After months of playing this off CDr, the debut EP from Danish duo Northern Structures is finally out! In my opinion one of the most promising acts to pop up on the scene in years. It's contemporary without copying the current trends, as well as classically technoid/industrial without sounding dated. The sounds are freezingly mechanical, but the jammed arrangement gives it a human touch. Brilliance!
I reckon these guys will hit big this year, so I'll grab a few copies of this while it lasts!
What an AMAZING year 2010 has been for electronic music. A whole bunch of artists bloomed, without preconceptions about style and form, and blurred the boundaries between the different musical branches- resulting in some of the freshest music of the 00s. Quite a renaissance really. Also, contrary to the general belief of "the death of vinyl", there has been a turn in vinyl sales/releases to the positive! 2010 has made me a happy vinyl fetishist and electronic music aficionado.
Here is my top 10 of 2010, which could easily have been a top20, or 30.. Alphabetically......
+Caribou - Swim (City Slang - SLANG9550055) Computer Pop that works both over- and underground. Do believe the hype.
+Four Tet - There Is Love In You (Domino USA - DNO229) Sounds like noone and nothing else. As usual.
+Hyetal - Phoenix / Like Silver (Orca - ORCA002) It's all about 'Phoenix' here. I think it's the finest moment in dubstep history this year. It's cheesy with its SID style synths and epic theme song styled harmonies, but somehow it works anyway without becoming kids' music. Just a truly amazing song that I will still look back at fondly in 20 years time.
+Inigo Kennedy - The Shard (Token - TOKEN14) I have always preferred Inigo's deep and melodic music to his more straight jacking techno, and this is possibly his most beautiful and soothing release to date. It doesn't hurt that the Marcel Dettmann Remix is one of his best works either. Summarized: Two great artists, both at their best, on one of the strongest techno labels out there.
+John Roberts - Glass Eights (Dial - DIALLP22) I wonder under what grim circumstances John grew up, seeing how mature music he makes at such a young age. A stunning debut LP and best house album of the year.
+Martyn | Roman Lindau - Berghain 04 | Part I (Ostgut-Ton - O-TON37)
The Martyn track really made me realize the potential of the techno/house/dubstep fusion. It changed my whole outlook on producing.
+Matthew Herbert - One One (Accidental - AC40CD)
I don't remember how I stumbled upon this one, because I have never kept track of Matthew's music. As an album it's a bit up and down and momentarily it delves too deep into "indie rock land", but there's one song - 'Milan' - which I think is this year's best pop song and that alone would be enough to put this in my top10. I've always had a very very weak spot for Plaid and this song has that typical skewed Plaid feel. Come on and believe me now!
+Model 500 - OFI / Huesca (R&S - RS1006)
Much anticipated comeback from Juan Atkins. The critics' response was rather underwhelming, but that doesn't change the fact that this was one of the year's most infectious songs.
+Ramadanman - Fall Short / Work Them (Swamp 81 - SWAMP:006)
WORK THEM! WORK THEM! WORK THEM! WORK THEM HA! WHAT? COME SEE! GHETTOSTEP
+Take - Only Mountain (Alpha Pup Records - APR 028)
First off, I don't know the first thing about the LA Beat scene. Kr!z made me check this (and a whole lot more) out, and it's been one of my most current records on rotation this year. Sadly I listened to it too much while playing 'Plants vs Zombies' so I am having a hard time hearing it now without thinking of buds and moonwalking..
Demdike Stare - Liberation Through Hearing (Modern Love - LOVE065)
It's been a long time since I've listened to "dark" ambient type of stuff but this release was almost forced on me after hearing about it from a ton of friends and fellow artists. It took a good three weeks until I finally heard it in full though, yesterday when I bought the MP3s at Boomkat.
Since then I've probably listened to it 10 times. A great album takes you on a journey, crossing all kinds of moods and genres and that description fits like a glove. Well actually it doesn't, the LP goes from anxiety to manicism to solitude and back and nowhere near jolly/happy land, but you catch my drift nay?
