Top 25 Tracks of the Year: 25 – 16
WE’RE BACK!
And remembering 2011. Initially we felt that this perhaps hadn’t been the most sonically astounding year, but having had to refine 12 months’ worth of music down to a mere 25 highlights has been a troublesome task indeed. This year has also been an odd one in terms of strong artists producing strong albums, but not individual tracks that will make the list below (Expect Best Albums and Honorable Mentions imminently). So, let’s get to it….
25. Metronomy - The Bay (Erol Alkan‘s Extended Rework)
After six years of pretty unrelenting effort from Joseph Mount and his evolving team of cohorts, 2011 was when people genuinely started to give a shit about Metronomy (ourselves included). We can’t claim to fully love their album but a fuller sound than on previous records and some killer singles undeniably won us over. Our favourite from ‘The English Riviera’ was the unstopabble discofunk of ‘The Bay’; it was the nimble production fingers of the original indie-electro don Erol Alkan however who would really make it spectacular. As a friend of ours stated “When you first hear that remix you think….errr, well that’s just a ten minute version of the song, but when you hear it played out it becomes abundantly clear that Erol always knows exactly what he’s doing”. We couldn’t agree more.
24. Gang Gang Dance - Glass Jar
Apart from a half-hour long Laurent Garnier track we heard in June (check a 20 minute edit of “Gnanmankoudji” here), few songs had the vision and went on the journey contained within Gang Gang Dance‘s epic album opener ‘Glass Jar’. Even more impressive perhaps is that despite its 11+ minute length, it remains a thoroughly engaging listen throughout. An amazing amalgamation of layer upon layer of space age synthesizers, multi instrumental tribal percussion, tropical steel pans and Lizzie Bougatsos’ otherwordly vocals, this is a song that slowly unfolds and assembles itself into a bold musical tapestry and one that we can confidently say sounds like nothing else we’ve ever heard.
23. Crazy P - Heartbreaker
With house the overriding movement in electronic music at the moment, it came as no surprise that some of the most accomplished 4×4 numbers were produced by a group who’ve been keeping the good vibes flowing for the best part of ten years. There were numerous highlights that we could’ve picked from Crazy P‘s ‘When We On’ (It’ll be featuring in our best album list), but the standout for us was the wonderful ‘Heartbreaker’, which sums up much of what is great about house music right now. Using relatively restrained dynamics, the band muster up plenty of emotion by employing some expertly picked and nicely soulful vocal samples, then drive the whole thing forward with bass and guitar parts that wouldn’t sound out of place on The Cure‘s ‘Disintegration’. This is dance music aimed squarely at the heart.
22. Bombay Bicycle Club - Lights Out, Words Gone
If we’re honest about it, it wasn’t until ‘A Different Kind Of Fix’ was released that we really considered Bombay Bicycle Club a band properly worthy of our attention. They had a small handful of hummable ditties to their name, but came across as just a little too fey, a little too twee and possibly a little too talented for their tender age. But this latest record threw up some brilliant songs, our favourite being ‘Lights Out, Words Gone’, which somehow worked all the traits that had previously irked us massively in their favour. Excellent production from the experienced Jim Abiss kept a fragile song at the centre of the track, but built around it a delicately deep melange of electronics, slightly off kilter drum hits and luscious backing vocals from Lucy Rose - creating a sublime listen which is far more than the sum of it’s parts.
21. Gui Boratto - Flying Practice
Gui Boratto is one of the true masters of the emotional techno composition and in 2011 he provided us with one of his very best yet. Latest album ‘III’ showcased a set of tracks that were considerably more minimal than those on his previous efforts, so ‘Beautiful Life Part II’ was not to be expected. However, if you fancy a little cry to some expertly assembled electronica, ‘Flying Practice’ may well be up your street. Gently building from a melancholy synth n’ pulse to something that doesn’t end up much more developed (aside from some additional bass and some stirring brass flourishes) this is an excellent lesson in what can be achieved with the lightest of touches.
