifer Raymond - Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain
Jackie Lynn - Jacqueline
Joanne Robertson - Painting stupid girls
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Mosaic of Transformation
Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song
Necrot - Mortal
Nidia - Não Fales Nela Que A Mentes
No Home - Fucking Hell
Noveller - Arrow
OOIOO -Nijimusi
PE - Person
Ramble Tamble - Burned County Data
Renee Van Trier - Something of What I’ve Lost
Skeleton - Skeleton
Special Interest - The Passion Of
Vacant Gardens - Under the Bloom
Vladislav Delay - Rakka
Saint Abdullah - In God's Image (Psychic Liberation)
Amani + King Vision Ultra - An Unknown Infinite (PTP)No Home - Fucking Hell (d/l bandcamp)
Chronophage - Th' Pig Kissed (Cleta Patra)
Felicia Atkinson - Everything Evaporate (Shelter Press)
Still House Plants - Fast Edit (Bison / Blank Forms)
Model Home - One Year (Disciples)
Sofehso - A Record (First Terrace)
Claire Rousay - Both (Second Editions)
Soft Shoulder - Contextual Depreciation (Gilgongo)
Dr. Pete Larsen and His Cytoxic Nyatti Band - s/t (Dagoretti)
Dean Roberts - Not Fire (Erstwhile)
Armand Hammer - Shrines (Backwoodz Studioz)
Ono - Red Summer (American Dreams)
Triple Negative - God Bless The Death Drive (Penultimate Press)
Mint Mile - Ambertron (Comedy Minus One)
NE$$ x Baby J - 21st Century Blues
Obnox - Savage Raygun (ever/never)
David Nance - Staunch Honey (Trouble In Mind)
Sumac - May You Be Held (Thrill Jockey)
Uniform - Shame (Sacred Bones)
Duma - s/t (Nyege Nyege Tapes)
Powers / Rolin Duo - s/t (Feeding Tube)
Will Johnson - El Capitan (Keeled Scales)
Horse Lords - The Common Task (Northern Spy)
Dan Melchior - Embankment To The End Of The Line (Gertrude Tapes)
FACS - Void Moments (Trouble In Mind)
E- Complications (Silver Rocket)
Jon Collin - Water And Rock Music, Volumes 3-4 (Feeding Tube/Early Music)
Lamps - People With Faces (In The Red)
Astute Palate - s/t (Petty Bunco)
Magik Markers - 2020 (Drag City)
Barry Walker Jr. - Shoulda Zenith (Holy Moutain)
Reissues / vault-y bits :
Black Unity Trio - Al - Fatihah (Gotta Groove)
Dadamah - This Is Not A Dream (Grapefruit)
Ela Orleans - Lost (La Station Radar)
Phew - Vertical Jamming (Disciples)
United Mutation - Dark Self Image (Radio Raheem)
Top 3 TV Moments :
1) Geoff Metcalfe getting stabbed in the neck with a broken wine bottle
2) Geoff Metcalfe falling off his roof
3) Eddie Kingston - spoken word
Steve Cross, Remote Control
20 tracks that got me through 2020
Soccer96 - I Was Gonna Fight Fascism
Kelly Lee Owens – Corner Of My Sky ft. John Cale
Nadia Reid - Best Thing
Sault – Little Boy
Cabane feat. Bonnie "Prince" Billy – Take me home Pt2
The Weather Station – Robber
Moonduo –Planet Caravan
Alexandra Savior - But You
Bill Callahan - Sea Song (feat. Mick Turner)
Rival Consoles - Vibrations on a String
Aoife Nessa Frances - Blow Up
Car Seat Headrest - Deadlines (Thoughtful)
Kelly Lee Owens – On
Lou Doillon – Alexandrie, Alexandra
Ghostpoet - Breaking Cover
Sei Still - El Camino
Daniel Avery - Lone Swordsman
Son Lux - Only (Chasing You) [feat. William Bell]
Shannon Lay/Steve Gunn - Clay Pigeons
Blake Mills - Money Is The One True God
Malcolm Donaldson, Matador Records
20 new albums and (some new, some old) reads I enjoyed in 2020
"Paraphrase" - Sarah Resnick
Invisibility Blues - Michele Wallace
Libra - Don Delillo
Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone - James Baldwin
Satantango - Laszlo Krasznahorkai
Butcher's Crossing - John Williams
Sula - Toni Morrison
The Factory - Hiroko Oyamada
Real Life - Brandon Taylor
Two Serious Ladies - Jane Bowles
Bonus Round: Favorite not-new new release
Art Feynman - Half Price at 5:30
Mary Lattimore - Silver Ladders
Omar S - You WantPop Smoke - Shoot For The Stars Aim For The Moon
Neil Young - Homegrown
Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song
Yves Tumor - Heaven To A Tortured Mind
Jorge Elbrecht - Presentable Corpse
Domenique Dumont - People On SundayOneohtrix Point Never- Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
