Best of 2018: This Will Destroy You – Christopher King

Music: 

Dedekind Cut – “Tahoe” –  lush and heavy and expansive all at the same time on this ambient masterpiece.

Group Listening – “Clarinet & Piano: Selected Works V.1” – graceful, minimal classical arrangements that have a distinct permanence.

Arp – “Zebra” – floating, euphoric electronic noodles with delicate movement and energy.

Carl Stone – “Electronic Music from the Eighties and Nineties” – excellent collection of the Los Angeles composer’s live electronic and new age based work.

Kilchhofer – “The Book Room” – beautiful, rhythmic noise sketches creating a uniquely transformative experience.

Iku – “Body Horror” – majestic, free form collage electronics with an old world feel. A great universe to get lost in.

Gas – “Rausch” – ambient master Wolfgang Voigt is back with another gorgeous LP full with subtleties and rhythms. The visual accompaniment on his last live tour was incredible.

Essae Pas – “New Path” – the only techno record you need to listen to. A richly dense and gritty dystopian trip.

Kate NV – “для FOR” – LP creates its own universe and keeps you locked in. Bubbling electronics and warm tones continue throughout.

Daniel Aged – “S/T” – silky smooth funk heavy bass lines with tasty electronics. Light some candles.

Oliver Coates – “Shelley’s on Zenn-la” – strange, complex, and mesmerizing – this experimental electronic record really grabbed at me.

Superstition – “Surging Throng of Evil’s Might” – ruthless and punishing old school death metal demo from the fantastic label 20buckspin.

Shy Layers – “Midnight Markers” – gorgeous melodies coupled with gorgeous textures create a super memorable and replayable LP.

E RUSCHA V – “Who Are You” – clever and flourishing electronic patterns erupting into hallucinogenic ambient pop arrangements.

Movies:

Three Identical Strangers – Mind blowing story of three estranged identical siblings. So many twists and turns in this movie…Must see.

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda – Stephen Nomura Schible’s portrait of the legendary composer and electronics pioneer.

McQueen – Documentary on the late fashion genius Alexander McQueen. Follows McQueen developing his majestic craft in his own uncompromising way.

Julien Faraut’s John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection is a fascinating peek inside the complex world of the infamous American tennis player. The film is much more of a character study than a straight up sports documentary – creating a very intimate portrait of McEnroe.

Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – who doesn’t love a heartwarming story about Fred Rogers? Get the Kleenex out for this one.

Mandy – oozing, psychotronic, and highly visual – this 80’s action/ heavy metal fantasy homage is a weird, gratifying trip made even more engaging with a beautiful score by late composer Jóhann Jóhannsson.

Misc.

Undercover by Jun Takahashi – the 2001: A Space Odyssey inspired fashion line pays homage to the greatest movie of all time with clean lines and crisp minimalism.

Misen Chef’s Knife – Love cooking and this Japanese steel chef’s knife is super impressive in the kitchen.

Nikka Coffey Gin – limited run of this botanical heavy craft gin. The gin contains Japanese specifics like kabosu, amanatsu, hirami lemon and yuzu creating a rich and fragrant taste palette.

Brain Dead x BEAMS x Reebok Classic – love the color combos and the graphic implementation to this fashion collab

Gear:

Squarp Instruments Hermod – Modular Brain with 8 CV/gate outputs and usb/midi integration creates unlimited possibilities for the modular system.

Space Case TE-2 is a tabletop cassette tape echo with cv control and time modulation. Super musical and intuitive.

ondes magnétique OM-1 cassette synthesizer – like a portable Mellotron or Ondes Martenot, acts as a touch sensitive cassette sampler/instrument. An ingenious and effective instrument to create one of a kind compositions.

Montreal Assembly – 856 for ZELLERSASN is a looper and sample sequencer. Samples are taken from different parts of a loop and played back in various rhythms and at different pitches. A designed sequence can be stored and can be applied to new recordings. Montreal Assembly continues to create challenging effects and this one really pushes the limits of what a looper can accomplish.

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