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I tried for 10, but 10 is hardly enough. So I did 10 and 5 honorable mentions.
And that still wasn’t enough. So then I did 10 and 10 honorable mentions.
This year there is no clear leader, so these lists are in no particular order.
I left out Beach House. Because, well, who doesn’t already know and love that record? And also I forgot Grimes. SORRY GRIMES.
Top 10:
- Four Tet — There is Love in You
Bright and warm. A stunning mixture of fuzzy electronic beats and live instrumentation that is all the more impressive for taking a well-worn aesthetic to a fresh place. An exceedingly patient minimalist gem.
- How to Dress Well — Love Remains
Ghosts singing RnB over a walkie-talkie. Haunted and haunting. Obscured and beatific.
- Teengirl Fantasy — 7am
If you melted a Daft Punk record to an old soul record to an ambient record and then melted that too.
- Shackleton — Fabric 55
Post-apocalyptic polyrhythms, black drones. Listen to it loud with the bass turned way up. Absolutely hypnotic.
- Wildbirds and Peacedrums — Rivers
Sharp drumming and a chilly female lead vocalist. Spare, dark, and bracing.
- Tallest Man on Earth — The Wild Hunt
Just a tall dude with a guitar! Who knew that still had mileage in it? Proof that pure craft can still be stunning.
- Villagers — Becoming a Jackal
Didn’t win the mercury. Won my heart! Some really creepy stuff on there: off-kilter chord progressions and the sharpest lyric writing in ages.
- Robyn — Body Talk 1-3
Robyn covered “When Doves Cry” and did it justice. She also makes pop music sharp and catchy enough for everyone to love.
- Under Byen — Alt Er Tabt
My favorite band that no one has heard of. Stoccato noir pop. Sexy as all hell.
- The-Dream — Love King
Admittedly this dude is kind of gross. But, seriously– Hook City, pop: The-Dream.
Honorable mention (favorite but not top 10):
- Philip Jeck — An Ark for the Listener
Oceans of sound. A spiritual godfather of all this slow, static-y, sample-heavy, haunted music we’ve been hearing lately.
- Baths — Cerulean
Warm and weird. So warm, so weird, so lovely.
- Pantha Du Prince — Black Noise
Bells chime for dreamtime. Sparkles on top and rumbles underneath.
- Richard Skelton — Landings
A sad story but a beautiful record. So much texture and timbre. Delicate, lovely drones.
- The Radio Dept. — Clinging to a Scheme
Loved listening to it while I made my girlfriend pancakes. A+ production. Subtle and nuanced enough that I hear more every time I put it on.
- Flying Lotus — Cosmogramma
A cosmic acid trip with some unexpectedly gorgeous moments. Music like breathing free jazz.
- Various — Night Slugs All Stars Pt I
HUGE. Technicolor synthesizer splashes all over the place. Neon beats.
- Warpaint — The Fool
Dour, dark, and syrupy. Psychedelic in that slightly nauseating way!
- Jonsi — Go
Sonic confetti.
- Glasser — Ring
How? Is? This? So? Good? Strange and pretty as fuck.
Jam of the Year (slow): James Blake — Limit to your Love
Jam of the Year (sex): Teengirl Fantasy — Dancing in Slow Motion
Jam of the Year (huge): Girl Unit — Wut
Jam of the Year (overall): The-Dream — Yamaha
LOOK ABOVE FOR THAT ONE, DUDES
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