20. SBTRKT - Trials Of The Past
SBTRKT’s astronomical rise has been fairly spectacular to watch; a leftfield musician quickly ascending the ranks from underground producer to festival star and purveyor of one of the best albums of the year (also to feature in our list) is not something we witness often. But it’s clear why this has happened – undeniable talent in absolute abundance, combined with a pop sensibility that betrays none of his creative impulses. Picking a favourite has been difficult for us, but we’ve plumped for ‘Trials Of The Past’ not least because it features Sampha, the collaborator who has become most synonymous with the SBTRKT brand. Carefully constructed, this is future soul with reams of beauty, emotional impact, intricate production and a composition that tips it’s hat to garage, dubstep and house without firmly fitting into a genre mould. We salute you.
19. Todd Terje - Ragysh
Having spent a while seemingly absent from the electronic music landscape, Todd Terje returned in the middle part of 2011 and made it clear that he meant business. Having carved out a name for himself as one of the leading Scandanavian disco overlords alongside Lindstrom & Prins Thomas, Terje’s ‘Ragysh’ EP contained cuts rooted more firmly in the house camp. The standout and title track is remarkable stuff – beginning with a percussive bassline possibly nicked from Blondie‘s ‘Heart Of Glass’, Ragysh builds through four minutes of dubby, delicious house before breaking down into a luscious, string laden, piano infused, musically ascending moment of wonderment which is almost too amazing to absorb. Then, after toying with our hearts, minds and feet Terje drops us back into the dubby house that began the track before filtering out to nothing but a fading bassline. Understandably, this was to become one of the biggest underground dance hits of the year. Prepare to grin.
18. Drake - Dreams Money Can Buy
Having finished 2010 by guesting as a still somewhat underground artist on our favourite track of last year, Rihanna’s ‘What’s My Name’, Drake has turned the tables 12 months down the line. It is instead Rihanna who features on his Jamie xx / Gil Scott-Heron sampling marvel ‘Take Care’, illustrating well the transition he has gone through – a transition which has been been made possible by a consistent and steady output. As with many artists on this list, picking a singular track has been tricky but we’re putting our money behind ‘Dreams Money Can Buy’ from the ‘I’m On One’ mixtape. Sampling Jai Paul‘s ‘BTSTU’, this was for us the perfect Drake formula. Not unlike ‘Marvin’s Rooms’ (which we cited as a standout track back in June), it’s a song that pairs melodic yet understated production with partly rapped, partly sung verses and it’s in these moments that Drake’s versatility as an artist really shines. Surprisingly, it doesn’t feature on ‘Take Care’, so be sure to do some internet digging to unearth it for yourself.
17. Avril Lavigne - What The Hell
Regular readers of this blog will know that we’re not embarassed about our love of pop music, so whilst Avril Lavigne might sit slightly incongruously on this list, we felt that she (or at least, her team of songwriters) was responsible for one of the best chart hits of recent times. In a pop year pretty heavy on Pitbull, identikit Trance&B and god help us, Ed Sheeran, ‘What The Hell’ shone as a beacon of unashamed and unembarassed pop-rock. Also, with it’s oddly cheap sounding organ stabs, doo-wop claps and near yodels from Avril herself, it was a rather unique record and one that will continue to bring us joy well into 2012. As an added bonus, the video featured the finest male specimen seen in any promo this year.
16. Scuba - Adrenalin
This year saw the term ‘urban’ suddenly being used to describe unconventional house music, leftfield garage and bass heavy techno and amongst this new landscape there was one man who summed up this shift most obviously. Scuba, AKA Paul Rose, was also responsible for releasing a genre-defining ‘Dj Kicks’ compilation which featured one of the most cross-pollinated dance songs of the year. ’Adrenalin’ clearly walked a fine line; yes, there is a hint of trance in there, but don’t panic. This is hands-in-the-air stuff for sure, but hands-in-the-air-for-a-little-bit-before-putting-them-down-again-to-appreciate-the-techno. It has the bounce, it has the beats, it has the melody so we can allow the trance, surely?!
