Albums of the year 2012

[connect_icut]

One of the other things about Splazsh and Hazyville was that I had a different favourite song from it every other day, whilst I've never experienced that with R.I.P

Listen to "Raven". Love it when that flutey keyboard sample comes in. That was the exact moment RIP clicked for me.

One of the other things about Splazsh and Hazyville was that I had a different favourite song from it every other day, whilst I've never experienced that with R.I.P

Me too. I feel like Splazsh occasionally fell back on gratuitous use of sidechaining and other lo-fi techniques, whereas RIP displays increased confidence as a producer. Now, he really knows when to just let things be and when to drop in that flutey keyboard sample.

 

[Local Authority]

Petre Inspirescu - Gradina Onirica

Only heard the samples but so far it could be one of the most beautiful albums released this year. Did anyone see him play at Fabric the other week?

Ron Morelli's RA mix could be one of the best of the year too.

 

[paolo]

I think RA went for Levon Vincent's Fabric CD as their mix of the year and I'd have to agree with that

 

[datwun]

Giant big Year in review wot I gone and done, if anyone's interested!

http://dominjapanround4.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/2012-in-music.html

 

[Pandiculate]

Giant big Year in review wot I gone and done, if anyone's interested!

http://dominjapanround4.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/2012-in-music.html

good read, welcome to Japan!

 

[SecondLine]

good read man, thanks.

I disagree with bits of it though. Particularly that Jackin is superior to the current London stuff because it is not internetty:

The difference between this music history in a blender [approach of Jackin] and the internetty mush I decry in London-centric UK Bass, is that Jackin is the response to a specific Northern tradition, it's not a random assortment of influences gathered from soundcloud and youtube (thought the artists are all very much plugged in, the music disseminated through 2k12 digital channel), but local influences absorbed into the music through a regional IRL scene, and absorbed through the memory of other local scenes. Simply put, jackin is exactly what you'd expect Northern rave music to sound like in 2k12, and it's strong because of its basis in The Real.

This view that anything which occurs online is inherently 'unreal' compared to IRL interaction, and therefore its products are less legitimate, is really widespread & I find it frustrating. The vast majority of 20 & 21C musical activity has been shaped by trans-/super-geographical flows made possible by new technology & new media - flows of immigration, import/export markets for recorded music, radio, TV - or rather the intersection of those flows with locally constrained cultures, usually in cities. In particular, UK dance music culture has been largely built on the way new media can disrupt entrenched hierarchies - thru pirate radio, rave hotlines etc.

The internet is no different from these older tools - or I should say it's only a difference of degree, not of kind. Hearing something you like on YouTube that then influences your music isn't fundamentally different from discovering it in your local record shop, hearing it on a radio set or whatever else. It doesn't suddenly become an illegitimate form of cultural dissemination just because its reach exceeds certain material limits (cost of transit, radio broadcast range or whatever other arbitrary ceiling you choose).

Obviously that's not to say the web's potential to have a fragmentary effect on culture isn't huge. And there is a risk that cultural activity can become atomised, fatally decontextualised, all the things you accuse 'UK Bass' of being. Trap is a good example of how the web's flattening effect can result in ugly cultural misappropriation. Though even there, you could argue that the unthinking scavenge/recycle approach at work isn't so different from the UK's adoption of techno in the early 90s, which plenty of Detroiters saw as nothing less than cultural rape (not to say that trap hybrids 2k12 are remotely as musically important or interesting as hardcore, obv).

There's clearly some compromise to be struck between decentralised web-culture and the localised, material scenes that have generated so much good dance music in the past few decades. But finding that compromise doesn't involve elevating a young, still-developing tradition (call it the 'scenius' tradition) to the status of a sacrosanct cultural norm. If you're forever holding out for locally-grounded, scenius-driven scenes that follow the precise model laid out by Reynolds in the late 90s then you're obviously going to be bitterly disappointed.

