eops: my albums of the year 2010

(Ten from a possible twenty!)

I hit 40 this year so doing something as self obsessed and childish as trying to write a list of 20 albums that everyone should buy holds extra special shame this year.

Once upon a time it was my job to recommend the best music to all in sundry, now I'm just conditioned to believe Im right about music through sheer bloody mindedness. Its the Mark Kermode defence, and as such it is unarguable.

When I think back to my years in the record shop (which was a lifetime ago), I can’t help but feel amazed at how the music world has changed, especially in terms of 'dance' music. 

It seems anachronistic even to use the term 'dance music' now because it has become part of the landscape. However 20 years ago (when people thought the 303 was a B road in South Wales) it was a massive bone of contention.

The traditional Christmas arguments that kept me and my co-workers gabbling over hot tea seemed to revolve around whether ‘Rave’ music would ever produce *anything* as worthy as traditional rock had. It was seen as a childish distraction tied to drug culture and gurning kids - remember this was a time before ‘Drum & Bass’, ‘Jungle’, ‘Dubstep’, ‘Grime’, ‘UK Funky’, ‘Trance’ etc. 

It was a time when DJs played music so new and other worldly that it literally defied description. It was indeed the golden age but naturally enough the shock of the new was too much to take for those critics too steeped in their own music lore to open the door even a crack.

Flash forward 20 years and I am pleased to say, like Dr. Kermode, I was right (mostly). 

When I came to create my 'long list' (yes, I am like the Booker Prize - I have a long and a short list *amazing*). I found myself staring at a set of 20 names which split perfectly down the middle between these previously exclusive schools of thought.  This was a real split too, this wasn't like a decade ago when you got the odd Leftfield or Prodigy album scraping together enough credibility to get considered alongside the regular NME candidates. This year it didn't even seem like an issue - the boundary lines have been blurred to such an extent that its impossible to pick out which style contributes more to the final cut.

This new age musical multiculturalism pleases me immensely.

‘Dance’ music may not be ‘Rave’ but it was the reverberations of the latter that forced people to reassess the way such music was categorized. In the early days ‘Rave’ was far too brash and youthful to be given any real credit by the chin strokers, it was the post party chill out records that first provided a glimpse of an alternative view of electronica. 

In the 80’s ‘Ambient’ was called ‘New Age’ and was more likely to feature ‘Pan Pipes from Peru’ than the more credible musings of Brian Eno. In the 90’s artists like The Orb and KLF managed to escape the ‘New Age’ albatross by name checking the likes of Eno, Harmonia and Krautrock. The ‘Chill Out’ label became an easy to swallow tablet for discerning muso’s as opposed to the brutal horse pills of ‘Rave’. 

Flash forward 20 years and even ‘Ambient House’ is unrecognizable (despite the reemergence of Mr. Eno). The Black Dog ‘Music for real airports’ would have melted the brains of most post party ravers back in the day. 


Sleep deprivation 2 - The Black Dog

Its an album so dense that its bound by its own gravity. This is not some audio concealer intended to cover awkward silences like magnolia flock wallpaper in an unsold semi, and it’s not some ‘fluffy clouded’ day trip. ‘Music for real airports’ is a powerful tour de force of abstract audio. It brings your entire world to a standstill for 70 odd minutes. You notice The Black Dog and they make you feel unnerved - detached and ultimately changed by the experience of listening. 

If there is one lesson for all aspiring ambient projects in 2011 it is that being nice and comfy is not a worthy goal in itself anymore, we have won that battle - if you want to win the war then make something intended to make your listeners think! 

It was a resurgent year for ‘Ambient’ music. Brian Eno made an unexpected return to frontline action, The Orb sprang Dave Gilmour out of his Pink Floyd straight jacket and a number of labels from Leaf to the evergreen Warp gave the left field artists a platform to express themselves. However I would say the real ‘Ambient’ resurgence has definitely ‘gone to the Dogs’ and their uncompromising stasis.

Things have definitely changed since the 90‘s but thats not to say that people aren’t still bouncing around wide eyed in warehouses. ‘Dubstep’ has continued to evolve and mutate dance music. As a genre it is now entering those awkward teenage years but it has already inspired dozens of genre spin offs from ‘UK Funky’ to the wrongness of ‘Wonky’. 