My Favorite Show - How To with John Wilson
My Favorite Enzo - @enzothesweetboy
Jonathan Gold, Beggars Group
Albums
Arca – KiCk i (XL)
Caribou – Suddenly (Merge)
Dehd – Flower of Devotion (Fire Talk)
Desire Marea – Desire (Izimakade)
Eartheater – Phoenix: Flames Are Dew Upon My Skin (PAN)
Jessie Ware – What’s Your Pleasure (PMR/Friends Keep Secrets/Interscope)
Kelly Lee Owens – Inner Song (Smalltown Sound)
Naked Roommate – Do the Duvet (Trouble In Minds)
Perfume Genius – Set My Heart on Fire Immediately (Matador)
Popcaan – FIXTAPE (Unruly/OVO Sound)
Special Interest - The Passion Of (Night School/ Thrill Living)
Yves Tumor – Heaven to A Tortured Mind (Warp)
EPs
Deaton Chris Anthony – BOOGY WOOGY (Self-Released)
Meth Math – Pompi (In Real Life)
Park Hye Jin – How Can I (Ninja Tune)
Moonchild Sanelly – Nüdes (Transgressive)
Shygirl – ALIAS (Because)
Songs
BbyMutha – “Cocaine Catwalk” (Self-released)
Bicep – “Apricots” (Ninja Tune)
Blake Mills – “Money Is The One True God” & “Vanishing Twin” (New Deal/Verve)
Creams – “DIE 4 U” (Self-released)
Jeannette Ndiaye – “Makom Ma Bobe” (Kalita)
Julie Byrne, Jefre Cantu-Ledes – “Love’s Refrain” (Mexican Summer)
keiyaA – “Hvnli” & “Rectifya” (Forever)
Koraal – “Vuurdin” (Nous’klaer Audio)
Lorenzo Senni – “Dance Tonight Revolution Tomorrow” (Warp)
Mary Lattimore – “Pine Trees” (Ghostly)
Maurice Fulton, Peggy Guo – “Jigoo” (Gudu)
MOTHERMARY – “Catch Fire” (Italians Do It Better)
Pop Smoke – “Shake The Room (feat. Quavo)” (Victor Victor Worldwide/ Republic)
Pam Garavano, Beggars Group
15 new & 10 reissues albums I loved this year. I strive to never list albums I work on, but if I did, plum by widowspeak and clot by wax chattels along with the reissue of OXZ’s catalog are all aces.
new releases:
adrianne lenker - songs (4ad)
ana roxanne - because of a flower (kranky)
constant smiles - control (living waters)
cut worms - nobody lives here anymore (jagjaguwar)
kate nv - room for the moon (rvng)
katie gately - loom (houndstooth)
le volume courbe - fourteen years ep (honest jons)
mary lattimore - silver ladders (ghostly)
lucrecia dalt - no era sólida (rvng)
modern nature - annual (bella union)
perfume genius - set my heart on fire immediately (matador)
psychic ills - never learn not to love 7-inch (sacred bones)
snowy - audio commentary (spunk)
tomberlin - projections ep (saddle creek)
westerman - your hero is not dead (partisan)
reissue:
dadamah - this is not a dream (grapefruit)
loscil - coast/range/arc (kranky)
priscilla ermel - origins da luz (music from memory)
hiroshi yoshimura - green? (light in the attic)
pole - 1, 2 & 3 (mute)
pale saints - comforts of madness 30th anniv. (4ad)
pylon - pylon box (new west)
the sound - physical world 7-inch (reminder)
neil young - homegrown (reprise)
various artists - ak79 (flying nun)
Matt Harmon, Beggars Group
ALBUMS
Modern Nature - Annual EP (Bella Union)
Brigid Dawson and The Mothers Network - Ballet of Apes (Castleface)
Irreversible Entanglements - Who Sent You (International Anthem)
Sunwatchers - Oh Yeah! (Trouble in Mind Records)
CS + Crème - Snoopy (The Trilogy Tapes)
Beatrice Dillion - Workaround (Pan)
Lingo Seini et son groupe - Musique Hauka (Sahel Sounds)
T.V Sun - Mosses (Anyway)
Quin Kirchner - The Shadows and The Light (Astral Spirits)
Roomful of Teeth - Michael Harrison: Just Constellations EP (Amsterdam)
Penelope Trappes - “Eel Drop” EP (Houndstooth)
Omar S - You Want (FXHE Records)
Oneohtrix Point Never - Magic Oneohtrix Point Never (Warp)
Nazar - Guerilla (Hyper-Dub)
SONGS
HAAi “Head above the Parakeets” (Mute)
Les Sins & Acemo “C’mon Les’ Go” (Company Studio/Sonic Messengers)
Dave Harrington + Nate Mercereau “Things Move Quickly When They Feel Right” (How So Records)
AceMoMa, AceMo & Moma Ready “Revolutionary” (HAUS of ALTR)
Jenny Hval “Bonus Material” (Sacred Bones)
Mdou Moctar “Ibitan” (self-released)
Sault “Free” (Forever Living Originals)
Dan Matz “Now Lucifer” (Assumed Identity)
REISSUES
Rashied Ali + Frank Lowe - Duo Exchange (Survival Records)
Anthony Moore - “Out” (Drag City)
