Subtitle: It was the best of times it was the blurst of times
I know it's late but better late than never.
So it's not a top ten at all, just my favourite things from the past twelve months. Most of it you'll probably know, hopefully there are a couple of things you haven't and you'll enjoy them.
Track of the year:
Adele - Rolling In The Deep (Jamie XX Shuffle)
Jamie XX is a genius. I could present many pieces of evidence but you only need this.
[A recent but cool and funny discovery was that the drummer that appears in the original video is a great guy and brother to the well known @kidcalmdown
Second best track of the year:
Drake - Marvin's Room (Shlohmo's Thru Tha Floor Mix)
I'm not a big Shlohmo fan but this was the first of anything I heard of the new Drake album. When I heard this I hadn't heard the original and I have a soft spot for Drake. Whatever you think of Drake, listen.
Album of the year: Drake - Take Care
This is easily the best commercial album since Missy Elliot's heyday. There are very few dull moments on this album and even though I love it for the music – there's a Jamie XX beat with Rhianna! – Drake has a great voice, some of his lyrics are actually good, some of them are awful, and some are so bad they're awesome, for example: "We had a party / yeah we had a party / bitches came over we, had a party."
Drake runs the gammet between emo, bling and stupid. The best moments are when he describes his feelings and situations relating to fame. It's weirdly personal and strikes me as completely sincere. Within the same verse quoted above he says he's had sex four times "this week" and "had a hard time adjusting to fame"... It sounds honest. God, if I was famous, I think I'd be doing better than that and not feeling the least bit ashamed.
Drake runs the gammet between emo, bling and stupid. The best moments are when he describes his feelings and situations relating to fame. It's weirdly personal and strikes me as completely sincere. Within the same verse quoted above he says he's had sex four times "this week" and "had a hard time adjusting to fame"... It sounds honest. God, if I was famous, I think I'd be doing better than that and not feeling the least bit ashamed.
There's even a spoken word bit and it's great.
TV Show of the Year: Portlandia
Apart from having a special, sentimental reason for loving this show it's probably the best, most original skit-based comedy I've seen in years. What can be better than making fun of 30-somethings looking stupid, eating organic, putting birds on things (a-la-Etsy), and generally taking the piss out of people just like you and me. Better still, the main star is Carrie Brownstein from Sleater Kinney, that's like the coolest thing ever and if you don't think so you need to trust Mike Watt by reading his blog from when he hung out with them at the Big Day Out a number of years ago.
Best music idea of 2011:
I hate how so much of the talk with regard to music surviving the digital revolution revolves around business models for major labels, huge independent labels, and the major players in terms of distribution. Basically everything to do with the idea that these absurd music corporations are the entities that need to find a profitable model in order for music to survive. Fuck that.
The only people making music are the artists – and such artists are increasingly rare among the mainstream, even more so than before. If all the record labels and distributors disappeared tomorrow there'd still be people making music and there'd still be people listening and sharing. Interestingly, a “business model” I feel overcomes much of this (mostly because it's not a business model, it's a way of supporting the artist directly), is crowd-funding.
I love that underground artists such as Maga Bo are using this method of funding and more successful, though still non-mainstream labels such as Elefant Traks are using websites similar to Kickstarter - such as Pozible - for the new Hermitude album in order to provide vinyl fans with an option. [They've since met their funding quota and will be realeasing the new album on vinyl for all... I just heard the album today and it's definitely worthy of a vinyl purchase.]
Crowdfunding for vinyl releases is a great idea – especially within the Australian market where the format is almost always a money-loser. This way vinyl-lovers can commit to the purchase and the label doesn't lose out economically. It's a win/win.
And it's not just the future of music; Micro-loans for the third-world and crowd-sourcing for ideas is a truly great use of the information-superhighway and one of the few ideas that has actually met the perceived potential of the internet as a contributor to global democracy and equality. It's the most optimistic I've ever felt about technology given its traditional role as a tool of the west, elites and deceptive notions of liberation amongst the poor.
