March 2014: The Playlist

So that’s the first quarter of 2014 done and dusted. Going by quick this year, isn’t it? Been plenty of new music for us all too; have already cracked the 100 barrier with regards to new albums, EPs and mixtapes that have managed to find their way into the world within the past 90 days. There goes my promise of trying to slow down I guess, but whether I’ll crack 500 like I did last year still remains to be seen/heard.

In any event, here is March’s mix. Enjoy:

Dibder’s 2014: March Mix

01) “We Got A Love” by Shit Robot featuring Reggie Watts

02) “Rhythm Of Devotion” by Sisyphus

03) “Buzz” by LE1F

04) “Salt Carousel” by Evian Christ

05) “Pen#1” by Penny

06) “When We’re Gone” by Vijay Iyer

07) “Danceland” by Carla Bozulich

08) “Eyes To The Wind” by The War On Drugs

09) “Like The Moon” by Future Islands

10) “Mercy” by Mr. Little Jeans

xxxo

2013: My Favourite Music Of The Year, Pt. 1

Hello again…

Having missed the official deadline on accounts of sheer drunkenness and stupidly managing my time over Christmas, I wasn’t even really going to bother putting this out; but hey, my ideals of posterity married with the fact that I really did listen to too much music last year to not post anything (plus that I’m stuck at work with pretty much nothing to do as everywhere else is still closed until next week) have won out, so here goes:

Top 5 Mixtapes Of The Year

5. Government Plates by Death Grips

Not strictly a mixtape, but the guys did release this for free online as per the same label-scolding remit that saw the proliferation of their previous album NO LOVE DEEP WEB in late 2012; and it still trades in the wonderfully-bonkers catharsis that characterizes their previous releases too.

4. The Abstract & The Dragon by Busta Rhymes & Q-Tip

More of a compilation in that Busta and Q-Tip had been in the studio together previously to record one of the most underrated tracks of last year in “Thank You” and then decided to put together a celebratory mixtape of past endeavours spanning a good twenty-years just because they had so much fun.

3. Tree House by LE1F

The second mixtape of the year from queer-dancehall rapper LE1F takes a more sultry cue than his previous work, trading in the psychedelic electronics for something a little more accessibly sexier; it’s not very often homosexual desire gets such sensual treatment in hip hop, you know?

2. Run The Jewels by Run The Jewels

Two MC’s who can’t seem to get enough of each other, El-P and Killer Mike follow through after the former single-handedly produced the latter’s 2012 album R.A.P. Music with a combustible collaborative mixtape that justly saw some of the best reviews of the year.

1. CUT 4 ME by Kelela

A mixtape so good that label-runner and good friend Kingdom saw fit to take it down from the Fade To Mind website and actually make people buy it rather than download it for free; you should have heard “Bank Head” already, and rest assured the remainder of this promising singer’s debut cut is just as prodigious.

Top 5 Compilations Of The Year

5. Think And Change from Nonplus+ Records

A compilation featuring some of the most cutting edge dance music to see release over the past year, collating cuts from the likes of Four Tet, Joy Orbison, dBridge and SCB into an at-times galvanizing package.

4. Saint Heron from Saint Records

As curated by Beyoncé‘s über-hip little sister who has since found herself at the forefront of this new kind of hazy nu-soul/R&B, this collection features swoonsome choices from some of the more head-turning new artists of the trend (Kelela herself appearing twice on the set, alongside the likes of Jhené Aiko and Cassie among others).

3. After Dark 2 from Italians Do It Better

A seventy-nine minute-long calling card of beauteous synth-pop from songwriter/producer Johnny Jewel; for those still panging for a sequel to the Drive soundtrack, this should sate their appetites most welcomingly, featuring work from Jewel’s own Glass Candy project, as well as wares from Chromatics and Appaloosa.

2. Late Night Tales: Röyksopp from Late Night Tales

The prolific Late Night Tales series of after-hour grooves and mixes from established musicians reached a pique in 2013 with this contribution from the Norwegian electro-pop masterminds, a truly intoxicating mix featuring the likes of Vangelis, Thomas Dolby and XTC, as well as a couple of tracks from the guys themselves.

1. School Daze from Dark Entries/Honey Soundsystem

A moving reminder that Giorgio Moroder wasn’t the only electronic music pioneer from the 1970s, as producer Patrick Cowley receives a post-humous tribute dedicated to his instrumental b-side experiments as well as his compositions for various gay porn flicks of the time.

Top 5 EP’s Of The Year

5. Mr Jones by Nina Kraviz

A not-so-short-and-sultry treat from Miss Kraviz after dropping her auspiciously-noticed eponymous debut album last year, featuring more of her celebrated brand of spacey beats, pummeling bass and sexily-disembodied vocal samples.

4. Saa by Saa

Debut release from up-and-coming electronic-R&B duo hailing from both the UK and Norway, this self-titled EP manages to summon up some of the more sonically-enveloping songs you’re likely to have never heard from all of last year.

3. Trust by Gold Panda

Before the long-playing follow-up to 2010’s critically-revered debut album Lucky Shiner dropped in the latter half of 2013, UK producer Derwin Schlecker released this starkly pretty bauble of a collection; Half Of Where You Live really should have sounded better on the back of this.

2. In Your Care by Bright Light Bright Light

The UK’s Best Kept-Secret Of A Popstar returned to the fold late in 2013 with this valuable cache of intelligently-written pop, entirely typical of the man responsible for one of the most criminally-ignored debut albums of last year.

1. Rival Dealer by Burial

The closest thing to perfect that any music release of 2013 came to being, Will Bevan continues to enthrall with his patented brand of industrial soundscapes, dusty beats and tortured vocal samples, this time however offering up something close to redemptive solace and light amidst the gritty darkness.

Top 5 Comeback Albums Of The Year

5. the minutes by Alison Moyet

Tapping wunderkind pop extraordinaire Guy Sigsworth to help birth your first album in six years is one of the better ways of saying you’re getting back to your electro-pop roots something sharpish, and Moyet’s return to the synth-ey mold really was something to get all smiley about on its release last spring.

4. Shaking The Habitual by The Knife

Having not released anything together in seven years, perhaps a bit too much electro-pop goodwill may have ended up riding on Karin and Olof’s fourth album; many were thoroughly discombobulated when it finally arrived (especially when their live show hit further heights of bemusement), but there’s still no denying the album’s powerfully-punky spirit.

3. Random Access Memories by Daft Punk

Many are still reeling from how off-puttingly sincere and reverent helmet-heads Thomas and Guy-Manuel’s LP is as a throwback to the past glories of yesterdecade disco, despite downloading “Get Lucky” in their millions when it first came out; others like myself still find the whole thing rather sweet and moving though.

2. Tomorrow’s Harvest by Boards Of Canada

Tipped off by a genius rabbit-hole campaign that had fans encyclopedically-noting developments until Warp relented with an official release date, Scottish brothers Michael and Marcus’s first album in eight years finally arrived in all its analogue-based, serene-yet-apocalyptic glory.

1. The Next Day by David Bowie

The most high-profile and laudably recognized comeback of the year however belonged to the former Mr. Stardust, who brushed aside rumours of ill-health due to lack of public appearances with the fact that he was actually making his first album of new material in ten years, and it was still full of as much blood, feeling and iconoclastic majesty as we’ve come to expect.

Top 5 Debut Albums Of The Year

5. Drone Logic by Daniel Avery

The first UK dance music producer to find his way on to this list is Mr Avery, who has been giving deep-house techno-heads plenty to rave about over the past few years via numerous remixes and singles, only to launch his debut album in fine style with some of the more luminous notices of the year.

