#BROUK Graffiti

[omegaremix]

Favorites For The 10′s.

Artists:

Cold Cave

Happy Meals / Free Love

Self Defense Family

Black Marble

Miss Red

Uniform

Death Grips

Russell Haswell

Omar Souleyman

Oldbill$

Water From Your Eyes / Thanks For Coming

Parquet Courts

Aurat

Releases:

Function & Vatican Shadow Games Have Rules

York Factory Complaint Lost In The Spectacle

Kedr Livanskiy January Sun

John Carpenter Lost Themes Remixed

Raveonettes, The Pe’ahi

Tearist Living: 2009-Present

Dame Charm School

Ron Morelli Disappearer

Happy Meals / Free Love Luxury Hits

Cold Cave Cherish The Light Years

Black Marble A Different Arrangement

Black Boot s/t

Post Trash Volumes 1-4

America Fuck Fertility Clown

Diat Positive Energy

Tropic Of Cancer Stop Suffering e.p.

My Bloody Valentine MBV

Primitive Weapons Surrender Yourself

Algiers s/t

Happy Meals / Free Love Apero

Daughters You Won’t Get What You Want

Water From Your Eyes All A Dance

JK Flesh Rise Above

New Dreams Ltd. Initiation Tape: Isle Of Avalon Edition

Alan Vega It

Unsane Wreck

XXYYXX s/t

Refreshers How Bout U

Ninos Du Brasil Vida Eterna

Azar Swan Cut Hands & Vatican Shadow Variations

Rixe Coups Et Blessures e.p.

Songs:

Nine Inch Nails “Over And Out”

Cold Cave & Black Rain & Genesis Breyer P-Orridge “Comprehension”

Boy Harsher “Pain”

Glass Candy “Warm In The Winter”

IO Echo “Carnation”

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti “Fright Night (Nevermore)”

Tropic Of Cancer “I Woke Up And The Storm Was Over”

Tame Impala “New Person Same Old Mistakes”

Clams Casino “I’m Drawn” (Crim3s RMX)

Preoccupations “Disarray”

GXFR “Ajax”

Mono/Poly “Alpha & Omega”

Prayers “Shaking Hands With Razor Blades”

Washed Out “Feel It All Around”

Planit Hank f. Buckshot & Jeru The Damaja & AZ “Life In Crooklyn”

Holydrug Couple, The “I’ll Only Say This”

LNDN DRGS “Dope Sick”

Phil Western “Bleak Night”

Death Of Pop, The “Sun In My Eyes”

Model/Actriz “Matador”

NGLY “Speechless Tape”

Nick Klein “American Stomach”

Evidence “Throw It All Away”

Westerbur & Rowe “Side C”

York Factory Complaint “Loved”

Rong “Cup”

Xray Eyeballs “X”

Burial “Come Down To Us”

Khruangbin “August 10″

Sleaford Mods “My Jampandy”

Atari Teenage Riot “Black Flags”

Bug, The f. Miss Red “Diss Mi Army”

Godspeed You Black Emperor! “Piss Crowns Are Trebled”

Happy Meals “Crystal Salutations”

Polysick “Barry Talks”

Ta-Ra “L’il Bit”

Crystal Castles “Pap Smear”

Clear Soul Forces “Get No Better”

Molly Nilsson “I Hope You Die”

Consumer Electronics “Knives Cut”

JK Flesh “External Transmission Stage”

Bethlehem Steel “Guts”

Current Affairs “Eyes”

Lost Under Heaven “Black Sun Rising”

MssingNo “Quick Shake Off”

Weeping Icon “Teeth (& A Handbag)”

Purling Hiss “Don’t Even Try It”

Silent Servant “The Strange Attractor”

IKO 93 “Mutt” / “Drag”

Ghxst “Ride”

Uniform & The Body “In My Skin”

Taiwan Housing Project “Buy Buy Buy”

Pastel Ghost “Clouds”

Rainforest Spiritual Enslavement “Watery Grave”

Rezzett “Zootie”

Lower Dens “Ondine”

Azar Swan “Jungle Law”

Pharmakon “Xia Xinfeng”

Impalers “High Wired”

Uniform “The Lost”

Akitsa “Prophétie Héritique”

Self Defense Family “Indoor Wind Chimes”

clipping. “Wriggle”

Antwon “Helicopter”

