Guest Mix: Dark and Dirty

Moth comes round with another guest mix for White Noise. Tracklist on this one is killer, featuring a lot of our favourite bass, techno and house bangers.

Tracklist

Akkord – The Drums

Tom Demac – Critical Distance Pt. 2

Midland & Pariah – Untitled 2

A Made Up Sound – Take The Plunge (Beat Mix)

Trikk – Jointly

Blawan – Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?

Benjamin Damage – Swarm

Head High – Rave (Dirt Mix)

Boddika & Joy O – Dun Dun

Breach – Fatherless VIP

Darling Farah – Bruised

Pangaea – Hex

Sully – The Loot

Bok Bok – Silo Pass

Ghost – The Club

Genius – Waiting

Visionist – Come In

Dusk + Blackdown + – High Road 

20 Best Albums of 2011

Best of 2011

EPs

Singles

Albums

With electronic production becoming ever more ubiquitous in mainstream culture and ever more experimental on the fringes of music, it’s no surprise that it dominates my list of 2011’s best albums. My favourites of this year included a good few atmospheric electronic pieces, a few dance-focused LPs and some stranger fare, but the overriding point in common is the exploration of how computers are being used to create ever more evocative and thought-provoking music.

Obviously in choosing only twenty I’m missing so many of the year’s great releases, but when reflecting on a whole musical year the factor that stands out besides innovation and skill is longevity; the year-end list is the unique spot where a reviewer can look back and say ‘Yes, that was great, but am I still listening to it? Will it stay with me beyond this year?’ If the answer to these questions is a fervent ‘yes’, then that album is on this list.

PS - The list is arranged in sets of five as I feel when you get to the very best albums of the year they appeal to different people and fulfil different criteria, so it seems pointless to separate them. Click on the album titles to see my full reviews from earlier in the year.

#20-16

SBTRKT  - SBTRKT

Wildfire

On his debut full-length, the anonymous UK producer achieved the rare feat of marrying Dance and Pop with unerring success, crafting a fun and exuberant selection of accessible tunes.

Tim Hecker – Ravedeath, 1972

The Piano Drop

The always brilliant Ambient / Drone producer released one of his very best works this year in Ravedeath, an evocative and haunting album that twists live organ recordings from an Icelandic church into a beautiful artistic statement with masterful electronic tweaking.

Peaking Lights – 936

All The Sun That Shines

Husband and wife duo Peaking Lights exceeded expectations with their blissed out LP landing somewhere between western Dub and the more experimental side of rock.

Andy Stott – Passed Me By

New Ground

With Passed Me By, Andy Stott finally broke out to a wider audience who rightly adored his unique take on House; fatigued, innovative, and utterly hypnotic.

Panda Bear – Tomboy

Surfer’s Hymn

Noah Lennox somehow met the stratospheric expectations heaped on his new LP before its release, refining his trademark sound of reverb-drenched vocals and hypnotic guitar loops into something fuller and more outward-looking.

#15-11

Sully – Carrier

2 Hearts

Sully didn’t exactly surprise me on his debut LP, delivering dark 2step tracks crafted with the same skill and care as his previous output, but just how much I still listen to these tracks is a surprise. The London feel is embedded deeply into these tunes, and each cut is a self-contained gem of paranoid dance rhythms.

Roman Flugel – Fatty Folders

How To Spread Lies

This carefully-produced LP is a masterclass tour of Techno’s many faces, straddling influences as varied as Dubstep, Kraut-rock, Minimal and Deep House, while always remaining crisp, danceable, and enchanting listen after listen.

Shabazz Palaces – Black Up

An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum

This uncompromising Hip Hop album married unusual flow and polemical subjects with some of the most challenging and innovative production I’ve ever heard on a Hip Hop album, resulting in a stunning piece that sounds like it was sent straight from the future.

Gang Gang Dance – Eye Contact

Mindkilla

Gang Gang’s staggering musical evolution continued unabated this year, and Eye Contact was business as usual from the Brooklyn band; fusing too many genres to mention to create an album of superb and enjoyable Dance Pop that not only sounds like nothing else, but also represents their most consistent release to date.

The Field – Looping State of Mind

Arpeggiated Love

This beautiful set of finely micro-edited loops showed that there’s more than enough life in Axel Willner’s formula to sustain an entire career. These hypnotic tunes are nothing short of staggering, proving yet again that no one does loops like The Field.

