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INAUDIBLE’S BEST OF 2023

January 16, 2024

Hello world! Hello universe! Another spin, another list! Better late than never, right? So let’s get down to it, shall we? Welcome to INAUDIBLE’s 14th almost annual BEST OF LIST!

TOP 14 ALBUMS OF 2023 (in stunning random order)

(click on album cover to sample a track)

Tim Hecker – No Highs (Kranky Records)

Montreal ambient drone king, Tim Hecker, released his eleventh full-length album No Highs this year on the stalwart Kranky label, and it’s an unsettling yet soothing listen. It’s a contrasting juxtaposition of sounds and swirls that immediately drew me in and had me playing it every morning for a month while writing.

I remember telling my friend Mike that it kept a low-level anxiety churning in my gut at all times while listening, but it also made me feel calm and allowed me to be super productive. Songs slowly build in mood and depth and there’s barely any release as similar motifs play throughout the duration of the album, but once you allow yourself to get lost in the greyscale ambience, it’s easy to want to stay put.

So good.

***

Laurel Halo – Atlas (Awe)

L.A. based artist, Laurel Halo, has released music on Hyperdub and Honest Jon’s, and has resisted classification over the course of five albums, yet over her last two she’s embraced a more ambient modern classical sound, and Atlas showcases her strongest music to date.

The album begins conventionally enough, with a subdued surge of strings that might not sound out of place on a Stars of the Lid record, but as the album expands, it becomes stranger — competing string passages swell and bleed into one another, deep in the murk piano chords clang like far off church bells. It feels like you’re standing outside the venue only hearing the muffle, or in a grand hall wandering about trying to find the room where the music is coming from.

In this sense, it reminds me a lot of The Caretaker’s amazing album, An empty bliss beyond this World from 2011, and I can’t think of a more glowing comparison. Atlas is definitely an album I can put on and decide to pay attention to or not. It can comfortably fade into the background or open up into so much more for the careful listener, however, there are moments such as the crescendo in “Belleville” that demands your attention or makes you pause from whatever it is you’re doing to acknowledge its beauty.

Check it.

***

Gonubie – Signals At Both Ears (Métron Records)

Born and based in Cape Town, South Africa, Gonubie is an interdisciplinary artist with a background in fine art and architecture. Known in the Cape Town dance scene as DJ raresoftware, her Gonubie project finds her taking a break from the beats and the dance floor, finding her inspiration in nature (namely the Gonubie River), and crafting a beautiful ambient record.

Like Atlas, I can also tune in or tune out to Signals At Both Ears, but the music ebbs and flows like the soft moving current of a river or stream. Working with short synth loops, melodic chimes, and samples, Gonubie’s music offers calm in a world seemingly in gross disarray. Give it a whirl.

***

Sofia Kourtesis – Madres (Ninja Tune)

Berlin-based, Peruvian producer Sofia Kourtesis showed listeners what she was capable of over the course of several EPs on the Studio Barnhus imprint, but with her debut full-length Madres on Ninja Tune it all comes into high relief.

This album has received a lot of hype and praise and I’m happy to say it’s all worth it. I hate terms like “instant classic” so I won’t use it, but Kourtesis hits the ground dancing and she doesn’t let up the whole way through. There is joy in these songs, ready for you to embrace as you close your eyes, tilt your chin skyward, and shake your big fat asssss goddammit. Shake it hard, my friends. Shake it good. No matter where you may be.

There’s lots of talk about embracing spirituality and her mother’s illness online for you to read about which adds depth to the album’s narrative, but from a strictly “house music” standpoint, this album feels timeless to me — I hear Villalobos, Akufen, Luciano, 2000’s Kompakt, Sutekh, Apparat, and early Axel Boman, just to name a juicy handful.

Kourtesis is already on the bill for Mutek Barcelona, so my fingers are triple-crossed that she also makes it to Montreal this year, because to be able to lose myself to “El Carmen” and “Habla Con Ella” on a sweaty dancefloor would be absolutely delightful.

Make it happen Mutek, s’il vous plait, ok merci!

***

JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown – Scaring the Hoes (AWAL)

A Peggy and D.B. collaboration at long last! Revitalizing Danny Brown’s drugboi status and making him sound as stoned and fresh as ever.

JPEG brings a DIY-lofi-asf production style to the project that only makes it sound even cooler in my opinion. There’s a punk rock aesthetic that permeates throughout the whole album. I dare you to listen to those dirty guitars in “Garbage Pale Kids” without hard-bopping your head.

Many have complained that Danny’s voice is too quiet and mumbly in the mix but I don’t mind, you just have to work a bit harder to decipher what the fuck he’s saying (pro-tip: it’s prolly about drugs or pu$$y).

Danny’s debut XXX is still one of my favourite hip hop albums of the last 15 years, and although Scaring The Hoes now feels like an amazing outlier among his recent releases, as his Q-Tip produced album from before and his just released Quaranta don’t feel as urgent to me, Danny Brown is still one of the most unique voices in the game.

I’ve always been impressed with Peggy’s music, but also always found it hard to digest an entire album, but thankfully this one just works. Lots to enjoy and jam out to here, from more soul-based beats to spastic crunk shizzz. Check it.

***

Gigi Masin – Wind (The Bear on the Moon)

This album originally came out in 1986, so it’s definitely not a 2023 album, but it’s one that has been on steady rotation since I discovered it this summer. I’ll have to thank the algorithm for this one, because I had never heard of Gigi Masin until I clicked on “Similar Artists” while listening to an album called Light Patterns by David Horridge and Kevin McCormick (more on these guys later).

And as soon as that slow pulse synth beat begins in “Call Me”, I was enraptured. The same synth line is used in the next song “Tears of a Clown” as well, just kicked up a few bpm’s, and it’s even more enveloping.

There’s a meditative quality to this record, while some songs evoke Eno and Budd and New Age, others mix in tenor sax adding an experimental jazz touch. There’s also some definite influence on Aphex’s and BoC synths. After some research, I realized Masin is also in Gaussian Curve, which have two lauded releases out on Music From Memory. He has an enormous discography, so I’ve got loads more to discover, but his debut Wind from 1986 is an absolute quiet stunner and comes highly recommended.

***

Actress – LXXXVIII (Ninja Tune)

Darren Cunningham returns as Actress, with the beguiling LXXXVIII on Ninja Tune. Cunningham’s M.O. hasn’t changed much since Splazsh came out over a decade ago, nor does it need to — he’s still deftly using spliffed out eclectic melodies and piano tinkle melded avec uber hazy beats that skirt with the dance floor as well as your favourite spot on the couch.

Covid made a lame comeback into my entire family’s life this Christmas holiday, and while I was isolating (until we realized it was too late and I’d already spread my holiday cheer to everyone), I pretty much listened to LXXXVIII exclusively — while reading, while finishing up some very late grading, while staring out the window or napping, it was my soundtrack.

The percussion, bass, and subtle melodies are all on point, and I love how the album jumps from beat-based tracks to wide-open ambience. With song titles like “Memory Haze”, “Chill”, “Hit that Spdiff”, and “Green Blue Amnesia Magic Haze”, I think you get a solid sense of where Cunningham is trying to take his listeners. He’s playing here in Montreal at Le Ritz in February and I am ready to experience the haze. Yes!

***

Yves Tumor – Praise A Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) (Warp Records)

Over the course of their last four albums, Yves Tumor has evolved from amorphous noise experiment to full on glam rock star. Although a part of me still yearns for Safe in the Hands of Love era Yves, this is their most accomplished and fun work to date.

Mining the sound of 90’s rock radio, Prince, and MBV, Praise A Lord is ambitious in scope, but what clinches the deal is that it sounds so fantastic. The guitars sound like James Iha is playing side by side with Kevin Shields thanks to the tight as balls production by Noah Goldstein (he’s worked with everyone from Frank Ocean to Bon Iver to Rosàlia). Praise A Lord is probably my most jogged to album of the year.

This is the third time Yves Tumor has made my end of year list and seeing their live show this year was fantastic. I am interested to see which direction they will push the Yves Tumor sound next…

***

HiTech – Détwat

Well, you won’t be able to find this album on your preferred streaming service anymore, thanks to an ugly fallout with FXHE label head Omar-S. You can read about his shitty behaviour here, but suffice to say Omar went from Detroit success story to techno tastemaker to cancelled turd. Bleh.

But no worries, King Milo, Milf Melly, and 47Chops, the three rapper-producers that make up HiTech won’t have any trouble finding a new distributor for their gritty, hilarious, ghettotech party record, Détwat.

Détwat is the trio’s second full-length, and it deftly uses frenetic 808s and a grab bag of crate-deep samples to kick off the raunchiest club night since the heyday of Detroit techno. It reveals the steady evolution of the Detroit sound and showcases some of the freshest artists currently reppin’ the D.

You just have to hear it to believe it, but probably my favourite line from any song this year comes from the aptly-named “POCKETPUSSY”, in which the chorus rings: “I think I might . . . I think I might buy a Fleshlight!”

The lyrics are ratchet, grimy, and funny as f. The beats are spastic, catchy, and designed for booty shaking. This was my second most jogged to album of the year. Only up and upwards for these next-gen Detroit ghettotech heroes . . .

***

Kokoroko – Could We Be More (Brownswood Recordings)

London based, eight-piece jazz crew, Kokoroko, released their debut full-length in 2022 on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label, and I was a little bit late to the party. Glad I made it though, because this band takes me back to my formative undergrad jazz boogie heydays.

The album features Afrobeat, soul, funk, smooth jazz, and highlife all melded into one singular steady ass groove. As a bass player, man, does Kokoroko’s bass player, Duane Atherley know how to hit deep in that smooooth pocket. Not to mention: the horns are so infectious, the guitar and synths absolutely on point, the percussion masterful.

As you may have noticed, my musical tastes are varied, yet what I feel like I stopped listening to the most over the last twenty years is music that made me joyful, or simply made me feel real darn good inside. I was a massive fan of Jamiroquai in their prime, no shame. Why? Because their music made me happy, it had a fat ass groove, Jay Kay’s voice was Stevie and Michael at once, and man, could you ever dance to it.

As a moody indie rock teen, I was a wallflower and shoegazer, too cool to be seen letting my guard down and vulnerably shaking my fat ass. Jamiroquai and acid jazz and hip hop helped bridge the gap to techno and house and all things dance floor. Now, fuck it y’all, the world is my dance floor, and good lord, this old buck’s got some real nice swanging hips! Shiiiit! Watch out! And goddamn, if Kokoroko doesn’t hit that groovy wheelhouse sooo nice.

***

Sault – Untitled (Rise) (Forever Living Originals)

Seems only fitting after Kokoroko to talk about this baby banger, Sault’s 2020 release Untitled (Rise). Sault came out of nowhere in 2019 and put out so many albums in such a short period that I felt overwhelmed. Many friends rec’d one album or another, but I didn’t quite know where to start, so I didn’t bother . . . until 2023.

It was actually the new Little Simz album NO THANK YOU that made me want to check them out, since it’s produced by Inflo, defacto head of Sault. So I sort of randomly chose this album to start. It was evening in the kitchen and opening song “Strong” started and within 30 seconds, my kids Sylvia and Simon, were up and dancing around, and then so was I and Kat.

“Strong” is a truly amazing song. Propulsive bass, Quincy Jones guitars, uplifting vocals, and that marching drum breakdown and kick back into the chorus — oh myyyyy — the kids go bonkers! And ding ding ding, there it is! That joy I’m talking about. Pure simple joy for its own sake. Dancing in the kitchen with my kids while the water for pasta boils over on the stove.

Them simple pleasures are becoming the most meaningful.

And shit, that’s just the first six minutes of the album. The rest is equally just as molten hot. So many grooves and emotions packed tight. This is music for the resistance. Music that says fuck you to racism and fuck you to close-mindedness. Music to move your mind, body, and heart. This is a nod to all the great Black musicians that came before and will come after.

And shit, it’s just one of the 10 albums Sault has released in the last five years. Good heavens, this music is fire.

***

billy woods and Kenny Segal – Maps (Backwoodz Studioz)

billy woods second album collab with LA beatmaker, Kenny Segal, is a high watermark release for him, and my favourite hip hop album of the year. This is old-head shizz for sure, and it’s not an easy listen, but it sounds positively melodic compared to woods’ heavy Armand Hammer release this year with ELUCID.

Kenny Segal’s beats venture from boom-bap to piano looped jazz to dark apocalyptic. The production on “Year Zero” and “Hangman” is so grim it borders on post-fall dystopic (I just coined a new term lol). It makes the beats on El-P’s Fantastic Damage sound like K-pop.

woods’ songs rarely dole out a hook, and his rhymes are often metaphorical and super cerebral. There’s a creeping sense of paranoia throughout. He remains suspicious of many things: of gentrification, technology, our post-pandemic world, of sell-out rappers, and the true intentions of his friends, but he’s a storyteller who creates laser sharp images that ring as clear as any great poet.

On opening track, “Kenwood Speakers” woods is at a dinner party at a neighbour’s newly renovated apartment, drinking “natural wine”, eating a fancy meal with “capers” and “sprigs of thyme”. He keeps turning the music up little by little during the dinner, and whispering “mischievous lies” in the host’s ear all night. And then the song ends with the host’s fate: “I hear they found him in the morning / Hose run from the exhaust pipe.” Fuck yeah. What an opener.

On album closer, “As The Crow Flies”, the song’s last verse ends with woods wondering about mortality, as he pushes his son on the swing at the park, and fast forwards through his thoughts on the trials and worries of fatherhood, and then he anti-climactically mic drops the closing line: “I watch him grow, wondering how long I got to live” as a light and airy jazz piano tinkles softly in the background and the and the album slowly fades out to nothing . . .

Pure class. Listen to all the songs in between those two tracks and see for yourself how damn good Maps really is. Fire guests on here too: Aesop Rock, ELUCID, Quelle Chris, ShrapKnel, and Danny Brown.

***

Kevin McCormick – Sticklebacks (Smiling C Records)

Kevin McCormick put out an album with fellow Manchester musician, David Horridge, called Light Patterns in 1982. It was a quiet success at the time, but slowly disappeared into obscurity. Thanks to Smiling C Records, the album received a much needed repress in 2022 and brought these two musicians back into the light.

2023 sees Smiling C putting out never-released solo material from both McCormick and Horridge, and I enjoy both of their solo albums even more. Sticklebacks consists of a series of bedroom demos McCormick wrote in between 1984-1987, and sheds the acoustic sound of Light Patterns, instead adopting a swelling electric palette to explore different moods. These songs are a shift towards a more sparse and ambient style, and their hazy, repetitive movements create plenty of space for some subtly evocative melodies.

McCormick’s songs are gentle and evoke a feeling of peace, there’s a pastoral countryside motif that runs through his song titles – coves, lakes, mountain tops, church bells, evening drives, and feeling lonely in a crowded room are all inspirations here, as McCormick leans hard on the delay and various sub-octave pedals to make it sound like you’re listening to more than just one guy and his guitar.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to Sticklebacks and David Horridge’s A Journey Within, Wind by Gigi Masin and Surround by Hiroshi Yoshimura as a makeshift playlist while working, reading, and writing this year. The music by these artists basically create my ideal sonic mood — full ambience, a little electronic, a little guitar, deep bass, some synth and soft drone — it all hits my brain cloud jusssssst right.

***

David Horridge – Journey Within (Smiling C Records)

Like McCormick’s Sticklebacks, Journey Within, is David Horridge’s unreleased bedroom studio recordings from 1982. The album is barely a half an hour, but it packs quite an emotional punch as every second of the EP is a gem.

Horridge’s playing comes in the form of well-timed melodies and carefully placed bass lines. Nothing is forced or rushed, and each movement really sits with whatever mood he’s trying to build. The album’s greatest strength is in creating a peaceful, hypnotic vibe that allows for a completely relaxed listen. He really knows how to lay down some great bass in the mix, especially in penultimate track “Dark River”, which may be my favourite song of the year. I just love the way it makes me feel like I’m floating a few inches above myself, and each time the little bass lick comes in it pulls me back down to earth.

There’s a bunch of labels out there like Smiling C, Music From Memory, Light in the Attic, and RVNG Intl, that are exposing modern listeners to a treasure trove of forgotten classics, and for me in 2023, 1982-1987 seems to be my aural sweet spot.

So much absolutely wonderful music coming at me this year from several timelines at once. 2023 had me looking back but also ever ahead, stubbornly optimistic that 2024 — the Year of the Dragon — is going to be consistently exciting and incredibly memorable.

***

VERY HONORABLE AUDIBLES

Aesop Rock – Integrated Test Solutions (Rhymesayers)

Tinashe – BB/ANG3L (Nice Life)

Andy Shauf – Norm (Anti- Records)

Aphex Twin – Blackbox Life Recorder 21f (Warp)

Beach Fossils – Bunny (Bayonet Records)

Kelela – Raven (Warp)

Armand Hammer – We Buy Diabetic Test Strips (Fat Possum)

Natural Wonder Beauty Concept (Mexican Summer)

Little Simz – No Thank You (Forever Living Originals)

Lusine – Long Light (Ghostly International)

Julie Byrne – The Greater Wings (Ghostly International)

Mondo Tempo – Freak Heat Waves (Mood Hut)

***

All right then! We made it to the end! Yesssss! Miss you and love you all. Happy 2024. Be good. Be honest. Be vulnerable. Keep your ears wide open.

xoxo,

Tags:actress lxxxviii, ambient, Andy shauf, awal, best albums 2023, best music 2023, best of 2023, billy woods, danny brown, David horridge, electronic, electronica, forever living originals, ghostly international, Gigi masin, gonubie, hi tech, hip hop, inaudible, jpegmafia, kenny segal, Kevin mccormick, kokoroko, kranky records, laurel halo, little simz, mmmlele, modern classical, montreal, music, mutek montreal, new-music, ninja tune, sault, smiling c records, Sofia kourtesis, sticklebacks, tim hecker, Tinashe, warp records, yves tumor
Posted in electronica, hip hop, music | Leave a Comment »

Yves Tumor at MTELUS in Montreal

May 8, 2023

7 May 2023

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.

Cheers!

Tags:concert review, electronica, inaudible, mmmlele, montreal, mtelus, music, to spite or not to spite tour, warp records, yves tumor, yves tumor montreal
Posted in electronica, music, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

INAUDIBLE’S BEST OF 2022

January 15, 2023

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!

FAVE 22 ALBUMS OF ’22

(click on album title to sample a track)

William Basinski and Janek Schaefer – … on reflection (Temporary Residence)

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.

***

DJ Python – Club Sentimientos, Vol. 2 (Incienso Recordings)

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.

***

Fontaines D.C. – Skinty Fia (Partisan Records)

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.

***

Freddie Gibbs – $oul $old $eparately (Warner)

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.

***

DJ Healer – Nothing 2 Loose (all possible worlds)

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.

***

RAMZi – Hyphea (Music From Memory)

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 of an 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.

***

MAVI – Laughing So Hard, It Hurts (Mavi 4 Mayor)

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?

Fave track: “High John”

***

Romance – Once Upon A Time (Ecstatic)

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.

***

srwn – Saraswatinagar EP (Orion Arm)

There is virtually zero info about srwn online, 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.

Sample a track: “Wagon Pourpre”

***

Yaya Bey – Remember Your North Star (Big Dada)

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…

Track Sample: “alright”

***

JID – The Forever Story (Dreamville/Interscope)

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.

Check: “Crack Sandwich”

***

Bibio – BIB10 (Warp Records)

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.

***

Kenny Beats – Louie (XL Recordings)

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.

Sample Track: “Last Words”

***

Alex Albrecht – A Clearing (Mule Musiq)

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.”

***

Carmen Villain – Only Love From Now On (Smalltown Supersound)

Norwegian-Mexican artist Carmen 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.

***

Alex G – God Save The Animals (Domino Recordings)

Indie darling Alex G is 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.

That’s what good music is all about isn’t it?

***

Sam Prekop and John McEntire – Sons Of (Thrill Jockey Records)

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

***

Leafar Legov – Mirror (Giegling)

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.

***

Cate Le Bon – Pompeii (Mexican Summer)

Yes, it’s true, dream pop heroes Beach House did put out an album in 2022, but for me Cate 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.

Dreamy art pop with a slanted edge. Check it.

Sample: “French Boys”

***

Lord Of The Isles – Whities 029

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.

***

Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers (Top Dawg)

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.

***

HONORABLE AUDIBLES

Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You

Theo Parrish – DJ Kicks

Bad Bunny – Un Verano Sin Ti

Map.ache – So Oder So

Deepchord – Functional Designs

Kokoroko – Could We Be More

Andrew Tuttle – Fleeting Adventure

Danger Mouse & Black Thought – Cheat Codes

FKA twigs – Capri Songs

Beyoncé – Renaissance

Ulla – Hope Sonata

Nala Sinephro – Space 1.8

Jeff Parker – Forfolks and Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy

***

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.

Love ya,

Tags:Alex Albrecht, Alex g, Basinski, Best Albums 2022, Best music 2022, Best of 2022, bibio, Carmen VIllain, Cate Le Bon, Conway The Machine, dj python, electronica, Fontaines DC, freddie gibbs, Giegling, God Save The Animals, inaudible, indie rock, Janek Schaefer, JID, kendrick lamar, Leafar Legov, Lord of the Isles, MAVI, mmmlele, mule musiq, RAMZi, Sam Prekop, smalltown supersound, srwn, Un Verano Sin Ti, warp records, Whities 029, Yaya Bey
Posted in electronica, hip hop, music, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

INAUDIBLE’S BEST OF 2020

January 2, 2021

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.

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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.

Fave track: “Something to Rap About” with Tyler, the Creator

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Auscultation – III (100% Silk)

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.

Check out: “Glowing Hearts in the Rainbow Room”

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Caribou – Suddenly (Merge Records)

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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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”

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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.

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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)

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Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats – UNLOCKED (Loma Vista)

(8 tracks, 18 minutes, hits hard working that classic boom bap throwback style)

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Aesop Rock – Spirit World Field Guide (Rhymesayers)

(Aesop’s most ambitious and joyous clusterfuck of an album, lots to love here)

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White Poppy – Paradise Gardens (Not Not Fun)

(Dreamy, hazy, afternoon daze pop, done right)

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Oneohtrix Point Never – Magic OPN (Warp Records)

(Daniel Lopatin’s most accessible OPN record yet)

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Earth Boys – Earth Tones (Shall Not Fade)

(Dub techno & deep house with tongue-in-cheek vocals and plenty of sax-a-ma-phone)

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Bibio – Sleep On The Wing (Warp Records)

(Bibio keeps up his hot streak and folk tendencies with another lovely collection)

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Sam Prekop – Comma (Thrill Jockey)

(Sea and Cake frontman ventures into techno for this solo album, beautiful rich synths)

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DJ Lostboi and Torus – The Flash (Queeste)

(Float away on DJ Lostboi’s soundclouds, inspiring morning music)

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The Phantasy – Ibiza Pt.I

(Goddamn, this makes me miss the dancefloor! Killer techno and house tunes from the Prince)

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Why Bonnie – Voice Box EP (Fat Possum)

(Indie pop that sounds like 1992 and Tusk era Fleetwood Mac, no complaints here)

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Route 8 – Rewind The Days of Youth (Lobster Theremin)

(Route 8 just keeps on getting better at writing classic house and techno jams)

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Mac Miller – Circles (Warner)

(An artist that was clearly still coming into his own, RIP)

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And an unfortunate last minute RIP to Viktor Vaughn aka MF DOOM aka King Geedorah aka Metal Face Terrorist

Well, shit, here we are. Welcome to 2021 y’all, let’s move on and cautiously, carefully put all the shit piles in the rearview.

Fingers optimistically crossed.

Cheers and love,

Tags:adrianne lenker, auscultation, best albums of 2020, best of 2020, bibio sleep on the wing, caribou, freddie gibbs, inaudible, kmru, kmru peel, lobster theremin, mmmlele, nthng, oddissee, pure x, route 8, shinichi atobe, the phantasy, ulla, ulla straus, warp records, why bonnie, yves tumor
Posted in electronica, hip hop, music, Words | Leave a Comment »

INAUDIBLE’S TOP 15 of 2019

December 18, 2019

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Another year, another big fat list! Hello to all, and welcome to INAUDIBLE’s 11th annual end of year list extravaganza!

Without further ado, in stunning alphabetical order!

INAUDIBLE’S FAVE RECORDS OF 2019

Bibio – Ribbons (Warp Records)

Stephen Wilkinson’s Bibio project has been shape-shifting for a decade now – from folktronica to glitch hop to yacht rock to ambient drone with many other deviations in between. But with Ribbons, Wilkinson leans heavily on the pastoral folk stylings of his earliest work, while somehow combining almost every genre he’s tipped his hat to in the past ten years. The result is a standout album from an already strong discography.

Some tracks even have an almost Celtic feel to them with subtle fiddles amongst his relaxed finger-picking. While listening to this record, my daughter Sylvia would do an almost mournful jig to “It’s Your Bones” and “Patchouli May”, swaying back and forth to a rhythm she didn’t even know she had yet.

Ribbons is a record that has continually made me wistful throughout 2019, and Bibio has appeared on 5 of 11 of INAUDIBLE’s lists. More please!

Diiv – Deceiver (Captured Tracks)

Goddamn, when the first three new Diiv singles came out ahead of the full album I could not get enough of them. Zachary Cole Smith et al. had done it again! But this time instead of leeching inspiration from The Cure, mbv, and dream pop jangle, they expertly mined the post-rock underground heroes that ceaselessly played in my 1990’s Shockwave Discman. Versus, Polvo, Seam, Eric’s Trip, June of 44! Even some Sonic Youth and Gish-era Pumpkins thrown in for good measure.

Deceiver hit my nostalgia button harder than any album possibly ever has, and the guitars are perfectly recorded.

Have a listen to “Blankenship” here.

DJ Python – Derretirse EP (Dekmantel)

Brian Piñeyro aka DJ Python released the excellent Derretirse this year on Dekmantel. I don’t really know what deep reggaeton means, but that’s what everyone is calling this set of lush 110 bpm, Artificial Intelligence era electronica.

Piñeyro skillfully taps into the vibe of so many early IDM records, and creates a mix of beauty, nostalgia, and melancholy. A little Boards of Canada here, a dash of Speedy J, and Autechre to match, yet it still feels very fresh and new, and the bass, oh yeah, it’s deep and heady.

Check it out here!

Fennesz – Agora (Touch Records)

If I had to pick my overall favourite record in 2019, I think it would have to be Agora. It is by far my most listened to album of the year. It was the soundtrack to my early morning commutes all of last spring and still gets steady rotation.

It’s 4 tracks, all of them about 10 minutes each, and all of them creating their own perfect little sonic mindfucks — but they’re gentle and pleasing. Often when people think of Fennesz, they may think harsh, grating, too experimental, but Agora is smooth, calm, and blissful, featuring rich synthsizers and great guitar distortion.

And guess what? Rich synths and processed guitars is a combination that truly works for this guy right here! One reviewer likened the guitars in “We Trigger The Sun” to the moody chords found on The Cure’s Disintegration — and Agora definitely creates a similar vibe.

I was lucky enough to see Fennesz play during Montreal’s excellent noise festival, Suoni Per Il Popolo, and he had my entire body vibrating and floating around the venue for the duration of his set. It was amazing and intense and the work of a real master of the genre.

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Bandana (Keep Cool)

This’ll make it 5 times on INAUDIBLE’s list for Gangsta Gibbs. He and Madlib rejoin forces to try and outdo the heights they set with their 2014 collab, Piñata, and pretty much make good on it. While it may not have the instant classic feel of their first album, Bandana still offers up a one-two punch from the duo.

Madlib is at his most sonically gritty and Gibbs at his most lyrically introspective here. Guest turns from Pusha T, Killer Mike, Yasiin Bey, Anderson .Paak, and Black Thought help add a little extra flow to the album, but the best part is that they all sound like they’re having a damn good time making damn good music. Crime Pays!

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Helado Negro – This Is How You Smile (RVNG Intl)

Robert Carlos Lange has been recording as Helado Negro for close to a decade, but This Is How You Smile is the first record of his I’ve ever listened to. Leaving his experimental predilections behind, Smile is a modern day folk record, echoing Devendra Banhart’s Mala, yet with a uniqueness all its own.

Songs alternate seamlessly from English to Spanish and there’s a playfulness to the whole album that’s had me returning to again and again all year. Tracks like “Fantasma Vega” and “Running” showcase Lange’s strengths as a songwriter, while penultimate track “Two Lucky” shows how a simple guitar lick and great vocals can make a song so meaningful.

I missed him at this year’s Mile Ex End Music Fest, but hope he comes back to town in 2020. Great record!

Jai Paul – He/Do You Love Her Now (XL Recordings)

These two songs were mined from Jai Paul‘s infamously leaked recording sessions of 2013. They were never heard until now and may be the best songs he’s ever written. It’s hard to compare to the fantastic leaked record now that so much time has passed, but these two songs are sensual slowburn jams that you can play over and over and over.

In fact, my good friend Stew has played “He” over 400 times this year! Give it a listen and decide whether Stew is insane or just has wicked taste in music!

Kanye West – Jesus is King (Def Jam)

I dunno, maybe it’s because I grew up on Jesus Christ Superstar and going to Midnight mass every Christmas or something, because I think Jesus is King is fire.

Kanye’s whole second baptism might be weirdly dogmatic and a bit ridiculous, and of course, there’s still some cringe-worthy lyrics here — “Chick Fil-A” anyone? But I can dig this new side of Yeezy. Which is surprising since I was oh sooo ready to leave him in the dust after the woefully depressing and disappointing Ye.

Now send me some free Yeezy crocs and let’s walk on water together in 2020.

Loscil – Equivalents (Kranky)

I’ve seen Scott Morgan perform as Loscil four times now, but nothing could compare to his set at Place-des-Arts as part of this year’s Mutek festival. Huge theatre, huge visuals, massive sound.

Playing tracks off Equivalents, Morgan had the packed crowd in an uneasy meditative trance. The monochromatic visuals pulsed in perfect sync to the music, and the concert effortlessly showed us why he is so critically adored.

This is Loscil’s fourth time on an INAUDIBLE list. And in case Equivalents isn’t enough for 2019, he also just released Lifelike, which is the soundtrack to an Austrian video game, and as with all his music, is just as easy to get lost in.

Loscil is prolific and humble. A true talent. Go buy all of his records right now please.

Pan American – A Son (Kranky)

Mark Nelson has been making music for 25 years now, both with his revered post-rock group Labradford, and under his Pan American moniker.

As Pan American, Nelson has flirted with ambience, drone, dub and minimal techno, but with his first release in six years, he brings it back full-circle using the guitar as the album’s languid centrepiece, book-ended with a little dulcimer, and featuring his muted yet haunting voice. The result is an emotionally powerful album that creates a quietly somber mood that completely washes over you.

It is definitely his most mature album to date. Songs about trains, family, and fading memories are delivered in Nelson’s whisper-sing style, amidst a spare assembly of unfussy guitar and muted electronics. It’s an album that is sure to be overlooked, but one that should be essential.

Perfect for snowy candlelit nights, lying on the floor with a glass of Scotch. Check it out here.

Project Pablo – Sofware EP (VMP)

2019 for Patrick Holland aka Project Pablo was one heck of a breakout year! He released three stellar records – Low Wings and Sofware on his own imprint, Verdicchio Music, as well as, the excellent Inside Unsolved on the revered Ghostly label. And if that wasn’t enough, he just dropped his live set from this year’s edition of Mutek. Any one of these releases could be on this list all by itself.

Project Pablo has truly developed a sound all his own, and is making a name for himself as one of Montreal’s finest electronic artists! Go see him live in your city!

Skee Mask – 808BB and ISS004 (Ilian Tape)

Last year’s excellent Compro is still on rotation over here, and Skee Mask has dropped two excellent EP’s this year to boot.

Ending the 2010’s on a high note, Skee Mask’s two records, 808BB and ISS004 are both victory laps, and subtle showcases that Bryan Müller is just getting fired up.

These tunes show us that he’s ready to start the 2020’s on the dancefloor. “Trackheadz” is a bona fide club banger, while “RZZ” is like a classic Burial track at 140 bpm. But he hasn’t lost any of that heady spliffed-out goodness here either, so if you want you can sink into your couch, close your eyes, and imagine yourself on the dancefloor instead. Both options will work jusssst fine.

Toro Y Moi – Outer Peace (Carpark Records)

It’s true, I have a man crush on Chaz Bear. How could I not? His smile is just so darn infectious. Almost as infectious as the bass line on “Ordinary Pleasure”.

Toro Y Moi’s discography, like Bibio’s, is restless in its varied style. Chaz has been the harbinger of chillwave, he’s tried out disco, crunchy guitar rock, deep ambience, and more. But with Outer Peace he returns to the lo-fi funk of 2011’s Underneath the Pine, adds a little steady 4/4, and has crafted his sunniest and most fun album to date.

It’s pure summer driving music. Windows down, arm hanging out the window like the tounge of a thirsty dog, sunglasses and infectious smile of your own, as you head bob to them grooooooves. Love it.

Oh and check out the filmed in Montreal video for “New House”.

Tyler, the Creator – IGOR (Columbia)

Tyler, the Creator showed us he was more than a punk ass kid with 2017’s Flower Boy and he has only continued to grow with IGOR, his strongest collection of music to date. While Tyler has always been chameleonic, on IGOR his restlessness feels like a conscious choice, not merely the jittering impatience of a young star looking to explore new sounds.

This confidence allows him to resist being tied down to any one identity, be it musically or sexually. Young T has grown up and has caused a quiet “Earfquake” with the kaleidoscopic IGOR. Let’s keep it rollin’.

William Basinski – On Time Out Of Time (Temp Res)

The last song on William Basinski’s cosmic new album, “4(E+D)4(ER=EPR)”, is my most listened to song of 2019, according to the music streaming data makers. And William Basinski’s music has been playing out as a soundtrack to my life for many a moon now.

He’s been on INAUDIBLE’s list 5 times in a decade and will most likely only continue to find his way there. 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, think deeply on the past, and excitedly about the future.

Yes! Made it! Check out these other fine releases below as well!

Love you and thanks for reading (all three of you)!

2020 comin’ y’all! Let’s fly.

HONORABLE AUDIBLES

Danny Brown – U Know What I’m Sayin? (Warp)
Corridor – Junior (Sub Pop)
CFCF – Liquid Colours (BGM Solutions)
Deerhunter – Why Hasn’t Everything…? (4AD)

JPEGMAFIA – All My Heroes… (Universal)
Malibu – One Life (Joyful Noise)
Sandro Perri – Soft Landing (Constellation Records)
Andre Bratten – Pax Americana (Smalltown Supersound)

R.I.P. David Berman (1967-2019)

Tags:808BB, andre bratten, best albums 2019, best music 2019, best of 2019, bibio, captured tracks, carpark, dekmantel, diiv deceiver, dj python, fennesz, fennesz agora, helado negro, igor, ilian tape, jai paul, kranky records, loscil, loscil mutek, malibu one life, mmmlele, montreal, mutek, outer peace, pan american, project pablo, RVNG, sandro perri, skee mask, suoniperilpopolo, toro y moi, toro y moi new house, verdicchio, warp records, william basinski
Posted in electronica, music | Leave a Comment »

INAUDIBLE’S BEST OF 2018

December 18, 2018

Hello everyone and welcome to the 10th edition of INAUDIBLE’s end of year to-do list!

For a limited time, check it out in stunning alphabetical order!

INAUDIBLE’s TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2018

1. Amen Dunes – Freedom (Sacred Bones)

I saw Amen Dunes live at Le Ritz in Montreal and the show made me love the album even more. It sounds like the sum of its numerous rock and roll influences, but Freedom, is still unassumingly a style all its own.

Such a great record! “Believe” is one of my favourite songs of the year.

2. Aphex Twin – Collapse EP (Warp Records)

It’s nice to know that even after 100 years, Richard D. James is still an innovator. These songs sound fresh and joyful, and mang oh mang, do they bump in dem headphones.

Check out the “Collapse” video here.

3. bblisss – Various Artists (bblisss records)

Although technically not a 2018 release, this gem was released as a cassette in 2016, and finally pressed to vinyl this year. This is the best ambient compilation I have heard in a long time.

It features gorgeous tracks from Pendant (aka Huerco S.), DJ Paradise (aka uon), and Naemi. It easily rivals the very finest of Kompakt’s long-running Pop Ambient series. This album will be on rotation for years to come.

4. Benoit Pioulard – Slow Spark, Soft Spoke (Dauw Records)

Again, not a 2018 release (it came out in ’17), however, this was the album I played at the hospital while my girlfriend was in labour. It will be forever connected with the birth of my daughter Sylvia, and that absolutely incredible and surreal night (and day! and year!).