The music is largely sample based and processed heavily.
I can't really distinguish what has been "stolen", it is so creatively done (unlike most sampling in electronic music). Actually the sample work reminds me of mid 00s Surgeon material but this is not dance music, don't get me wrong! Unless you're into some dadaistic introvert dance routines.
The only bad thing I can say about this release is rather high vinyl pricing. I will of course buy the vinyl since I am a fanatic aficionado, but I can hardly convince you who "only" listens to music to buy the vinyl 1xLP (16EURO+postals) instead of the digital (6EURO). No matter, this music works in whatever format and all support of artists are approved of!
PS: kudos for the hard work on Demdike Stare imagery/artworks! Wish more artists were as creatively stringent.
+JR Seaton - She Had A Wing (Relish - RR042) Very overlooked but brilliant (acid?)house producer Joseph Richmond Seaton once again delivers a beautiful EP with an unusual amount of organic sound.
Unknown Artist - Numbercult 3 (Numbercult - NC003)
In the constant stream of half-arsed, half-produced and/or watered down digital releases it is easy to lose faith in whatever has "digital" in the release details.
But then comes Numbercult out of nowhere and shatters my pessimistic illusion.
Not only is it digital, but it is also FREE(!?).
The Glasgow label does however release on vinyl as well, in limited editions of 300ish copies. Kudos!
First track, 'Hinterland' starts like any other house/minimal techno track but quickly transforms when the very attentive melody kicks in. The track unfolds to something that is somehow reminiscent of the classic DJ Hell track 'Music For Films'. Truly inspiring!
Following up is the kickless and sublime 'Hidden Symmetry' which is an excursion in harmonies and synthesizers and in its minimalism proves that drums are never necessary even in "electronic dance music".
Lastly we have 'Splinters' which with its very cold and thin springs makes me feel that winter is here even though the sun is unusually persistent outside!
Digitonal - Be Still My Bleeping Heart: A Digitonal Retrospective (Just Music - TAO035)
Was recommended this CD by Nuutti (aka Dcom) @ The Nursery.
It's the most beautiful piece of music I've heard in a long time. I had never heard of Digitonal before and apparently this CD is "a remastered collection of older, rare Digitonal material", which obviously leads me onto a googling frenzy. Nothing beats the feeling of discovering a yet unheard artist with a big reservoir of releases.
Anyways, the music itself is a mixture of electronica and classical. This might not be something groundbreaking, but as far as I know the usual is for artists to work with samples whereas Digitonal actually play the instruments themselves. This results in a warmer and more vivid element of classical music than what I have heard before.
I started writing about every song on the CD, but I won't even though most deserve it.. But really, if you like Plaid, (early) Autechre, Arovane, Bola etc. you really must check out this compilation. A good starting point would be "Cantus V" which is one of the darker and more "dissonant" (a al Plaid) songs. "Snowflake Vectors" is also a gateway with its more classic 90s Warp sound, or "Maris Stella" featuring Kirsty Hawkshaw of Opus 3.
I am off to hunt down the rest of their back catalogue now, you go listen below:
Dear readers, apologies for not posting anything in the blog for almost 6 months.
In april I was in a rather severe motorcycle accident and have spent over 3 months in hospital and 1 month (so far, more to go) in rehab. I really am happy to have survived, it was a close call.. I am truly grateful to all the people who give blood, I will start doing so myself as soon as my health is OK again.
Anyways, I am back home now and have started to walk little by little again. Needless to say my music life has been suffering a lot during this period so there's not much news on that front. But bare with me! There's more techno that needs to come out of this injured Swede.
'Made Tomorrow EP (SECT5R)' is due in september as well as a remix of Voidloss coming on Dynamic Reflection.
Today's listening is: Roof Light - Kirkwood Gaps (Highpoint Lowlife - HPLL052) Found this during a random music googling night. Digi-only album stretching from Boards Of Canada vibes to Flying Lotus madness to more conventional/contemporary dubstep. Nice summer home-listening.
