15 Best Albums of 2012

Year End Coverage

* Best Albums of 2012

* Best EPs of 2012

* Best Labels of 2012

* Best Breakthrough Artists of 2012

* Best Tracks of 2012 - 101-76
* Best Tracks of 2012 - 75-51
* Best Tracks of 2012 - 50-26
* Best Tracks of 2012 - 25-1

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So many great albums come out in a year, and it’s all too easy to be listening to one thing and feel sure that nothing else could possibly beat it. That is, until you start listening to the next record. On White Noise’s year-end roundup, we pay special homage to those albums which challenged the way you think about music while still delivering quality tunes, those that stretched their concepts a little bit further than the dancefloor. More than anything, these are albums with real longevity- that we’re still listening to months after the hype died down.

As a treat, I've included White Noise's 5 Best Non-Dance Albums at the bottom of the post.

Just missed out: 

Austin Cesear - Cruise Forever

Flying Lotus - Until The Quiet Comes

Daphni - Jiaolong

Session Victim - The Haunted House of House

  

15 - Gerry Read – Jummy [Fourth Wave]

 

Let's Make It Deeper

With the UK House scene becoming ever more densely populated, Read's unique lofi approach stood out from the crowd on his great debut LP. Rough DIY beats and syrupy textures lent the record a hazy feel that stood as a loud statement against the over-polished productions of so many scenesters.

14 - Darling Farah – Body [Civil]

Body

2012 was an uncommonly fine year for Techno albums, which often stood out for their precision and propulsive drive. What Farah really nailed on his debut LP, as well as these things, was atmosphere. The music of Body felt like a contingent world surrounding the listener, and his minimal approach to layering meant that every sound really counted.

13 - Holy Other – Held [Tri Angle]

 

Held

The publicity-shy Holy Other made good on the promise of 2011's With U EP by expanding his sonic palette and increasingly the emotive scope of his sounds. Drenched in moody atmospherics, his crunchy Hip Hop beats and soaring synths spoke of an emotional desolation rarely conjured on electronic records.

12 - Juju & Jordash – Techno Primitivism [Dekmantel]

Stoplight Loosejam / Diatoms / Backwash 

This Amsterdam-based pair have been a Techno secret for two long, and with this outstanding LP they finally stepped into the limelight. Fusing an embarrassment of genres and styles into a muscular Techno framework, the details and pure grooves on offer throughout this album kept us coming back for more and more.

11 - Andy Stott – Luxury Problems [Modern Love]

 

Numb

Notching up his second superb LP in as many years, Stott returned to his weary industrial House sounds with a fresh eye on Luxuruy Problems. Warping the vocals of his former piano teacher Alison Skidmore into the mix, Stott's detailed atmospheric productions still stand without equal.

10 - Donato Dozzy & Neel – Voices From The Lake [Prologue]

Album Clips

Italian Techno legend Donato Dozzy returned to long-time collaborator Neel to conjure one of the year’s quietest and best surprises. The tracks here work as a continuous whole, always impressing while never insisting, conjuring an organic sonic landscape in which the listener will want to get lost again and again.

9 - Recondite – On Acid [Acid Test]

Tie In

Just when you thought you'd heard everything that could be done with a 303, in came Recondite. These cerebral and meditative tracks are not Acid as you'd expect it, unravelling and building as long constructions which carefully conjure mood and feeling. It was a remarkable thing in itself to hear those pure crystalline notes eked from the famous squelching synthesizer, and this LP was one of the year’s most thoughtful and delicate successes.

8 - Cooly G – Playin Me [Hyperdub]

 

Come Into My Room

After a sporadic series of releases delving into the UK dance tradition, Londoner Cooly G took us by surprise with her exploratory and sensuous debut album. The tracks here feel remarkably free of genre convention, fusing dance tropes with treated acoustic instruments and frequently the producer's own warped vocals. The thrill of structural exploration is matched only by a surprising emotive punch beneath the ghosts of UK Funky drum patterns, resulting in a moody and powerful post-RnB epic.