Various Artists - Guasá, Cununo y Marimba. Afro-Colombian Music the West Coast (Gertudis Bonilla)
Noam Klar, Matador Records
my top 5 Mad Men episodes as viewed during lockdown 1&2:
1. Season 5, episode 11: “The Other Woman”
2. Season 7, episode 14: “Person To Person”
4. Season 6, episode 8: “The Crash”
4. Season 1, episode 12: “Nixon Vs Kennedy”
5. Season 3, episode 6: “Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency”
Sonya Kolowrat, Beggars Group
TOP 10 SCREAMERS + RELATED THINGS I DISCOVERED IN 2020
I moved to LA from the E.Coast in the summer of 2019, and my “Covid project” has been a deep study into all things LA Punk rock. Living in NYC, one gets a little locked into E.Coast stuff, so I had the rare pleasure of discovering a new old band. In the early punk days in LA, there was one band that ruled it all and influenced it all. THE SCREAMERS. I AM STILL MAD that no one told me about them ages ago. You have to click on all the stuff below and then you too can get SO excited about a band that never officially released an album and only existed from 1975-1981. Why didn’t you tell me about this band when I was 4? Here’s a list of things I have explored and enjoyed related to this band.
- “122 Hours Of Fear” (kicks in after a minute, and the anticipation build is worth it)
- “Vertigo”
- Screamer’s singer Tomata du Plenty on CNN talking about his post-band art career.
- KK Barrett – Former Screamers drummer, now Academy Award nominated production designer
- The Cockettes – SF avant garde psychedelic hippie theater group that Tomata was in – Documentary/Website
- The Hollywood Columbarium at Hollywood Forever where Tomata Du Plenty is laid to rest (bonus resting place of Rozz Williams of Christian Death one floor above)
- The art of Gary Panter (designed the iconic Screamers “screaming man” logo in addition to a Yo La Tengo album cover)
- Books: We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of L.A. Punk by Brendan Mullen & Marc Spitz, Under The Big Black Sun - A Personal History of LA Punk and it's sequel, More Fun in the New World: The Unmaking and Legacy of L.A. Punk - by John Doe and Tom DeSavia
- Lydia Lunch’s podcast and Pleasant Gehman’s podcast
- Cornell University’s Screamers collection
Andy Larsen, Beggars Group
Full lengths:
M. Takara and Carla Boregas - Linha D’Água (El Rocha Records)
Valentina Magaletti, Marlene Ribeiro - Due Matte (Horn of Plenty)
Kübler Ross - Kübler Ross (Akashic Records)
Sarah Davachi - Cantus, Descant (Late Music)
Alan Braufman - The Fire Still Burns (Valley of Search)
Vladislav Delay - 500 Push-Up (feat Sly and Robbie) (Sub Rosa)
Beatrice Dillon - Workaround (Pan)
Ambrose Akinsmusire - on the tender spot of every calloused moment (Blue Note Records)
Cindy Lee - What's Tonight To Eternity (W.25th)
Crazy Doberman - Illusory Expansion (Astral Spirits)
EPs, singles, collections, and archive releases:
Don Cherry - Om Shanti Om (Black Sweat Records)
Charles Curtis - Performances and Recordings 1998-2018 (Saltern)
Nkisi - Initiation (Initiation)
Neutrals - Personal Computing (Slumberland Records)
Xylitol - I’m Pretty Sure I Would Know If Reality Were Fundamentally Different Than I Perceived It To Be (Thrilling Living)
Alvin Lucier - String Noise (Black Truffle)
Coil - Musick To Play In The Dark (Dais)
Harry Pussy - Superstar (Palilalia)
Model Home - One Year (Disciples)
Marika Politissa - All Parts Dark (Olvido Records)
Annette Lee, 4AD
Top 10 discoveries / things that have kept me sane during lockdown:
1. Schitts Creek
2. I May Destroy You
3. Why I’m No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge (Book)
4.East cookbook by Meera Sodha
5.Perfecting a gut-busting pork ramen
6.Ruth Rogers’ Sausage Ragu recipe (thanks to Patrick Amory)
7. Calcarius orange and Kindelli Luna Nueva Blanc wines
8. Lagman from Karamay Urghur restaurant
9. NTS Radio
10.Lockdown Parenting Hell podcast
Aaron Leitko, Matador Records
Model Home - SE (Future Times)
Autechre - Sign (Warp)
KMRU - Peel (Editions Mego)
Ulla - Tumbling Towards a Wall (Experiences Ltd.)
