10. Rispah - The Invisible
Rispah is the sound of spirit. The soundscape of the entire album feels so alien but also something that's come from inside, a part of a person we didn't know existed, let alone lived, breathed and carried experiences. African folk music serves as an introduction to show us where we've come from, and soon the sprawling riffs, ambience and technical drumming show us where we're headed.
This isn't an album singles are picked from, it's the kind that needs to be fully appreciated from start to finish - conversations begin at the start and end at the end, flowing naturally, and it feels like the album is conversing with the listener's subconscious.
There is a bleak tone throughout, a void, as a result of loss. Vocals ghost in and out of ethereal, encapsulating arrangements. There is much to find within each song, small details and subtle textures; Their is also much to find within oneself during each song. The Invisible have succeeded in crafting an experience as opposed to a selection of songs.
9. Oshin - DIIV
DIIV were once known as Dive - they soon discovered an already-established artist by that name but instead of kicking up a fuss over it, they decided to give his music a listen. They found they enjoyed and respected Dive's work and thus changed their name to DIIV. It says a lot about their mindset - they don't hold too much faith in superficial features and are willing to try new things, willing to take the initiative and act upon the pull of their emotions.
The music they have made on Oshin is far from technical mastery, and has a strong garage-band essence to it. There is not much variety in terms of sound - rather than change for the sake of changing, they have fully explored their sound and let it naturally progress. They've done the most they can with the little that they have, and created an album so cohesive and so pleasant to the ear. The album moves at a similar pace with enough space to let them add to their material when performing live, while never boring the listener on record. Lead vocals are conversationally and hazily delivered over a fresh treatment of traditional bass and drums. The lead and backing guitar riffs help sculpt a perfect soundtrack to a road trip on a sunny Summer's day.
8. An Awesome Wave - alt-J
A tentative start gains confidence and draws the listener onto alt-J's Awesome Wave in a manner reminiscent of The xx's Intro. The most striking feature of the album is the lead singer's strange accent; It can be hard to discern which emotions are coming from Joe Newman at times but he never becomes tiresome or wears his welcome.
Carefully-constructed interludes are needed to tie together the various sounds experimented with throughout the album. Alt-J intend to give the listener polished versions of familiar indie-band sounds with Tessellate and Breezeblocks although they really make their mark with the more shocking tracks such as the booming, bass-heavy Fitzpleasure. With Taro, Something Good and Dissolve Me, they explore how they can still create their own sound with unfamiliar instrumentation and succeed.
There is a tinge of the unknown across the album due to the vague, initially confusing lyrics that successfully lead the listener into singing along with. The album is a platform for alt-J to show their character and I look forward to their future material.
7. Blunderbuss - Jack White
It seems silly now that we all anxiously anticipated Jack's solo debut. His overwhelming influence with The White Stripes shines through on Blunderbuss, and he's shown his versatility in terms of playing a role in a band with The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather.
Jack sings with a higher state of confidence and a sense of freedom on his first solo effort and distances himself from the simplistic nature of The White Stripes. On Blunderbuss, elements of Nashville and Detroit rock seep through while Jack throws as many different instruments he can get his hands on into the mix. It's a refreshing experience from a frontman who is truly in his element.
All the trademark guitar solos and hard-hitting instrumentation expected from Jack make regular appearances but never become stale. Highlights include the more tender moments where Jack uses backing vocalists on his superb cover of Little Willie John's I'm Shakin', and the duet on the unconventional lead single Love Interruption. The final track, Take Me With You When You Go, combines all these elements to form a fine summation, providing a fitting conclusion to the album, with it's slow-burning beginning and frantic finish.
6. awE naturalE - THEESatisfaction
I was two-thirds through this album, when all of a sudden Butterfly from Digable Planets, now known as the lead vocalist from Shabazz Palaces, came in with a guest verse on the track called God. Everything clicked together; THEESatisfaction were the back-up singers who appeared several times on Shabazz Palaces' 2011 album-of-the-year contender Black Up, one of the greatest hip-hop releases of the century. awE naturalE takes the experimental, boundary-pushing elements of Black Up's production and puts its own spin on it.
THEESatisfaction are a duo akin to the likes of Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu, softly spoken and interweaving free-jazz and hip-hop beats with spacey singing vocals and then striking all pins with their sometimes direct, sometimes abstract rap verses. There are slight disco and funk elements that help make such an unusual album so danceable but the fearlessness with which the artists present their sound is admirable and effective.
5. Brothers Fowl - Dam Mantle
It's fitting to see Brothers Fowl be released on Gold Panda's Notown label; Like the label-owner, Dam Mantle constructs beautiful arrangements over house and hip-hop beats, crafting something luxurious and harmonic in an unorthodox manner. The music rakes the listener on an adventure, exploring new grounds, possibly Dam Mantle's Scottish homeland. Plenty of reverb and intricate percussion are littered through the album, sprinkled with glistening synths that envelope listeners.
