Best Albums of 2014

We may have been afk for three quarters of the last year, but White Noise never stopped listening to music. Aside from conducting explorations into the realms of disco, funk and Arabic music, we’ve been keeping tabs on the dance scene’s development across 2014, and in many ways a time out has been useful: cutting out the flotsam of a year’s releases and just focusing on the essential, checking in on the latest tunes without falling prey to the hype machine’s endless spin-cycle.

Even from a distance it’s clear that 2014 was a standout year for the electronic LP. Some albums provided conceptual weight to back up auditory pleasure, while others provided such strong narratives that to cherry-pick a track or two does a disservice to the whole. Elsewhere a handful of producers finally pulled off dance albums that didn’t resort to throwaway ambient passages to provide ‘flow’, while those that took ambient seriously upped their game to new levels.

This list may not be as exhaustive as those of our contemporaries, nor is it punctual. But we’re not here to push the reader count or sell ad-space, just to share good music. So here are our 16 favourite albums of 2014.

We love all these albums and the diversity of sound makes them fairly incomparable, so we’ve ordered the albums alphabetically. They’re all more than deserving of your time.

  

Andy Stott – Faith In Strangers [Modern Love]

Violence

On Faith In Strangers Andy Stott continued to tread his singular path into the murk, taking another step away from the dancefloor but remaining as beguiling as ever. His blend of fathomless atmospheres, brutalist meditations and even a title track that vaguely resembles a pop song resulted in his most memorable, rewarding LP to date.

The Bug – Angels & Devils [Ninja Tune]

Mi Lost

The Bug has never been one to rush, yet the 6 years he took to follow up the hi-def dread of London Zoo was more than worth the wait. Here he returns to those unique dancehall / bass hybrids, with an album of startling contrast, the first half loaded with woozy menace, the raucous final run going right for the jugular.

Caribou – Our Love [City Slang]

All I Ever Need

Dan Snaith's follow-up to the masterful Swim showcased songwriting more accessible and anthemic than ever before, and while it didn't please everyone, we kept with Our Love for its colour, its diverse palette and, even in its most stadium-bating moments, its disarming intimacy.

Edward – Into A Better Future [Giegling]

Skating Beats

One of the key players in Giegling's world-beating year was Edward, whose heady sophomore album introduced accomplished deep house to structures and sounds from as far afield as punk, new age, hardcore and disco. Whichever left-turn he took, we were more than eager to follow Edward thanks to the detail and finesse of his productions.

Fatima – Yellow Memories [Eglo]

Biggest Joke Of All

Eglo's resident songstress exploded our (already high) expectations with her sterling debut, a masterclass in modern RnB. With one foot planted firmly in the history of soul, Yellow Memories never shied from experimentalism and forward-thinking composition. Perhaps the greatest credit that can be given is that with production duties assigned to the likes of Theo Parrish, Floating Points, and Flako, Fatima's indomitable voice was never overshadowed.

HTRK – Psychic 9-5 Club [Ghostly International]

Give It Up

The story of this album's creation, of grief and healing, has perhaps been allowed to eclipse its remarkable musical achievement. On their third album HTRK conjured a half-lidded world of lethargy, doubt and sensuality, with Jonnine Standish's elliptical lyrics gliding over the stark soundscape of a wounded psyche.

Kassem Mosse – Workshop 19 [Workshop]

Untitled A3

Mosse's fullest release to date on the superb Workshop imprint was a collection of pure dancefloor fire. His articulated grooves rattle and writhe, welded to strikingly bright melodies and bound by sudden left turns. The work of a true original.

Kettenkarussell – Easy Listening [Giegling]

Drama

Giegling may now be synonymous with Prince of Denmark (Traumprinz) and Vril, but the imprint's first release was courtesy of this German duo, whose lush, meditative sound has continued to define the label's style. Here the pair lead the listener through playful compositions that pay homage to the best of Aphex Twin and Boards Of Canada without ever giving up their uniquely melancholic fingerprint (except on the wryly titled Chords Of Banana, which could be the work of a master forger).

