Monday, December 30, 2013

Favorite Tracks of 2013 – the uptempo/dancefloor/experimental/aggy-as-f**k/ear-buds not recommended edition





  • Theo Parrish & Tony Allen – Day Like This (feat Eska & Andrew Ashong)
  • DJ Rashad – Let It Go
  • Kode9 – Uh
  • The Bug – Freakshow (feat Danny Brown & Kiki Hitomi) / Dirty (feat Flowdan)
  • Boddika & Joy Orbison – Mercy (Boddika VIP)
  • Demdike Stare – Collision
  • Tessela – Hackney Parrot (Special Request VIP)
  • Four Tet – Kool FM
  • Pedestrian & Jasperdrum – Kalkuta vs Zombie (PEDit)
  • Culoe De Song – No Contest
  • Jeremy Deller – Voodoo Ray (Optimo remix)
  • Doc Daneeka – Trife Pt. II
  • Deadboy – On My Mind
  • Mala – Como Como (Theo Parrish remix)


Theo Parrish & Tony Allen – Day Like This (feat Eska & Andrew Ashong)
Two absolute legends link-up to launch Parrish's new label and the results are as brilliant as one could imagined. A master class in subtlety and dynamic rhythm. This was the perfect soundtrack to both the sweaty sun-bleached afternoons and cool summer nights of 2013.

DJ Rashad – Let It Go
Rashad's Hyperdub output demonstrated that Juke/Footwork is as much a technique as it is a musical style. Like a Cubist painter applying a series of techniques to reinterpret the world around her, Rashad applies the footwork's methods to a seemingly endless pool of musical raw material to produce unique takes on the sound. In this case he recontextualizes classic 'ardcore euphoria into a fresh and dynamic experience.

Kode9 – Uh
2013 saw the first Kode9 releases in some time. This track, released alongside his excellent Rinse mix CD, is a bit more straight forward than the excellent Xing Fu on Hyperdub, and more effective for it. Where some of Rashad's tracks saw him re-coding London bass music history through the lens of Chicago footwork, Kode9's recent work sees him taking the dynamic rhythms and quantized samples of footwork and running them through the filter of UK bass culture, the results are a new mutation of the UK bass virus that can still trace its DNA back to Sign of the Dub.

The Bug – Freakshow (feat Danny Brown & Kiki Hitomi) / Dirty (feat Flowdan)
I refuse to choose between these brutal sonic weapons. Both are slightly tweaked versions of the same Bug riddim. Freakshow finds Danny Brown's frantic flow juxtapozed with Kiki Hitomi's haunting hook to brilliant effect. Dirty on the other hand is the most recent weaponized strain of the always on point collaboration between Kevin Martin and Flowdan, possibly their best since the mighty Skeng.

 Boddika & Joy Orbison – Mercy (Boddika VIP)
The mighty Mercy VIP finally sees release to the masses and it just seems to increase the longevity of what in better world would be a lock for Christmas No. 1. To hear this on the massive Output soundsystem is to witness the sound of steel girders that support reality itself being rend and twisted into unrecognizable new structures.

Demdike Stare – Collision
An estranged kin of the Modern Love's Hate series, Demdike Stare's Test Pressing releases see them mining the sounds of classic jungle and remodeling them for their own oblique purposes. This, the first of the series , sees Demdike Stare sounding much like classic Panacea built with strategies and technology the producer could only have dreamed of in '97.

Tessela – Hackney Parrot (Special Request VIP)
"Right listen - I've just been told anyone who's got a fiesta parked inside the Market, you best move it or you're walking home. Right? Come with the Music..."

Four Tet – Kool FM
The initial calling card, or warning shot ahead of Four Tet's masterful love letter to pirate radio. If this is not ruff e nuff for you check the huge Champion remix.

Pedestrian & Jasperdrum – Kalkuta vs Zombie (PEDit)
The original Kalkuta is a big tune in its own right, but this PEDit by the man himself, with it's afrobeat inspiration on full display, is even better. (also check for Auntie Flows redit for more Fela for the dancefloor love)

Culoe De Song – No Contest
In truth, my favorite track is De Song's mix of Bright Forest (remix) / No Contest / Birds of the Feather on his Red & Blue podcast, which I rewound so many times I'm surprised I haven't worn the bits away in the mp3. The brilliant rhythm of No Contest is the anchor and drive of that mix and certainly stands strong on its own.

Jeremy Deller – Voodoo Ray (Optimo remix)
What could be more quintessentially 2013 than a steel drum heavy cover of a rave classic created by an multi-media artist for the Venice Biennial and then returned to its dancefloor roots with a remix by Glaswegian House hedonists. All of that meta-narrative wouldn't mean jack if the track wasn't brilliant, but thankfully it is stone cold killer.

Doc Daneeka – Trife Pt. II
Walk On In has the dancefloor heft but something about this dark and deep, stripped-back slow burner hit's me in all the right places.  That massive rolling bassline makes it absolutely addicting.

Deadboy – On My Mind
Deadboy's ability to craft haunting sub-heavy house tracks for dark cavernous rooms continues to grow in strength with each release.

Mala – Como Como (Theo Parrish remix)
Theo Parrish bookends the list with this absolutely beautiful remix. The master flushes out those elements that made Mala's original so appealing and then elevates them to another level. Quite possibly perfect.

