It’s the fifth day of 2010 and we are kicking into some icy weather here in Istanbul. So I thought it was an opportune time to sit and write a new post since we’ll hit 16 degrees soon. I have no will to make a rewind list for best music of 2009 and still think it’s quite boring to force myself to arrange some album/EP names which you’ve already seen million times. In actual fact I don’t even have enough albums to review, I think I can only be able to make 2009 list in 2011 or so. Last year was more of an EP year for me, though I got amazing records by artists like David Sylvian, Moritz von Oswald Trio, Mike Keneally, Trus’me, MF Doom, 2562, Juju & Jordash and Ryuichi Sakamoto. So far I’ve only listened to the albums few times and need more time to devour them.
I’m not sure if there was something kind of special about 2009, but musically speaking it was another unpredictable year in all genres. Actually the whole decade was unpredictable in its entirety – emerging technologies, rapid changes in world economy, altered social movements… All in all they made everything change so fast that as a result the way we perceive music has become ephemeral. I have never been a massive fan of pointing how fast we consume everythin, but I seriously think that we’ll never have enough of trends, hypes and fashion. At some point the music media has to pump certain things on the surface and forget about them next day to keep their masses excited. This is what happened to IDM, Kompakt, minimal techno/house or space disco in the last decade. The last toy is dubstep and we’ll see how long it’s gonna take until they tag it as boring which has already started actually.
Anyway, without a second thought the past decade was the golden era of new and emerging music genres/styles. Earth-shattering technologies have triggered big changes in music production at the end of 90’s and together with the great developments in audio hardware/software; the appearance of new ideas has increased substantially. As such a seminal turning point, the year 2000 is well worth a look back. So I whipped up a list by re-checking some of my favorite music from that year.
• Auch – Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (Force Inc. Music Works)
• Bohren & Der Club Of Gore – Sunset Mission (Wonder)
• Burnt Friedman & The Nu Dub Players – Just Landed (~scape)
• Château Flight – Puzzle (Versatile)
• D’Angelo – Voodoo (EMI)
Neo Soul: hate it or love it, there is the fact I believe the artists who can be labeled as Neo Soul are making much more interesting music than today’s other modern R&B acts. Though, the style is kind of invisible on mainstream level, there were some albums made major impact on charts. Just like D’Angelo’s Voodoo which is an album that provides enough material for being pop while achieves to exhibit different styles like jazz, funk or hip hop and combines them perfectly. Other thing I really fancy about late 90’s and early 2000’s Neo Soul records is there is this wide range of dynamics gives a great listening pleasure on high volume, not like today’s poor, squashed and loud R&B hits.
• Dettinger – Oasis (Kompakt)
Another sound I really miss: Kompakt’s good old ambient records. Oasis is the peak point of a kind of ambient music that combines both Chain Reaction style cold-atmosphere and shoegaze aesthetic. It’s definitely a music for the winter, yet it really fits to the mood of blurry early mornings or late-late nights. I think it’s never been more than 3 months I survived without listening to the album since the time I bought it. Hence, I can say that the record is quite addictive. Even though the layers are pretty repetitive and music is simple, it is incredibly hypnotic and truly brilliant.
• Dj Rolando – Jaguar (430 West)
• Eyvind Kang – The Story Of Iceland (Tzadik)
Eyvind Kang is one talented musician, he has worked with different names like Mr. Bungle, Bill Frisell, Laurie Anderson, just to name a few. He is also pushing boundaries and creating different musics. This is an epic album that I enjoyed listening to when I was travelling with trains. Music is quite unique; it feels like it delivers a marvelous journey through an imaginary source. Can be considered as cinematic listening since the music slowly goes around a theme with variations which encompassed by engrossing soundscapes and medieval-like atmosphere.
• Gas – Pop (Mille Plateaux)
What a great year 2000 was for innovative ambient music. There are many similar music is out there right now, but back then it was kind of thrilling to have a music made with new approach. This record can really be described as typical Gas, yet it’s my favorite one among the other albums. The reason is I hear different sounds and visualize different images every time I listen to it. One scrumptious thing about Gas’ music; it’s hard to focus on individual sounds, mostly because of Wolfgang Voigt’s unique mixing and production techniques. Therefore it gives different pleasure or takes you to different places with each listening. It’s difficult to define the music when it comes to the feelings and the situation is not getting any easier here because it just sounds like a natural flow.
