Yves Tumor brought the freak to Montreal and played to a sold out crowd at Metropolis on Sunday night (I will forever feel weird calling it MTELUS).
I had tickets to see Yves in April 2020 and was super bummed when the early days of the pandemic shut it down. Slow forward three years, two albums later, et voilà, finalement, Yves en spectacle à la belle ville!
Touring in support of their biggest album to date, Praise a Lord who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds), Yves and bandmates came on stage ready to glam out and get the Sunday night party rollin’.
I started the show on the balcony, cozy on a stool, but by the third track of their set, “In Spite of War”, I ran downstairs and jostled my way through the crowd until I was close to the front. And it was perfect timing, because they played “Jackie” from The Asymptomatical World EP next, a track I love, and it seemed to be the moment when the show truly clicked for everyone on stage.
Yves has compiled one heck of a backing band to elevate their live show. Chris Greatti on lead guitar may have been the unsung star of the night, looking like 80’s era Eddie Van Halen up there, just shreddin’ with a smile. Bassist and vocalist, Gina Ramirez is Yves secret weapon, a double threat – she’s an awesome bass player, and every song she does backing vocals on is fantastic. Her voice on “Lovely Sewer” off of Praise a Lord, was a definite highlight, as was encore explosion, Kerosene! Her singing was a bit muted live, and could have been pushed up in the mix a bit overall, but I could say the same thing about Yves voice too, it was often muddled in all the distortion. But maybe that was the desired effect…
I know Yves is really trying to work the whole “rock star” thing, but I loved when they played “Noid” off of 2018’s Safe in the Hands of Love, which was the only song that displayed their more electronic and experimental side, and had Yves warbling through three different microphones all hooked up to pedals to great effect. I would have liked to hear more of that stuff too.
But they played every track off the new album that I wanted to hear, and for me the best stretch was “Meteora Blues”, “Interlude”, “Parody”, and “Heaven Surrounds Us Like a Hood” (which created a mosh pit in its end stretch). Overall, it was an absolutely fantastic live show, even if the sound was a bit wonky at times.
However, if I can make one (potentially salacious) critique: I was expecting more from Yves. I was expecting a larger than life freakshow persona, like the amorphous shapeshifter displayed on their album covers, a front person who is explosive, enigmatic, entrancing, and magnetic, but honestly in the end, I found Yves a bit wooden. Maybe it is supposed to be more high art, a strike-a-pose style vibe they are going for, but I couldn’t help thinking about their own lyrics a few times: “parody of a pop star … is this all just makeup?”
But at the end of the day, a minor complaint, I still loved the fuck out of the show, and as I’ve said numerous times on this sad blog, when an artist on Warp Records comes to town, you always know they’re going to turn it out.
Hello no one! Hello everyone! It’s time to try this again for the sake of posterity. I mean, how else will I ever remember what the heck I listened to in 2022? Let’s crack on then….
Welcome to the 13th edition of INAUDIBLE’s end of year list!
Are you surprised to see a William Basinski album on my list? Somewhere on the internet, someone wrote: “Basinski’s been making music for 30 years now, but somehow managed to put out the best album of his career with this quiet alliance with Janek Schaefer.”
Spanning eight years of long-distance collaboration, Schaefer and Basinski assemble twinkling piano, waking birds, tape hiss and warm drones that play out peacefully for three quarters of an hour, leaving this listener at ease even in dark times.
Three tracks, 20 minutes of near perfect IDM/deep reggaeton, or to put it simply, good ol’ fashioned electronica. Brian Piñeyro aka DJ Python aka Luis aka DJ Xanax seems to only get better and better with each release. He’s had a prolific year putting out collabs with Ela Minus, releasing EPs under both Luis and Python monikers, and dropping some killer remixes, mastering the ability to mine emotion out of machines.
Every track on this EP is something to get lost in, but my personal fave is “Club Sentimiental Vol. 3” for those gorgeous synth lines that make you feel like you’re floating above it all for four minutes, above the stress, anxiety, exhaustion, tedium, above the storm, way up above the clouds where there’s only sunshine.
DJ Python is playing in Montreal in February with Anthony Naples and heck yeah I’m excited for the show, it is sure to be a good’n.
I’ve always had a soft spot for Brit rock. Bands like Bloc Party and Foals blew me away when I first heard them. Silent Alarm by Bloc Party and Antidotes by Foals still kick ass fifteen (or more!) years later…
Even Oasis. I will never forget the first time I heard “Wonderwall”. I was 16, very stoned, and in the back of Dave Tedesco’s car driving around on a Friday night. The song came on 89X (local radio station) and when that drum kick came in, oh boy, my heart expanded three times its size. Still love that song, and I do not care what anyone says or how overplayed it is or how ridiculous those brothers are or how many open mic night hacks have sullied it’s wonder even further into shit.
I was late to the Fontaines party, not listening to Dogrel when it came out, despite or perhaps in spite of the hyperbolic reviews. But once A Hero’s Death dropped, I was immediately swept into their sound from the opening bass line and that album was a constant in 2021 during jogs and stroller walks with my son, Simon.
The Dublin lads third full-length, Skinty Fia, shows them opening up their sound palette a bit, adding more melody and harmony but still being total punk rock. Some listeners may not like the shift, but it totally works for me, and seeing their live show at Corona in Montreal this spring was just awesome. Their energy was infectious and seemingly limitless. Must be nice to be in your early twenties lol.
Fave track: “I Love You” – it reminds me of high school and a “they almost made it” local band called Soyl.
Yep, another list, another Freddie Gibbs album. The Space Rabbit dropped his major label debut and switched up his one producer format, working with an eclectic mix of musicians and achieved excellent results.
We’ve got Alchemist, Raekwon, Rick Ross, Offset, Kaytranada, Anderson .Paak, and the hugely underrated Scarface. Not to mention Pusha T, James Blake, Musiq Soulchild, DJ Paul, and more still. Yet even though it’s super varied, it flows really well, all tied together with voice messages from (some questionable?) guests. I’ve found myself getting happily lost in its vibe on many occasions, surprised even at how often I wanted to listen to it again and again.
I like Gibbs best when he gets personal (check “Grandma’s Stove”), and with each record he’s showing more and more vulnerability, talking about his actual life rather than just his thug lyfe — but don’t worry, there’s still plenty of that flex on $$$ for all y’all too.
One of Traumprinz’s many aliases, this album was released in 2018, but I didn’t get into it until this year. High off the quarantine albums under his The Phantasy and DJ Metatron monikers, I decided to go back and give this record a listen, and I’m glad I did, because it is now one of my favourite electronic albums of all time.
No joke. Like up there with SAW2 and Music Has the Right. Nothing 2 Loose is that darn good. Beautifully melancholic, transformative, and able to transport its listener to places they never knew.
“We Are Going Nowhere” is my personal fave, an endlessly hypnotic pulsing heart of a song, goddamn it’s so visceral.
It’s incredible that Traumprinz’s identity is still unknown and that his music is sold only on vinyl and in very limited runs. There’s plenty of myth-making involved and maybe that’s part of the allure, but at the end of the day, he is an artist that has always allowed the music to speak for itself, and I love him for that.
Montreal based artist Phoebé Guillemot aka RAMZi has been quietly building buzz for half a decade now releasing records on Mood Hut, 1080P, and Rvng Intl. With hyphae, RAMZi pushes her sonic boundaries even further, creating an album full of gentle beats and melodies to get absorbed in.
It is definitely an album I can put on and decide to listen to or not. It can comfortably fade into the background as mood music or open up as so much more for the careful listener. It reminds me ofan album by The Irresistible Force on Ninja Tune that I loved from like 25 years ago (dang we getting old now, sheeeeit). It has a similar low-key vibe throughout.
hyphae was recorded between November 2021 and May 2022, and began as an attempt to transcend boredom and frustrations imposed by severe restrictions in Quebec during the pandemic (remember 8 pm lockdown for 6 months anyone?), and is based around sketches she originally made as a score for a documentary about mushrooms called Fun Fungi. I should probably watch it tonight.
I missed her free show at MUTEK this year, but I’m sure I will see her play somewhere in Montreal in 2023.
23 year old, North Carolina rapper, MAVI released his second album this year, and it finds him bringing a poetic, intellectual vibe to hip hop, different but not unlike Earl and MIKE, yet perhaps more easily digestible than Earl thanks to a less fractured delivery and smoother beats. Still, the whole album feels covered in a haze of weed smoke, and provides a perfect soundtrack for stoned head-nodding on the couch.
MAVI is a real Renaissance Man, because when he’s not writing rhymes he’s studying Neuroscience at Howard University in DC. I expect his star to only shoot higher in the next few years, and I was bummed to see he’s skipping Montreal on his upcoming tour. Oh well, maybe next time, svp Mav?
Some of the best musical landscapes to get lost in this year, and all thanks to who? The Queen: Céline Dion.
Elusive UK group, Romance, use Céline as their muse, and take her music, slow it down, flip it upside down, pull it apart, grieve its loss, and then painstakingly put it back together again. And in the process, they somehow take the syrupy 90’s ballad format and transform it into a surprisingly emotional modern classical ambient album. Like OPN or Malibu, Romance can eke out all them sad-boy feelings.
Take the first track for example, a patient drone, an occasional reverb heavy piano loop, and Dion’s voice pushed into slightly irregular registers – either just too low or just too high – singing “Have You Ever Been in Love?” Sounds like a recipe for a cheesy disaster, but instead plays out like a Harold Budd slo-mo dream sequence.
The closing track, fittingly titled, “Crying is the Only Thing That Gets Me Through” is the clear show-stopper, working a Stars of the Lid vibe, but the whole album is worth checking out. And apparently, there’s a follow-up album now too.
There is virtually zero info aboutsrwnonline, except that they are a duo from Paris, France. I was tipped to this EP on a music site I frequent, and I liked it from the first track. It has that smooth lo-fi deep house vibe pulsing throughout that I am an eternal fanboy for.
Brooklyn musician, Yaya Bey, released my fave album of Badu-style RnB jams of 2022. I was a big fan of Jazmine Sullivan’s Heaux Tales last year, and North Star has a similar smooth neo-soul vibe, not to mention, a candid sexuality.
Effortlessly listenable, and perfect for the start of a party or the end of one. I am looking forward to seeing what Bey does next…
Atlanta’s JID releases his third proper album, and it plays out like a history lesson of hip hop music. Coming from the ATL, one of rap’s meccas (Outkast, Killer Mike, Migos, Young Thug, Playboi Carti, Future, 21 Savage, just to name a few), JID was my students most rec’d rapper of the year, and it was for that reason that I decided to check him out.
And I’m glad I did, because he’s got bars for days, slick production, and a smooth cadence to his delivery that I enjoy. He’s only going to blow up from here.
Stephen Wilkinson released his tenth album as Bibio, and offers up a sort of retrospective of the varied styles and genre flips he’s done in his career. The Bibio project has been shape-shifting for almost fifteen years now – from folktronica to glitch hop to yacht rock to ambient drone with many other deviations in between, and with BIB10, we get a smattering of it all.
That isn’t necessary a great thing, as there’s more than a few tracks I have to skip (bad jazz and cheese rock in middle of album) but there’s enough music on this album that I really enjoy. For example, the outro of “Rain and Shine” may be some the prettiest and wistful music of the year, and “Lost Somewhere” was ear-wormed in my head for weeks.
I really enjoyed his last two more pastoral folk leaning albums and so I find those type of tracks the strongest on BIB10. Still he’s one of the most consistent artists on Warp’s roster and never afraid to take chances — thank goodness he’s good enough to pull most of them off.
In-demand producer, Kenny Beats, has been on the upward trend for five years now, working with Denzel Curry, Vince Staples, Rico Nasty, and more.
This year he dropped his solo debut, Louie, and it’s bursting with smooth soul samples, warm emotions, and fire guests like JPEGMAFIA, Foushée, Dijon, and Benny Sings.
The album is a tribute to Kenny’s father, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at the time Kenny was working on the project during the lockdown in 2020. It harkens back to the glory days of instrumental hip-hop albums by legends like Madlib and Dilla, and you can effortlessly listen to it from start to finish, and find yourself dancing in the kitchen while making dinner, and showing the kids how to do the two-step or the cabbage patch or some shit.
Bottom line: soul-heavy jams that are easy fun, and also hit that nostalgia nod for good measure.
I got into Australian musician Alex Albrecht’s album Campfire Stories last year, and enjoyed its classic jazz meets ambient music filtered through the rainforest aesthetic very much, but with A Clearing, Albrecht finds himself directly in my aural wheelhouse.
To quote the label: A Clearing is “Home listening elegant slow House Music”.
To quote some guy on Discogs: “I agree this is some serious magic on here. For context I’m hanging out here at 8:30am on a saturday morning, in my jam-jams and every track is hitting my ear perfectly. Coffee and an enchanted summer morning :)”
Some tracks remind me of long-ago Glasgow legend Pub’s music on the ampoule records imprint.
To quote me: “Immersive ambient jams with a steady pulse and infectious low-register bass swirls. So lovely.”
Norwegian-Mexican artistCarmen Villain makes atmospheric music made up of tapestries of field-recordings, acoustic instruments such as flute, clarinet, piano, and electronics, all culminating into her own distinctive style that combines elements of fourth world, dub and ambient.
I discovered her last year and listened to Both Lines Will Be Blue and Sketches For Winter IX: Perlita EP constantly. They are both unique ambient albums that seem to still get better with each listen. With Only Love From Now On, Villain has mastered her mélange of styles, and put out the best record of her career thus far. With the help of trumpeter Arve Henriksen, and flutist Johanna Scheie Orellana, this album plays out like a slow, soft, daydream.