#10-6

Martyn – Ghost People

We Are You In The Future

Martyn’s latest was a true masterclass in Dance production, showing not only a producer bravely leaving his comfort zone (again), but a collection of varied and exciting tunes bursting with energy and atmosphere.

Tycho – Dive

Coastal Brake

A lot of artists over the last year tried to create sun-drenched Electronic tunes that mesmerise through chilled vibes and warm synths, but Tycho’s mature and detailed album Dive put them all to shame. This hypnotic and rewarding LP does its stunning cover art justice, and will stay with you long after the flames of 2011’s more immediate releases have died out.

Zomby – Dedication

A Devil Lay Here

Dedication is the most introverted and frustrating (mainly down to track length) release of Zomby’s glittering career, and it says a lot about Zomby as a producer that these facts hardly mattered. The introversion in fact worked to this album’s advantage, and six months on this collection still sounds fresh and brilliant; a moody and varied selection of dance-infused Electronic tunes.

BNJMN – Black Square

Black Square

Benjamin Thomas achieved quite a feat in releasing not one, but two superb albums in a single year. His second for Rush Hour, Black Square, was my favourite – a lush and innovative selection of beautiful Techno tunes that shift organically through an array of mesmerising sounds.

Kuedo – Severant

Scissors

Jamie Teasdale’s first solo release on leaving aggressive Dubstep duo Vex’d was an unexpected move, and all the better for it. Severant is an utterly unique LP presenting atmospheric and futuristic Electronic tunes, and by a long way one of the most engaging and innovative releases of the year.

#5-1

Shlohmo – Bad Vibes

Places

The LA-based Beats scene slowed down quite dramatically in 2011, but from the hush emerged its brightest star, in the form of young producer Henry Laufer. Exceeding the promise of his early EPs, on Bad Vibes Laufer created the ultimate chill-out album; lush and beautiful organic instrumentation combined fluidly with electronic clicks and beats. Bad Vibes achieves that rare combination of being both an easy choice for relaxation and an incredibly rewarding close listen due to the quality of these compositions, and for these reasons it’s probably my most played LP of the year.

Machinedrum – Room(s)

Now U Know Tha Deal 4 Real

Room(s) is an incredible achievement for dance veteran Travis Stewart; it somehow manages to combine almost every dance genre into an utterly brilliant full-length, traversing moods and styles with a rare ease while always maintaining the innovative details and tight production skills that keep the listener coming back for more.

Nicolas Jaar – Space Is Only Noise

I Got A Woman

Brilliant new producer Nic Jaar pulled out all the stops on his gorgeous debut album, appropriating vague influences from a huge variety of genres to create a sound entirely his own. These spacious and atmospheric compositions still sound exciting and unique almost a year after its release, and his future looks very bright.

Rustie – Glass Swords

Hover Traps

Rustie’s phenomenal debut album was surprising in so many ways; it was very distant from the producer first productions, it sounded like absolutely nothing else, but the biggest surprise was that he aimed so high on Glass Swords and track after track pulled it off with style. These tunes fuse every unfashionable genre in the book with style, creating a collection of unabashed joy, all underpinned by a display of masterful composition at its incandescent beating heart.

Balam Acab – Wander /Wonder

Apart

The young Alec Koone’s debut album is by no means the most accessible or exuberant album on this list, but for me it is easily the most beautiful. Here is an album of deeply emotive and expertly composed tracks that exists almost outside of genre; the tracks progressing like waves between enchanting synth highs and dark dubby lows, all held together by ethereal vocals to magnificent effect. The tunes on Wander / Wonder are quiet and unassuming, but given time they reveal themselves to be one of the most atmospheric and rewarding collections I’ve heard in years.

-----

I'm off to see Scuba and Joy O tonight, I hope everyone has a great New Year's and look forward to much more from White Noise in 2012.

Sully – Carrier

2 Hearts

Encona

Trust

A dance LP is a curious thing to create, and you tend to have to make one of two decisions in order to come up with something good. Either make it clear that what you’re releasing is a collection of dance tunes, along the lines of Altered Natives and his Tenement Yard collections, or turn those dance tracks into something more artful, with careful sequencing and an emotional arc, like Zomby or Machinedrum’s releases from this year. Sully’s debut LP suffers for not picking sides; there are some brilliant tracks here but it is not really presented as a collection, and although there is a loose sense of progression from beginning to end, it doesn’t quite describe the vague narrative arc an album tends to paint.  

