Christmas presents to myself...



William Parker Violin Trio - Scrapbook

It's Jazz I'm afraid, so I'm at a loss to do this justice as I can't go off and start name-checking obscure jazz musicians since my knowledge of the subject is pretty bad. I know William Parker from his work with Spring Heel Jack, he's a bass player which I guess is one reason that the music is more 'structured' than most free jazz albums I know - I think by there nature Bass players will be more inclined to stick to a rythmn than the more egotistical sax players out there. He's complemented by Hammid Drake on drums, who like the best of them can go off on one - but who knows exactly when to real it in back to the groove Mr Parker is laying down; then there is Billy Bang on violin - not the most 'jazz' instrument in the world, but in the context of such a tight rythmn section it works well. Anyway, that's my take on it.



Philip Jeck - 7

Yet another release from Philip Jeck, I think it's about the 4th one? Anyway, I've gone on about him before - but in case you weren't listening first time, he uses old dusty records, possibly older record players and cheap casio keyboards to create some of the best ambient music I've ever heard. What he somehow manages to bring to ambient music (or maybe minimalist music is a better phrase, some of this CD is quite abrasive) is a sense of warmth sorely lacking elsewhere. I think his methods also lend a feeling of nostalgia to his recordings, I don't want to start going on about returning to the womb, cos that would be bollocks - hopefully you know what I mean. Recommended to people who enjoy listening...



King Geedorah - Take Me To Your Leader

Anyone heard of MF Doom, the MC in the Iron Mask? I'd heard of him, but I hadn't heard any of his stuff, even though (or maybe because of?) he's considered to be one of the Underground Hip-Hop's biggest stars. Well, here he is in an alternative disguise, that of Godzilla's buddy: the giant three headed lizard King Geedorah. The japanese monster film theme is throughout this disc, plenty of samples straight from cheesy dialogue, much of the background tracks sound like they've been made from that sort of sci-fi incidental music. Beats are tight, lyrics suitably dope, damn fine hip-hop album



RJD2 - Constant Elevation: The 'Say Word' Mix

Nice surprise here, I hadn't heard of this mix - I kind of assume if RJD2 is going to release anything, I'm going to damn well know about it - but here he is sneaking his little old skool funk remixes out without telling me. Usual stuff, plenty of classic breaks, he manages something a little different with this mix by going a bit DJ Yoda towards the end with the Knightrider theme, and the other (and better) Tears for Fears tune from Donnie Darko is on this.



Out Hud - S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D.

Not sure if you've heard but there is a bit of a revolution going on in the world of indie music, indie kids are learning to appreciate a well shaken bootie. There's this lot, !!! and The Rapture (see later) doing some damn fine dance music - and that's proper dance music, not the crap heard in Yates on a Friday night, music made to dance to, not to drown out drunken conversations and to annoy me!



Alias - Muted

Nice, mainly instrumental album from one of the Anticon crew. It sort of reminds of the last Four Tet album, but without the folktronica tag. Although it's mainly an instrumental album



Boom Bip & Dose One - Circle

Very odd album, like cLOUDDEAD (who Dose One is a member of... I'm trying to educate you here people!) the seem to get bored of songs very quickly. There are songs on the album, but it seems to be mainly musical ideas. Still, when you have a producer of Boom Bip's calibre on production duties and the awesome Dose One on vocals they come up with some pretty damn fine ideas...



Jackie O MotherFucker - Wow / The Magick Fire Music

Reminds me no end of Miles Davis, funny since I was expecting God Speed! You Black Emporer...



Wanna Buy A Craprak?

Do I? Go on then... This is a compilation, recommended in The Wire's review of 20003, taken from a label run by a chap called Hrvatski. I know him from this really cool digi-ragga remix of a Kid606 song he did a while ago, but this compilation is nothing like that - a gentle pleasant stroll through some leftfield electronic tunes.



The Rapture - Echoes

Back to the indie dance music, a bit rawer than Out Hud, and not quite as funky as !!! Very eighties feel in places, can't think of much else to say since it's getting too late.



Odd Nosdam - No More Wig For Ohio

Another Anticon (he's in cLOUDDEAD) release which goes all over the place, he doen't even bother naming the tracks. Nice album...



Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban - Mambo Sinuendo

Mambo!! So, where do I start... Well, I've got this thing where I try to pick something from each of The Wire's best of 2003 - this was in the global section. It's fun, definitely adds a bit of a shimmy to your step, and I love the tracks with the Coro singers, no idea what Coro means, but it sounds good!



Basement Jaxx - Kish Kash

Another good album which I spent far too long ignoring - I still don't think they've peaked, but it makes a nice stop gap whilst waiting for the next Prodigy album



Sunn 0))) - White1

The ultimate drone metal album, three tracks - the first one clocking in at 25 minutes. But, maybe because the instruments are slowed to a crawl it doesn't seem that long. This one also has a couple of guest vocals including a fucking hilarious one from Julian Cope. How he can bellow the line "Old mother fucker, she was a cock sucker" with out instantly pissing himself is beyond me