Villain showcased the album this year at MUTEK, and there’s only one word to describe the set: sensual. Cloaked in darkness and smoke with minimal visuals behind her and flutist Orellana by her side, Villain created a sumptuous mood that I immediately was swept up in. It was an excellent live show that exceeded my expectations and the highlight of the festival for me. She is definitely on an upward trajectory and an essential electronic artist to check out.
Indie darling Alex Gis another artist on the big fat pile of musicians that I never really got into despite all le hype. But as I’ve said before somewhere on this blog, the way I see it, if a good band or artist puts out a good album, I will eventually get into it, and I really don’t care if I’m riding the crest of the hype-wave or not.
I’ve had a rule for the last few years that if an album makes me cry then it is good enough to own on vinyl, and God Save The Animals is on that list. This record caught me instantly to the point where I was listening to it pretty much exclusively for three weeks. I don’t listen to music like that anymore these days. When I was a teenager, and would buy CD’s and only have what I had, I’d listen to the same shit over and over and over, however, with virtually all music available somewhere on the internet, my listening habits have inherently changed. But with GSTA, I was back to my late 90’s on repeat ad infinitum.
The songwriting is so good, and I love how he’s not afraid to weird a song out with pitched or screeched vocals or a wall of distortion or change up a groove right in the middle and start something else.
And the lyrics are also fantastic. “Mission” was the first track to turn on the early morning waterworks on the subway one morning. “Aint gonna right you’re wrong with a stupid love song” followed by an absolutely lovely little guitar solo, oh yeah, that’s the stuff right there.
And then later, “my teacher is a child, with a big smile, no bitterness”, that line is powerful, as 97% of my life is consumed with my two children. And sometimes it’s really fucking hard to be the best Dad I can be without any bitterness, ya know? I love them so much, I am literally tearing up as I type this lol (hey, I’m an emotional sap, aight?), but man alive, it’s been one heck of a hard ass year raising two young kids without any family around to lighten the goddamn load every once in a while. So that line hits me.
And if that wasn’t enough, he does it again in penultimate track “Miracles”, when he sings “You say one day we should have a baby, well, God help me, I love you, I agree…” There’s something so joyful and innocent in his tone about the possibility of starting a family. A future as more than just a couple, but also as parents.
Having children has been without a doubt the greatest most challenging wondrous experiment of my life. I am shocked to realize how much I have learnt about myself in the process, many good things, but also many not so good things. All I know is I am still growing up and evolving myself, and slowly chipping off all the petrified shit that’s been there for way too damn long, and trying to let my children be my teachers, and to look at life wearing their “pure wonder” sunglasses as much as humanly possible.
And somehow, some 29 year-old bedroom producer dude from Philly has given me so much to think about, all thanks to his wonderful songs on God Save The Animals.
For ten years now, Sam Prekop has been releasing solo records where he noodles around with synths and tries to make electronic music. And for ten years, I’d give those albums quick skims, feel like he wasn’t quite hitting the mark, wish he’d put out a new Sea and Cake record, and then go listen to a quote-unquote “real electronic musician”. I’m such a hack critic lol.
He got close with Comma from 2020, which had some pretty solid songs on it, but it took until this year (in my humble hack critic opinion) for Prekop to finally release an excellent electronic record. Maybe he needed the help of Johnny Mac to get that percussion tight? Who knows? All I know is that Sons Of fires off on all cylinders, and even though it’s still full of some serious synth noodling, it totally works this time.
One night during the summer, I was staying at my in-laws and was lying outside of the room my son was sleeping in, waiting for him to fall asleep. To bide my time, I popped in my headphones and put this album on. After the first track or so, I dozed off, and woke up 15-20 minutes later and had no idea what on earth I was listening to. I would have never guessed Sam Prekop in a zillion years. In short, Sons Of sounds like nothing either of them have released up to now, and shows two artists who have continued to evolve and innovate for more than 30 years now.
Prekop also released the equally intriguing The Sparrow on German label TAL this year, further showing this listener that he’s found his electronic stride and is on a hot streak.
Also quick side note: I saw John McEntire play with Tortoise as part of POP Montreal this year and man, what a great show. Took me back twenty years but still sounded as fresh as ever.
***
Conway The Machine – God Don’t Make Mistakes (Shady Records)
As I’ve said earlier, I like my thug lyfe with a dose of vulnerability, and shit, if Conway The Machine doesn’t deliver exactly that.
Conway uses this album as catharsis, a platform to grieve, confess, and count his blessings. Take this quick verse from “Stressed” as an example:
And not too long after my cousin hung his self I never told nobody, but I lost a son myself Imagine bein’ in the hospital, holdin’ your dead baby And he look just like you, you tryna keep from goin’ crazy That’s why I drink a bottle daily For all the shit I keep bottled in lately
As someone who has personally lived through more than one miscarriage with his partner, that shit hits hard, and is most welcome flanked by heavy boom bap beats. Guests like Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, Westside Gunn, Benny the Butcher add flow to the album, but Conway can handle the record all on his own.
Great track: “God Don’t Make Mistakes” — the whole “what if?” idea is done so well here, gives me chills, and Alchemist beat killing it as usual
This album came out in 2020 and I’ve been listening to it steadily ever since. Leafar Legov aka Rafael Vogel is a young producer from Germany, and he is skilled at creating mood using synthy ambience and 4/4 beats.
Mirror was one of my quarantine albums, and it helped me get through those early pandemic days at home with a newborn, and having to teach classes on Zoom during that seemingly endless winter. I remember thinking it was a perfect winter album, because it was dark but also had those moments of warmth and light that made you dream that the spring thaw and a return to some sort of normalcy couldn’t be too far away…
Definite hints of Boards of Canada at times and Kompakt-esque pop ambient and deep house, as well as, 90’s minimal techno. Legov is adept at sustaining a cohesive flow throughout as the album blisses out to a gentle climax.
Mirror is an underrated and understated soon to be classic and highly recommended by yours truly.
Yes, it’s true, dream pop heroes Beach House did put out an album in 2022, but for meCate Le Bon’s Pompeii checks the same feels and does so more effectively.
She first popped up on my radar in 2019 with her production work on Deerhunter’s last album Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? and the first four songs on Pompeii are so ear-wormy, I had to take listening breaks because I could not get the songs out of my head. A testament to her powerful songwriting no doubt.
Lord of the Isles aka Neil McDonald lives in Scotland, and this EP came out in 2020. My friend Mike sent me a link to the closing track “Inheritance” while I was at the in-laws for an extended stay during the second wave of the pandemic. I remember he wrote something like: “Play it as loud as you can handle”.
I decided to listen while out for a jog, and it definitely is not good exercise music, because it stopped me in my tracks. Ellen Renton’s poetry and wondrous Scottish accent gave me pause. I slowly walked down the sidewalk, looked to the left of me and saw two deer grazing in the sunny afternoon grass (not an uncommon site in their neighborhood but still felt like some kind of omen).
When Renton says, “maybe the sun is knackered too…” I don’t know why, but it gets me every time, and the song’s beat-heavy climax is stunning. Definitely on my need to buy on vinyl list. “Waiting in Arisaig” is also fantastic. On the end of that trip to the in-laws, we were waiting at Dulles airport for our very delayed flight, and I was pushing Simon around in his stroller up and down the anonymous halls, and it was pretty much the perfect soundtrack for the moment.
Whities 029 has been on consistent rotation here for two years now. A unique vibe and an exceptional release that will be heavily sought after and imitated, for its peculiar results and new exploration of the intersection between electronic music and literature.
It’s been waaaay more than a minute since Kendrick Lamar’s Pulitzer Prize winning album DAMN. And damn indeed, if every second of it hasn’t weighed down on Kendrick’s shoulders like the weight of all worlds.
Things have changed since DAMN. Pandemic, Artificial Intelligence, war, global political nightmares, conservatism, fake news, idiocracy, hell, even Kanye was still relevant back then (thank goodness Ye’s finally cancelled), and it’s all imploded and exploded in the span of five years.
The world is fucked, no doubt, and even though it may seem on the surface that Kendrick has some sort of Saviour complex, the only person he’s interested in saving with his fifth studio album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is his damn self.
Morale is no easy listen, and I’ll admit to letting myself be swayed by early underwhelming reviews, but this record is an ambitious and anxious beast of a double album. It definitely has some missteps (“Auntie Diaries” anyone?), but its highs are so much stronger than the lows.
Take “We Cry Together” for example. The first time I listened to it, I made it about 30 seconds in before rushing to turn the volume down as I was with my daughter, Sylvia. Definitely not a song to jam out to with a 5 year old, but when I finally had a chance to listen to it in its entirety I was wowed. Yin to Kendrick’s yang, actress Taylour Paige, gives an incredible performance throughout this song, as the duo play out an argument between a dysfunctional couple in a toxic relationship.
Another high, “Mother I Sober” featuring Beth Gibbons, has Kendrick in full Vulnerable Mode, rapping out traumatic moments and mistakes of his life — the whole song playing out like a confession about generational trauma and K’s own addictions and regrets.
As the song builds to its climax, Kendrick’s voice grows louder in the mix, above the swirling strings, and Gibbons’ haunted harmonies, and ends with him shouting: “This is transformation!” Gives me shivers every damn time, and as the song fades out, Whitney (his wife), says she’s proud of him, and then their daughter says: “Thank you Daddy”, and I usually have a few solid seconds of private ugly crying before I can move on.
Flawed but powerful as f, Kendrick shows us he is still the GOAT. And heck yeah, I’ll shed off my Osheaga retirement to see him at the festival in Montreal this summer.
OK then, holy shit, I finished the list! Happy belated 2023 to all of you. Only good tidings to you and yours. Be vulnerable. Be honest. And keep on listening to good music.
Damn, what a year. I have so much to say but zero energy to say it.
Above everything else this nutso year, music kept me sane.
There was a glut of good stuff, but here are my faves, in no particular order.
And I love you all, in no particular order.
——————————————————————————————
Freddie Gibbs/ The Alchemist – Alfredo (ESGN)
Another year, another Freddie Gibbs album on my list. Am I that predictable? Or is Gangsta Gibbs that goddamn consistent? You decide. In my opinion, this is absolutely his best collab since Pinata, as he and The Alchemist find some beautiful chemistry. Whereas last year’s Bandana with Madlib was a bit inconsistent, here Gibbs’ flow and Al’s soulful beats just click. Future classic right here.
Pro tip: Alchemist’s collab with Boldy James, The Price of Tea in China, is also a great record from 2020 worthy of many listens too.
Joel Shanahan aka Auscultation has put out an album of beautiful 90’s inspired ambient techno, and it took about ten seconds of the opening track for me to be quickly swept into its eerie soothe.
Smooth synths, pulsing basslines, deep house rhythms with “up in dem cloud” soundscapes. This was my morning album for the entire covid spring, and I keep returning to it again and again. Hype.
Dan Snaith’s first Caribou record since 2015 finds him working with all his various strengths and writing a more subdued yet arguably stronger album than Our Love, with the warm and ear-wormy Suddenly.
Flirting with hip-hop, soul, techno, folk, psych and R&B, some critics have said it lacks cohesion, but even so, every song has something about it that makes it special or stand out or subtly get lodged in your head.
Worthy of repeat listens with great songwriting from beginning to end.
——————————————————————————————
Pure X – Pure X (Fire Talk)
Pure X are rock and roll. They take their sweet time, and they write beautiful songs. Check “Middle America” and/or “Slip Away” for exemplars.
The Austin-based band made their name writing reverb-soaked druggy slow jams, and ten years in they’re still writing those same slow jams — but it seems like maybe now they’re waiting until after they record before they get super stoned, because this is their clearest most focused collection of songs yet.
Great guitars, always solid bass lines, and smooth af vocal melodies. To be honest, I was just happy to see a new album by them, since 2014’s Angel has been a constant play in my living room for 6 years now.
And I hope I’ll get to see them play live again, once the world shifts back to a place where I can actually sway shoulder to shoulder with strangers in a sweaty venue.
I can’t wait to not have to wait for that…sheeit.
——————————————————————————————
Oddissee – Odd Cure (Outer Note Label)
The humble and always underrated Oddissee released my favourite quarantine album of this most fucked up year.
Oddissee deftly captured the helplessness and hopefulness of our 2020 Quarantine Lyfe with Odd Cure.
And throughout the album, he uniquely displays our anxiety and fears living through a pandemic, as well as, the opportunities we all had to rest, reflect, and reconnect with loved ones during the slow-pace imposed on us by covid. The phone calls to his fam spliced in between tracks are heart-warming and really capture the feel of those initial first wave lockdown days.
The whole album is chock full of soulful beats, flawless production, and some of Odd’s most thoughtful rhymes yet.
PG County represent!
——————————————————————————————
Ulla – Tumbling Towards a Wall (Experiences Ltd.)
Ulla Straus has recorded in the past under her full name, but here she needs only her prénom with the enchanting Tumbling Towards a Wall— an album that straddles the line of blissful ambient with touches of experimental composition.
Ulla’s music is sonically diverse, oscillating between piano, strings, field recordings and hazy, soft pads.
Usually I’m one to say that I think most albums sound better through a good pair of headphones, but with Tumbling, I like hearing it on big speakers in an open room, it sounds completely different that way, and more alluring somehow.
——————————————————————————————
Shinichi Atobe – YES (DDS)
The man, the enigma, the legend, Shinichi Atobe returns with his first batch of songs since 2018’s stellar Heat.
Shinichi serves his techno straight-up, no fuckery, and builds his songs from the bottom up until they are bursting with subtle melody, and with YES he’s at his warmest, overflowing with rich grooves, head-bobbing bass, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention those goddamn beautiful handclaps. He’s also a pro at dropping a heavy piano lick deep into the mix when you least expect it, and it’s always pure class.
