this is new music to me : the 2011 edition

Mainly jazz this year: Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco, Horace Silver Song for my Father, Lee Morgan Sidewinder, Max Roach Deeds Not Words, Donald Harrison w/Ron Carter & Billy Cobham Heroes.

I get into a lot of old music as bedtime albums. These were the albums that comforted me this year, either new to me or they belatedly revealed the full extent of their charms):

John Martyn, Solid Air (new to me)
Steely Dan, Gaucho (full extent of charms)
Richard Horowitz & Susan Deyhim, Majoun (full extent of charms)
Russell Mills/Undark, Strange Familiar (new to me)
Cocteau Twins, Victorialand (full extent of charms)

more I'm forgetting right now.

A lot of vocal jazz like Mark Murphy, Blossom Dearie, Karin Krog, and Jula de Palma, even rediscovered Frank Sinatra. The whole Nashville studio musicians and all of the different records they led me to. My big discovery this year was Jesus music, from xian folk to country and western gospel.
Oh and Michael Farneti's Good Morning Kisses

Neu!

folk and old-timey music from the '20s and '30s.

La? Neu! for me. I guess I assumed Rother dropped off in the 90s? WRONG

Rother Dinger :P

Have you heard Martyn's One World Tim? If not, you really should

^ would strongly second that

Popol Vuh !

has become my morning music of choice. ILM's PV thread is a handy album guide

not so handy atm (but yes!)

Chris Stamey/Yo La Tengo's "McCauley Street (Let's Go Downtown)," which I found in a used bin last week.

Also: Herman Cain's "Imagine There's No Pizza."

"I wonder if you can" ?

Yes we can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DrSEyjBj1w

Almost forgot - this was also the year I got into Workingman's Dead and American Beauty by the Grateful Dead.

This is the year that Charalambides clicked in a big way for me, thanks in large part to their excellent new album EXILE (which is easily in the top five albums released this year for me).

xp: next year you should check out Jerry Garcia's Garcia and Bob Weir's Ace. They are of the same ilk.

Don't sleep on Mickey Hart's Rolling Thunder, also released in '72. I just discovered that one this year and it is also pretty excellent. John Cipollina plays guitar on it. May as well rep for Europe 72. as well, a record that sounds better to me now than ever before.

Thanks for the recs. I will investigate.

Reassessed and moved from ambivalence to full-fledged love:

Scott Walker (via the "Five Easy Pieces" box)
Kevin Ayers (via the "Songs For Insane Times" box)
Pere Ubu (via the first two discs of the "Datapanik In The Year Zero" box)
Brian Eno's ambient work (via the "Instrumental" box)
Nuggets I and II boxes (and 60s UK psych as well)

It's been an awesome box set year!

Incidentally, I'm always amazed how one's tastes can change over time. It makes me think that eventually I'll dig everything.

^yeah, been feeling the same way lately. Eventually, everything sounds good.