Luke Stewart - Exposure Quintet (Astral Spirits)
Butch Willis - Amateur on Plastic DVD (Teen-Beat)
US Girls - Heavy Light (4AD)
Vikingur Olafsson - Debussy / Rameau (Deutsche Grammophon)
HOA011 - V/A (Haus of Altr)
Chris Forsyth / Dave Harrington / Ryan Jewell / Spencer Zahn - First Flight (Algorithm Free)
Bill Callahan - Gold Record (Drag City)
Kelley Stoltz - Ah! (etc.) (Agitated Records)
Seltene Erden - Scorched Erden (Youth)
Adam X - Acid Archives 92-94 (L.I.E.S.)
Cygnus - Neon Flux (World Building)
Prince - Sign o the Times Super Deluxe (Warner)
Imaginary Softwoods - Annual Flowers in Color 2020 Remaster (Amethyst Sunset/Mineral Disk)
M. Geddes Gengras - Time Makes Nothing Happen
Haley Fohr @ Hirshhorn 12.6.29
Clear Channel @ Marx Cafe 1.3.20
Jonathan Richman / Bonnie “Prince” Billy @ Lincoln Theater 3.7.20
Irreversible Entanglements @ Rhizome 3.8.20
new stuff:
theo parrish - wuddaji
the microphones in 2020
gillian welch - boots, all the good times
lil uzi vert - eternal atake
21 savage - savage mode II
mike - weight of the world
dj blackpower - king of the night
necrot - mortal
malokarpatan - krupinské ohne
after - life repeats
lady ehepr - gloatre
straw man army - age of exile
twisted thing - sacred cement
jeff rosenstock - no dream
cadenaxo - lenguas podridas
chronophage - th' pig kiss'd
blair - nothing helps
ippei matsui & aki tsuyoku - natsu no zenbu
domenique dumont - people on sunday
v/a - equiknoxx music in 2020
old stuff:
world standard - asagao
v/a - still in my arms comp
don cherry - om shanti om
valium aggelein - black moon
shirley scott - one for me
v/a - la locura de machuca 1975-1980
Abby Rubin, Beggars Group
2020 Favorites
Lamb Rabbit- Heart True
Dominique Dumont - People On Sunday
Against All Logic - 2017-2019
Fiona Apple - Fetch The Boltcutters
Tara Clerkin Trio - S/T
Oneohtrix Point Never - Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
Neil Young - Homegrown
The Soft Pink Truth - Shall We Go On Sinning So That Grace May Increase?
