ILM's Top 77 ALBUMS of 2011

As to how is Colin Stetson doing it:

Lots of technique. He learnt circular breathing and applies it to the instrument, there's also mics all over his saxophone and he also uses his throat and hands to add up to the sounds.

He kind of sounds like the Caspar Brotzmann of the bass sax.

well, he certainly isn't peter

currently i'm relistening to julia holter and it's kind of enjoyably odd but i cannot get a handle on it or find an entry point into it at all

― first period don't give a fuck, second period gon get cut (lex pretend), Wednesday, February 1, 2012 9:39 PM (16 seconds ago)

That's part of what I LOVE about it, I can't tie it in with anything fully, on one part it feels akin to Laurie Anderson or Meredith Monk in terms of artiness and pitch, on another side I see people calling it chillwave or comparing to Zola Jesus. None of these nail it.

so far Colin Stetson is like if Arthur Russell and Philip Glass had a baby and he learned saxophone

yeah totally, + a little bit of that guy.. james blackshaw

yeah, the no overdubs thing is crazy--i had no idea! need to listen to that again

oh, "world of echoes" is a brilliant point of reference

That's part of what I LOVE about it, I can't tie it in with anything fully, on one part it feels akin to Laurie Anderson or Meredith Monk in terms of artiness and pitch, on another side I see people calling it chillwave or comparing to Zola Jesus. None of these nail it.

it's not that - it's that i'm not hearing anything that hooks me in and makes me want to listen again, i'm hearing a lot of pleasant sounds in a strange order but nothing compelling or moreish

oh god these arthur russell mentions just made me remember that all my arthur russell music died with the hard drive. all of it. gone.

stetson does not click with me, do you love him because of his skills and physical feats as a sax player ("circus freak aspect") or because of the music he makes? it is astonishing what he gets out of the instrument but this kind of thing has been done by roland kirk and free jazzers like "i forgot his name", i think the album was called "sound" before. the tones stetson produces go in circles, it is almost like listening to someone breathing loudly. not really thrilling.

stetson does not click with me, do you love him because of his skills and physical feats as a sax player ("circus freak aspect") or because of the music he makes?

well for me, i honestly was digging it kinda like oh this is sorta in that vein of these new tim hecker dudes more more skronky electronics and didn't even know it was sax

FUCK YES SHABAZZ PALACES

I'll have a few albums to check out tonight if I have time. My rankings:

39 Girls - 279
38 Junior Boys - 273
37 Death Grips - 260
36 Holy Ghost! - 25
35 Holter - 137
34 Cut Copy - 364
33 Maus - 15
32 Panda Bear - 361
29 Spears - 527
28 Araabmuzik - 400
27 St. Vincent - 38
26 Oneohtrix Point Never - 160
25 Ocean - 165
22 Lady Gaga - 525
21 Shabazz Palaces - 163

so far Colin Stetson is like if Arthur Russell and Philip Glass had a baby and he learned saxophone

otm, but moka also otm re: "heartbroken beasts". the emotional connection point w constellation cru/godspeed and stuff like the dirty 3 is p obvious. raw sorrow, reach towards transcendence, the broken and grandiose aspects inseparable.

That Colin Stetson video just broke my mind. Amazing.

roscoe mitchell's album was called "sound". that was more interesting iirc, more expressive.

stetson's using a tape echo, yes?

xp

(in which case yeah - Roland Kirk, Eddie Harris, etc.)

xpost Will check that out

and yeah, james blackshaw is another good comparison point. for me, the technique has nothing to do with my appreciation. i like the music as music, and on that level, couldn't care less how the sounds are achieved. do appreciate the skill and athleticism for their own sake, but that's just a bonus.

Alex, I don't understand your point. I don't think anyone is saying that this is the best bass saxophone record of all time, or that he invented the techniques he uses.

the tones stetson produces go in circles, it is almost like listening to someone breathing loudly. not really thrilling.

― alex in mainhattan, Wednesday, February 1, 2012 1:46 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

would say the same of james blackshaw, and i like him, too. not thrilling perhaps, but inviting and hypnotic. and the sounds themselves are gorgeous.

idk, i need to relisten, but i went in expecting something like Mitchell or Kirk or Braxton and was surprised at how non-jazz, not even free jazz, it is. true, he didn't invent the technique but I think he's doing something new with it. all the drone/minimalism refs (terry riley too maybe?) make sense to me

the live video of judges is pretty amazing but i had to turn it off because this post kept popping into my head and i would LOL

He looks like he's going to die quite a lot of the time

or, contenderizer otm

feel like philip glass is a big part of what happened to indie in the 2000s

polyphonic, i am not criticising stetson for not being original, i just wanted to say that i don't dig what i heard in that live performance, that i have other sax players in mind who did this kind of thing in a more convincing way. but maybe i have to listen again as i did not listen until the end.

It's not really about being a sax record, it's more about the atmospherics than the role of the instrument. Constellation/Godspeed mentions upthread = otm. It's a post-rock record 1st+f'most.