Wonky you say? Well remember when trip hop plodded safely across your hi-fi? Well that sort or quirky instrumentalism has been given the kiss of life through the ‘Dubstep’ lovechild ‘Wonky’. As a genre ‘Wonky’ is as irritating as it is exciting but there’s no doubt that the likes of Flying Lotus and Mount Kimbie have brought new impetus to the art of instrumental jams. 

Unlike ‘Trip-hop’ however ‘Wonky’ is a genre that simply refuses to fade into the background.

I would like to add however that ‘Wonky’ as a genre name could do us all a favour and disappear into said background. I’ll bet it sounded funny for a week or two.

Mount Kimbie released some of the most original sounding 12’s of recent times, so when their debut long player ‘Crooks and lovers’ was released, I was more than a little excited. In the end it didn’t hold together quite as well as those early singles did but at least it didn’t disappoint in terms of it’s ambition. Only the madcap Flying Lotus went further out there.

Cosmagramm by Flying Lotus is a riotous trip through avant-garde electronic music. It's an eccentric platter of musical influences bringing together the Coltrane school of jazz with electro-funk, house and even some indie angst courtesy of a Thom Yorke guest appearance.

This sort of experimentation comes at a cost - the breakneck change of pace from track to track makes it an infuriating mix. I hated its brash and clumsy clattering but felt compelled to forgive everything for its sheer bravado. I can’t promise you will like all of it but guarantee you will be left slack jawed by its hyperactive invention.

At the other end of the ‘Dubstep’ spectrum the Magnetic Man project (featuring the all star cast of Skream, Benga and Artwork), reached the upper echelons of the pop charts. 

Their commercially successful dance music remained a lot truer to the underground scene that spawned them than any of the so-called ‘Grime’ artists who, in their thirst for chart success, contrived to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Chipmonk, Tinchy et al might be riding high in the charts but their success relies a lot more on fresh cheese from Ibiza than fat chewed on the ‘Grimey’ streets of London.

Magnetic Man retain their street credentials skipping joyously across the happy hunting grounds of ‘Dubstep’, ‘Garage’, ‘Drum & Bass’. This album was a showcase for the scene these artists helped to create and unlike their ex-grime MCs Magnetic Man manage to take their peers with them. Its one thing to unearth talents such as Katy B but quite another to breath fresh life into the likes of John Legend and Ms Dynamite. Yes, that’s right, I said Ms Dynamite! (Tee-hee). The London MC has thrown away the chance of mainstream hipless hop in favour of picking and choosing the best underground guest appearances she can. Her ragga infused ‘Fire’ lights up the Magnetic Man LP with energy and style. Enough to make you think of her as a possible female ‘Rebel MC’ who subverted the pop charts and used the money to fund the seminal Congo Natty sound that steered jungle through the mid nineties.


Fire - Magnetic Man feat Ms Dynamite

It is important to make clear that Magnetic Man is a ‘Dubstep’ supergroup and the individual talents Artwork, Benga and Skream all stand up on their own 12 inches. Skream found time in 2010 to push out a dozen or more remixes and a full length solo LP. 

‘Outside the box’ by Skream is not an album I can listen to without reservation, but what it does do really well is show how much potential a producer like Skream really has. The track list skips between honking ‘Dubstep’ to thoughtful ‘R&B’ influenced love songs with such confidence you just have to sit back and admire. This year Skream remixed everyone from La Roux to David Lynch and added value to each and every beat. 

With an output as prolific as this I just hope Oliver Jones doesn’t doesn’t suddenly dry up. 

Like the ambassador Mr. Skream is really spoiling us.

Well away from any hint of chart success the dons of dubstep have always been Digital Mystics. Their ‘Return II Space’ LP isn’t dressed up to be anything other than the true sound of sub loving bass music. Its claustrophobic, paranoid but somehow (as the title suggests) spacious. Don’t expect to hear it on a radio near you anytime soon but if you want to test out you Hi-Fi ... well, watch your bass bins I'm telling you (as we used to say in the shop).

More ‘Future Bass’ came in the form of Kieran Hebdens’ ‘Fourtet’ project. Fourtet appeared in everyones 'to cool for school' list and at times the name carried so much expectation that Hebden might have considered grafting on extra legs to cope with his hipness. 

