Shaking the Squid Entries September 28, 2022 - December 29, 2023
December 29, 2023:
Rounding Up 2023
As we are between two holiday weekends, there is no "proper" mailing list this week, but we are sending out our Top lists for 2023, in four parts: Top Customer Sales, Top Distribution & Fulfillment Albums, Carl's Top 23 for 2023, and Philz Top 35. And though a holiday week, we still added a number of new albums to our catalog, and we're processing and taking orders, as usual, all through the holiday weekend to ship on Tuesday.
As we close the books on 2023 I'm reflecting on the activities Squidco accomplished during the year, and tallying up some statistics on how much work we took on. Here are a few I can share with you:
• During 2023, we added 920 new albums — CDs, LPs, Magazines, Books, DVDs & USB drives — for an average of 18 albums per week fully cataloged and researched, writing our own descriptive abstracts, adding editorial text, links to review sites, researching biographies for artists and linking each album to other related albums in our catalog.
• We shipped 5,945 orders this year, which included packages sent out to 39 different nations around the globe. The most of those orders were Squidco's own, but we also expanded the number of fulfillment partners we provide service for, as many of our readers here have likely discovered from packages they received.
• Our biography project continues, which provides text biographies of artists and also, through our alphabetic Artist List page, links to in-stock albums for each artist. This year we added biographies for 683 artists, bringing the total to 6,517 biographies and links to their sources for innovative improvisers, performers and composers.
• The Squid's Ear published 138 reviews and articles from our staff of independent, international writers. I added 41 blog entries this year, detailing new releases and items published, and writing about upcoming plans and acquisitions through the year. The Squid's Ear is well read by our customers, and our total number of reviews & articles read since we started has now topped 10 million. I am proud of the writing that we've presented, and that we've allowed our writers the freedom to select the albums they want to write about without constraint.
• Squidco Rewrote the Website: The biggest change, and my own most involved project, was rewriting major portions of Squidco's website to make it more useful on a variety of devices, most particularly, on cell phones. Having reached 20 years in business in 2023, our website was showing its age on any of the platforms that came of age since we started. Pad/tablet computing and cell phones are now ubiquitous, and before this year our site didn't scale very well to the smaller screen. As less people use laptops and desktop computers, this became a serious concern for our future.
As the main programmer for Squidco, refitting an existing and active site like Squidco into a new set of layouts was a fascinating challenge. Squidco consists of a large number of pages that serve our album listings, category pages, sale pages, login, shopping cart & checkout pages, &c. &c. One by one those pages were morphed into our new layout, keeping our basic rounded design while adapting to whatever size screen our customers might be using when they visit us. The feedback has been good for the new site, and I find myself looking up information on our site with my cell phone when I would have previously used my desktop. I continue to tweak and improve the site, in the hopes of being the most informative and useful music store on the internet. As always, we're open to suggestion, so please feel free to Contact Us with any suggestions you might have.
A Holiday Wish & An Easter Egg:
For all those reading I wish you the best for the coming year. The music that Squidco sells is global, with artists traveling from country to country to collaborate, expanding our knowledge and wealth of sound and music. I believe that all people should come together to expand our global knowledge and well-being, and that it should be for all people, and not for just a few. Let us hope that all around the globe, we the people require and succeed in making our leaders provide peace, safety and happiness for all of us.
As a gift to you readers of this Squidco Blog, and only advertised here on the Squidco Blog, from Friday, December 29, 2023 through Monday, January 1, 2024 you can take 10% off of your order total by using the Coupon code HOLIDAY10 at checkout time. Just enter HOLIDAY10 in the "Coupon Code" field at checkout time and your order total will be reduced by 10%. There are no restrictions, the code is good for all new and used in-stock albums or items in our store.
