Harold Budd/Robin Guthrie ANOTHER FLOWER (2020)

The goddamn virus took one of the great composers of our age.

Harold Budd was pure elegance and heart. He was still doing sublime work at age 84.  We should have had another decade with him.  Rest in peace, you absolute legend, you titan of melody, colossus of feeling.

If you would like a crash course, there is an incredible value on his "Budd Box" on Bandcamp right now:

Top Ten Budds, Today

1.       Luxa (1996)

2.       Lovely Thunder (1986)

3.       The Pearl (1984)

4.       Music for 3 Pianos (1992)

5.       Translucence/Drift Music (2003)

6.       The Pavilion of Dreams (1978)

7.       The Moon and the Melodies (1986)

8.       White Bird in a Blizzard (2014)

9.       The Room (2000)

10.   Another Flower (2020)

Gwenifer Raymond STRANGE LIGHTS OVER GARTH MOUNTAIN (2020)

HF THIS WOMAN JUST RESURRECTED JACK ROSE AND TOOK IT HAUNTED RATHER THAN MOONSHINED

Pallbearer FORGOTTEN DAYS (2020)

HAPPY BANDCAMP FRIDAY! Get thee gone, get thee well.

North Americans GOING STEADY (2018)

 when you're so legit that Julianna Barwick guestsynths

North Americans ROPED IN (2020)

very cool Portland folks making wide open vibey sunny day folk-ambient

Chopped and Screwed LDR

vascillating between LDR and the Charlie Brown Christmas score to keep sane rn, take care Portland!!!

Brian Eno APOLLO: ATMOSPHERES AND SOUNDTRACKS (1983)

extended excerpt, world class vid



Did you all have Outdoor School in 6th grade? We were mandated to go to Trout Creek, the oldest, most rundown location at that time, and it was generally miserable, but I remember playing basketball at dusk in this building, which may have been an old firehouse they laid-down wood flooring in.  No overhead lights, just shafts of setting sun and playing with the best friends in liminal space; if Larry Bird was David Lynch, his dreams would look like this.

I also remember an epic muddy tug-of-war, and the leader of the camp, Walrus, telling us the story of the Tillamook fire, and explaining how there are two types of people in the world: givers and takers.

Juliana Barwick HEALING IS A MIRACLE (2020)

she continues to practice healing and magic in equal measure, like the soul of a dang blue whale came ashore to fix us

Harold Budd and Clive Wright A SONG FOR LOST BLOSSOMS (2008)

Spread the blessing.



Petty has so many stone cold classics that I can forget this song exists for a year:



Greatest theme song ever:



Burnside Bridge die-in:



They finally arrested her like 2 days after I dedicated myself to the case:

JL you're next:

John Foxx CATHEDRAL OCEANS III (2005)

hold on, we're going home

Fumio Miyashita OKUNI KOTOHOGI (1989?)

I trust you to dissent.

Benoît Honoré Pioulard ROANOKE (2012)

field recordings from MAX, SE warehouse district, Skidmore Bluffs.



fuck yeah Dame LFG

Elder OMENS (2020)

my favorite heavy album since Pallbearer's debut.  guitar like

 Dum draco committeret bellum et Michael pugnavit cum eo et fecit victoriam

Rise like Lions after slumber In unvanquishable number— Shake your chains to earth like dew Which in sleep had fallen on you— Ye are many—they are few.

Mariee Sioux FACES IN THE ROCKS (2007)

if you need something peaceful today

Al Serafini His Electric Sax & Orchestra SIR ALBERT (1971)

swinging lil jazz album from all-time great poster nuggets from the moon with an uncanny Natalie Portman dopplegänger on the cover



Phoebe has reached new-single-posted-immediately status

Yantra De Vilder OCEANIA: THE PROMISE OF TOMORROW (1989)

the owls got my frog, ok. my fault. how to deter owls? bright lights, disco balls in the yard, uncanny sounds. occultists hate the light, gnostics engaged in holy war, saints on pillars high

Hiroshi Yoshimura STATIC (1988)

Rest in peace Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer & William Schroeder. Thank you.

Top 15 Films of the 2010s

15. Everybody Wants Some!!
14. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
13. La La Land
12. You Were Never Really Here
11. Shoplifters

10. Inherent Vice
9. Under the Silver Lake
8. Parasite
7. Uncut Gems
6. Annihilation

5. The Other Side of the Wind
4. The Florida Project
3. Call Me By Your Name
2. Phantom Thread
1. It Follows

Put together for the Battleship Pretension, submit yours today for their book.  Sorry for the short notice!