4. Soul Music by Special Request

Otherwise known to his friends as Paul Woolford, his double-disc debut album is one of those grand everything-but-the-kitchen-sink affairs that manages to stick much more of what it throws at the listener than it likely should with regards to its myriad genre influences in grand-yet-laser-focused style.

3. Engravings by Forest Swords

The last UK prodigy to find their way on this list is Matthew Barnes, an electronic producer who deals in soundscapes a lot more bucolic than most (he recorded this LP outside in his garden, apparently) and infused with plenty of English Gothic imagery that nonetheless makes for a head-turning listen at the very least.

2. Woman by Rhye

This half-American/half-Danish singer/songwriter/production duo managed to get tongues wagging enough last year with a couple of their minimalist soul-pop singles last year before dropping their premier LP early last year; so ornate, so sad, so mournful, and still so very beautiful.

1. Echoes by CREEP

However, the best debut album of the year was one that was hardly noticed by anyone, despite featuring enough of a starlit guest roster (Sia, Lou Rhodes, Tricky, Romy Madly Croft from The xx) and some gorgeously-arranged post-trip-hop electro-pop to gain at least some traction. Hopefully it will be discovered to greater effect in 2014; it and the sister-DJ/production duo who created it certainly deserve to.

Phew… And breathe.

Not quite done (hence the Pt. 1 in the title); but give me a while to catch my breath and I’ll get the rest done in a little while.

Thanks… xxxo

October 2013: The Blogmix

And a hearty, Halloween-ey hello to you all!

In keeping with the spirit (sorry) of this pagan celebration hijacked by rampant commercialism, for your viewing pleasure I’d like to make a recommendation for the most riotous horror movie I’ve had the chance of seeing all year, a nasty piece of cheesy slasher fun called Sleepaway Camp. A cheap indie about to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary, it has amassed a significant cult following based on its camp, bizarre charms, what with its enhancing the typical genre tropes of summer-camp-based stalk ‘n’ stab hijinks (made popular again in its time by the success of Friday The 13th) with a truly perverse mean streak that eventually brings about one of the most jaw-dropping twist endings in American horror cinema. I really can’t say any more than that, other than it is best viewed with good friends and plenty of alcoholic beverages to hand; it’s not Troll 2-style WTF-dooziness, but it comes very close…

Hell, you can watch the whole thing on Youtube in HD here, if you wish…

And now, back to the music; courtesy of Mixcloud and Spotify, may I present:

2013 BlogMix#10: October

01) Running If You Call My Name // Haim >> Somewhat refreshingly, the BBC Sound Of… poll appeared to have made the right call this year in picking the Californian, sisterly troika to sit at its pinnacle; their debut album of wistfully lovely guitar-pop, Days Are Gone, managed to even hold off Justin Timberlake from the top of the album charts earlier this month.

02) Paper Trails // Darkside >> A meeting of minds between producer/musicians Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington, the eponymous debut LP from the duo is redolent with the kind of head-scratching alternative-electronica that manages to sound like anything and everything, and yet ultimately coheres into something else through its sheer verve of disparity.

03) Keep It Cool // Kelela >> Having already helped deliver one of the most underrated slow-jams of the year, this up-and-coming R&B chanteuse dropped one of the best mixtapes of the year earlier this month with CUT 4 ME; authoritative, tremulous, sinister and sweet often all at once, Kelela’s work is something to get very excited about for the future.

04) As If // Jessy Lanza >> More lo-fi R&B with a woozily shimmering electro-tinge, this time courtesy of Hyperdub signing Lanza and her debut Pulling My Hair Back, which she recorded and produced alongside Jeremy Greenspan of geek-chic swooners Junior Boys after getting on just fabulously whilst crafting their most recent album It’s All True.

05) 36 // Kwes. >> If you’re missing the summer already, you’d do well to listen to this slice of melancholic audio sunshine courtesy of London-bred producer Kwes., whose similarly dark-yet-effusive debut album ilp. arrives via the illustrious Warp Records off the back of well-received work with the likes of The Invisible, Micachu and Ghostpoet.