The sense of progression comes from the simple fact that the LP is essentially cut halfway down the middle. The first few tracks hark back to Sully’s most recent (excellent) single, The Loot, mining dark 2-step territories and verging on early dubstep sounds. Opener It’s Your Love sets the tone as a brooding end of the night piece, demonstrating Sully’s tight production skills and keen ear for including sparse atmospheric details. The thing that really saves this release is that a lot of the tracks are great stand-alone tunes, and second track 2 Hearts is one of the best. Throughout each cut he combines a sparse selection of sounds perfectly, and here a great drum track gives way to a paranoid, rising synth line and an echoing vocal scream that cuts right through you. He continues the variations on a 2-step theme with In Some Pattern, which came out a while ago as the B-side to his last single, in which colourful laser synths pierce the darkness to create a choppy, digital propulsion that works well but feels a little weak compared to the last couple of tracks. Encona is the last one in this mould, in which Sully evokes an old-school garage feel by going crazy on the effects.

After this the second half of the album begins proper, in which Sully brings in heavy footwork influences, smoothing them out and imbuing them with his dark, distinctive sound. Each of these pieces brings interesting and varied aspects to the mould, but inevitably some are more successful than others. Let You is a spare track with a fantastic vocal sample and booming bass, bringing together all the elements fluently and with admirably precise micro-edits throughout. Scram is another great track, with a creeping chord sequence and dark field of percussion. Trust is where Sully really hits the mark in his fusion of footwork and 2-step styles, with a rich and varied field of microscopic percussive and vocal edits that goes down so smooth, with a real tinge of melancholy to the sound. Other tracks don’t quite hit the mark so squarely; I Know is okay but brings nothing new to the table, while piano-based footwork ballad Bonafide is a really interesting idea that never quite emotes enough to pull on the heartstrings.

Sully is one of the UK’s most distinctive and skilful producers around at the moment, and so many of these tracks are great that it seems a shame so little attention was played to ensuring the LP can be listened through like an album, because most of the tracks seem to sound stronger and more varied when played in isolation from the others. If you’re looking for a full-length electronic album to lose yourself in, this might not be your first choice. But if you want to get your finger on the pulse of the UK dance scene or are looking for a few great tracks for a digital mix, you’ll find more than enough in Carrier.

7.5/10

Dance and Electronic Roundup September – The Past

I’ve been away and moving to Paris so I’ve been neglecting the blog recently, but there have been all sorts of fantastic tunes coming out over summer and I’ve put together my highlights for all you guys here in a handy little playlist. It’s so big that I thought it’d be better in two parts; these are the best tunes I've been hearing from earlier in the year.

Download the whole playlist in mp3 format here.



Julio Bashmore – Battle For Middle You

Bashmore seems to be always on-point, whether in his remixes, co-productions or solo work, and his Everybody Needs A Theme Tune EP earlier this year proved he’s a force to be reckoned with. This is the standout of the EP, with a slow-build beat and wobbling synth giving way to a shady, bassy groove. I challenge anyone not to love it.

Hackman – Close

Now we’re going back in time somewhat to some tracks I never got a chance to mention on here. First up is undoubtedly a frontrunner in my favourite tracks of the year, Hackman’s tropical take on dubstep gives way to a deep groove and a genuinely heart-wrenching vocal sample. A track that is well-crafted and guaranteed to get people dancing, all while having a sincere emotional effect on the listener is a rare and wonderful thing.

Blawan – Getting Me Down

I know this is a very late nod to such a wonderful track, and Blawan’s new release should really be the focus of attention, but I couldn’t let the year pass without sharing this with whoever hasn’t yet heard it. A simple and rich beat is fused with some of the straight-up best vocal sampling I’ve ever heard, chopped and screwed whilst holding onto one of the best hooks of the year. You’ll find yourself attempting to sing this long after it’s over.

Sully – 2 Hearts

Although not released as a single, the second cut from Sully’s new Carrier LP easily deserves a 12” to itself. Sully continues where he left off on his last single The Loot, mining the darkest corners of 2-step with creeping synths, garage sounds and a frightened sampled scream that will stay in your head long after the track is over.