7 - Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland – Black Is Beautiful [Hyperdub]

 

2

The duo also known as Hype Williams turn out a lot of material, and to date little has stood up to the excellence of their Untitled LP. But here on their Hyperdub debut they've conjured another slice of warped brilliance. You'll recognize the syrupy synths and hollow drum patterns, but with more structural and sonic experimentation and the prominence of Copeland's sensual vocals, these fractured soundscapes start to give way to something confusing, profound, and often beautiful.

6 - LHF – Keepers of the Light [Keysound]

Chamber Of Light

A dance album that clocks in over two hours is almost never a good idea, but shadowy London collective LHF exploded onto the scene with this thrilling and atmospheric collection. Each producer has his own distinctive voice and impressive production chops, crafting an epic homage to London's dance lineage that never tires despite its ambitious runtime.

5 - Actress – RIP [Honest Jon’s]

IWAAD

With his challenging and genre-defying follow up to Splazsh, Actress stepped even further away from convention to serve up a fragmentary narrative of meditations on death. The heavy subject matter did nothing to take away from Actress’ production prowess, and with repeated listens this album opened up like a dream, letting you in, little by little, to his devastating, perplexing, and utterly unique world.

4 - Benjamin Damage & Doc Daneeka – They!Live [50Weapons]

 

No One feat. Abigail Wyles

They!Live won’t turn any heads for radical innovation or experimentalism. It was simply a very, very good dance album. Perfecting the fusion of moodier pieces (greatly helped by the lovely vocals of Abigail Wyles) and nuanced dancefloor bangers, the whole thing just worked perfectly. Each track was impeccably polished, the pair producing a diverse and engaging collection of tracks that amazed just as much on headphones as it did on the dancefloor.

3 - Jimmy Edgar – Majenta [Hotflush]

 

Sex Drive

It would be easy to brush off Majenta. There’s something undeniably filthy about it all; an electro-funk odyssey drenched in sleaze and neon lights. But beneath the 80’s backroom vibes there is one of the most engaging, diverse, and flat-out fun albums that came out all year. Every track sizzles with energy; Edgar’s pairing of razor-sharp IDM beats and big Funk basslines is pulled off without a single error, creating a lurid musical world that we returned to more than any other this year.

2 - Vessel – Order of Noise [Tri Angle]

 

Court of Lions

There was an unusually high quality in the LP debuts put out this year, and a lot of this had to do with the Post-Dubstep search for a new deconstruction, a new fluid melding of genres that defied easy labels. Sebastian Gainsborough’s debut for Tri Angle proudly wore the tropes of Dub, Techno and Ambient on his sleeve but created something utterly unique. Order of Noise is a true journey; enticing and mysterious, dusty and religious. Here is a rare confidence, a complete journey with myriad details to return to, a piece of music that will stay with you long after the final track fades into the distance.

1 - Jam City – Classical Curves [Night Slugs]

How We Relate To The Body

A lot of the albums on this list worked to reconstitute Dance music’s rich past, bringing a range of styles up to date with canny production and new technology. But Jam City’s phenomenal debut album was the record on which these historical tropes truly felt as if they were envisioning a new future for the scene. This polished collection of tunes embodied the ubiquitous conflict of contemporary culture- in turns funky and dark, soft and abrasive, ambient and propulsive. The best albums pull the listener into the producer’s world, and from the first note of Classical Curves we were right there: amongst the blood, the oil and the chrome, and all of the dangerous beauty lurking within.

White Noise’s 5 Best Non-Dance Albums

For the hell of it, here are the five albums that have got the most play here at White Noise HQ outside the constraints of the Dance spectrum.

5 - Jessie Ware – Devotion

Sweet Talk

Ware took on a host of talented Dance producers to put out the best thing that happened to Pop all year. Catchy while remaining impeccably produced throughout, Devotion soared above all the competition.

4 - Julia Holter – Ekstasis

 

In The Same Room

How do you follow up an album as universally adored as Tragedy? Holter tackled her sophomore release admirably, crafting a more accessible but just as brilliant album that gave us a lot to chew on. Complex compositions vied with Pop sensibilities, resulting in another slice of brilliance from one of the music world’s most fascinating and unique contemporary voices.

