Category Archives: best of

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Top 50 concerts of the decade

  By Strangeblood • December 31, 2019 ,

I had a hard time getting down to my favorite 10 concerts of the decade, imagine that

  1. Al Green, The Fox Theater, Atlanta May 3rd 2019
  2. Deltron 3030, Stern Grove Park, SF June 30th, 2013
  3. Black Star, Fox Theater, Oakland September 13th 2017
  4. Lee Scratch Perry, Moe’s Alley, Santa Cruz September 4th 2015
  5. Bad Brains, Catalyst, Santa Cruz August 23rd, 2010
  6. Magma Slims, SF April 8th 2014
  7. Redd Kross, Great American Music Hall, SF August 8th, 2012
  8. Sun Ra Arkestra, SF Jazz Center August 5 2017
  9. Fred Frith performs Gravity, Slims, SF August 25th, 2012
  10. Atomic Bomb Band, Warfield, SF May 6th 2014
  11. Iva Bittova Paolo Angeli, Palac Akropolis, Prague, CZ June 21st 2016
  12. Terry Riley with Kronos Quartet, SF Jazz Center, June 27th 2015
  13. The Residents, Rio Theatre, Santa Cruz February 28th 2013
  14. This is Not This Heat, Big Ears Festival, Knoxville March 23,2019
  15. Royal Trux, The Chapel, SF November 1, 2017
  16. The Specials, The Warfield, SF March, 23rd. 2013
  17. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s, Rio Theater, Santa Cruz August 16th, 2013
  18. Hieroglyphics, Hiero Day, Oakland, September 4th, 2017
  19. Off and Thee Oh Sees, Burger Boogaloo, Oakland, July 6th 2014
  20. Louis Sclavis, Le Triton, Paris, France September 20th, 2018
  21. Chrome Catalyst Club, Santa Cruz, July 14, 2015
  22. COC and Bl’ast, Catalyst Club, Santa Cruz, August 29th 2014
  23. Blonde Redhead, Rio Theater, Santa Cruz,  Sept. 6th 2013
  24. Peter Brotzmann, Kummbwa, Santa Cruz, Nov. 14th, 2013
  25. Public Enemy, Regency Ballroom, SF August 22nd, 2011
  26. Camper van Beethoven, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk,  July 19, 2013
  27. Raphael Saadiq, Hopscotch Festival, Raleigh, Sept. 7th 2019
  28. Rangda, The Chapel, SF February 23rd, 2013
  29. The Necks,The Lab, SF February 18th 2017
  30. Solange & Flying Lotus The Greek Theater, Berkeley, Oct. 20th, 2017
  31. Fly Lo, Thundercat & P-Funk The Fox Theater, Oakland, Sept. 16, 2016
  32. Robert Glasper Experiment, The New Parish, Oakland, March 8th 2013
  33. Seun Kuti and Egypt 80, Catalyst, Santa Cruz, June 15th 2014
  34. Alabama Shakes and Kurt Vile, The Greek Theater, Berkeley,  Aug, 13, 2016
  35. OM with Sir Richard Bishop, Don Quixote’s, Felton, February 19th, 2013
  36. Black Flag Catalyst, Santa Cruz, July 16th 2013
  37. Fury 66 Catalyst, Santa Cruz, September 10th 2011
  38. Death, Oakland Opera Theater, October 31st 2015
  39. John McLaughlin, The Warfield, SF, December 8th 2017
  40. MGMT & Black Bananas, The Warfield, SF August 28th 2013
  41. Fishbone Outside Lands, SF, August 11th 2013
  42. Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Transfigs, Asheville, August 24th, 2019
  43. Ornette’s Prime Time, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, SF Oct. 8th 2017
  44. Eternal Tapestry, Trans Am and Wooden Shjips Independent, SF December 13th 2013
  45. The Rain Parade, Cafe Du Nord, SF December 20th 2012
  46. The Skatalites, Moe’s Alley, Santa Cruz, August 14th, 2015
  47. Flipper, Bottom of the Hill, SF, October 10th, 2015
  48. X, Slim’s, SF, March 21st, 2013
  49. Ty Segall with the White Fence, The Fillmore, SF, January 18th 2013
  50. Open Mic Night at Bogobiri, Lagos, Nigeria, December 30th 2016
  51. King Crimson, Saratoga Mountain Winery, Saratoga, June 15th, 2017
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Top 30 records of 2017

