DistanceA shaky year for music, personally. The UK Garage renaissance, under its many new monikers, became a little absurd overground (Funky?) and the 00's genre juggernaut Dubstep, with few exceptions, got a little stagnant.
The 80s synth-revival has been too big for too long to pigeon it as accelerated recontextualisation. And super-gloss-aesthetics for quirky starlets on both sides of the pond, (Gaga/Roux/Florence) must herald a pendulous swing back into anti-fashion and zero aesthetic (of course a fashion in itself) for the coming decade. How far can this 'four million costumes per video-chic' be taken? And you're hearing this from a trend slave. In the war between style and substance - substance is, of course, just another style - and a style that needs to make a very welcome return to prominence.
Here are my current favourites from 2009, followed by some caustic, unoriginal remarks on those disposable offerings that became big critic darlings. Sigh. Zeitgeist. Sigh.
1. Clubroot-Clubroot
A chilly, endlessly playable LP of headphone dub. There's a downtempo grace to the whole work that rarely dips for a moment let alone an entire track. It's Distance but better. Massive Attack's 100th Window but better. This is just a great collection of background ambience tracks that demand to be in the foreground.
2. Gallows-Grey Britain
A touch slicker than their first effort but equally visceral. The metallic edges of their hardcore punk seem lessened this time around but Frank's throaty snarl keeps things very rock & roll. Apocalyptic, nihilistic and revivalist. Brilliant when at its most uncompromising.
3. Sonic Youth-The Eternal
Being not too aware of their noughties work, I wasn't sure what I'd make of this. Then I pressed play. Anti-Orgasm is up their with their early Geffen output, as is much of the record. This is solid rock & roll, occasionally unremarkable, always reliable, but sometimes breathtaking.
4. Maxwell-BLACKsummer'snight
I'm not sure why I like this so much. I'm a total Soul junkie, but this is much poppier than I can usually handle. Maxwell's voice is obviously a revelation; like early Al Green, he refuses to oversing but manages to sustain all the notes you'd expect him to throw away in the phrasing. The whole product is slick, digital ballad-heavy, contemporary R&B but arranged with a mid-90s style band. Yet instead of sounded dated or in congruent the album seems timeless, sexy, clever and heartfelt. Silver-age Prince, Boyz-II-Men, Marvin Gaye, D'Angelo...are all evoked but this just works on so many intriguing levels. Nice comeback, Maxwell.
5. Florence + The Machine-Lungs
Okay it's over-produced. And that XX remix of her murdering
You've Got The Love is pretty much the nail in the coffin for my affection for her - but this is a record with more than a few great flighty pop songs. I think it's stronger and more ballsy than that Bat for Lashes second effort and I guess I'm just a sucker for those Kate Bush theatrics.
6. Crystal Antlers-Tentacles
Okay, so a little disappointing given that storming E.P. last year. And take away the strangled Phil Spector goes Punk beauty of Andrew (my favourite track of 2009), this looses much momentum. However, there are still some fantastic moments of swirling texture and groove to be found, especially on the first half.
7. The Cave Singers-Welcome Joy
Underrated much? A breezy, unpretentious and sincere album of busk-folk that stays interesting. What these guys lack in ambition they make up in songwriting. There's still a heavy ghost of Dylan but when they find that Americana groove this sounds unstoppable. Beach House and the steady, rising train-chug of Leap are up there with my favourites for the year.
8. Blakroc-Blakroc
This works far better than it should given it's another groan-rap-rock-collaboration.
In fact, it works great because the Black Keys keep their bluesy noise out of the way so nothing threatens to swallow the guest MC's vocals. By providing a restrained (but still interesting) organic foundation for the tracks we get fantastic cuts like Raekwon's Stay Off The Fucking Flowers which could have easily been lifted off Cuban Linx II. Just a shame they couldn't afford Jay-Z so had to settle for NORE.
9. Clark-Totems Flare
Patchy but brilliant IDM record. Definitely Clark's best, it's kind of like a paranoid Digitalism without the pop sensibility. This is another one that got an unfair slap from some of the critics.
10. Major Lazer-Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do
A colourful, hyperactive cartoon of an album with the bowel-shaking rocksteady ofCan't Stop Now being the early highlight for me. Much to like here.
The honourable mentions:
50 Cent-Before I Self Destruct
The first half alone made this superior to the patchy, bloated, guest-overloaded Blueprint 3. Wow, that rhymed.
Japandriods-Post-Nothing
Not quite No Age but definitely my next favourite new noise-revivalists. Wavves are utter dross after an aural dosage exceeding 88 seconds. And as for Cymbals Eat Guitars...yawn. Four or so tracks off this record are white-hot.
Raekwon-Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II
This isn't Ghost's Supreme Clientèle. Hell, it isn't even Fishscale. And most importantly, it isn't Cuban Linx Pt. I. I think the critics have been a little too easy on this given how awful the project could have sounded but the end product, to me, feels overlong, overcooked and all over the place. But hey, trim ten tracks and this would be a real Rex Diamond.
Newham Generals-Generally Speaking
This was the under-promoted could-of-been of 2009. A solid grime album with an absolute killer, menacing lead single. Way better than Dizzee's effort though he puts in a good appearance here on Violence.
PrinceMPLSOUND/LotusFlow3r
Underrated effort from the master. At least half the tracks spread across both albums are worthy cuts. Prince has picked up his guitar again, disregarding his more recent indulgent experiments to evoke the funky new wave of 1999 and Dirty Mind . Classic. If only the lyrics were rude again.
