Favorite Tracks of 2014 - uptempo / aggy / dancefloor edition

Favorite Tracks of 2014 - Part 2 from kelcey on 8tracks Radio.

• Flowdan - Ambush (produced by Footsie) 
• Addison Groove feat. DJ Rashad - U Been Gone 
• Percussions – KHLHI 
• Sade - Stronger Than Pride (Fo' Sho' Karizma Remix) 
• Kowton – Glock and Roll 
• MFO - Slow Run in Our Dreams 
• Fluxion - You Don’t Know (Joey Anderson Remix) 
• Deadbeat & Paul St Hilaire - Little Darling 
• &ME - After Dark 
• Talaboman – Sideral 
• Pional - It's All Over (John Talabot Remix) 
• Pangaea – Pob 
• Randomer – Bring 
• The Bug feat. Manga – Function 
• DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn – On Site

Flowdan - Ambush (produced by Footsie)
A welcomed return to form for the mighty Flowdan this year with several devastating tracks with soul brother Kevin Martin and an EP for Hyperdub.  Each track was killer.  This Footsie production was my favorite.

Addison Groove feat. DJ Rashad - U Been Gone
One of several bitter-sweet posthumously released gems by Rashad. This time partnered with Addison Groove, the chopped soul vocals drip with extra resonance.  RIP Rashad. 

Percussions – KHLHI
That track Four Tet, Daphni and Jamie played that at first I thought was annoying, and then I became obsessed with and now it would probably be best if I didn't hear it again for six months or so.  

Sade - Stronger Than Pride (Fo' Sho' Karizma Remix)
That unmistakable Karizma percussion, all that low end rush and swing, and then a full three minutes in, after you have forgotten all about it, that Sade vocal drops and you're dancing like a fool,  whether you want to or not.

Kowton – Glock and Roll
A proper dark rolla, yet definitely a proper house track, hmm..

MFO - Slow Run in Our Dreams
Deep heady, eyes down material. House music to get lost in.

Fluxion - You Don’t Know (Joey Anderson Remix)
Is there a Bristol/Jersey axis of dark paranoid house music, or does it just sound like there is? Either way no one did skunked out,  introspective house music better in 2014 than Joey Anderson. The extra dread vibes on this remix make it my favorite of his many essential releases this year.

Deadbeat & Paul St Hilaire - Little Darling
A slightly different look from the legendary producer and vocalist.  The Tikiman's often languid lyrics here given bounce and urgency through a straight 4/4 treatment with brilliant results.

&ME - After Dark
Big room track of the summer,  even if I didn't know what it was until the fall.

Talaboman – Sideral
Serious earworm melody business.

Pional - It's All Over (John Talabot Remix)
Bitter-sweet baeleric vibes,  haunting a hypnotic,  I wake up humming this at least once a week. Talabot's Remix gives the track a little more drive (and those woodblock hits)

Pangaea – Pob
Proper metallic techno but with just enough hardcore/jungle vibe buried in its DNA to lend it serious physical presence. Unstoppable on the Output sound system.

Randomer – Bring
Technically released late in 2013, this was one of my most listened to tracks of 2014. None more dark and sinister, always riding the delicate line between proper menace and cartoon caricature, this one will instantly transport you to a sweaty basement or smoked filled warehouse, that is if you're not already there.

The Bug feat. Manga – Function
Angels & Devils was one of those LPs deep enough that every week you had different favorite track.  Of the Devils tracks this one makes the list for it's fresh perspective on the classic Bug formula.

DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn – On Site
This track cannot be beat for sheer WTF factor but the real surprise is how much it rewards repeat listening. Nothing so chaotic and aggressive should be this enjoyable. RIP Rashad. 

Favorite Tracks of 2014 - downtempo / headphone meditation / home listening edition

Favorite Tracks of 2014 - Part 1 from kelcey on 8tracks Radio.

