Waits, There's More

Now that I've lived with Tom Waits' "Orphans" for a few days, I can say without hesitation that this is the best release of 2006. I'm just astounded by the scope and quality of the thing. Tom could very well be the greatest American artist alive today, and he seems to be getting substantially better as he ages.

Oddly enough, I think my favourite track is the little throwaway reading of Bukowski's "Nirvana" - a beautiful piece of writing that stops me cold every time I hear it.

After one complete listen...

Wow. Just wow.

Ambient Addition

Engineer and musician Noah Vawter has invented "Ambient Addition" a device that acts as a kind of reverse iPod - it samples raw sounds from your surrounding environment, then creates rhythm and harmony out of them. Simply by walking around and reacting to whatever they encounter, the user becomes a composer. A very cool idea.

Download. Listen. Thank Dave.

Too busy to go here to download a complete album of ancient Hungarian folk songs? OK, your loss - it's free and it's simply beautiful.

Obligatory End of Year List

My favourite recordings of 2006:

Tim Hecker: Harmony In Ultraviolet
Dense textures cascading over mournful melodies. High art.

Junior Boys: So This Is Goodbye
Gorgeous, brilliant pop.

Chihei Hatakeyama: Minima Moralia
Beautifully restrained electrorganica.

Los Lobos: The Town and the City
So very, very underappreciated.

Joanna Newsom: Ys
Insanely ambitious and magical. A modern day Astral Weeks.

Beautiful Decay

A great collection of photos from abandoned structures throughout Japan.