Tag Archives: Albums of the Year 2014

Albums Of The Year 2014

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Aphex Twin: Syro

Syro

Aphex Twin Is a visionary artist whose ideas and style have had a profound effect on all forms of electronic music. During the decade window starting with selected ambient works 85-92 and ending in Drukqs. He created iconic music that was unlike anything outside of the Warp label. Although Richard James goes by many pseudonyms, the Aphex Twin name has always been associated as a stamp of quality for some of the most forward thinking electronic music around. It’s been 13 years since the release of the last album and it was worth the wait.

When speculation about a new release started I was exited but with no expectations over what he was going to create. His back catalogue spans many genres. From faster electronic music like Acid and Drum & Bass to Ambient and even solo piano works. So the announcement of Syro Could have been anything musically. Surprisingly it subverted my expectations by staying close to his work but making it more accessible. Syro at times feels like a greatest hits album made of entirely new content but as his style is so unique that’s no bad thing.

We get an exploration of large swathes of electronica with his unique chopped up drums, jittering synths, warbling pads and strange vocal samples. There’s so much going on within his tracks that on first listen it can feel a little daunting and hard to get to grips with but this only helps provide freshness on repeat listens.

Weather it’s the complex multi instrumental pieces or the striped down single piano on the closing track aisatsana [102] the one thing that makes the music work is melody. They can drift in and out of tune and rhythm and are often replaced before you fully get to grips with them but they are always strong and centralising. An eye in the storm of controlled chaos. Aphex twin may not be everyone’s cup of tea but the remnants of what he makes will be heard peppered across modern music for years to come.

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Album of the year 2014: Sun Kil Moon_Benji

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Sun Kil Moon BenjiBenji is one of the most honest albums about personal experience I have ever heard and my album of the year.

Over its 11 tracks we manage to see a revealing portrayal of Mark Kozeleks life, his fears for the future and key moments that have stuck with him to the point where he recorded the album.

The lyrics are so brutally honest and revealing they can make you feel like your reading from his secret diary. He doesn’t just focus on the extraordinary. Tragedies and moments of hope are often juxtaposed with the mundane. We hear about the loss of his uncle and cousin to fires, a mercy killing, serial killers, his love life, mass murder, films, bullying, friends, family, passing thoughts, eating blue crab cakes, getting older, the list goes on creating a kaleidoscope of key moments that made him who he is.

This all-encompassing view of the world is personalised through his lens, which doesn’t hide the story’s behind metaphor and simile. Instead it explains them frankly and openly but also with the artistic flair of an experienced and talented singer songwriter.

The instrumentation of the album is sparse compared to some of his earlier works. What is there has been carefully planned and honed into something that doesn’t just provide a backing track to the story but helps contribute to it. Allowing space for his lyrics to resonate whilst also highlighting themes and feelings within the lyrics.

By talking so personally about His life Mark Kozelek has created an album that says something about the human condition in a way that speaks to everyone.

Benji manages to portray a life in all its faults, failures, frailness and frivolities. It tells stories from his specific history whilst also being timeless. I have listened to it many times since its release in February because by opening the window to his world Kozeleek helps me contemplate mine.

Albums of the year 2014: Run The Jewels_Run The Jewels 2

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la-run-the-jewels-2Before I start. If you have a slight interest in Hip Hop, you haven’t heard Run The Jewels and you have an email address and access to the internet you can download this album for free from their website http://www.runthejewels.net/ and if you like it buy it you have no excuse!

For those who already have heard it or need more persuading ill continue.

RTJ2 continues the sound and extreme views of rappers Killer Mike and El-P found on RTJ1. Heavy Beats, harsh synths and hard sampling underpins often angry lyrics about Sex, Drugs and Violence but with a rapier wit and strong agenda. Positions of power and influence are cut down with sharp tongues. The police, other rappers, religions, billionaires and politicians are shown the back of a hand and occasionally the barrel of a gun.

But it’s not just pure rage, both rappers are in their late 30’s and this maturity also comes across in the lyrics with a deeper understanding of their issues with the system they are so vehemently against. They aren’t rebells without a cause trying to take it down, They are people who want to change it.

This can conflict with some of their other lyrics, they manage to blend the ridiculous the dumb and the intelligent with and attitude that says you just have to deal with it. A perfect example would be the El-p line on track lie, cheat, steal:

“I’ll tea bag a piranha tank, heart barely beatin’
A wild one who’ll swim like directly after he’s eaten
While holding a toaster oven that’s plugged with a fork in it
Cause death by electrocution’s like life in New York, isn’t it?”

In four lines we get a pompous claim and striking visual image mixed with an aggressive swagger rounded up by witty social commentary. It’s challenging, clever and offensive all at the same time and before you can digest it, the next verse is coming at you. Killer Mike also follows these lines but on occasion strips away the bravado that you hear on the majority of the album and gets down to the personal. On tracks Early and Crown we get honest and heartfelt issues covering both his past and examples of why he is angry with the police.

A main reason this challenging mix of ideas works is the interplay between Killer Mike and El-P. On a fundamental level their voices and accents complement each other perfectly And their views are both clearly defined, which can provide counterpoints within a track but also unify to pack a heavy punch.