Philz & Carl's Top Albums for 2023
Philz and Carl have traditionally posted their lists of top albums for the year at the year's end, and 2023 ends in no different way. Here are the quick lists for each, the full list with album covers and abstracts can be found here:
Philz Top 35 albums for 2023
Carl's Top 23 albums for 2023
Ackerley / Uesaka / Hinton:
Petting Zoo
(Waveform Alphabet)
AMM
(Rowe / Prevost + Tilbury):
Last Calls
(Matchless)
Ballister
(Rempis / Lonberg-Holm / Nilssen-Love):
Smash And Grab
(Aerophonic)
Bi Ba Doom
(Pitsiokos / Stewart / Nazary):
Graceful Collision [VINYL w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Astral Spirits)
Butcher, John:
The Very Fabric
(Ftarri / Hitorri)
Butcher, John / Pat Thomas / Dominic Lash / Steve Noble:
Fathom
(577 Records)
Ceccaldi, Valentin
(w/ Ziemniak / Ottervanger / Lopes):
Bonbon Flamme
(Clean Feed)
Chrysakis, Thanos:
Manifold Vista
(Auf Abwegen)
Cochrane, Chris / John Thayer:
Excavation [VINYL]
(Astral Editions)
Darge, Moniek / Vanessa Rossetto:
Dream Soundies
(erstwhile)
Davies, Rhodri:
Trem
(Amgen Records)
Day & Taxi
(Gallio / Jeger / Hemmingway):
Live in Baden
(Clean Feed)
Day, Bryan / Dereck Higgins:
Woven Territories
(Public Eyesore)
Ducret, Marc
(w/ Martinez / Helary / Bopp / Ducret):
Palm Sweat:
Marc Ducret Plays the Music of Tim Berne
(Out Of Your Head Records)
Duplant, Bruno / Seth Nehil:
The Memory Of Things
(Sublime Retreat)
Ensemble Dedalus + eRikm:
Fata Morgana
(Relative Pitch)
Festen
(Hedtjarn / Ullen / Bergman / Carlsson):
Festen
(Clean Feed)
Foussat, Jean-Marc / Guy-Frank Pellerin:
Les Beaux Jours
(Fou Records)
Frith, Fred And Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles:
Something About This Landscape For Ensemble
(Sub Rosa)
Ghost, The Michael Foster's
(Foster / Radichel / Sullivan):
Vanished Pleasures
(Relative Pitch)
Hemingway, Gerry:
Afterlife
(Auricle)
Koch / Loriot / Kocher:
Stranger Becoming
(Bruit Editions + Neither / Nor Records)
La Casa, Eric:
Barrieres Mobiles [CD + 40pg BOOKLET]
(Swarming)
Lantskap Logic
(Frith / Davis / Greenlief):
Hidden Danger Lets Me In
(Clean Feed)
Myers, David Lee:
Ceremonial Fires
(pulsewidth)
Niggli, Lucas Sound of Serendipity Tentet:
Play!
(Intakt)
Rempis / Harnik / Lonberg-Holm / Daisy:
Earscratcher
(Aerophonic)
Rodrigues / Lonberg-Holm / Flak / Madeira / Oliveira:
The Giving Tree Moving On
(Creative Sources)
Rothenberg, Ned
(w / Courvoisier / Halvorson / Fujiwara):
Crossings Four
(Clean Feed)
Sick Boss
(JP Carter/ Zubot / Lee / Schmidt / Meger / Gaucher):
Businessless
(Drip Audio)
Sorey, Tyshawn Trio:
Mesmerism
(Pi Recordings)
Threadgill, Henry Ensemble:
The Other One
(Pi Recordings)
von Orelli, Marco / Sheldon Suter:
Draw From The Source
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Williams, Mars / Vasco Trilla:
Critical Mass
(Not Two)
Zorn, John Incerto
(Marsella / Smith / Lage / Roeder):
Full Fathom Five
(Tzadik)
Ahti & Ahti
Nokivesi [VINYL]
(more mars)
Bonney, Alex / Paul Dunmall / Mark Sanders
The Beholder's Share
(Bead)
Butcher, John
The Very Fabric
(Ftarri / Hitorri)
Costa, Carlo / John McCowen
Pianissimo Etc [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Tripticks Tapes)
Day, Bryan / Dereck Higgins
Woven Territories
(Public Eyesore)
Dresser, Mark
Tines of Change
(Pyroclastic Records)
Emaille / dieb13 / Koch
Abe
(Confront)
Gustafsson, Mats / Joachim Nordwall
Their Power Reached Across Space And Time-To Defy Them Was Death-Or Worse
(Thrill Jockey)
Hauser, Fritz / Pedro Carneiro
Pas de Deux
(Clean Feed)
La Casa, Eric + Seijiro Murayama
Supersedure 2
(Swarming)
Ladisa, Stefania Strutture (w/ Adrian Northover / Marcello Magliocchi)
Dal'Introspezione All'Interazione
(FMR)
Leandre, Joelle / Paul Lovens
Off Course !
(Fou Records)
Lord, David
Forest Standards, Volume 3 [VINYL]
(Big Ego / Astral Spirits)
Lytton, Paul / Erhard Hirt
Borne on a Whim: Duets, 1981
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Machinefabriek
+
(Machinefabriek)
Novembre (Hoang / Clerc-Renaud / Darrifourcq) + Marc Baron
Encore [2 CDs]
(Umlaut Records)
Oxley, Tony / Stefan Holker
The New World
(Discus)
Pisaro-Liu, Michael / Julia Holter
Tombstones: Live in Brooklyn
(Editions Verde)
Rodrigues / Wassermann / Rodrigues
L'Age De L'Oreille
(Creative Sources)
Ruhl, Joris
Feuilles
(Umlaut Records)
Skein (Kaufmann / Gratkowski / de Joode)
Spectra & Affrays
(Klanggalerie)
Vicente-Sandoval, Dafne / Lars Petter Hagen
Minos Circuit / Transfiguration 4 [VINYL]
(Portraits GRM)
Werckmeister (Markus Eichenberger / Carl Ludwig Hubsch / Philip Zoubek / Etienne Nillesen)
Two Movements
(Creative Sources)
Squidco Publishing Roundup:
As always, I end with updates to Squidco and The Squid's Ear over the last week. You can see our latest fully cataloged albums in our Recently Section.
You can see new albums as they enter our Just In Stock Section, meaning that we physically have an album and are able to ship it with an order, but that we're not satisfied that we've added all the information we can about that release.