The only people making music are the artists – and such artists are increasingly rare among the mainstream, even more so than before. If all the record labels and distributors disappeared tomorrow there'd still be people making music and there'd still be people listening and sharing. Interestingly, a “business model” I feel overcomes much of this (mostly because it's not a business model, it's a way of supporting the artist directly), is crowd-funding.
I love that underground artists such as Maga Bo are using this method of funding and more successful, though still non-mainstream labels such as Elefant Traks are using websites similar to Kickstarter - such as Pozible - for the new Hermitude album in order to provide vinyl fans with an option. [They've since met their funding quota and will be realeasing the new album on vinyl for all... I just heard the album today and it's definitely worthy of a vinyl purchase.]
Crowdfunding for vinyl releases is a great idea – especially within the Australian market where the format is almost always a money-loser. This way vinyl-lovers can commit to the purchase and the label doesn't lose out economically. It's a win/win.
And it's not just the future of music; Micro-loans for the third-world and crowd-sourcing for ideas is a truly great use of the information-superhighway and one of the few ideas that has actually met the perceived potential of the internet as a contributor to global democracy and equality. It's the most optimistic I've ever felt about technology given its traditional role as a tool of the west, elites and deceptive notions of liberation amongst the poor.
I urge you to click on the links above and support these projects.
DJ Mixes of the year:
The Swamp '81 Riot Mix - IG Culture
It seems everyone has already forgotten there were major riots in the UK this year. Annoyingly, too many music fans and vinyl-lovers cried over the loss of records in the PIAS warehouse fire, 'cause, you know, vinyl is like heaps more important than poor people overcoming oppression and shit. And whilst they cried over the loss of supposedly rare vinyl they never actually bought that had been collecting dust for years, the likely truth is that the indie labels who were never able to shift said records probably got a handsome insurance pay-out worth much more than the vinyl they were never able to sell.
It seems everyone has already forgotten there were major riots in the UK this year. Annoyingly, too many music fans and vinyl-lovers cried over the loss of records in the PIAS warehouse fire, 'cause, you know, vinyl is like heaps more important than poor people overcoming oppression and shit. And whilst they cried over the loss of supposedly rare vinyl they never actually bought that had been collecting dust for years, the likely truth is that the indie labels who were never able to shift said records probably got a handsome insurance pay-out worth much more than the vinyl they were never able to sell.
To me it sounded like a win-win, rioters burnt shit to the ground (it was actually a Sony owned record warehouse, so fuck them),and indie labels saw money they would never have otherwise seen. Yay! But I digress...
IG Culture (whom I missed on his Australian tour) has a great blog/website/radio show and he created this mix; a batch of typically great beats, well selected and programmed, as the accompaniment to a radio documentary from the 1981 Brixton riots. The similarities between the rioters and supporters from Brixton in 1981 and the 2011 riots is strikingly similar. It's brilliant stuff. It's the sort of stuff hiphop was built on. It's a must listen. (I have to thank Edseven for putting me onto this; he also made a great mix this year, check out his Spring Promo mix.
The truth is I haven't listened to as many mixes this year as previous years... well, last year, anyway. Electronic Explorations is a great radio show but occasionally the guests do disappoint. This Perc mix – which I only came across in the last few weeks of 2011 – is my second favourite mix of the year for a few reasons: first, more than any other mix from from the last twelve months, it is a perfect summation of the leanings of my electronic music tastes have taken; it's dark and ambient in the beginning, moves into strange territory – the fourth track, Powell's The Ongoing Significance Of Steel & Flesh from one of my favourite 12"s of the year, sounds like nothing I've ever heard before, like Pan Sonic remixing early The Birthday Party – into spacious dub-techno but a subtle relentlessness... If there can be such a thing.
The point is, it's original, thoughtful, heavy on the bass and totally fucking rocking in a headphone and home listening kind of way.