3 - Beach House – Bloom

 

Myth

We’ll be the first to say it: Bloom doesn’t really sound that different from Beach House’s phenomenal third album, Teen Dream. But we didn’t need it to. The Baltimore duo have captured the hearts of many with their gauzy textures, cheap drum machines and Victoria Legrand’s phenomenal honeyed vocals. If they keep putting out albums of this quality and never change an iota, we’ll keep buying them.

2 - Chromatics – Kill For Love

Back From The Grave

Johnny Jewel finally delivered on a follow-up to 2007’s glorious Night Drive with stellar double-album Kill For Love. The return of those 80s synths and Ruth Radelet’s anaesthetized vocals couldn’t hide a new compositional prowess and the killer pop sensibilities that made so many of these tracks absolutely essential.

1 - Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid M.A.A.D City

Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst

Lamar’s surprising and fantastic new album is probably one of the year’s most critically revered releases. But this isn’t a case of the hype machine working at full pelt. Good Kid M.A.A.D City showed a rapper with a rare focus on emotional experience and honesty, a brave move in the face of mainstream Hip Hop’s caricature of thug life. Lamar went a step further, parodying Gangsta Rap by deftly manipulating an array of personas that attempted to show just where Hip Hop went wrong in the evolutionary process. But this wasn't just about the lyrics, a keen ear for production means the tracks never sound less than brilliant, complimenting the layered narrative which you’ll come back to long after the year is out.

Best Breakthrough Artists of 2012

Year End Coverage

* Best Albums of 2012

* Best EPs of 2012

* Best Labels of 2012

* Best Breakthrough Artists of 2012

* Best Tracks of 2012 - 101-76
* Best Tracks of 2012 - 75-51
* Best Tracks of 2012 - 50-26
* Best Tracks of 2012 - 25-1

Follow White Noise on Facebook and Twitter!

It gets harder every year for new artists to rise up and gain prominence through the fickle hype machine of the internet, in a world where every other Soundcloud user is an anonymous figure copying tired genre tropes. But it's clearer than ever that the one thing that will really get you noticed is quality tunes.

Not all of these are new artists, but for all of these producers this was the year where they truly broke into the limelight, capturing our hearts and imaginations here at White Noise. Because these artists have such diverse tastes and sounds, they will be listed alphabetically to save having to place them in a meaningless order. Without further ado, here are our favourite breakthrough artists of the year. Enjoy!

Bicep

 

Vision of Love

90’s house revivalism reached its peak (so far…) this year, but Northern Irish duo Bicep’s astonishing rise to prominence in the dance scene this year was more than a case of being in the right place at the right time. Coming from the success of their Feel My Bicep blog, the pair put out the excellent $tripper white label on Love Fever, where deep New Jersey pads and a jackin’ beat put the pair firmly on the map. They continued the thread in style with the inaugural release on their own Feel My Bicep label, Vision of Love, which offered three massive slices of feelgood throwback, and spawned the ubiquitous title track. But let’s not forget the duo proved themselves a cut above a simple throwback outfit with the superb You / Don’t EP on Aus, which offered two strikingly modern collaborations that explored more contemporary strains of the UK House sound.

Bondax

Baby I Got That

Young UK duo Bondax came to our attention at the beginning of the year with sugar-sweet bass numbers All Inside and Wet Summer. But it was their September release Baby I Got That which cemented the pair’s talents, an infectious bass / disco hybrid that was one of the year’s essential summer tunes. With a perfect synthesis of clipped vocal snips with longer hooks and bubbling, upbeat melodies, the pair have so far managed to conjure catchy tunes without ever venturing into total Pop territory. With the upcoming release of Gold on Just Us / Relentless in January, it looks like there’s a lot more to be excited about for Bondax in 2013.

Disclosure

 

Flow

Guy and Howard Lawrence couldn’t have possibly predicted the rise to fame that their Disclosure outfit has brought them in the space of a single year. Fusing garage and classic house tropes with bass trappings and more than a touch of pop, the duo’s productions have achieved a crossover success that’s perhaps not that surprising given the sheer quality of their tunes. While Latch and some of their Face EP were a little poppy for White Noise’s tastes, there was no arguing with their Jessie Ware Remix or the brilliant Tenderly / Flow single from the beginning of the year.

