Best Tracks of 2015 - Part 2

Following on from part one, here are some fantastic tunes that just missed out on the top spots. Running down from #40-21.

40. Jack J – Thirstin’ [Future Times]

While it may not be edged with the same melancholy as last year’s anthem, Jack J’s Future Times outing had all the ingredients for summer killer: effortlessly lazy vibes, an irresistible groove, milky keys and a catchy vocal line.

39. Unknown Artist – A Jazz Thing [Uniile]

While it may not be worth the extortionate prices currently on discogs, new label Uniile delivered the finest anonymous release of the year from a young French artist. All four tracks are fire, but the undisputed highlight is this low-slung jazzy number which strolls by with a seedy sax and a heaving reggae bassline.

38. Florian Kupfer – Discotag [WT Records]

The best thing Kupfer’s put out since Feelin, this slice of techno is both spare and raucous. A funky vocal struts out over a tunnelling acid workout to destructive effect.

37. The Galleria feat. Jessy Lanza – Mezzanine [Environ]

Alongside her solo work, Jessy Lanza put out a stunning series of guest vocalist spots in 2015, most notably with legend Morgan Geist on freestyle project The Galleria. Lanza’s voice flexes with pure-pop allure atop Geist’s titanium electro skeleton. This is how pop music should sound.

36. Porn Sword Tobacco – Kristallisering [Aniara]

PST made his name on a series of experimental/ IDM albums in the late 2000’s, but the past couple of years his sound has been refined and reborn on Kontra-Musik and with the trendy SVN crew. Kristallisering is one of his most appealing cuts to date, a breezy piano riff fluttering over a taut electro snap, a composition of air and joy.

35. Rita Furstenhof – Hadron Collider [Optimo Music]

This one seems to have flown under everyone’s radars. Out in September on JD Twitch’s reliable Glaswegian outpost, this is electro at its soaring zenith, with a cheeky malfunctioning breakdown and an unashamedly epic synth motif.

34. Matthew Herbert – Earthenware [Concrete Music]

Herbert may have put out an album this year, but our favourite cut of his in 2015 was this melodic house tune buried on a V/A release from Parisian clubnight Concrete. A sawtooth bassline and bright keys give way to a genuinely moving breakdown, fusing jazz and house as only Herbert can.

33. Hodge – I Don’t Recognise You Lately [Hemlock]

Any number of Hodge’s excellent techno/grime hybrids could have made our 2015 list, but it was this oddly subdued cut that ultimately impressed us most. By dialling down the energy Hodge makes the listener focus on the little things: that haunting glockenspiel melody, garbled voices and washes of static, a spare rhythm and near-constant bass pressure.

32. Paranoid London - Lovin U (Ahh Shit) With DJ Genesis [Paranoid London]

The debut album from this all-analog crew was as uncompromising as acid gets, yet firmly floor-focused. One tough-as-nails throwback acid workout. One ethereal synth melody. One fiery diva vocal. Built up, broken down. What more could you ask for?

31. Hunee – Rare Happiness [Rush Hour]

Deep at the heart of Hunee’s lush debut on Rush Hour was this aptly-titled gem, which wriggles infectiously around a clipped vocal, textured percussion and a re/de-tuning synthline. Pure bliss.

30. Asusu – Serra [Impasse]

Once the Livity Sound newcomer, Asusu has marked out a real unique spot of late. Nowhere was this more clear than on his first step outside the Livity stable with Serra, a masterclass on the tone, timbre and propulsion of rhythm.

29. Mosey – Tuff Times [Future Times]

Some dance tracks tug at your heartstrings in a way that you can’t even explain. This is certainly the case with Tuff Times, a relaxed house outing from newcomer Mosey. The rhythm is simple, as is the new-age melody, leaving just an eccentric bassline that hops through the frequencies to guide us each through our own tuff times.

28. Damiano von Erckert – We Flow ft. Amalia [ava.]

The centrepiece of Damiano’s sophomore album was this breezy cut of joy, with jazzy keys perfectly accompanying Amalia’s effortless vocal performance.

27. Aurora Halal – Shapeshifter [Mutual Dreaming]

Aurora Halal went through quite a stylistic shift from her first to her second EP, yet the new sound fits her like a glove. This is slinky Detroit techno par excellence, all twinkling keys, pacing percussion and an all-important sense of mystery.

26. Sparky – Signals [Numbers]

After delivering a lost anthem in 2013, Sparky’s new material this year was just as powerful. Translating pop-grade melodies to an electro format, Signals is unashamedly huge, with an unstoppable bassline and a cornea-searing melody.

25. Luca Lozano & Mr. Ho – Dripbox [Crème Organization]

Luca Lozano has been responsible for a number of heavyweight tunes this year, and our favourite was this pitch-black collaboration with Mr. Ho. A storming kick underpins two duelling grime-inflected melodies that’ll detonate the dancefloor.

24. DJ Richard – Vampire Dub [Dial]

So much of DJ Richard’s superb debut LP could’ve made this list, but final cut Vampire Dub just edged out the competition. A grand slice of deep house in a classic vein, its starry keys and martial stomp soundtracked us gazing mistily at many a sunset.

23. Domenique Dumont – L’Esprit de l’Escalier [Antinote]

Dumont’s lovely debut came out of nowhere, and this breathless appeal is sustained on its catchiest highlight. A mighty range of influences are handled with a light touch, resulting in a buoyant stoner-pop cut with a bridge that won’t quit and a chorus that’ll have you singing along even if you can’t make out the words.

22. Basic House – Cones [Opal Tapes]

The head of Opal Tapes issued a limited cassette at the end of 2014 with the mighty Cones hiding within. A venomous rhythm track with a melody like afterimage from a strobe, it didn’t leave our playlists in 2015 and it’s unlikely to in the year to come.

21. Floating Points – Peroration Six [Pluto]

The restless conclusion to Floating Points’ wonderful Elaenia album, Peroration Six has a whole jazz group building intensity to terminal velocity. You keep expecting it to boil over, something has to give, it’s too heavy – and then the track cuts out, leaving only a deafening silence. A brave and challenging finale to an uncompromising LP.

***

Come back in a few days for the twenty best tunes of the year.

Best Albums of 2015
Best Tracks of 2015 Part 1

Best Albums of 2015

 12. Grant – The Acrobat [The Lauren Bacall]

The Awful Truth

An unknown artist on an unknown label was responsible for one of the year’s most mesmerising deep house LPs. Grant’s sound is decidedly subdued yet his production talents should not be underestimated. Grainy rhythms and swooning pads are everywhere yet this is no standard house-by-numbers – flashes of warehouse techno, sublime ambience and snarling acid are teased into a single slinky package. Like the striking photo on its cover, these tracks are rich moments of suspended animation: joy, movement, and grace.

11. Sven Atterton – The Cove [Omega Supreme]

The Cove

Omega Supreme and People’s Potential Unlimited have spent the last few years issuing the very best of modern funk, and nothing came better than Sven Atterton’s early 2015 debut The Cove. An outstanding musicality stalks through these sun-drenched jams, played out through sinuous keyboard solos, hazy pads and languid basswork. Absolute killer for the summer chill.

10. Palmbomen II – Palmbomen II [Beats In Space]

 

Mary Louise Lefante

"As a Dutch transplant to LA, Hugo is clearly a sun-worshipper, a fact abundantly clear in his colourful, saturated take on club music. The sun blazes through a thick haze over these tracks, which corral burbling house, dew-eyed new age melodies and the occasional foray into gurgling acid into a memorable, mesmeric package… It’s a winner, an album that invites you to wander through an alien landscape guided by a warm, comforting hand. It’s a walk you’ll want to take time and again.”

Read the full review here

9. Linkwood – Expressions [Firecracker]

Off Kilter (No Midi Mix)

“It’s been four years since the last Linkwood emission, and six since his debut LP, and you can hear how slowly these tracks have matured, offering a richness and attention to detail uncommon in the fast-paced dance scene, particularly when it comes to albums. Whether you come for the gorgeous ambient meditations, the compelling club cuts or the whole opulent package, Expressions is an album you’re not going to want to leave anytime soon.”

