2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Member of the Year & Journal of the Year Champion

Behold the Writing of THE LEGEND:

https://www.musicbanter.com/members-...p-lighter.html

Whilst I dunno if these guys are technically a "supergroup" per-se, I can most definitely express my surprise just how much I revisited their debut album throughout the year. It's noisy, strange yet just indubitably enjoyable to take in a sitting- I get that engrossing feelings similar to watching a particularly interesting set of cloud patterns or a deep space documentary. Besides that killer album cover, it also has an undeniable near-but-not-quite-dance pop sensibility on cuts like the movin' n groovin' 'The Future Of History' or the sinuous, Bowie-esque 'Chameleon Paint'. Little diversions like that really add up to a sense of replayability for me...a twisted but intriguing tapestry with blistering energy to spare for a cold, listless day.

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Member of the Year & Journal of the Year Champion

Behold the Writing of THE LEGEND:

https://www.musicbanter.com/members-...p-lighter.html

Mr. Fingers, AKA Larry Heard, is for all intents and purposes one of the progenitors of Deep House music...specifically the Chicago scene. He's been sampled countless times, produced and wrote for many throughout the 80's, 90's and beyond, etc. In other words, by this point in 2018 he is very well traveled. Which is why even though Cerebral Hemispheres isn't going to reinvent the wheel for those familiar with his approach to electronic music, there is a fluidity and melodic sensibility to every aspect of the programming and arrangements that gives one pause. He's a deft hand at soundscapes, but he knows how to lay on the melody without devolving into anonymous club noise. He's the epitome of class without the ego, with no gimmicks: just keen insight in knowing how to relax the listener, particularly on the accordion laced 'Sands Of Aruba' and the excellent Tangerine Dream-ish 'Electron'.

Inspired by the Tarot and performed entirely with piano, glockenspiel and some fine drumming, this French trio's tour-de-force self titled is a thing of improvisational, highly tempered beauty. Although feeling like a suite in structure overall, it is opening cut 'The Fool' and closing piece 'The World' that where their compositional muscles feel especially flexed, with the latter morphing seamlessly from a frenzied state into something similar to a modal Bill Evans frame of mood. Quite remarkable and a 2018 jazz highlight!

A pretty legit example of a death metal album actually pushing the compositional envelope, this latest outing is so different from what Rivers Of Nihil are known for that it was a bit of shock for me earlier this year listening for the first time. Trumpet and sax? Clean vocals here and there? Actual melodies? It's like I needed to be pinched to be sure it was the same group who recorded The Conscious Seed Of Light.

While I have this at number twenty four, it's honestly top ten material for me. There's the usual onslaught you'd expect, but there's a dazzling amount of musical diversity here that keeps pulling you back in every time you think you've heard it all before. You get these jazzy yet heavy basslines on 'Subtle Change' and the magnificent title track that seem so alien to death metal but work here to surprising effect, plus a few sax solos here and there that would do Bath-era maudlin of the Well proud.

Lastly, the concept is great. The main character is an ageless being who is forced to watch the world die around him in a Elvish LOTR-esque fashion (though the concept reminds me of that one future Hulk timeline a bit). There's some other neat themes running through the story, but it's just icing on the cake to an awesome experience if you like your heaviness mixed in with a multitude of ideas.

A group that's been around for 50 years or so, but who never seems to have trouble reinventing themselves throughout the years at a whim. Known for having some of the tightest vocal harmonies of all time (especially in the world of vocal jazz), there's a joyous sense of reinvention and experimentation in regards to melody on The Junction that it's hard not to get swept up in their exuberance if you get in the right frame of mind.

Female lead Janis Siegel is a big bright spot, with a distinctive whistle register that contrasts really beautifully against the lead male singers, especially on opening bopper 'Cantaloop (Flip Out!)' and the slinking 'Blues For Harry Bosch'. But where this album really wins is the jazzier, more laidback cuts -- the bossa nova kissed 'Sometimes I Do' and the ephemeral closer 'The Paradise Within (Paradise Found)' are both sublime examples of mood spectacle. A rich experience overall and a bit of a dark horse that rose to the top of my list over several months before I even realized it.