Something new then - a weekly (ish) playlist of some stuff we're listening to right now. This week is 3 tracks each from dragon chaser and myself. Enjoy - and let us know what you think.
chaser:
Skream - Hag (from Skreamizm Vol. 1)
Pavement - Here (from Slanted and Enchanted)
Bob Dylan - Make You Feel My Love (from Time Out of Mind)
poacher:
Zomby - Mu5h (from Mu5h single)
Meursault - Pissing on Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues (from album of same title)
The Phantom Band - Throwing Bones (from Checkmate Savage)
Towards the end of the gig, Whispering Dave & I managed to dodge pass the security & get in front of the stage. Clinton was beckoning the beautiful people from the audience to join him & his entourage onstage for one final freak out. Alas, we were not deemed beautiful, yet I still managed to capture Clinton in all his glory. Great gig too.
Of course, if you had asked me at the end of say, 2004 what are my favourite LPs of the year, my answer back then, would I imagine, be very different to what I would say now. The end of the year is of course far too soon to make such a list. Not only have I had little time to source many of the LPs I would liked but I have had far too little time to digest many of those I have.
But I’m a boy and this list means something.
2008 has been a disappointment for me. It’s not so much there aren’t LPs out there I like. On the contrary there are many and I have excluded many worthy records from my list, but I never found that genuine classic. This feeling of dissatisfaction is accentuated by the sheer blandness of bands forming the centre-left of pop. When bands such as TV On The Radio, although competent enough, are being hailed as cutting edge and groundbreaking then I believe this reflects a year where pop has lacked innovation and excitement. Alternative music has to be more than just pop/rock bands using production values associated with dance music. My tastes have traditionally been mainstream as well as leftfield but the lack of creativity from more middle of the road artists has, to paraphrase Neil Young, forced me towards the ditch. I know there is something else out there for me I’ve yet to find and I could really use a life-affirming album to get me through this cold and dark, credit crunched, British winter. Records which were close to making this include those made by Distance, Portishead, Al Green, DJ Rupture & Skream. This is my top ten right now for whatever it is worth...
Artist: Dusk and Blackdown
Album: Margins Music
Label: Keysound Recordings
This is a vivid collection of snapshots of multi-cultural London in 2008. Target’s hypnotic meandering vocal in the opener is sublime.
Artist: Tricky
Album: Knowle West Boy
Label: Domino
It is difficult to provide a balanced assessment of this LP, as I so want to like Tricky’s albums. He is an artist capable of the producing work of the highest order with unique insights into the human psyche. And this is a more than a fine piece of work with exceptional tracks like Past Mistake & the incredible single Council Estate. The drumming on this gets me every time. Tricky was never just trip-hop. How was his cover of Public Enemy’s Black Steel ever trip-hop? And this record uses rock, ragga & blues, all stamped with the authority of the utterly incomparable & unmistakable sound of the Tricky Kid.
Artist: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Album: Dig! Lazarus Dig!
Label: Mute
Cave is on a roll. By a distance the best rock album I heard released in 2008. Although not as filthy as the garage rock as found on 2007’s Grinderman’s record, The Bad Seeds have clearly been given a kick up the arse. An LP that is great to drink bourbon with, which further cements Cave & The Bad Seeds as one of the all time greats. And few can curse quite like Cave.
Artist: Various Artists
Album: An England Story (From Dancehall to Grime: 25 Years of the MC in the UK)
Label: Soul Jazz
So I’m cheating already as this compilation features few releases from 2008. Based on no. 10 of the stellar Blogariddims series by The Heatwave, Soul Jazz has put together the four records that have been stuck on my turntable most this year. It’s really hard to pick my favourite. There is General Levy’s Champagne Body. Or Stush with Dollar Sign. Estelle sounds incredible on Uptown Top Rankin. But it’s probably Papa Levi’s My God My King. If you haven’t much of this kind of thing in your collection it is essential.
Artist: Fuck Buttons
Album: Street Horrrsing
Label: ATP
I can’t stop playing this record. Sweet Love For Planet Earth, the opener is so completely engaging I have found myself going back to the beginning on numerous occasions. But I love it that this has been recorded with the tracks mixed into each other.
Artist: Shackleton/Appleblim/Peverelist
Album: Soundboy’s Gravestone Gets Desecrated By Vandals
Label: Skull Disco
Another collection of 12” singles from the Skull Disco label. There is the also the bonus of a whole disc of remixes from the likes of Bass Clef & Rupture. I have been trying to get hold of as many the 12” records from Skull Disco as I can. With their lovingly designed covers & incredible production values, they push all the right buttons aesthetically. Just as with 2007’s collection, Soundboy Punishments, Shackleton dominates procedures with his ultra dark and percussive take on the dubstep genre. Another great album title …and I wonder what this would sound like at a rave.
This is a little gem of a record, lovingly recorded with instruments & vocals given ample space to breathe with a gorgeous clean guitar sound. We all know about the African influences & their New York savvy, but at the end of the day it is about the tunes. In an era where too many bands concentrate on the sound they create and neglect the craft of actually writing songs, Vampire Weekend was most welcome.
Artist: 2562
Album: Aerial
Label: Tectonic
The trends within dubstep this year have witnessed a reduction in the use of the signature ‘wobble’ bass. As the sound has become global there has also been a shift from the original dub/2-step style, which served as its blueprint. Dubstep in 2008 has increasingly merged with techno and minimalist electronica & the boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred. As discussed previously in this blog, 2562 is Dave Huissmans (2562 being his postal code I have read), a Dutchman. He has produced a beautifully formed electronic record, with lush, sensual sounds that suggests, at least internationally, dubstep need not always be dark in tone, texture and mood. This was quite a revelation for me. Indeed, Aerial could be considered a minor classic.
Artist: The Bug
Album: London Zoo
Label: Ninja Tune
Essentially a contemporary dancehall record made & informed by the London bass scene. Kevin Martin is the man behind the beats & bass but the album intriguingly features a stellar cast of toasters including Spaceape (you will never hear him sound as good and pissed off as this), Flowdan, Tippa Irie and the wonderful Warrior Queen. The bass is incredibly full & loud, noticeably so compared with other bass-heavy albums this year. Although a record filled with drama, passion & urgency, Skeng, Insane & Warning to name a few, there is also the instrumental Freak Freak & Too Much Pain providing more subtle moments of contemplation. Although the lead singles were from 2007, this is the record that sounded most like 2008 to me.
Accompanying Track: The Bug (feat Spaceape) - Fuckaz
Taylor Deupree (whose Northern album is a thing of quiet glacial beauty) spent 2008 collecting a polaroid a day - a project which sounds fascinating to me, if immensely irritating to see through. Anyway, Duepree has decided that for 2009 it's going to be a sound a day - collected on a small audio recorder and posted on his blog. There's already some great stuff up there and the promise of more to follow. As Geoff over at BLDG points out, you can set a few of the sounds playing at a a time and as they mingle you enter (steal into?) an odd sound world, belonging to and existing somewhere else entirely... Great stuff.
If you've got stuff for me to listen to or read then get in touch and I'll do my best to get something written - here, or by someone at The Liminal. You can reach me at mountain7blog at googlemail dot com
