Dissensus Best of 2011 Discussion

grizzleb

Well-known member
Forgot to say - Hype Williams and Peaking Lights both were doing big tings for me this year. Quality.
 

yyaldrin

in je ogen waait de wind
hiphop and r&b for a start. have really enjoyed stuff like main attrakionz and green ova underground, the slowness of the first and the pitched up vocals of the latter. i love pitched up vocals. have enjoyed rough beats such as the instrumentals for vado - handsdown (araab muzik) and bugatti boys - another one (lex luger, i believe?). have been playing a lot of the weeknd, frank ocean and the-dream as well this year. guess there's no point in mentioning zomby, rustie and kuedo so i'll put in sully - carrier. i especially like his take on footwork, it sounds so fucking sad but on a weird robotic kind of way. reminds me a bit of dj elmoe - whea yo ghost at, whea yo dead man. i liked the new oneohtrix point never album as well with child soldier being my favourite track. i don't know about anti-g, i think i didn't like the album as a whole but there's one track i am crazy about, it might just be my favourite track of the year: bubbling cause trouble. i liked tim hecker - ravedeath 1972, can't go wrong with tim hecker. and last but not least i'd like to mention king krule - king krule ep, the guy just has a phenomenal voice.

edit: i just realised most of the music i mention features in this radio show i made some days ago, so if anyone is interested check it out here
 
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simon silverdollar

Guest
this year i loved Julia Holter's 'Tragedy' - a gorgeous, complex, and heartbreaking take on Euripedes 'Hippolytus'.

really liked Big Strick's album, which didn't get the press or praised it deserved, really. Lovingly crafted detroit house and techno with a raw, urgent but virtuoso feel to it.

Floorplan's 'Sanctified' EP was incredible - firstly for the distilled gospel euphoria of 'we magnify his name', and secondly for the force-of-nature techno of 'baby baby' (saw Green Velvet DJ this, with him stood stock still against a single green strobe for the whole duration. probably my favourite 5 minutes of 2011.

Funkystepz's 'Face Off' EP has so much fuck off energy and swagger to it, especially 'Caution'. i still think that this is the future of dance music (whatever Amanda Brown / 100% Silk might think of their closed-off little world...;))

i spent many hours listening to the basslines of Peaking Lights.

John Maus' 'Cop Killer' is one of the tunes of my 2011 - he cares, thinks, and worries deeply about pop music (as we all should), and i think this gives his tracks an almost religious intensity.

a few tunes kept popping up on the pirate house stations that really stood out - the blurry deep house of FCL 'Let's Go', and Kerri Chandler's 'We are here'. which is a worthy addition to the great canon of US tracks about phoning people (Cf. Lil Louis 'I called U', and Green Velvet 'Answering Machine').

and finally, Elijah and Skilliam's Rinse mix CD was the most fun hour or so of music i heard this year.
 
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Leo

Well-known member
don't have time for long explanations but here's stuff i dug this year:

Albums
Art Department -- The Drawing Room (weird, part robert owens/chicago house and part goth vibes)
Cut Hands -- Afro Noise 1 (awesome tapes not from africa)
James Ferraro -- Far Side Virtual (like public broadcasting program intros as done by raymond scott, more retro-futuristic than kuedo!)
Sandro Perri -- Impossible Spaces (like a dreamy post-rock van dyke parks, or something)
Wbeeza -- Void (house music that's slightly off, which is how i like)

Tracks:
Bass Clef -- “I Think You Are Ready Now for the Eternal Point of No Return” (cool breakbeat madness from the "inner space break free" cassette)
Charmz -- “Wavey” (know nothing about this track, think i grabbed it from the dissenus dropbox, awesome when played LOUD)
Coki -- “Boomba” (just fucking crazy shit, gunshots and twangy spaghetti-western guitars, no one else has the balls to release something like this...on Tempa, no less!)
Darq E. Freaker -- “Cherryade” (wonky-not-wonky grime, fun shit)
Deadboy -- “Here” (a rare three-track 12" where all cuts are worth having)
Instra:mental -- When I Dip (modern rolling electro)
New York Transit Authority “Off the Traxx”/Conqueror “Highest Order” split 12” (both sides good, "highest order" is the balls...are those "voodoo ray" samples?)
 
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slowtrain

Well-known member
These are my favourite albums of the year:

Grouper - AIA : yes definitely second this, my favourite album of the year, beautiful messy slowed down fuzzy grumbly and gorgeous album that sounds like it is being broadcast straight out of some shack up a mountain.