Leon Vynehall – Music For The Uninvited [3024]

It’s Just (House Of Dupree)

Who cares if it's technically an album? After a couple of years at the fringes threatening to break out, 2014 was the year of Vynehall as he burst joyously onto the scene. On this wonderful collection he came up with his best work yet, delightfully organic house compositions drenched in warmth with groove to spare, always hitting that soulful sweet spot.

Lnrdcroy – Much Less Normal [1080p]

I Met You On BC Ferries

Lnrdcroy's lauded cassette debut was the best in a strong year for new imprint 1080p, his engrossing melodies making for one of the year's most beautifully nostalgic listens, drawing us inexorably onwards with a longing, heartsick glance over the shoulder.

Max Graef – Rivers Of The Red Planet [Tartelet Records]

Running

Max Graef's debut album fuses house and hip hop so well that you can't see the joins: crisp drums, smoky melodies and a healthy dose of funk, all cut together with imaginative samples, superb interludes and that cover. It's a classic case of an album being greater than the sum of its parts, but bear in mind that those are some damn fine parts to begin with.

Millie & Andrea – Drop The Vowels [Modern Love]

Stay Ugly

Andy Stott and Miles Whittaker (of Demdike Stare) return to their experimental pairing on this searing LP, combining fresh cuts and a couple of their best past releases. The world of these tunes is a hostile one, their distorted rhythms occupying the black space between techno, jungle and trap, where melodies like shards of glass lie glistening in the wreckage.

Moodymann – Moodymann [KDJ]

Lyk U Use 2 (feat Andres)

If Kenny Dixon Jr auditioned for the Greek pantheon, he'd get the part of Dionysus without even trying. His latest offering is hedonism in musical form, from its bloated tracklisting to the subject of its lyrics, not forgetting the gluttonous funk of his grooves; always sultry, often playful. When you want even the interludes on a 27-track album to be longer, you know you're onto something special.

Objekt – Flatland [PAN]

Ratchet

With his run of warped techno singles, Objekt had the bar unfeasibly high for his debut album. Yet Flatland exceeded all expectations, an LP of immaculately produced mutants that kept swerving but never sacrificed their groove. Flatland hits that sweet spot between techno, electro and experimentalism in glorious high definition; a jewel that shirks a singular approach, perplexing but always gleaming.

Session Victim – See You When You Get There [Delusions of Grandeur]

Never Forget

We were big fans of Session Victim's debut LP, and it was the greatest pleasure to get our hands on a follow-up that bettered it in every single way. Those sumptuous melodies are richer, brighter and more addictive than ever; their rhythms are looser and more confident, and the duo continue to equal, if not better, the warm US house sound they love so much. We challenge you to stay still to this one.

Vril – Torus [Forum]

Torus XXXII

The space occupied by Vril's stunning debut Torus (on Giegling offshoot Forum) is a strange one: dub techno with a house crunch, galactic exploration with an unexpected emotive pull. Yet it is from this unusual middle ground that Vril draws his unique appeal: an album of otherwordly music that seems to only bring us home.

That's all we've got for today, join us next time for the year's best tracks!

Best of 2014:

* Best Albums

* Best Tracks: 50-26

* Best Tracks: 25-1

Best Tracks of 2015 - Part 1

It's been another scorcher of a year for electronic music, and our year-end list is looking more diverse than ever. Here's the first helping of 2015's best cuts, as we run down from #65-40. 

***

65. House of Doors – Starcave [Mood Hut]

Pacing burner from the Mood Hut camp, capped off with a catchy reedy synthline.

64. Lipelis – Weirdshit Xu Paelk  [L.I.E.S]

The best of Lipelis’ strong edits collection on LIES, a dangerous bassline and Thai vocals make for a scorching piece of wonky funk that lit up many a dancefloor.

63. Ekman – GMMDI (Breaker 1 2 Remix) [Berceuse Heroique]

One of the year’s darkest scorchers came from Breaker 1 2, who many will know better as Greg Beato. His flip of Ekman’s GMMDI is black as pitch, with a raw rhythm and lethal synthwork.

62. Palmbomen II – Leo Danziger [Beats In Space]

The affecting coda to Palmbomen’s LP on Beats In Space was short but heart-rending, a bittersweet dirge for a fantasy funeral.