Dusky

Flo Jam

The Dusky duo of Alfie Granger-Howell and Nick Harriman have been producing together for years now, including an album as Dusky on Anjunadeep in 2011. But this year, thanks to some killer tunes and being played by the right DJs, the pair have broken into the big leagues. Dusky produced more bangers than almost anyone else this year, including the emotive epic Lost Highway, Flo Jam’s irresistible bounce and the bassy garage swing of No More. The pair pluck equally from house and garage but the end product is always polished and unpretentious, precision-built for the dancefloor. With their great new release Calling Me on Loefah's School imprint, there are surely big things to come.

Huxley

 

Let It Go

Huxley scored a high place on our Top Tunes of 2011 with the fantastic Shower Scene, but this year the house magician from Tring showed his true colours, prolifically putting out a series of unashamed big-room house numbers, with the sharp beats and big basslines to match those fantastic vocal hooks. He opened up the year with the ridiculously large Let It Go and didn’t let up, with an onslaught of other great tunes like Box Clever on the Out Of The Box EP.  With clear production chops and the consistency to match, Huxley nimbly stepped into the big leagues this year, and he doesn't look like he'll be leaving anytime soon.

Indigo

Symbol 7.1

The Mindset boss put out his first release back in 2008, but this year has really marked a breakthrough for Indigo. With a history of tasty collaborations with like-minded producer Synkro, Indigo put out a series of stellar releases for Exit, Hype Ltd and Apollo that showed a unique talent for combining twitchy beatscience with lush ambient soundscapes. Nowhere was this more evident than on his White Noise Picked Symbol 7 EP for Auxiliary, where the producer hopped nimbly between Oriental strings, impeccably precise drum patterns and pure ambient dread.

Leon Vynehall

Picture Frame

Brighton’s Vynehall turned quite a few heads recently, shining out amongst the legions of upstarts who were toying with the House formula. His debut EP, Mauve on Well Rounded, set the scene with warm soundscapes and slow beats that referenced classic House without ever seeming like pure throwback. But it was over the summer on his superb single Gold Language / Don’t Know Why for ManMakeMusic that Vynehall showed his true colours, producing a lush and genre-defying dance track on the A and one of this year’s most supremely chilled dance cuts on the B. With a return to WRHP due in the new year with the Rosalind EP, the future is looking very promising.

South London Ordnance

Trojan

Appearing out of nowhere, SLO has had a monumental first year. A prolific release schedule didn’t stop every tune from being of the highest quality, releasing big House numbers on Well Rounded and deeper Bass numbers for the likes of Teal Recordings. Wherever he turned, SLO’s productions all paid careful attention to the lower frequencies, with a keen bass-focus adding flavour to his elastic rhythms. Some slave for years on a single tune, in 2012 SLO was making superb music straight out of the box.

Tom Demac

Critical Distance Pt. 2

Although his debut was as far back as 2004, Tom Demac turned it up a notch in 2012. The producer put out an insane amount of releases this year, often on Hypercolour or its offshoots. He proved himself a versatile House producer, with highlights ranging from the lush Obstructing the Light EP on Glass Table to the monstrous Critical Distance Pt. 2, which was considered at White Noise HQ one of the year’s very best tunes.

Vessel

Court of Lions

As the only producer on this list who isn’t dedicated to the dancefloor, Vessel stands out about as much on this list as he did from his peers over the course of the year. White Noise has taken an interest in Sebastian Gainsborough since the beginning, but it appears the Wax Dance and Standard EPs were paving the way for something very special indeed. The producer’s debut album for Tri Angle, Order of Noise, touched a nerve for us, as Vessel experimented with an embarrassment of styles to stellar effect.

Honourable Mentions:

These artists are definitely ones to watch for 2013, but didn’t quite release enough quality material to make the list this time round.

Citizen

 

Room Service

GoldFFinch

Funky Steppa

Happa

Freak

Helix

Honig

Locked Groove

Rooted

Lorca

Can’t See Higher