The album 'There is love in you' is a cool ‘Krautrock’ style take on ‘House’ and tech influenced bass music. It probably doesn’t innovate as much as some people would claim but it more than makes up for it by the sheer quality of the production.

Caribou (first signed by Fourtet's label) came up with one of the finest albums of the year by mixing heartfelt songwriting with precision dance orientated production. 

What sets Caribou apart is the way you begin to realize that underneath all the electronic trickery lies a set of songs that would sound just as poignant played on an acoustic guitar. This is traditional song writing dressed up like a glamourous electronic call girl. Of all the unexpected morsels on offer here Caribou’s 'Swim' probably heads the list of unexpected joys. Try it ... there's something there for everybody.


Odessa - Caribou

Toro Y Moi plough a similar furrow of well crafted songs that make the most of the technology available. If these two albums are a sign of things to come then the final boundaries between dance and more traditional pop/rock will finally be dismantled in the next few years, this can only be a good thing.

Now if Caribou and Toro Y Moi bring a natural warmth to dance music then ‘Witch House’ doom merchants Salem drain its blood and replace it with antifreeze.

‘King Night’ is full of massive doom laden riffs which rumble over deceptively simply drum machine workouts while vocal styles swing from angelic female musings into doom laden southern fried rap. 

Of all this year’s releases I think this was the one that I had stuck on repeat the longest. It would be easy to want to step back from such a contrived mixture but its carried off with such aplomb it’s irresistible. Even the hipsters can't talk me down from including it as one of the albums of the year. Imagine ‘Faith’ by The Cure performed by Outkast, Portishead and Joy Division and you are sailing close to Salem's epic sound.


Asia - Salem

All this talk of 'dressed up' songwriting seems to be the cue for looking at some more stripped down offerings. 

Laura Marling has the ability to lay herself bare in song but her second album added a little maturity to her sound. 'I speak because I can' might not have delivered the sing along quips of her debut 'Alas I cannot swim' but as a milestone in her development it is a giant step forward. 

Marling manages to make acoustic music cool again (despite Mumford and Sons best efforts to drag her back into the mire). Its tragic that the NME voted her the coolest person of the year as that is always the kiss of death - ask Pete Doherty. Cue overexposure and severe drug addiction in 2011.

Overexposure has not really been much of a problem for the mercurial Gil Scott Heron. 

One LP every 14 years seems to be the rhythm this drug addled genius has taken up. XL records have patiently coaxed him out of retirement and lovingly constructed a modern musical framework around him. The amazing thing about his return is not that the old master can still write a song but how modern production methods have been used to bring his music bang up to date. 

‘Im new here’ is short; but it doesn’t waste a breath. Gil has a voice I could listen to all day and no artist in recent times has so eloquently spoken to me about their childhood, the pain of growing up and the ultimate acceptance of their being. Younger artists simply can’t match this level of earnest soul searching. Gil has been around the block and if the title is to be believed then ‘I’m new here’ refers to the limited sobriety he has finally found after years in the wilderness. 

The sleeve notes urged the listener to treat the album with respect and to find a quiet time to sit down and immerse themselves into the music. For anyone who took this advice to heart the 28 minutes of the main feature may well be the highlight of the year. We should suck up every last drop of this man’s genius for soon he will be gone and there simply won’t be another like him. 


I'm new here - Gil Scott-Heron

Another long term survivor of the music business is the enigma that is Mark E Smith. 

The Fall are famously ‘always the same but always different’ and their latest long player 'Your Future Our Clutter' is a defiant show of strength from this eternal changeling. I always think you can only listen to so much Fall before it begins to grate on your psyche. There is *no point* buying every Fall LP (no matter what the die hards tell you) but this years offering certainly puts Mr. Smith on a similar footing to Mr. Scott-Heron - they are both old men who have found a new lease of life by draining the energy of youth from those around them. 

Besides there just aren't enough songs about Bury in the world.

The Fall have always owed more to ‘Garage Psychedelia’ than what we now call ‘Punk’. Bands like The Seeds and The Deep set the cogs whirring in Mark E Smith's brain many years ago and this sort of psychedelic surf punkery raised it’s head again this year through the highly stylized and yet irresistible power of Sub Pop pin ups Dum Dum Girls. 

