Kevin Gates/Beatking/Dizzy Wright

Only just heard this track from last year and OMFG! How good is it? I know what to call it - Magnificent!

Now this is some tripped out ratchet that seems to have gone over the edge. What about that absurd drum machine. 2014 Digital psychosis!

Anthemic tune from Wright's 2014 mini album State of Mind.

Best Of 2013 - Archives, Compilations & Reissues

I think I'll start my end of year lists here as we are in the Retromania age.  I don't have to tell you 'new music in 2013 is just as good as in any era.' in a desperate tone to protect my brand so as to not lose my advertisers. I'll leave all that to those online magazine types. I guess it must be disheartening to be a youth in times such as these, you know, late in the epoch and atemporal etc. They have to try and make themselves believe that their culture is vibrant, alive and theirs because otherwise what have you got?  It's been a thin year for new musical output. Even in the experimental, dance and other usually exciting zones the good stuff is coming less and less. Hey I expected innovation and forward momentum in music to continue on until long after I was gone, I'm gettin ripped off too. So here's a list of great stuff from time.*

Conrad & Sohn - Conrad & Gregor Schnitzler (1981)

What the fuck is this? You may ask. Conrad the legendary German electronic pioneer did a one off LP with his then teenage son Gregor on bass and acid/sci-fi vocals and its fucking great. This is the best album you've never heard. (Yeah I know it's been kickin round the interweb for years but it never sounded this bloody good!)

Silber - Conrad Schnitzler (1974/75)
Another classic from my favourite German electronic guru. This is from the same era as the masterpiece Blau.

School Daze - Patrick Cowley (1973-81)
Porn soundtracks from the disco maestro who gave us the 16 minute extended version of Donna Summer's I Feel Love.

Purple Snow: Forecasting The Minneapolis Sound - Various
Sweet soul sounds and new wave funk of the late 70s/early 80s from the land of many lakes and er....Prince Rogers Nelson. Every once in a while a soul/funk compilation comes along and makes me think why would I listen to any other genre?

The Lost Tapes - Rodion GA (1978-83) 
Unreleased gold from Romania. These are the coolest Eastern European cyber-prog jamz you've n/ever heard.

Fragments Of Light - Sensations Fix (1974)

You gotta love a bit Italian space-prog from mid 70s Florence don't ya? Features Franco Falsini on guitar and synth.

It's You - Don Muro (1977)

Perplexing to say the least. Who'd have thought there was a missing link between Big Star and Tangerine Dream and that it'd be good?   

Celestial Music 1978-2011 - Laraaji (2013)

Every ones fave electronic zither player plays tunes for your spiritual enlightenment. 

I Am The Center: Private Issue New Age In America 1950-1990 - Various (2013)
Meet me on the astral plane.

Celestial Soul Portrait 1975-85 - Iasos (2013)
Meet me in the dimension beyond the astral plane. 

Re-Animator OST - Richard Band (1985)

Ever wondered what Bernard Herman would have sounded like with synthesised drums?

Solaris OST - Edward Artemyev (1972)

Awesome synthesiser score to Russia's most famous space movie. 

De Natura Sonorum - Bernard Parmegiani (1976)
20th Century French electronic composer gets his 70s classic reissued and then a few weeks later passes away. RIP.

GRM Works 1957-1962 - Iannis Xenakis (2013)

I've never heard a bad Xenakis record.

Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings From the 1970s & 80s - Various (2013)

I thought maybe the 70s Afro/beat/disco/psych/funk/rock well may have dried up but no, Soundway move from West to East and bring us more unheard gold.

Who Is William Onyeabor? - William Onyeabor (2013)

Funnily enough I've been asking myself that question since Strut released that seminal Nigeria 70 compilation in 2001. That irresistible keyboard sound is total Guttertronics innit?

Half Dead Ganja Music - Vox Populi (1987)
Experimental ambient psychedelia from France in the 80s. This sounds like it could have come out of today's cassette underground and I mean that in a good way.

The Alchemist: The Best Of 1992-2012 - Goldie (2013)
Rufige Cru,  Metalheadz & Goldie give us drum n bass gold. Disc 1 in particular is da bomb.

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Best 2013 Mixtapes/Mixes/Podcasts etc....

Electro Chaabi for Avant-Guard Lovers - Various @ Soundcloud
Egyptian revolutionary jamz & stuff. Mixed by CLF.

Ketchup - DJ Mustard with Various Artists @ datpiff.com 
The sonic document of 2013. Ratchet = the future of rap and R&B or at least the exciting present.

1017 Thug - Young Thug @ datpiff.com
The coolest and most bizarre rapper ever.

Up/Down - Various @ ASoundAwareness
2 Choice mixes of Italian Library/Soundtrack music from David Thrussel, the man behind Omni Recording Corporation.

The Gold & Silver Dream (1971-82) - Various @?
Tribute to Daft Punk's Random Access Memories.

I Can't Beleive How Dark It is - Various @blogtotheoldschool
Old school darkside mix from Dev/null.

Dawn Of The Synth - Various @ EdiaboliksWorldOfPsychotronicSoundtracks
Synth Soundtracks mix.

Fact Mix 380- Various @FACT
The Black Dog present old school bleep and beyond.

Midnite in Europe Mix - Various @?
Moon Wiring Club Mix of 90s electronica.

Orange Dawn - Various @SonicRampage
90s Tech-Step mix from Pearsall.

Actual Pirate Material - Various @SonicRampage
Mid 90s jump up jungle mix by Pearsall.

2013???

While still kinda waiting for 2013 to happen I'm going back through some old and some not so old music. 2013 isn't even throwing up many good archival releases. The only ones I've come across are Atomic Forrest's Obsession on Now Again (but the date on that says 2011) and a couple from Strut Records (I'm still waiting for their arrival in the post). Apart from those Cairo Liberation Front mixes (I've got 3 check Soundcloud for them) good mixtapes are also few and far between. The first six months of 2013 have got to be the thinnest musical times since oh I don't know 2004, 1944 or take your pick of history's lame musical years. It can't be as bad as it seems can it?

On The Hi-Fi Part 62

sunshine Superman (1966)

Mellow Yellow (1967) 

Totally diggin these 2 LPs (and on the lookout for those that followed). Why was he so maligned I wonder? Sure he wrote some naff lyrics but it's not like The Beatles, Incredible String Band or Nick Drake were immune to to this. Donovan was still being derided in the late 80s, I recall, in the pages of Melody Maker. He was psych's whipping boy in much the same way The Clash were punk's (I guess someone has to take the heat). This is some of the best 60s production this side of The Doors catalogue. Sunshine Superman's got funky psych-pop, sumptuous medieval vibes and meandering folk jams swathed in sitar. While Mellow Yellow's more of a stripped back folk pop vibe tinged with jazz and blues.

Clube De Esquina (1972) - Milton Nascimento & Lo Borges

I'd seen this record cover a million times before in record shops but didn't realise until now that it was a hidden gem hiding in plain sight (thank you interweb). Clube De Esquina is without doubt some of the most beautiful music ever recorded. Bossa nova, samba & South American folk are mixed with rock, orchestral arrangements, heavenly harmonies and drenched in reverb. It's all created by a group of musicians who all lived together in a house for six months, Trout Mask Replica stylee, at the beach before recording this classic.