Cyclobe - Wounded Galaxies... : excellent and creepy and wonderful and strange - still freaks me out regular like

Batrider - Piles of Lies : brilliant punk/noise/blues from NZ/Australian band - the best lyrics for being a young 20-something and having a crappy time ever. Here is a link: http://store.batrider.com/album/piles-of-lies

Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me : very good, some crappy songs, but overall a triple album with only three bad songs is a very good thing. Her voice is better than on her others, and lyrics very sweet.

Burzum - Fallen : Not much to say, just excellent riffs. 'nuff said.

HTRK - Work (work, work) : dead sexy and boring album, brilliant evocation of not being able to get sex and drugs
 

Elijah

Butterz
Random non Butterz music I enjoyed as a DJ and customer.

Champion & Ruby - Sensitivity
Champion - Lose Control
Silkie - City Limits 2
JME / Preditah / Royal-T & DJ Q - Tropical 2
Most of P Money & Blacks joint mixtape // Blackberry, Crusader and Mike Lowery from P Moneys free mixtape.
Hudson Mohawke - cBat
S-X - Bricks 2
D Double E - Flava
Katy B album
Joker - The Magic Causeway
L wiz release on Kapsize
SBTRKTs good. Needs to get some good MCs on his shit though. Bit tasteful at times. But he got style and pattern.

Didn't buy as much music as I did in 2010, or 2009. That goes for vinyl and digital. And the habit of not buying records means you dont look to buy records either. Vicious cycle, coming from a label owner. I feel like if I enjoyed more personally then it would probably motivate me even more to get out more records. Not sure.

I tried to get into a few popular things just hasnt happened for me yet. The Weeknd, Drake, Jay-z & Kayne, Odd Future, Rick Ross not really my cup of tea. Im going to need to find something to fill that void soon, or I am going to be stuck.

Oneman, Ben UFO, Jackmaster making people check for 'pure' DJs has been a good thing this year. Hopefully a few more guys break through next year. Loads of good selectors about.

Ive definitely listened to a lot less radio over the last 6 or 7 months too. Over the last 20 years this has been the main way I have enjoyed music too. Most of the time I lock in to different stations I don't hear anything new. If it is new, its something already out there in the world. Like I dont remember hearing Bax much before it came out, now I hear it all the time. Is that to do with the way people service their music? Not sure. Generally across the pirates its lame house, classic reggae/dancehall and then assorted London club classics from the last 15 years. Hearing this DJ getting emotional on the radio about Kele Le Roc - My Love the other day made me sad that there isn't anything modern for him to do that. He didnt sound old either. Strange.

Really enjoyed Uncle Dugs nostalgia show on Rinse though. On my travels I check out Rinse podcasts from The Heatwave, Marcus Nasty, Brackles and a few others.

I don't really download podcasts from producers much anymore without fresh tunes. When I see them putting together 45 mins of any music they feel like from the past 20 years im like cool, why would that make me want to listen? What happened to upfront tunes? Testing riddims, bootlegs, remixes, anything. If you downloaded a Royal-T podcast and he played DJ Assault, Prince and Wookie in the space of 45 mins wouldn't that piss you off? Theres def a time and a place for all that, but it doesnt motivate me to listen to someones productions or go and see them DJ.

Prob leads me onto my next point

I haven't actually raved that much either. Didnt go to any festivals either so didnt really have an opportunity to be exposed to anything I didnt intend to see. Bit lame on my part. Aside from DJing, staying in with my kitten and listening to 90s music was pretty much my whole summer.

What has pissed me off about Grime / Rap / MC music in the UK this year is chorus music. The boring inspirational rap formula like Tinie Tempah - Written in the stars. Wretch 32, Skepta, Lethal B and countless others all guilty of getting these cheesey hooks to try and get radio play. Irony of all this is the only Grime song to chart this year has been Pow 2011.

I haven't got into UK Rap yet, may never do. Seems like it has all been said before, in New York, 15 years ago. I still keep an ear out, now that Charlie Sloth has a show on Radio1 starting next year hopefully that helps make it easier for me to digest. Like Grime there is definitely a lot of MC talent, but not enough great original music is made for me.

In terms of what I am doing I hope the breakthrough producers in Grime this year Preditah and Faze Miyake go onto put out strong projects in 2012. Not just EPs, but vocal projects, singles, everything.