You can also see recent restocks of previously listed items at our Recently Restocked page.
You can ask us to inform you via email of any upcoming release that you're interested in, with no obligation.
December 28, 2023: New Review @ The Squid's Ear: Paul Dunmall - Meditations For Clarinets (FMR) by Massimo Ricci.
December 27, 2023: New @ Squidco:
Derek Bailey/Paul Motian -Duo in Concert [VINYL w/ DOWNLOAD] (Frozen Reeds)
Evan Parker/Derek Bailey/Han Bennink -The Topography of the Lungs [VINYL] (Otoroku)
Guillermo Gregorio -Two Trio [CD] (ESP)
Alon Nechushtan -For Those Who Cross the Seas [2 CDs] (ESP)
Paul Harding R/Michael Bisio/Juma Sultan -They Tried to Kill Me Yesterday [CD] (ESP)
Hyper.object -Inter.independence [CD] (Phonogram Unit)
Alvin Lucier -Works for the Ever Present Orchestra Vol. II [VINYL] (Black Truffle)
Espen Eriksen Trio With Andy Sheppard -As Good As It Gets [CD] (Rune Grammofon)
Espen Eriksen Trio With Andy Sheppard -As Good As It Gets [VINYL] (Rune Grammofon)
Espen Eriksen Trio w/ Andy Sheppard -In The Mountains [VINYL 2 LPs] (Rune Grammofon)
December 27, 2023: New Review @ The Squid's Ear: Schindler / Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Torres - Conspiratorial And Fulminate Things Happen (Creative Sources) by Nick Ostrum.
December 21, 2023: New @ Squidco:
Elisabeth Harnik/Zlatko Kaucic -One Foot in the Air [CD] (Not Two)
Tani Tabbal Quartet (w/ McPhee/Bisio/Siegel) -Intentional [CD] (Mahakala Music)
Vasco Furtado/Salome Amend/Luise Volkmann -Aforismos [CD] (Phonogram Unit)
Voltaic Trio (Guerrreiro/Nuno/Valinho) -290421 [CD] (Phonogram Unit)
Okura/Rodrigues/Rodrigues/Buder -Your Dramatic Joy [CD] (Creative Sources)
Brad Henkel -Croon [CD] (Neither/Nor Records)
Jurg Frey/Keiko Shichijo -Les Signes Passagers [CD] (elsewhere)
Nicolas Remondino/Ocra Rosa -Each Falling Stick Is A Necessary Gesture, Every Sonic Action Being Perfectly Voluntary And With Its Own Dignity [CD] (Shhpuma)
Matt Weston -This Is Broken [VINYL] (7272music)
Ego Death/Astro -Crossing The Line Between Life And Death [CDR] (Love Earth Music)
December 20, 2023:
It's about that time of the year, as we wind down 2023 and look forward to a continuing flow of new music in 2024. For those curious, Squidco is essentially "always open" as our website will take orders through the holidays. With Christmas and a postal holiday on the 25th we will not be shipping on Monday, but we will send out our regular mailing list on Friday the 22nd, and orders received over the weekend will ship on Tuesday the 26th.
That said, as the holidays come to a completion this year I wish all the best for the coming year. 2023 was a turbulent year, and 2024 promises to be the same. I hope that wisdom and sanity take the upper hand, and that the world reflects well on its actions. Above all, I wish peace and prosperity to all our readers, and phenomenal new music to accompany the coming year!
Squidco Top Ten - Part I:
As we here at Squidco have steadily increased our distribution and fulfilment work, we've noted that our top year-end lists have become skewed to the items we distribute or ship via fulfilment agreements, where the volume sold is larger but doesn't reflect on the larger and more diverse catalog of albums our retail customers select. So this year I'm publishing two lists for our annual customer Top 10, one for distribution items, and one for our retail sales. Technically it's not the end of the year yet, but I'm posting both lists here, with a formal announcement in next week's Squidco Email List.
Next week we will post our other top lists, my own Top 25 and Carl's Top 25, representing the albums we personally found most interesting through the year.
2023 Top 20 Distribution & Fulfillment Albums
Listed in alphabetic order. Where there is more than one format for a given album (CD, Vinyl or Cassette) I have listed the format that sold the most number of copies.
Amba, Zoh / William Parker / Francisco Mela
O Life, O Light Vol. 2 [VINYL]
(577 Records)
The second volume from the trio of Tennessee-to-NYC transplant Zoe Amba on tenor saxophone & flute, legendary double bassist William Parker and Francisco Mela on drums, performing three compositions by Amba recorded in the studio in NYC; emphatic free jazz with a powerful rhythm section elucidating Amba's spiritually fueled approach to compelling, lyrical improvisation.
continued...
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Matt Mitchell:
Sophie Agnel / John Butcher:
Damon Smith:
Alexander von Schlippenbach / Dag Magnus Narvesen Duo:
Lotte Anker / Kamil Piotrowicz / Jacob Anderskov:
Killick Hinds:
Isotope Ensemble:
Satoko Fujii:
Dennis Egberth:
Barry Chabala:
