Brothaman's list....which he sent me and said I could drop the knowledge on you yutes.

There are a few different genres included....but I don't feel like breaking them up and this is Brothaman's bailiwick.


Top 20 Albums of 2009


01. Thomas Köner - La Barca (Fario)
02. Rhian Sheehan - Standing in Silence (LOOP Recordings Aot(ear)oa)
03. Leyland Kirby - Sadly the Future is No Longer What It Was (History Always Favours the Winners)
04. Alva Noto - Xerrox Volume 2 (Raster-Noton)
05. Jean-Michel - Tons of Fun (Onpa)
06. Elegi - Varde (Miasmah)
07. DJ Signify - Of Cities (Bully)
08. Christopher Hipgrave - Subtleties (Under the Spire)
09. Raison d'etre - Stains of the Embodied Sacrifice (Cold Meat Industry)
10. Tim Hecker - An Imaginary Country (Kranky)
11. Jega - Variance (Planet Mu)
12. Ben Frost - By the Throat (Bedroom Community)
13. Pillowdiver - Sleepingpills (12k)
14. Sven Weisemann - Xine (Wandering)
15. William Fowler Collins - Perdition Hill Radio (Type)
16. Tapage - Fallen Clouds (Tympanik Audio)
17. Yagya - Rigning (Sending Orbs)
18. Peter Wright - Snow Blind (Install)
19. Imminent - Cask Strength (Ant-Zen)
20. Cloaks - Versus Grain (3by3)


Honorable Mentions (Albums/LP's)


Alio Die & Aglaia - Private History of the Clouds (Infraction)
Ametsub - The Nothings of the North (Progressive Form)
Ard Bit - Spanon (Symbolic Interaction)
Aun - Motorsleep (Alien8)
Ben Woods - Moments (Wise Owl)
Brock van Wey - White Clouds Drift On and On (Echospace [detroit])
bRUNA - And It Matters to Me to See You Smiling... (spa.rk)
Bvdub - A Prayer to False Gods (Shoreless Recordings)
Celer - Engaged Touches (Home Normal)
Chihei Hatakeyama - Saunter (room40)
Christ. - Distance Lends Enchantment to the View (Benbecula)
Clark - Totems Flare (Warp)
Cylon - Resonanz (Dead Pilot)
D_rradio - Leaves (Symbolic Interaction)
Danny Norbury - Light in August (Lacies)
Dextro - Winded (16k)
DJ Sprinkles - Midtown 120 Blues (Mule Musiq)
Gui Boratto - Take My Breath Away (Kompakt)
Heimstatt Yipotash - Urban Night Motifs (Hands Productions)
Incite/ - Mindpiercing (Hands Productions)
IP Neva - Symbiosis of Contradictions (Impulsive Art)
Loren Dent - Anthropology Volume 1 (Infraction)
Markus Guentner - Doppelgaenger (Sending Orbs)
Matter - Technology and Planetary Power (Le Petite Machiniste)
Odd Nosdam - T.I.M.E. Soundtrack (Anticon)
Pandora's Black Book - Black Brothel (Tympanik Audio)
Peter Bjärgö - A Wave of Bitterness (Kalinkaland)
Peter Broderick & Machinefabriek - Blank Grey Canvas Sky (Fang Bomb)
Porzellan - The Fourth Level of Comprehension (Hibernate)
Rameses III - I Could Not Love You More (Type)
Saito Koji - Beautiful (SEM Label)
subtractiveLAD - Where The Land Meets The Sky (n5md)
Svarte Greiner - Kappe (Type)
The [Law-Rah] Collective - Solitaire (Raubbau)
Troum - Eald-ge-streon/Abhijna (Beta-Lactam Ring)
Tu'M - Monochromes Volume 1 (Line)
Venetian Snares - Filth (Planet Mu)
William Basinski - Vivian & Ondine (2062)
Wisp - The Shimmering Hour (Rephlex)


Top 20 EP's & 12"


01. Mika Vainio - Vandal (Raster-Noton)
02. Yui Onodera & The Beautiful Schizophonic - Radiance (Basses Frequences)
03. Maps & Diagrams - * k o o m & * f o e l (Handstitched)
04. Bvdub - To Live (Smallfish)
05. Posthuman - Monsters & Vortices (b12)
06. Pub - Bubbling Spring (Earplug)
07. Lunar Testing Lab - Seashore Blvd. (Secret Station)
08. R/D - Cricket (The Designed Disorder)
09. Benn Jordan - Louisiana Mourning (Alphabasic)
10. Nukua - Verminruqre (Envizagae)
11. Down Review - From Here, For Anyone (Hidden Shoal)
12. Loscil - Strathcona Variations (Ghostly International)
13. Seas - Arctic/Blue Dub (Expanding Electronic Diversity)
14. Mobthrow - Mutant Dubstep Volume 3 (Spectraliquid)
15. St. Kilda - St. Kilda (Phantom Channel)
16. Stephen Spera - 4 {h2o} (Parvo Art)
17. VHS Head - Video Club (SKAM)
18. Sytrjv - Adiscipling Vehicula (Brainstormlab)
19. Mark Pritchard - Question/The Hologram (Ho Hum)
20. The Village Orchestra - The Starry Wisdom (Highpoint Lowlife)

