FoeWeel !!! ???

Art piece at the de Young Museum

It’s always such a strange thing for me to sum up an entire calendar year, to take a snapshot of it. Either the framed picture is actually a better portrayal of the year than it actually was, or it cannot fully encapsulate the grandness of it. It’s been a positively turbulent year for me personally, and as far as music, the four albums that stick out in my mind are Sigur Ros’ Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust, Lykke Li’s Youth Novels, TV On The Radio’s Dear Science,, and Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago, which was on my list from last year as well–yeah, it’s that good. They are all great albums that work cohesively as an album and not just as filler for a few singles. I think the Sigur Ros and Bon Iver albums are masterpieces. The four albums mentioned above should grow old gracefully and they won’t make your kids, or grand kids cringe when you play them on your hi-fi stereo. So, here’s a toast to my incredible (y)ear, and below are the rest of my notable albums of the year.

Here at the offices of FoeWeel, we hope for this holiday season, and for the new year that your lips be less chapped, the ability to breathe be at least through one nostril, and may both of your ears be open to music, in all of it’s many forms.

Sigur Ros – Med Sud i Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur (Within Me A Lunatic Sings)

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
re: Stacks

TV On The Radio - Dear Science,
Love Dog

Lykke Li – Youth Novels
I’m Good I’m Gone

The REST (in no particular order)

Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III - (Lollipop (Featuring Static Major)) – one of hip-hop’s strangest artists who embraces the mainstream as well as the underground. I can’t explain why Wayne is probably the only mainstream hip hop artist who resonates with me, but I guess when you have an entire genre of crap, it’s not hard to rise to the top. Unique delivery with always an interesting perspective, all masked with the hip hop bravado.

Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend – (The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance) – almost every track on their debut self-titled album is a pop single ready to be unwrapped and consumed for all of it’s sugary goodness. Take harpsichords, cellos and sparse reggae beats not seen since the Police, and you have an album that may be enjoyed by that housewife who lives in the suburbs with 3 kids who mistakes boredom for blandness.

Nina Simone – To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story (Box Set) – (I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl (Live)) - A true artist. They should make a biography about her, and please don’t get Beyonce to play Nina. I think Gweneth Paltrow would be wonderful. Her range as an actor is beyond comparison and her hubbies band, Coldplay could do all covers of Nina’s songs. Wow, what a brilliant idea.

Flying Lotus – Los Angeles – (RobertaFlack feat. Dolly) The closest thing to blending abstract beats with hip-hop. Everything may appear to be slightly off, but it’s actually in the proper vestabule for your brain. One of the most forward thinking beat producers out there today, and the nephew of Alice Coltrane. It’s in the genes.

Hauschka - Ferndorf - (Rode Null) – A perfect soundtrack for a Tim Burton film, an animated one because most of his live action films aren’t that good anymore. It sounds as if Volker Bertelmann is conducting an orchestra with the players all inside his piano.

Liam Finn – I’ll Be Lightning – (Wide Awake On The Voyage Home) – the son of pop songsmith Neil Finn, of Crowded House fame. Another case to show that talent runs in the genes, an ecelectic mix of pop songs that continues his father’s excellent solo outings as well as the great career of Crowded House. Too much Yoko in Sean?

Kangding Ray – Automne Fold - (Quarante) – My mom once told me that the size of the bone on your wrist and the size of your ears determines your success in life. I wish I could remember this whenever someone is having one of their self-righteous moments. I think anyone who purchases a Ford, GM, or Chrysler should have this CD stuck in their CD player. You figure that one out.

Greg Dulli – Live @ The Triple Door - (Candy Cane Crawl) the former frontman for the Afghan Whigs, current member of the Twilight Singers and the Gutter Twins. If I could be reincarnated as any musician, it would probably have to be Dulli. Blues and alcohol drenched evenings on the road while wearing his heart on his sleeve. Puss and blood make a great combination for a guitar solo.

Goldmund – The Malady Of Elegance – (Image-Autumn-Womb) Just for the record, any statement can be made in to a sentence. The beauty of writing is that it can be freeform, and not the new James Frey variety, but one that makes sense and deliver the goods-TWSS. It has always been tough to sift through the crap. You have the ad agencies stuffing everything down your throat, which is supposed to be better, stronger, faster, but how do you know what is real, what is true. Go read a book, and not one that is recommended by Oprama. Stop watching TV, listen to KCRW, or WXPN and don’t trust anyone who lives within 5 miles of a strip mall.

Girl Talk – Feed The Animals – (Set It Off) – it’s a mashup of everything, and I mean, everything. It has a ton of 90′s hip-hop which I largely ignored for good reason, but it won’t cause constipation like listening to Coldplay.

Fennesz – The Black Sea – (Vacuum) – I make soup, yeah soup, to Fennesz’s music. It takes some time, but it usually turns out pretty well. It seems to put a smile on me lady’s face. Listen closely, it’s actually the Beatles played at indistinguisablly low levels. You have to enhale all of the cleaning solutions in your house to understand this one, but it’s worth it, once you get out of the hospital.

Flight Of The Conchords – Flight Of The Conchords – (The Most Beautfiul Girl (In The Room)) – Seriously…..witty lyrics, great melodies..how can you not like these guys. It truly is a tear on my face, and not just rain if you don’t understand the genius behind these guys.