I haven't been receiving a lot of of original Grime music that I liked in my email for a few months, but this goes up and down like a yoyo. The trend atm for young producers is to make genreless music so it usually doesnt work in my favour, but it is kind of cool because most of the people that consistently send me tunes, ask for feedback are really just strong Grime fans looking for a foot in. Rather than someone that will do anything to get played by anyone.

This turned out to be really long.

Probably should start blogging again
 

UFO over easy

online mahjong
Like I dont remember hearing Bax much before it came out, now I hear it all the time. Is that to do with the way people service their music? Not sure. Generally across the pirates its lame house, classic reggae/dancehall and then assorted London club classics from the last 15 years.

people are definitely more wary of overexposure than they were i think. hardly anyone had bax for a significant amount of time pre-release - the tune became hyped through mosca himself playing it once when he guested marcus nasty's show and a clip of that ending up on youtube
 

Elijah

Butterz
people are definitely more wary of overexposure than they were i think. hardly anyone had bax for a significant amount of time pre-release - the tune became hyped through mosca himself playing it once when he guested marcus nasty's show and a clip of that ending up on youtube

Yea for me, growing up with the pirate mentality its normal to hear a track for 6months before a release, kids these days want the download link as soon as they hear it.

Its a different way of building an anthem I guess, but why would people get excited about going out hoping that the DJ plays a certain track they have been hearing if they can just buy it / mix it themselves. That kind of magic is lost.

Links back to why I dont listen to too much radio. It works well for some guys but if everyone does it, it makes music to strategy based for me. Not based on what people are feeling out there. Records like Boo You and I Am on our label wouldn't have happened without that interaction with the listeners from instrumental stage through to vocal then onto release.
 

Slothrop

Tight but Polite
Top of my head:
Demdike Stare - Tryptych. Okay, it's basically a collection of stuff from 2010, but it's great. Really interesting aesthetic, very natural but very unsettling.
Zomby - Dedication. Screw the haters, it was great.
Pinch and Shackleton - Torn and Submerged. Not much to add to what's already been said, here. There was a lot of anticipation for this one from these parts, and it delivered.
Grief Athletes - Thirst Tape. Local noise weirdies. It's noisey. And weirdy. And ace.
Sunburned Hand of the Man - I don't think they released their version this year, but I saw it live this year and was knocked out by it. The sort of deep weirdness that creates a logical but totally alien world.
Various stuff at Wysing Arts Centre's Past Present Future Space Time festival, loads of psychedelic noise in a wooden hut in a field, would buy again. Neil Campbell / Astral Social Club was a particular highlight, as was seeing Demdike Stare in a mostly empty field at midnight(ish).
 

Webstarr

Well-known member
the thing that stands out for me this year is the lack of anthems, i'm struggling to think of a tune that has been battered by djs from different scenes like say a "next hype" or a "night"
 

luka

Well-known member
my guess is that anyone interested has already seen it but i put a list of my favourite music from 2011 in the hiphop in 2011 thread.
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
Um. Have abjectly hated a lot of music this year. I really, really hated alot of it. It's like 1986 all over again.

This is a short list.

Hiphop : Huzzah by Danny Brown, not the remix, and don't like the album. Straight shots of vodka, straight shots of vodka, shoot a Danny Brown in him head like a rasta.

Indie : Your Young Voice by King Creosote, though the whole album is pukka

Grime : Rage : After the Dance feat Tempz. Genius tune. Really genius. Didn't like the mixtape.

Pop : All of the Lights, easily the best tune released this year and I'm not saying that just cos it sounds like a Patricide tune. It rendered half our set unplayable cos he used our preset horn sound. THANKS KANYE!!

Broken Record, I decided Katy B was great, and probably anything by Rhianna. I just assume if I like a record on the radio that it's by Rhianna now.

Best video is easily Odd Future, both Yonkers and Frank Ocean

Best RnB tie to The Weekend and Frank Ocean

Trendy noise goes to Cut Hands, there's been lots of good not trendy noise but I've been too out of my face to remember who it's been by.

There's been some fucking great S/A house, as usual, too many to mention. I guess Professor has been my favourite but there's been loads.

Oh and I liked that Gucci Gucci tune, it was great. Sue me.

and again thanks to you lot for putting up music for me to try out, even if i hated it.

Best musical moment was listening to a mix by Arthur on Durban radio, watching the torrential rain.
 