Koreless – MTI

Heading back to lighter pastures with one of my favourite discoveries of the summer, Glasgow’s young bass master Koreless. The subtlety and attention to his details in his tracks makes almost every one a winner for me, and it was hard to choose this B-side over the great single 4D that the 12” comes with, but this is the winner for me. A hiss-laden ambient wash introduces the track over a beautiful sample and ubiquitous bassy bleeps. Koreless shows himself a master of the micro-edit in how the vocal sample is laced through the track, bringing his trademark smoothness to the potentially rough business of cutting up vocals so fine.

Juk Juk – Winter Turn Spring

This newcomer on Four Tet’s Text label came out of nowhere to produce one of the best tracks this August. Backmasked vocals cast a ghostly shadow over the clean and punchy beat, the softness of which is later undermined by a dark dubby snarl. All the layers comes together to create a track that is subtly and beautifully edited as well as sounding genuinely unique.

Omar S – Solely Supported

The first track from Omar S’ great recent LP, this is also one of the best. Throwback sounds are put back together in new ways, creating a simple but great track that’ll carve a sinuous groove to your ears.

Prison Garde – L’Automne

Canada is just on fire at the moment. Prison Garde gave away a free LP, Systeme Hermes, that I didn’t have time to review over the summer, but for anyone who hasn’t heard it this track should persuade you. His focus on simple and clean retro synths, married to sliding percussion and a keen sense of timing and restraint works impressively on this track, presumably instincts born from so many years at the front of Canada’s club scene.

Willy Joy – A Woman Like Me (Dillon Francis Remix)

A classic slice of the odd subgenre moombahton that’s been emerging for some time, this is a straight-up slice of dancefloor fodder, combining a crazy-forceful beat with a clean vocal sample and a really nice groove.

Lukid – Dragon Stout

(This track isn't on youtube, but the mp3 is included on the playlist downloadable above)

This is definitely where things get a little strange. Lukid’s woozy output is enough to make anyone outside the constrains of sobriety a little seasick at the least, and on his most recent Spitting Bile EP he continues to make some of the weirdest dance music out there with flare. Discordant digital synths crunch together into a stuttering beat accompanied by a rich soundfield of really bizarre sounds. This track may not be for everyone, but I’m loving it and you definitely can’t say there’s anything else out there like this.

Jam City – Barely A Trak

Although no recent Night Slugs activity means I don’t have anything new to share (I’m sure we’re all excited about L-Vis 1990s debut though, right), but I want to give a nod to Jam City’s bizarre and wonderful construction from the Waterworx EP. As the title states, there’s so little here that this is hardly a song, but its sparse components somehow manage to pull it off. The vocal line sounds suitably strange in a soundfield of loping beats and rising synthy oddness, before traffic and pedestrian noise engulfs the whole lot briefly. Has to be heard to be believed.

Jason Fine - Jack Yo Bodda (Feat AOS)

This track almost sounds like it came out ten years ago, but it’s yet further proof that our dance ancestors got it so right. A simple 4/4 underlies a great vocal sample and brilliantly woozy synthlines, creating a simple but punchy dance tune that could get anyone moving.

4UCKY – 1984 (I Want More)

I don’t really know anything about this guy, but I’ve definitely had this song on a lot over the summer. As the title indicates, it’s pure 80s throwback, with a driving beat and cheap bell sounds propelling sleazy vocals across the track. Then it all breaks down into a crunchy untreated synthline and, well, I just can’t really get enough.

Synkro & Indigo – Guidance

If that last track was moving away from dance genres, this track almost goes further. Drum and Bass is really not my thing, but Exit Records really put out a winner on this 12”. The cinematic and relaxed groove of liquid DnB can do things the straighter tracks can't achieve. Half-rooted in atmospheric ambient, a sharp beat skitters across the surface of this track and creates a dreamy, epic sound that goes down a treat. If you like this, the B-side Reflections is equally great.

Tycho – Hours

Last call here goes to my favourite ambient beatsmith on the scene, Tycho, who has a very exciting new album due out soon. Past is Prologue was the very definition of a grower, and the first track from his new album Dive sounds like exactly what the doctor ordered; more of the same unique sound, but a little pacier, a little more refined. Let it take you away.