61. Entro Senestre – Rosegold [W.T. Records]

ES’ neon-soaked outing on W.T Records came with this propulsive opener, a moody house roller to rival Detroit’s finest night-drive anthems.

60. Imaabs – Voy [Naafi]

Few tunes this year got dancefloors popping as surely as this one from Chile’s Imaabs. It may be short but its punchy drum section and pinch of dramatic synthwork would get your gran throwing shapes from her chair.

59. Kornél Kovács – Pantalón [Numbers]

Kovács’ discoid anthem with its tunnelling bassline and nonsensical Spanish vocal line is catchy, fun and huge.

58. Kirk The Flirt & Peter Pressure – Never Ever Give Up [1080p]

In another strong year for 1080p an LP from Berlin’s Physical Therapy stood out with a selection of prime club cuts. The strange whistling hook and deep pads made this cut the highlight.

57. Call Super – Migrant [Houndstooth]

JR Seaton’s ace two-tracker was another refinement of his elegant sound. Here the melodies and effects come to life as a dense rainforest, a sound that makes you want to crawl inside and nest.

56. Mark Barrott – Saviours Or Savages [International Feel]

The I-Feel label head put out one of his best balearic cuts to date with these swooning melodies and crystalline synthscapes.

55. Foreign – B1 [BAROC]

The edgy BAROC imprint came out with some real thunder on Foreign’s raw machine-driven outing. The A1 is dancefloor killer but it was with the ghostly ambience and lost animal cries of the B-side that he struck platinum.

54. Chaos In The CBD – Midnight In Peckham [Rhythm Section]

Bradley Zero continued to tease out the jazzier side of house on Rhythm Section this year, with a starring role played by this Kiwi duo. Trumpet and piano serenade each other over a dusty drumtrack in this timeless cut.

53. Andrea – Outlines [Ilian Tape]

It’s not easy to make a techno track that’s both epic and raw, but Andrea managed it with the soaring synths and canny rhythms of Outlines.

52. Adesse Versions – Pride [Numbers]

Deadly in its simplicity, here Adesse Versions paired a diva vocal with the most vicious piano line this side of Prosumer.

51. Local Artist – Feelings [Rhythm Section]

One of the wonkiest cuts to come out of Canada’s house scene in 2015, Feelings was an unlikely anthem whose curious effects and hazy ambience shone through a scene crowded with similar artists.

50. Kasra V – Last Order [Make Love In Public Spaces]

Heavyweight house that lopes along with a searing bassline and a cinematic sense of drama.

49. Obas Nenor – Change Got To Come [Mahogani Music]

Either side of Nenor’s ace 12” on Moodymann’s imprint could have made this list, but we favour the darker B-side, which shifts from a dirty dancehall riddim to catchy twilight disco in the blink of an eye.

48. Bleaker – Hype (Funk) [Unknown To The Unknown]

Another example of deadly simplicity was Bleaker’s flip of a classic on Hype (Funk). A propulsive rhythm track, a brief late melody and that loopy vocal make for raw dancefloor killer.

47. Sabre – Ghetto Prophet [Royal Oak]

Portugese duo Sabre knocked it out of the park with this maximalist house epic, masterfully building tension with operatic drums and polished synthwork to an enormous climax.

46. Suzanne Kraft – Flatiron [Melody As Truth]

The enormously talented Suzanne Kraft dropped some gorgeous ambience and guitar work on his Talk From Home LP, the centrepiece being this blissed-out cut, all smoky riffs and featherweight percussion.

45. PCK – Amen Garage [The Final Experiment]

Everything that Shed touches is gold, and this year we were particularly wowed by a high-octane slice of jungle under a new moniker, PCK. Lightning-fast breakbeat juggling and an urgent vocal meant that this one’s power more than made up for its brief length.

44. The Horn – Villager [Workshop]

The first reissue to enter our list is this ’96 synth piece that featured on Workshop’s ace mixed artist release early in the year. Why does it deserve to come back after twenty years? The reverb-drenched melody conjures a lingering nostalgia, the snappy electro beat the bittersweet need to move on. More emotions than your average album, all in seven minutes.