Ice Cream “Plastic”

Bug, The f. SpaceApe “At War With Time”

Hot Flash Heat Wave “Glo Ride”

Priests “Jesus’ Son”

Gong Gong Gong “Down Quantity Road”

Brian Eno & Kevin Shields “Only Once Away My Son”

All These Fingers “Puerta Vallarta”

White Mystery “White Mystery”

Boards Of Canada “Nothing Is Real”

Underworld & Iggy Pop “Bells And Circles”

HTRK “Summer Rain”

Joan Shelley “Over And Even”

Surfbort “Slushie”

Vatican Shadow “Weapons Inspection”

Nick Klein “Anxiety Plae”

Copper Sounds & Franco Franco “Accelerazione Generale”

Trouble Knows Me “Celebrity Vision”

BADBADNOTGOOD “In Your Eyes” (f. Charlotte Day Wilson)

Found Discoveries (non-’10′s):

Keiji Haino “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean”

Isolated Showers “Death Through Open Eyes”

Steve Khan “The Blue Man”

Body Without Organs “Osiris Rises”

Spizzenergi “Soldier Soldier”

Joanna Brouk “The Space Between”

Bereket Mengistaab “Lebay (My Heart Or My Emotions)”

Bathory (s/t)

Suicide (s/t)

Subtle Turnhips “F* The People F* The Power F* The People To The Power”

Mayhem De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

Thomas Leer & Robert Rental The Bridge

Negril (s/t)

SPK “Serenace”

Gigi Masin “Tears Of A Clown”

Cabaret Voltaire Extended Play

Kegcharge s/t

Charles Manson Lie

Sandro Brugnolini & Stefano Torossi “Effetto Notte”

Captain Sensible & The Softies “Jet Boy Jet Girl”

Jah Wobble & The Edge & Holger Czukay “Hold On To Your Dreams”

Prurient Cocaine Death

Les Rallizes DeNudes Heavier Than A Death In The Family

Desire “Mirror Mirror”

Anti-Nowhere League “For You”

World Renown The LP

Most Precious Blood Our Lady Annihilation

Council Estate Electronics “Hall Hayes”

Eric Gale “Morning Glory”

Killing Joke “Mass”

Ata Kak s/t

You Love Her Coz She’s Dead

Joy Division “Interzone”

Tunnel Canary “Jihad”

Death Spiritual / Mental / Physical

Hirut Bekele “ልሽከም ፍቅር”

Labels:

Awesome Tapes From Africa

Wharf Cat

Katorga Works

Detriti

Sacred Bones

Hospital Productions

Italians Do It Better

RRRecords

Label Compilations:

Monorail Trespassing Project Housing

Italians Do It Better After Dark

L.I.E.S. Music For Shut-Ins

Avon Terror Corps No Sleep ‘Till Avon

Fuzzoscope Earwax Shelf Life

Total Disappointments:

Tim Lambesis attempted murder for hire

Endless Kanye West coverage

Bhad Bhabie.

2016.

deaths and suicides of various legends (all genres)

Ten Walls’ career suicide

PWR BTTM

Ethan Kath

Orwells, The

Whirr Twitter controversy

Ian Watkins

Blood On The Dance Floor

Tekashi6ix9ine

We’ve only been six years strong (seven with Omega WUSB), but we’ve always had our pulse on what’s going on before then. Ω+ has mapped out where we’ve been, where we’re at, and where we’re going; while our radio show reflects our best finds and habits when we play for keeps. It’s a real-time game with real-time results. With everyone supporting what we do, we feel like winners. It’s inevitable that every end of the year or decade calls for a best-of list and we’re not immune. It’d be a huge undertaking doing a best-of-the-decade for our radio show, and with so much out there, it’s not even possible. So, it’s better if we showed you our entire hand here.

The rules? All songs and albums had to be released in the wild from 2010 to 2019. Artists and labels have had to make their impact visible during this decade as well. All selections are culled from about 75 different music outlets, several Long Island record stores, label mail orders, our radio show Omega WUSB, and our personal site Ω+. We also had a lot of generous help from our own friends and allies of Omega, WUSB, and Bandcamp. There’s even a special section of “classic” discoveries we found during the decade still worth checking out. That’s our “as it happens, when it happens, anything goes” policy of Ω+. Every color, belief system, denomination, and utility is found there. One total exception to all this, though: no pop. We’re no industry authority, just only one person. It’s only opinion. However, some people confuse that with fact, therefore we waive all responsibility for hurt feelings, lost bets, hate mail, mysterious packages, or damaged property, so take it as you will at your own risk.

