Various Artists - Six Degrees Global Groove Sampler This one was free for download on amazon! What a deal! It includes work by Malian blues guitarist Vieux Farka Touré (son of Ali!), American duo Undersea Poem, French-Finnish duo The Dø, Zuco 103, Gaudi (the track is 'No Time', one of my favorites of 2010), David Starfire, Midival Punditz, Lal Meri (another collective featuring the indispensable Carmen Rizzo), and others. This is the perfect example of why free music is wonderful and why 'illegal' downloads of music shouldn't worry real musicians. I would not likely have gotten a good listen to many of these bands without a free earful. I am planning on buying Gaudi's album, and I imagine one or two more of these will also be purchased before long. Very good stuff!
Kero One - Early Believers Positive hip-hop producer and MC from San Francisco, who has a very chill, old-school, true skool feel to his stuff. This is his second album, and he came up completely outside the major labels.
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah, Part Two: Return of the Ankh The second part of her trilogy of New Amerykah albums. The first one (4th World War) took some time to grow on me but, when I got it, I loved it! This one sounds like it might be a little less out there, but I'm glad Badu is back in my playlist. It's been awhile since I was getting off on her debut (Baduizm).
Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones Black metal band Celtic Frost broke up again two years ago after the release of their phenomenal album Monotheist. This is the new band by Tom Gabriel Warrior. From the samples I heard before I purchased and the cuts I heard on YouTube, sounds like it'll be another mind-shattering trip through the valley of darkness. I can't wait!
BT - These Hopeful Machines One thing I like about producer/composer/technologist BT is he never puts out CDs that seem like he's only being half-hearted. Everything he records is epic and/or I can tell he's passionate about it, even if I sometimes dislike the direction he takes (Emotional Technology) This is probably his most ambitious work since his classic trancy/ambient debut ima, which completely rocked my world in terms of music. These Hopeful Machines is 2 CDs and two hours of music. I'm expecting it to be quite an aural journey.
Various Artists - Riverside Scenes on a Bright Day Traditional Chinese music by artists such as guqin player Li Xiangting (whose Sleeping Lotus album is a favorite of mine for meditation and quiet times), Cui Junzhi, Zhang Weiliang, Song Baocai and others. Some serene and/or spartan arrangements for the most part using a variety of instruments.
Gotta go listen!
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