Turns out I’ve been away for most of this
year but I still saw it as my civil duty to write about the music that made
this year go with such a wonderful fizz and bubble (with the occasional bout of
leishmaniasis).
When I Grow Up by First Aid Kit
A band I am fairly sure that have featured
before and often talk about is the Swedish folk-pop duo First Aid Kit . If you got a praaalem wid dis then you gonna have
to deal with it. Their uncanny ability to create power through evocative two part harmonies backed by simple acoustic
arrangement showcases their talented pragmaticism - a sentence that does not
come easily. Not only do they repeatedly create beautiful music beyond
comprehension they also have an uncanny knack of covering the perfect song in a
manner that induces emotions seldom seen/felt/heard. Here I would like to cite Fever
Ray - When I Grow Up. This is easily one of my tracks of the year/life. My love
of these two is easily replicated in the shape of Ane Brun. I don’t know a whole lot about her apart from the fact
she shares her name with a friend of a friend and Humming One of Your Songs was a huge part of my year. She is worthy
of far more than a sentence but time presses.
You have to remember that I have been in
the third world for most of this year, usually without internet access, let
alone access to my usual musical outlets. SO, I was first alerted to Beth Jeans Houghton (a name I would
consider for my future offspring) after her BBC 6Music session whereupon sheperformed Dodechedron. Not only was
this a wonderful moment. It was an brilliant version of an already excellent
song. I had been waiting for almost two years for the single/album. I had seen
her perform at Glastonbury, I had heard on the radio since; posted and
re-posted about her. My only gripe (a word I really like these days) is how the
beginning of Dodecahedron has a weird,
scary baby crying. It freaks me and every else out EVERY time the song comes on.
It’s hard to know where to start when
talking about Mastodon. Their 2011
release The Hunter is not everyone’s
cup of prog-metal tea. Having been a long term fan of Tool and Maynard James
Keenan, I was easily convinced when recommended Crack the Skye by an old metallier
– it’s like a sermellier but for metal - friend whose opinion I value. The
Hunter was another LP that was not an instant ear-pleaser BUT, I was expecting
this. I gave it a few listens, usually on a boat heading to a tropical island I
have been frequenting for the latter quarter of this year. A stranger
juxtaposition of images, I don’t know one, an even stranger intermingling of
memories, not found one yet. Together - the journey and The Hunter – they
pumped me into a feverously introspective mood that I have rarely felt before
and I wonder how I would replicate again in the future. Listen to this set of
jagged, fiery audio ramblings and I have no doubt you will find yourself in a
headspace that you are not immediately familiar with. I double-dare you no
returns.
Clichéd Lifetime achievement award: System
of a Down. Much as I feel I have no right to gift any band with this
pointless of all pointlessnesses, I do want to find a way of mentioning System
of A Down. A band who opened my eyes to heavy beyond heavy guitars with a
lyricist who was at least possessed and more acurately deranged (in a good
way).
Dispatch will forever hold a fond place in my heart having first heard them
in the year 2011 on a veranda overlooking the province of Bario in the Kelabit
Highlands of Borneo. It was at this moment, as the sun was setting and the
night was warming up to be one to go down in my history, The General came on. Simply put, it was a great acoustic rock song
which told an excellent story which is a rarity these days. Then I heard Out Loud while in a bar in the
Philippines – my home – and I was struck dumb. Quiet. Almost acappella.
Heart-wrenching content. This missive could not have gone out without a mention
of this or them.
SBTRKT – A tenuous non-sequitor à I do not
particularly like Little Dragon. I saw them headlining a small gig in Highbury
a few years ago (I was there to see Stateless) and found them to be a little
boring BUT definitely headlining a growing adolescent generation of music.
Having said this their vocalist lends her voice box to Wildfire – the track that made me stop and re-think about this random-letter
generated name’s offerings. It was an instant contender for favourite track of
the year. I have no idea if this is old news. So, Aaron Jerome aka
SBTRKTEIVNASDUI has manage to fuse some favourites, and so clearly the best,
elements of electronic music. There is lovely fudgey, dupsteppy bass coupled
with exciting futuristic blip-blop noises, various synths with simple and
immersive lyrics. All in all, a strong contender for album of the year for me.
If you are able to get past the name, you will massively appreciate the
excitement that will fuel in your belly. As a little side thought though, I
love the audacity of the just-too-long-to-be-comfortable pause in Right Thing to Do.The number of times I thought my iPod had randomly
stopped...
It feels like a day/week cannot go past
where I or someone near me does not wax lyrical about Adele. It is even stranger for me when people assume that 21 is the
hit album. Personally, 19 is one of the best albums I own so for her follow-up
to hold as strong a part in my cerebral hard disk is quite a statement de-void
of ANY hyperbole. Buy it. Buy them both. Listen to them BOTH. A LOT.
Interesting seguey. Jamie XX was
responsible for the best remix of the year with his metamorphosis of Rolling in
the Deep. I love this track but sadly it has fallen foul to its own hype and is
now over played, over-covered and mentioned all too often. BUT. As I said. I
like the Jamie XX mix before it was cool.