I think if I had to pick one absolute fave from 2020, it would have to be YES, as this album accompanied me on many “newborn needs to sleep” walks throughout the summer, and even when I was so goddamn tired I could barely go on, it kept a shimmy in my step, and kept lil Simon a dozin’ on my chest.
YES, INDEED.
Check out: “Lake 2” and (my personal humdinger) “Ocean 1”
——————————————————————————————
Adrianne Lenker – songs/instrumentals(4AD)
The first time I listened to “anything” off this album, I was on (yet another) walk with Simon. It was a chilly, grey October morning, and I couldn’t even make it halfway through before I started to cry. But it felt good, so I put it on repeat, pushing the heavy stroller down the sidewalk and bawling. On the third listen one of my contacts popped out of my eyes, and I thought I should probably stop after that. So I put on the new Deftones to cleanse the palette.
That definitely wasn’t the first (or last) time I could be seen crying while walking around my neighbourhood with my newborn son this year (hey man, second baby + pandemic + sleep deprivation = crying Papa, aight?), but good lord and goddamn, that track is a sure fire doozy.
The rest of the album floats a similar melancholy vibe of pitch-perfect simple break-up songs. Just a woman and her guitar, a few chirping birds, and the creaks of the old wood floor of the cottage she recorded in. So good.
The companion piece, instrumentals, is two songs featuring soft finger-picking, more birdsong, light rainfall, and lots of wind chimes. The second track “mostly chimes”, really feels like you’re sitting on the porch of a weekend cottage, up early with a coffee, and listening to the birds and gentle chimes in the breeze.
Side note: I had also never really listened to Big Thief until this year, but U.F.O.F is also an absolutely amazing record and I highly recommend it.
——————————————————————————————
KMRU – Peel (Editions Mego)
Kenya based sound artist Joseph Kamaru, aka KMRU put out several albums this year, my favourite one being Peel.It was conceived as a time-restricted experiment in texture, influenced by “experiences travelling in Montreal, as well as being back in Nairobi just before lockdown.”
The album was recorded in just 48 hours, but its heavy drones feel almost timeless. Kamaru said he is “always happy to have limitations while making music, and Peel is a good example of this.” He gives the impression that more time wouldn’t have yielded any better results.
The second KMRU album of 2020, landed three weeks after Peel. If you want to hear the breadth of Kamaru’s talents, check out Opaquer. If you want to hear his ability to laser in on a very focused idea and extract from it 75 minutes of special music, choose Peel.
——————————————————————————————
nthng – hypnotherapy (Lobster Theremin)
Elusive Dutch producer, nthng, released his second album for the great Lobster Theremin imprint, and goes far beyond the deep house he made his name on. Hypnotherapy is a trippy and dark record that spans dub techno, heavy 4/4 beats, hazy ambient and mind-bending trance.
Tracks like “I Just Am” and “Heitt” hit hard with the after midnight dancefloor in mind, while other tracks like “Beautiful Love” and “With You” will veer you more towards the couch, but this album is one that keeps on giving and sounding better the more you listen.
The first time I heard “I Just Am”, I was (you guessed it) on a walk with Simon, and when the beat cracks in at the 3 and a 1/2 minute mark it was so thrilling that I just pushed his stroller into oncoming traffic and started dancing.
I pictured all the Muteks and music festivals and countless special dancefloor and live music moments that did not happen this year and I cursed covid and cussed out corona, and then slowly picked Simon’s mangled stroller up off the curb. Luckily, he was completely unharmed. He smiled at me, blew a raspberry, and we kept on a-walkin the year away…
——————————————————————————————
Yves Tumor – Heaven To a Tortured Mind (Warp)
In the days before the big covid shift, I bought tickets to see Yves Tumor in April 2020, and was totally stoked to see this new glam version of the artist. I had tickets to see one show a month up until June when lil Si Guy was set to arrive and throw a wrench in our routine. But instead, the ‘rona came and tossed in the whole rusty tool box.
So Heaven To a Tortured Mind became my go to jogging album for all of spring. And while it perhaps doesn’t quite hit the heights that Hands of Love did for me in 2018, I still totally dig Yves’ move from noise freak to weirdo pop star.
It seems like he can get away with anything now.
Like the guitar solo on “Kerosene!”, for example. If you had told me 10 years ago that the best song Warp Records would release in 2020 would have a full-on wank shred of a guitar solo in it, I would have belly laughed and probably farted. But here we are. 2020. You tricky asshole.
Haha, but yeah, I seriously love that song and the video is pretty great too.
——————————————————————————————
HONORABLE AUDIBLES (click album to sample a track)
Soela – Genuine Silk (Dial Records)
(Dial kicks off their 20th anniversary true to form with Soela’s buttery debut full-length)
Here it is, ladies and gentlemen. The long-awaited, seventh annual INAUDIBLE best of 2015 listy list! I hope you enjoy it!
BEST EP’s, SINGLES and 12″s of 2015
(click album cover to sample a track)
Palms Trax – In Gold
Route 8 – This Raw Feeling
Palms Trax and Route 8 are two young producers that have been making huge strides in the techno scene over the last few years thanks to consistently awesome releases on Lobster Theremin, Dekmantel, and Nous Records. Here’s hoping for more of the same in 2016!
Pender Street Steppers
Jack J – Thirstin’
Vancouver, BC is having a major moment right now and these two Mood Hut heroes are leading the way with their quality spliffed-out stompers that play just as well on the couch as they do on the dance floor. Check ’em, son.
Junktion – Monologue
Andrés – Believin’
Junktion is a relative newcomer from the Netherlands, and Andrés is a 20 year veteran from Detroit, but both of them got that deep soulful groove thang on point. These aren’t just club tracks, they’re proper songs to get the party started and keep you in the moment all night…
Art Crime – Obsession
Various – Workshop 21
Although very different, both of these albums pack an emotional wallop. Art Crime makes you wanna lose yourself on a black as pitch dance floor, while Workshop 21highlights four different artists and four different moods, and in doing so has crafted one of its finest releases. Left of centre house jams!
The Green Kingdom
Lnrdcroy – UNTHANK008
The Green Kingdom never fails to disappoint with his take on hushed dub-tinged ambience, while Lnrdcroy returned with three tracks to remind me why I loved Much Less Normal last year. Yet another young and talented Vancouver artist to keep your ears on…
Thundercat – The Beyond/Where The Giants Roam
When I first heard Thundercat’s “Them Changes”, I played it six times in a row. It had an Isley Brothers sample that was infectious as hell and a Steely Dan vibe that I just couldn’t resist. It was summer and the sun was shining through the kitchen window and with each listen I turned up the volume a little more.
Yet, when I finally started to focus on the lyrics I realized that although the song was as bright as that July sun, there was something more sombre under the surface. And to be sure, the album is actually about grief and mourning and an attempt at catharsis for Thundercat. The Beyond/Where The Giants Roam actually sounds more like a post-rock record than funk or soul or hip-hop, but all I can say is that it’s Thundercat’s strongest statement to date…
HONORABLE AUDIBLES
Snoop Dog – Bush (Columbia Records)
Does Snoop just keep getting smoother and cooler with age? With the help of Pharrell, I’d say the answer is hells to the yes.
Bush was conceived as a tribute to the funk and R&B of the 1970’s that has always inspired Snoop’s music, yet it is so much more than that – it places Snoop back up on the West Coast pedestal he briefly left for his turn as a Lion. And even though he didn’t sound half bad on his Rasta tip, it’s the G-Funk vibe that’s his real wheelhouse.
Bush is a feel good album from start to finish and shows that Snoop and Pharrell can still drop it like it’s hot.
Deerhunter returned this autumn with Fading Frontier, a subdued yet more pleasant album than their 2013 effort Monomania. Yet even though it’s the band’s catchiest album to date, with great hooks and choruses, I feel like it falls short of their earlier releases.
Deerhunter have always outdone themselves with each album, and this feels more like a revisiting of Halcyon Digest rather than a reinventing of. That said, I’ve still listened to it tons of times and find Cox and Pundt’s guitar work fantastic, I was just hoping for a little more…
Thomas Bücker resurfaced this year with the third album under his Bersarin Quartett guise and offers up another collection of rich neo-classical ambience. Bersarin Quartett’s music is minimal but it’s also really emotive, and he’s a natural at exploring textures, mood, and atmosphere in an abstract way. Yet with III we find him at his most cinematic with some of these tracks actually reminding me a bit of J. Swinscoe himself, albeit at his most quiet.
All three Bersarin Quartett releases are excellent and Bücker’s music should be enjoyed by more listeners. Check it.
In my very first end of year list in 2009, I dubbed Sam Shepherd my “Fave New Artist”. Fast forward seven years, and he’s finally released his full-length debut album, Elaenia. And in many respects a debut it is, as it offers up a much different Flo Po than the house boogie hero I was championing back in 2009.
Shepherd flirted with jazz and orchestral arrangements a few years ago with his Floating Points Ensemble project, but now that vision is truly realized, and with Elaenia we have a full-blown production of mature nu-jazz numbers recorded with a live band.
These tracks go from swirling to quiet to jazzy to funk with synths holding the whole thing together – in fact, it’s not until the last track (where a John McEntire-esque drum beat blasts its way through six minutes) that the album really lights up, building to a wild climax and ending right in the middle of it. It’s a jarring way to end the record, but it leaves this listener wanting to hear where he’ll go next…
Judging from earlier releases on his White Material label, I figured Grind was going to be a noisy and scrappy affair, yet DJ Richard’s jump to Dial Records for his first full-length shows him turning down the grit a bit for more melody and the results are excellent. Grind is analogue in feel, melancholy in mood, and rough around the edges, yet it’s still elegant.
DJ Richard’s style is all his own, with tracks like “Nighthawk” and “Bane” being great examples of how he can work stuttering drums and several different synth lines at once, and have the effect be both harsh and enveloping, depending on his listener’s mood. Bottom line: he’s definitely one to watch in the years to come.
“I go to loud places to search for someone to be quiet with…”
That lyric has been drifting in and out of my head since the beginning of summer, when Jamie xx’s long-awaited solo album In Colour dropped to great acclaim. It’s been pretty much lauded by everyone, and even though it took me a few spins, it was Jamie’s skill at tapping into nostalgia that completely won me over. He’s put out some great jams leading up to this, slowly honing his skills as a first-rate producer, and In Colour is the culmination of the last six years, gathering up elements of everything he’s done – moody ballads, floor-filling bangers, and off-kilter collaborations with vocalists – and jamming them all into a tight bright package.
In some respects, even album cover wise, this record reminds me of Caribou’s Our Love from last year, as it mines the same wistful aural territory. And what’s nice is that it offers a couple tracks that might as well be songs by the xx, with Romy singing on “Loud Places” and “See Saw” which are both excellent, and Oliver staying moody and chill on “Stranger in a Room”. And how can I leave out “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)”? The smashing yet unlikely collab with Popcaan and Young Thug. That track has gotten me fired up and feeling fine many a time since I first heard it and will continue to do so well into 2016.
In Colour is an album you can play at the height of the party or walking home from work on a Monday evening in the rain, and in both settings it plays out just as smooove.
Big tings still ahead for this bloke!
8. Project Pablo – I Want To Believe (1080p)
Montreal via Vancouver producer, Patrick Holland, makes hazy funky soulful house under the moniker Project Pablo, and like his contemporaries Pender Street Steppers, he stepped up his game in 2015. With the cassette version of “I Want To Believe”, Holland has released a collection of songs that are deep and groovy and filled with an innate sense of fun.
This album was a slow burner and didn’t fully grab me from the start, yet with each successive listen it only continued to sound better and better … and here’s hoping for more of the same in 2016!
7. Kurt Vile – b’lieve i’m goin down… (Matador Records)
Philly’s everyman Kurt Vile is at his most Kurt Vilest with his latest long player b’lieve i’m goin down… showcasing a perfect mix of lo-fi rock and roll and Americana. The beauty has always been in the subtlety and strength of his songwriting, yet here he’s toned down the rock just a bit, showing a little more restraint than on Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze. Vile’s lyrics are dark and lonesome and occasionally funny, delivered in a laconic style that’s all his own. He tends to drag out words or syllables providing the perfect counterpart to his skilled finger-plucking or guitar strums.
The album starts off on a high note with the fantastic “Pretty Pimpin”, in which Vile contemplates his existence in front of the bathroom mirror, however, for me it’s the slower more meditative tracks that highlight his finger-plucking skills that are the big winners for me, like “All in a Daze Work”, which shows him at his most patient – just a dude completely lost in the moment of playing his guitar.
What’s a bit different is that there’s a bit more banjo and a lot more piano on display in these tracks, the best example being “Lost My Head There”, which has a great outro with a vibraphone flourish and the occasional “Wooh!” from KV. Not a huge departure here, but that ain’t a bad thing at all…
6. DJ Koze – DJ Kicks (!K7 Records)
I’m pretty sure DJ Koze and I would get along. I’ve always been a fan of his style both as a music producer and label head, so it makes sense that I’d like a DJ Kicks mix of his as well – I just never thought I’d dig it so much.
It’s definitely more for home listening than the club, but it has a steady trajectory to keep your head bobbing. Koze kicks things off with a Dilla-inspired original “I Haven’t Been Everywhere But It’s On My List” before sliding into some great obscure hip hop tracks and then a slowed down mid-section featuring the classic “Tears In The Typing Pool” from Broadcast and a spoken word piece from William Shatner that is oddly powerful. It isn’t until the last five songs where Koze really heats it up and provides a selection of perfectly mixed house numbers, nailing the vibe with penultimate track, “Surrender” by Portable.
