Eclectic Grooves

The first time that this opportunity presented itself, I had only been running a blog for a couple years. Considering this, I decided that I wouldn't partake in the decade lists for the years between 2000-2010.  Eclectic Grooves has been around through the entire decade of 2010's, albeit, some years have been less productive. When I first started compiling this list, I combed through each of my year-end posts from the last ten years to get me pointed in the right direction. Then I read some of the "Decade Best of" lists that have been released so far from Aquarium Drunkard, Post Trash, Stereogum and Paste for further inspiration and motivation. My initial hope was to make this a definitive list with links to the original reviews posted on Eclectic Grooves, as well new takes on records that hadn't made my previous lists. Unfortunately, a head-cold with a severe cough over the past week has prevented me from moving forward on this list sooner, so it's going to...

As I sit here in my hermetically-sealed isolation chamber called a home, I can't help but reflect on what I've been dealing with emotionally and physically. Since last November, my life has become a series of monotonous routines. While the medical condition I have is not fatal, it is chronic, and something that affects everything I do throughout the day. Due to this, my posting has been erratic at best, but it's defintely not for a lack of ideas. In fact, with the glut of material available, I have an endless playlist of undiscovered gems at my fingertips: Spotify playlists, YouTube rare grooves, Twitter recommendations from crate diggers like Egon and DJ Shadow, Rate Your Music, Radio shows from Xray.FM, WFMU and NTS. The list goes on and on to the point where my mind practically explodes with the possibilities. I keep building the perfect playlist in my mind, copying the notes from my listening sessions in Word docs and barely legible scribblings on sticky notes and vario...

As I promised last week, here is the conclusion to my list of favorite albums from 2016. I hope you find something on this list that grabs your attention. 6) Thee Oh Sees- A Weird Exits When I listened to A Weird Exits for the first time, I made a snap judgement that this was finally going to be a Thee Oh Sees record that wouldn't make my year-end list. It didn't have the same melodic magic as much of the band's discography to that point, and a lot of the songs had a similar vibe to them. After giving the record some time to sink in, I realized that my initial thoughts were clouded by expectations of what they should sound like. Once I relaxed, and just let the sounds wash over me, I couldn't get enough of the blistering guitars and pummeling drums that filled my earhole. The sound that is presented on this record is pure ecstatic euphoria! Gelatinous Cube and Unwrap the Fiend Pt.2 7) Aesop Rock- The Impossible Kid   It's been...

The latest edition of I Hear a New World is available to listen to here, and to listen\download at http://ihearanewworld.podomatic.com/ . On this edition of I Hear a New World , I have deviated from the usual Stacks of Wax format to make way for some of the newer records that I have been listening to lately. My girlfriend and I have been operating with a single income for a couple years now since she was diagnosed with a systemic digestive disorder that has rendered her unable to work at all.  Since times have been hard, I haven't been able to purchase enough new vinyl to keep the podcasts interesting. Until there is a shift in my financial situation, I will be doing podcasts from albums that I have on my hard drive. For those of you who would like to help, please consider making a small donation to my Paypal page from http://www.podomatic.com/podcast/.  Every dollar earned from this will go straight into buying records that will be played on future p...

Once again, it's that time of year where I set my stacks of  wax aside to make way for albums released throughout the current year.  As usual, my perfectionistic tendencies have prevented me from completing this list earlier in December, but I think the regular readers of Eclectic Grooves will find plenty on this list to satisfy their daily musical cravings. Thanks to a couple blog resources (who shall remain nameless to protect their identity from the RIAA) I have been exposed to more new music in 2012 than in any previous year. While I didn't have to scramble at the last minute to discover the music released throughout the year, I still found myself rifling through the never-ending "Best of 2012 " lists for music that I may have missed through my virtual digging expeditions. For the most part, I found these lists to cater towards a mainstream listening demographic, but there were a few exceptions to the rule. Ty Segall, Flying Lotus, The Swans and ...