First, our favorite artists of the decade starting with two very important and personal game-changers. Everyone following Ω+ knows that Cold Cave started the domino effect of turning my life around. It was the first hint of many that showed me that something better was out there to focus on in a post-economic crash era. The other? Parquet Courts. As mentioned a few days ago, our former program director Ari warmed me up to them and opened the door to our current fever of post-punk and d.i.y. It’s been a pretty alluring aesthetic to hear and observe.

Artists such as Self Defense Family, Russell Haswell, and Death Grips not only sound really good at everything they’ve released, but when you take a closer look at them, you’ll realize that they do have great ideas. We champion Self-Defense because of their non-traditional ideas you’ll never see in punk music. Interviews with porno actresses on their albums, their islander series of 7”, naming songs after obscure people, or having their production personnel also become part of the band that tours and makes records at the same time, all on top of Patrick Kinlon’s sense of humor and down-to-earth takes on the human condition. In our eyes, Russell Haswell has embraced technology for his own needs and intentionally uses his experimentation to thwart and throw-off electronic music, rhythms, and dance clubs as one. Who else but Death Grips not only announces splits-ups and cancelled tours but follows up with new records as if nothing ever happened? An instrumental album out of pace with silent interviews? Secret messages, albums produced by Shrek director Andrew Adamson, and rockets-red-glare taking off on No Love Deep Web while MC Ride screams in your ears while Zach Hill and Andy Morin create some of the most mind-destroying sounds leaving forensic cleaners wondering what to do with themselves? Yeah.

Want someone totally unique and not like the others? It’s Israeli dancehall artist Miss Red and Syrian defect-turned-peacemaker Omar Souleyman. You could also add Pakistani dark-wave outfit Aurat as well. Then you have artists we feel do no wrong with everything they do. Black Marble was introduced to us by Alice of WUSB’s Nightmare Aquarium while Happy Meals (now Free Love) was found in the wild. These two gave us a certain specific feel we get hearing their output that is way too good. They also signified new eras moving into new addresses during the decade. At the same time we found Free Love, we also found Uniform. We never heard of them until we showed up at Output (✞) when they shared a bill with Pharmakon, Prurient, Aaron Dilloway, Genesis P. Orridge, and Merzbow. Since then, we loved the prolificness and psychotic insanity of Michael Berdan’s various projects (York Factory Complaint, Drunkdriver, Believer/Law) and Ben Greenberg (Coca Leaf), who also produces and runs one of our favorite labels in Sacred Bones. Hip-hop producer Oldbills, with his cloud- / dream- rap style and technique, got me into the beat-tape world, so say hello to Fuzzoscope, SEENMR, Beat Detectives and All These Fingers when you see them. A late entry? Rachel Brown, half of Water From Your Eyes. We really loved “That’s The Girl” and “We’re Set Up” from All A Danceand then took ourselves to Brown’ssad-girl solo project Thanks For Coming for that New York City d.i.y. feel. Again, blame WUSB’s d.i.y. boy wonder Conor.

The above-mentioned weren’t the only ones who made a huge impression on us. Many albums and songs did the same in other ways. Not only did these albums have our attention the most, but some of them set the tone for personal specific events. I can tell you that Kedr Livanskiy’s January Sun andWater From Your Eyes’ All A Dance  (again)made for some essential and memorable soundtracks to hot Summer days and cold Autumn nights in New York City. New Dreams Ltd.’sInitiation Tape: Isle Of Avalon Edition wasour first discovery into vaporwave, perfectly replicating an early 90’s zeitgeist that was all too shockingly familiar to me. Refreshers’ How Bout U did the exact same thing but for the later half. Tearist’s Living: 2009-Present made us feel like we were in a totally different space we’d never been before and likely will never visit in real life. One glaring entry is Post Trash, the only non-artist / publication on the list whose annual compilations provide lots of what makes Omega WUSB’s post-punk and d.i.y shows. Dame’s Charm School and Black Boot’s 2013 demo not only captured the spirit of Bandcamp’s deep underground and undiscovered artists, but also gave Omega WUSB something else to play with.