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Sectionfive

bandwagon house
yeah Eglo had a good year. ARP and FP especially. Pity Hotep wasn't as strong, Letherette was decent but the Dirg Gerner stuff isn't really my thing. Alex Nut still my best show week in week out all the same.

Haven't really bought much new stuff this year. Picked up 1210s finally so have been on the archaeological flex since. Still haven't listened to the Kuedo or Pinch & Shackleton LPs. Can't afford either but willing to wait.

Keysound and the Horsepower lost tapes. Peverelist on the hessle comp. Preditah, Moony, Brandy and Coke!, Tr One, Rashard LP that B. Bravo beat for lecs luther's 'trumpets', Sertone, TRG - Seperat, 8Bitch - hathor, The Midnight EEz thing on All City, Smoove Kriminal, Caveman Style, TWoc - Jetstar EP, slackk's Dragon EP, DJ Earl Sully - Toffy apple 10', woebot lp, Maddslinky LP, Phillip D kick Circles mix, Samiyam LP. Dice pool thing on Vlek, Ernestus on Honest Jons, Eastwood & LR, Morgan Zarate on Hyperdub and all the LHF



DJs killed it this year too.

That Spooky and Spyro show and Spooky everywhere else, massive year
Hessle, JOrb, Floating points show on rinse
Peverelist futureproofing
Brackles 14th april
Murdz smoochie etc
Heatwave
Madfingers
DJ Clock - local mix
EmaLou
BEN UFO SRSLY.
Devine 15feb
Josey Rebelle
Tape crackers
Run come follow Friday
United vibes

and Flylo's lover's melt 2 was the one


This was find of the year. Don't think I will ever get sick of watching or listening to it
 
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Joey Joe-Joe Jr. Shabadoo

Well-known member
Um. Have abjectly hated a lot of music this year. I really, really hated alot of it. It's like 1986 all over again.

This is a short list.

Hiphop : Huzzah by Danny Brown, not the remix, and don't like the album. Straight shots of vodka, straight shots of vodka, shoot a Danny Brown in him head like a rasta.

that's mr mothafukin exquire innit
 

Blackdown

nexKeysound
I don't really download podcasts from producers much anymore without fresh tunes. When I see them putting together 45 mins of any music they feel like from the past 20 years im like cool, why would that make me want to listen? What happened to upfront tunes? Testing riddims, bootlegs, remixes, anything. If you downloaded a Royal-T podcast and he played DJ Assault, Prince and Wookie in the space of 45 mins wouldn't that piss you off? Theres def a time and a place for all that, but it doesnt motivate me to listen to someones productions or go and see them DJ.

this. it's a very subjective viewpoint but one i felt strongly this year in the spheres i operate in, like there was a switch from DJs, committed to upfront dubplate culture, pushing this ever expanding wave of what was possible by blowing your head off with music you didn't know you wanted yet to trying to hype everyone with known or dug up old classics. to me that just is too easy or it assumes the audience hasn't heard these old records (treating the records like dubplates), which might work for big audiences but just frustrates me. give me something i cant do/have, not what my record collection already is full of: again, very personal view here.
 

Tentative Andy

I'm in the Meal Deal
Here's some stuff I've been into this year, I've divided up by length/format/the way I listen to it. All the lists are in vaguely descending order:


Singles and individual stand-out tracks:
Champion ft Ruby Lee Ryder – Sensitivity
Peverelist – Dance Til The Police Come
Purpl Pop – The Way (Graham Bond dub mix)
TRC ft Trim – I Am
Shox – Strung Out
Tyler The Creator – Yonkers (Lil Silva remix)
Fuzzy Logic ft Jada Pearl – All My Love
Pierre’s Fantasy Girl – Set Me Free (kind of a reissue but whatever)
Darq E Freaker – Cherryade
Graham Bond – Warehouse Bird
Bok Bok – Silo Pass
Joy O and Boddika – Swims (Not out yet though, right?)
Funkystepz – Shocker
T Williams – Heartbeat (Paul Woolford remix)
Funkineven – Roland’s Jam
Boddika – Warehouse
Greenmoney ft Roses Gabor – Into You
Rossi B and Luca – Turbo Island
J Bevin – Zulu
Sunday Roast – Reel Free
Instra:mental – When I Dip
LR Groove – Bushman
L-vis 1990 – Lost In Love (Night Slugs Allstars mix)
Addison Groove – Work It/Sexual
Swifta Beater – Fire
Carnao Beats ft Jae Elle – Sex Is Deeper
Mista Men - Pantha
T Williams – In The Deep (Zander Hardy remix)
DJ Sdunkero/Auntie Flo – Choosing Love/Oh My Days
Cooly G ft Karizma – It’s Serious
Terror Danjah ft Ruby Lee Rider – Full Attention
Ossie – Creepy Crawlies
Dj Whitecoat ft Jae Elle – How Does It Feel
Mosca – Bax/Done Me Wrong
MMM – Dex/Rio
Damu – Beat Of Zen
Hudson Mohawke – Thunder Bay
Fuzzy Logic ft Myshy – Playground VIP
Alpha 27 – Cannon Fodder
Redinho - Power Look
Scratcha DVA – Flute Tune
A1 Bassline - Shockheaded
Katy B - Easy Please Me
Sicko Cell (would have been higher if not hyped/held back for so long)
Mellow Bee – Tick Tock
OB – Emergency Room (Fingaprint remix)
Blawan – Getting Me Down