Waxahatachee - St. Cloud
Caribou - Never Come Back
SAULT - Untitled (Rise)
Burna Boy - Twice as Tall
Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song
Mary Lattimore - Silver Ladders
Gia Margaret - Mia Gargaret
Moodyman - Taken Away
Loma - Don’t Shy Away
Marie Davidson - Renegade Breakdown
Ela Minus - Acts of Rebellion
Art Feynman - Half Price at 3:30
Yves Tumor - Heaven To A Tortured Mind
Yves Jarvis - Sundry Rock Song Stock
The Avalanches - We Will Always Love You
Josh Turner, Matador Records
Favourites
New in 2020
John Carroll Kirby - My GardenMil-Spec - World House
Vein - Old Data In A New Machine Vol. 1
Jamael Dean - Ished Tree
Yves Tumor - Heaven To A Tortured Mind
Bib - Delux
Mary Lattimore - Silver Ladders
Jay Electronica - A Written Testimony
Chubby & The Gang - Speed Kills
Honourable mentions:
End It - One Way Track
SUSS - Promise
William Tyler - New Vanitas
Graf Orlock - Decibel Flexi
P22 - Human Snake
Tiny Mouse - Little One’s Journey
Found in 2020
Federico Mompou - Impressions
Bartok - Romanian Folk
The Telescopes - Taste
International Harvester - Sov Gott Rose-Mari
Normil Hawaiians - More Wealth Than Money
Stan Hubbs - Crystal
Sopwith Camel - The Miraculous Hump Returns From The Moon
Chuck Johnson - Balsams
The Orioles - Crying In The Chapel
Dara Puspita - Ba-Da-Da-Dum
Read in 2020
Pierre Berton - Klondike 1896 - 1899
Sean Carroll - Something Deeply Hidden
Jimena Carrels - Einstein / Bergson Debates
Dan Hooper - At The Edge of Time
A K Blakemore - Fondue
Daniel Everett - Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes
Evan Osnos - Age of Ambition
Mixes / Lists
Hung, Drawn & Quartered - 20th February 2020
Sauvages - Sauvages#180
PA - Git That Church
Tapes - Taste of Honey
Jake Whitener, Matador Records
Favorite Releases of 2020 :
Sarah Mary Chadwick- Please Daddy (Sinderlyn)
Slauson Malone- Vergangenheitsbewältigung (Crater Speak) (Grand Closing)
Maral- Push (Leaving Records)
Ramble Tamble- Burned County Data (Self-Released)
Pink Siifu- Negro (Field Left)
Duma- Omni (Nyege Nyege Tapes)Your
Duval Timothy- Help (Carrying Colour)
Nazar- Guerilla (Hyperdub LTD)
No Home- Fucking Hell (Self-Released)
Special Interest- The Passion Of (Night School / Thrilling living)
Yves Tumor- Heaven to a Tortured Mind (Warp)
Crack Cloud- Pain Olympics (Self-Released)
Irreversible Entanglements- Who Sent You? (International Anthem)
Park Hye Jin- How can I (Ninja Tune)
The Cowboy- Wifi on the Prairie (Self-Released)
(more from 2020 and beyond)
Sweetie Zamora, Remote Control Records
My favourite releases of 2020 - a year of everything and nothing all at the same time.
Carla Geneve - The Right Reasons
Christine and the Queens - La vita nuova
Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia
Jessie Ware - What’s Your Pleasure?
Joji - Nectar
Lady Gaga - Chromatica
Little Dragon - New Me, Same Us
Miiesha - Nyaaringu
Perfume Genius - Set My Heart On Fire Immediately
Roisin Murphy - Roisin Machine
Romy - Lifetime
SAULT - Untitled (Black Is) & Untitled (Rise)
Surprise Chef - Daylight Savings
Taylor Swift - Folklore & Evermore
The Chicks - Gaslighter
Yaeji - WHAT WE DREW ??? ????
Emily Zaremba, Matador Records
Albums/EPs in no particular order:
Actress - Karma & Desire
Joanne Robertson - Painting Stupid Girls
Model Home - One Year
Beatrice Dillon - Workaround
Ichiko Aoba - Windswept Adan
Special Interest - The Passion Of
Adrianne Lenker - songs
Moodymann - Taken Away
lojii - lo&behold
Park Hye Jin - How can I
Tristan Arp - Suggested Forms
Bill Callahan - Gold Record
Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song
Ana Roxanne - Because of a Flower
No Joy - Motherhood
Kate NV - Room For The Moon
Julianna Barwick - Healing is A Miracle
DJ Python - Mas Amable
Songs in no particular order:
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - “Expanding Electricity”
Dehd - “Loner”
Standing on the Corner - “Angel”
Against All Logic - “Penny”
Pa Salieu - “Frontline”
HAAi - “Rotating in Unison”
Sassy 009 - “Ghost Town”
Oneohtrix Point Never - “I Don’t Love Me Anymore”
Bktherula - “Summer”
Sufjan Stevens - “The Ascension”
The 1975 - “Yeah I Know”
Shygirl - “Slime”
Jwords - “Numb”
Yves Tumor - “Gospel For A New Century”
Katie Dey - “Happiness”
SAULT - “Strong”
Salem - “Old Gods”
Yung Lean - “Yayo”
Darkside - "LIberty Bell"
stream / download "Liberty Bell"
(photo : Jed DeMoss)
DARKSIDE is the collaborative duo of Dave Harrington and Nicolas Jaar.
Dormant since the close of touring for their debut full-length, 'Psychic', the group quietly reconvened in 2018 to begin writing new music.
Following more than a year of work, Harrington and Jaar completed 'Spiral', the second DARKSIDE album, in December of 2019, which has been mixed by Rashad Becker, mastered by Heba Kadry, and will be released this spring.
Today, you can listen to the first single, "Liberty Bell".
