What albums did I acquire in 2019?
- Elbow, Giants of All Sizes (2019)
- The new album from Elbow, I don’t have quite the emotional attachment to this album as I do Seldom Seen Kid, but these elbums tend to grow on me over time.
- Laurie Anderson et al., Songs from the Bardo (2019)
- Performed with a large number of other artists, this is not an album of “songs”, but a set of lessons for you to memorize so that you can recall them when you are in the bardo, the place where you are after your body dies. If you can remember and follow the instructions, you will achieve enlightenment. Heavy stuff.
- Eric Johnson, Collage (2017)
- Catching up on things that were released in years previous, that I wasn’t paying enough attention to notice, this is EJ’s return to electric performance after the next album on this list.
- Eric Johnson, ej (2016)
- Catching up, this album is all acoustic recordings of various works.
- R.E.M., Accelerate (2008)
- For some reason, neither Sharon nor I bought this album when it came out, even though I have purchased all of their albums since this one.
- The Cars, Move Like This (2011)
- Back from the dead after their ascension to Valhalla, The Cars released this album to absolutely no notice that I can remember. I can’t even listen to it. I have no emotional connection to any of this, and can’t force myself to make one.
- Smithsonian Folkways, Japan: Semiclassical and Folk Music (1974)
- More background music for Pennsic, this joins the library of stuff I bought for last year. It’s probably not historical, but it’s mostly premodern and very Japanese. Some of it really rocks, actually.
- Various Artists, Twin Peaks; Music from the Limited Event Series (2017)
- I loved the way each episode of the limited series ended in the roadhouse bar, with some band playing. I could have done with less Z. Z. Top and more Silencio, but I will take this, no question. Some cool stuff on this.
- Various Artists, Twin Peaks; Limited Event Series Soundtrack (2017)
- Angelo, speak to me with your fingers and toes.
- Steve Moore, Beloved Exile (2019)
- A solo album from one half of Zombi, I wasn’t going to buy this at all, but his label kept promoting it on YouTube, and eventually I realized that I like it a lot. Still want a new Zombi album, but this is good.
- Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet, Landfall (2017)
- A series of musical monologues where Laurie talks about experiences surrounding Hurricane Sandy. It’s full of metaphors for love and loss over time, and you shouldn’t miss it.
- Joe Satriani, Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards (2010)
- Catching up, here is more Joe Satriani.
- Toto, Dune; Original Soundtrack Recording (1984)
- Picked this up used, and could not put it down. Who doesn’t love this jaw-dropping soundtrack to this notoriously impenetrable film?
- Joe Satriani, What Happens Next (2018)
- Started out the new year buying an album that came out in just the previous year. Not quite catching up.
- MONO, Nowhere, Now Here (2019)
- new album by Japanese band MONO. “Mono” means something like “thing” in Japanese, so it’s not a bad label for this crazy group. I don’t keep up with their live recordings, but their studio albums are must-buys for me.
- Jean-Michel Jarre, Equinoxe Infinity (2018)
- Jean-Michel really takes it back. Sharon has the other Equinoxe, so I wanted to build. He’s on the same label as Mono, is the only reason I knew these were out.
- Jean-Michel Jarre, Oxygene 3 (2016)
- I have the first two parts of the Oxygene triptych, and didn’t realize this had come out. This is totally an Oxygene album. All new music, but all one with the others. You can really play them in a row and not know where one ends and the next begins.
- Joe Satriani, Shockwave Supernova (2015)
- Catching up, you bet. I can’t really point to huge standout works on any of these recent Satriani albums, but more of the same is still more of great stuff, so I am perfectly willing to help Joe buy groceries.
A pretty big year for my music collection, actually. I was employed for ten months out of twelve, which tends to make me feel well-funded and in a mood to support the artists I love.
