Music
Steely Dan is my favorite band of all time.
Aja Steely Dan, 1977
“Aja is like driving down a treacherous, cliff-side road in the most luxurious car ever made” Amanda Petrusich, Pitchfork
’77 Live Les Rallizes Dénudés, 1991
“It’s a baptism by fire for anyone looking to graduate from an intermediate understanding of rock ‘n roll” Douglas Martin, Passion of the Weiss
98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare Fishmans, 1999
“a performance evoking a world where you seem to ascend into pitch-black outer space” Masako Sakaguchi, TAP the POP (translated)
Kyūsai no Gihō Susumu Hirasawa, 1998
“a maximalist circus of emotion and ambition built with grand string arrangements, sampled Indian drums, and textural synth backgrounds” Malachi Lui, AnalogPlanet
I Trawl the Megahertz Paddy McAloon, 2003
“its own kind of dream, where time slows down and the world ahead seems magnificent and new” Sam Sodomsky, Pitchfork
Dots and Loops Stereolab, 1997
“a late-90s’ version of Neu!’s headlong quest into some imaginary future, precision-tooled using cutting-edge studio technology” Eric Harvey, Pitchfork
F♯A♯∞ Godspeed You! Black Emperor, 1997
“that feeling of being crushed by despair while seeing a flicker of possibility” Mark Richardson, Pitchfork
The Magnolia Electric Co. Songs: Ohia, 2003
“Cosmic American Music scorched by the heat of reentry” Jason Heller, Pitchfork
“The Glow” Pt. 2 The Microphones, 2001
“Staticky thumps that could level forests give way to calm acoustic expanses.” Brian Howe, Pitchfork
The Olatunji Concert John Coltrane, 2001
“It’s full of sound and fury alright, but it’s signifying something.” Peter Marsh, BBC Music
Clube da Esquina Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges, 1972
“Casual and inspired, studied and spontaneous, the album is Pet Sounds, Innervisions and The White Album all rolled into one” Andy Beta, Pitchfork
Hayalet Islığı Farazi v Kayra, 2013
“It’s as though, while listening to the album, we’ve put the tea on and are chatting together.” Kerem Onan, Paslanmaz Kalem (translated)
Hot Buttered Soul Isaac Hayes, 1969
“a voice that hits like a velvet sledgehammer” Nate Patrin, Pitchfork
Uneven Compromise Lil Ugly Mane, 2012
“Lil Ugly Mane arises from the ashes riding the coffins of Salem, Spaceghostpurrp and rap’s equivalent of witch house.” Jodi Burian, The Quietus
Some Rap Songs Earl Sweatshirt, 2018
“a smoky iceberg of great emotional depth.” Ben Beaumont-Thomas, The Guardian
Classical
- Ravel, Mahler, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Glass, Reich; regular at the CSO. I made Contrapunctus, an atlas of composers.