That leads us to the production, El-p has gotten together some powerhouses of music to provide lyrics and instrumentation on the album but they never stray from his style of production. Heavy Kick drums with lots of base punctuate synths and chopped up samples heard on their previous work. But some areas have developed. The use of saxophones, trumpets and strings are mixed into the fray but the music beds never encroach on the vocals which prominently have space in the mix to run amok.

The overall flow of the album works incredibly well. At 40 minutes long all the fat has been trimmed from it. We’re left with an album that hits on all levels. Transitions between tracks can either come think and fast leaving little time to breathe or poignantly finish on something to take in before the album continues.

I can understand why the album is getting to the top of many american lists for the year. Ferguson was a turning point from anger to action, people are mad and feel that the system has gone too far. This album not only summarises those feelings it sizzles, cracks and spits them. It’s an anthem of rebellion, a soundtrack to revolution and riots. Outside of America my perspective is slightly different but this doesn’t stop the album being something special. Powerfully produced, with strong beliefs to back it up. it shows a mirror to 2014 whilst punching it in the gut and clawing its way onto my top 5 list.

 

Albums of the year 2014: Caribou_ Our Love

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caribou our loveOver the Past Couple of albums Dan Snaith has taken the Carbou sound further away from psychedelic pop and towards electronic music and with great success.

Our Love continues this by covering different genres of electronic music with his unique style of sound design and production. He manages to tread a fine line between organic sounding drum patterns with a lot of natural swing and the structured rhythmic nature of dance music. This applies across the board with the rest of his instrumentation. Synths can wobble into tracks drifting around their tuning Like a buoy out at sea but they still remain anchored to their position in the track. It’s this mix between the randomness of his psychedelic sound and the structured conformity of electronic music that makes repeat listens so enjoyable.

Snaiths production style has also gotten bolder in this album. A perfect example of this is in the Single “Can’t Do Without you” which literally doesn’t open up until the one minute thirty mark when he removes EQ from higher and lower frequency ranges. This gives an effect of a dance style drop without a large change in instrumentation. For a dance track this is rather unique and to do this almost halfway through, certainly shows the confidence in his vision which continues across the album.

The album works as a whole not only in its sound design but also its tone. The concepts of love and loss are pretty traditional areas of study for most musicians, but it’s done here from maturity rare in the dance genre. That could be said for the whole album, Dan Snaith on albums Swim and now Our Love has created music that is accessible to the everyman whilst still having flavourings of more experimental genres. As with album Swim his unique sound will keep me coming back to our love for many years to come.

 

Albums of the year 2014: Go Go Penguin_v2.0

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go go penguin v2.0The three-piece musical ensemble of piano, drums and double bass has been a staple of jazz since its creation. The instruments can compliment each other perfectly and can still be creative and fresh today, as new musicians take on influences from other genre and production styles. Go Go Penguin have done just that with their album v2.0.

Although very much in the framework of a traditional ensemble, the large reverb on the drums of the first track Murmuration, makes you aware that the album as a whole will take on some modern ideas in production. This is the case throughout. The use of delay and reverb as effects works well on tracks like Fort. Delicate piano solos merge into grand Pad textures that layer the track. These experimental soundscapes more prominent in ambient and other forms of electronica provide something fresh without detracting from the more traditional.

With a three-piece ensemble there is lots of room for instrumentation. Allowing musicians more free reign of their instruments but also requiring more skill to fill those areas with interesting melodies and rhythms. On v2.0 all three musicians achieve this with finesse. Allowing space for complex instrumentation and adding their own to create music that is rich in melody and tone without ever feeling too scientific.

It’s this mix of the traditional with nuances from modern production styles and genres that makes this album enjoyable on repeat listens. I’m a fan of this form of jazz and Go Go Penguin manages to create a great example of it over the albums 10 tracks. Keeping the complexities in their musicianship, without ever losing the emotions of the track for the listener.

Albums of the year 2014: Aphex Twin_Syro

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Syro

Aphex Twin Is a visionary artist whose ideas and style have had a profound effect on all forms of electronic music. During the decade window starting with selected ambient works 85-92 and ending in Drukqs. He created iconic music that was unlike anything outside of the Warp label. Although Richard James goes by many pseudonyms, the Aphex Twin name has always been associated as a stamp of quality for some of the most forward thinking electronic music around. It’s been 13 years since the release of the last album and it was worth the wait.

When speculation about a new release started I was exited but with no expectations over what he was going to create. His back catalogue spans many genres. From faster electronic music like Acid and Drum & Bass to Ambient and even solo piano works. So the announcement of Syro Could have been anything musically. Surprisingly it subverted my expectations by staying close to his work but making it more accessible. Syro at times feels like a greatest hits album made of entirely new content but as his style is so unique that’s no bad thing.

We get an exploration of large swathes of electronica with his unique chopped up drums, jittering synths, warbling pads and strange vocal samples. There’s so much going on within his tracks that on first listen it can feel a little daunting and hard to get to grips with but this only helps provide freshness on repeat listens.

Weather it’s the complex multi instrumental pieces or the striped down single piano on the closing track aisatsana [102] the one thing that makes the music work is melody. They can drift in and out of tune and rhythm and are often replaced before you fully get to grips with them but they are always strong and centralising. An eye in the storm of controlled chaos. Aphex twin may not be everyone’s cup of tea but the remnants of what he makes will be heard peppered across modern music for years to come.