Clark Nova's Best Music 2012
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This year’s meaningless annual best of list was a real struggle. It’s much harder to come up with such a list when it’s been a good year and I reckon it’s been a good year for music.
There’s been more good hip hop released this year than the past few years combined. And there’s been plenty of other great things going on. It all gives weight to the theory that when times are bad, music is good.
Such is the volume of quality everything this year, I’m having trouble remembering it all - I’m sure there will be some major omissions.
Track of the Year
Trimbal - Confidence Boost (Harmonimix)
I never thought I’d be raving about a James Blake track again. I was reasonably obsessed with his debut album however it already sounds dated; all the charm is somehow permanently stained like a favourite shirt that can never be worn proudly again. Anyway, enough with the wankery. Noz of Cocaine Blunts summed it up with his tweet “uh american tumblr rap dudes in expensive clothes this is how you make an experimental art beat”.
Honourable mentions:
Game Feat. Kendrick Lamar, Scarface - Murder
I still haven’t listened to a Kendrick Lamar album and have made an unreservedly unresearched judgement via two YouTube videos that I don’t get what all the hype surrounding Kendrick Lamar is about. What is about? No, don’t tell me, I’ll discover it for myself if I can ever be bothered. Are people looking for a disappointment to ease them into what they expect will be the catastrophically disappointing Jay Electronica LP? Are Jay Electronica’s dogs, as featured on Instagram, the real heads of the illuminati? Has the realisation of how great Geto Boys were only just reached tipping point?
Having said that, one artist I never thought I’d be loving is Game (apparently he dropped the ‘The’). Perhaps he wanted to be called earlier in weird commercial rapper rollcall.
The production on this track is great, well, it’s a great sample of ‘Slow Hot Wind’ from an album and artist I had never heard before, Penny Goodwin - Portrait of a Gemini. Great stuff and all the verses are solid... And - as I have said here before: Scarface!
Just as happy-making is the fact it didn’t make the cut for the record due to copyright issues so you can download it gratis.
[fuck it, I just listened to Kendrick Lamar's Section 80, so overhyped.]
Jeremih (feat. Natasha Mosley) - Fuck U All The Time
This is one of those tracks where it’s just something I love for no reason I’m able to articulate, or even consider. There’s a few good tracks of the Jermeih mixtape, Late Nights With Jeremih.
Album of the Year
Action Bronson - Blue Chips
I can’t excuse the offensive lyrical content of this album but I can’t remember the last time I listened to an album so much (Maybe TV On The Radio’s Desperate Youth...)
Many would say Action Bronson sounds like Ghostface, maybe he does but he can spit rhymes as good as the best rappers of all time and they’re all one take raps.
Party Supplies - whom I had never heard of before - produces all the beats and they’re almost all great. Solid, sample-based, straight-up hiphop rhythms. Except of course the opener ‘Pouches of Tuna’ with Roc Marciano which is one of my favourite rap album opening tracks of all time. Bronson has since been signed to some Vice magazine associated label but you can get Blue Chips direct from the artist.
El-P - Cancer 4 Cure
I’ve already written about Cancer 4 Cure so I won’t say much more except to say it’s reare to have such high expectations met.
The Alchemist - Russian Roulette
All the music comes from Russian records - I’m not sure what that actually means beyond the physical nature as, for the most part, there is nothing particularly Russian about the music. The predominant feel is ‘70s prog-rock and it’s used to great effect with a swag of the better rappers around including Action Bronson, Roc Marciano, Danny Brown, Guilty Simpson etc.
Gentleforce - Looking Through New Window
This would be my second most listened release of the year. When I was unsure what to listen to this is what I would put on. As the sound is of an ethereal nature (for want of a better term since it’s also very grounded) it’s hard to articulate it well; perhaps what makes it so good. You can find Looking Through New Window in digital or also as on cassette through Exotic Pylon Records.
Heems - Nehru Jackets
If you had the preconception that Das Racist were a little too clever and hipster for you, this mixtape should have changed that view. Nehru Jackets cut through the overly-smart/smartass nature Das Racist often presented even though it’s still funny and still smart. I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of all the beats but they’re mostly good and there are a few gems. But Heems is the star. ‘NYC Cops’ is the best anti-cop track since ‘Fuck The Police’ and tracks like ‘Womyn’ get the humour just right. Beyond that Heems laid-back humorous style skilfully articulates some deep political and social insight. The downside of all this intelligence in rap music stuff is that it’s kinda racist, of course I’m not saying Das Racist are, but the people who early on came out and said they’re intellectual hip hop because they quote philosophers, as though philosophers weren’t quoted by African American rappers from the beginning. And you get douchebag wannabe academics who comment on Heems’ review of Life of Pi with “Agreed, i am surprised you didn't tie in Edward Said's, Orientalism.” Well done, you read the Das Racist wikipedia entry. But seriously, has anyone else sampled Arundhati Roy?