06) Jack // LE1F >> For his third mixtape and second to be released this year, LE1F has given listeners something a little more supple, inviting and darned sexier than his previous work has offered; the result, Tree House, may not be as halting and scene-creating as Dark York was last year, but it could be his most accomplished release so far too.

07) Letters Of Intent (Sprinkles’ Post Script) // Ducktails >> Taken from her remix compilation Queerifications & Ruins, this track is but one of many gorgeous deep house re-works courtesy of DJ Sprinkles, a.k.a. multi-media Terre Thaemlitz, whose career has spanned nearly twenty years and taken in pretty much all form of art and discourse you can possibly imagine.

08) Baby It’s U // Machinedrum >> Despite having released music since 2000, it wasn’t until working with hipster-friendly rappers Theophilius London and Azealia Banks that Travis Stewart’s beatsmith-ry finally started gaining serious mainstream attention, prompting his being signed to Ninja Tune to release his lauded tenth album Vapor City.

09) New Energy (Live Through It) // Daniel Avery >> A pulsingly-ruminative piece of hopeful respite now, as found on the Next Big Superstar DJ’s debut album Drone Logic, which has set plenty of hard-nosed music critics’ tongues wagging with its fondness for acid house leanings that eventually tail off into avenues as unexpected as they are rewarding.

10) Chrome Country // Oneohtrix Point Never >> Having spent the previous year collaborating with like-minded alternative musician Tim Hecker and filmmaker Sofia Coppola, 2013 sees Daniel Lopatin get back to his own work with R Plus Seven, itself thereupon being greeted with the same laudatory noise bestowed upon his critical breakthrough Replica in 2011.

11) The Void // Steven Price >> Having worked diligently in arrangements, editing and orchestrations for the past decade, this year saw composer Price break through in a massive way; his beyond-epic score for Alfonso Cuarón‘s blockbuster behemoth Gravity is one of the facets of the film, alongside the cinematography and Sandra Bullock’s performance, that has been universally praised (in addendum, I cannot fucking wait to see it!!)

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have eyeballs to stew and hearts to eat… xxxo

February 2013: The BlogMix

Hello again, everyone, and welcome to the second edition of my 2013 blog series of music-listening upkeep. It’s normally the rule of the thumb that it is after February that the rest of the year kicks off, what with most people dealing with a month-long hangover in January and this month loaded with award ceremonies celebrating the previous year’s music and film (and considering in March of this year we’re getting new albums from Depeche Mode and David Bowie himself, you can’t really argue with that way of thinking). And whilst the likes of Mumford & Sons (or, as Jake Bugg declared them in what will likely be the funniest thing the snotty rag ever says, “The Posh Farmers”), One Direction (for whom the BRIT Awards basically invented a new accolade rewarding them for their Global Success in an effort to keep them on-camera for as long as possible) and Frank Ocean (have that Chris Brown, heh!) did well to the destruction of their rapidly weakening trophy-cabinet hinges, it was the beyond-plucky Adele who hop, skipped, jumped and landed flat on her feet with a Golden Globe, a Grammy, a BRIT and an Oscar by the end of the month and made me kind-of fall in love with her again. Perhaps it was because despite all the award attention she wasn’t a featured performer at each ceremony (only at the Oscars, which felt more like a well-earned victory lap than anything), or that her acceptance speeches were infused with such charm or… no, it actually was because she bested Taylor Swift at the Globes, resulting in one of the most hilariously evil facial expressions in recent years of live TV (incidentally, thanks to Gays Of South London for that one!). Well done Adkins, now go make a happy disco album that I can actually listen to…

But back to business, because this entry isn’t about the music of last year, but of this month; courtesy of Mixcloud and Spotify, may I present:

2013 BlogMix#2: February

01) One Of Those Summer Days // Rhye >> Gorgeous flecks of alt-folk-pop-soul adorn the debut album Woman from this Swedish duo, having whetted the blog-world’s appetites last year with one of 2012’s best-kept-secret EPs, Open. Imagine Jessie Ware and The xx jamming along to the back catalogue of The Beach Boys, and you’re just about there.