• Godspeed You Black Emperor! – Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven! (Constellation)
• Kid606 – Soccergirl EP (Carpark Records)
Kid606 is best known for his hardcore beats with mind blowing angry noises, but here’s a little exception. Though I’m not a fan of all his works, I really love his softer side. The albums he released on Mille Plateaux were genuinely good and I can say the same for this overlooked EP. It may not be his most original sounding work, because sonically it reminds of the time when first electronic ambient music emerged. However, the atmosphere that sequences make provides a delicate and almost a poetic line of beauty.
• Kid Koala – Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (Ninja Tune)
• Luomo – Vocalcity (Force Tracks)
This album was my first introduction to Sasu Ripatti and the whole Force Tracks label. It was the time when minimal or micro house was still tied to roots of house music. Though the tracks on the album have very groovy bass lines and a fluent structure, they probably can’t be perceived as dance-floor-ish by today’s young clubbers. The title is quite illustrative of what dominates the album and that is the soulful vocal lines. Sung in laid back style with simple lyrics, vocals get more intimate with the wise use of dub-like delay and reverb effects. If the track lengths weren’t about 12-13 minutes or the whole production wasn’t built in textural atmosphere, Vocalcity could easily be described as pop music but it soars high into some sonic ether that is too original to fit into any genre.
• Moodymann – Forevernevermore (Peacefrog)
• MRI – Rhythmogenesis (Force Tracks)
Oh, I can’t tell you how I miss Force Tracks. It was the time when we were actually waiting for the label to release next stuff and getting excited for it. I truly relied on their taste when they put an EP or album out. Now it looks, those times were kind of magical. Anyway, Rhythmogenesis is another fascinating example of early minimal-dub-house just like Luomo’s Vocalcity. I don’t know if it has become my obsession by the years to determine Basic Channel influence whenever I hear delayed chords in plain 4/4 texture but there are some moments I feel the same on this album. Not in a bad way, of course; MRI takes the influence to someplace else where staccato samples chops with melodic notes and some disco flavor.
• Pan•American – 360 Business / 360 Bypass (Blast First)
I can easily state this album as one of my favourites of all time. Quirky drones, ice-cold loops, gloomy soundscapes and fragile melodies; all is drawn together in a manner that can be only achieved by an artist like Mark Nelson. Back in the day, it wasn’t really common to come across music production quite like this: traditional use of real instruments in a context where both influences from minimal dubby techno and drone rock take place. 360 Business / 360 Bypass also provides a wide sonic space that combines the aspects of given styles in a way which wasn’t truly explored before.
• Pan Sonic – Aaltopiiri (Blast First)
I think one of the best concert experiences I’ve had was when I went to Pan Sonic’s gig soon after they released this album. Aaltopiiri is a bit different than duo’s other albums; it’s not really noisy or exhausting. It’s the very opposite actually; textures are really tidy that makes the listening experience very intense. Even though it’s filled with mechanic electronic signals and noises, emotions are kind of attached to the tracks which draws a great picture of urban human life.
• St Germain – Tourist [Blue Note]
It might be the favorite record of Lounge Café/Bars during the first half of the last decade; Tourist is a milestone in the history of fusion of jazz and electronic music. The album has many hits, even the mainstream ones but I don’t think there is any track on the album is below the average; the production at its best, everything’s well arranged and the most important is the mixture between genres is no faked up synthesis. It’s still a great album to play from beginning to end, especially on Sunday evenings.
• Super Furry Animals – Mwng (Placid Casual Recordings)
• Sutekh – Periods.Make.Sense (Force Inc. Music Works)
How cool experimental-minimal/click techno was back in early 2000’s, it had everything that it lacks today: mysterious ambience, interesting clicks and cuts, driving basslines which wasn’t necessarily written for dance floor and so on. Before the wide use of vst plug-ins there wasn’t many works in this class, however it has become less and less interesting with excessive use of micro sounds. It was actually tagged as experimental in so many reviews but after some point heavy beats kick into the music. Though the whole micro-click-glitch triangle is out of sight now, Periods.Make.Sense still sounds fresh.
• Sutekh & Twerk – Deadpan Escapament Reconstructed (Context)
• Soulphiction – Bust Me (Perlon)
• The Necks – Hanging Gardens (Fish of Milk)
• Vladislav Delay – Multila (Chain Reaction)
• William Ørbit – Pieces In A Modern Style [Maverick]