43. DJ Koze – XTC [Pampa]

Koze’s annual entry into the year-end list is unusually straight. On first listen it’s a normal (though subdued) deep house cut. Then you hear those jagged synths, the constant bass pressure, the misty ambience, and that ambiguous vocal that creeps under your skin. He’s got you.

42. Sound Stream – Bass Affairs [Sound Stream]

With his release rate of seven singles since 1999, any year that Sound Stream drops a release is a blessing. His is disco-house polished to perfection, oozing funk and charm, dynamite on the dancefloor.

41. Paxton Fettel – Dots On The Skyline [Greta Cottage Workshop]

One of the highlights of Paxton Fettel’s superb debut album was this elegant construction which fuses a hefty hip hop rhythm with delicate harp and a jazzy acid line.

***

Come back for part two in a few days.

Best Albums of 2015

Paxton Fettel - Everything Stays The Same

Label: Greta Cottage Workshop

In recent years we’ve found that there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a perfectly-honed deep house album, and there seem to be a lot of them about at the moment. One of 2015’s most notable bounties is surely the debut album of Danish producer Paxton Fettel, an eight-tracker that gives generously across its concise runtime, showing a diverse array of skills and always hitting the spot.

Admittedly Fettel takes a while to get going: the first few tracks take are lush and elegant, but don’t hint at the joy and range to be found on the album’s second half. They sure do set the mood though, Amber Light Burns is a gentle opener that gazes deep into the sunset, while Beyond The Sapphire Surf and Cloud Feeling live up to their blissful titles, lightly born with colourful melodies.

It’s all very pleasant and airy until Dots On The Skyline hits, and suddenly it becomes clear that Fettel is more than just a good producer. The crunchy hip-hop lope suits Fettel’s classy melodics to a tee, as a looped harp and lose piano chords tug us skywards while the gritty drums keep us rooted to the ‘floor. Then an acid line bursts from the woodwork, more jazzy than disorientating club mania (à la Floating Points), resulting in a powerful cocktail. The pace continues to rise with the surprisingly raw Lift Off, which pulls off a glorious contrast between its sawtooth bassline and hobnailed kick offset by jazzy keys. The unexpectedly merciless kick shows another side of Fettel’s production, pulled off with the impeccable finesse which span all of his productions.

If those tracks send you off into space, the return to earth is just as joyous. Fettel teams up with Japanese producer Takuya Matsumoto for a gorgeous nu-disco ride with Afloat On A Sea Of Nothing, whose searing brass and optimistic keys carry you on their wind, bearing none of the stasis indicated by the title. With the closing Solitary Returns, Fettel returns to gazing off into the distance, its burbling chords and wistful mood a fitting cap to a well-crafted journey. Beyond his serious production talents, the relatively few tunes and shorter track-times show one of Fettel’s skills which is rare in the house world – concision. He knows just when to pull back, when the sound is done and speaks for itself. The inevitable result of that is that you’re left just wanting more.

8/10

Best Tracks of 2014: Part 1

Trends come and go, but good music is forever. While there are a great deal of unique producers who will always plough their own furrows, it’s interesting to note when a scene as a whole takes an interest in a certain sound: less the result of imitation than a group of like-minded people walking in sync (well, sometimes imitation). We saw it with the rise of lofi house, industrial techno, instrumental grime and jungle revivalism over the past couple of years, and 2014 has brought its own sounds to the fore. The icy future-funk of electro found a place in a lot of the year’s techno output, a range of producers started exploring ambient textures off the dancefloor, and a number of producers known for their darkness put out tunes that were surprisingly bright and – dare we say it – pretty.

Whether you’re into dark or light, revival or futurism, dance fans have been spoiled in 2014. Here are White Noise’s 50 top tracks.

50. Person Of Interest – Call This Number [LIES]

It’s got all the trappings of a classic LIES release: clattering percussion, waves of tape hiss, melodies buried in the mix, but this tune’s simple synthline proved devastating, while its intrepid structure more than justified the ten minute runtime.