Finally, saying of Footwork that

There is quite literally no other movement across the arts - music, literature, visual culture - that is more radical, more important right now.

when it has existed in much the same form as it does now for over a decade is, to me, worrying. I love footwork but you could argue that its radical moment has already passed, and we're all now just uncovering and enjoying the results, working through the implications of it. I haven't heard a UK or broader US interpretation of the form that didn't sound precisely how you would expect a collision of those two cultures to sound. Some of that jungle/footwork hybrid stuff is great but I can't imagine a whole scene of it being any less moribund that house-derived 'UK bass'.

OK. Sorry for the rant. Clearly got too much time on my hands this festive season

 

[Local Authority]

I think RA went for Levon Vincent's Fabric CD as their mix of the year and I'd have to agree with that

Levon Vincent's mix was one of the best mixes this year, but third to Zip's and Ben Klock's for me. It lacks the variation or intensity of either. Hearing Ben Klock's reworking of Josh Wink's Are You There after the Burial edit and that Marcel Dettmann song was easily one of my better musical moments this year. In one that went by fairly slowly.

 

[datwun]

good read, welcome to Japan!

Thanks G! Where abouts in Japan are you based? I'm moving to Tokyo to teach English~

good read man, thanks.

I disagree with bits of it though. Particularly that Jackin is superior to the current London stuff because it is not internetty

There's clearly some compromise to be struck between decentralised web-culture and the localised, material scenes that have generated so much good dance music in the past few decades. But finding that compromise doesn't involve elevating a young, still-developing tradition (call it the 'scenius' tradition) to the status of a sacrosanct cultural norm.

Jackin is that compromise! It's disseminated all digitally, the artists communicate through facebook and soundcloud - not pirate radio - and its interest in OLD pop songs is clearly a part of our current retromaniacal cultural moment.

Still the difference is that the curational element of jackin doesn't take place in that totally decentralised, post-geographic manner of too much UK bass, but is composed of the musical elements which make up a Northern, British dance tradition. I can't help but find the links that tie jackin to bassline, happy hardcore, speed garage, northern soul (diva vox, pumping 4x4 riddims, big bass) infinitely more appealing than the decontexualized mush coming out of the post-dubstep diaspora.

The other difference is its stronger ense of teleology, because with its more coherent sound pallet it's far easier to register changes in time than with the anything-goes UK bass stuff (for example, Jackin from 2010 sounds VERY different to the stuff coming out now).

Furthermore it's just great rave music! Which is more than can be said for the once great Hessel Audio

Finally, saying of Footwork that


when it has existed in much the same form as it does now for over a decade is, to me, worrying. I love footwork but you could argue that its radical moment has already passed, and we're all now just uncovering and enjoying the results, working through the implications of it.

It's not fair to say that it's existed unchanged for over a decade, I don't think. As I understand it, people say that DJ Roc first started tweaking Juke into what we now call footwork around 2003, which would mean it's just reaching 10 about now. And then if you compare the stuff coming out today with the stuff even from 2008 it's clear it's moved forwards a lot.

I do see what you mean that it's older than genuinely acknowledged, but I think the sounds are moving forwards and it's actually just getting better and better. I do agree that it might be worrying in a meta-cultural sense that this is the most exciting it gets (if anyone knows of anything more radically happening I'd love to hear it!), but as long as it constitutes a living, forward moving scene, and hasn't yet sunk into self-pastiche, I say supporting and advocating for footwork is still worthwhile.

Some of that jungle/footwork hybrid stuff is great but I can't imagine a whole scene of it being any less moribund that house-derived 'UK bass'.

It would at least be more fun on the dance floor! You are right of course that as of yet, footwork/jungle remains footwork + jungle and hasn't achieved an alchemical melding into something fundamentally different. What I like about the footwork/jungle mashup, in the current context of UK dance floors, is that the 160 bpm speed represents at least a step away from safety, away from sensible. Whereas stuff like Adison Groove (which I do enjoy!) is quite clearly retrograde compared to the original thing, I'd argue Dream Continuum add to and expand upon the footwork tradition.

OK. Sorry for the rant. Clearly got too much time on my hands this festive season

I very much enjoyed your rant, and am glad you took the time to read and critique my article! Happy holidays!

