Essential tracks of '11
from Sound Sampler Vol. 1
Label: Soundstream
Purchase from: Hardwax
Soundstream has to be one of the most consistent producers around and I really love that, even though consistent in quality, each song is always individually interesting and dynamic. Frank Timm’s ability to extract the found sound and construct something completely new and unique sends his tracks to a place that is far, far past “the edit.” Sound Sampler Vol.1 was a perfect way to cap off the year.
from Workshop 12
Label: Workshop
Purchase from: Discogs
Kassem Mosse was very active in 2011 with releases on Workshop, Non-Plus and the first vinyl release on his Omnira imprint. His third contribution to the Workshop series was, for me, the most exciting of all of his 2011 endeavours. I wish I could put every track from this EP on here, but when you search “Kassem Mosse Workshop 13″ on Youtube, this is the first result so, let it be the voice of the people! The whole record is amazing, but B1 is the song that hooked me.
from Danger 7″
Label: Eglo Records
Purchase from: Eglo Records
Some lush textures going on with this 7″ release on Floating Points’ own Eglo imprint, coming complete with a planetary locked groove. This track is a kind of silent killer. The power of this slow roller is not often immediately felt, but when the speakers bump so does this song! The erratic rhythms are so nicely equalized by the warm pads that keep the song emotive and human, not allowing it to be lost to any kind of analogue gear boner measuring contest.
from Acid Test 01
Label: Absurd Recordings
Purchase from: Hardwax
This, for me, is when “Acid” is at its best—deep and moody. I really appreciate the restraint TIN MAN displays on this track. The grooves are intentional and well executed. ‘Nonneo’ is proof that Acid can still be beautiful.
from Panorama Bar 03
Label: Ostgut Ton
Purchase from: Hardwax
I was noticing on the charts that Steffi was getting a lot of love this year, predominantly for her full-length album and the track “Yours feat. Virginia.” I’m not sure if this one got demoted because it’s a part of a compilation, but for me, this exclusive of Prosumer’s Panorama Bar 03 mix is the one! Each layer of the percussion or melody is so thoughtfully added or subtracted, never too sparse and never to overbearing. So melancholy in so many ways, but every time I hear it I smile.
from Perfume Lp
Label: Salon Records
Purchase from: Boomkat
The epitome of a perfectly crafted pop-tune in this digital century. This one is deeply layered with intricate drum arrangements and ghostly keys. Between the classical experimentations of Vienna Blue and the handful of remixes & singles of his own signature acid — this year TIN MAN finds his missing organ and creats a record with Leonard Cohen-like level of romanticism.
from Andrés III Ep
Label: Mahogani Music
Purchase from: Boomkat
Detroit’s economic crisis in full-effect, completely leaving out any mastering touch. Despite the general flatness of the production, “Be Free Baby” is just like every soulful house gem on Mahogani Music—timeless and simply ideal for baby making. Everyone always tells you to “turn it up”, but for this one you might actually have to.
from nyc stuff and nyc bags Ep
Label: R&S Records
Purchase from: R&S Records
Alex suggests that this song is Instagram, I think it’s Night Bus with lens flare. This UK trio is putting together everything you’ve ever liked about James Blake, Mount Kimbie, and the slow-motion night music your artschool roommate blogs about. This is future garage music for the kids.
from An Empty Bliss Beyond this World
Label: History Always Favours the Winners
Purchase from: Bandcamp
This entire full-length kept my sanity in check during long hours of work and should actually be used as a medical prescription—the scribbled label would read “For Keeping it Together.” The record focuses on amnesia, converting the recollections of various Alzheimer’s patients into arrangements consisting of original compositions and 78′s. Faded glimpses of a grand piano are heard one moment, some eerie ballroom jazz the next, kind of making you regret your promise to quit spending endless nights with Fallout 3.
Colonel Abrams
from Who Wrote the Rules of Love 12″
Label: FXHE Records
Purchase from: Discogs
You’ve got an old-school house cat Colonel Abrams handing out rhythm & blues lessons right over Alex “Omar” Smith’s tambourines and some smooth string arrangements. Nah, nah, nah, nah-nahnah-nah!
from Untitled / Legs 12″
Label: Fourth Wave
Purchase from: Boomkat
It was hard to think about the past year in music without including this dude in my list. New to me and most everyone else, he pulls together a whole bunch of stuff that I’m really into at the moment—straight-forward basement grooves with tonnes of gritty texture.