49. Deadboy – Return [Numbers]

Deadboy is an interesting case: his tracks always tap into current trends and forward-thinking sounds, but their quality and shelf-life far outlasts most contemporaries. On his wonderfully varied Return EP for Numbers it was this dramatic ambient intro that proved most transportative, a rousing space hymn for the digital age.

48. Gesloten Cirkel – Submit X [Murder Capital]

Gesloten Cirkel’s superb debut LP  brought techno and electro with a healthy dose of humour, showcased on the title cut which loops a pitchbending vocal over a taut electro snap that brings the dance despite its brevity.

47. Even Tuell – Precious Cloud [Latency]

We’ve been keeping an eye out for Even Tuell since hearing the superb B2 of his collaboration with Midnightopera on Workshop. The producer’s ear for subtle melancholy is unparalleled, typified on Precious Cloud from this year’s Longing Way EP. It’s a deceptively simple affair where the melody twinkles with yearning, a muted bassline appearing halfway through to carry us off to the stars.

46. An-i – Kino-i (Mix) (Cititrax)

This is about the most destructive track we grew to love this year. A study in chaos dressed up as peak-time techno, Kino-i  runs a corrosive acid line over a field of dense kicks, scrapes and bangs, all leading to what can only be described as a mindfuck of a breakdown: the track’s parts falling away, grinding to a halt, churning and whirring like the inner workings of some infernal machine, before the kick slams back into place and some semblance of order is restored (for now).

45. Austin Cesear – 1 Year [Proibito]

Cesear turned to woozy house with aplomb for his outing on Anthony Naples’ Proibito imprint, including this epic on the B-side, a hazily addictive cut drenched in nostalgia and warmth.

44. Marquis Hawkes – Can’t Find A Reason [Houndstooth]

We thought we knew what to expect from both Marquis Hawkes - lofi house on Dixon Avenue Basement Jams – and Houndstooth, who seem concerned with the darker fringes of the dancefloor. So what a surprise for Houndstooth to sign his latest, a flat-out banger where an RnB vocal is looped ad infinitum over a crunchy beat and classic bass stabs. The level of polish is unexpected, and it may all bring back bass music circa 2012, but there’s no debating how this one can tear a dancefloor apart.

43. Mike Dehnert – En Outre [Delsin]

This bouncy closer to Dehnert’s Lichtbedingt LP shows the German at his straightest and funnest, an elastic bassline reigning supreme with a gently swung rhythm and laser-gun synth fire. The only problem is the length. Extended mix, anyone?

42. Pender Street Steppers – Openin’ Up [People’s Potential Unlimited]

PPU has been upping their game year on year, but the signing of Mood Hut-affiliated Pender Street Steppers was inspired even by their standards – and also a perfect fit. Openin’ Up is a lazy Sunday jam, twisting the sounds of worn-out house and syrupy instrumental funk into a deliciously odd soup. We couldn’t get enough.

41. R-Zone – Down You Go [R-Zone]

Crème’s semi-anonymous R-Zone series continued to impress in 2014, and this nocturnal cut brought the drama. There’s a distinctly religious vibe to this one, the bell tolls and serene vocals contrasting with serrated drum patterns and corrosive static which become increasingly frenetic as the track goes on. Wicca rave.

40. Ondo Fudd – Harbour [Trilogy Tapes]

Call Super (aka JR Seaton) shot to techno stardom this year with a singular LP and a dangerous club-tooled 12” for Houndstooth, but we never forgot this EP from earlier in the year which showcased his playful side. Harbour is a blistering slice of electro, its scifi sinews flexing restlessly, with a healthy dose of muscle in that elastic bassline.

39. NGLY – Speechless Tape [LIES]

Newcomer NGLY knocks it out of the park on this threatening cut. The first thing you’ll hear is that menacing bassline, but the uneasy synth wash and disaffected vocal add to the B-movie horror vibe, while rattling percussion and punishing hi-hats make this one as danceable as it is moody.

38. DJ Metatron – Rave Child [Traumprinz]

Traumprinz takes to a new alias and a new style as DJ Metatron, producing 90s throwback with the emotions turned up to 11, but it’s the modern details that make this one: the intricate percussion never content to just loop, the subtle bass blips that lend substance to the drama of its vocal and melody.