• The Bug – Black Wasp

• Fatima Al Qadiri – Shanghai Freeway 

• Rome Fortune – One Time For (Produced by Four Tet)

• Little Dragon - Klapp Klapp (Nosaj Thing remix,  feat. Future) 

• Thom Yorke – The is No Ice (For My Drink)

• FKA Twigs – Two Weeks

• Jamie xx - Sleep Sound

• letthemusicplay Feat. Kate Tempest - Our Town (Joe Goddard Dub)

• Morgan Zarate - Sticks & Stones (feat. Eska & Ghostface Killah)

• Bilal - SIRENS II  (Produced by Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad)

• Snow Ghosts - Secret Garden (Matthew Herbert's Wash It All Away Remix)

• Shabazz Palaces - Forerunner Foray

• Martyn & copeland - Love Of Pleasure

• Kode9 & The Spaceape - The Devil Is A Liar.

• Andy Stott - Violence

The Bug – Black Wasp

The slightly scruzzier kid sister to Angels opener Void. Kevin Martin and Liz Grouper are potent combo leading you down a late night alleyway where the shimmer of neon on wet brickwork puts the summer sun to shame.

Fatima Al Qadiri – Shanghai Freeway

Even though some of the aesthetics of that made Al Qadiri a revelation have been adopted and repurposed by some of the new breed grime producers, her tracks still sound like nothing else out there. This is world building through sound design. 

Rome Fortune – One Time For (Produced by Four Tet)

I’m not so sure about some of the lyrics (why is a b*tch or two cool even revelatory in a party banger, but slow things down to an introspective tone and I cringe).  But Four Tet’s beat coupled with Fortune’s mellow hypnotic delivery is just too enchanting to put down.

Little Dragon - Klapp Klapp (Nosaj Thing remix,  feat. Future)

Nothing against Little Dragon but I find them best consumed via remixes.  I’m not sure this is technically the best of the lot from their new LP, but it has just enough warmth and percussive drive to get the job done and rewards repeat listening.

Thom Yorke – There is No Ice (For My Drink)

Is it just me or can you perfectly picture a forlorn, pre-dawn Yorke staring down at a room temperature gin & tonic with all the disappointment and loss of an eight year old standing over his dead puppy? I feel you Thom, I do.

FKA Twigs – Two Weeks

In which our heroine levels-up to the big time pop star game and manages to keep most of what was originally intriguing about her work intact 

Jamie xx - Sleep Sound

A touch disappointing at first listen, but man is this one a grower, rapturous in a dark club but also perfect for a mediative bus ride on a rainy afternoon.

letthemusicplay Feat. Kate Tempest - Our Town (Joe Goddard Dub)

A favorite of Mr. xx’s DJ sets this year.  I loved it when I first heard it last winter, then forgot about it for a minute, then heard it again in a sunny field on the outskirts of Amsterdam and it was like bumping into an old friend while thousands of miles from home.

               

Morgan Zarate - Sticks & Stones (feat. Eska & Ghostface Killah)

For long time Benji B listeners this was one of the great lost dubs. Doing the rounds at least as far back as 2009, this stone cold slab of soul finally got a proper release this year on the Hyperdub 5.2 comp and still sounds unquestionably fresh.

Bilal - SIRENS II  (Produced by Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad)

If this is a sign of the LP to come, 2015 is going to be a big year for Bilal.  My only gripe is that it’s too short. I usually find myself looping it three and four times in a row until I get my fix.

Snow Ghosts - Secret Garden (Matthew Herbert's Wash It All Away Remix)

The vocals and keys here are so fucking inviting.  Set them against percussion wound up with just  the right amount of potential chaos and throw in a judicious amount of low end drive and sway and I am all in.

Shabazz Palaces - Forerunner Foray

Shabazz Palaces are absolutely on their own cosmic level.  Thank the stars they’ve manage to send transmissions back from there back to us earthbound mortals.

Martyn & copeland - Love Of Pleasure

Has Martyn ever sounded this filthy? Not that this is not a Martyn track, his production chops are all still here, but copeland’s sweet/cold vocals free him up to push all the levels into the red and revel in the distortion and feedback.  I do with an full LP of this.

Kode9 & The Spaceape - The Devil Is A Liar

A powerful swan song for one of my favorite vocalists/poets.  RIP Spaceape.

Andy Stott - Violence

If I had to choose just one track of the year it would be this one.  Simultaneously beautiful and terrifying, the track seductively lures you into its embrace and then, just as you’ve lost sight of the exits, it begins to tear itself apart, threatening to take your mind apart in the process.  If you listen to it three times in a row on your way to work, you may have an out of body experience, or so I’ve heard.