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)
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