02) Riches (Vocal Dub) // Night Works >> A gossamer-light pop treat from one-man-band Gabriel Stebbing, formerly of Metronomy before they became every fashionista dinner party’s favourite soundtrack. His former cadre’s influence is certainly felt all over debut album Urban Heat Island, as well as warm dashes of Hot Chip at their least geekily-busy.

03) Big Love // Jamie Lidell >> Robust return-to-party form from the Sheffield soul-funkster, bouncing back from the Beck-led rumination of his third album with his eponymous new LP. Proper time-capsule stuff with deliciously modern electro twists throughout.

04) Careful // Inc. >> Three years after they released their first EP, the brothers Aged have come up with a special collection of contemplative lo-fi R&B for their first major offering for leading indie-prognosticators 4AD. Hushed and reverent, but not without it’s own poignant moments of restless longing, No World is one to get lost in.

05) Coins // LE1F >> With both Mykki Blanco and Angel Haze falling silent since their mixtapes dropped late last year (and Azealia Banks face-palmingly calling people faggots as her album is pushed back even further), it’s up to LE1F to lead the charge for hard-edged fabulousness with his second mixtape, Fly Zone, which you can download for free, here!

06) Too late, all gone // How To Destroy Angels >> With David Fincher finally giving Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross enough time off from film scoring duties, HTDA finally releases its debut LP Welcome Oblivion; it’s a return to brooding form for Reznor in particular, though Mrs Reznor herself serves as quite the head-turning frontwoman too.

07) vekoS // Autechre >> Twenty-six years and ten albums down the line, the Mancunian IDM duo are still going strong, with their eleventh studio set Exai providing many a sublime example of their muscular crescendos and crushing beat signatures. At two hours long, it’s an ask, but for those who were caught-up with these guys back in the mid-90s, it’s a glorious return to fraught form.

08) Default // Atoms For Peace >> Supergroups are overrated things at the best of times, but the trick to Atoms For Peace and their debut album AMOK‘s success is that, when all is said and done, it feels more like a continuation of frontman/co-producer Thom Yorke’s The Eraser, having formed in the first place to take that album on tour. This, as it turns out, isn’t a bad thing in the slightest.

09) Tears (Extended Interlude) // K-X-P >> A quieter, spellbinding moment from Finnish alt-electro-rock four-piece’s second album II that is positively awash with epic absurdity (Ronseal-style monikering aside, obviously); headlined by pop producer/remixer Timo Kaukolampi, who contributed a few of the darker tracks on Norwegian popstrel Annie‘s last album.

10) Westcoast Trail // Segue >> Opening track from Canadian producer Jordan Sauer’s fourth album Pacifica, a techno-dub masterclass that is resplendent with moments summoning images of nature at its most sublime and galvanizing. If ever you’re down, give this a listen but try not to drift away into the clouds…

11) Tiger Vision // Mychael Danna >> In spite of my gush over Adele earlier in this entry, I still find her Bond theme a little too derivative of previous classics to fully adore, so in order to commemorate the Academy Awards, here’s a moving snatch from the Oscar-winning score to Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi, which incidentally was better than Argo (but at least Lee got his well-deserved trophy too).

12) A Violent Sky // Apparat >> Whilst we all wait with baited breath for Moderat‘s second album, to finish off we have the singer/songwriter component of the trio Sascha Ring releasing his fifth solo album Krieg Und Frieden (Music For Theatre); originally composed for a stage production of Tolstoy’s War And Peace, it’s like the anti-Les Mis, and so much more beautiful and evocative for it.