Top 10 Cassettes


01. Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - No Words (When Skies Are Grey)
02. Xela - The Divine (Digitalis Limited)
03. Mark McGuire - A Pocket Full of Rain (Pizza Night)
04. Sundog Peacehouse - Brosound (Digitalis Limited)
05. Sam Goldberg - Winter Hallucinations III (Pizza Night)
06. Black Eagle Child - Seeds That Sprout in Summer (Stunned)
07. Unknown Artist - Silverhome/Wendesel (CO_RD Tapes)
08. Emeralds - The Overlook (Wagon)
09. Philip Jeck - Spool (The Tapeworm)
10. Greg Davis - Full Spectrum (Digitalis Limited)

I'm proud to have made a couple slots of Mr. Brothaman's list!

Here's what Keaton HQ enjoyed this year:

1. DJ Sprinkles - Midtown 120 Blues [Mule Musiq]

This is simply the best techno record I've heard in ages, hands down. Props to Reid for making me aware of it. I've always held Thaemlitz's album "Soil" very dear and this album is quite possibly my favorite thing the (s)he has done. Classic in every way.

2. Ten And Tracer - Tsotsitaal [Acre]

The warmest sounds can come from the coldest places. Jon really delivered an album I always hoped he would make with Tsotsitaal. Totally beatless and drifty Ten And Tracer. I've probably fallen asleep to it 100 times by now.

3. Fluxion - Constant Limber [Resopal Schallware]

Fluxion has returned! After what has been years on hiatus, the Greek dub-techno god has done an incredibly tight, groovy and modern take on his previous sound, and on the current dub techno scene's sound. Not a dull moment on an album that is really easy to get lost in, but then that's par for the course with Fluxion!

4. cv313 - Live [Echospace Detroit]

Mr. Modell and Mr. Hitchell are probably the only people that I want to put 80+ minute albums out anymore. This deluxe 2-disc soundboard recording crisply captures cv313 (aka Echospace) in their element. It could go on forever and ever and I'd just need more of it like a drug. Perfect perfect perfect.

5. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures [Interscope]

Josh Homme. With Dave Grohl. And John Paul Fucking Jones! What more needs to be said? Fuck yes. That's what needs to be said. Oh and turn it up to 11.

6. Luke Hess - Light In The Dark [Echocord]

I know everyone's talking about Quantec when the word Echocord pops up, but the fact is (for my money) Luke Hess delivered the strongest Echocord release all year with "Light In The Dark". Tight yet spacious night-time dubby techno, just the way I like it. Dark and smoky. Pretty much the aural equivalent of a hot cup of black coffee going down slow after you come in from a sleet storm.

7. Aidan Baker - Gathering Blue [Equation Records]

I always try not to count reissues in with new albums for these lists, but this one is just too good. My buddy Alan very kindly hooked me up with a copy of the blue double-vinyl edition, and I've had nothing short of a spiritual experience with it. Not only does it contain such Baker classics as "The Taste Of Summer On Your Skin" and the "Cicatrice" EP, but also a handful of other tracks that all flow in the same mood and vein. What you get is basically the most cohesive non-album ever made, and nothing short of what I'd consider essential Aidan Baker.

8. EOD - 030303 LP [Unreleased]

I love Stian's melodies. His beatwork and production is truly exceptional as well, but I consider myself lucky to be friends with a Norwegian melodic genius. Stian slipped me this record earlier in the year, which was (to my knowledge) intended to be pressed on vinyl at 030303, but that has (sadly) changed since then. Nevertheless, this is probably the best thing he's done and I sincerely hope it gets released properly somehow.

9. Yagya - Rigning [Sending Orbs]

Despite what I think could be the most underdone looking Sending Orbs album cover yet, Mr. Steini delivers what I think is truly his crowning effort. Released early in the year, but far from forgotten. I was lucky enough to see him perform most of this album back in 2007 when we played at Lab30 on the same stage. Some of the saddest dub techno ever made.

10. David Tagg - Wind Blown Guitar [Second Sun Recordings]

I'm so lucky to have so many talented musician friends, but David is much more than just that. He's the best man in the label business and the most connected collaborator I've ever had the pleasure to create with. We released this record of his from a couple years prior on SSR and I'm sure a few people reading this are like "What? You can't pick a record you pressed!"...well sure I can. It's a beautiful piece of guitar drone and a real departure for David, splitting off from the serene "still-water" vibes of his earlier records and delving deeply into muddy saturated tape sounds with sprawling, fuzzy lead lines. The best thing you could have for the humid southern summer nights we had here.