Read the full review here

8. Lifted – 1 [PAN]

Bell Slide

“Lifted’s debut is the rare album which feels purely next-level, like music beamed from an idealised future. The sound that the group have created is like an unstable chemical: constantly mutating, joyously effervescent. So few artists who chart fresh electronic terrain manage to do so with such lightness and joy in their sound. Because Lifted do, you won’t just follow them willingly – you’ll do it with a broad smile on your face.”

Read the full review here

7. Domenique Dumont – Comme Ca [Antinote]

L’esprit de l’Escalier

“These aren’t really tracks or cuts, they’re songs, addictive and hummable, but with a fine producer at the helm, who has a light touch but never lets things get too sugary… a curious and winning package from yet another great Antinote discovery, as if they needed another feather in their cap.”

Read the full review here

6. DJ Sotofett – Drippin’ For A Tripp [Honest Jon’s]

 

  

Drippin For 97 Mix

Honest Jon’s struck gold this year, offering us the broadest exploration of DJ Sotofett’s demented musical world yet. Here the inimitable producer teams up with an array of collaborators but takes his own tools along for the ride – birdsong, reggae rhythms and acres of post-euphoric ambience. It was a tripp that took us from future-afrobeat to humid house via beatless excursions poised impossibly between prog and Balearic. Absolutely essential for fans of the Sex Tags crew.

5. Project Pablo – I Want To Believe [1080p]

 

 
Sky Lounge

“The beats crunch and shuffle, lush pads drift like smoke, and the basslines are summoned straight from a 70s funk record. Then there’s the rising melody, hitting the perfect balance between hope and introspection. With this first track, Project Pablo hits a wondrous note which he sustains across the album without a single misstep… Listening to I Want To Believe, faces seem happier, objects prettier, and all those pesky problems seem like they might just work out okay, after all.”

Read the full review here

4. Dwig – From Here To There [Dwig]

Different Days

“It’s immediately accessible yet generous to the attentive listener, excelling in the mesmeric capabilities of the genre while pushing a varied, refreshing palette. If there’s any upside to the fact that this graceful album is unlikely to sell out or chart on critics’ lists at the end of the year, it’s that those few listeners who caught it and engaged will forge a more intimate relationship with this music, unhindered by hype or popularity. For theirs is an album of rare substance and beauty, something to treasure for them and them alone.”

Read the full review here

3. J Albert – Dance Slow [Exotic Dance]

Love Delivered

It’s a shame that J Albert’s stunning debut came out on such a limited cassette run, because this is music that demands to be heard. Deftly weaving between starry-eyed house and ruff analog exploits, Dance Slow is a twilit masterclass in 4/4 dance.

Read the full review here

2. Floating Points – Elenaia [Pluto]

Silhouettes (I, II & III)

After six years of stunning singles, we were expected big things from Floating Points’ debut. Yet Sam Shepherd’s long-awaited debut album, the fruit of five years’ work, wasn’t what anyone expected. Slow, slight, strangely ineffable, Elaenia makes you come to it. But when you do, and give this music time and attention, a world of sumptuous detail reveals itself, with a lifetime of emotions and influences ever-shifting across its dappled surface. This is a record of a subtlety and mastery that only Floating Points could achieve. We’ve rarely been so happy to be wrong.

1. DJ Richard – Grind [Dial]

Nighthawk

“DJs will find some great club tracks if they choose to skim it for parts, but that would be to miss the holistic effect of the album. This is narrative techno, and in typical artistic form, the narrative of conflict draws us inexorably towards reconciliation. This is heard on Vampire Dub, a confection of twinkling synth work, gauzy keys that leave behind calming jet-trails, and bubbling mechanical accents. Here the feelings of displacement are left behind, resolution can be found in a composition which is nakedly beautiful. This is the deserved conclusion to a great artistic accomplishment; a dance album with no fat, no misfires, every tune essential, surprising and rewarding. We hear darkness and conflict resolved through artistic expression, and we find peace.”