And there you have it; before I go though, a couple more mixes to throw at you…

Firstly, if this mix was a little to dark and malaise-y for you, please download DJ LaJedi’s mixtape World Hip Hop Women: From The Sound Up, celebrating rhymes and beats from all around the world, for free here!

And there’s also one more mix from me; a tribute to the European region where the most wonderful pop music is born, here’s my very own I Want Scandi! Mix:

And lastly (lastly), a very Happy Birthday to my friend Dan, whose own blog is full of stuff about TV, music and film and is really rather great.

Until next time, xxxo…

2012, The End… Pt. 1

I’ll open with an honest disclaimer; I can’t come up with a decent enough hook to try and distinguish this blog from any other end-of-year ruminations you’re more than likely to read, if any. So, in an effort to keep it short and punchy so as not to take up too much of your intrepid reading time, I’ll try and condense my erstwhile opinions into bullet-points of indeterminate length that sum up some of what I felt about the music I particularly loved and loathed this year:

Get The Rimming Reference Out Of The Way First: The first thing I remember learning from the year 2012 was that even the most celebrated living Beatle can’t get away with this album title in a post-Human Centipede world, especially after sucking so hard on two of the most–watched live telecasts of the year. Paul, Stella can carry on the family name without you now; please step down.

The Ongoing Chris Brown/Rihanna Saga: I would have ignored this whole sorry farrago if Rihanna didn’t offer up the most fascinating “fuck you for caring” album to her fans this year with Unapologetic, which really ought to have been the title of Brown’s album, no? Not only is it absent of genuine bona-fide singles (lead single Diamonds sounds like a meh Lana Del Rey b-side given a gorgeous production booster), the album is otherwise rich with moments of spiteful, black-hearted irony at the listeners expense. The one time it works, on her jaded reggae-lite jam No Love Allowed, it’s admittedly fabulous; it reaches its nadir however with the much-discussed Brown duet Nobody’s Business. The twisted genius of this song actually being album’s brightest, most innocuous-sounding track, until it’s immediately re-contextualized via its performers’ shared history and let-them-eat-cake-style message about seeking privacy from the world (which is more than a little rich coming from the most overexposed celebrity couple this side of the royal family) turns it into the most subversively dark moment in 2012 pop. In lieu of all of this then, maybe, just maybe, she and Brown deserve each other…

All the best, douches…

Other Annoying Shit That Went Down In 2012: With every subsequently underwhelming release since their fabulous debut, I’ve been content to keep Scissor Sisters in a 2004 time capsule (specifically because they featured invaluably as part of my university soundtrack). But when they came out with all of this faux-hip, ‘ironic’ “Kiki” bullshit, I lost all hope and had to sever sentimental ties there and then; thank God they’re going on an indefinite break now. The X Factor became a genuinely unpleasant TV behemoth to sit through this year in its shameless pandering to so-called entertainment and drama, overloading on ruthless exploitation of so-called wacky characters and sob stories (anyone who remembered Peter Kay’s wonderful parody from 2008 were right to assume it was a complete rehash of that but without the funny bits). Calvin Harris continued to rediscover his inner Todd Terry and punch the same conveyor-belt hit button with anyone rich enough to solicit his wares, but even they weren’t half as annoying as the drilling-the-head vapidity of DJ Fresh’s output (speaking of which can anyone explain to me how someone as dull and bland as Rita Ora managed to get three number one singles?) Having said all that though, I’m all for Gangnam Style, any day of the week; hey, I didn’t say my tastes were completely impervious to novelty-pop!