Imaginary Softwoods ANNUAL FLOWERS IN COLOR (2020 REMASTER)

the aquatic emerald

Midwife FOREVER (2020)

anyone can fall in love/anyone can play guitar

Nils Frahm EMPTY (2020)

air thick with prayer

Windy & Carl ALLEGIANCE AND CONVICTION (2020)

would you like to be holy

Richard Chartier VARIABLE DIMENSIONS (2020)

if drone king was a compliment

Sarah Louise EARTH AND ITS CONTENTS (2020)

Bandcamp isn't taking a cut today, so work on that wishlist

Kali Malone THE SACRIFICIAL CODE (2019)

go to church but don't

Yantra De Vilder OCEANIA: THE PROMISE OF TOMORROW (1989)

hot wife drags blog, don't care don't care

"Quarantine Sparks Blogging Revival"

I planted a bunch of sunflower and pumpkin seeds today

New JoJo

new album out May Day. love to my comrades thicc and thin.

Dogleg MELEE (2020)

Constantines were the original Japandroids but people really need things spelled out.  Here's your one last chance to get it all wrong.

Kohsei Morimoto SMILE OF THE SUN (1993)

been ebullient lately, relatively, as a depressive who always waited for this, just to see mental energy unwasted, futures foreseen

Hiroshi Yoshimura SOUNDSCAPE 1: SURROUND (1986)

we will win keep running keep that engine running gas is cheap visit a friend lift them up motherfuckers just want to laugh

the true laugh, the diaphragm laugh, is a holy thing, it is a rebuke of death, fuck you not today, this mammal is an arsonist, guess what you're flammable, you're just fuel to me

Hongjun Lyu THE LEGEND OF THE DRAGON (1990)

the smile of the Buddha while watching Asian markets crash late Sunday night, drinking amaro from a Bernie mug

Wayne Robert Thomas & Isaac Helsen RÁS (2019)

faroe islanders' druidic energies for safe passage in rough waters

Lucy Gooch RUSHING (2020)

tremendous debut. ancient british folk groundwater brought up, feeding a biodome teeming with greens growing, roots touching fish, a kiln keeping it warm, making ash to use.

New HAIM

keep the faith!

Akio Niitsu PETSTEP (1982)

happy super tuesday my fellow superdelegates

Van Morrison IRISH HEARTBEAT (1988)

just discovered that Leap Day is officially part of Van Morrison season.  sláinte!

New Gaga Full Stop

also some new Phoebe Bridgers, 2020 let's get it

Takao Naoi VIBRATION PULSAR (1998)

michael hedges on quaaludes.  youtuber Should Be Asleep is my internet hero

Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, Panaiotis DEEP LISTENING (1989)

I tried to get into Oliveros via her earlier work and didn't make much progress but I think this might be the skeleton key. It is more brutally assertive, deep listening hardly a choice.

NIGHT BOAT TO TANGIER by Kevin Barry (2019)

A disgustingly talented writer. If Denis Johnson had been raised in Ireland, the most literarily-dense land on Earth, like Kenya for authors, high altitude training, thin fucking air for heartbreak.

Selena Gomez RARE (2020)

Man, this would be a helluvan album if she trashed some of the album cuts and include the last few years of singles, which only appear on the "Target Exclusive."  Ideal tracklisting:

1. Bad Liar
2. Dance Again
3. It Ain't Me
4. Back To You
5. Look At Her Now
6. Fun
7. Crowded Room
8. Rare
9. Lose You To Love Me
10. Vulnerable

ann annie CORDILLERA (2018)

portlander with a deft touch on the synths and a cool, understated use of field recording, making genial, inquisitive, affirmative tunes à la Mark McGuire's euphoric explorations. whole discography is on sale and proceeds support the Audubon Society, so you could get several albums, save some birds and y'know, and make a ßernie pledge for under $8.  the internet ain't all bad.



Iconic Portland moment!

Eluvium VIRGA I (2019)

missed this in December of last year b/c the press doesn't follow Bandcamp-only releases, but our Portlander's fanbase is big enough to already sell ~300 copies based on BC followers --> at least $3000, undoubtedly more based on the clear vinyl sales (not sold out yet, cop one)....I guess I'm biased to think we should tout the stuff that actually gets the man paid for being one of the great living ambient composers

speaking of direct support... ßernie 2020 dude you will not believe how good it is for your mental health to make a small daily contrib to the campaign, it feels like the first day of summer vacation every day, just do it for the neurotransmitter release.

Georgia SEEKING THRILLS (2020)

Pop album to beat for the young year. Lusty full-bodied Robyn-lineage visions of a club that doesn't have to suck, a place to celebrate & recharge. hope it catches on, the people need it.

Harold Budd, Ruben Garcia & Daniel Lentz MUSIC FOR 3 PIANOS (1991)

released in the "Desert Shield" buildup to Desert Storm. how art not be immediately superior to religion, when it ceaselessly and often wordlessly undermines and protests war, while in the pulpits of an empire we hear no condemnation, just cowards in robes worn badly.

Harold Budd ABANDONED CITIES (1984)

wake up, donate something to tío bernie, have an espresso and hey praying can't hurt

Beirut GALLIPOLI (2019)

listened to this a lot this year. zach just sounds like expatriates itself, the music feels like very old streets, vermouth bars, small fish on small plates, living lightly in grand tragedy.