Darkside online :
website
Darkside at Matador
VIDEO: Kim Gordon on Echoes w/ Jehnny Beth
Photo by Aurélie Lamachère
Early this year, just days before the world went into lockdown, Kim Gordon and her newly assembled live band performed tracks from her solo debut No Home Record for Arte's "Echoes with Jehnny Beth." The resulting half-hour set has premiered today, including a round table discussion between Gordon and the episode's other artists.
Purchase/Stream No Home Record
Kim Gordon Online
Official Website
Out Today: Interpol - "Our Love To Admire" & "Antics" Colored Vinyl Editions
Today marks the release of Interpol's "Our Love To Admire" on limited sky blue vinyl and "Antics" on limited white vinyl. Copies of each LP are available on the Matador webstore and at your participating local independent record store.
Stream Antics / Pre-order white vinyl
Stream Our Love To Admire / Pre-order sky blue vinyl
Interpol Online
Official Site
YouTube Channel
Out Today : Belle and Sebastian - 'What To Look For In Summer'
"I Didn't See It Coming" (video by Wide Eyed)
stream / purchase 'What To Look For In Summer'
Today, Belle and Sebastian release 'What to Look for in Summer', a live double album gathering choice selections from the band’s 2019 world tour, including last summer’s epic Boaty Weekender cruise.
With the release, Belle and Sebastian also present ‘channel B&S1’ – a 23-song video playlist with dedicated visuals for each track on the album. Featuring a mix-and-match of custom-made Belle and Sebastian dolls by Angharad Jefferson ("I Didn’t See It Coming", "Nice Day For A Sulk", "Dirty Dream #2"), original illustrations by Graham Samuels, ("The Fox In The Snow", "Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John"), overlays for the eagle-eyed of previous Belle and Sebastian videos ("If She Wants Me", "Beyond The Sunrise") and live footage from The Boaty Weekender and elsewhere ("The Wrong Girl", "I Didn’t See It Coming") – the collection is a one-stop shop for your "What To Look For In Summer" visual companion needs.
“Someone said it would be a good idea to have a visual clip for every song on the album. But – even though we had recorded the songs live – we only had visuals for a few of them,” explains Stuart Murdoch.
“So, we set to work with a talented pair of editors to make little vignettes for each song. We were deep in Covid, so we thought it might be interesting to have the band mime along with one of the songs while we stayed inside our respective Glasgow bubbles. Hence the clip for "Arab Strap’"came about.”
“I contrived to make a clip for "My Wandering Days Are Over" on my phone featuring my nephew Ethan and our friend Meri, who lives with us,” he says. “I had to keep them socially distanced, so that became the theme for the clip.”
tracklist :
1. The Song of The Clyde £ >
2. Dirty Dream Number Two *
3. Step Into My Office, Baby *
4. We Were Beautiful +
5. Seeing Other People %
6. If She Wants Me @
7. Beyond The Sunrise &
8. Wrapped Up In Books +
9. Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John $
10. Nice Day For A Sulk (digital only) #
11. I Can See Your Future *
12. Funny Little Frog ^
13. The Fox In The Snow+
14. If You’re Feeling Sinister*
15. My Wandering Days Are Over*
16. The Wrong Girl #
17. Stay Loose%
18. The Boy Done Wrong Again #
19. Poor Boy%
20. Dog On Wheels%
21. The Boy With The Arab Strap+
22. I Didn’t See It Coming+
23. Belle And Sebastian #
£ recorded Banchory Studios, Glasgow, August 6th, 2020 (digital version)
> recorded by Kenneth McKellar (vinyl + CD versions)
* The Boaty Weekender, August 10th, 2019
+ Royal Oak Theatre, Michigan, July 21st, 2019
% Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, July 12th, 2019
# House Of Blues, Boston, MA, July 13th, 2019
^ M-Telus, Montreal, QC, July 15th, 2019
@ Carnegie Hall - Pittsburgh, PA, July 18th, 2019
& House Of Blues, Cleveland, OH, July 19th, 2019
$ Auditoria Baluarte, Pamplona, Barcelona, November 4th, 2019
Belle & Sebastian online
Official site
Julien Baker - ISOLATE / CREATE
In a new installment of the "Isolate/Create" series, Julien Baker offers the stems for her new single "Faith Healer" from the forthcoming album 'Little Oblivions', These are supplied for the purpose of remixing and reinterpretation. Please share your creations on YouTube or Soundcloud and make sure to use hashtags #isolatecreate and #julienremix when posting. If you share on socials, please tag @julienrbaker and @matadorrecords too. Thanks!
Julien Baker - Isolate/Create, "Faith Healer"
stream / download "Faith Healer"
presave / preorder "Little Oblivions"
Julien Baker Online
Website
out today : Muzz - 'Covers' EP
This morning, Muzz have released the digital EP 'Covers', a four-song collection which sees the trio of Paul Banks, Josh Kaufman and Matt Barrick reimagine songs by Arthur Russell, Bob Dylan, Mazzy Star and Tracy Chapman.