Read the full review here

***

What we listened to when we couldn’t bear to hear another synth:

You can’t always listen to electronic music. Well, we can’t. Every so often you need some nice acoustic earthiness to soothe those throbbing ears. 2015 was a rich year outside of electronic music, with Kendrick Lamar pulling an astonishingly ambitious jazzfunkhiphopsoul album off to perfection that’s still got us reeling. Young Thug picked up a lot of the excess hip hop weight with an endless slew of tunes baring his half-crazed flow and stark trap production.

Meanwhile Beach House kept doing exactly what we want them to with two new albums of dreamy, nostalgic pop, D'Angelo returned after 14 years with an RnB masterclass and Sufjan Stevens bared everything on the supremely affecting Carrie & Lowell. Finally, White Noise patron saint Joanna Newsom made a welcome return after five years with the satisfyingly dense and complex Divers, packed with allusions, esoteric instrumentation and heart-rending melodies.

***

That’s all for the best albums of 2015. Come back next week for a roundup of the best tracks of the year.

Best Tracks of 2014: Part 2

Here's our final rundown of the year's very best tracks.

25. DVS1 – Black Russian [Klockworks]

This tight slice of techno is as essentialist as you can get: propulsive forward momentum, a single showstopping synth that builds but never peaks, and the leanest of percussive tweaks to keep you on your toes. Engrossing and devastating.

24. Leon Vynehall – Inside The Deku Tree [3024]

There was so much to love about Vynehall’s Music For The Uninvited release on 3024, but it was this unusual opener really stood out from the bunch, from its Zelda-referencing title to its grand orchestral sweep. Another winner from one of the UK’s brightest stars.

23. Traumprinz – Messed Up Jam [Giegling]

The first cut from Traumprinz’ stellar All The Things EP was melancholy deep house par excellence (you may have noticed that we’re fans of the style here at White Noise). Meditative and moving, Messed Up Jam moves with pitch-perfect reluctance and grace.

22. Daywalker + CF – Supersonic Transport [LIES]

LIES’ best cut of the year came in the form of this galactic stormer, a propulsive journey comprised of an army of synths: twinkling, churning, swooning, stabbing, and an adamantine percussive skeleton.

21. Lnrdcoy – I Met You On BC Ferry [1080p]

The most emotional cut from Lnrdcroy’s sublime Much Less Normal LP was this 8-minute voyage into nostalgia, a skittering 2step beat tied to a hopeful synth line, its tune later echoed by a resonant bassline, the ghost of a melody.

20. Moodymann – Lyk U Use 2 (feat. Andres) [KDJ]

This dream collaboration worked as well as could be expected, albeit at an unusually high tempo. The heartache of Dixon Jr’s lyrics (narrated with his tongue firmly in his cheek – “eight and a half is not enough for you anymore?”) adds a certain melancholy to the buoyant production, with a deep soulful melody and some expertly chopped disco samples towards the close certainly courtesy of Andres.

19. Andy Stott – Faith In Strangers [Modern Love]

The most surprising cut on Andy Stott’s superb new album was its title track. Having chopped, distorted and generally abused the vocals of his ex piano teacher Alison Skidmore, here Stott lets her voice take centre stage, accompanying her pop-referencing melodies with twilit synths, a diving bassline and jittering percussion that never feels anxious. If this is Stott doing pop, we’re eager to hear more.

18. John Roberts – Ausio [Dial]

With his productions becoming increasingly knotty, it was great to hear a proper dancefloor track from Roberts. Ausio is superb for setting the scene: that harrowing bass threatens to break out for the 3 minutes, and when it finally does the track bristles, rather than bursts, into life: a field of searing synths, nervous atmospherics and insectoid chittering. Superbly moody and full without ever feeling crowded, this track showed Roberts back on fine form.

17. Call Super – Acephale II [Houndstooth]

This is one of Call Super's straighter tunes, but it’s a long way from simple. A hammering kick anchors an increasingly frenetic field of crystalline synths that jostle for attention alongside an impressive range of details and effects. Listen closely for the canny use of panning and the genuinely alive feel of the track’s melodic details, each sound individually minute but powerful when put together. There's a trick to Super's best productions: they move with an unhurried pace, a central motif slowly accruing more detail, adorned with more sounds, until the force is just about overwhelming. There’s some kind of alchemy going on in Call Super’s music, and this ‘floor-ready track shows it better than any other.