 

[SecondLine]

yeah I get what you're saying about jackin', but I do worry that the merit you find in it is a little too closely mapped to the ways in which reynolds says that hardcore/jungle/garage etc. were good. For me that's an aesthetic framework that only has v limited traction in contemporary music - but then it all comes down to taste doesn't it really. I can see something in Jackin' for sure but it doesn't really do it for me. Likewise for you, probably, a lot of the things I rave about.

Also I'd say that the problem with 'UK bass' isn't that its reference points are 'decentralised' or that it lacks a geographical centre so much as that it is conservative, unimaginative - just shit, basically. shit music exists in all times & places (I'm thinking of, y'know, Dusky here, not Hessle Audio who I think are great still ).

 

[bassbeyondreason]

Been a bit out of the loop this year cause of jail and that, but (in no order):

Richard Dawson - The Magic Bridge (vinyl came out this year so I'll count it)
Scott Walker - Bish Bosch
Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II
Drcarlsonalbion - La Strega and the Cunningman in the Smoke
Aesop Rock - Skelethon
Gunplay - Bogota Rich
TKO Capone - Duck Season
Sylvain Chauveau & Stephan Mathieu – Palimpsest
Bobby Womack - The Bravest Man in the Universe
Art of Burning Water - Love You Dead
Unsane - Wreck
Mark Eitzel - Don't Be a Stranger
Hladowski & Joynes - The Wild Wild Berry
The Young'uns - When Our Grandfathers Said No
Emily Portman - Hatchling

 

[bassbeyondreason]

Oh, and Jandek - Maze of the Phantom is nuts. Jandek goes cosmic free jazz!

 

[hmg]

Giant big Year in review wot I gone and done, if anyone's interested!

http://dominjapanround4.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/2012-in-music.html

Great review. Putting many of these through the big speakers, cheers.

 

[banshee]

Giant big Year in review wot I gone and done, if anyone's interested!

http://dominjapanround4.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/2012-in-music.html

Don't agree with all of that but everything you say about jackin is SPOT ON. where do you go raving?

 

[continuum]

Giant big Year in review wot I gone and done, if anyone's interested!

http://dominjapanround4.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/2012-in-music.html

Great review datwun.

Personally thought it could do with sightly less YouTube vids but will probably return to the post at a later point to fully digest the audio. Spot on with the Jackin'.

I've been having trouble with Footwork of late though. When the thread on Dissensus first appeared about it was really excited but my interest has waned. When I listen to a few Footwork beats now (such as those you posted in the review) I get the same sort of vibe off them as the feeling you are trying to convey about certain Post Dubstep releases. Not sure if this is because I haven't really had the time to fully explore Footwork releases in 2012 (what with all the Jackin' to listen to) or that it seems to have gone a bit IDM sounding for me.

With regard Post Dubstep / UK Bass I think you are a little harsh. Some of it is good and until the Jackin' / Lorenzo explosion this year was top of the pack. I don't think the issue is that UK Bass is crap but more that Jackin' is just effing brilliant.

 

[muser]

havnt heard anything particularly good this year

 

[muser]

in hindsight

 

[muser]

been loving it though mostly

 

[Leo]

one more (very) late addition to the list: various-"l.i.e.s. presents american noise" 2cd comp. oddball label with a pretty broad range.

 

[datwun]

yeah I get what you're saying about jackin', but I do worry that the merit you find in it is a little too closely mapped to the ways in which reynolds says that hardcore/jungle/garage etc. were good...

I do see what you're saying, and it's difficult to tell whether part of the merit I find in it is inspired by my preconceptions along nuum-lines of how music should be. I'm sure that does play some part. Still, I do think that overall, that's less the case than the opposite - which is that music created along those scienius lines just appeals to me more as a listener, raver, DJ, and that my support for the theory comes from my experience of the music, not the other way round. Jackin and footwork provide support for the idea that a scenius dynamic consistently provides for more interesting music, in other worlds.