I know what Alex is saying cos that video didn't really do a lot for me either beyond ~how does he do that?~. Would imagine it to be better live where you'd feel the full force of it.

why do we spend so much time arguing/worrying about genre classification on this thread?

why do you keep afflicting this thread with your presence after you said you wouldn't?

How would you compare Colin Stetson to, say, John Butcher? is his stuff generally more melodic, more song oriented?

Re: Colin Stetson
I played bari sax throughout HS, and while the growling over ostinatos is kinda old hat, Stetson has astonishing circular breathing technique. Mixing the pad noise contact mics, layrnx collar mic, bell mic and room mic is brilliant.

Circular breathing is also fairly dangerous as instrumental techniques go, as the pressure on cerebral veins. Don't know if Rahsaan Roland Kirk's stroke at age 39 was caused by circular breathing, but I wouldn't discount it.

why do we spend so much time arguing/worrying about genre classification on this thread?

― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, February 1, 2012 9:59 PM (1 minute ago)

Because it contextualises how we approach the music we listen to and our expectations. Improperly compartmentalising something can fuck up yr appreciation of it - if you view Stetson as a free-jazz sax record you'd think it sucked balls, if you view it as a post-rock record it's the shiz.

or you could just listen to it

ok i'm never going to post on this thread again starting now

I prefer to not think about post-rock at all.

well i think colin stetson is really *neat* so thx to those who voted for it

not thrilling perhaps, but inviting and hypnotic. and the sounds themselves are gorgeous.
the longer i listen to it the more it makes sense. so there is obviously something hypnotic about it. but there is not a lot happening musically. it is a very minimal approach just going in circles with the occasional "shout". it has definitely got a very human quality to it, like listening to amplified breathing. but it seems to be the kind of stuff which is perfect prey for critics as they can project so much onto it. musically it seems rather poor though. all i have listened to is that judges video on youtub.

I prefer to not think about post-rock at all.

^^^

'43 (ft. b-legit)' off of graveyard shift is, by far, the track I played most off of anything that's placed so far. LOVE it.

1-2 combo into 'that candy paint' is killer too.

I voted for "Judges" in tracks (or at least I intended to, not sure now) because it represents what I like best about the album. Don't really like the spoken word pieces.

Looks like I missed a lot! Plenty of great albums here. Can we have a summary please?

I must be listening to a different Panda Bear than you guys, because to me it's a squillion times more interesting than Person Pitch, which was a sloppy mess of incongruous loops and out of tune harmonies; and miles better than the last two Animal Collective albums. It really sounds like he's hit that centre ground of all his influences - the Beach Boys meets Underground Resistance meets the Boredoms' later records. Last Night At The Jetty is the highlight for me - I've said it before, but it sounds like Kiss Me Baby from the Beach Boys' Today album turned inside out. I hear the title track as an attempt to subvert the early 90s techno template. Scheherazde has this eerie serpentine feel. Also very much like Benfica - which is a tribute to the footballing stadium in his Portuguese hometown.

I was rabidly excited about the St Vincent album, having discovered Actor through a previous poll ('09?) and falling head over heels in love with it. Sadly this doesn't live up to scratch - there are impressive moments and I adore Cruel (think that was my number one on the tracks poll), but there just aren't as many hooks and too many discordant bits on this record.

Julia Holter I'm happy did well - such a slight, beautiful little record. And yes, GOddess Eyes is lovely.

and many x-posts but thanks for the clarification on borden/ferraro/godin/halo, guys. have been suffering from a bit of a oneohtrix/pleasant synth music overload since the tail end of 2011 but I still have lots of love for the style when it's done right. will be checking this one out.

I'm still not sure I completely understand the point of 'meta-music' like onephtrix point never and flylo and James ferrero - it's all very clever, but is it enjoyable? I dunno. The Ford & Lopatin should' e been amazing, instead it was just quite good. Brilliant production, but not a lot to come back to.

and many x-posts but thanks for the clarification on borden/ferraro/godin/halo, guys. have been suffering from a bit of a oneohtrix/pleasant synth music overload since the tail end of 2011 but I still have lots of love for the style when it's done right. will be checking this one out.

― (⊙_⊙?) (Alan N), Wednesday, February 1, 2012 10:14 PM (3 minutes ago)

NB: the last two tracks are the strongest - make sure you play it through.

theres a track called 'pacific twilight' off the borden et al record on youtube, i know ive posted it to ilx before but its a decent example of what the record is 'about'

'43 (ft. b-legit)' off of graveyard shift is, by far, the track I played most off of anything that's placed so far. LOVE it.

1-2 combo into 'that candy paint' is killer too.

― (⊙_⊙?) (Alan N), Wednesday, February 1, 2012 10:11 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Dammit for real was about to post these exact same words, like word for word... word. For real. ^5 Alan

feel like philip glass is a big part of what happened to indie in the 2000s

Can you explain this? Apart from hearing some Glassian (though maybe more accurately Reichian) motifs on some of Sufjan's stuff, I don't know that I hear him as a broad influence. Dan Deacon?

- it's all very clever, but is it enjoyable?

Goodness yes, it's beautiful.