16. Pender Street Steppers – Bubble World [Mood Hut]

Another genius oddity from the Vancouver duo takes the titular bubble sounds as its inspiration, cooking up a delightful plate of loose-limbed percussion, warm synth glows and a bassline that’s essentially out for a stroll. Killer mood music.

15. #####.1 - ##### [No ‘Label’]

This ungooglable cut on Rush Hour’s No ‘Label’ didn’t need a name to sell: its perfectly tuned percussion, synthetic choir and crushed melody was utter bliss, taking us into a dreamworld with every listen. The track has since been sourced to Dutch producer Aroy Dee.

14. Vril – Torus XXXII [Forum]

The centrepiece of mysterious Vril’s debut album was this slow-burn techno number, where a subtle play of percussion provides the backdrop to a building, keening synthline, leading to an emotional climax which is more about the build than any sort of payoff.

13. Kassem Mosse – Untitled A3 [Workshop]

Our favourite cut from Mosse’s superb debut LP was an expert construction of articulated percussion, searing synths and that tumbling, showstopping melody like pebbles falling through crystalline water.

12. DJ Richard – Freydis [White Material]

After a busy, hype-fuelled 2013, White Material provided only one EP this year, but it might have been the labels best. On its closer, DJ Richard combined a low-slung rhythm with alarm-like synths, a swooning wash and dramatic cuts to an eerie, inviting string section.

11. Jamie xx – Sleep Sound [Young Turks]

Jamie xx’s tracks may not be the best for getting your groove on, but he certainly has a way with making beautiful music. Sleep Sound’s lush harp melody gives way to a light, shuffling beat for the early hours, with smart, emotive vocal snips. After a gorgeous breakdown the track picks up pace, lush and melodically complex, a joy time and again.

10. Kowton – Glock And Roll [Whities]

This one was a real curveball from Kowton, best known for melting bass and grime tropes into tough techno forms. Here he goes for something prettier, as a delicate chiming melody takes pride of place over a fortified rhythm section and a vocal looped to infinity. It’s a simple construction, but the contrast between fragility and strength helped this one destroy many a ‘floor.

9. Objekt – Ganzfeld [Leisure System]

The release of Objekt’s excellent debut LP Flatland clearly wasn’t enough for TJ Hertz, and he came along to offer us one of the year’s best singles on a split 12” for Leisure System with Dopplereffekt. Ganzfeld is a mind-bender full of sudden shifts and electro flourishes, stuffed with detail but destructive on the dancefloor. You couldn’t ask for more.

8. Barnt – Under His Own Name But Also Sir [Hinge Finger]

The only release this year on Will Bankhead and Joy O’s Hinge Finger imprint was a stunning one-two punch from man of the moment Barnt, both sides of which really deserve a place in this list. While the stark Chappell detonated many a dancefloor, it was on the brilliantly-titled B-side that he struck true gold, militant percussion cutting like knives through the mournful, swooning synthwork: a sound somewhere between danger and religion. One of the year’s most singular, inspired cuts.

7. Caribou – Can’t Do Without You [City Slang]

The first cut from Caribou’s Our Love LP may have been played to death by the time you read this, but there’s a reason for that. It’s a veritable anthem, that tune that brings everyone together on a dancefloor, singing and smiling. It’s no simple production, either: Caribou plays with volume to make the track’s drop all the more effective, it all builds to a veritable fireworks display of melody, while the simple, sincere vocal line is sure to strike a chord with even the most hard-hearted listeners.

6. Dan White – Death Flutes [Forbidden Planet]

This techno space odyssey from Montreal’s Forbidden Planet has been on extremely heavy rotation in White Noise HQ, its slow build of ambience, gurgling acid and steady thud conjuring adventures in a bleak, desolated terrain. That the titular woodwind adds perfectly to the distressed, wistful aesthetic rather than proving a cheesy misstep only reinforces this song’s strength.