'Covers' is as much an illustration of the bands collective inspirations as it is a sonic testament to their expansive imagination and fluidity as a musical outfit, imbuing the singular classics with a sense of wonder and awe that come together to a short but powerfully holistic set.
Arthur Russell favourite "Nobody Wants A Lonely Heart" is deconstructed to its mesmerising foundations, with Banks' baritone gliding over Kaufman's submerged piano and Barrick's gentle shuffle. Bob Dylan's "Girl From The North Country" is recast in a cobweb of acoustic guitars, swooning slides and ghostly vocals that slow-burn to a mystical crescendo. Elsewhere, Banks’ invocation of Mazzy Star’s "Fade Into You" is fraught with raw emotion, set to a backdrop of palpitating percussion and arching strings. Tracy Chapman's "For You" brings the set to a buoyant and moving close, punctuated by fluttering guitar runs, cinematic pads, and Banks' soulful delivery.
Tracklist
1. Nobody Wants A Lonely Heart
2. Girl From The North Country
3. Fade Into You
4. For You
stream / download 'Covers'
Purchase/Stream Muzz
Muzz Online
Website
Yo La Tengo : Hannukah 2020 Livestream, December 18
(photo : Amanda Slater Tattoo)
For nearly 20 years, Yo La Tengo’s annual eight-night Hannukah concert series has been a much-loved staple of the NYC/NJ music scene. However, as with many events in 2020, this year’s celebration will be taking a slightly different form.
On Friday, December 18 – the last night of Hannukah – Yo La Tengo will present a stripped-down version of their usual holiday fare, streamed live from The Greene Space at WNYC. In keeping with tradition, the evening will feature a surprise opening musical act, followed by a comedic performance, plus a set by Yo La Tengo.
Tickets can be purchased online, with proceeds going to the National Independent Venue Association.
The performance will be rebroadcast on December 19.
stream / purchase 'Sleepless Night'
Yo La Tengo online:
Official Site
Bandcamp
Coming February 12, 2021 : Bailter Space - 'Wammo', 25th Anniversary Edition
"Splat" (director, Julie Hermelin
“The most massive guitar come down music ever. Pop songs that sound like they came from a greyhound bus station at 2am. Riffs baked in slime and flowers that pack the ‘THUD’ of a ball peen hammer to the knee. A blistering bookend to Bailter Space’s unstoppable Matador run, Wammo returns to smoke our collective brain resin and fall asleep with the TV on.”
– Ryley Walker
Mogwai's frequent visits to the Matador office invariably resulted in Patrick, Chris, or pretty much anyone on their coffee break generously shoving records in our faces and convincing us that ‘if we hadn't heard this band already, our lives were about to get better. Bailter Space was one of those bands. I loved the use of just one or two chords (economical!) with vocals that I was happy enough with being almost indecipherable. Listening back to Wammo, that guitar sound hasn't dated to my ears at all. Please generously shove this record in your face.
– Barry Burns (Mogwai)
By 1995, this NYC-by-way-of-New Zealand power trio that not nearly enough people are in love with had already released a multiple-album masterclass in remaking post-punk, shoegaze, and even industrial in their own dense, heavy, beautiful, emotional, and occasionally hostile image. Then Wammo subtracted none of that while adding hooks bigger than Brit-Pop and NEU!-ing up the rhythms. I certainly hope this reissue puts Bailter Space where they should have been for the last quarter-century: In everyone’s inspirational canon.
– Andrew Earles
Preorder / stream : 'Wammo'
This year Matador’s Revisionist History has surfaced a number of outstanding and era-defining catalog items by the likes of Pavement, Yo La Tengo, Guided by Voices, Mary Timony, and Chavez.
Today, we bring you the final title of our 2020 lineup: Bailter Space’s 'Wammo', now celebrating its 25th anniversary.
'Wammo' has been remastered from the original tapes and returns to us pressed on translucent orange vinyl. Pre-orders for the new edition are available now via the Matador store.
Formed in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1987 as Nelsh Bailter Space, the band’s musical family tree touches on some of the nation’s most revered weirdo luminaries – including Flying Nun mainstays like the Skeptics, the Clean, and the Gordons.
Bailter Space (aka bailterspace) embraced chaos, but celebrated precision, finding melody amid networks of brooding noise and feedback. After relocating to New York City, the band – who by then included Alister Parker, John Halvorsen, and Brent McLachlan – arrived on Matador in in time for the US release of 'Robot World' (1993). 'Wammo' was the trio’s third and final full-length with the label (their fifth album overall) and was among its most tuneful efforts (relatively speaking!).