Misery Loves Company…: Carrying on with Jessie J’s infuriating lineage of pop volte-face between rather-great-debut-single-preceding-a-dispiritingly-dull-and-warbly-debut-LP from last year, Emeli Sandé followed last year’s somewhat-shameless-rip-off-of-Unfinished-Sympathy-but-still-brilliant Heaven with a collection of “he left me” sophorisms in Our Version Of Events. And the UK responded by making it the best-selling album of the year (when they weren’t inexplicably still buying the most-overrated album of our time anyway); come on everyone, I know 2012 was fucking terrible by most people’s standards, but music should provide a sublime escape, not a lazily-manipulative solace. Not that I’m against having a big cry whilst listening to music (and I’ll be the first to admit Sandé herself can be capable of such moments, as her chilling performance of Abide With Me at the Olympics opening ceremony demonstrated, before she got booked to sing what seemed like absolutely fucking everything else at the closing ceremony anyway), but 2012 gave us so much more emotionally rich and beautifully orchestrated balladry that went unnoticed (listen here, here and especially here).

Gratuitous Louis Shot… well, what, I mentioned the Olympics, didn’t I?

…Having Said That, Lana Del Rey Is Still Awesome: By pop music’s faddy standards, LDR/Lizzy Grant/Radiator Lady Of 2012 had quite a tumultuous year. Found out as a major-label-signed imposter by the bloggers who fiercely applauded her auspicious Video Games single last year and bolstered her web-based-ingenue profile before her album Born To Die was even announced, she proceeded to drop a few clangers infront of the entire world (a particular lowlight being that performance on Saturday Night Live) and still convincingly carve out a sizeable niche for herself in the pop music sphere anyway to warrant a multi-million selling LP and an enormous worldwide tour next year. And, now that the dust has settled, we can all admit that it is because the songs are quite frankly that amazing, though that Blue Velvet/H&M campaign was a step too far with regards to emphasizing the whole Dorothy Vallens vibe she cultivates (David Lynch himself is a fan); but hell, if Damon Albarn and Bobby Womack saw fit to work with her, she’s definitely got something, right?

Amazing Comebacks Will Never Get Old: Speaking of Mr Womack and Mr Albarn, between them and XL Recordings head-honco Richard Russell they came out with one of the most genuinely amazing albums of the year with Albarn acting as co-producer with Russell on Womack’s first solo album in twelve years, the futuristic-soul epic The Bravest Man In The Universe. Womack’s wasn’t the only return to the fold that warranted such adulatory attention though. Granted, there were plenty of acts this year that decided to tread the comeback trail with varied results (Ben Folds Five, Bloc Party, Ultravox, No Doubt and The Smashing Pumpkins all came out with new material this year to a collective shrug from the public), however, you can’t deny some of the almost-magisterial authority with which some swaggered their way back into the frame. Between Nas finally returning full-force after lubing up via well-received appearances on other people’s albums (and returning the gorgeous favour he left on Amy Winehouse’s posthumous collection last year with this sequel), Solange stepping out of a needlessly-extended hiatus with a valuable cache of sweet-soul heartbreak on mini-marvelous EP True and, even more amazingly, Godspeed You! Black Emperor kicking every alt-post-psychedelic-kitchen-sink act out of the way, we were spoiled for choice when it came to gloriously revisiting the past.

Go-Homo Vs. No-Homo: If we can credit 2012 for anything in pop, it is the broadening of sexual boundaries within urban music hailing from America, whose scene had heretofore not been the most inclusive of same-sex dalliances (just ask Chris Brown, the fucking douche). It must be said, Frank Ocean’s coming out as having fancied a man with the a beautifully-worded, sort-of press release before we heard the most sexually-fluid mainstream R&B album of our time helped provide the impetus (and the resulting recognition from his more established peers thereafter was as heartrendingly groundbreaking as channel ORANGE itself), but the wheels were kept in motion via quite a few more iconoclastic voices. Two of the most celebrated hip hop mixtapes of the year came from out-and-proud gayers LE1F and Mykki Blanco, whilst female soul-duo THEESatisfaction gave alternative R&B a sexy, Sapphic twist with their debut awE naturalE (QueenS may be the most underrated party single of the year), but that was nothing compared to the identity-fortification displayed by Angel Haze and Azealia Banks. The former trades in more classically-influenced hip hop that makes her no less prodigiously intimidating, her lyric-spitting on breakout track New York riding a Gil Scott-Heron sample to provide the most badass tune of the year whilst her later re-work of Eminem’s Cleaning Out My Closet gave 2012 rap its most harrowing confessional. However, Banks remains the go-to for queer rap’s future as a pop force to be reckoned with; an irresistibly playful mix of sexual voraciousness, fashionista privilege and potty-mouthed insouciance (and armed with the sexiest mile-wide grin to boot), there’s no reason why she can’t take over the world properly in 2013.

