Our very own Ben Hogwood, has chosen the top ten albums from 2009… its official!
1. CLARK – TOTEMS FLARE (WARP)
People generally like to give their music labels, to fit it snugly into a compartment. Which is all very well, but what the hell do you do with Chris Clark? Warp’s prolific writer has come up with another long player that defies any sort of categorisation. Sometimes the sounds are queasy, like nails down a blackboard, while other times they are things of rare beauty. All are part of a fiercely creative mind, and make up Clark’s best and most sonically inventive album so far.
2. MIIKE SNOW – MIIKE SNOW (COLUMBIA)
It’s a strange name, Miike Snow. And it’s not even one person – this trio are a New York-Stockholm hybrid, the ‘surname’ an engineer in LA, the first name a homage to Japanese film director Takashi Miike. They can already lay claim to one of the finest pop songs of the last ten years, having written Britney Spears’ Toxic. They make weirdly wonderful music, not without its strange lyrical dark side, but with an overall vibe that raises you to your feet and makes you gaze at the blue sky. In a phrase, life-enriching.
3. THE PRODIGY – INVADERS MUST DIE (TAKE ME TO THE HOSPITAL)
And so the big question was: had the Prodigy still got it? Well ‘Invaders Must Die’ offered a resounding smack in the teeth to anyone with the cheek to doubt their ability. It shows how far they’ve moved on in the two decades, but that their core values remain – riffs that are sharp as razors, concrete-heavy beats and helium flavoured vocals. Now they’re back in the same groove, and back near the front of the field, the sky would seem to be the limit! Can’t wait for the next one already.
4. FEVER RAY – FEVER RAY (RABID RECORDS)
As one half of The Knife, Karin Dreijer Andersson has already been used to making distinctive music – and she does so with her solo venture, Fever Ray. Over ice cool electronics her piercing tones are instantly recognisable, but the musical language often veers away from her native Sweden and across towards the far east. This means the album is never less than compelling, and does far more than provide a stop gap for delighted Knife fans.
5. Hell – Teufelswerk (GIGOLO)
A dance music release with a disc each devoted to ‘Night’ and ‘Day’ is nothing new, and even suggests complacency on the part of the artist that dare use it now. Yet DJ Hell isn’t just an ordinary artist, and this isn’t an ordinary album, for its development phase looks to have been a lengthy one. And somehow the concept works. This is a highly ambitious piece of work, impressing with its quality of sound.
6. EMPIRE OF THE SUN – WALKING ON A DREAM (VIRGIN)
The latest Antipodean act to threaten UK domination, Empire Of The Sun arrive on these shores bearing Star Wars-style artwork and a clutch of good tunes. None are better than the euphoric title track, a recent single, or ‘We Are The People’, recipient of some outstanding remixes in the summer. This one works a treat in the sunshine – and it’s an excellent debut album.
7. MOS DEF – THE ECSTATIC (DOWNTOWN)
This is the Mos Def comeback record, mixing some powerful messages with music of many and varied origins. It’s a record that fines the rapper on fine form, and with other guests Talib Kweli and MEAD working well, this is an album without a weak link, saying plenty through words and music. Surely the hip hop record of the year, ‘Blueprint’ or no ‘Blueprint’.
8. JOE GODDARD – HARVEST FESTIVAL (GRECO ROMAN)
It was always likely to be Joe Goddard who made the first break from Hot Chip to showcase some solo material, his savvy in electronic music evident from the off. And whereas Hot Chip retain a certain cool to their music, and Goddard ensures their soundscapes are well crafted and relevant, when you get him on his own he’s up for a big night out. Just don’t expect him home til dawn.
9. THE JUAN MACLEAN – THE FUTURE WILL COME (DFA)
Debut album ‘Less Than Human’ announced The Juan Maclean as a force to be reckoned with, a producer who could breathe human emotions into the most processed and robotic music. For his second album the New York-based producer has upped the tempo, shortened a lot of the tracks and brought in a female vocalist, Nancy Whang. He knows how to make slow burning electronica interesting – and upping the tempo this time out has made his music impressively vital.
10. JON HOPKINS – INSIDES (DOMINO)
Domino’s website has it right with the description of Hopkins as a ‘musical shapeshifter’ – he knows how to blend each track together to make an extremely fulfilling whole, the musical webs beautifully spun and realised. A sleeper album, this has been a real grower through the year, combining as it does the ambience of Brian Eno and the beat sensibilities of DJ Shadow.