Best DJ Mixes of 2012
DJ/Rupture
As always, Mudd Up is the best radio show out there and WFMU is arguably the best radio station in the world.
If you’re looking for a great musical end to the year you can’t go past DJ/Rupture’s entire DJ mix releases now available to download for free courtesy of the man himself. There are so many gems in there and a few I’m yet to listen to and, of course, one of the greatest DJ mixes ever made Gold Teeth Thief. You can find mixes at Rupture's blog.
(Image stolen from negrophonic.com)
Johnny Trunk Contruct Mix
If you’re looking for something slightly more exotic yet easy-listening at the same time you can’t go past Trunk Records head honcho and obscure record collector Johnny Trunk’s mix for Construct. Put it on.
LV - Africa In Your Earbuds Mix
Looking for a soundtrack to dance and clean at the same time? Here it is.
Gig of the Year
This was one of those ones I couldn't remember at all... Then it dawned on me: Lee Ranaldo at the Oxford Arts Factory.
I'm not a fan of his new album, a big part of that is owed to my dislike for the way it sounds and was engineered (Yes, I am a wanker.)
However, Lee Ranaldo and his band were amazing. One of the best rock gigs I've seen in the past 5 years, at least.
The previous nigh at 2SER's In Conversation Ranaldo was the definition of humble. He was more than happy to talk about his and Sonic Youth's history, and a large whack of insight into the early '80s NY scene including a nod to the oft overlooked Rhys Chatham.
I've alway loved Sonic Youth's noisier, less-coherent moments; my favourite tracks of a number of the later albums were always Ranaldo's tracks... But I never expected how great the gig would be. It never occurred to me that, essentially, despite their punk ethos, Sonic Youth never had a rhythm section as such; there were always just drums and discordant bass strummings or bashing. The Lee Ranaldo show displayed just how amazing Sonic Youth may have been if they'd utilised a traditional rhythm section. It was SY with grunt, guts and a bit of soul.
And, in my opinion, the main reason it was a great gig id because Rnaldo appears to genuinely love what he's doing. What a great guy.
Unclassifiable non-western music best bits
Francis Bebey - African Electronic Music 1975 - 1982
Beautiful lo-fi electronic African-infused pop explorations from Francis Bebey. If you’re familiar with his acoustic and more traditional-influenced recordings, there’s no way you won’t be totally sucked in by added completely unpretentious eccentricity his use of keyboards and other electronics creates.
It’s also been beautifully reissued by Born Bad on double LP, using the cover artwork from Bebey’s La Condition Masculine from which a number of tracks are taken.
If you’re looking for other Francis Bebey to check out, I recommend Dibiye.
.
Musique Arabe: Classical Arabic Music, 1940s-1950s
If you have any interest in Arabic music this collection is brilliant. Unfortunately the blog hosting it has been removed but you may find these tracks somewhere around here.
Rob Thomsett - Yaraandoo
OK, so I got this last year but I never mentioned it so it’s worth a mention here. Australian record label The Roundtable have been reissuing some great records. I purchased Yaraandoo secondary to their reissue of Yma Sumac’s Miracles. Turns out this Rob Thomsett release was the winner of the two, not that the Yma Sumac record isn’t great.
The Roundtable tell the truth while tooting their own horn: “Yaraandoo is without a doubt the most desired and speculated Australian progressive recording in existence. With only 100 handmade LP copies originally pressed, copies of this phenomenal LP rarely surface.
Yaraandoo is a true lost timepiece from the Australian underground.”
Essential.
While you’re at it, check out their other releases.
Best Worst attempt by a TV show at addressing accusations of racism by introducing ethnic characters and being even more racist
Neighbours.
People often ask me, "why do you watch Neighbours?" I tell them Shakespeare was really just a soapy writer; somehow that's meant to make his stuff good? I don't really tell them that because people who say that about Shakespeare are 3 years old.
In the past, the only non-white characters to grace Ramsay Street and surrounding suburbs were either criminals or nameless, faceless staff at the coffee shop.
Fremantle Media, it would seem, attempted to address its white supremacy feel by introducing an Indian family to Ramsay St... Although they didn't live there and on occasions such when the white neighbours discussed elements of their ethnicity - such as Diwali - it was explained with the wonderfuly respectful, "It's just some Hindu thing."
Yeah, would love to see how explaining a Christian event in the same terms would go down.