At the time, music scribes were a bit puzzled by the record’s “accessibility.” In the rear view, though, we can recognize 'Wammo' for the perfectly melancholy and drone-laced brain-zap that it is.
In July of this year, bailterspace released a new album, 'Concret'.
(Flying Nun are releasing a limited green vinyl edition of 'Wammo'.)
Wammo Tracklist
Untied
Splat
At Five We Drive
Zapped
Colours
Retro
Glimmer
Voltage
D Thing
Wammo
Bailter Space Online :Splat
At Five We Drive
Zapped
Colours
Retro
Glimmer
Voltage
D Thing
Wammo
Bandcamp
Video : Muzz - "Nobody Wants A Broken Heart"
(Direction – D. James Goodwin)
In the wake of last Friday's "Live In Kingston" debut online performance, Muzz have released a video for their cover of Arthur Russell's "Nobody Wants A Broken Heart". The studio version of said interpretation can found on Muzz's 'Covers' EP, out this Wednesday (December 9)
stream / download 'Covers'
Purchase/Stream Muzz
Muzz Online
Website
Julien Baker - "Faith Healer" (Lyric Video)
"Faith Healer" - from the album 'Little Oblivions', out February 26, 2021
Though we've already released Daniel Henry's video for Julien Baker's "Faith Healer", this morning there's another visual take, Sabrina Nichols' lyric video for the first single from Baker's eagerly anticipated new album, 'Little Oblivions'.
stream / download "Faith Healer"
presave / preorder "Little Oblivions"
Julien Baker Online
Website
Perfume Genius - "Without You" (Jim-E Stack Remix)
This morning we're releasing the Jim-E Stack remix of Perfume Genius’ “Without You,” taken from the critically acclaimed album 'Set My Heart On Fire Immediately'. Stack had previously collaborated with Perfume Genius and Empress Of on the single “When I’m With Him,” and also worked with artists including Bon Iver, Caroline Polachek, Haim and more. Stack said of the “Without You” remix, “to my ears a Perfume Genius album always embodies excellence, from the song-writing to the production to the mixing. Every word, note, and sound feels so purposeful while playing its role in each song and in the greater context of the album. I chose to remix ‘Without You,’ because something about it felt timeless and familiar but also grounded and confident. That gave me room to make a completely new instrumental around the vocal.” He went on to say, “even though Mike and I are friends and we’ve worked together in the past, I was admittedly intimidated by the task of remixing ‘Without You.’ Once I found a way to bring the song into my world, I started listening to the remix outside the studio and I knew I had done my thing. I just hoped Mike would want to listen to it too."
stream / download "Without You" (Jim-E Stack Remix)
Stream / purchase ‘Set My Heart On Fire Immediately
Perfume Genius Online
Website
Belle and Sebastian - "The Fox In The Snow"
Prior to the December 11 release of their hotly antcipated live album, 'What To Look For In Summer', Belle and Sebastian have made available another track from the collection of 2019 concert recordings, "The Fox In The Snow"
stream / download "The Fox In The Snow"
presave/preorder 'What To Look For In Summer'
Belle & Sebastian online
Official site
Coming December 9 : Muzz - 'Covers' EP
(photo : Driely S. )Muzz have announced details of a new EP, 'Covers'. The four-track set, which sees the trio of Paul Banks, Josh Kaufman and Matt Barrick reimagine songs by Arthur Russell, Bob Dylan, Mazzy Star and Tracy Chapman, will be released digitally on December 9th.
'Covers' is as much an illustration of the bands collective inspirations as it is a sonic testament to their expansive imagination and fluidity as a musical outfit, imbuing the singular classics with a sense of wonder and awe that come together to a short but powerfully holistic set.
Arthur Russell's 'Nobody Wants A Lonely Heart' is deconstructed to its mesmerising foundations, with Banks' baritone gliding over Kaufman's submerged piano and Barrick's gentle shuffle. Bob Dylan's 'Girl From The North Country' is recast in a cobweb of acoustic guitars, swooning slides and ghostly vocals that slow-burn to a mystical crescendo. Elsewhere, Banks’ invocation of Mazzy Star’s 'Fade Into You' is fraught with raw emotion, set to a backdrop of palpitating percussion and arching strings. Tracy Chapman's 'For You' brings the set to a buoyant and moving close, punctuated by fluttering guitar runs, cinematic pads, and Banks' soulful delivery.
stream / purchase 'Covers'
Purchase/Stream Muzz
Muzz Online
Website