Also I'd say that the problem with 'UK bass' isn't that its reference points are 'decentralised' or that it lacks a geographical centre so much as that it is conservative, unimaginative - just shit, basically. shit music exists in all times & places (I'm thinking of, y'know, Dusky here, not Hessle Audio who I think are great still ).

Yup, definitely don't disagree that UK bass is shit! Really though Hessel Audio TOTALLY fell off for me this year. It's a shame, cause I used to love them. It's also funny because just last year I was defending the London stuff against mates of mine who had moved over to footwork, midlands grime and UK B, but this year I just can't bring myself to browse Boomkat

Great review. Putting many of these through the big speakers, cheers.

Thanks for reading Any favourites?

Don't agree with all of that but everything you say about jackin is SPOT ON. where do you go raving?

Tah! What didn't you agree with and what about the Jackin stuff did you like? I've not actually been to a Jackin rave yet THOUGH I'M GOING TO 2:31 IN BRUM FOR NEW YEARS AND HAVE A SPARE TICKET IF ANYONE WANT TO COME AND GET MASHED?!?!
This year I've probably spent more time raving at events I've helped to put on/DJed at than out. Experiences of UK bass hate come from maybe 3-4 VERY disappointing Hessel Audio/Hyperdub events at places like Fabric, Bussey Building etc. Last really good rave I went to was Deep Medi at Corsica Studios, which was really great, though obviously a bit retro.

Great review datwun.

Personally thought it could do with sightly less YouTube vids but will probably return to the post at a later point to fully digest the audio. Spot on with the Jackin'.

Thanks! Yeah sorry if it's slow to load! Its target audience is both dissensussi/blogger/people who know about dance music types as well as friends who wouldn't know the tracks if I just named them...

I've been having trouble with Footwork of late though. When the thread on Dissensus first appeared about it was really excited but my interest has waned. When I listen to a few Footwork beats now (such as those you posted in the review) I get the same sort of vibe off them as the feeling you are trying to convey about certain Post Dubstep releases. Not sure if this is because I haven't really had the time to fully explore Footwork releases in 2012 (what with all the Jackin' to listen to) or that it seems to have gone a bit IDM sounding for me.

Maybe we're just at different stages of fandom, because it took me quite a while to get into it, first of all via more straight up 4x4 juke trax, and then via wala cam and watching the dancers. I actually didn't rate Bangs and Works 1 that much - or at least found it so difficult as to never actually be something I wanted to listen to (even though I rated it's weirdness, you know), but really really loved vol 2. But yeah, I dunno, that track We Trippy Mane is like - perfect for me, reminds me of Fight club by Alias and that sort of minimal grime, way too hard to be IDM... The planet Mu stuff is a bit more in that direction though, I suppose it's the sound Mike likes.

With regard Post Dubstep / UK Bass I think you are a little harsh. Some of it is good and until the Jackin' / Lorenzo explosion this year was top of the pack. I don't think the issue is that UK Bass is crap but more that Jackin' is just effing brilliant.

Last year I would have agreed with you, and I spent a lot of time defending 'future garage' and 'post dubstep'. Loved tracks like Wut, loved pretty much Joy O did, Bax was the track of the year for me etc. Part of it is just perhaps me getting bored of it, and part of it is the scene's PURE LACK OF VIBES making it harder to appreciate the music. I mean, the clubs nights playing this stuff are just awful. I dress like a hipster, I think that a lot of 'hipster hate' is a lot of wank, but really I mean Hessel Audio nights are full of grumpy fashion people not dancing.

But honestly I think there's been a decline in quality, a decline in vibe over the last year. Nothing Joy O did this year appealed to me at all. That tune he did with Boddika was shit. Pariah's emo 2-step was like, some of my favourite music at the time. His techno I couldn't give a fuck. Blawan's totally lost it. Pearson Sound's lost it.

And yeah, as you say, now that jackin exists, why would I exert the effort to try to find the interesting tracks among the crap?

 

[e/y]

idk, I've seen the Hessle guys on two occasions this year (UFO b2b Pearson b2b Pangaea at Robert Johnson in Frankfurt and UFO last weekend in Cologne) and both parties had people dancing a lot the whole time, until like 6 am.