Neighbours, still racist after all these years.
That's it. Have a great 2013. I hope your cock falls off.
There’s been more good hip hop released this year than the past few years combined. And there’s been plenty of other great things going on. It all gives weight to the theory that when times are bad, music is good.
Such is the volume of quality everything this year, I’m having trouble remembering it all - I’m sure there will be some major omissions.
Track of the Year
Trimbal - Confidence Boost (Harmonimix)
I never thought I’d be raving about a James Blake track again. I was reasonably obsessed with his debut album however it already sounds dated; all the charm is somehow permanently stained like a favourite shirt that can never be worn proudly again. Anyway, enough with the wankery. Noz of Cocaine Blunts summed it up with his tweet “uh american tumblr rap dudes in expensive clothes this is how you make an experimental art beat”.
Honourable mentions:
Game Feat. Kendrick Lamar, Scarface - Murder
I still haven’t listened to a Kendrick Lamar album and have made an unreservedly unresearched judgement via two YouTube videos that I don’t get what all the hype surrounding Kendrick Lamar is about. What is about? No, don’t tell me, I’ll discover it for myself if I can ever be bothered. Are people looking for a disappointment to ease them into what they expect will be the catastrophically disappointing Jay Electronica LP? Are Jay Electronica’s dogs, as featured on Instagram, the real heads of the illuminati? Has the realisation of how great Geto Boys were only just reached tipping point?
Having said that, one artist I never thought I’d be loving is Game (apparently he dropped the ‘The’). Perhaps he wanted to be called earlier in weird commercial rapper rollcall.
The production on this track is great, well, it’s a great sample of ‘Slow Hot Wind’ from an album and artist I had never heard before, Penny Goodwin - Portrait of a Gemini. Great stuff and all the verses are solid... And - as I have said here before: Scarface!
Just as happy-making is the fact it didn’t make the cut for the record due to copyright issues so you can download it gratis.
[fuck it, I just listened to Kendrick Lamar's Section 80, so overhyped.]
Jeremih (feat. Natasha Mosley) - Fuck U All The Time
This is one of those tracks where it’s just something I love for no reason I’m able to articulate, or even consider. There’s a few good tracks of the Jermeih mixtape, Late Nights With Jeremih.
Album of the Year
Action Bronson - Blue Chips
I can’t excuse the offensive lyrical content of this album but I can’t remember the last time I listened to an album so much (Maybe TV On The Radio’s Desperate Youth...)
Many would say Action Bronson sounds like Ghostface, maybe he does but he can spit rhymes as good as the best rappers of all time and they’re all one take raps.
Party Supplies - whom I had never heard of before - produces all the beats and they’re almost all great. Solid, sample-based, straight-up hiphop rhythms. Except of course the opener ‘Pouches of Tuna’ with Roc Marciano which is one of my favourite rap album opening tracks of all time. Bronson has since been signed to some Vice magazine associated label but you can get Blue Chips direct from the artist.
El-P - Cancer 4 Cure
I’ve already written about Cancer 4 Cure so I won’t say much more except to say it’s reare to have such high expectations met.
The Alchemist - Russian Roulette
All the music comes from Russian records - I’m not sure what that actually means beyond the physical nature as, for the most part, there is nothing particularly Russian about the music. The predominant feel is ‘70s prog-rock and it’s used to great effect with a swag of the better rappers around including Action Bronson, Roc Marciano, Danny Brown, Guilty Simpson etc.
Gentleforce - Looking Through New Window
This would be my second most listened release of the year. When I was unsure what to listen to this is what I would put on. As the sound is of an ethereal nature (for want of a better term since it’s also very grounded) it’s hard to articulate it well; perhaps what makes it so good. You can find Looking Through New Window in digital or also as on cassette through Exotic Pylon Records.
Heems - Nehru Jackets
If you had the preconception that Das Racist were a little too clever and hipster for you, this mixtape should have changed that view. Nehru Jackets cut through the overly-smart/smartass nature Das Racist often presented even though it’s still funny and still smart. I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of all the beats but they’re mostly good and there are a few gems. But Heems is the star. ‘NYC Cops’ is the best anti-cop track since ‘Fuck The Police’ and tracks like ‘Womyn’ get the humour just right. Beyond that Heems laid-back humorous style skilfully articulates some deep political and social insight. The downside of all this intelligence in rap music stuff is that it’s kinda racist, of course I’m not saying Das Racist are, but the people who early on came out and said they’re intellectual hip hop because they quote philosophers, as though philosophers weren’t quoted by African American rappers from the beginning. And you get douchebag wannabe academics who comment on Heems’ review of Life of Pi with “Agreed, i am surprised you didn't tie in Edward Said's, Orientalism.” Well done, you read the Das Racist wikipedia entry. But seriously, has anyone else sampled Arundhati Roy?