11. The Dandy Warhols - The Dandy Warhols Are Sound [Beat The World Records]

The original mixes of "Monkey House", prior to Capitol totally overhauling them. Incredibly solid, and a hell of a warm listen on loud speakers. If you know the Dandys, this needs no explanation, but if you don't, this would actually be a solid record to start with. Funky, hooky and soaked in pot smoke.

12. German Shepherd - Alpine Melodies [Sunrise Acoustics]

Thee Milk-Walky Spaceman Returnz! Freeburg cleans up his act, goes digital, ponders photo of Swiss alps, plays with pitchwheel, records voicemail about Jean Claude Van Damme, terrorizes Joe, Jeff and I, mails CD out. What's missing? Nothing but a cold beer to go along with some of the most droned out and "On Land" sounding Shepherd jams ever. This one was perfect for reading to in the fall.

13. Blind Slime - Blind Slime [Earstroke Records]

Jason Adams' (aka Wordsalad, Pincer Attack, Heptangular, Falx, etc) most rockingest (really, it's like rock music, only if it were heard after being digested in a demon's stomach) record yet, and probably my favorite too. Well almost. "Ghost Press Bed" and his album with Shinobu are pretty fucking up there still. Totally new slime-filled direction here though. Dirgelike sludgy drums anchor down nearly-overdosed-on-sleeping-pills shoegaze riffs to resurrect the mountain gods from their eternal slumber.

14. Intrusion - The Seduction Of Silence [Echospace Detroit]

Not much to say about this one. Really. All you do with a record like this is put it on, pour some wine, and just...listen. Don't talk. Just think. Pretty appropriate then with a name like it has. Stunning, tender ambient dub techno.

15. The Sky Drops - Bourgeois Beat [Self Released]

Rob Montejo's new band has finally released their full-length record, and boy it's a solid one. Picking up right where the "Clouds Of People" EP left off, this album has a few more acoustic pieces in with the electric ones, and a lot more harmonizing between Rob and Monika, which is always good. Really I don't know anyone else making this sort of perfect warped-guitar pop with girl-boy harmonies over it, so if those keywords appeal to you, go pick this up!

16. Aidan Baker - Dry [Install]

Probably a list-no-no, because not only did my Install label release this CD, but I've already included an Aidan Baker disc here. No matter. "Dry" shatters all your preconceptions about Baker's work, and where the 2LP further up the list might adequately summarize the man's drifty ambient works, this one is a real fork in the road. Somewhere between Satwa, Jandek and maybe even a primal Robert Fripp, and recorded entirely without effects, this is the CD you'd take with you on a spirit walk through a desert, hallucinating on peyote and meditating on endless sand dunes.

17. Jandek - Not Hunting For Meaning [Corwood Industries]

Speaking of the man from Corwood, this acoustic and vocal CD he released midway through the year is really fantastic. Not higher up on the list simply because I took some time off of Jandek for the first half of 2009, but when I got back into the mood once the leaves started falling, this one hit the spot. Probably his most "in tune" moments since "London Tuesday". Fantastically bleak and surreal as always.

18. Peter Wright - Bright Failing Star [Release The Bats]

Superb warm droning from Peter, on vinyl no less. Nothing new really, but when you want drones, the man is unstoppable and a real veteran of that scene. As much as I love the "Snow Blind" 2CD we released at Install this year as well, anything on vinyl will always win my ears over, for textural bonus points alone. Really great.

19. Turquoise Turtles - Celestial Defiance [Self-Released]

I met Cole through some random encounter on Myspace, and we traded music last year. This is his newest record, and it's really awesome. I think the man's setup consists of a single analog synth and maybe a couple effects pedals, which is all you really need to build giant mountains of warbled drones. Minimal and effective, and really massive when played at ungodly volumes.

20. Loess - Burrows [Nonresponse]

Bonus points for any new Loess, and bonus points for issuing vinyl-only out-of-print stuff on a CD, but minus points for doing ONLY that. "Wind And Water" was just so fucking outstanding, this collection almost feels like a bit of a letdown in the shadow of that. However, based on the merits of the previously released material alone, this is a really solid bunch of Loess songs, and some of their best moments to boot.

EPs:

1. The Diogenes Club - Do You Know How To Feel It?
2. Scope - Made In Belfast
3. A. Mochi - Black Out
4. cv313 - Subtraktive
5. Fluxion - Inductance/Elation
6. Mika Vainio - Vandal
7. David Tagg - Established Trees
8. Thisket - ...Nothing But...
9. Squarepusher - Numbers Lucent
10. Pub - Bubbling Spring

interesting list, yourself Brian.

I had to edit 'Obfusc - Inverted Island (Static Caravan)' out of my EP list because as much as I loved it, it was a 7". I added the Loscil EP to make the list more cohesive.