In direct defiance of the Lot’s Wife motto ‘Don’t look back’, I want to take some time to consider the glorious year of music that’s just passed. And the most straight-forward way of doing so is to present my very concise ‘best of’ list. So here we go, in no particular order:
1) Billy Woods – History Will Absolve Me
While the secretive MC Billy Woods has been rather prolific, this LP was the first to see real popularity (though I use the term loosely). Woods, at his best, is a scathing political commentator and brilliant deliverer of punchy, poetic verse. His lyrics have the intelligence that is so important in progressive hip-hop, but he never loses the dignity or rawness that makes rap a powerful emotive force. He doesn’t brag about guns and money and women, not even ‘ironically’, but unlike much of the new school of middle class hip-hop (like Macklemore and Chidish Gambino) he still gives off a ‘don’t fuck with me’ vibe that seems both sincere and effortless, and makes listening to him somehow make you feel invincible. In short, he occupies the best of both worlds of what can often be a shallow genre. This is a grower.
You might like this if you like: Abstract hip-hop, Cannibal Ox, Lil B, El P, MF Doom, Aesop Rock, Killer Mike.
Good entry point songs: ‘The Man Who Would Be King’, ‘The Wake’, ‘Freedman’s Bureau’.
2) Kendrick Lamar – Good Kid M.A.A.D City
Lamar follows last year’s debut Section.80 with an even stronger album. It tells a story of growing up in Compton, with each of the songs forming a piece of narrative that gets clearer as the album progresses. It examines the issues of growing up in a poor and sometimes rough area, with humour and empathy and a kind of self-examination that doesn’t feature very often in rap. There are also religious undertones which have the effect of giving the album a strong sense of soul rather than sounding preachy or self-righteous. The production is generally exceptional, and tends to be minimal, i.e. very few instruments at once – usually just piano, drums and electronic bass. Lamar’s lyrics are never ostentatious – telling a story rather than delivering striking lines – and the accompaniment has a way of mirroring the mood of what Lamar expresses.
You might like this if you like: Outkast, Lil B, Killer Mike, Childish Gambino, A$AP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, Talib Kweli, Nas, Lupe Fiasco
Good entry point songs: ‘Swimming Pools’, ‘Money Trees’, ‘Good Kid’, ‘Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe’.
3) Thriftworks – Rainmaker
California based producer Jake Atlas mixes strange dubby baselines with beats that sound as if they were created by a jungle tribe. Occupying a strange place between dubstep, downtempo and glitch-hop, the mood is both spooky and funky, and there are lots of other-worldly vocoded samples of what sound like another language. A lot of Atlas’ synths appear to mimic the sounds of xylophones and anklungs, and his drums have the timbre of spoons and water droplets that shuffle and swing, teasing with climaxes that never come. There are no catchy hooks, just a thick soup of unconventional and somehow thematically linked noises, the overall effect being cohesive and addictive.
You might like this if you like: Flying Lotus, Vibesquad, Bassnectar
Good entry point songs: ‘Greenie Beans’, ‘Pillow In The Woods’, ‘Crack Cakes’
4) Hidden Orchestra – Archipelago
Hidden Orchestra are a Scottish Jazz group, but they use a lot of electronic sounds as well, and ultimately don’t sound very ‘jazzy’ – more like a kind of acoustic trip-hop. Archipelago, their second release, is smooth and relaxed with crisp drums, ambient brass, woodwind and percussion. Many of the songs play with your head by shifting the emphasis and spontaneously breaking from minimalist and linear patterns. Most of the songs seem to hover between assonance and dissonance, oscillating playfully on either side.
You might like this if you like: Massive Attack, Portishead, Bonobo, The Cinematic Orchestra, BBNG
Good entry point songs: Every song on the album
5) Kishi Bashi – 151a
Also my ‘2012 cover art of the year’ winner, this album is an example of just how powerful Kickstarter can be for fostering the creative arts. Kaoru Ishibashi is a Seattle-based violinist who has toured with Of Montreal. His debut album is full of sweet, almost manic melodies and sound-scapes with lots of vocal harmonies and strange, extended violin technique. I’m tempted to describe the genre as ‘dream folk’. It’s catchy and radio-friendly, but doesn’t come across as generic, maybe because of the way Ishibashi rarely dwells on musical themes, and because the instrumentation is just so rich.
You might like this if you like: Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective, Of Montreal, Fleet Foxes
Good entry point songs: ‘It All Began With A Burst’, ‘I Am The Antichrist To You’.
Honourable mentions:
Death Grips – The Money Store
Purity Ring – Shrines
Grimes – Visions
Killer Mike – Rap Music
Flying Lotus – Until The Quiet Comes
Animal Collective – Centipede Hz
Beach House – Bloom
Alt j – An Awesome Wave
Holy Other – Held
Actress – R.I.P
