feels as though I all but disappeared into the bedrock beneath my Allston compound this last year, but that's not to suggest that I didn't go and spend a good chunk of my disposable income on new records. Without getting into it too much, this year saw plenty of excellent releases from old favorites, up-and-comers, and folks i'd been previously ignorant about. Overall, I can't think of anything I spun more frequently than the Vincent Over the Sink 7" on Kye, over which my roommates and I all repeatedly and ritually lost our minds. Excluded from consideration below, but well worth mentioning, are the incredible new records by Glenn Jones (The Wanting, 2xLP on Thrill Jockey) and Eli Keszler (Cold Pin, LP on PAN), both of whom I had the fine pleasure of working with this past year, and through which I've benefited from a much needed cortical re-alignment.

top ten solo releases
John Fahey, Your Past Comes Back To Haunt You (5xCD Box, Dust to Digital)
Jim O'Rourke, All That's Cold is New Again (2xLP, Editions Mego)
Mark Fell, Manitutshu (2xLP, Editions Mego)
Kevin Drumm, Ghybbrish (2xCD, No Label)
Rene Hell, L.A. Phil (CD-R, Salon)
Matt Carlson, Particle Language (LP, Draft)
Grouper, A | A (2xLP, Yellow Electric)
James Blackshaw, Holly (EP, Important)
Bee Mask, Elegy for Beach Friday (2xLP, Spectrum Spools)
Kassel Jaeger, Algae (CD, Senufo Editions)

top five duo releases
Vincent Over the Sink - Dust Studies (7", Kye)
Thomas Ankersmit & Valerio Tricoli - Forma II (CD, PAN)
Red Horse - S/T (LP, Type)
Greg Kelley & Olivia Block - Resolution (CD, Erstwhile)
Jim O'Rourke & Oren Ambarchi - Indeed (LP, Editions Mego)

top five tapes
Three Legged Race - As Ed Sunspot (CS, Night People)
Carl Calm - A Party Tide (CS, No Label)
Gordon Ashworth - S.T.L.A. (CS, Iatrogenesis)
Panabrite - Norsee / Contemplating the Observatory (2xCS, Digitalis)
Various Artists - Pacific Support (Compilation CS, Draft)


And for a brief look ahead, here's a side off the upcoming Private Chronology 7", Asleep at the Drawing Board: