DESSA a badly broken code

maybe the best album of 2010? midwest hip-hop from the female star of minneapolis' doomtree collective. this chick is smart, sexy, introspective, and can simply spit fire. what makes her so special is her unique combination of lyrical ability (pretty much all of her lyrics are amazing), rapping ability (the smoothest, most wicked flow i've ever heard from a woman), and songwriting ability (awesome hip-hop songs with sung choruses! btw, her singing voice is really pretty, too). but what puts this album over-the-top is the production. super clean, smooth, with lots of really cool flourishes everywhere, compliments of doomtree's own lazerbeak. you should check out every major release from the people in this group, but this is probably the best album from any of them. 2010.

WEAKLING dead as dreams

this album should need no introduction. it's the best black metal album ever (by far). it's one of the best metal albums ever released. if you don't have it yet, you should be ashamed. but those those of you that are not yet familiar with this brilliant masterwork, i'll share a snippet from the boys at aquarius records:

Ghastly, anguished vocals and bloodchilling keyboards combine with dual trebly buzzsaw guitars and inhuman trance inducing drumming to create an atmosphere of utter grinding grimness. Weakling draws upon 90's black metal in the Norwegian tradition (especially the raw and primitive likes of Darkthrone, Burzum and Immortal) and then creates uniquely fucked song structures of epic length (20 minutes per, in some cases).
And, like the best music, Weakling also transcends genre. In some ways, 'Dead as Dreams' possesses elements that can be considered akin to the avant garde, experimental creations of the Swans, Skullflower, Steve Reich, or even Yoko Ono. Imagine an extensive, utterly mesmerizing Hermann Nitsch piece, composed for black metal band.
It's a suffocating soundscape of riffing and drone. Subterranean satanic art rock that equals metal. Nihilistic, depressive and never ending.

2000.

SPIRITUALIZED ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space

one of the best albums ever. infinitely recommended for fans of talk talk, radiohead, cerberus shoal, stereolab, and anything of a similar ilk. completely essential. 1997.

HARVESTER hemåt

incredible swedish psych-rock. you might this band from their other incarnations: international harvester; träd, gräs & stenar; and pärson sound. this isn't quite on the level of either the international harvester or pärson sound release, but it is a perfect example of the sort of "raga rock" these guys were doing back in the late 60s, early 70s. i'd say it's a must-have for fans of the genre. 1969.

TIM BERNE fulton street maul

tim berne (sax), bill frisell (guitar), hank roberts (cello), alex cline (percussion). awesome avant-jazz that never veers off into no-man's-land, and always seems to keep a nice, groovy jazz base. 1986.