Not a top ten list, but just some stuff that rocked my world last year
(some released in previous years).
1. Boxhead Ensemble: Dutch Harbor (official soundtrack), Last Place to
Go, and Niagara Falls EP (Atavistic). The stunning beauty of
improvisational abstraction, open and spacious, moody and stark. This
is the music that I hear in my head when I think of how I would like to
compose music. If it is possible to have a "soulmate" of music, this is
it.
2. Everything But the Girl: Temperamental (Atlantic). This joins their
Amplified Heart on my desert island list. A nearly perfect collection
of head-nodding, body-moving, sophisticated music of nuance that draws
from and subverts the pop genre. Ben Watt's and Tracy Thorne's
impeccable songwriting comes to full melancholic life with Tracy's
hauntingly beautiful voice. Ben's programming has matured and evolved
after years of submersion into house and jungle as a DJ; what has come
out the other side is indeed intelligent dance music. This is music
about the night and the city, the dark flipside of nightlife and club
culture, longing and regret. Most of this album joins Massive Attack's
"Euro Zero Zero" (remix), Rockers Hi-Fi's "Going Under," and
Tindersticks' "Ballad of Tindersticks" in the musical subculture of
nightlife disillusionment and sadness. A classic.
3. Labradford: E Luxo So (Kranky). Hypnotic and sparse spacerock with a
touch of glitchy rhythm programming. Along with Mi Media Naraja (1997)
and Pracision (1993) (and several others I've yet to get), this band is
another of my muses. Even better live.
4. Shuttle 358: Optimal LP (12K) and Tomas Jirku: Immaterial (No Type).
Both works prove that talented artists can take the conventions of IDM,
ambient, and minimal techno and create music that is innovative,
engaging, and substantial.
5. Richie Hawtin: Decks EFX & 909 (M-nus). Despite Hawtin's clever but
erroneous decision to include the Nitzer Ebb track, this is the closest
thing I've heard yet to being a perfect DJ mix. If his own music
weren't evidence enough, this selection proves that Hawtin understands
and embodies the timelessness and purity of minimal techno better than
anyone.
6. Stewart Walker: Stabiles (Force Inc/Mille Plateaux). Walker succeeds
in his attempt to make a musical equivalent of Alexander Calder's
mobiles by crafting a dialectic of structure and skin, meat and air,
repetition and transformation.
7. various 12" releases on Chain Reaction by Vladislav Delay, Fluxion,
Helical Scan, Vainqueur, et al; and various stuff (Ernst/female names)
by T. Brinkmann. I like what's happening with the elements of minimal
techno by these folks. Repetitive, funky, complex, droney, submerged, a
touch of quirkiness.
8. Pole LP1 and LP 2. I'm always wary of music billed under the
oft-misused term "dub," and am often disappointed at the results of
those attempting to work in this genre (much of Bill Laswell's work
comes to mind). Stefan Betke's crackly take on dub conventions works
well for me. Hard to incorporate into my DJ sets, so I bought the CDs
and listen to them at work, favoring the second over the first.
9. Lots of dub: Rhythm & Sound/Burial Mix: various 10" releases. I have
three, and play them into the ground (the "version" sides, of course).
King Tubby Meets Lee Perry: forgot the title, but chock full o' classic
roots dub. Crooklyn Dub Consortium: Certified Dope volume 2
(Wordsound). Ah, I'm such a sucker for the illbient thing. Too bad
about the negative reaction to the name 'illbient' itself, because I
believe very good stuff was made under this umbrella: early DJ Spooky,
early We, Byzar, Liminal, et al. Sigh.
10. Gas: Konigsforst (Mille Plateaux). This record has become a staple
in my DJ sets. I've just picked up Sturm's _Sturmgesten_ and found out
that my order for Sturm's self-titled 2x12 is now in at my local record
shop. Woohoo! Hooray for the low end of the sonic spectrum!
11. Snd: Makesnd Cassette, and Thomas P. Heckmann: Raum (Mille
Plateaux). Nice clicky clacky stuff from Snd and heavy drone+pulse from
Heckmann. I often pair the two in my sets, beatmatched, a nice mix.
12. Pan American: Quarry EP (k-raa-k)3 and the self titled LP on
Kranky. Side project of Mark Nelson from Labradford, very ambient and
dubby and spacious and hypnotic. Apparently a new LP called _360
Business/360 Bypass_ will be out this year (in the U.S. on Kranky and in
the UK on Mute/Blast First!)--can't wait.
13. Low: Immune/I Remember 7 (Tugboat) and just about everything else
by them. As lo-fi and moody and sad as it gets. Heavy sigh.
14. Transient Waves: Sonic Narcotic (Fat Cat). A must-have ambient
album, with subtle drones and washes of sound. A staple in my set that
I have to take care not to overplay.
15. Kit Clayton: Nik Senalek (~scape). Still a bit too new (for me) to
discuss, but I enjoy his take on the experimental dub thing.
16. Godspeed You Black Emperor!: f#a#(infinity symbol) and Slow Riot for
New Zero Kanada (Kranky). Epic spacerock at its finest: with spacious
ambience and lonesome strings and cowboy/spaghetti western guitar and
dramatic wall-of-sound crescendos. Quite a spectacle as a live act, as
well.
17. Spain, She Haunts My Dreams (Restless). Pure, irresistable pop
bliss.
Lots more, including an EP by World of Apples; a compilation from Japan
called Atomic Weight, with tracks by Dumb Type; new EP from So Cal indie
hip hop crew Shapeshifters; reissue of So Cal indie hip hop compilation
Beneath the Surface; the Fat Cat compilation Across Uneven Terrain; the
Mille Plateaux compilations; and IMO the best website for DJ sets (alas,
no IDM sets and only one ambient DJ, Dan Foley) Groovetech:
http://www.groovetech.com).
A very good year for music, infinitely more than I was able to keep up
with. I will always be doomed to merely scratching the surface of the
iceberg of good music out there. Thanks to everyone on the lists who
put so much effort into posting discographies, pointing out websites,
announcing new releases, making comparisions, writing blurbs and
reviews. As one who primarily lurks, I really appreciate it.
G.
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