To be continued...
The 80s synth-revival has been too big for too long to pigeon it as accelerated recontextualisation. And super-gloss-aesthetics for quirky starlets on both sides of the pond, (Gaga/Roux/Florence) must herald a pendulous swing back into anti-fashion and zero aesthetic (of course a fashion in itself) for the coming decade. How far can this 'four million costumes per video-chic' be taken? And you're hearing this from a trend slave. In the war between style and substance - substance is, of course, just another style - and a style that needs to make a very welcome return to prominence.
Here are my current favourites from 2009, followed by some caustic, unoriginal remarks on those disposable offerings that became big critic darlings. Sigh. Zeitgeist. Sigh.
1. Clubroot-Clubroot
A chilly, endlessly playable LP of headphone dub. There's a downtempo grace to the whole work that rarely dips for a moment let alone an entire track. It's Distance but better. Massive Attack's 100th Window but better. This is just a great collection of background ambience tracks that demand to be in the foreground.
2. Gallows-Grey Britain
A touch slicker than their first effort but equally visceral. The metallic edges of their hardcore punk seem lessened this time around but Frank's throaty snarl keeps things very rock & roll. Apocalyptic, nihilistic and revivalist. Brilliant when at its most uncompromising.
3. Sonic Youth-The Eternal
Being not too aware of their noughties work, I wasn't sure what I'd make of this. Then I pressed play. Anti-Orgasm is up their with their early Geffen output, as is much of the record. This is solid rock & roll, occasionally unremarkable, always reliable, but sometimes breathtaking.
4. Maxwell-BLACKsummer'snight
I'm not sure why I like this so much. I'm a total Soul junkie, but this is much poppier than I can usually handle. Maxwell's voice is obviously a revelation; like early Al Green, he refuses to oversing but manages to sustain all the notes you'd expect him to throw away in the phrasing. The whole product is slick, digital ballad-heavy, contemporary R&B but arranged with a mid-90s style band. Yet instead of sounded dated or in congruent the album seems timeless, sexy, clever and heartfelt. Silver-age Prince, Boyz-II-Men, Marvin Gaye, D'Angelo...are all evoked but this just works on so many intriguing levels. Nice comeback, Maxwell.
5. Florence + The Machine-Lungs
Okay it's over-produced. And that XX remix of her murdering
You've Got The Love is pretty much the nail in the coffin for my affection for her - but this is a record with more than a few great flighty pop songs. I think it's stronger and more ballsy than that Bat for Lashes second effort and I guess I'm just a sucker for those Kate Bush theatrics. 6. Crystal Antlers-Tentacles
Okay, so a little disappointing given that storming E.P. last year. And take away the strangled Phil Spector goes Punk beauty of Andrew (my favourite track of 2009), this looses much momentum. However, there are still some fantastic moments of swirling texture and groove to be found, especially on the first half.
7. The Cave Singers-Welcome Joy
Underrated much? A breezy, unpretentious and sincere album of busk-folk that stays interesting. What these guys lack in ambition they make up in songwriting. There's still a heavy ghost of Dylan but when they find that Americana groove this sounds unstoppable. Beach House and the steady, rising train-chug of Leap are up there with my favourites for the year.
8. Blakroc-Blakroc
This works far better than it should given it's another groan-rap-rock-collaboration.
In fact, it works great because the Black Keys keep their bluesy noise out of the way so nothing threatens to swallow the guest MC's vocals. By providing a restrained (but still interesting) organic foundation for the tracks we get fantastic cuts like Raekwon's Stay Off The Fucking Flowers which could have easily been lifted off Cuban Linx II. Just a shame they couldn't afford Jay-Z so had to settle for NORE.
9. Clark-Totems Flare
Patchy but brilliant IDM record. Definitely Clark's best, it's kind of like a paranoid Digitalism without the pop sensibility. This is another one that got an unfair slap from some of the critics.
10. Major Lazer-Guns Don't Kill People...Lazers Do
A colourful, hyperactive cartoon of an album with the bowel-shaking rocksteady of
Can't Stop Now being the early highlight for me. Much to like here.The honourable mentions:
50 Cent-Before I Self Destruct
The first half alone made this superior to the patchy, bloated, guest-overloaded Blueprint 3. Wow, that rhymed.
Japandriods-Post-Nothing
Not quite No Age but definitely my next favourite new noise-revivalists. Wavves are utter dross after an aural dosage exceeding 88 seconds. And as for Cymbals Eat Guitars...yawn. Four or so tracks off this record are white-hot.
Raekwon-Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Pt. II
This isn't Ghost's Supreme Clientèle. Hell, it isn't even Fishscale. And most importantly, it isn't Cuban Linx Pt. I. I think the critics have been a little too easy on this given how awful the project could have sounded but the end product, to me, feels overlong, overcooked and all over the place. But hey, trim ten tracks and this would be a real Rex Diamond.
Newham Generals-Generally Speaking
This was the under-promoted could-of-been of 2009. A solid grime album with an absolute killer, menacing lead single. Way better than Dizzee's effort though he puts in a good appearance here on Violence.
PrinceMPLSOUND/LotusFlow3r
Underrated effort from the master. At least half the tracks spread across both albums are worthy cuts. Prince has picked up his guitar again, disregarding his more recent indulgent experiments to evoke the funky new wave of 1999 and Dirty Mind . Classic. If only the lyrics were rude again.
To be continued...