The point is, it's original, thoughtful, heavy on the bass and totally fucking rocking in a headphone and home listening kind of way.
Once again, one of my favourite mixes of the year comes courtesy of DJ Hank, aka Henry Compton aka Cultural Advocate. Unlike last year's Brendon Moeller Deep Space NYC mix – which is still probably my favourite DJ mix ever (DJ/Rupture's Gold Teeth Thief still second) – this is Black Dog at their best, dark drone, doom, kraut-inspired dirgey goodness, always with a warmth and deep soul despite the seemingly detached sounds. Give it a listen.
They're also active on Google+ (check the Black Dog G+ account here) which I love and would love to see more music producers and music people on there.
They're also active on Google+ (check the Black Dog G+ account here) which I love and would love to see more music producers and music people on there.
Crappest music thing of the year:
Idiots on social networks who still can't help but comment on their completely close-minded, puritanical, bourgeois notion that vinyl is the only real music format and anything else is a lesser format, those who don't buy vinyl aren't as... well, let's just say “awesome and knowledgable” and... fuck it. It's such a stupid idea I feel like mentioning it is just feeding the monster. It's as though they think it gives them some sort of extra cred, like when I was 14-years-old and walked around telling anyone who would listen I had Nirvana's Bleach and I knew them first (which wasn't true and, as I grew up, realised it just didn't matter.)
I wish such people were not allowed to download music or benefit from music digitisation in any way, shape or form, that way they'd never be allowed to hear early blues tracks of which there are only a handfull of surviving vinyl copies (such as the brilliant Last Kind Words by Geeshie Wiley; they'd never be allowed to enjoy much of the amazing music coming from the streets of Africa, Latin America and other less-developed nations to whom digital distribution of music has been an amazing advance (See DJ Lengua's Rebajada Moto Mix, or anything worthwhile on the Super Sonido blog. I want them to stop using smart phones, have to use rotary dial phones from home and are only allowed to have sex for the purpose of procreation ... Actualy, no, I don't want them procreating!
[Actually, I have changed my mind about what is the crappest thing since originally writing this. It's based on a recent explosion in response to Skrillex posting an Aphex Twin track from Selected Ambient Works on his Facebook. Although this happened in 2012, it's an indication of an ever growing trend of people (especially so-called real music lovers) to disrespect anything that doesn't meet their incredibly well developed, learned, knowledgable music tastes. The reality is, the music taste and knowledge might be great but the associated attitude is classist, at the very least.
If you love Aphex Twin, you should be congratulating him for exposing his fans to great music. For all the stupid fans commenting on the lack of a 'drop', there were probably a bunch that liked what they heard, tracked down Aphex Twin releases and began on a trajectory of great music discovery. That's how everyone started. EVERYONE.
And I can't help but post the even more idiotic comments from people commenting on DJ/artist fb pages who posted the Skrillex status for a laugh:
See: everyone thinks they're better than someone. I'd rather not be on this guy's side!
[Actually, I have changed my mind about what is the crappest thing since originally writing this. It's based on a recent explosion in response to Skrillex posting an Aphex Twin track from Selected Ambient Works on his Facebook. Although this happened in 2012, it's an indication of an ever growing trend of people (especially so-called real music lovers) to disrespect anything that doesn't meet their incredibly well developed, learned, knowledgable music tastes. The reality is, the music taste and knowledge might be great but the associated attitude is classist, at the very least.
If you love Aphex Twin, you should be congratulating him for exposing his fans to great music. For all the stupid fans commenting on the lack of a 'drop', there were probably a bunch that liked what they heard, tracked down Aphex Twin releases and began on a trajectory of great music discovery. That's how everyone started. EVERYONE.
And I can't help but post the even more idiotic comments from people commenting on DJ/artist fb pages who posted the Skrillex status for a laugh:
See: everyone thinks they're better than someone. I'd rather not be on this guy's side!
Thanks, it's been fun. I will be posting more regularly in 2012.