BONUS: Four Tet – The Track I've Been Playing That People Keep Asking About and That Joy Used in His RA Mix



Four Tet handily beats Joy O for most over the top, and literal, track title ever.  Despite being given away for free to the masses, and as far I know being nearly unmixable, this chaotic ruckus of  a tune ignited more dancefloor riots than any other in 2013.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Favorite Tracks of 2013 - the downtempo/hip-hop/r&b/folks-singing-about-sh*t edition



It was a weird year for music. Much like last year, there was a wealth of really good music but very little in terms of absolutely amazing music, but that could just be me not digging deep enough through all the noise of a post-internet mediascape. These are some of my favorite home listening tracks of the last year (dancefloor, etc. list to follow at some point)
  • Typesun – The PL
  • Tinashe – Boss (Ryan Hemsworth remix)
  • Tre Mission – Brunch
  • Paul White – Street Lights (feat. Danny Brown)
  • Kelela – Enemy (prod. by Nguzunguzu)
  • Future Brown – Wanna Party (feat. Tink)
  • Le1f – Pocahontas (feat. Kitty Pryde – Prod. By Drippin)
  • Djrum – Honey
  • James Blake – Retrograde
  • Just Friends – Avalanche (Shlohmo remix)
  • Emika – Sleep With My Enemies
  • Various Production – Opus
  • The Knife – Without You My Life Would Be Boring
  • King Midas Sound – Aroo
Typesun – The PL
I'm a sucker for a stripped back, backbeat driven R&B croon and this is as good as they come.

Tinashe – Boss (Ryan Hemsworth remix)
It was a big year for the One Man Boy Band with his well received EP and debut LP not to mention the killer Cat Power X Angel Haze remix. But, I just kept coming back to this one, the mix of sweet and tuff is just perfect. Even if it was leaked last year I listened to non-stop in 2013 so it sneaks in on a technicality.

Tre Mission – Brunch
If this kid ever decides to rhyme about something other than girls and his rep the Kendrick's and ASAPs of the game will be in serious trouble. Extra points to whoever managed to bite Clams Casino on the beat.

Paul White – Street Lights (feat. Danny Brown)
To my ears, the best (so far?) of the fruitful collaborations between Mr. White and Mr. Brown. Beats just weird and chaotic enough to match that wild flow but still with enough forward momentum to keep the tack upright.

Kelela – Enemy (prod. by Nguzunguzu)
In the spring Kelela appeared as if from nowhere. I first saw her singing live on a Kingdom set at Output, then w/ L-Vis 1990 at PS1, then came the jaw dropping grime mix by Bok Bok. By the time Cut 4 Me dropped the word was out and underground was buzzing. Kelela is at her best on dark, ruffed up grime beats that would chew up other vocalists, and this one, by the increasingly on point Nguzunguzu, is her best so far.

Future Brown – Wanna to Party (feat Tink)
The avant-bass & beats super group comprised of Nguzunguzu, Fatima-al-Qadiri and J Cush teamed up with the equally about-to-blow-up Tink and somehow managed to roll out a club banger from a post-geographic future that transcends the sum of its impressive parts. When the LP drops in 2014 the game may very well be irreparably changed.

Le1f – Pocahontas
Le1f showed some breadth and subtlety in 2013 releasing two killer mixtapes, Fly Zone and Tree House. While the slower, deeper and more nuanced tracks were absolutely stunning, I'm still a sucker for what the man himself calls “banjee,masculine, aggressive, club tracks" that filled his debut, Dark York, and of which Pocahontas still fits the bill. Hell the beat is so cunty that even the normally dreadful Kitty Pryde sounds tight.

Djrum – Honey
My favorite track from Djrum's somewhat lackluster debut LP. This one still has some of the tension between widescreen soundscapes and thick as molasses hum and crackle that made the initial EPs so consuming. Also check his excellent remix of singer songwriter Jono McCleery.

James Blake – Retrograde
I could have picked Life Round Here or the massive dub version of Voyeur but the fact is after a hundred+ listens this one still gives my shivers down my spine. That makes it the best of the lot.

Just Friends – Avalanche (Schlohmo remix)
The original is a thing of great beauty for sure, but there is something about this sliced and submerged remix that is stands all on its own. Like Hemsworth, Schlohmo manages to rend genuine emotion out of aquatic synths and off-kilter beats like some sort of Abelton conjuring wizard.

Emika – Sleep With My Enemies
Twisted sub-bass eneveloped torch song? Yes please!

Various – Opus
After a moment of relative quite from the Various lab, the mysterious production team reemerged this year. This eyes down, abyss-staring epic is their best work in a years.

The Knife – Without You My Life Would Be Boring
The most straight forward track from the wonderfully uneven and infuriating Shaking the Habitual.

King Midas Sound – Aroo
“My Bloody Valentine in dub” - shortly after Roger Robinson uttered those bass-weighted words came proof of concept in the form of Aroo. If this is, as it appears to be, the warning shoot ahead of the groups next LP, then we are in for a aural onslaught like no other.

BONUS: Mikey J - Rock & The UK Female Allstars – Roc The Mic ( feat. Amplify Dot, Baby Blue, Lioness, RoxXxan, Mz Bratt and Lady Leshurr)


Mikey J & The UK Female Allstars - Rock The Mic [Music Video] from Trail Pictures on Vimeo.

This came out last year, but Kelly found it this year on some deep youtube digging binge and I listened it pretty much non-stop ever since. Pure verbal fire over a deadly serious war beat. The best pose cut in the last two years on either side of the Atlantic (and 2Chains isn't even in it)