Gurrrl, you crazy…

The Year That ‘90s Dance Came Back: Speaking of Ms Banks, her 1991 EP not only did well to display her verbal dexterity and devil-may-care attitude towards sexual mores (even the Prime Minister’s wife was impressed), but was also the most gorgeous throwback to early-90s dance music any former club-kid could ask for. And this was a trend that was the best thing to happen to dance-pop in the past year; special mention goes to Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard, who managed to find time to co-mastermind The 2 Bears’ debut LP Be Strong, an album redolent with soulful samples and dub-friendly joviality that served as a warm reminder of how guilelessly rejuvenating dance music could be, only to have it trumped in terms of sheer good feeling by his other band’s own In Our Heads, which found all five indie noiseniks at their most summery and playful. But the most fabulous paean to The Most Underrated Decade Of Pop Music History came from singer/songwriter/producer Rod Thomas and his debut album as Bright Light Bright Light, Make Me Believe In Hope; an album as joyous, euphoric and disarming as it is intimate, honest and brave, Thomas embraces the music ingrained in his formative years to deliver a tribute that holds as much emotional sway to have you dancing with as much giddy abandon in a sweaty nightspot as it would at high volume in your bedroom (listen to single Waiting For The Feeling and try and tell me it’s not the Best Pop Song Of 2012).

My Preferred Pickle-Ticklers Of 2012: Which quite unceremoniously leads me on to highlight a few of the sexier offerings made for our sonic delectation this year, by my exacting standards anyway. From a purely aesthetic point of view, Joe and Raf of The 2 Bears get another shout-out here (obviously), but the sexiest dance music happened to come from Russia via Nina Kraviz’ eponymous debut album, a sinful ‘n’ sultry delight of after-hours beats and grooves. For successfully cribbing vintage licks from the likes of Prince and Springsteen whilst turning himself into a formidably sexual troubadour in ample supply of his own magnetism, George Lewis Jr., a.k.a. Twin Shadow’s, sophomore album Confess warrants a mention too, a driving soft-rock saga that manages the trick of charting its protagonist’s treacherous journey to the night of his soul via a desolate road littered with broken hearts but still making him an elusive-yet-charismatic figure. But the most sublimely sexy album of the year belongs to one Josh Martin, a former trucker who under the name Daughn Gibson released a collection of tales of hard knocks and lonely souls stewed in gothic Americana at its most outlandish-yet-gorgeously toxic. As much a cut-and-paste electronic mini-opus as it is a tome of modern-day country-grit, the snatches of God-fearing guitars, strings and gospel samples are held in place by Martin’s tremulous baritone, stoic and beautiful as it both chastises and laments his songs different characters. And if that doesn’t sound mouth-watering enough, the man happens to look like a fucking film star.

“Fine” isn’t the word…

Well, I’m going to have to absent myself from this entry, not just on account of Mr Gibson’s hotness, but because I have plenty more to write about and a single entry just can’t handle the weight without being overlong. Tomorrow I will follow through with something less ranting-bollocks-ey and more chart-based, so it should be easier to read, with even more great music to feature that I couldn’t quite get around to talking about here. But if you’ve made it this far, thank you and please feel free to have a listen to my special Spotify playlist compiled in an effort to celebrate the best music to see release over the last twelve months. And if you happen to like it, don’t forget to share… See you tomorrow (maybe). xxxo