Dam Mantle's classical upbringing are what add personalty to the album, with jazzy undertones influencing the whole record amidst elements of chamber music and hypnotic vocal loops. Overall, Brothers Fowl is a beautiful album and an unexpected highlight of 2012 for me, particularly the dreamlike track RGB.
4. Classical Curves - Jam City
Night Slugs have been one of my favourite labels over the past year, along with the likes of Brainfeeder and Tri Angle. The works of Bok Bok, Girl Unit and Jam City are the reason why Night Slugs have been great. Jam City has already established that he can build beats to blow up clubs but Classical Curves is his attempt to construct a more serious piece of work.
The samples and synths used throughout have an '80s feel to them, but they are reinvented over hard-hitting, floor-stomping Chicago Juke and Footwork beats, introducing a whole new viewpoint to the genres. Jam City ventures through the strange and unexplored territories with the relentless repetitiveness of camera-flash samples and vocals, "Work, Camera, Flash" on Her, and rubber hitting the gym floor samples on The Courts.
There's an uncertain and powerful aspect of the album that makes it suitable for deep, questioning listens as well as working dancefloors. Jam City refrains from making the album a complete sensory overload and does slow things down with songs like Strawberries, always pacing the listener but never alienating them.
3. Pink - Four Tet
Pink is not an album. Pink is a collection of tracks released by Four Tet over the past year and a half or so. It's miraculous then, that the tracks seamlessly transition from highlight to highlight, testament to Four Tet's level of producing ability. The majority of material is dance-oriented, stemming from and building upon previous works such as Love Cry and Plastic People with greater wisdom and maturity.
Elements of deep house, techno and bass combine to make tracks that could fit into and take hold of any sets, but Four Tet doesn't let the album lose it's personality; Four Tet proves he is still the best at what he does with the beat-less Peace for Earth, which serves as much more than a breath of fresh air of ambience.
The first half of the album concentrates on the pretty soundscapes, crafting sparkling synths together with warm beats while the second half of the album is where Four Tet cements Pink as a heavyweight contender. The vocal loop with the instrument in question on 128 Harps provides for wonderful listening.
While every other producer is busy sampling Brandy trying to make their own version of Blawan's Getting Me Down, Four Tet taps Jennifer Lopez's Ain't It Funny for the near-anthemic Pyramid, where the cutting and looping of vocals create a whole new dimension with the lyrics, "Away from me, I remember how you walked away, I remember how you did me wrong, I remember how you walked away, even when I tried to call your name".
The aforementioned Peace for Earth redefines the perception of perfection and for me, Pinnacles is where Four Tet uses his magic. He takes a simple loop and manages to make it last for eight whole minutes without getting old by playing with the gain and adding subtle rattles and chimes, percussion, chord stabs and crashing cymbals; An ecstatic, blissful way to end an album while summing up it's highlights as the record leapt from peak to peak, pinnacle to pinnacle.
2. Visions - Grimes
With Visions, I feel as if Grimes has perfected the pop formula. It's not necessarily a pop album, but it successfully brings together so many different elements that would seem so strange on their own but come together to make an easy, pleasant listen that still retains it's surprises for listeners who look a little deeper into the music.
The backing beats Grimes uses are simplistic but innate, effective and her playful, impulsive personality is felt from the free-flowing chord progressions over distorted synths. Although she can sing well naturally, Grimes prefers to use her voice as an extra layer (or sometimes many layers) of instrumentation - her singing is modified to something spacey, sometimes haunting, sometimes warm, but always with plenty of haze and reverb.
The result is an album that plays with various techniques yet still sounds nostalgic, as if the tracks old friends of the listener. There is a huge emphasis on natural development in the tracks and that makes them easy to embrace, perfect for bedroom listening or for dancing to.
1. The Money Store - Death Grips
As astounding as the album cover is, it is nowhere near adequate in preparing listeners for the assault on the senses that is Death Grips' The Money Store. With their previous release, Ex-Military, the trio attempted to soundtrack the personification of something more than anger; Hatred. This character's presence is felt during The Money Store but Death Grips refocus to the outside world and the state of the society we have come to call our home, especially the technological dystopia we are falling into with tracks like I've Seen Footage and Hacker.
MC Ride's lyrics and delivery are more ferocious than ever but he doesn't quite growl-rap through the whole album - there's room for a little flexibility too with the subtle, rhythmic delivery on the opener, Get Got. The same rings true with the music, which remains shocking and revolting, intriguing and overwhelming. Zach Hill's drums rumble at ranging levels on intensity alongside synth-heavy layers and mutilated samples. One particular moment of madness I love so much is the frantic, frenetic sample that starts off Punk Weight before falling into a wailing, punishing beat.
Other salient points on the album include the foreboding Double Helix, as well as The Fever (Aye Aye) and Blackjack. I'd never heard anything quite like this album, this sound, this fury. Death Grips use this to their advantage, drawing curious listeners in with guile and then forcing them to come to terms with the darker sides of their personality that once remained hidden away, their existence unknown to mankind. For that, and the fact that the record holds it's own as a full-length listen as well as having such hard-hitting singles, The Money Store has to be my favourite record of the year - it's influence and impact is undeniable.
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