Top 20 Albums of 2012

It’s time for my end-of-year list. I really didn’t listen to as much new stuff this year as I did in 2011, so the list is cut to 20. Generally tried to limit to one album per label, but I didn’t really follow that rule (go 12k!?). Anyway, maybe I’ll add some comments at some point. Really beautiful stuff, and I look forward to diving into some other great albums based on other year-end recommendations soon.

Like I said last year, if you are struggling to find out more information about a specific release, let me know and I can possibly direct you in the correct direction. But for the most part, I would recommend searching for these fantastic labels and their online websites.

1	Swans	The Seer	Young God Records
2	Gareth Dickson	Quite A Way Away	12k
3	Nuojuva	Valot Kaukaa	Preservation Records
4	Deep Listening Band	Great Howl At Town Haul	Important Records
5	En	Already Gone	Students of Decay
6	Fire! With Oren Ambarchi	In The Mouth – A Hand	Rune Grammofon
7	Steve Peters + Steve Roden	Not A Leaf Remains As It Was	12k
8	Strategy	Strategy	Peak Oil
9	Hakobune	The Cowboy Across the River	Constellation Tatsu
10	From the Mouth of the Sun	Woven Tide	Experimedia
11	Gabriel Saloman	Adhere	Miasmah Recordings
12	Sujo + Sun Hammer	Fistula	Inam Records
13	Neptune	msg rcvd	Northern-Spy Records
14	Electric Bird Noise	Live at the Basement	Silber Records
15	Brian Eno	Lux	Warp Records
16	Mount Eerie	Ocean Roar	P. W. Elverum & Sun, Ltd.
17	Sharon Van Etten	Tramp	Jagjaguwar
18	Thee Oh Sees	Putrifiers II	In The Red Records
19	Gultskra Artikler	Abtu/Anet	Miasmah Recordings
20	White Hills	Frying On This Rock	Thrill Jockey Records

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Maxwell August Croy Interview

Another Monday and another opportunity to interview a terrific Day of Noise performer and musician. Maxwell August Croy is co-operator and label runner of Root Strata, as well as multi-instrumentalist in the duo, En. Along with James Devane, Croy incorporates and processes acoustic sounds like koto, guitar, and vocals into dreamy washes of hazy bliss. The duo released their debut The Absent Coast on Root Strata in fall of 2010, and will be releasing Already Gone on Students of Decay in March. At the helm of Root Strata, Croy has helped establish the San Francisco-based label as the authority on gorgeous soundscapes, ambience, psychedelic hypnotism, and the beauty of warm blankets of fuzz. Root Strata has been home to creative artists like Grouper, Starving Weirdos, Richard Youngs, Yellow Swans, Tarentel, and Barn Owl to name very very few. With co-label head Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Maxwell August Croy organized the On-Land Music Festival, which ran in San Francisco most recently in 2010, as a platform for drone, psych, and experimental musicians as well as friends of Root Strata. It is a pleasure to welcome Maxwell August Croy to KZSU for the 2012 Day of Noise.

Today, Maxwell and I spoke about the origins of En, the personal nature of creating and releasing independent music, and his progression as a musician and artist. Once again, I have uploaded the interview. Many thanks to Maxwell for the conversation, images, preview track, and permission to make the interview available. Make sure to check out En’s website to keep up on tour dates and release information. And while you’re at it, set a bookmark at Root Strata’s webpage, you won’t regret it.

Maxwell August Croy

Another upcoming interview on Ghost Trees (Mondays from 9am – noon PST on KZSU Stanford 90.1FM and kzsulive.stanford.edu):

February 6th (10am): Mitch Greer and Rachel Smith of folky drone experimentalists, The Lickets.