5. Efdemin – Parallaxis (Traumprinz’s Over 2 The End Version) [Dial]

Traumprinz has a way of going for big, genuine emotion without ever overdoing it, and reviving sounds that you might belong in the past with flair. He’s unafraid, and that’s part of what makes his music so enchanting. This stunning remix of Efdemin starts off as a subdued house track, its desolate vocal and cinematic synths conjuring a powerful mood. It’s the unexpected addition, just after the three-minute mark and some rave sirens turned melancholy, of a snappy breakbeat that elevates this tune to near-perfection. By the time you get to the burbling chimes that bring the track to a close, your fingers will already be edging towards the repeat button, and you’ll probably be feeling a lot of things you don’t normally feel. Viva Traumprinz.

4. Leon Vynehall – Butterflies [Royal Oak]

Vynehall’s mini-LP was a wonderful collection of tunes, but for us his best single track of the year was this follow up on Clone’s Royal Oak imprint a few months later. It’s an unashamedly upbeat slice of filtered house, with a lush piano line and an introspective vocal just on the right side of cheesy, with a rhythmic backbone tough enough to keep bring even the most reticent to the dance. The word ‘organic’ is thrown around a lot when it comes to Vynehall, and with good reason: his instrumentation has a warm, live feel that sets him apart from contemporaries, and a sincerity that allows euphoric tracks like this one to really take off.

3. Daniël Jacques – End Of My World [Mistress]

This one casts a spell: synths flicker like candlelight, open hi-hats slice through the dust, and that enigmatic vocal line is cooed over and over, seemingly acquiring different meanings with every repetition. When we appear to be heading for a breakdown halfway through, the kick disappears, the vocal echoes off, and, abruptly, the kick returns - gratification is sudden and immediate rather than delayed. That’s what makes this track more than the disco loop it appears to be: a sense of mystery that lingers long after the tune ends.

2. Jack J – Something (On My Mind) [Mood Hut]

Mood Hut’s releases have a way of prioritising vibe over innovation or dancefloor power, and that’s just why we’ve come to love them. The gorgeous B-side of Jack J’s solo EP (he’s one half of Pender Street Steppers) was an absolute masterpiece, rolling on at an unhurried pace, funky bass bumps and a lazy sax line bringing a contemplative mood to the chill. There aren’t really the words for this one: you’ve just got to relax, close your eyes, and listen.

1. Floating Points – King Bromeliad [Eglo]

King Bromeliad opens with a recording of Floating Points playing it out at his (sadly closed) home, London venue Plastic People. The sound is tinny, filtered, we can hear the crowd chattering and the speakers rumbling. Then, a switch, and the groove continues in unadulterated form, Floating Points’ immaculate sound design all the more impressive for the contrast (a similar trick was memorably pulled in Slum Village's Dilla-produced anthem The Look Of Love). It’s an example of exactly the kind of ingenious (not to mention meta) touch and real care that Sam Shepherd brings to all of his productions, and the track that follows is, unsurprisingly an utter delight. It's a rich, jazzy house tune that shuffles along at its own pace, sounding a little like the dancier cousin of Myrtle Avenue, the opener to Shepherd's superb Shadows EP. Its elasticated chords are arranged spaciously, building and receding, while thousands of melodic and percussive details bristle beneath the track's surface: it takes a great deal of complexity to come up with something that sounds so effortless.

In any list like these, the top few entries will be ordered almost arbitrarily: what makes the second best track worse than the first? We gave Mr Points the top spot not just for this excellent jam but also for his peerless musical catalogue: each release, however infrequent they may be, refreshing and joyous, while even his older cuts sound as relevant and moving as they did on first release. He might just be the best producer we've got right now.

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Join us for more White Noise reviews and features in 2015, and while you wait you can listen to our resident DJ Moth's mix of some of our favourite techno tracks of the year, embedded below or here on Mixcloud.

Best of 2014:

* Best Albums

* Best Tracks: 50-26

* Best Tracks: 25-1