KWVA DJ since 1998, DJ Sleeve gives shares his favorite new albums and reissues as well as his honorable mentions. You can tune in and hear DJ Sleeve every Monday from 4-6 p.m.!
NEW IN 2020
Gigi Masin – Calypso – Beach ambient bliss
Alex Dowling – Reality Rounds – Astonishing choral electronics using autotune and other tricks
Nicolas Jaar – Cenizas – Smoky late night club vibes
Rhucle – Middle/Nostalgia – More ambient bliss
75 Dollar Bill – Live At Tubby’s/Live At Cafe Oto/Live At Roulette – Tour de force band pulls out all the stops on their desert blues jams
United Bible Studies – Roses In The Voltage I-IV – Witchy weirdness and folky tunage
Horse Lords – The Common Task – Basically really loud math rock in just intonation
Powers/Rolin Duo -S/T LP – Dulcimer and 12-string ftw
Sault – Black Is – I was late to this, just a great band all around, check it
X – ALPHABETLAND – Mastered too loud, but great nonetheless
Bailterspace- Concret – Who woulda thought they’d make rock music this loud and dense in 2020
Sonic Boom – All Things Being Equal – Shockingly good space rock comeback album RIYL S3
HAMA – Music From Saharan Whatsapp 08 – The best of the series, keyboard mind melters
Jon Hassell – Seeing Through Sound (Pentimento Volume Two) – Trumpet mutates, dissolves
Shirley Collins – Heart’s Ease – Just the right blend of old and new, trad-folk with a psychedelic sheen
Nurse With Wound – Trippin’ Musik – Long meditative pieces, very trippy indeed
Matthew J. Rolin – Ohio – Truly excellent 12-string guitar work
Hailu Mergia – Yene Mircha – Comeback albums keep popping up, keyboard jams
Mulatu Astatke & Black Jesus Experience – To Know Without Knowing – FUNKY and angry
Mekons – EXQUISITE – Some really nice high points on this one, recorded separately in quarantine
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
N Chambers – Facets – Dreamy synths, very creative
Edward Ka-Spel – A Red Winter Night’s Dream – Typical but also excellent
Glass – Wilting In Mauve – This Heat worship, sure, but also fun!
Actress – Karma & Desire – R&B fragmented through a minimal techno lens
Tafi & Green Door Allstars – Ghana Glasgow Friendship – Very cool Africa/Scotland collaboration
Tuluum Shimmering – Sister Ray Meets China Cat Sunflower Uptown/Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun – How is this guy the first person to come up with this (great) idea for radical reworkings of rock songs? infinite jams that exist outside of any normal timeframe.
75 Dollar Bill – Power Failures – Studio work, not as essential as the live releases but still worth a listen
Sir Richard Bishop – Oneiric Formulary – Only 3 tracks on Bandcamp, but sounds great
Lonnie Holley – National Freedom – Free form improv poetry/music
Adrianne Lenker – Songs And Instrumentals – Big Thief singer goes solo
Spiral Galaxy – S/T – Kosmiche overload from Plastic Crimewave guy
Shabazz Palaces – The Don Of Diamond Dreams – More of their murky modern urban sound
Tashi Dorji – Stateless – Spiky thorny acoustic guitar explosions
Angel Bat Dawid – Transition East – great jazz single
Sarah Louise – Earth And Its Contents – moving away from guitar and into pure sound
Special Interest – The Passion Of – New Orleans dance/punk/funk
Sault – Rise – Not quite as amazing as Black Is, but still excellent
Six Organs Of Admittance – Companion Rises – A few tracks up on Bandcamp, mellow and good
REISSUE/ARCHIVAL:
Arthur Russell – Sketches From World Of Echo – Just incredible, cello dreams turned into sound
Trees – 50th Anniversary box – The original “acid folk” records, pretty much
Robert Turman – Chapter Eleven – Staggering synth genius from the late ‘70s-early ’80s
Sonic Youth – Rarities 1-3 – Some really great cuts on these
Nurse With Wound – To The Quiet Men From A Tiny Girl LP and Merzbild Schwet LP – Long-awaited vinyl reissues
Sun Ra/June Tyson- Saturnian Queen of the Sun Ra Arkestra – Great overview w/some good unreleased tracks
Prince – Sign ‘O The Times deluxe edition – What can I even say about this? essential
Neil Young – Archives 2 – Same as above
Neil Young – Homegrown – If you aren’t gonna buy Archives 2, just get this – Ditch Part 4
Espers – The Weed Tree LP – I am SO glad this FINALLY got reissued, perfect psych/folk in every way
No Trend – box set – Hateful nihilism was never this much fun
V/A – Vanity Demos – Weird and weirdly formatted, but the Tolerance Demos are essential
Zoviet France – Chasse 2 box – just a god damn masterpiece, impeccable remastering, and the two previously-unreleased records are very good
This Heat w/Mario Boyer DIekurroh/Albert Marcoeur – Untitled – Another “FINALLY” in the reissue department
V/A – Music (Vanity 2LP) – Really nice to see all the Vanity label stuff reissued, this is a great compilation of mystery Japanese bafflement
Sun City Girls – Live At Sky Church 2004 – Idk wtf is going on here, it’s impressive that they can still put out things that don’t sound like anything else they did. this one is not for the faint-hearted.
V/A – How The River Ganges Flows: Sublime Masterpieces of Indian Violin, 1933-1952 – Just what it says
Hiroshi Yoshimura – GREEN – More gorgeous ambient with extra twinkly sparkles
Coil – Musick To Play In The Dark – FINALLY a well-pressed vinyl version of this masterpiece, essential moon musick
The Ex – vinyl reissues on Superior Viaduct – Amazing that they reprinted all the booklets and posters as well