Slow Spark is calming and drony and beautiful. Pioulard seems to be able to make lo-fi ambient music with ease and grace, as he also released the equally as chill, Lignin Poise in 2017 too.

5. bvdub – Drowning in Daylight (Apollo Records)

This album is Brock Van Wey‘s 31st full-length! He is beyond prolific. I can’t say I’ve listened to even 1/3 of his output, but Drowining in Daylight has been on consistent rotation since it was released in September. The addition of beats to his ambient soundscapes brings his music to a whole new level.

6. The Internet – Hive Mind (Columbia Records)

Even after a Grammy win, I still think they have one of the worst band names around. Nevertheless, Syd and her crew have re-purposed funk and R&B slow-jams for the kids. I saw them play live at Metropolis in December and the band brought it — Syd smiling and hamming it up for the crowd, and Steve and Patrick were tight as hell on guitar and bass. Really fun show and a great album with some next level low-end bass lines.

Check out da funk right here.

7. The Sea and Cake – Any Day (Thrill Jockey Records)

As I said earlier with AFX, it’s amazing that after 100 years, The Sea and Cake are still releasing consistently fine records. Yes, you definitely know what you’re gonna get with a Sea and Cake record, but it’s surprising how enjoyable their albums always seem (at least to me).

They’ve been one of my fave bands for close to 75 years, so I’m able to just slip into their familiar sound instantaneously. Still, I’d argue that Any Day is their strongest album in a cool decade.

8. Shinichi Atobe – Heat (DDS Records)

Cult legend, Shinichi Atobe does indeed bring the mafuckin’ heat with this collection of stripped down, bare-bones techno. Like Omar S, Atobe serves his techno straight-up, no fuckery, and builds his songs from the bottom up until they are bursting with subtle grooves. This is my fave record to date from this mysterious producer. More hand claps please!

Listen: “So Good So Right 2”

9. Skee Mask – Compro (Ilian Tape)

The music nerds are calling this one a future classic, and I think they are absolutely right. Compro’s sound is already timeless and it’s real easy to get swept into its world of beats, glitches, grooves, and low-end bass.

Listen: “50 Euro to Break Boost”

10. Yves Tumor – Safe In The Hands Of Love (Warp Records)

No album felt as thrilling upon first few listens, than Yves Tumor’s Safe In The Hands Of Love. I called it emo-thrash-tronica at one point, and think it’s fitting.

It’s punk rock in a world where rock and roll is long dead. It can be gentle and moving at one moment, and then chaotic and challenging the next. “Licking an Orchid” and “Lifetime” are two incredible songs that grow with each listen, and the entire record is chock full of earworms and an (un)healthy wall of fuzzzz.

HONOURABLE AUDIBLES (click album titles to sample a track)

Freddie Gibbs – Freddie (ESGN Records)
Theory of Movement – Theory of Movement (Duke’s)
Anthony Naples – Take Me With You (ANS Records)
Loidis – A Parade, In the Place I Sit… (anno Records)
Steve Hauschildt – Dissolvi (Ghostly International)
Galcher Lustwerk – 200% (Lustwerk Music)

Quick and to the point. Happy 2019 tout le monde! Cheers, ml.

Tags:amen dunes, aphex twin, bblisss, benoit pioulard, best albums 2018, best of 2018, bvdub, compro, drowning in daylight, freddie gibbs, hive mind, inaudible, mmmlele, sea and cake, shinich atobe, skee mask, warp records, yves tumor
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Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest

April 30, 2013

Yep it’s finally happening: Boards of Canada have announced they will release their fourth full-length album courtesy of Warp Records – eight long years after the wistful The Campfire Headphase in 2005. After spending the last week transmitting codes on special 12″s, YouTube videos, warped audio clips, and even on TV, Michael Sandison’s and Marcus Eoin’s cryptic message ended up being a grainy clip of VHS static and synth drones, which arrived the same day as the details of its 17-track Tomorrow’s Harvest LP. The forthcoming album is now available for pre-order via Bleep, and official release date is June 10th.

Judging by the music on the clip and the names of the tracks, this looks like it’s going to be a dark and foreboding album. Anticipation begins…

TRACKLIST
01 Gemini
02 Reach For The Dead
03 White Cyclosa
04 Jacquard Causeway
05 Telepath
06 Cold Earth
07 Transmisiones Ferox
08 Sick Times
09 Collapse
10 Palace Posy
11 Split Your Infinities
12 Uritual
13 Nothing Is Real
14 Sundown
15 New Seeds
16 Come To Dust
17 Semena Mertvykh

Tags:boards of canada, boards of canada tomorrows harvest, june 10, mmmlele, tomorrow's harvest, warp records
Posted in electronica, music | Leave a Comment »

Grizzly Bear at L’Olympia in Montreal

September 29, 2012

23 September 2012

Warp Records recording artist and indie-rock darlings Grizzly Bear, returned to Montreal after five years to close out the POP Montreal Festival in style, and played to a jam-crammed and delighted crowd at The Olympia Theatre. Showcasing tracks from their brand new album Shields, interspersed with hits from their acclaimed earlier work, the Brooklyn quartet revealed why they are one of the most revered bands in the “indie” world – playing their challenging compositions with ease, switching instruments mid-song when needed, and delivering strong and near pitch-perfect vocal performances throughout.

Their stage show was simple yet effective – the band set up in a line on stage and with the help of excellent lighting as a backdrop (18 jellyfish-like lanterns flashing and moving in sync with the music), they created a fitting mood for the duration of their hour-long set.

As they began with “Speak in Rounds” from Shields, I was immediately pulled in, but started having a strange sensation that it sounded almost too good, that there would be no variation from recorded material to live performance, and that I could simply close my eyes and not be able to tell the difference between the two. However, as the lanterns slowly rose from the subterranean depths of the murky sea, and they played Shields opener “Sleeping Ute”, varying the tempo a bit and adding an extra vocal hook I began to truly get sucked in, and by the time they started “Yet Again”, I was one of the converts, not caring that I was a little too far back from the stage than I liked and couldn’t quite feel the sound reverberating through my body. It didn’t matter, Grizzly Bear came to perform and did so like true professionals.