Controller
from The Pathway to Tiraquon 6
Label: R&S Records
Purchase from: R&S Records
A standout tune from a record with an unabashed narrative that thoroughly entertained me. Gimmick or not, I’m sure we’ll be writing about this dude again next year.
from Objekt #1 12″
Label: Self-released
Purchase from: Boomkat
Few people I know will get it but it’s here for very good reason, trust me.
from 77 Reasons
Label: Live At Robert Johnson Records
Purchase from: Live At Robert Johnson
So delicate yet punchy, I’ve been discovering and rediscovering brilliant little details each time I listen to either side of this release. From the depths to the clouds and back again—dolphin dives.
from Street Halo
Label: Hyperdub Records
Purchase from: Hyperdub
Because it’s percussively sparser than a lot of his other work, “Stolen Dog” plays like a relieved sigh, sounding uncharacteristically hopeful because the lush chords and vocals have room to breathe.
from Menage At Trois
Label: FXHE Records
Purchase from: Clone
There was so much quality released on FXHE this year. Jason Fines release, Menage At Trois, was the definite stand-out for me though. “Jack Yo Bodda” is somewhere in between a DJ tool and an anthem, and it’s the perfect example of simplistic dance music executed masterfully. The writing on the b-side label puts it quite nicely, “MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK!!! HERE AT FXHE RECORDS DETROIT.”
from Pipe Bomb 12″
Label: Sound Signature
Purchase from: Clone
The first time I heard “Pipe Bomb” was last year during Theo Parrish’s set at BODY. I had absolutely no idea what it was and it turned the entire room on it’s side. Theo then released it on his label a few months later and I’ve been listening to it every single day since I bought it and it still gives me goosebumps. Well done, Specter. Well done.
from The Cool Warm Divine
Label: Valentine Connexion Records
Purchase from: Rush Hour
To be honest, there wasn’t a real stand out tune on this EP—every track is fantastic and this is the only one I could find on youtube. Early American electro influence was big in dance music this year though most of it seemed to fall a little short. It was wonderful to receive something amazing straight from the source that truly delivered. Essential listening.
from Meet Shangaan Electro And BBC
Label: Honest Jon’s
Purchase from: Honest Jon’s
A truly inspired effort from one of Detroit’s unsung fathers of Techno, this one is a no brainer. Play it loud.
from Beat The Street
Label: Mathematics Recordings
Purchase from: Mathematics
Mathematics released a tremendous amount of amazing music this year. Jamal Moss, John Heckle, Kuba Sojka, Takeshi Kouzuki, and the rest of Mathematics camp deserve a round of applause for consistently releasing some of the most memorable contemporary dance records. Thanks for keeping shit weird you guys, we appreciate you. As far as this Simoncino tune goes, I wouldn’t normally give much of a second thought to a track ridden with pan flutes and wildlife samples, but this one works.
from Hijos De Jose
Label: Comeme
Purchase from: Discogs
These South American cats have dubbed their style Caveman Disco. Lifting a lick from the Human League, this is some real chest beating stuff right here.
from Chilean Pop
Label: Comeme
Purchase from: Boomkat
More from Chile! Taken from a great little compilation of remixes, this one never left my bag—if you heard me DJ this year you have probably heard this. You should check Marinero and Enagami as well. Heaters.
from Houston Abstros
Label: Monofonus Press
Purchase from: Monofonus Press
Bringing the intergalactic beach vibes this warm little 7-inch touched my buttons.
from No Gold Lp
Label: Unfamiliar Records
Purchase from: No Gold
My list wouldn’t be complete without a track from No Gold’s debut LP. This, honestly, didn’t leave my record player this year. Every track is a bomb. Great video for this one as well.
from Batty Knee Dance Ep
Label: 3024
Purchase from: Boomkat
Who needs ecstasy when you have this? Memories of Kaleidoscope at 3am!
from Damn Ep
Label: L.I.E.S.