  By Strangeblood • November 12, 2017
RT

Royal Trux Platinum Tips + Ice Cream DC647


1Royal Trux– Platinum Tips and Ice Cream– Drag City

2Moon Men–Amazing Science Fiction Stories–Hand made Products

3Roscoe Mitchell–Bells for the South Side–ECM

4Damaged Bug–Bunker Funk–Castle Face

5Kendrick Lamar–Damn–Top Dawg Entertainment

6Toro y Moi–Boo Boo–Carpark Records

7Roger Waters–Is this the life we really want?–Columbia

8FredFrith Hans Koch–You Are Here–Intakt

9Satoko Fujii–Aspiration–Libra records

10MastaDoom–DblMask–Masta DblG

11Kikagaku Moyo– Stone Garden–Guruguru Brain

12The Peacers–Introducing the Crimson Men–Drag City

13Thee Oh Sees–Orc–Castle Face

14Rhiannon Giddens–Freedom Highway–Nonesuch

15Matt Mitchell–Fiction–Pi records

16Intergalactic Lovers–Exhale–Unday Records/Verycords

17Dirty Songs–Play Dirty Songs–Audika

18New Cicada Trio–Live in Beacon–Terra Nova Music

19Oiseaux-Tempête-AL-‘AN!-Sub Rosa

20Joe McPhee, Damon Smith, Alvin Fielder–Six Situations– Not Two Records

21Diratz–Diratz

22King Ayisoba–1000 can die–Glitterbeat

23faUST–Fresh Air–Bureau B

24Louis Sclavis–Frontieres–JMS

25The Entrance Band–Book of Changes–Thrill Jockey

26Pere Ubu–20 years in a Montana missile silo–Cherry Red

27Bruce Russell–Metallic Ok–Glass Redux

28Godspeed You! Black Emperor–Luciferian Towers–Constellation

29G. Yamazawa–Shouts to Durham–Yamazawa/Othaz

30Thundercat–Drunk–Brainfeeder

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Top 20 recordings of 2015

  By Strangeblood • November 30, 2015
Thundercat The Beyond/Where Giants Roam

Thundercat The Beyond/Where Giants Roam

1. Thundercat– The Beyond/Where Giants Roam– Brainfeeder Records
2. McPhee/Saft/Morris/Downs– Ticonderoga– Clean Feed
3. Uneven Eleven– Live at Café OTO– Sub Rosa
4. Steve Coleman and the Council of Balance–Synovial Joints– Pi Recordings
5. Henry Threadgill’s Zooid– In for a penny, in for a pound– Pi Recordings
6. Kendrick Lamar– To pimp a butterfly– Top Dawg Entertainment
7. Cécile Mclorin Salvant– For one to love– Mack Avenue Records
8. Raheem DeVaughn– Love, Sex and Passion– Entertainment One Music
9. Alan Jenkins– The Kettering Vampires perform The Velvet Underground and Nico– Cordelia Records
10. Ikue Mori– Light in the shadow– Tzadic
11. Kamasi Washington– The Epic– Brainfeeder
12. The Thing– Shake– The Thing Records
13. Tim Berne’s Snakeoil– You’ve been watching me– ECM Records
14. The Necks– Vertigo– Recommended Records
15. FiliaMotsa– Like it is– Aagoo records
16. Dominique Pifarely– Time Before and After– ECM
17. Ben Neill– Horizonal– Audiokult Records
18. Stephen Haynes Quintet– Pomegranate– New Atlantis Records
19. Prince Buju– We are in the war– Makkum Records
20. The And– The And– Tractor Notown

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Strangeblood’s Best of 2013

  By Strangeblood • December 27, 2013

http://youtu.be/LWLxWmGE0k0
This year had some surprises and alas I decided to make a list of the top 15 records of the year.  Maybe I still left  a few great ones off but I believe there’s some great artists on here that help me want to get up, get dressed and start my 50 minute commute (where I listen to alot of the records I end up hearing). Enjoy, and bring on 2014.

1. Bill Orcutt and Chris Corsano-The Raw and the cooked – Palilalia records

2. The Thing- Boot- The thing records

3. Electrophonic User’s Guide- Bits and Pieces- Electrophonic Users Guide records

4. Red, Hot, and Fela- Various Artists- Knitting Factory

5. The Dead C/ Rangda- Split 12″- Ba Da Bing Records

6. The Men- New Moon- Sacred bones records

7. The Strokes- Comedown Machine- RCA records

8. Sister Iodine – Blame- Premier Sang records

9. Kurt Vile- Wakin on a Pretty Daze- Matador records

10. Magik Markers – Surrender to the Fantasy- Drag City records

11. Bilal- A Love Sureal- eOne records

12. Robert Glasper Eperiment- Black Radio Vol. 2- Blue Note Records

13. Ty Segall- Sleeper- Drag City Records

14. Henry Kaiser Requia and Other Imrovisations for Guitar-Tzadik records

15.Bl’ast- Blood- Southern Lord Records