Honourable mention to his remixes of Gill Scott Heron. I am a tiny bit ashamed
that that was how I was introduced to the late NYC acid jazz hero.
Ali BeatnikOnline Raymond. There I’ve said it. This fella and his blog are a mutual
friend and my go to for all musics
urban and peri-urban. It was on a very indulgent day towards the beginning of
this year that I stumbled across Justin Uzomba aka. Mikill Pane. To be more accurate I stumbled across “The Return of Mister Pane... the lanky
n****r with purple frames.”. The video was cool, set in various scenes
throughout the Brick Lane area but it was his turn of phrase and intrinsic
sneerish humour that I LOVED. Fearful that this was a one off I YouTube’d his
name whereupon I discovered a collaboration with this semi-unknown – Ed Sheeran – on a track called Little Lady. THIS is my track of the
year. Ed, an urban folkser or a folkish getto rudeboy succeeds in using an
angelic (he is very ginger, not sure why that is relevant here) vocals over
ska/dub acoustic guitars and grand sounding production to create beautiful all
encompassing songs. Little Lady, which
is a re-work of the Sheeran’s original The A Team, on the other hand is
possibly one of the most intricate and wonderful pieces of wordsmanship. Messrs
Sheeran and Pane/Uzomba play their parts with Ed providing the melancholic hook
and backing tracks while Mr Pane gives the world a thought provoking, macabre
and hollistically dark story delivered in a fittingly monotone narrative. It’s
one of those where people renew their faith that music is amazing.
With genuine wonderful circluarity of
things the very same album of collaborations that gave us Little Lady also introduced me to Devlin. At first I was slightly non-plussed then, while in the
jungles of Borneo, I was listening to a friends iPod an Devlin’s Community Outcast came on. After a few
listens, I realised it was the classic strings/synths coupled with standard hip-hopish
beats and, in this case fast, proper London inflcition that was gripping me. He
paints a picture of sadder side of the Great British community and the
shortcomings that “Brown told us to live
with”. Surprisingly (for me at least) it became one of my top 10 most played
from 2012. Give it a go and I am sure you’ll also be pleasantly surprised.
This year has definitely and maybe
obviously been the year that dubstep ‘went mainstream’. Flux Pavillion in my opinion (which this whole thing is) is the top
of the class. His tracks should come with some form of health warning stating
something along the lines of PEOPLE WITH HEART CONDITIONS SHOULD SEEK ADVICE
BEFORE INDULGING. The best part is that his mixes are also heart murmringly
good. Freestylers – Cracks (Flux Pavillion Remix) = one of the best songs to
sweat to. Jamoriqui - Blue Skies (Flux Pavillion remix) = euphorically bright
even on the darkest of winter days. MIA – Internest Connection (Flux Pavillion
remix) = my favourite song my MIA about the internet. System malfunction à wobbly base noise. Plus. Flux Pavillion. It’s a cool name.
I feel like I shouldn’t bother writing
about Tune-Yards because everyone
else is. I am in no way claiming to be massively original or unique but I doubt
I could say much that someone else hasn’t already said more directly. A great
album that could be the younger, female cousin of Vampire Weekend. It has a
similar African-ish influence or perhaps it’s a general tribal (in finger
quotes) feel PLUS, the vocals provided by Merrill Garbus are excellent to sing
along to especially in busy communter trains and buses. Try it. I challenge you
not to have at least the seat next to you cleared within 25 seconds. The album
is great, sunny and slightly unqiue but you might need to give it a chance or
two. Bizness and Powa were the two tracks that hooked me.
Having been a long term fan of Dan le sac
vs. Scroobius Pip, I was curious to see who this Sage Francis was. He is always listed in the same sentence as Pip
and supported some legs of their recent tour. Then, out of no-where, the same
friend who showed me Devlin text me – I was in Borneo and he was back home by
this point – with the words The Best of
Times – Sage Francis. I downloaded it. It instantly captured me. Since
then, Li(f)e as been a constant. He delivers his words in the street poet, slam
style with a pronoused meter and rhythm within the words themselves. As his
name states, he is very wise, often insightful but always rational(ish). Little Houdini was another standout on
Li(f)e which was released earlier this year. The backing to his words varies
greatly so, rather than ponficate I will just urge you to try it on for
yourself. Which is the complete antithesis to...
...one thing that I HAVE noticed. The
current trends of sub-popluar music - wishy washy, minimal, vocal style that
seems to be prevalent and start committing to the noises, sounds and music that
leads our way. I am a little disappointed considering this time last year I
might have been talking about Seight Bells for example. Is say let’s teabag the
flimflam, smash through the mashmallowly mediocracy and prouldy squat a-top the
golden retriever of empowerment safe in the knowledge that we are not
ecouraging the production of recessio-pop*.
Until next year.
*This is
possibly the greatest sentence ever written. There is no way I can follow that
up. I think I can retire now.
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