May Acquisitions
Ambient pickups:
Anenon -
Tongue
Biosphere -
Substrata
Eluvium -
Copia
Fennesz -
Agora
Laurie Spiegel -
Unseen Worlds
Slow Dancing Society -
F A N T O S M E S
Shoutout again to
@blissfullychaotic for playing his Anenon LPs in his run through his collection. The album covers caught my eye and felt intrigued to give it a go...glad I did. I think
Tongue is the better of the two, so here it sits.
After deliberating for far too long, I finally have a personal ambient grail in my possession. Thank you to
@dropsonde for alerting me to the availability of
Substrata on Juno.
I didn't like it at first but after playing it on the turntable, I've had a change of heart on
Copia. I might still be annoyed by the progressively shorter side lengths as the album is being run through, but the tunes are gorgeous. I unfortunately had some non-fill through the last minute and a half of the final track...luckily Temporary Residence's CS is pretty solid; a replacement is en route after sending photo proof.
Got to see Christian Fennesz in March the most recent concert (last?) I've went to this year, and also my first ambient/drone concert. He definitely likes the sounds of rushing water and droney textures/timbres, and the feeling of these textures in a live setting was quite different than I expected.
I do like Laurie Spiegel's work a lot, which led me to trying artists like Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Suzanne Ciani, and Terry Riley. Spiegel's
Unseen Worlds (from the eponymous label) conveys a notably sinister and cavernous ambiance compared to its predecessor: the sprawling
The Expanded Universe. Give this a try if you haven't, followers of ambient/drone.
While I can't say I like all of Drew Sullivan's work (I find a lot of it way too easy listening for my tastes), this is one of the better releases in his catalogue. This
F A N T O S M E S project is droney and somewhat interesting...mostly bought it to support during the Bandcamp waived fee day. Might not stay in my collection long term.
Current year/yesteryear pickups:
Allie X -
Cape God
Somni -
Home
Black Midi -
Schlagenheim
FKA Twigs -
Magdalene
Kanye West -
Jesus Is King
Not seeing a lot of talk for Allie X's newest, particularly in the Poptarts thread, which is my introduction to her. Catchy, punchy pop magic.
Loving this Somni album, after doing some exploring on this forum. Downtempo beeps and bloops on a gorgeous translucent aquamarine pressing; sounds great too! Still very available on Bandcamp for $21 before shipping.
Black Midi has vast potential to make a massive impact in math/post/experimental rock in the new decade...such a bizarre amalgamation of haphazard sounds. This acquisition also marks finally having all of my top 10 from last year on LP.
If I had given
Magdalene the attention and dedication it rightfully deserved, it probably would've been in my top 10. Shame on my part.
I can't even remember why I got this half-assed Ye "mini album," even though I got it only a month ago. What was I thinking? Ugh...
Miscellaneous pickups:
Björk -
Medulla
Caribou -
Our Love
The Presidents of the United States of America -
The Presidents of the United States of America
For some reason, it seems that
Medulla has been reissued yet again this year, after giving Discogs a look. I saw this particular version at 2nd Ave Records and decided to go for it for $17. Was surprised to see that it is 45 RPM, it sounds significantly better than the other Björk records I have!
The other Caribou record was a must get for me during SoundOfVinyl's sale for ~$11 after the discount. Been listening often at work. Thank you,
@Sonicpharmacist for the deals link!
At last, PUSA arrived but has 3 seam splits!
Thankfully a signed jacket (seems others were not so lucky) and flat record, but hoping for a response from CS for amicable recourse.
Swiggity swoogity box set booty:
Dua Lipa -
Future Nostalgia [exclusive boxset]
...well, I thought it'd be a boxset in appearance. It's more like a hardbound coffee table book. Contents otherwise were as described: neon yellow vinyl, stickers, temporary tattoo, print of album cover with printed thank you note + signature (front and back), and a Polaroid. Glad to have it for half off...might not have been worth full price IMO. Been obsessing on the album since its release...guaranteed to be top 10 of the year for me.
The other is "One nite alone...", just Prince singing and playing solo on the piano. 
I would've expected it to take much longer to arrive here from Switzerland. Very happy it has arrived so quickly. It seems they have crossed borders to Germany and have send it from within Germany. I was blown away when listening to it for the first time and needed to have it. Very excited for this album. 
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