What a beautiful song. What a beautiful playlist. DJ Koze just keeps getting better with time. Check this mix please and thank you.
5. Tame Impala – Currents (Interscope Records)
Kevin Parker has come a long way from down under in the last half decade or so since his band Tame Impala started making waves with the still excellent Innerspeaker. No longer is he just that long-haired barefoot Aussie stoner dude who sounds like John Lennon and riffs like Tony Iommi . . . well I guess he still is, but he’s also become a veritable production artist not unlike George Martin.
The first single to be released off of Currents was the 8-minute psych-rock jam “Let it Happen”, and I dug it upon first listen, however, the first time I listened to the album all the way through, I remember thinking “where’s the fuzz, yo?” And so my initial reaction was that it definitely sounded good but I wasn’t totally feeling it.
Fast forward two or three weeks later and cue up four king cans of beer, a joint, and some headphones. I was typing away on my laptop working on a story when “Eventually” came on, and everything immediately clicked – I stopped typing and stared at the screen like a doe-eyed deer about to get hit by a truck. The production! Holy shit! Everything sounded so crisp and alive! How did I miss this before? And of course, once I had heard it like that, I couldn’t unhear it, and I was officially obsessed and listened to the album on repeat for weeks.
The best part of the songs is the little flourishes Parker is so adept at adding, like the chiming synth line at the end of “Eventually” or the soft Fender Rhodes tinkle in “The Less I Know The Better” or the vocal delay in the chorus of “The Moment” that really make the songs stand out. Great album!
4. William Basinski – Cascade (Temporary Residence)
The prolific William Basinski has made a career out of decaying audio tape – a fitting foil for our accelerated times and the proliferation of all things digital. And by now I think it’s safe to say his name belongs up there next to Eno and Budd as one of the finest ambient artists ever.
It’s been over fifteen years since The Disintegration Loops, and it’s arguably still his finest piece of music to date. I can put that record on at any time and be immediately lost, an hour can go by in the twitch of an eye, or can feel drawn out like the setting sun on the horizon. It’s timeless.
With “Cascade”, Basinski offers up about twenty seconds of piano and loops it for 40 minutes. That’s it. It sounds too simple to be effective, but as the loop repeats itself endlessly it morphs into something more murky and broken as the tape loop slowly decays, and in doing so creates a feeling of calmness and peace in the listener.
This is my top morning album of the year by far. Sometimes I play it twice in a row and have to stop myself from hitting play again.
Scrolling through the comments section on YouTube, two comments stuck out in between the “Beautifuls!” and “Profounds”. The first was: “It’s so odd to think that these works are simply just tape looping and decaying, with textures added over top, but this seemingly simple art form has the power to bring you to tears and think deeply on the past.”
And the second: “I was listening to this for 10 minutes before I even actually noticed I was listening to it and then I was like HOLY SHIT WHAT IS THIS?” My thoughts indeed, my thoughts indeed.
3. Freddie Gibbs – Shadow of a Doubt (ESGN Records)
Gangsta Gibbs keeps up the hot streak he started by teaming with Madlib last year for the fantastic Pinata and released three records in 2015. Earlier in the year he put out two EP’s, The Tonight Show and the hot as fire Pronto, before releasing the unexpected full-length Shadow of a Doubt in early November. And since it’s dropped, I’ve listened to it at least once a day. I wake up with the hooks and rhymes in my head and can’t seem to get enough.
Unlike DJ Koze, who I honestly think I could be buds with, I’m not sure the same thing would apply with Freddie Gibbs. I imagine him taking one look at me, smirking, and thinking to himself “who’s this phony silver foxin’ ass nigga?” before turning around and never acknowledging me again. He drops the n-word so many times during Shadow of a Doubt, I figure he would have to use it when he saw me, even though I’m whiter than Marshall Mathers.
But if he’d turn around again, I’d tell him the reason why I’m so drawn to his shit is because he’s a storyteller who just so happens to be a rapper who just so happens to sound like no one else in the game right now. On Shadow of a Doubt, all the songs tell some sort of story, either about his drug-dealing past, a pill habit, or the deepened sense of purpose he’s felt since the birth of his daughter in April. So even though I can’t really relate, I can totally relate, you know what I mean?
He makes his listeners feel his struggle regardless if they’re young kids on the corner in Gary, Indiana, or some white Canadian dude in his mid-thirties bumping Freddie in his kitchen while he and his girlfriend make dinner. They’re ain’t a shadow of a doubt that Freddy Corleone is one of the freshest voices in hip hop in 2015.
2. Kendrick Lamar – To Pimp A Butterfly (Top Dawg)
How do you know if you’ve really made the big time? By getting eleven Grammy nominations for your sophomore record? Or having the President of the United States say that one of your songs is his personal favourite of the year? Or being in the top three of virtually every end of year list being written in 2015 (including even this highly respected blog)?
Yes and oui and si, I’d say.
Kendrick Lamar returned this year trying to outdo the accolades bestowed on his last album good kid, m.A.A.d city, and pretty much blew the roof off of everything with To Pimp A Butterfly. A fusion of old school and new school, funk and soul, R&B and jazz, a swirling collaboration with so many artists from Snoop to Bilal to Fly Lo to Thundercat to Boi-1da, Pharrell, Kamasi Washington, the ghost of 2Pac and more.
At the centre of it all is Kendrick, sounding more determined than ever to highlight what it’s like to be black in 2015 in America. Yet even though he may be on top of his game, it seems like Kendrick still be climbin’, and searching for guidance, trying to figure out where exactly he fits in the world around him, both as music superstar and lil homey from Compton. Unlike Kanye who has called himself “Walt Disney, Shakespeare, Nike and Google”, all in the same breath, there’s a humbleness to Kendrick’s personality that’s refreshing. And while Drake is dancing around, waiting for some girl to call him on his cell phone, Kendrick’s figuring out how to be a better person out in the world and a better rapper in the industry.
During the song “Momma”, Kendrick repeats the line “I know everything”, in between telling us what that everything is: Compton, morality, street shit, wisdom, karma, history, bullshit, highs and lows, loyalty, clothes, hoes, money, generosity, until he goes home and sits at the kitchen table with him Momma and realizes he doesn’t know a goddamn thing.
Earlier on the album, during “Institutionalized”, Kendrick reminds himself of some great advice his Grandma gave him when he was young: “Shit don’t change until you get up and wash yo’ ass, nigga!”
It seems to me like Kendrick knows that real change starts from within and with To Pimp A Butterfly he’s trying his damnedest to promote this idea and act on it and let everyone know that hopefully everything’s gonna be “Alright”.
To Pimp A Butterfly is a challenging listen to be sure but ultimately a very rewarding one.
Kendrick Lamar: “Untitled” (from The Colbert Report)
Stripping away the bells and whistles, the orchestration, the back-up singers, the electronics, the gimmicks, and the technicolor spectacle, Sufjan Stevens returned this year with just his guitar, a piano, and his voice, and released Carrie & Lowell, the best album of his career.
We all know the album’s premise by now, it’s titled after his mother and step-dad. In 2012, Sufjan’s mother died of cancer and although their relationship was strained (she left when he was young), she’s still his family, and this album focuses on how Sufjan coped with the aftermath of those early years, and the emptiness his mother’s death left in him.
In the last two years, I’ve had two friends lose a parent, and I’ve watched them struggle to make sense of life without them. They’ve grieved in their own ways, some healthy some not, and because of their losses, I can’t help but think of my own parents and my girlfriend’s parents and the fact that we ain’t getting any younger … and it’s scary and makes me want to press pause or somehow go back in time, because I don’t want it to ever happen. Carrie & Lowell has a similiarly sobering effect, and by looking inside himself, Sufjan is able to really connect with his listeners.
So as soon as I found out he was touring I immediately bought tickets for the show. I’ve seen him before and knew it would be stupid to miss him. Unfortunately, I didn’t look at the date, only to realize later that the show was on the same weekend we were going to be at a wedding in Yosemite National Park. I was surprised at how upset I was about having to miss the show. But Yosemite … damn, what a special place.
On our last morning there, I had to go pick up some things at the bride’s cottage, which was a 45-minute drive through the Yosemite valley. I put on Carrie & Lowell as I drove through the park, the early morning sun glinting off the Half Dome and El Capitan, and every view worthy of Ansel Adams’ camera.
I barely made it through opening track “Death With Dignity” before the tears came. And there was a lot of them. And I couldn’t stop. But they weren’t sad, they were joyous and oddly powerful. Two tracks later in “All Of Me Wants All Of You”, Sufjan sings “Landscape changed my point of view”, and as he said that I cheered. I put my arm out the window and pumped my fist in the air. I laughed through my tears. I realized it was a perfect spring day. I realized how much I loved the people in my life. I looked around at the dense forest and the giant rocks and shivered …
It was the closest thing to a spiritual experience I have ever had, and so that is why Sufjan Stevens tops my list for 2015.
Carrie & Lowell is an album of memories and stories. It’s covered in the dust of a turbulent family life and how one man, one child, learned to deal with it all. It may well be our first insight into the real Sufjan. It’s heavy, but so very beautiful.
Well, here we go again, friends! Welcome to INAUDIBLE’s sixth annual end of year list! For this edition my list will be a bit streamlined, but you’ll still be sure to find some choice selections.
Click on the album covers and titles to sample a track.Enjoy!
Molly Rankin et al came of age this year with the release of Alvvays’ debut self-titled album. A record that harkens back to the lo-fi East Coast rock of the 90’s (Eric’s Trip, Hardship Post, Thrush Hermit) with a touch of Camera Obscura thrown in for good pop measure.
The best thing about this album is that it’s hooky as all hell, every song has something that makes it special – a catchy guitar lick, a subtle synth flourish, or Rankin’s endearing vocals. Check it.
Sisyphus is the unlikely trio of indie king Sufjan Stevens, rapper Serengeti, and soundsmith Son Lux. They released a handul of singles and an EP last year under the alias S/S/S before fully realizing their aesthetic as Sisyphus. It’s an odd mishmash of each aritst’s talents, and finds Sufjan at his most playful as he sings alongside the irreverent lyricism of Serengeti.
At his best, Serengeti sounds like MF Doom, yet at times I find his non sequitir rhymes seem almost superfluous. The album most effectively showcases Son Lux’s growth as a top-rate producer with an ear for off-kilter melodies and dynamic beats. Sisyphus is not easy to digest, yet after a few spins it reveals itself as an album with a lot to offer its listener.
Road Hog is the alias of house revivalist and all around cool dude Galcher Lustwerk, who made a name for himself last year with his excellent Blowing Up The Workshop mix, as well as the equally smooth Nu Day EP that came out in early 2014, but it’s with his Road Hog moniker where he seems to really nail it.
The theme of D.W.B. is music to listen to while driving, and Lustwerk subtly crafts a propulsive set of tracks that will remind listeners of late 90’s Detroit heroes Theo Parrish, Carl Craig, Theorem, and more. While his music as Galcher Lustwerk uses vocals to anchor his songs, Road Hog is pure instrumental techno that’ll get your ass moving and your head bobbing. So smooove.
My ears first heard Icelandic producer Yagya in 2009 when he released his highly influential Rigning LP. I consider this album a highpoint in ambient dub techno, and so I was pleasantly surprised to find he had put out a new album this year entitled Sleepygirls.
Five years on and Yagya’s M.O. hasn’t changed a bit – we still get the buttery smooth yet subdued bass and 4/4 beats of before, but he has also added female vocals singing God knows what in Icelandic, but sounding amazing doing so. Also, the album flows as one continuous hour-long mix, expertly shifting from Deepchord style dub techno to downtempo moments to ethereal ambience, and further reveals Yagya as a master of the genre.
I dismissed Wild Beasts for years, thinking they were too artsy or that the falsetto vocals were too grating, until I finally actually listened to Smother. That record quickly became my favourite album of 2011 that I didn’t get into until 2012, and ever since then Wild Beasts have held a special spot on my list of revered ‘rock’ bands.
With each album they put out they seem to get a bit more subdued and minimal, while becoming better songwriters in the process, and the case is no different here with Present Tense. It is a much different beast than Smother and Two Dancers – it is spare and elegant where their earlier albums could at times be showy, cocky even.
Present Tense is undoubtedly their quietest and most emotional, and with the addition of prominent synth arrangements, it is also the band’s most electronic. Wild Beasts are one of the more interesting and compelling British bands out there, and they continue to outdo themselves. Check it.
New Jersey quartet Real Estate returned this year with their third album Atlas, a much tighter and fulfilling record than their 2011 album Days. It’s an album that displays what a difference a few more years on tour can do when it comes to becoming a more dynamic band. The tempo of the album remains pretty much the same throughout, all the songs languidly jive to the same introspective clip, but this creates a tranquil, hypnotic effect one can use to let thoughts drift about the halcyon days of youth.
The tracks on Atlas are no great departure from the band’s earlier sound, but they’ve filled out their melodies even further, and have somehow really managed to tap into a sensation of nostalgia, which is definitely part of the album’s success.
Their live show at Il Motore (RIP) in Montreal in support of this record was much better than their tour for Days, which was mostly due to Matt Mondanile’s showmanship on guitar – at times it seemed his Ducktails “sound” was definitely bleeding into the Real Estate set, but that just made the show more vibrant. Keep it coming, boys.
I’ve loved Andy Stott since Merciless came out in 2006, and still consider that collection of tracks to be some of the best techno out there, even if it was slightly derivative. Yet, when Stott began experimenting with murky dub and jungle I started to tune out a bit. With 2012’s Luxury Problems, I liked the direction he was moving towards and the addition of vocals from Alison Skidmore, but the record failed to truly captivate me … but the wait is over for that, because with Faith in Strangers Stott has captured my complete attention. It is the most fully formed and wholly unique record in his discography, weaving between moments of cavernous beats and spooky ambience, and an uneasy balance of beauty and menace, which is just a lot of dumb words to try to describe something that needs to be heard to be experienced.
“Violence” is arguably the best electronic song of the year. It feels old and new, dark and foreboding, and airy and light all at the same time. Let’s hope Stott continues on this upward trajectory, and for the love of God is he ever going to play MUTEK in Montreal? C’mon, book the guy already!
Holy shit! New Aphex Twin everybody! The Grand Puba of electronica returned this year with a release under his AFX moniker and has appeased the masses (for now). What else can I really say? There’s some amazing tracks on this album and I am very interested to see what Richard D. James will do next as he seems to be in an uncharacteristic “I wanna share!” mood as of late. Let’s hope it lasts.
My one qualm about the excellent SYRO is that the tracks are old. There’s nothing brand new here, but it’s definitely enough to tide us over until real new Aphex Twin drops in the next year or two. Keep sharing, sir!
I was drawn to Brighton producer Leon Vynehall’s Music For The Uninvited from the first seconds of the Zelda inspired “Inside the Deku Tree”, with its punctuated string arrangement that threatens to blossom into life but tantalizingly doesn’t. It’s an effort in restraint that pays off big time as the next three tracks kick up to dance floor tempo and beyond, effectively displaying some of the finest house bangers of the year. “Be Brave, Clench Fists” hinges on an even sweeter orchestral loop than “Deku” and builds warm synths and a nice 4/4 beat around it to great success, while later tracks “Christ Air” and “St. Sinclair” close the album on a more introspective note.
Vynehall is definitely a producer to keep your ears on, and Music For The Uninvited is some of the most eclectic and rewarding electronic music you will hear this year.
Freddie Gibbs and Madlib have both been in the hip hop scene for way more than a minute now, and although they seem to come from different sides of the rap game (Madlib operating on the jazz-funk side of things, with Gibbs working the straight-up thug angle) their unlikely collaboration is a fresh set of smooth beats and tight rhymes.
Gibbs’ sharp lyricism and technically precise flow on each track compliment the soulful and extravagant production from Madlib. People were waiting to see how these two would compliment each other, and the result is arguably just as good as the now classic Madvillian.
Gibbs has always sounded great as a featured guest on other rapper’s albums, but here he steps up to the spotlight and is able to maintain and sustain for Piñata’s seventeen tracks. Guests like Danny Brown, Raekwon, Scarface, and Earl Sweatshirt all help make this record one that all fans of hip hop can dig. Ya dig?
Dan Snaith has never been content to lock down a sound or remain in any one genre for very long. In his decade long career as Manitoba/Caribou/Daphni we’ve seen him shift from pastoral electronica to psychedelic pop to krautrock to house music and the dance floor. In a lot of ways, Snaith’s musical trajectory is very similar to Kieran Hebden’s Four Tet project, as both of these artists have slowly moved from cerebral IDM to more visceral and straight forward dance music that still remains somewhat off-kilter.
The strength of Our Love is how Snaith is able to make us feel the emotions he wants us to feel like love and wonder and nostalgia and even bliss. Sounds cheesy right? But his songwriting is so self-assured and personal here, he makes it easy for his listeners to happily float off on his vibe and occasionally wanna get up and dance too. Great stuff!
Run them jewels fast, run them run them jewels fast, fuck the slo-mo!
Building off the hype and momentum of their debut collaboration as Run The Jewels, El-P and Killer Mike returned this year and dropped an even tighter and more enjoyable set of songs with Run The Jewels 2. Their debut was number four on my Best of 2013 list, and just like last year I had this album on repeat while jogging and exercising, trying my damnedest to learn Killer Mike’s tongue-twisting rhymes and bopping along to El-P’s post-apocalyptic production which is even more percussive, abrasive, and dynamic than before.
RTJ2 is straight-up fight music and the best part is El and Mike make it seem completely effortless. The rhymes and beats come second nature to two artists who’ve been in the game for twenty years and are finally both getting the musical cred they deserve with the Run The Jewels project. And as with their debut, it’s clear they havin’ hella fun making this music.
I hate the fact that P-fork also picked this album as their number one, but at least they selected an album that challenges its listeners both sonically and thematically. As seems to be the case quite often for my number one pick, I’ve chosen Run The Jewels 2 as my favourite album of 2014, because it looks way forward to the future but also has its feet firmly planted in the past. It tapped into my mind and my gut and made me FEEL, goddammit. It’s old skoool fuckin’ with new skoool and its done with class, tact, intelligence, style, and vulgar bravado! Way to go Jamie and Mike. Ch-check it!
Yes! We made it to the mafuckin’ end!
HONORABLE AUDIBLES
There’s always more great music that I just don’t have the time to write about, but please click on the album covers to sample a track of some of my other 2014 faves!
Montreal based and Journey Prize nominated writer, Anna Leventhal, released her first collection of short stories, Sweet Affliction, earlier this spring and has crafted a subtle yet powerful debut. Most of the stories are set in her adopted city, yet as the book’s cover reveals, it is a Montreal flipped on its tête – one in which Moving Day is mandatory and sanctioned by the province, one in which Hasidic Jews socially interact with their non-Orthodox neighbours, one in which the Hippodrome is the set of a twisted reality show where illegal immigrants vie for citizenship, and one in which her characters feel justified in doing the wrong things for the right reasons.
Yet regardless of these creative tweaks to setting, Leventhal’s stories are all about her characters. She is skilled in character development, seemingly revealing so much about her protagonists, yet in reality giving her readers jussst enough to make them empathize and see and feel what her characters are feeling. A few stories are loosely connected by characters, giving us snippets of their lives from undergrad days living in a crowded house in Mile End to everyone grown up and dealing with issues like adultery, multiple sclerosis, academia, and donating sperm to a friend.
Leventhal is definitely not afraid to write about difficult subject matter, as cancer and terminal illness seem to be a motif that runs through several of these stories (“Wellspring”, “A Goddamn Fucking Cake”, and the title story). What’s more, she’s not afraid to put her characters in difficult situations as well – taking a pregnancy test at a wedding (“Gravity”), mourning the loss of a pet (“Horseman, Pass By), being exposed of date rape at a Passover Seder (“Maitland”), working at a rub and tug on Ste-Catherine Street (“A Favour”), and the list goes on.
This is a collection to be read slowly, and one that will stick with its readers after they’re done. With fifteen stories there’s lots to like here, with only a few that feel as if they don’t quite hold up in an otherwise strong collection. As a minor complaint, I find the endings of a few of the stories a bit lacking of a strong image or sense of cohesion, yet other stories like “Helga Volga” or “Horseman, Pass By” do a fine job of hitting the point finale on the head. And in the end, I had the same feeling that the narrator of “Wellspring” couldn’t seem to get rid of when I was reading Sweet Affliction – one of zzzzmmmmmmmmmm – joy.
Montreal based writer Sean Michaels has been writing about music for over a decade on his popular and influential blogSaid The Gramophone, so it only seems fitting that music be the muse for his debut novel Us Conductors.
In Us Conductors, Michaels takes the life of Russian scientist and inventor of the theremin, Lev Sergeyevich Termen, and does some major inventing of his own. Using the blueprints of Lev’s life as his starting point, Michaels skillfully builds him up to near epic proportions, until this ‘invented’ Termen takes on a life of his own and becomes real.
At the novel’s outset, Termen arrives in Fitzgerald’s New York, and is swept up in the glitz, glamour, and decadence of the last years of the Roaring Twenties. Yet, all the while he must remain faithful to Mother Russia, as he is on a mission to showcase the greatness of his country and promote his fascinating new musical instrument, the theremin. Termen is a man obsessed with scientific advancement, yet his preoccupation wavers when he meets Clara Rockmore, his one true love. At the novel’s heart, amid the bustling city, the music, and the shadow of Russia, is Termen’s unflinching love for Clara.
The tale is told from Termen’s perspective and he writes the entire story for her and her alone. In this way we get to know the many sides of Lev Termen. As scientist and inventor. As spy and murderer. As traitor and prisoner. As lover and lovelorn. And even as kung-fu master.
Michaels’ prose is exacting yet poetic. He writes his best narrative in pithy sentences stacked neatly on top of each other, his descriptions written with the exactitude one would expect of an observant scientist. But it is love which propels the story, and Termen’s obsession with Clara seems to only grow in intensity after she rejects him and he hears her play his theremin for the first time. Clara’s skill is unrivalled. Nonpareil. Which leaves the reader to ponder if in the end Termen truly loves her for her or because she’s the finest conductor of his marvelous invention?
The second part of the novel switches gears a bit, yet is no less satisfying, as Termen returns to a post-Lenin Russia and spends some time in the Gulag. One can’t help wonder if Michaels was reading a lot of Solzhenitsyn for inspiration here, but this section is well crafted, inventive, and the scenes are written with stark clarity.
Since Michaels is a proud Montrealer, several subtle nods to la belle ville can be found throughout. Termen and Clara visit clubs with names like Nouveau Palais and The Green Room (RIP) for dancing. A character has the name of ex-Montreal musician and “it” girl, Grimes, and one of Termen’s fellow prisoners shares his name with the Habs resident Russian defenceman, Andrei Markov. In fact, he even goes so far as to have Lev Termen envision his one true love playing the theremin in Quebec. He writes: “I imagined you played the theremin in Canada, on tour, in a city where they speak French. They said to you: “Bravo, bravo!” and “Enchanté,” and you marveled that somewhere so close could be so different.”
Michaels takes his readers far and wide in his first novel Us Conductors, and is sure to receive many a “bravo!” of his own in the coming year as more readers get tuned in to his debut. Check it.
Craig Davidson’s third novel, the gritty Cataract City, deserves all the praise it has received since its release last summer, including a short-list nomination for the Giller Prize. Davidson is usually described as a guy’s writer – rough around the edges, blue collar, rugged – and to be sure, phrases such as “unremittingly masculine” and “testosterone-soaked” have been used to describe his propulsive prose, but he also does a great job of creating authentic characters worthy of our sympathy.
The fact that Davidson took steroids to research his boxing novel, The Fighter, does indeed add to that manly vibe. But beyond his subject-matter, Davidson likes to entertain us in the same way that an action flick does, by keeping us on the edge of our seats. And with Cataract City, we see Davidson using his favourite tropes – boxing, greyhound racing, dog fighting, basketball, the Niagara setting, and strained male relationships – in his attempt to flesh out the novel’s main character, the city itself.
The novel deals with two childhood friends, Duncan (Dunk) Diggs and Owen (Owe) Stuckey. They’re kidnapped when they’re twelve years old and taken out into the woods, but their kidnapper dies and the two boys are left to find their way out of the Niagara forest on their own. They wander for three days, but manage to survive. The boys grow up but the incident changes them forever. Owe manages to get out of Cataract City and later becomes a cop, while Dunk never leaves, landing a job at the local factory (The Bisk), and exploring the darker side of his city – bare-knuckle boxing, dog fights, and smuggling, to name just a few. Through it all, Duncan remains remarkably grounded, but that doesn’t stop him from getting into trouble and being sent to prison.
Davidson’s prose is cinematic, tense and fast-paced. Cataract City demands to be read as fast as you can absorb each of its vivid scenes. The boys’ wilderness ordeal gets the book rolling at a fast clip, throwing in all sorts of obstacles along the way. This section is reminiscent of Stephen King’s novella, “The Body”, with its coming-of-age in the woods plot line. Davidson even has Duncan say “Sincerely,” just like Vern in King’s novella – a sly little nod to his inspiration perhaps?
The novel doesn’t slow there, as it sets up the events leading to Dunk`s eight-year prison stint. There is violence, blood, and revenge, both petty and not so petty. At times, Davidson’s book felt very much like a David Adams Richards novel, as Cataract City questions that blurry distinction between right and wrong. It also has a sort of big bad enemy, which Richards is fond of using. Cataract City is not a perfect novel, but it is an intense read that entertains with bravado, while also serving up very human characters. Davidson has hit his stride here, and serves up a strong story about the meaning of friendship and the ties that bind.
Welcome to INAUDIBLE’s 5th annual end of year list!
Five years! Wow, it seems incredible that INAUDIBLE has been around for half a decade! In five years of doing nothing to promote this site it has received over 50,000 views, which I think is pretty damn cool, so cheers to everyone who has visited. And while I may not post as frequently as I did in the first few years, I still get a great satisfaction writing this blog for its three faithful readers and will continue to do so in the coming year.
2013 was a pretty huge year for music. There were so many great records released across all genres. My criteria this year was simple: which albums did I listen to the most and keep going back to even after I felt like I’d exhausted them, and as always, which albums made me FEEL things deep down in my heart and gut. So without further ado, let’s get on with this shit!
TOP 23 ALBUMS OF 2013
23. Unknown Mortal Orchestra – II (Jagjaguwar)
Still riding the buzz from their 2011 self-titled debut, Ruban Nielson and company returned this year as Unknown Mortal Orchestra avec l’aptly titled II. Melding classic rock, 60’s psych, pop, and soul, Neilson has written a refreshingly lo-fi rock record devoid of ego or pretension. Like fellow throw backers Tame Impala, UMO are crafting some of the best “new classic rock” I have ever heard. Yet, where Tame Impala rely on their distortion pedals, UMO ride the reverb and even mess with tremolo, giving their guitars more of an early Jethro Tull meets The Byrds sound. That’s not to say they don’t rock out on occasion, but it’s a decidedly more murky affair, thanks to Nielson bouncing the tracks through several tape recorders in post-production trying to degrade or “un-focus” the sound.
Early single “So Good at Being in Trouble” showed the band at their most soulful, a playful track with a catchy hook and even catchier chorus, but it’s later tracks like “Monki” and “Faded in the Morning” that show off Neilson’s songwriting to its full potential. One could argue that II is not a groundbreaking record since just about everything sounds familiar, but Unknown Mortal Orchestra have crafted a tight, enjoyable sophomore album that sets them apart from their peers, and at the same time, gives a sly nod to their musical ancestors.
22. The Besnard Lakes – Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO
Montreal’s The Besnard Lakes returned this year with their fourth full-length album, Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO showcasing all that has made them revered by their fans for over a decade – amazing guitar work, driving bass lines, rock steady drums, and Jace Lacek’s preternatural voice. Rich White’s guitar solos in “46 Satires” and “People of the Sticks” harken back to the glory days of 90’s grunge while still managing to sound fresh and new, while Olga Goreas’ bass lines chug along in tandem with the rhythm section. Some critics were mildly disappointed with this record, arguing it lacked a bit from their last two albums, but after many listens I believe this album shows their continued maturity as songwriters, as seen in the song “The Specter”.
I saw them play twice this year in Montreal, and as always their live shows are incredible (and often sound even better than their albums). The Besnard Lakes are indeed still the Roaring Night, and Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO is an underrated rock ‘n roll record that deserves way more recognition.
21. Autre Ne Veut – Anxiety (Mexican Summer)
I don’t think I could actually be friends with Arthur Ashin aka Autre Ne Veut but I sure like his weird hybrid of R&B future pop filtered through a Oneohtrix Point Never synthesizer.
Why couldn’t I be friends with him? Because dude seems a bit on the intense side – he seems like a man of extremes, where he’d either be the funniest guy at the party, doing blow and dancing and laughing and being witty and intelligent and awesome all at once OR just be a sad dark sack of shit. And I have a feeling he leans towards the latter extreme more than the fun one.
But on Anxiety, Ashin wears his emotions on his sleeve, seemingly giving so much of himself away with his over-singing, and getting so into his music, I think I’d feel embarassed for him if it didn’t work so goddamn well. “Counting” and “Play by Play” were already hits long before Anxiety came out, so it’s not surprising that they’re the album’s opening tracks, starting it off on the right note. The next two tracks are also highlights, with “Ego Free Sex Free” being a sort of mantra for the whole album, backdropped by a synth that sounds like it comes from an old Timbaland song. It’s a great track, and followed by the smooth comedown interlude “A Lie”.
After that, the next three tracks are a bit forgettable, featuring cheesy guitar work, and some intense uber-crooning that just doesn’t work for me (in fact, it kinda makes my skin crawl). However, the last two tracks are just as strong as the first two, but instead of being jams, they’re ballads, and Ashin ekes just the right amount of emotion out of himself and his listeners with “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” and “World War” that he can be forgiven for the cathartic over-sharing in the album’s gratuitous middle section. Overall, Anxiety is a decent album with some very awesome songs on it, and even though “Counting” is now featured in a Victoria’s Secret commercial, I am still interested to see what he does next.
20. Local Natives – Hummingbird (Frenchkiss)
L.A. scenesters Local Natives returned this year with Hummingbird, the follow up to their smash hit debut Gorilla Manor, and gave fans a more mature and powerful set of songs. Yet, even though the songwriting is more complex and the vocal arrangements stronger and the rhythm section fuller than on their debut, there still feels like something’s missing here. Some critics have said they lost the playfulness that made Gorilla Manor so instantly accessible and enjoyable. If their debut tried to capture the feeling of 20-something lightheartedness, Hummingbird demands we go further. The halcyon days have gone by, the honeymoon stage is over, it isn’t always a sunny day, breakups actually hurt a lot, and loved ones are going to pass away – and all of this is evident in their new set of songs.
Once I got over my initial disappointment, the new songs began to wash over me, and I remember thinking to myself while listening to “Mt. Washington” on the way to work one grey morning, that this was the perfect break-up album, and that if I was nineteen with a broken heart I would wallow in this album, and listen to it over and over and over, and love how goddamn sad it made me feel. And in the end, it would help me get over that girl, and see through to the sunlight on the other side.
And to be sure, this album did make me cry, having to hide my face on the bus to work, and keep looking out that window, as I fought the emotions building up. (Hey, I’m a sap in the morn, aight?). There’s a line in “Three Months” where Kelcey Ayer is singing about his mother who recently died and he says: “I’ve got to go on now / having thought this wasn’t your last year”, and that shit just gets me every time. Penultimate track “Colombia” also deals with the passing of his mother and in that song he asks: “If you never felt all of my love / I pray now you do. Am I giving enough? Am I loving enough?” and the raw emotion in his voice is enough to break anyone in two or three. The album closes with the more upbeat “Bowery”, with tinkles of Rhodes and some great guitar work, and laments about the end of a relationship…
I think Local Natives had to write an album like this to get out all the emotions left behind from their youth. My friend Mike has dubbed them indie rock’s boy band, and it’s an apt assessment as girls flock to their shows and sing along to every track. In 2014 the boys will embark on a massive stadium tour with Kings of Leon. They’ll play the crap out of all their songs and be ready to kick it up a notch for their third album, and I’ll be one of the first fans to grab it.
19. Axel Boman – Family Vacation (Studio Barnhus)
Stockholm native Axel Boman had a breakthrough with his Holy Love EP in 2010, where the song “Purple Drank” became a hit in the house music scene. It wasn’t until autumn of this year that I was turned on to the young producer, but I’m glad I was, because Boman makes listening and dancing to house music a joyous experience. It’s good vibes all the time – the edges are never tinged with darkness or a minimal aesthetic, it’s just warm and soulful 4/4 beats. And I find it refreshing. One could say Axel Boman is similiar to Brazilian producer Gui Boratto, who’s philosophy on his 2005 album Chromophobia seemed to be: keep ’em smiling and keep ’em groovin’, and that’s exactly what he and Boman do, yet where Boratto veers off into more heavy hitting techno, Boman likes to be more playful and experimental.
Like DJ Koze, Boman is a bit eclectic in his tastes and on Family Vacation he mixes his 4/4 beats with Afrobeat, jazz, reggae, soul, disco, and deep house. Sure, he can still play it straight like the best of them (take the amazing deep house banger “Hello” as a prime example), but he likes to mix it up, he soon veers off into the warm comedown of “Barcelona”, and later onto the reggae-tinged “Animal Lovers”. Boman seems to still be ironing out his sound, content to jump from one groove to the next and is having a ton of fun doing it.
Expect big things from this young producer. With any luck he’ll be at this year’s MUTEK, so I can see him try his hand at capturing his playful aesthetic live in the club.
18. Jai Paul – Jai Paul (not-released)
London producer and man of mystery, Jai Paul, created quite a buzz two years ago with the Drake and Beyoncé approved track “BTSU”, a fractious R&B cut built on split-second notes, dynamic phasing, a sci-fi bridge and a barely there falsetto. This year he re-emerged from the internet ether with the similarly constructed, and equally awesome single “Jasmine”, and then an unfinished version of his debut record was put up on a fake Bandcamp site, purchased by many, and then taken down within 24 hours. Apparently, Jai Paul’s laptop had been stolen, and some joker put it out there on the beautiful internet for the world to hear before many of the samples had been cleared – and thank God s/he did, because the raw, unfinished tracks of varying bitrates and tinny beats make it one of the most dynamic (almost) releases of the year.
This is the new lo-fi. In Jai Paul’s case, his unique production traits include stuttering sounds, like they’ve been cut and pasted repeatedly, and a dynamic range that’s all over the map. If you want a familiar jumping off point, his cover of Jennifer Paige’s 90’s radio smash “Crush” morphs the innocently cheesy tune into a futuristic funk jam. Although, I feel bad that Jai Paul didn’t get to put out the album on his own terms, it’s one of the best musical mistakes of 2013. Check it.
17. Disclosure – Settle (PMR/Island Records)
The Brothers Lawrence arrived on the scene this year, fresh-faced and ready to become UK dance music’s newest hype makers, and by year’s end you could say they’ve done just that. Howard and Guy seem ridiculously young at just 21 and 18, especially considering how fully realized and tight their debut album Settle is. It’s easy to forget that this new generation of electronic musicians have grown up with the technology and kids start intuitively making loops or matching beats just as early as the kids from my generation picked up their first guitars.
And to be sure, Disclosure have released one hell of a fine house record, incorporating bass music and a bit of dubstep, grime and disco and filtering it all through a pop lens. The pop angle seems clear when you see the album is loaded with guest vocalists on just about every track from Jessie Ware on “Confess to Me” to AlunaGeorge on the infectious “White Noise”.
I realized how quickly they blasted to the top of the pops when I saw them play live this year at Osheaga and watched the crowd sing along to every track as if they were house classics and not just songs that had dropped a few months prior. And they’re coming back to Montreal in January and have already sold out that show as well. The boys know how to put together one hell of a dance party so it’s no wonder tons of people wanna go to their shows and get down.
Tracks like “Latch”, “You & Me” and “January” show the brothers at their tightest when working with vocalists and crafting a great and totally danceable pop song. In fact, there really isn’t a throwaway track on Settle, it’s a dance party from beginning to end. Expect much more from these young producers in the coming years…
16. Recondite – Hinterland(Ghostly International)
Lorenz Brunner aka Recondite follows up last year’s brilliant On Acid with Hinterland, his first full-length on Ghostly. Inspired by the part of Lower Bavaria where he spent his childhood, the album is as icy and desolate as the landscape its title evokes. This is late night music, but designed for an evening spent at home, instead of in the club.
I did not hear On Acid until this year, and was blown away by how Brunner was able to eke so much emotion out of a 303. I then began listening to all of his dance-floor ready Plangent EP’s, and soon after claimed that he was my fave new techno artist of the year. So you can imagine I was stoked that yet another album of all new material was coming out to coincide with the coming winter, but sadly, I feel Hinterland is a bit of a disappointment, because instead of innovating and furthering the amazing sounds he’d created with On Acid and his EP’s, Hinterland plays as a straightforward techno record with no real bangers and it feels like there’s less emotion coming through this new set of tracks.
Still, there’s lots to love on Hinterland. Tracks like “Riant” and “Absondence” are highlights, reminiscient of Pawel and Lawrence on Dial Records, and overall the album is deep and textured and really dark. I’ve listened to it many times and it keeps getting better with every spin, and as the deep freeze begins its icy texture becomes that much more relevant. Check it.
15. Mayer Hawthorne – Where Does This Door Go (Republic)
Neo-soul revivalist, Mayer Hawthorne, returned this year with Where Does This Door Go and changed up his game a bit – instead of writing and producing the songs himself, he invited a bunch of producers to come in and let them run free. The result is a much more varied sound, and a bit of a distance from the throwback stylings of his two earlier records. Instead of Marvin Gaye and The Delfonics, we see Hawthorne channeling Hall and Oates and Steely Dan and having a lot of fun doing it.
Of-the-moment guest musicians like Jessie Ware and Kendrick Lamar and Pharrell, all sound great on this record and may help Hawthorne extend his already large fan base, yet it’s telling that the best song on the album is the title track – the only time in which Hawthorne gives into his Motown leanings with an absolutely pitch perfect soul ditty.
Still, Where Does This Door Go is an album that plays out smooth from start to finish, from early hit “The Innocent” until the last track “All Better”, which shows Hawthorne trying his hand at a Paul McCartney ballad and succeeding without sounding corny, in fact, he comes off sounding more authentic than ever. Where Does This Door Go is a great album showing Hawthorne growing as a singer and a songwriter. Where will he go next?
14. Kanye West – Yeezus (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)
Oh Yeezy, what can I say? This album is awesome, only problem is your insufferable ego overshadows all that’s good about. Yeezus would have been way higher on my list if ‘Ye woulda just shut the fuck up and let the music speak for him, instead of yammin’ on and on about how he’s a “creative genius”, and the best musician in the biz today, or how Kim is “more influential than Michelle Obama” or how he’s like “Walt Disney”. Seriously, shut the fuck up.
Things started off pretty well with the projections of “New Slaves” on 66 buildings in 25 different cities around the world, which I thought was some clever promotion. But by year’s end he dropped that video for “Bound 2” – and what a buncha tripe that was – Franco and Rogen’s spoof was inarguably the better version.
If Kanye would’ve released his album and said this was a hell of a collaboration between myself and 50 other people and thanked each and every one of them for helping him make the album the gritty gem that it is I would have cheered, but instead he simply goes off about how amazing he is, and I think that’s bullshit (we won’t even talk about what this record would have sounded like if Rick Rubin didn’t step in at the last minute and give it a major tweak).
Grievances aside, yeah, I dig this record – jogged to it probably more than any other, rapping out his ridiculous, monomaniacal, and misogynistic rhymes in step with my shoes on the pavement – and I fucking love the production. From the minimal grime of “New Slaves” to the pulsing “Hold My Liquor” and powerful highlight “Blood on the Leaves”, West has pieced together a great record, falling just short of 2010’s epic My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
And of course, I’ll listen to his next record, and hope for a misstep, but knowing his track record I’ll probably be disappointed. Hurry up with my damn croissant, indeed.
13. Lusine – The Waiting Room (Ghostly International)
Jeff McIlwain aka Lusine is a true unsung legend in the world of electronica, and has been perfecting his visceral, melodic strain of electronic music for over a decade now. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Lusine has never been in the forefront of the scene, has never played huge venues or been super hyped about on music blogs, yet he is revered by those in the know, and this year he returned with The Waiting Room.
The first thing I noticed about this album was its production value – you can have it cranked to full and it still sounds so crisp and bright, with not a touch of distortion in the bass or beat. Tracks like “Lucky” and “On Telegraph” demonstrate his knack for tight songwriting, and seem to be exactly what Luke Abbott is currently striving to sound like. Although, McIlwain doesn’t break any new ground with The Waiting Room, the album does an excellent job of straddling the divide between electronica and pop music. The production is smooth and has been tediously tinkered and tweaked with, and in the end, is on my list because it epitomizes that type of melodic techno I like to listen to no matter what mood I happen to be in.
12. Kurt Vile – Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze (Matador)
Philly’s everyman, Kurt Vile followed up his breakout 2011 record Smoke Ring For My Halo, with Wakin’ on a Pretty Daze, an even stronger collection of songs, offering up the best of Americana, reminiscent of Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and lo-fi rock and roll. The beauty has always been in the subtlety and strength of his songwriting, yet here he’s kicked up the rock just a bit, showing a little less restraint than in his earlier recordings. Vile’s lyrics are dark and lonesome, yet occasionally funny, delivered in a laconic style that’s all his own. He tends to drag out words or syllables providing the perfect counterpart to his skilled finger-plucking or guitar strums.
Ten-minute opener, “Wakin on a Pretty Day” pretty much sums the entire album up. It’s perhaps Vile’s strongest song to date, showcasing all that he does well, he latches onto a few small gestures, riffs, and phrases, and gives ample space for your own thoughts to give the song concrete meaning. Tracks like “Girl Called Alex” and “Pure Pain” show Vile adeptly being playful and emotional at the same time. The entire album is buoyed by a pervasive lightness, it ambles along easily, sneers at you, shrugs, and yearns all in equal measure. The refrains and hooks will keep you coming back to the album time and again, and with each listen Vile seems to pull you a bit deeper into his slightly slanted yet inherently enchanted world.
See a pic of yours truly standing in front of Steve Power’s album cover mural in Philadelphia here.
11. Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience (RCA Records)
JT returned after a long musical hiatus and released two albums in 2013. Only one of them makes this list and it’s his first effort, the exciting soul-flecked The 20/20 Experience, which features some of the best dance moments of the year for me. Early single “Suit & Tie” put the funk front and centre, revealing Timberlake and Timbaland successfully looking backwards for their inspiration rather than forwards. And the throwback sound throughout the album absolutely works as the duo showcase soul, R&B, funk, motown, and of course the influence of MJ circa Off The Wall.
The rest of the album plays out a bit differently but is no less danceable. My favourite track is “Strawberry Bubblegum”, an 8-minute number that splits itself in two – the first half being a late-night groove that makes you wanna dance and the second half a bossanova slow jam that sounds so much like Jamiroquai he should be getting royalties. And even though the lyrics are as clichéd as they come: “If you’ll be my strawberry bubblegum, I’ll be your blueberry lollipop”, it’s all about the feeling Timberlake is able to eke out of it, and he comes off sounding authentic and true throughout.
Other hits are “Don’t Hold The Wall” and “Let The Groove In”, which sounds wildly familiar to Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin”, especially the “mamase mamasa mamakusa” part, but hell if “Let The Groove In” ain’t a jam of a song that is just as infectious as the one that inspired it. I cannot help but dance when I hear it, especially during the song’s coda: “All night long / just let the groove get in…” And again, let me repeat myself, it’s cheesy, clichéd, hackneyed, overdone, but somehow in Timberlake and Timbaland’s hands, it’s a bona fide hit.
Timberlake’s second installment of The 20/20 Experience paled in comparison, and actually made me like the first record a little less. Contractual obligations be damned, Part 2 is the alternate reality version of the first disc – the version his haters wanted him to put out, so it kinda sucks, since the first album worked so damn well.
Ten years ago I did all that I could to stay clear of radio friendly music and now my end of year list is full of the shit! But at the end of the day, Justin Timberlake knows how to craft compelling songs and for that I applaud him, but like Kanye, too much of him is NOT a good thing. Still, I’ll be ready for his next album, which probably won’t drop until 2020.
10. Blue Hawaii – Untogether (Arbutus)
Montrealers Raphaelle Standell-Preston and Alexander Cowan formed Blue Hawaii back in 2010 when they were a young couple travelling through Central America – the result was their Blooming Summer EP, a poppy and much more sun-kissed affair than their sombre debut full-length Untogether. Called such, because the couple are no longer a couple, and made the album while being apart. Romantic differences aside, they still managed to keep their relationship alive through the music. And it’s good they did, because the duo’s full-length is a chilly and minimal affair, showcasing Raph’s vocal chops and Cowan’s growing skills as a producer.
Blue Hawaii share a lot in common with other acts that call and have called Montreal home over the last half-decade: Purity Ring, Braids (of which Raph plays guitar), Doldrums, Majical Cloudz, and of course last year’s it-girl, Claire Boucher. Most of them are connected through the Arbutus label and cut their teeth together playing the Montreal scene but have all expanded beyond la belle ville, setting their musical aspirations higher and further. And Blue Hawaii seem to be the next group in line to really make it, as they’ve already played mainstage at SXSW, have been hyped about courtesy of Pfork, and are currently recording a new album to capitalize on the exposure.
Untogether reveals a duo quietly emerging and still experimenting and developing their sound. The first five songs on the album flow together seamlessly, starting off slow with ethereal opener “Follow”, hooking us with earworm and hit track “Try To Be” and then teasing out the slow build of “In Two” and “In Two II” which morphs into an awesome 4/4 stomp, but not before Cowan does a great job of cutting and splicing Raph’s vocals and building the tension before the rhythmic release. The second half of the song features some excellent subterranean bass rumbles and would definitely be the dance floor starter of their live show.
The rest of the record is more of a slow burn as the tempo never kicks back in as powerfully as it does in “In Two II”, but instead features headier moments that one can enjoy best from a seated position, perhaps with a glass of wine and a puff puff pass or two. Closing track “The Other Day” is the most straightforward song on the album, featuring two or three vocal loops and a quivering synth. It’s a simple yet moving closer and shows the range this young duo are capable of, yet only hints at how far they’re able to push it. More please.
9. The Green Kingdom – Dustloops: Memory Fragments (SEM)
Michael Cottone has been consistently making music under The Green Kingdom moniker since 2006, and with each release he further refines his brand of introspective ambient bliss. Cottone skillfully uses digitally enhanced acoustic guitar, strings, and a myriad of samples and field recordings to create his compositions.
Within his arrangements, melody and space work in tandem in an attempt to manifest what Cottone has called an “optimistic nostalgia” for the listener – an aural experience that can provide a momentary reprieve from the frenetic, fast-paced world that surrounds us. And indeed his music is perfect for contemplative mornings and quiet evenings, where the vibe is to slow down and to reflect.
But with Dustloops, Cottone has gone even further, amped his ambience up a notch with the addition of 4/4 beats and a bit more of an electronic edge to his overall sound, and it results in his finest and most rhythmic work to date.
Tracks like “ambin5” and “Night Clatter” are reminiscent of Gas, while “On Golden Swamp” is downright sexy with its sleazy slap bass and smoove synth line – the song even has a sample of an owl hooting in it for Chrissake. How awesome is that? With twinkling loops, soft currents of static, great samples and fragmented melodies Dustloops: Memory Fragments is an album to bathe early mornings and frosted evenings in. Check it.
8. Danny Brown – Old (Fool’s Gold)
I’ve always had a bit of a tough time with Danny Brown. I love him but sometimes I have a hard time handling his voice. Sample “Handstand” as an example. So often on his debut XXX, this high-pitched, abrasive voice was his delivery of choice, but on sophomore album Old we see him scaling back a bit, and rapping in a deeper (dare I say, more natural) voice with a relaxed flow, and for me this is when Danny Brown shines. Sample the nod to OutKast “The Return” as an example.
The record is split into halves. The first section is the more laid back, lean sippin’, smooth flow Danny Brown, while the second half is the party record, the molly popping, blunt smoking B-side to the arguably more mature Danny Brown on the A-side. Guests like Purity Ring, Freddie Gibbs, Charli XCX, and A$AP Rocky are all most welcome, as they accentuate the tracks and compliment DB. The production is a highlight, coming from diverse producers like A-Trak, Rustie, Skywlkr, and Paul White and covering all sorts of sub-genres from bass music to trap to Dilla beats to throwback jams.
It’s true, I have trouble listening to Old all the way through, but damn if I haven’t had his tracks noodling through my head as soon as I wake up in the morning for the past four months. Lines like: “If I dip you dip if I dip you dip I dip” from the appropriately titled “Dip” and “Slow days fast days gettin’ paper anyways” from “Dubstep” seem to be my most popular recurring ear worms.
Old is a definitive leap forward for Danny Brown, and I have the same hope that he has for himself on the stirring album closer smooth jam “Float On”, where he sounds like Devin the Dude and says he prays he can get old so he can “see my influence in this genre of music”, because I think the older Danny gets, the better he’s gonna get. Namsayin?
Wrapped in probably the worst cover art of the year, DJ Koze returned this year with the refreshing Amygdala, his first album in close to a decade. I was just falling in love with the Kompakt schaffel when I first heard Kosi Comes Around in 2004, a collection of 4/4 techno tracks. But if there’s anything I remember from my first listens to DJ Koze was that he was kinda weird, and a bit psychedelic, and instead of being dark and moody and minimal like sooo many German producers of the early 2000’s, DJ Koze seemed boisterous and happy.
And a decade later those characteristics are still intact, and what’s more, Koze reveals a knack a crafting what can almost be classified as pop songs, only through his warped lens. What makes Amygdala stand out is how every track has something that makes it special: an unusual yet welcomed noise, an unexpected tempo shift, an exciting bit of bass work, great guest vocals from Matthew Dear, Caribou, Milosh, Ada, and Apparat, and crisp production throughout.
Take “Magical Boy” as an example. It has Matthew Dear doing his distinctive drawn-out vocals, a wood-block snare, a nifty bass line, crooning horns, female vocal accompaniment, and this odd metallic twang that sounds like someone playing with a spring door stopper. Or the following track “Das Wort”, which features some vocals in German courtesy of Dirk von Lowtzow, what sounds like the bass line to “Angel” by Massive Attack, an airy piano scale, some extra funk bass thrown in for good measure, and near the song’s close, an ode to Marvin Gaye. Every song is different in execution, and every song has just that little eclectic twist that transports it higher.
The amygdala are nuclei located within the temporal lobes of the brain and perform a major role in processing emotional reactions in humans. And DJ Koze has attempted to do just that, create an emotional reaction in his listener and damn if he doesn’t succeed. Amygdala is a highly underrated album worthy of giving a few spins at the start of a fun Friday night.
Travis Stewart aka Machinedrum returned this year with the follow up to Room(s), with the excellent Vapor City, a tight collection of bass heavy, hypnotic, drum ‘n bass tinged bangers. Machinedrum has made it something of a trademark throughout his career to snatch up the slickest sounds and deepest sub frequencies from across the electronic scene, styles like juke, jungle, deep house, and techno, and fuse them into his own elegant hybrid, and create a sound all his own.
Apparently, Vapor City was inspired by a recurring dream Stewart’s been having over the last few years of a strange city. Each track on the album is a representation of a district within the “Vapor City”, and each track flows smoothly into the next.
Album opener, “Gunshotta” is one of the year’s most exciting musical moments for me. Featuring filtered rave stabs, pattering hi-hats, blips of soulful vocals and a raspy ragga sample before the song’s big drop, Stewart has created a murky, frenzied club hit. Seeing him play this song live was incredible. He built the track to an intensity that had the crowd pretty much going bonkers, and by the time the song reached its climax, empty cups and bottles were flying overhead, some dude was crowd surfing, and a mosh pit started up in front of me. Machinedrum’s live show was a definite highlight of the year, as he (with the help of a live drummer) not only perfectly recreated his album but took it to new sonic heights. Before I saw his live show I liked the album but after, I loved it.
Tracks like “Center Your Love” with its soft drum patterns, BoC loop, and guitar show Stewart can do downtempo just as well as up, and “Eyesdontlie” showcases those deep bass frequencies he loves to exploit. Vapor City is an album that takes multiple listens to really seep in, but once it does it is an immersive listening experience and proof that Stewart is at the top of his game.
5. Killer Mike & El-P – Run the Jewels (Fool’s Gold)
“Killer Mike and El-P, fuck boys, the combination ain’t healthy!”
I first heard of El-P when his Def Jux label blew up in 2002 courtesy of Aesop Rock’s Daylight, Cannibal Ox’s The Cold Vein, and El-P’s own Fantastic Damage. On his debut, the beats were jarring, the production was abrasive, his lyrics were paranoid, and the whole thing felt completely frenetic. El-P eschewed all that I thought hip hop was and could be when he released Fantastic Damage, and even though I didn’t like all of it, I knew it was important because it radiated a sense of urgency in the still fresh post-9/11 world. Anti-cap, anti-corp, doomsday beckoning, conspiracy theorizing – it was almost too much for me to process at the time, it was scary and profound. I was hooked.
I’ll never forget seeing him at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor with Mr. Lif and RJD2 in the fall of 2002. El-P got on stage and before he started his set, he said something like: “All y’all need to know, every word out of our president’s mouth is a lie. Fuck George W. Bush, cuz he’s out to ruin us!” and it was explosive for me to hear someone speak so candidly, especially at the ripe age of 23 when I was taking classes on social justice and seeing things through a new hyper-critical post 9/11 lens. My girlfriend at the time felt the same, and perhaps propelled by the joint we smoked, and the packed and sweaty crowd, and the Red Bull-vodka she chugged upon arriving, El-P’s statement was the the final link in the “I’m gonna faint” chain, and down she went. Boom. Out cold. Amazing.
I first heard Killer Mike on “Snappin & Trappin” from OutKast’s Stankonia and was impressed by his raw delivery – his style was not unlike Big Boi, but there was real anger underneath his flow – Killer Mike was out to kill the mic, and it showed. Fast forward a decade plus some (damn I’m getting old), and Run the Jewels comes out of nowhere, released as a free download, a gift, so I grabbed it and put it on and was immediately reminded why I fell in love with both of these artists in the first place, and was amazed at how well they jived together. A new super duo is born: Killer Mike and El-P.
El-P doubles as both producer and rapper and even though his flow and delivery has greatly improved since Fantastic Damage, it’s Killer Mike’s verses that steal the show. His boisterous, street-wise rhymes launch the album towards its lyrical climax on his verse in “No Come Down”, an old-skoool bit of storytelling that comes off as genuinely spontaneous and smooth. “Job Well Done” is also another Killer Mike highlight with his amazing line about Mike Tyson. Mike is truly a rapper’s rapper – prone to making his listeners say “Dayum!” upon hearing him spit his verses for the first time.
But don’t get me wrong, El-P shines on this record too. His production is gritty and his rhymes are dope, he just doesn’t take as many stylistic risks as Mike. And unlike Fantastic Damage and last year’s Cancer For Cure, there’s no overt political message on Run the Jewels. This record is more of a victory lap for the two musicians, filled with shit-talk, thoughtful rhymes, tight production, and it has a sense of humour too (see: the resurrection of Prince Paul’s Chest Rockwell on “Twin Hype Back” for proof). Run the Jewels is a celebration of two rappers who have been in the game for almost twenty years and both are still as relevant as ever. Ch-check it.
4. CFCF – Outside (Paper Bag Records)
Montreal musician Mike Silver aka CFCF had a busy 2013. In the summer he released his Music for Objects EP, which saw him continuing the fine trend he’d adopted on his beautiful 2012 Exercises EP. With these two records, Silver was working mainly with loops of piano or keyboard, and was influenced by the work of composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass. These two short players are decidely cinematic and showcase Silver’s keen ear for simple melodies. He is able to consistently eke out emotion in his compositions, knowing that he only has to hit the right note once in a song to make his listeners feel the meditative vibe.
His second release of the year, the long player Outside, came out in the fall and revealed Silver switching gears, and trying his multi-faceted hand at 80’s soft rock. Silver finds inspiration from Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Toto, and Brian Eno, yet the biggest change is that almost every track features Silver on vocals. His voice is mixed so far ahead of everything else in the mix it’s clear that he wanted them to be the focal point of these songs. For what it’s worth, he’s not exactly a technically gifted singer, but his plaintive vocals work well, because they help emphasize the feelings he’s trying to convey.
The first few times I listened to this album it fell flat to my ears. I liked the overall 80’s feel to it, but I felt like maybe Silver was taking himself too seriously, however, with repeated listens Silver’s hypnotic grip began to strengthen, and overshadow his cheesier impulses. And of course, it was on a morning bus ride to work when Outside finally sunk in. The album’s middle section beginning with “Find” (in which I haven’t heard a guitar solo so cool in a long time), continuing with “This Breath”, and leading into “Feeling, Holding” is the album’s strongest suite of songs, each working that Peter Gabriel new-age vibe perfectly, with the Toto bass line and Phil Collins’ percussion of “Feeling, Holding” bringing it to its climax.
Other highlights are a great cover of Bonnie Prince Billy’s “Strange Form of Life” and penultimate track “The Crossing”, which again has him working that Toto vibe to great effect and is arguably the album’s best track. Silver is a musician who is not afraid to take risks and one who refuses to be pigeon-holed to any one genre or sub-genre. With each release, he seems to get a little closer to reaching his full potential, and with Outside, it’s clear he’s almost there.
3. Mount Kimbie – Cold Spring Fault Less Youth (Warp Records)
In 2010, Mount Kimbie established themselves as world-class electronic tinkerers with their debut full-length, Crooks & Lovers. It was a jumbled yet highly efficient fusion of bass, indie rock, R&B, and dubstep, and the album didn’t really sound like anything else at the time. This helped Mount Kimbie strike a chord in the electronic scene, but it was clear that Dom Maker and Kai Campos were still experimenting with what they really wanted to sound like. Three years later, and they release Cold Spring Fault Less Youth courtesy of Warp Records, and although the duo are still experimenting, it seems they’re much closer to achieving their aural vision.
It wasn’t until I saw their live show this year before I noticed the real leaps and bounds their sound has taken since the first time I saw them in 2010. Three years ago they were just two young blokes on stage, twiddling knobs, dropping mean bass, and flirting with a touch of live instrumentation – a guitar lick in one track, a snare drum in another – but Mount Kimbie’s show this year in support of Cold Spring saw them transform into a full-fledged band with a live drummer, and some amazing stage presence.
At times during their set they sounded like Joy Division, at others like Tortoise, and on the other side of the spectrum, at times they sounded like Aphex Twin. What a difference a few years and a couple tours make. This is also evident with the songs on Cold Spring, in which their electronic and analogue components meld seamlessly together. “Break Well”, is one such example, when an extended passage of murky ambience breaks apart in its final minutes to reveal a wholly un-electronic guitar and bass groove. And it totally works.
“Made to Stray” and “So Many Times, So Many Ways” are highlights, the first being a hip-swivelling dance track, while the latter has a bit of a Tortoise vibe to it with its strong bass line and crisp drum loops. Critics are divided over the two tracks that feature the gravel-voiced kid, King Krule, but I like his weird and at times spastic delivery, especially on “You Took Your Time”. Most of the other tracks feature vocals from both Dom and Kai, and their skills as vocalists have also taken a leap since Crooks. The duo are so much more comfortable in their own skin on this record and it shows, even if it comes off as nonchalance.
Mount Kimbie still have some growing to do, but if the musical advances they’ve made over the last three years are any indication, by the time their next album is prepped, I think they’ll be ready to knock it out of the park. Great stuff.
2. Forest Swords – Engravings (Tri Angle Records)
The musical recipe that UK producer Matthew Barnes uses in his one-man project Forest Swords is simple enough – pick some sparse rhythms and sounds, loop them at a slowed clip, and then add layers of texture and volume as each piece slowly gathers momentum. On Engravings, Barnes creates dense and mesmerizing atmospheres that truly defy classification. There’s been numerous times where I’ve been listening to this album and have wondered just what the hell I could possibly call his style? Sure, it evokes techno, dub, drone, rock, and maybe even R&B, but it also sounds like the soundtrack to a really bad (and by bad I mean good) horror film. In short, his compositions seem to be in a category all their own.
I played this album most often when I was writing at night, a sombre and hypnotic companion to my own creative pursuits. And what’s funny is, it took me the longest time to notice what an important role the guitar plays in all of his songs. It’s as if my brain didn’t register its prevalence. Upon first listens, these songs just sound like a bunch of disparate elements – dubby bass, sparse percussion, distant voices, blurry samples. But eventually, a bold guitar (and at times piano too) crafts a melody that sticks in your head rather than drifting away with all the echo and atmosphere. And the more you listen, the catchier these weird songs become.
I doubt Barnes ever thought his listeners would be walking around humming his songs, yet as odd as they are, they’re surprisingly hooky, thanks to the old guitar. Forest Swords music is labelled as “electronic”, but it’s far more organic than you’d think. It’s kinda hard to tell what is sampled and what is of his own making, and Barnes does a great job of blurring that line with his decayed production. Listen to the forlorn vocals and guitar lick of “An Hour” or the moody, almost metal sounding “The Plumes”, which has a small ray of light courtesy of a piano tinkle halfway through. Listen to the lonely dub of “The Weight of Gold” or the album’s stunning closer, “Friend, You Will Never Learn”, and try to classify this stuff.
Or do what I did, and just say fuck it, I like it, and simply listen. Engravings is an album that offers something new every time you spin it. Depending on your mood it can be winter bleak or shine with a radiant optimism, and with it, Barnes has quietly proven himself to be one of the most exciting musicians of any genre. Check it.
1. Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest (Warp Records)
Every year when I begin these end of year lists, I never know which album I’m going to end up selecting as the big winner. It’s as if the list is alive, and the more I listen to the music I want to put on the list, the more the order changes, albums end up moving up and down, and I keep finding new reasons to love them. But after I compiled my rough list in early December, it quickly became evident to me that there was a clear-cut winner this year. Boards of Canada. The brothers return after an eight-year hiatus and put out Tomorrow’s Harvest, a better album than I could have ever presumed, and their darkest and moodiest record to date . . . maybe even their strongest.
It’s a popular trend these days for bands that have broken up or stopped recording to regroup and put out new music or go on tours and relive the glory days, and the results vary. In many cases, the bands put out a new album and it’s good, maybe even really good, but it lacks a verve or timeliness, or doesn’t have the same energy, or worse, they just don’t sound as awesome as they used to. So it’s refreshing then when a group does return after a lengthy quiet spell and reveal themselves at the top of their game and as relevant as ever.
The pace at which Boards work always has been glacial, yet after 2005’s airy The Campfire Headphase, many fans wondered what the duo really had left to say. Boards of Canada created a whole style of music, a style of music that has been aped and imitated since Hi Scores came out in ’96 (fuck, we getting old, boys!). So it was a fair assumption then to wonder if Boards of Canada would still matter in 2013. Haha. Guess what? They really, really do.
I’ve been a fan of Boards of Canada for many a moon now, and like their long-time label mates Aphex Twin and Autechre, it’s best to never take them for granted. Where Campfire offered a set of songs that was like listening to Boards through rose-coloured lenses, Tomorrow’s Harvest strips away the lightness and embraces the dark, returning thematically to the emotions they conjured up on Geogaddi. It’s a bleak affair, but the listening experience is enlightening. Early track “Reach For The Dead” eschews the nostalgic feel they adopted on Campfire for a colder aesthetic and builds into a tense rhythm that offers no relief.
“Jacquard Causeway” is a good example of how well they can create mood with very little. It’s a song hinged to the same lick of synth and simple percussion, yet its emotion is developed on the periphery with layers of synth loops slowly building on top of one another, creating a moody track unlike any they’ve ever released before. It’s undoubtedly a Boards of Canada song, but its Steve Reich-like execution feels different, and that’s good.
But it’s not until the second half where Tomorrow’s Harvest really gets cooking. “Split Your Infinities”, with its harried synth and murky vocals, show why Boards are a cut above all their imitators – the track is down right scary. There are a few somewhat lighter moments in between like the soft “Sundown”, but the final three songs of the album offer the duo’s strongest and darkest suite of music to date beginning with the brilliant “New Seeds”, which leads into the hypnotic “Come to Dust” and ends with the backwards tape loop corrosion of “Semena Mertvych”. Wow.
Tomorrow’s Harvest is my favourite album of 2013, because it looked forward but also had its feet firmly planted in the past. It tapped into the deepest part of my heart and my gut and made me FEEL, goddammit. Boards of Canada melded the old with the new, the darkness with the light, the good feelings with the not so good, and make me think they’ll still be capable of surprising me again in the future…
Yes! I made it to the end!
HONORABLE AUDIBLES
Fuck, I just don’t have the time to do a Top 40 list, but these albums are also fantastic and worthy of praise and your ears! So click on an album to sample a track.
Andrew Ashong – Flowers
Autechre – Exai
Beach Fossils
Bibio – Silver
Darkside
Drake
Deerhunter – Monomania
Foals – Holy Fire
Isolée – Allowance
Hooded Fang
Nosaj Thing – Home
Pan American – Cloud Room
Omar S – Thank You…
Son Lux – Lanterns
Suuns – Images
TM404 – TM404
The Song of the Summer of the Century
To steal a line from the great Stephen Colbert, Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” really may be the song of the summer of the century. Me and my baby shook our booties to this guilty pleasure of a song with reckless abandon more times than I can count. It has a timeless quality and its vibe is all about feeling good. Wanna dance, Katou?
Michael Winter returns with his fifth novel, Minister Without Portfolio, a tale of guilt, loss, and renewal. The protagonist is Henry Hayward, and at the novel’s start he is a man adrift, trying to get over a split with his girlfriend, yet feeling unable to do so if he stays in St. John’s. Luckily, a friend finds him a gig doing contracting work for the military in Kabul and off he goes. But, just as Henry’s broken heart is mending, a bomb goes off, literally, and Henry is covered in guilt and the blood of his childhood friend, Tender Morris. Henry feels it’s his fault, because in the heat of the moment he accidentally grabbed Tender’s gun, leaving him unarmed against a suicide bomber.
Henry returns to Newfoundland, crushed, seeking renewal in the aptly titled town of Renews. There he begins to rebuild Tender’s dilapidated home and shortly after begins caring for Tender’s widow Martha, who is pregnant. Henry dedicates himself to Martha, wanting to make things right for her and her unborn child.
While Minister Without Portfolio does a good job of painting an authentic portrait of rural Newfoundland, the book doesn’t have the same verve and energy of Winter’s earlier work. The dialogue doesn’t pop like it did in The Architects Are Here and his protagonist Henry pales in comparison to the too similar Rockwell Kent of The Big Why. Like Kent, Henry is plagued with the thought that he isn’t living his life the way he should be, and he claims he just wants to be good, but he never quite knows how to truly be himself.
The problem is Henry isn’t that interesting, and Winter’s minimal and staccato prose doesn’t help create an evocative portrait. This novel would have been much more powerful if written from the perspective of Martha, the grieving, pregnant widow, rather than Henry’s. Perhaps Winter needs to veer away from the long-suffering, slightly unlikable anti-hero, which has been his go-to protagonist in nearly all his work to date. Sadly, Minister Without Portfolio feels like a bit of a misstep and a rehash. Like its protagonist, it seems to be searching for something yet never quite reaches its full potential.
INAUDIBLE 