Max Richter SLEEP (2015)

sure, I don't think I've made it all the way to the end while awake, but that's the point, and it is a beautiful ride to get there, almost like travel in His Dark Materials, borne by witches, or thin tears in the air.

Destroyer HAVE WE MET (2020)

fantastic guitar record. if you had told me back in 2006 that I'd someday like Destroyer more than the New Pornographers, I'd've gotten you a Gatorade

Robert Haigh CREATURES OF THE DEEP (2017)

would you wish for a god untroubled, or rather no god at all?

Robert Haigh BLACK SARABANDE (2020)

incredibly quiet piano record, with textural elements like wind in redwoods

Favorite Films of 2019

1. Parasite dir. Bong Joon Ho
2. Uncut Gems dir. Josh and Benny Safdie
3. Under the Silver Lake dir. David Robert Mitchell
4. Ad Astra dir. James Gray
5. Deadwood dir. Daniel Minahan

6. Knives Out dir. Rian Johnson
7. Little Women dir. Greta Gerwig
8. The Irishman dir. Martin Scorcese
9. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood dir. Quentin Tarantino
10. Booksmart dir. Olivia Wilde

11. Ready or Not dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
12. Hustlers dir. Lorene Scafaria 
13. The Farewell dir. Lulu Wang
14. The Fall of the American Empire dir. Denys Arcand
16. Sword of Trust dir. Lynn Shelton

16. Non-Fiction dir. Olivier Assayas
17. Her Smell dir. Alex Ross Perry
***The Lighthouse dir. Robert Eggers***
*** The Souvenir dir. Joanna Hogg***
18. Avengers: Endgame dir. Anthony and Joe Russo
19. Long Shot dir. Jonathan Levine
20. Marriage Story dir. Noah Baumbach
***High Life dir. Claire Denis***

Failure: Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker
Fiasco: Motherless Brooklyn dir. Edward Norton

Secret Success: The Dead Don't Die dir. Jim Jarmusch




please pardon the rolling edits and shout-out to Nathan Rabin!

Burial TUNES 2011-2019 (2019)

one of the most important musicians of the decade.  Oneohtrix Point Never's own Rival Dealer

Wolf Parade THIN MIND (2020)

I'm a Dan man, but Spencer adds a rare counterweight: Wolf Parade is unique in their balance of Drama v. Melodrama.  Dan has the urgent, heartland strike-check ferocity, while Spencer has the flamboyant, whimsical, dying of tuberculosis and charging extravagant vacations on the company-card kind of energy, like fuck off, if SUCCESSION taught you nothing else, let it be how the difference between Fuck Off and Fuck You is a chasm, the difference between a well-attended wake and a potter's field.

Jeff Parker SUITE FOR MAX BROWN (2020)

there are some people so lucid and calm that they teach you you're wearing a padlocked straightjacket and maybe they could let you loose but you should probably proceed yourself, oops you're free, like the child said YES The tiger is out

Michelle Willis SEE US THROUGH (2016)

on a Joni wavelength, illustrating that if you have grace, you don't need much else

Scott's Top Films of 2019

This is the Scottest Year Ever. I thought I was keeping up moderately well; turns out I'd only seen Parasite and an honorable mention. Get on his level!  And listen to the podcast ep. for the charming man himself.

Cam'ron PURPLE HAZE 2 (2019)

the original is one of my favorite rap records of all time. here Side A has tons of the same charm, Cam can still rap, but there's just a real draggy Side B with some awful sex raps. Straight Harlem is a stunner to close.  Between him, Pusha, T.I., and Young Jeezy you can triangulate what I look for in rap, and why I'm not enthused with much currently, but this throws back to a day when chicken sandwiches were a dollar fifty.

Julianna Barwick CIRCUMSTANCE SYNTHESIS (2019)

this one slipped by me for a few weeks.  JB makes bless-this-actual timeline music. she still has a few made-in-Portland cassettes for sale, if you want to vibe the fuck out in your Corolla.

HAUTE 100 (2019)

usually try to do my True Top Forty for pop but it was a weak year, so made a cross-genre riff on a Hot 100.  Mostly pop, with peppy punk and rock, international and a few change-of-pace atmospheric jazz interludes.  Play on shuffle and I think you'll agree it was a great year in music writ large.

Bruce Springsteen BORN IN THE U.S.A. (1984)

I'm 33 1/3 today so it seems apropos to shout out my favorite album of all time. Insanely great.

Martha LOVE KEEPS KICKING (2019)

The pop punk revival is going swimmingly.  God bless these U.K. urchins and their adorable accents. Into This, Wreslemania VIII, and especially the title track are terrific.

Teebs ANICCA (2019)

a perfect day in L.A. and your only ambition is to try three new taco trucks and meet some nice dogs.