But sirens be damned if we didn’t mention the other albums we rated highly. None more serious than Function & Vatican Shadow’s Games Have Rules, a sensory overloadexuding futurism, searing lights, and ambience in a world of darkness. That’s only one amazing techno record Hospital Productions introduced to us. Ninos Du Brasil was another. Nodoubt Vida Eterna supplied us with some very exciting and harrowing moments we’d oblige to experience again. We found The Raveonettes’ Pe’ahi and we’re open to be blown away again with their noisy red-levels of overloaded garage and surf sounds. While we could be turned off by the name and title of America Fuck’s Fertility Clown, facing their gigantic industrial / electronic anti-capitalist and pro-socialist manifesto is a dramatic undertaking gladly attempted. Though Tool’s Fear Innoculum was their first record in 14 years, their fans didn’t have it as bad as My Bloody Valentine’s. Try a 21-year wait for MBV which ironically dropped in total unexpected fashion and to the surprise of many. MBV had one of our listeners take notice and became responsible for Omega WUSB’s entry into shoegaze.

Obviously, we can’t forget all the many individual finds released this decade listed here. It’s a more precise and accurate list representing Omega on a more personal scale and these are the ones we come back to the most. Each and every one found here has that something special you can’t simply put your finger on, and they all tell a different story. Tracks like LNDN DRGS “Dope Sick” and GXFR’s “Ajax” are some of the most chilling hip-hop cuts we’ve ever experienced. No doubt Boy Harsher’s “Pain” and Azar Swan’s “Jungle Law” epitomize some of our most pulsating moments. Want to feel lost, hopeless, and isolated? There’s Nine Inch Nails’ “Over And Out”, Clams Casino’s “I’m Drawn” (Crim3s RMX) and Phil Western’s “Bleak Night”. Finds in Nick Klein’s “American Stomach” and Copper Sounds & Franco Franco’s “Accelerazione Generale” were so what-the-fuck and left-field that we were scrambling in tongues to figure out exactly where their ideas came from. Khruangbin’s “August 10″ really took us by surprise. We thought it was a usual lost Seventies vinyl find. Wrong. They’re a Houston trio whose brand of funk can replicate that mellow resonant groove to a tee.

Then our return favorites: Molly Nilsson’s “I Hope You Die”, Cold Cave & Black Rain & Genesis Breyer P-Orridge’s “Comprehension”, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti’s “Fright Night (Nevermore)”, Lost Under Heaven’s “Black Sun Rising”, Uniform & The Body’s “In My Skin”, Lower Dens’ “Ondine”, and Boards Of Canada’s “Nothing Is Real”. And, if we had to pick our one absolute favorite that is worth everything to us? Preoccupations’ “Disarray”. It’s the most unforgettable song. Period.

That’s not all. There’s discoveries not of this decade we’ve found, too. That’s natural. Again, they supply a special time, place, and story for us. And just like this decade’s list, they have something special about them that makes them keepers. Just like how Cold Cave’s Cherish The Light Years became a turning point for me, Prurient’s Cocaine Death came along as an added plus. The sonic and historical origins of Suicide’s self-titled debut, Tunnel Canary’s “Jihad”, SPK’s “Serenace”, and Body Without Organs’ “Osiris Rises” totally defy any explanation and none rather needed or asked for. Some of them simply sound great. Primitive Weapon’s Surrender Yourself and Most Precious Blood’s Our Lady Annihilation makes the list based on sheer power and fire. Bathory’s self-titled debut is arguably one of the best black metal albums that still stands to this day, and don’t forget Mayhem’s either. Only a pinch of classic jazz / fusion finds in Steve Khan, Eric Gale, Negril, and Death are here; essentially a portal to a world which no longer exists. In fact, that genre gets a whole list to itself. Glass Candy’s “Warm In The Winter” laid the foundation for Omega WUSB’s re-entry to the schedule with thanks to our ally Christine of Mix Tape Radio, followed by another Italians Do It Better favorite: Desire’s “Mirror Mirror”. See any unfamiliar names? Bereket Mengistaab, Ata Kak, and Hirut Bekele mark the milestone in Ω+’s exposure to African musicks and we’re currently considering doing a special of it.