37. Floorplan – Never Grow Old (Re-Plant) [M-Plant]

Robert Hood’s update to last year’s techno-gospel anthem Never Grow Old was one of the year’s most universally played and adored tunes, and with good reason. This new version strips the original of some of its warmth, with an urgent church organ taking centre stage, blurring the lines between religious and drug-induced frenzy, taking hold of you and not letting go.

36. Delroy Edwards – Always (Edit) [Gene’s Liquor]

Delroy breaks into filtered house with this rugged roller, a crushed synthline abruptly giving way to an unreservedly joyous piano line and an unexpectedly euphoric disco climax. Shame it’s over so soon.

35. Head High – Hex Factor [Power House]

Shed’s generous double-pack of techno weapons continued to show a producer at the pinnacle of his career, our favourite being this raw confection of breaks and kicks with its galactic synthwork playing like a dazed version of his anthemic Rave (Dirt Mix).

34. Terekke – Untitled A1 [LIES]

LIES’ most singular producer amazed us yet again with this slice of dubby house, letting a new brightness and energy into his sound as a longing vocal and shimmering synthwork brushed up against his signature percussive work.

33. Kangding Ray – Amber Decay [Raster-Norton]

This is techno at its blackest, a jackhammer kick and skittering percussion threatened by blasts of static noise. Yet there’s more there: the buried choir-like melody gives the track a hint of the profane, while those brighter synth blips deep in the mix shine out bravely, weakly against the darkness. The devil’s in the details.

32. Eduardo De La Calle – Somewhere In Your Arms [Cadenza]

The percussion on this one is effective but simple enough, but it’s in De La Calle’s melody that genius shines: the way those synths flutter and distend, gently, sometimes alone, sometimes accompanied by melancholic pads and elastic stretches reaching to the sky. It’s subtle, it’s quiet, but little evokes heartache and longing like Somewhere In Your Arms.

31. Shackleton – Freezing Opening Thawing [Woe To The Septic Heart]

Shackleton continued to follow no one’s lead but his own with Freezing Opening Thawing, his synthwork colourful and polished yet oddly physical, borrowing from African rhythms with a restless inventiveness that impresses more with every melodic shift the track undergoes.

30. Art Crime – Release [W.T. Records]

Art Crime’s excellent self-titled debut certainly had its eye on the past with its euphoric piano house style, but there was a liquid quality to the keys and an unusual sense of pace to the drum patterns that made this one stand out from the pack.

29. Fatima – Biggest Joke Of All [Eglo]

It’s hard to pick just one tune from Fatima’s gorgeous Yellow Memories LP, but this Floating Points production stood out because of its simplicity. A simple boom bap rhythm and a jazzy organ melody allows Fatima’s warm, nuanced voice to stay centre-stage, exactly where it deserves to be.

28. Millie & Andrea – Stay Ugly [Modern Love]

Andy Stott and Miles Whittaker reached new heights on their debut collaborative album Drop The Vowels, and Stay Ugly was our favourite cut. Everything here is broken, from the serrated beats to the uneven, glassy synthwork that, despite its brightness sounds worn, trampled and lost.

27. Minor Science – Hapless [Trilogy Tapes]

One of the year’s best mind-benders came courtesy of music journalist Angus Finlayson, whose Hapless offers a sluggish kick-clap combo held in the thrall of a rippling, unpredictable synthline which warps the fabric of the track. When the melody burst into brightness around the three-minute mark we were hooked. You’d have to brave to play this in the club, but for us it hits all the right buttons.

26. Anthony Naples – More Problem [Trilogy Tapes]

Naples’ 2014 was not as prolific as last year, but if he keeps getting better than you’ll hear no complaints from us. More Problem takes the piano house banger and flips it on its head, with technoid percussion and dubbed-out keys that are more eyes-down propulsion than hands-in-the-air euphoria.

Join us next time for our 25 top tracks of the year!

Best of 2014:

* Best Albums

* Best Tracks: 50-26

* Best Tracks: 25-1