Highlights for me included “Shift”, which was perfectly rendered live, “Foreground”, which with the help of sombre lighting was incredibly powerful, “While You Wait For The Others”, and “Ready, Able”, which are two of my faves from “Veckatimest”, “Gun-Shy”, which the more I listen to is becoming a fave on Shields, and of course the closing track “Sun in Your Eyes“, an eight-minute opus that has hints of theatre and prog and is arguably the band’s best example to date of their overall sound. Just great.

As I’ve said before here on INAUDIBLE, any time a Warp Records artist comes to play in your town, you are wise not to miss them, because you can be assured it’s gonna be tops. Check out Shields if you haven’t yet, as it will surely be on countless end of year lists, including mine. Peace.

SET LIST
1. Speak in Rounds
2. Adelma
3. Sleeping Ute
4. Cheerleader
5. Lullabye
6. Yet Again
7. Little Brother
8. Shift
9. Gun-Shy
10. Ready, Able
11. A Simple Answer
12. Foreground
13. While You Wait For The Others
14. Two Weeks
15. Half Gate
16. Sun In Your Eyes
–Encore–
17. Knife
18. On A Neck, On A Spit

* photo courtesy of Mateusz Garbulinski (from their show at Massey Hall in Toronto)

Tags:concert review, grizzly bear, grizzly bear live, grizzly bear montreal, mmmlele, olympia theatre, pop montreal, shields, warp records
Posted in music | 1 Comment »

Bibio – Mind Bokeh (Warp)

April 6, 2011

For Juno Records

When Ambivalence Avenue came out in 2009, I quipped that this was a new and invigorated Bibio — Bibio 2.0 — an artist finally stepping out of the BoC meets folktronica shadow that both propelled and pigeonholed his sound. Ambivalence was exciting, fresh, and a solid leap forward for UK producer Steven Wilkinson.

Now, Wilkinson has returned, hot off the heels of his lauded breakout album on Warp, with Mind Bokeh. The new album carries much the same tone as Ambivalence, combining playful vintage melodies and summer-fuelled beats — but it also sees him venturing even further out of his folky-comfort zone and pushing into new sonic territory. Wilkinson’s vocals are more prominent in the mix this time around, and with “Take off your Shirt”, he tries his hand at Phoenix-style pop, using a chunky riff and cheesy lyrics with the hopes of creating a summer banger. And to be sure, it stands in stark contrast to the rest of the album, yet what may initially sound jarring ends up being a decent track after a few listens. “K for Kelson”, on the other hand, is a definite winner, seeing Wilkinson try his ear at “tropical robot pop”, and crafting an infectious poolside hit.

Other tracks see him revisiting the styles that became his trademark on Ambivalence Avenue. “Light Sleep” for example works the funk vibe in similar fashion to “Jealous of Roses”, and “More Excuses” sounds like an extension to “All the Flowers”. “Artists’ Valley”, works a crunchy Fly Lo beat and a smooth bass line outro, that’s perfect for bobbing your head during more ‘chilled out’ moments. The title track is a wandering blurry soundscape, reminiscent of BoC, and closer “Saint Christopher” may indeed be the album’s best track, featuring a light 4/4 beat and high-hat shuffle driving three interweaving guitar lines for six beautiful minutes. It’s brilliant production and a great outro to the album, and perhaps a sign of even further sonic evolutions.

The term ‘bokeh’ comes from the Japanese and has to do with staring at the out of focus areas in a photographic image; Wilkinson attempts to do this with your ears and mind, and for the most part, he succeeds. With Mind Bokeh we see Wilkinson reworking the best moments of Ambivalence Avenue and trying out a few new styles as well. It’s not a full leap forward, but Bibio 2.5 has got it going on.

Tags:ambivalence avenue, artist's valley, bibio, bibio mind bokeh, hip hop, k for kelson, mind bokeh, mmmlele, steven wilkinson, warp records
Posted in electronica, music | Leave a Comment »

Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma (Warp Records)

May 3, 2010

For Juno Records

Warp Records genre-bending producer extraordinaire, Flying Lotus (née Steven Ellison), returns with the follow up to his highly successful and oft imitated Los Angeles with Cosmogramma — arguably the most anticipated electronic album of 2010. And from the opening seconds of first track “Clock Catcher”, it quickly becomes evident that Fly Lo is working on a whole new level of ‘next shit’ here. This may throw some listeners for a loop at first, however, after a couple of listens you’ll begin to understand exactly why Fly Lo has described the album as his “space opera”.

The obvious stylistic difference with Cosmogramma is that it adopts a jazzier feel to it, rather than the fragmented hip-hop of Los Angeles and 1983. Its closest reference point seems to be the stuff a later Miles and Trane would have made if they had access to the technology. The album is definitively out there, and will no doubt be just as railed against as highly lauded by the critics because of this. But for this listener, it’s a fantastically heady album with amazing beats, funked-out basslines (at times reminiscent of Squarepusher), and smooth jazz breaks, and overall it comes across as a much more personal recording for Ellison, as he attempts to tap into his family’s rich musical roots.

Fly Lo is nephew to Alice Coltrane, wife of John, and a highly accomplished jazz musician in her own right (check her out if you never have), and Auntie Alice’s influence is in the forefront here, as he samples her playing the harp, and her son Ravi playing the saxophone throughout. His collab with Thom Yorke is fine, and will no doubt be deemed a highlight, yet tracks like “Zodiac S**t”, “MmmHmm”, “Do The Astral Plane”, and “Recoiled” are major hitters on the record, and all so very different stylistically, you just gotta hear it to believe it. The album ends with “Galaxy in Janaki”, his most hip-hop track on the album, yet instead of it being a dark and ominous closer, it features a swirling symphony, frenetic bass, and seems charged with a bright optimism for the future evolution of his sound. Next shit indeed.

Check it.

Tags:cosmogramma, fly lo, flying lotus, mmmlele, warp records
Posted in electronica, hip hop, music | 2 Comments »

INAUDIBLE

Posts Tagged ‘warp records’

INAUDIBLE’S BEST OF 2023

Yves Tumor at MTELUS in Montreal

INAUDIBLE’S BEST OF 2022

INAUDIBLE’S BEST OF 2020

INAUDIBLE’S TOP 15 of 2019

INAUDIBLE’S BEST OF 2018

Boards of Canada – Tomorrow’s Harvest

Grizzly Bear at L’Olympia in Montreal

Bibio – Mind Bokeh (Warp)

Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma (Warp Records)

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