We didn’t forget about labels. It’s no surprise that five of the eight labels listed are from New York City. We’re not sorry at all for defending that flag. Thank Brian Shimkovitz’s label-blog Awesome Tapes From Africa for those aforementioned finds and doing what we’ve been doing after him. Wharf Cat and Katorga Works, two bastions of Brooklyn-based post-punk, noise rock, and d.i.y., have given us an immense amount of artists and aesthetic to gloss over. For all things darkness, we’re going with Sacred Bones and Hospital Productions all the way. The former introduced us to Pharmakon, Uniform, Cheena, and John Carpenter’s Lost Themes Remixed, one of our most favorite movie soundtrack projects. The latter lead us to Wes Eisold / Heartworm, Ron Morelli / L.I.E.S., a unique aesthetic which made us think strategically, and a legendary 20th anniversary showcase in Greenpoint we will never forget.

While around before the decade, Los Angeles’ Italians Do It Better has released some great stuff in Desire, Farah, Mike Simonetti, Chromatics, and more. A huge hat-tip to Johnny Jewel for all the free vinyl giveaways he’s sent us and the ones we ordered from him. A late entry we find intriguing is the UK’s Detriti, Their method of mostly monochromatic record covers, generic design, and easy-to-approach synthpop, darkness, and minimal electronics have us curious of them. As of now, Galatee, Filmmaker, In A Dramatic Gesture, and Parole E Azioni are considered for future airplay. Note that four of those listed had their own showcases on Omega WUSB. Honorable mention? Our correspondence with the always kind Emil Beaulieu and his RRRecords. We’ve missed purchasing from him during peak hipster (mid-Oughts), so we did it again this decade not once but twice to round up some noise titles truly deserving of our money. We’re relieved to say that we’re very proud to have those noise titles in our collection.

Label compilations? Why not. Going back to Jewel’s Italians- label, both of their After Dark volumes provided Omega WUSB with some great selections over the years. Hospital Productions was responsible for giving us Ron Morelli. His L.I.E.S. label compilation Music For Shut-Ins gave us some great marquee moments from Svengalisghost, Samantha Vacation, and Legowelt as we moved addresses. Fuzzoscope’s Earwax beat-tapes made us appreciate that lo-fi cassette feel even more. One dilapidated corner of noise, grind, and punk we didn’t know existed or could be felt was discovered via Monorail Trespassing’s Project Housing cassette, and from there lead us to Jewish Uprising, Cell Block, and Total Abuse. Monorail’s compilation was nothing like we experienced. So much that we even had dreams about it. Another last-minute entry that made it to the finish line is Avon Terror Corps, proudly given to us by our ally Joshua JF, better known as Fellony to all of you. If Copper Sounds & Franco Franco’s“Accelerazione Generale” (again) is any indication of some quite innovative electronic sounds, then we only have more of Avon Terror to look forward to.

Last and intentionally least: total disappointments. I really don’t need to explain to you how the lowest eight made the list (and we really do stress "lowest”), who’ll have their very own special front-row seat in Hell when they get there. The other entries also deserve no explanation. It’s best to just forget about them. Seriously.

Sure, there’s a lot to digest. That’s the nature of all things Omega. A decade allows us to cover a lot of ground from everywhere imaginable because this writer (VMFX) makes it all possible. 90% of our finds come from numerous music media outlets while 10% comes from streams. It’s imperative that we reach out to these said outlets to maintain both Omega WUSB’s “new, relevant, and current” ethos and Ω+‘s survival through new, classic, and personal finds. Both serve the same purpose to reach out to our listeners, followers, and supporters and we’re curious to see how it goes. We do many unique things and pull surprises other fellow blogs here don’t, which makes this list a curious but fun draw.

So who knows what the future will bring, and who knows if any of us will still be here to care (on a site that censors nudity like Communism, we have to mention). We can’t wait to see what the new Twenties will bring us, and maybe we’ll place our bets heavily as we just did. Thanks for playing.

(Originally published at the end of 2019.)

[heavygyroscope]

Bilbao 2015

[hrmfotografia]

Cachalote 'Brouk'. Para seguir con el graffiti bilbaíno. #photography #photographer #fotografia #graffiti #graffitiart #streetart #street #streetphotography #picoftheday #bilbao #zorrozaurre #landscape #paisaje

[heavygyroscope]

Bilbao 2015

[heavygyroscope]

Bilbao 2015

[heavygyroscope]

Bilbao 2015