Matty McBride has been writing about music for the Boston Hassle website for quite sometime now. From Seattle, we crossed paths during his time in Boston, and now he has gone and left us, once again for Seattle. We miss him, but at least we still have his great writing about all things found within that black hole called noise.
2* cross country road trips – only one car totaled. And a whole host of perfect records, cassettes, and shows to keep this year alive and memorized.
IN NO ORDER:
Chris Corsano/Bill Orcutt – The Raw and the Cooked
Purest collaboration, rawest sound.
Powell – Untitled
No wave by way of techno by way of high-quality self-editing and a mastery of excess.
Demdike Stare – “Dysology”
Real evil, vicious and viscous, unrelenting.
Oneohtrix Point Never – All three music videos
Using and abusing the joys of the digital age.
Logos – Cold Mission
Menacing, fractured, and ecstatic – like the Eski Grime secret sequel to Jam City’s Classical Curves.
Total Life – Radiator
Deep, deep, Drumm/Radigue-style drone from former Growing member Kevin Doria.
Aaron Dilloway – Opened Door + Siena
Further examples of Mr. Dilloway’s mastery.
Ahnnu – Battered Sphinx
Blissfully dissonant, from another, alien world than most of the current drove of beat tapes.
PAN_ACT – Boston + NYC
Highlights – KFW, Valerio Tricoli, Helm, and Laurel Halo/Regis
Donato Dozzy – Plays Bee Mask
Possibly the most beautiful release of the year – sublime variations on a theme.
Stellar Om Source – Joy One Mile
An incredible analog techno workout from this former new-new-ager.
RP BOO – Legacy
Perfect compilation/gateway drug into this legendary producer’s sonic terrain.
Laurel Halo – Chance of Rain
Halo let every idea interact and flow – genre territory is discarded in favor of even transitions and ideal sequencing.
Julia Holter – “Maxim’s I”
A blurry memory of life on the stage – post-Broadway, pre-performance.
Ryan Power – “The Prize”
Unbelievable pop music from this NE treasure.
*****18+ – Mixtap3*****
The CD that wouldn’t leave my car, the songs that wouldn’t leave my head – digital touch, persona, physical love.
XOXO
MATTY