COMPILATIONS OF 2009
1. THE GRANDFATHER PARADOX MIXED BY AME, HENRIK SCHWARZ & DIXON (BBE)
This is one of the more unusual compilations you’ll hear this or any other year, as the Innervisions trinity step outside to examine their influences, and influences on minimal techno in general. The track selection is extremely diverse, ranging from Steve Reich to Liquid Liquid, I:CUBE to John Carpenter. A collection that’s deep, dark and incredibly chilled out, plus a history lesson into the bargain – what more could you want?
2. FABRIC 48: RADIO SLAVE (FABRIC)
This eagerly awaited mix delivered on all counts. Mixed in one take by Matt Edwards, the set is an organic, steadily building animal that lives and breathes percussion – put together with acute attention to detail on one hand, but allowed an instinctive room to breathe on the other. An outstanding mix, taking house music back to its first principles of rhythm – and one of the very best that Fabric have offered us in their compilation series.
3. DRUMPOEMS: VERSE 2 (DRUMPOET COMMUNITY)
Occupying the boundaries between house and techno, the second Drumpoet Community compilation is most definitely a thing of beauty. The Detroit influences are evident right from the off, with serious four to the floor talent from Hunch, DC, Lost Men and Johannes Lehner among the artists to impress. A winner for deep house heads and lovers of early techno.
4. DJ KICKS: CHROMEO (!K7)
Some funky excellence from the Canadians to continue the ‘DJ Kicks’ series, with what turns out to be a real feelgood selection. The vibe is mostly synth-pop with the 1980s stamped all over it, even if it’s accomplished recent work from the likes of Chateau Marmont. Given their style of music and influences, this is everything you’d expect from Chromeo as DJs, and the fact they keep a tongue in cheek approach at times helps it no end. Feelgood bliss!
5. WARP 20: UNHEARD (WARP)
The Warp 20th birthday celebrations continued with what the label described as ‘an eleven track collection of secret treasures rediscovered from the Warp vaults’. They weren’t wrong – from Boards of Canada ambience to Broadcast beauty this collection reinforcing Warp to be one of electronic music’s premier labels. A fine introduction for newcomers to the fold – or an essential purchase for Warp completists, of which there are rightly many.
6. DEFECTED IN THE HOUSE – ZOUK OUT SINGAPORE 2010 MIXED BY SIMON DUNMORE & DJ B (ITH/DEFECTED)
Defected’s presentation is normally very good but they’ve really excelled themselves here, both visually and musically. Simon Dunmore delivers a vibrant first set, while DJ B’s set is a touch more mellow to begin with, before the beats and basslines sharpen This is what Defected does best, seeing out the decade with a wide-eyed grin on its face.
7. LUFTKASTELLET VOL.6 COMPILED BY KENNETH BAGER (MUSIC FOR DREAMS)
It seems about time to recognise the quality of this increasingly high profile series, and celebrate Kenneth Bager’s knack for spotting a good tune. Adding well known artists such as Grace Jones and Moby to the criminally overlooked Yoav, the warmth of Osunlade and the stimulating Mari Boine works in an original collection – chilled yet uplifting at the same time.
8. HARBOUR BOAT TRIPS 01: COPENHAGEN MIXED BY TRENTEMOLLER (POKER FLAT)
On the surface this is another after hours compilation, an addition to ‘Late Night Tales’ or ‘Back To Mine’ in all but name. Yet listen a bit more closely and it soon becomes clear that Andreas Trentemoller wants to do things his way, as chilled out material soon gives way to more beat driven stuff. We begin with whiffs of shoegaze and sublime textures and vocals, before Trentemoller injects some urgency into proceedings. It’s all perfectly paced, makes a lot of musical sense and ought to introduce the listener to several good new acts along the way.
9. FABRIC 47: JAY HAZE (FABRIC)
For his contribution to the Fabric series Jay Haze has kept the music largely close to home, focussing on stuff from his Tuning Spork, Contexterrior and Future Dub labels. It’s a carefully considered and well structured mix, quite slow in house tempo but gradually picking up as it progresses. If you like your house with added deepness and thought, this is a place you’ll stop off regularly.
10. SIDETRACKED MIXED BY HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR (RENAISSANCE)
Andy Butler, the creative force behind Hercules & Love Affair, set himself a tough agenda when making ‘Sidetracked’ – to include his two signature styles of music, disco and house, but also to bring in music he listens to away from the dancefloor. So he’s combined all three in a mix that strides out confidently on to the dancefloor, letting classics like Todd Terry’s ‘Weekend’ rub shoulders with Daniel Wang’s ‘Zola Has Landed’ and his own home listening. It’s an original approach recreating the thrill of dancing in a warehouse in the late 1980s, but also bringing in more intimate, after hours listening.
