So this is the new year...

So aye Happy New Year one and all, twenty-one days late not too bad I’d say.   I thought I’d make my first (proper, non list-related) entry of 2011, a summary of what I’ve been getting excited about and listening to in the past couple of weeks since ten became eleven.

First up is a young lad going by the name of Zoo Kid, the emphasis very much on the ‘young’.  Archy Marshall is the tender age of sixteen, and makes music far, far beyond his years.  Current single Out Getting Ribs is a bleak yet utterly beautiful pop song detailing the trials and tribulations of teenage life.  It’s a fairly sparse affair, just Marshall’s rough vocal over some echoey guitar, but he seems so sincere, passionate and genuine that nothing more is needed.  In terms of comparisons Billy Bragg and Jamie T. both come to mind and even at this early stage it is abundantly obvious that this young man has enough raw talent to potentially go on to be just as great as those aforementioned artists.

I first heard The Next Untouchable by the now defunct Cajun Dance Party years ago, I can’t really remember exactly when, 2005 or 2006 maybe?  Anyway the point was I was almost positive, from this one track alone that here was something rather special.  These youngsters would surely go on to be absolutely massive; everything about the track was utterly perfect.  

This obviously did not transpire, and although the one album they did release was actually rather good, they did not achieve the critical success that I was so sure was destined for them.  Anyway back to 2011 and the reason I’ve been rabbiting on about Cajun Dance Party is that two of the members are now in a new band who I am currently quite excited about.   Daniel and Max from CDP plus Japanese bassist Mariko Doi, New Jersey drummer Jonny Rogoff and Daniel’s younger sister Ilana make up Yuck.  Their sound is pretty far removed from CDP, think grunge/shoegaze/American bands of the 80’s and 90’s.  Sonic Youth, Pavement, Dinosaur Jr, My Bloody Valentine and Pixies all sound vaguely like influences but despite obviously having exquisite records collections, Yuck are not simply a band wanting to sound like they should have been around twenty years ago.  Ok they’re indebted to bands of yesteryear but these days who isn’t?  Their songs still manage to sound fresh and exciting; fuzzy guitars, addictive hooks, strong melodies and most importantly passion are all here in abundance so here’s hoping we have the pleasure of their company for slightly longer than Cajun Dance Party. 

I’ve also become obsessed, and obsessed is certainly the right word about a man called Sylvain Chauveau.  Since stumbling upon his 2007 record Nuage a couple of weeks ago, it has been played pretty much constantly.  His music is mostly minimal, ambient instrumental and electronic compositions which in all honesty are not really genres I’m particularly familiar with, but I was instantly struck by how beautiful the record was.  Thus far I have not had time to explore his back catalogue further (which includes an album released by the wonderful Fat Cat records), but Nuage is utterly astonishing.  I’ve posted a track from it below, but individual songs really do not do justice to just how gorgeous the record is.  It needs to be listened to from start to finish and I advise anyone with a working pair of ears to do so.

Still listening to MBDTF quite a lot goes without saying really.  The Nicki Minaj album has grown on me quite a lot in the last few weeks and Esben And The Witch’s debut album is a really interesting listen which leads me to my final point.  I have reviewed the Esben... album for a rather excellent wee blog called Sucking Lemons which I thoroughly recommend checking out.

 http://suckinglemons.co.uk/

Best Albums of 2010

Well that's my top tracks of 2010 done and dusted, and before I move on, I don't think it would be quite right to conclude my coverage of last year without a quick rundown of my favourite albums of 2010.  I'm not going to bother with a quick summary of each record, due mainly to time constraints.  If I go down that avenue 2011 will be half way through and I'll still be ranting on about My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.  And yes that man Kanye West has done the double.  Just like in the tracks feature, genuinely no other record came close to Kanye's masterpiece.  In every sense of the word My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is as near to perfection as it's possible to get.  Truly an astonishing record, and one that could not only change hip-hop forever but also just pop music in general.  But yeah I'll stick to my guns and leave it there because I genuinely could go on and write paragraph after paragraph about MBDTF.  Kanye aside 2010 was another great year for albums and finalising  my top twenty was quite tricky but this is what i ended up going for.  Enjoy!

1) Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

2) Zola Jesus - Stridulum II

3) Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty

4) How To Dress Well - Love Remains

5)The National - High Violet

6) Frightened Rabbit - The Winter Of Mixed Drinks

7) Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

8) Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils

9) Forest Swords - Dagger Paths

10) Perfume Genius - Learning

11) Tokyo Police Club - Champ

12) Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - Before Today

13) Marc McGuire - Living With Yourself

14) Delorean - Subiza

15) Emeralds - Does It Look Like I’m Here?

16) Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid

17) Caribou - Swim

18) Teebs - Ardour

19) Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma

20) Beach House - Teen Dream

Best Of 2010 4-1

4) Crystal Castles - Not In Love (feat. Robert Smith)

Not In Love (a cover of Platinum Blonde’s 1983 original) was originally on Crystal Castles second album which was released in early 2010.  The album version was one of the highlights of the record, but this version featuring Robert Smith is a massive improvement on a track that was pretty damn good to begin with.  The distortion and noise that one associates with the band is still here in abundance, just this time with the addition of Smith’s distinctive voice.  In terms of what his vocal brings to the track, as well as offering a nice alternative to Alice Glass’ original vocal take, and having lyrics that are actually decipherable (a rarity among the band’s back catalogue) most importantly it works magnificently well as a contrast to Crystal Castles sound.  They are renowned for making brutal, bleak, noisy and distorted pop music, but in this instance Smith’s vocal gives a new angle which to view the band from, calmer and more nostalgic, it is a very pleasant change and one which I would like to see than band explore further in the future.

3) Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

While admittedly it did take a while, I did grow to love Arcade Fire’s third LP The Suburbs.  While I found some of the tracks perhaps slightly harder to connect with than a lot of the band’s previous output, the first time I heard Sprawl II I instantly fell in love with it.  It was Arcade Fire but at the same time it wasn’t.  While managing to retain, the monumental, thrilling and epic feel of an Arcade Fire track a lot of the glorious, overblown strings traditionally associated with the band had been replaced by electronics.  Pulsing synths, more akin to a modern dance track than your typical Arcade Fire number, co-exist beautifully with Régine Chassagne’s gorgeous and uplifting vocal to produce one of the most engaging songs of the band’s career.

2) Robyn - Hang With Me

I still find it strange that Robyn isn’t one of the biggest pop stars in the world.  Hang With Me highlights my point perfectly.  An earlier acoustic version of the track appeared on Body Talk Part 1 before the track received a makeover for Body Talk Part Two.  Revitalised and rejuvenated with the addition of bubbling synths and energetic bass.  When you combine this with Robyn’s vocals which are as sweet, sugary and addictive as ever you get a rousing, energetic and emotional pop gem.

1) Kanye West (feat Pusha T) - Runaway

“Let's have a toast for the douchebags”

I’ll keep this brief, no song came close.  Runaway is epic, daring, bold and adventurous.  It’s funny and sad, it’s brutally honest and most of all it’s absolutely beautiful.  A complete triumph.  Kanye, I salute you.

Best Of 2010 8-5

8) James Blake - CMYK

In the past few weeks the hype about James Blake has reached fever pitch.  Regardless of the hype and what he goes on to achieve in the following year, he already has produced more quality tracks than many artists will ever go on to make.  CMYK is my favourite Blake track to date, a glitchy, hypnotic number sculpted mainly from 90s R&B samples, the two main ones being Kelis' "Caught Out There" and Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody".  Although the samples are key to the track, the real beauty of CMYK is how Blake manipulates these samples, distorting them and speeding them up and at the same time adding layers and textures to create something totally bizarre and unclassifiable yet utterly brilliant.

7) Beach Fossils - Twelve Roses

Beach Fossils’ brilliant Twelve Roses needs little explanation or clarification; it’s a simple beast.  Take one of the downright catchiest and addictive guitar riffs of the year, add Dustin Payseur’s droning, reverb-soaked drawl and throw in a pretty great rhythm section, and there you have it, the seventh best song of the year.  Simple yet absolutely perfect. 

6) Frightened Rabbit - Skip The Youth

Skip The Youth was the centerpiece of the band’s third record The Winter Of Mixed Drinks.  It begins slowly with a lengthy intro of noisy loops only for the feedback to be replaced, by Scott Hutchison’s trademark fragile vocal and a piano line and guitar, as the verse begins.  As the track progresses drums and haunting backing vocals are added, as it gradually mutates into something enormous and epic while at the same time managing to remain poignant, profound and as usual with the band, completely heart-wrenching.

5) Kanye West (feat Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver, Nicki Minaj) - Monster

Kanye is back again.  This time with a bit of help from Bon Iver, Rick Ross, Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj.  Bon Iver starts and finishes the track with a faintly eerie intro and outro before everyone else takes a turn, rapping over one of the best Kanye beats of recent times.  As good as Jay-Z, Kanye and Rick Ross’ parts are, there is only one star of this show and that is Nicki Minaj.  She genuinely blows everyone else out of the water, which is a remarkable achievement.  To completely outshine probably the two biggest rappers in the world so comprehensively, is nothing short of incredible.  It’s not that Kanye, Jay-Z or Rick Ross for that matter are off form, it’s just Minaj is on fire.  Her delivery completely flawless, effortlessly managing to change personas mid-line and at the same time displaying ridiculous energy, while lyrically she's engaging, witty and intelligent.  While nothing on her debut record Pink Friday came even close to matching this verse, Monster is not only a truly astonishing track but it also marked the official arrival of Minaj as a superstar.