EPs:
(these have become quite a big part of my listening, esp for Funky stuff)
Major Notes – Ashanti Jewels EP
We R Bass EP
Funkystepz – Trouble EP
Matt IQ – Brick Lane EP
Ossie – Set The Tone EP
Ghettoteknitianz EP
Naughty Raver – Cheeky Barse EP
Blawan – Bohla EP
Illmana – Menace EP
Deadboy – Here EP
Slackk – She’s A Vector EP
Smoove Kriminal – Hard Funk EP
Ill Blu – Meltdown EP
D.O.K – West Coast EP
Champion - Motherboard EP
Jam City – Waterworx EP
NKC – The Pyramids EP
Mr Tickle – Citrus EP
Razzlerman – Enter The Jungle EP
Lory D- Strange Days Vol1 EP

Albums, compilations, mixtapes and extended mixes :
Kuedo – Severant
Danny Brown – XXX
Shackleton – Fabric 55 (was this end of last year though?)
Boy Better Know – Tropical 2
Zomby – Dedication
Rusty – Glass Swords
Ben UFO Rinse CD
Funkysepz mix for Fader
Bangs and Works vol 2
Hessle Audio – 116 BPM and Rising
Patrice And Friends – Cashmere Sheets
LV and Joshua Iden – Routes
The Weeknd – House Of Balloons
Mad One - History Part 1
Africa Hitech – 93 Million Miles
Pearson Sound – Fabriclive 56
Kode 9 and the Spaceape – Black Sun
Beneath mix for Blackdown
(would usually include radio sets in this category too, but let's face it radio hasn't been particularly inspiring this year) *

All of these lists prob have a few potential entries that I've forgotten for now and will sneakily edit in later (though part of me thinks if they were really that good they would have come to mind straight away). I've tried to avoid including the same artists more than once in the same category but made a few exceptions for remixes and collabs where I think of it as a different overall project or 'team' involved.

Overall I feel this has been a been a slightly strange year - as my list shows, in some ways albums felt like quite a big part of dance and dance-ish music this year (compare to last year when I was mainly listening to individual tunes plus radio shows and mixes). Yet at the same time there were only a few of these albums that I'd give really high marks too - a lot of the seemed good but not great, and a lot of them seemed to sort of slip out; they may have come from hotly anticipated artists but once they were out there no-one seemed too bothered, the appreciation and discussion of them was fairly scattered at best

This year both in terms of Funky and in terms of the wider 130 bpm-ish type zone I've felt that while there's certainly been plenty of stuff I've liked, there's been a much larger amount of stuff that I've thought is just 'ok' - stuff that's not inspired any strong feelings from me in either direction and stuff I've not ended up spending much time on.


* Thinking on this for a bit, to be fair the big Marcus Nasty set from back in April would come close to making it, as would the Numbers Detroit special which I can't remember the date for. Brackles, Josey Rebelle, East&Groove (RIP as a show?), Murdz 86, Seb Chew, David M, DJ Q and a few others have all done radio shows that I have enjoyed a lot, but overall there's been far less shows I've grabbed the recordings of and rinsed over and over and far less DJs I've felt compelled to check for week-in week-out. All in all radio has just been less inspiring to me than in recent years (not counting Pirate Revival in this 'cause it's a whole different kettle of fish and generally doesn't focus on new music).
 
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