‘I will be’ by Dum Dum Girls offers punchy 2 minute love songs that smash their way out of the speakers with metronomic regularity. The album has a simple pop sensibility and sticks stubbornly to what it knows. I may not have this on my turntable in ten years time but it certainly provided the soundtrack to this years summer. The production marries singable melodies with Lo-Fi realism. The snare drum sound alone is worth a thousand listens - smart - snappy and sharp as a razor. You go girls, only the more downbeat Warpaint have done as much for the reputation of all girl groups this year.


Bhang, Bhang Im a burnout - Dum Dum Girls

‘Psychedelia’, like ‘Ambient House’, undertook a major revival this year with a new wave of space rock garnering the sort of reviews that would have seemed impossible a few years ago. I guess the wheel that crushed the butterfly has turned full circle. From the pounding acid rock of Voice of Seven Thunders to the majestic noise makers Moon Duo (an offshoot of the excellent Wooden Shjips) you can bet many a festival campsite took a distinctly acid tinged left turn this year. 


In the trees - Moon Duo

Holy Fuck are another psyche influenced band who specialize in instrumental jams that take you on a trip. They followed up their eponymous LP with a more studious contribution which certainly has its moments but 'Latin' aside, it feels less vibrant than its predecessor did. 

On the strength of Holy Fuck’s first LP I had expected this to end up as my favourite psychedelic offering this year but in the end Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti managed to do all of the tripping whilst retaining a keen sense of what makes an excellent pop song. 

Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti wear their influences on their sleeve but like The Horrors before them they manage to pay homage without ever having to imitate.

It’s impossible to tell which albums are truly great whilst they are still contemporary but Ariel Pink manages to blast away any attempt at pigeonholing with aplomb. Their album ‘Before today’ sears between psychedelic pop and irritatingly precocious jazz with a naive energy that cannot be penned in. I’ve only had it a few weeks but its well on its way to becoming a real favourite.


Bright Blue Lit skies - Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti

Sometimes an album comes to you seemingly from nowhere and the one album I really didn’t expect to fall for this year was Field Musics’ eponymous offering. 

It crept out at the very start of the year and I bought it on a whim without knowing a thing about the two Brewis brothers from Sunderland. It was an awkward first listen and I came very close to returning the heavy duty vinyl pressing back to Rough Trade because I just didn't expect my £20 to buy this sort of very traditional long player. 

Field Music sounds like it was made in the 70s and has the same sort of quirky willfulness that the likes of XTC used produce in the 80s. You will probably be thinking ‘what the fuck do I want with a modern take on XTC?’ I have no answer except to say on the third or fourth playback it suddenly clicked in my head and guaranteed itself the wildcard place in this years top twenty.


Them that do nothing - Field Music

Now lets get back to the point, the album of the year. An album that sums up all I have said about how dance music has now almost completely won over the doubters.

Drum roll please ....

Album of the year ‘This is happening’ LCD Soundsystem

My favourite album of 2010 is a perfect marriage of analogue electronics and a real live band.


I Can Change - LCD Soundsystem

LCD Soundsystems’ ‘This is happening’ is a confident statement from an artist the peak of his powers. Earlier this year James Murphy (the driving force behind not only LCD Soundsystem but the entire DFA Records empire) intimated that 'This is happening' may be the last hurrah from his LCD Soundsystem project. 

After three albums perhaps he felt the prophetic lyrics to his breakthrough track 'I’m losing my edge' were about to come to fruition. The song is a touching confessional from an artist feeling his age. He can feel the presence of younger contemporaries ‘with better ideas ... and more talent’ coming up on his shoulders and it is evidently freaking him out. 

Ironically it was this track that opened the door to the greatest success story of his long and varied career. Now, after years of knowing exactly where he will be a year in advance (thanks to the constant touring and PR demands of the LCD behemoth), he has decided it is time to stop. If this is to be the last hurrah of LCD Soundsystem then it is clear that the 'edge' he was losing all those years ago is still razor sharp.

It’s one of my pet hates when artists resort to writing songs around their experiences as a recording star, rather than their experiences of 'real life', but the intimate style and epitaph framing of the 'last' LCD album manages to charm its way into your affections. You can hear how weary he is, it’s that sort of honesty that allows you to stick with tracks like 'You wanted a hit' which berates the music industry exec's who make the decisions but don't make the art.