The Dodos – Visiter - (Park Song) – Yes, they are from San Francisco. I like the DooDoos. Do they still live here? Local music here is pretty lame. Subtle across the bay are pretty good, but as far as smaller bands, musicians, where are they ? Maybe the heyday has been laid to rest by such greats as Sammy Hagar, Huey Lewis, Pointer Sisters, Metallica, Mark Kozelek (kidding), DJ Shadow, Amon Tobin (??), American Music Club (??) and Journey.

CLP – Supercontinental – ( I’m So Trill feat. Tunde Olaniran) – Phon.o and Chris de Luca tone down their breaks for people to talk over. I think they should just get Beans and Lil Wayne to wrap all over their beats. Who else is a good wrapper?

aus – Antwarps – (Lethargic) Do your feet ever just start sweating when you are wearing shoes ? Random foot sweats. I’ve noticed that my armpits seem to sweat more than when I was younger. Instead of wearing deodarant/anti-whatever, I just play aus for a bit after I get out of the shower and keeps me dry in the places I need to be dry during the daylight hours.

Animal Collective – Water Curses EP – (Street Flash) If the Beach Boys were actually good, or if they would have progressed beyond Pet Sounds. Scratch that. Familiar music made in unfamiliar ways. They are getting better with each new release. If we lived under water, this is what music would sound like to us.

Adele – 19 – (Best For Last) – you might say that it’s another female soul singer, another Winehouse, but is that bad? A little more pop, and a little more health. No boob job or tats, yet.

Byetone – Death Of A Typographer – (Heart) – If you take some of the excess felt/cloth off of the Q-Tip before you use it, you might be able to get more wax out. If you get more wax out, you will be able to hear the subliminal messages in Coldplays’ music (some examples: GP is the greatest actress ever), and you will be able to appreciate music’s progression in the form of Byetone. If not, just shove the whole Q-Tip in there and leave it there for a few days.

Hauschka’s custom piano @ the Hotel Utah, San Francisco

This past weekend my partner in crime surprised me with a getaway trip to go zip-lining at the Moaning Caverns and then to Yosemite, pronounced YOSE-mite in this here parts. The incredible trip was book ended by shows from piano jazz legend McCoy Tyner and the experimental pianist Hauschka. The Tyner show was part of his yearly residency at Yoshi’s in Oakland, and although being close to 70 years old, he showed the silhoutted restraint that has made him not only a great solo performer, but also a part of some of the greatest jazz recordings of all time. Hauschka, otherwise known as Volker Bertelmann showed off his modified piano with all the clicks, claps and rattles from clips, magnets and tape (as seen above) to help accompany his pieces, with help from the Magik*Magik Orchestra. A great way to enjoy the past, be in the present and see the future, all in the course of a few days.

Hauschka – Heimat – from his latest release Ferndorf, if you get a chance to see Hauschka, you will not be dissapointed. PitchforkTV has the Overture directed animated video for this song.

McCoy Tyner – All My Yesterdays – from the Tender Moments release, a somber piece that shows off Tyner’s harmonious skills.

John Coltrane – Say It (Over & Over Again) – off of one of my favorite albums, Ballads, Tyner’s playing is what carries this smoke and memory filled room as Coltrane hovers above telling you what to remember and what to forget..

Remember the good old days when you had a double cassette recorder and it took hours to make a mix. Here’s to memories……… MUXTAPE is a site where you can upload and share your mixtapes. It’s super clean and super easy to use. My link should be up on the front page soon, here’s a direct link :

FoeWeel MuxTape foeweel.muxtape.com

an atmospheric, ambient, abstract mix made especially for the earphones for long flights. it will take you to an alternate existence. guaranteed. part of the new forward foeweel site….coming soon.

01 Bitcrush – an island, a penninsula
02 Mikkel Metal – Conceal
03 Kangding Ray – _isolation
04 Kiln – Flycatcher
05 Loscil – Rorschach
06 Skyphone – All is Wood
07 Air – Alone in Kyoto
08 Speedy J & µ-Ziq – Poppy Seed (Boards of Canada Remix)
09 Hauschka – Paddington
10 März – The Cricket Song
11 Lars Blek – Tristess

3rd Street Bridge, 2007

the past few weeks have been strange to say the least. actually, the whole year, so far, has been…..weird.
a ton of change is coming, so i’m trying to charge up the batteries for the long journey ahead.
if you are told of what your future holds, is it a comforting piece of information to have ……???

Modeselektor – The Dark Side Of The Sun feat. Puppetmastaz (Needletrasher) (Hip Hop, Abstract) – a crazy shortened version of the original. i guess it could make a nice ringtone and frighten everyone around you.

Duranduranduran – Face Blast (Hip Hop, Abstract) – from the excellent “2OO”Planet MU compilation, an interesting take on the social makeup of our society ?

Hauschka – Paddington (Piano) – using the piano as his base, Volker Bertelmann adds various materials to the strings of the piano while also plucking the actual string themselves. his new album, ‘room to expand’ is worth the price of admission to his unique world.

Patrick Watson – Bright Shiny Lights (Singer Songwriter) – after hearing the cinematic orchestra’s ‘to build a home’ which featured patrick watson on vocal and piano, i picked up his ‘close to paradise’ release which shows the bareness and bluesy nature which makes his voice great.