Best DJ Mixes of 2012
DJ/Rupture
As always, Mudd Up is the best radio show out there and WFMU is arguably the best radio station in the world.
If you’re looking for a great musical end to the year you can’t go past DJ/Rupture’s entire DJ mix releases now available to download for free courtesy of the man himself. There are so many gems in there and a few I’m yet to listen to and, of course, one of the greatest DJ mixes ever made Gold Teeth Thief. You can find mixes at Rupture's blog.
(Image stolen from negrophonic.com)
Johnny Trunk Contruct Mix
If you’re looking for something slightly more exotic yet easy-listening at the same time you can’t go past Trunk Records head honcho and obscure record collector Johnny Trunk’s mix for Construct. Put it on.
LV - Africa In Your Earbuds Mix
Looking for a soundtrack to dance and clean at the same time? Here it is.
Gig of the Year
This was one of those ones I couldn't remember at all... Then it dawned on me: Lee Ranaldo at the Oxford Arts Factory.
I'm not a fan of his new album, a big part of that is owed to my dislike for the way it sounds and was engineered (Yes, I am a wanker.)
However, Lee Ranaldo and his band were amazing. One of the best rock gigs I've seen in the past 5 years, at least.
The previous nigh at 2SER's In Conversation Ranaldo was the definition of humble. He was more than happy to talk about his and Sonic Youth's history, and a large whack of insight into the early '80s NY scene including a nod to the oft overlooked Rhys Chatham.
I've alway loved Sonic Youth's noisier, less-coherent moments; my favourite tracks of a number of the later albums were always Ranaldo's tracks... But I never expected how great the gig would be. It never occurred to me that, essentially, despite their punk ethos, Sonic Youth never had a rhythm section as such; there were always just drums and discordant bass strummings or bashing. The Lee Ranaldo show displayed just how amazing Sonic Youth may have been if they'd utilised a traditional rhythm section. It was SY with grunt, guts and a bit of soul.
And, in my opinion, the main reason it was a great gig id because Rnaldo appears to genuinely love what he's doing. What a great guy.
Unclassifiable non-western music best bits
Francis Bebey - African Electronic Music 1975 - 1982
Beautiful lo-fi electronic African-infused pop explorations from Francis Bebey. If you’re familiar with his acoustic and more traditional-influenced recordings, there’s no way you won’t be totally sucked in by added completely unpretentious eccentricity his use of keyboards and other electronics creates.
It’s also been beautifully reissued by Born Bad on double LP, using the cover artwork from Bebey’s La Condition Masculine from which a number of tracks are taken.
If you’re looking for other Francis Bebey to check out, I recommend Dibiye.
.
Musique Arabe: Classical Arabic Music, 1940s-1950s
If you have any interest in Arabic music this collection is brilliant. Unfortunately the blog hosting it has been removed but you may find these tracks somewhere around here.
Rob Thomsett - Yaraandoo
OK, so I got this last year but I never mentioned it so it’s worth a mention here. Australian record label The Roundtable have been reissuing some great records. I purchased Yaraandoo secondary to their reissue of Yma Sumac’s Miracles. Turns out this Rob Thomsett release was the winner of the two, not that the Yma Sumac record isn’t great.
The Roundtable tell the truth while tooting their own horn: “Yaraandoo is without a doubt the most desired and speculated Australian progressive recording in existence. With only 100 handmade LP copies originally pressed, copies of this phenomenal LP rarely surface.
Yaraandoo is a true lost timepiece from the Australian underground.”
Essential.
While you’re at it, check out their other releases.
Best Worst attempt by a TV show at addressing accusations of racism by introducing ethnic characters and being even more racist
Neighbours.
People often ask me, "why do you watch Neighbours?" I tell them Shakespeare was really just a soapy writer; somehow that's meant to make his stuff good? I don't really tell them that because people who say that about Shakespeare are 3 years old.
In the past, the only non-white characters to grace Ramsay Street and surrounding suburbs were either criminals or nameless, faceless staff at the coffee shop.
Fremantle Media, it would seem, attempted to address its white supremacy feel by introducing an Indian family to Ramsay St... Although they didn't live there and on occasions such when the white neighbours discussed elements of their ethnicity - such as Diwali - it was explained with the wonderfuly respectful, "It's just some Hindu thing."
Yeah, would love to see how explaining a Christian event in the same terms would go down.
Neighbours, still racist after all these years.
That's it. Have a great 2013. I hope your cock falls off.