The album opens in conversational mode; gentle drum machine percussion acting as background noise for Murphy's dialogue. You instinctively want to turn the volume up to hear what he is saying - it’s reminiscent of Lou Reed; very New York (and like New York you don’t need to turn the volume up because something is going to break the silence soon enough). 

The New York sirens come suddenly in real life and ALWAYS make you jump, so when the album’s opener 'Dance yourself clean' eventually rumbles into life, it is both joyous and surprising (especially in a live setting). Murphy has a deep understanding of both dance and rock music after his early days as a drummer in punk bands and later work as a club DJ. He uses the classic *LOUD* quiet *LOUD* mantra that has served the likes of The Pixies just as well as it has served the likes of The Prodigy.  All the way through 'This is Happening' the listener is picked up and put down again by not only the dynamics of the music but by instinctively putting themselves in the mind of Murphy and his rollercoaster of emotions.

It’s evident that this is the work of someone who loves not only music but people, 'I can change' is the most heartfelt plea I’ve heard in a mainstream song in years - I can imagine myself as a love-torn kid singing along, as clearly as I can feel my adult self unearthing the same raw emotions which are usually buried deep under the layers of adult life. It’s a neat trick. 

The album has a little bit of everything from the disco a go-go of ‘Pow Pow’ to the schlock rock of ‘Drunk Girls’ (which bears a remarkable similarity to ‘White Light White Heat’ by The Velvet Underground). There is an underlying energy to it all that comes from one man’s vision being seen through from start to finish without interference – perhaps for the last time.   

So I ask you to dance to it, sing along with it, identify with and extrapolate from it - 'This is happening' has room for all. If it going to be his last hurrah then we might as well soak it up - like the ageing Gil Scott-Heron we won’t see the likes of LCD Soundsystem again - they will be forever remembered in my mind as the band who finally welded dance to rock.

This is happening - you can’t avoid it.

My LPs of the year - The Full Top Ten 

1. LCD Soundsystem – This is happening 
2. Salem – King Night
3. Caribou – Caribou
4. Dum Dum Girls – I will be
5. Ariel Pinks Haunted Graffiti – Before today
6. Moon Duo – Escape
7. Magnetic Man – Magnetic Man
8. Field Music – Field Music
9. Gil Scott Heron – I’m new here
10. The Black Dog – Music for real airports

Final thoughts ...

My biggest regret of this year has been the lack of a hip-hop album that truly grabbed me.

It’s been many years since my end of year list hasn’t had at least one representative er... representing. 

Personally I didn’t find much joy in the likes of Lil Wayne or Kanye West - its probably a failing in me but I cant pretend to identify with them. 

In my defense I haven’t heard The Roots, Big Boi or the new Kanye West (although hardly a day went by without Mr. West saying something show stoppingly stupid on Twitter to put me off), and many learned listeners reference them as being ‘the shit’.

Ghostface Killah my favourite ex Wu-Tang star has just released his new opus 'Apollo Kids'. I rather hope that will deliver the lyrics I hope to hear. If it does then next year I can say how my 2010 list failed to underline its genius ... but that is all conjecture.

If you know a Hip-hop LP which might restore my faith then please let me know - I had a moment with Wiley's scattergun ZIP files (which threw several albums worth of material at your ears at once with little or no editing), but I really haven't even got excited about rap this year - certainly not the increasingly moribund American commercial scene. 

Best unexpected recommendation - Neutral Milk Hotel via Roland Rat on Twitter.

Indie tip for the (relative) top - Friendship - they make powerful pop songs with perfect arrangements.

Dance music tip for the (relative) top - Throwing Snow (exiled Bristolian and now local East End production hero Ross Tones) brings a delicate touch to whats left of ‘Dubstep’ and makes it feel like an old friend.

Worst live experience - The Wireless Festival - it really doesn't matter who is playing this isn’t a festival its a punter herding marketing excercise.

Best live experience - LCD Soundsystem at Alexandra Palace, its amazing what a difference getting the sound right makes.

Best re-issue of the year - David Bowie 'Station to Station'. A treasure trove of geeky goodness with the finest recording I have ever heard of Bowie live. Stunning! 

What Im still listening to - The Horrors - Primary Colours and Wooden Shjips - their entire back catalogue including their seasonally warped version of 'Auld lang sine'.

Happy New Year!

eops

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