My year-end list of top 20 releases of 2013

music


Top 20 Releases of 2013

1. Michael Pisaro / Greg Stuart - Closed Categories in Cartesian Worlds (Gravity Wave) 
2. Dennis Johnson - November (by R. Andrew Lee)  (Irritable Hedgehog/Penultimate Press)
3. Eva-Maria Houben - Piano Music (by R. Andrew Lee) (Irritable Hedgehog)
4. Antoine Beuger - 24 petits préludes pour la guitare (by Cristián Alvear Montecino) (Edition Wandelweiser)
5. Toshiya Tsunoda - The Temple Recording (edition.t)
6. Olivia Block - Karren (LP / Sedimental)
7. Haco / Toshiya Tsunoda - TramVibration (skiti)
8. Toshiya Tsunoda - O Kokos Tis Anixis (Grains of Spring) (edition.t)
9. Manfred Werder - 5 ausführende seiten 22 bis 29 (actualized by Santiago Astaburuaga, Nicolás Carrasco Díaz, Sebastián Jatz, Álvaro Ortega, and Edén Carrasco) (cassette / Copy For Your Records)
10. Joe Panzner / Greg Stuart - Dystonia Duos (ErstAEU)
11. Johnny Chang / Stefan Thut - Two Strings and Boxes (Flexion)
12. Christoph Korn - SIMEON (Edition Wandelweiser)
13. Michael Pisaro - The Middle of Life (Die ganze Zeit) (Gravity Wave)
14. Michael Pisaro - The Punishment of the Tribe by its Elders (Gravity Wave)
15. Antoine Beuger / Michael Pisaro - this place / is love (Erstwhile)
16. Ricardo Guerreiro / Radu Malfatti / Ernesto Rodrigues - Shimosaki (B-Boim)
17. Graham Lambkin / Jason Lescalleet - Photographs (Erstwhile)
18. Devin Disanto - Tracing a Boundary (Task)
19. James Rushford & Joe Talia - Manhunter (LP / Kye)
20. Grisha Shakhnes - Leave/Trace (LP / Glistening Examples)

Best Live Concert of 2013

Toshiya Tsunoda's solo performance (first section) at Issue Project Room NYC (8/9/13), using a custom-made oscillator, piezo discs and tableware objects (glasses, tea cups, plates, utensils, etc.). He set a piezo disc inside or around each object on a table, and sent different frequencies from the oscillator to the piezo discs, which vibrated the surface of each object in a very subtle way. He played extremely quietly, creating an almost inaudible acoustic wave of sounds with the slight gradual changes of the frequencies as the set progressed. It was the most eye-opening, original, unique, impressive performance that I saw this year. 

Other things that deeply impressed me this year:

Yayoi Kusama's Infinity Mirror Room (at Matsumoto City Museum of Art in Japan)
Earl Howard and Christoph Amann (for their incredible instincts for mastering CDs)
David Kirby (for his remarkable brain for programming)
Royal Albert China, designed in the 1960's (for its authenticity and amazing durability coupled with its delicacy)
Dominique Ansel Bakery (for his signature pastry DKA)
surround (for its launch)