Purchase from: Hardwax
I had the most classic moment with this record at a shop in New York. One of the employees put on this record and everyone in the store just stopped digging and flipped. It’s funny because this isn’t really a banger but more like the sounds of a Mr. Fingers demo versioned by Rhythm & Sound. This song has deep power.
from The Teac Life
Label: Self Released
Purchase from: Decks
This song is a trip of classic deep string pads & naïve futurism. Legowelt’s great album The Teac Life, previously only available digitally, has just been given a 4×12” (!!!) release.
from Raveheath, 1972
Label: Kranky
Purchase from: Boomkat
It’s impossible to pick one song out of this album, because it’s all misty and floats together. Big organ sounds flipped through delay in an Albertan yurt.
from 93 Million Miles
Label: Warp Records
Purchase from: Warp
After Sun Ra…reaching through technology to the sky. Ecstatic chants at 140.
from Kelly Price W8 Gain Vol II
Label: Hyperdub
Purchase from: Boomkat
And suddenly you’re just standing there and this song is playing.
from Getting Me Down 12″
Label: White Label
Purchase from: Boomkat
There’s a universality in “Getting Me Down” that’s positively un-Blawan; it’s candidness, the inelaborate percussion, the structural restraint, the overall seeming lightness of it. But agreeability only affects range, so let’s be honest about what we love about this tune, what bit of it latches onto our core: the enigmatic clipped siren song of our reanimated Moesha. “I know anybody’s gonna be lonely / Without the reason they got someone to care for…”
from With U Ep
Label: Tri Angle
Purchase from: Discogs
In an attempt to avoid the pin-the-genre-on-the-donkey game entirely, I’ll say “With U” was the most wholly unclassifiable release I copped this year. Sure, it’s pushing a sound with many hangers-on but what separates Holy Other from the other faces in the pack is a penchant for actual craft; find me a track in this vein this side of Forest Swords as clearly articulated as this.
from Ground Ep
Label: Modern Love
Purchase from: Boomkat
Though Ground is his first solo release, Gary ‘Gaz’ Howell has his fingerprints all over Modern Love as one half of Pendle Coven and mixed-up in the HATE experiment of 2009. A distillation of the more difficult and industrial qualities of the Modern Love sound, Ground makes no amends for the cautious listener. “Earth” is the brightest and most accessible cut off the EP, enlivened by a quicker tempo and soul sample, a bit of radiance beneath a crust darker than darkness, like stilled molten lava.
from 1977 Lp
Label: Self-released
Freely Available at: Radio Killa Records
Probably more than anything else released this year I listened to 1977. Under label drama reminiscent of Prince’s turn to Artist Formally Known As…, The-Dream became Terius, and one can think of 1977 as not so much leaked for free on the internet but liberated from bureaucracy at much spiritual cost. In a year where novices were credited with stunning innovation for easy artifice (The Weeknd, Frank Ocean) it was Mr. Nash who was dropping the realest R&B.
from Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance!! Lp
Label: FXHE Records
Purchase from: Discogs
I don’t even know what to say. Give Omar 10 minutes and he’ll show you what it sounds like to live in a more perfect world.
from Tailor-Made Ep
Label: Ninja Tune
Purchase from: Phonica Records
Hair standing on end? Yeah me too. Floating Points kills on the remix duty.
from Assorted Elements Ep
Label: NDATL Muzik
Purchase from: Phonica Records
This shows you don’t need a whole hell of a lot going on to make a track jump off the wax. Tight programming and a sputtering synth make this special.
from Feel Free To Be Who You Need To Be
Label: Sound Signature
Purchase from: Hardwax
Doing donuts on Detroit’s I-696 seemed like something I would have done five years ago. Now I conjure that scenario up while listening to this.
from Treats Vol. 3
Label: Retreat
Purchase from: Retreat Vinyl
Summer in a bottle. Chug, chug, chug, chug. Ahhhh!
from Straight Vacationing Lp
Label: Yore
Purchase from: Phonica Records
His usual journey to Saturn, but this time he’s kind enough to bring you back. Keeping you suspended with his first LP in five years, this is one you can’t skip. It was tough to choose a clear favourite but I tried.