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Nothing interesting has been announced till the end of the year (except cv313 - Dimensional Space, but considering the recent Deepchord related efforts, it's very likely to be passable), so I might as well do mine.

First I want to complain a little. Coming strictly from artist albums perspective, this year has been somewhat bittersweet. I followed new releases quite closely, and by the end of the year I think I listened to around 50 albums just from 2011, most of them multiple times. And I came to one conclusion: never has there been more 'just good' and 'fairly interesting', yet at the same time so little of those really great, essential and worth listening in 5 years time albums released. That's of course not a new trend, but I think it's getting more and more alarming each year. Some day the inevitable is gonna happen: people who raise up their personal line of mediocrity just a little bit too much are gonna end up loving just a couple albums per year.

But rant aside, here's the list. I just think first three have a potential to be considered masterpieces in a near future:

1. Machinedrum - Room(s)
Most of the reviewers and fans focuse on the successful integration of all those new and fancy (but not really interesting alone) styles and genres into the big post-dubstep melting pot, but none of them can actually tell why this album works. I can't either, so I'll just say that there's an factor x that separates geniuses that have an ability to do that kind of experiments efficiently from tryhards that fail miserably. Travis Stewart obviously possesses that factor, which is more than evident from both Room(s) and the other album which he did this year with the fellow Braille as Sepalcure.

2. Marow - + - 0 (Plus Minus Null)
Same as above - it's difficult to say why an essentially minimal techno album works so well, when there's more than enough years of evidence that that's not usually the case. So I'll describe how it sounds instead. Imagine you're sent to another unknown blue planet, built solely out of ice and inhabited by peaceful elderly intellectual creatures deeply connected to their planet. You're floating in a breezy, crystal clear sky above them, tuned into their mind-altering station and observing the complex architecture, interaction between them and the beautiful nature. You're happy and you're ready to die. Fans of Yagya and Gas will love this.

3. Phoenecia - Demissions
It's refreshing in this day and age to encounter an album that sounds completely chaotic and confusing after the first listen, and just after fifth or so starts to make some sense. It means the artist is walking uncharted territory and avoiding to descend into the well-tried and comfortable zone. This album continues where Autechre stopped around 2005 - advance rhythmical exploration, granular synthesis and electroacoustics, plus some really unique sound design. And really, really interesting arrangements. Fresh.

4. Plaid - Scintilli
5. Sandwell District - Sandwell District
6. Andy Stott - Passed Me By / We Stay Together
7. Modeselektor - Monkeytown
8. Kuedo - Severant
9. Alva Noto - Univrs
10. The Black Dog - Liber Dogma

Honorable mentions (in no order): Biosphere - N-Plants, Dave Monolith - Welcome, Kangding Ray - Or, Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica, Sepalcure - Sepalcure

Booyakasha.

1. Justice--Ohio

2. Modeselektor--Blue Clouds

3. J. Viewz--Salty Air

4. Washed Out--Eyes Be Closed

5. Tom Vek--A Chore

6. DJ Shadow--Back to Front (Circular Logic)

7. Modeselektor--Berlin

8. SBTRKT--Wildfire (ft. Little Dragon)

9. Araabmuzik--Golden Touch

10. M83--Raconte-Moi Une Histoire

quote:

Originally posted by kadomony #1 for me prob this:

peter cetra

Looks like I've only bought 6 albums that have been released this year, and only 4 of them are actually not re-releases. None of them are EDM, so I won't even bother listing.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery Looks like I've only bought 6 albums that have been released this year, and only 4 of them are actually not re-releases. None of them are EDM, so I won't even bother listing.

If it's any consolation, nobody cares.

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J If it's any consolation, nobody cares.

That's really too bad, because I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for your definitive list.

quote:

Originally posted by kadomony #1 for me prob this:

Nice job.
I'm glad i caught this edit. Kimbra is an amazing artist.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Mystery That's really too bad, because I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for your definitive list.

I care. So much that I request a xmas set from you sometime either now through til 24th or 27th-onwards! I need balancing out from marts stuff

quote:

Originally posted by Ian I care. So much that I request a xmas set from you sometime either now through til 24th or 27th-onwards! I need balancing out from marts stuff

Yikes. Will an all-rock/metal set do?

haha. for me probably. for Jamie....

i'll probably compile something next year but emeli sand�'s "heaven" is the song of the year

quote:

Originally posted by sljiva Nothing interesting has been announced till the end of the year (except cv313 - Dimensional Space, but considering the recent Deepchord related efforts, it's very likely to be passable), so I might as well do mine.

You didn't like Seconds To Forever? Most people (including me) thought it was one of the best things he/they ever did (minus the Echospace albums of course, can't top those). The new Cv313 12" coming up is pretty good, too if you ask me (http://clone.nl/item21994.html)

quote:

Originally posted by Woony You didn't like Seconds To Forever? Most people (including me) thought it was one of the best things he/they ever did (minus the Echospace albums of course, can't top those). The new Cv313 12" coming up is pretty good, too if you ask me (http://clone.nl/item21994.html)

Haven't actually heard that one. I thought it was just another extended rehash of an old material, and considering Hash Bar Loops and amount of (mostly mediocre) work they did recently, I didn't think it was worth bothering. Might check it out now.

But I'm generally getting more and more tired of dub techno. Although people have been saying that it all sounds the same for years now, I kinda saw it just this year. I guess if you're really into (dub) techno you can appreciate all those microscopic changes from release to release, but if you are just appreciative of innovative and forward thinking music, you'll probably stay away from digging too deep into the genre. Granted, Echospace is still miles above all the copycats, but the territory of sounds and atmospheres they can explore without stagnating is getting smaller and smaller, even for them.

I'll gladly take some dub-techno recommendations since I've recently stated getting into that sound. Echospace, what else do you recommend?

quote:

Originally posted by sljiva Haven't actually heard that one. I thought it was just another extended rehash of an old material, and considering Hash Bar Loops and amount of (mostly mediocre) work they did recently, I didn't think it was worth bothering. Might check it out now. But I'm generally getting more and more tired of dub techno. Although people have been saying that it all sounds the same for years now, I kinda saw it just this year. I guess if you're really into (dub) techno you can appreciate all those microscopic changes from release to release, but if you are just appreciative of innovative and forward thinking music, you'll probably stay away from digging too deep into the genre. Granted, Echospace is still miles above all the copycats, but the territory of sounds and atmospheres they can explore without stagnating is getting smaller and smaller, even for them.

The track most people have been raving about is the 23 minute Reprise of Beyond the Clouds. Not exactly groundbreaking but very, very beautiful ambientish headphone bliss.


Also, this is not exactly directed at you but I really don't get why people always shit on Dubtechno for 'not being innovative'. Guess what 95% of dance music is just rehashing of the same old shit (you rarely see people bashing on the same old Detroit/Chicago shit) why do people always pick on Dubtechno for 'not being innovative'? It's not trying to be groundbreaking! Why do people who apparently like 'innovative music' listen to Dubtechno and then complain that it's not innovative? Makes no sense to me, that's like listening to Ambient and then complaining that there's no bassdrums or something.

@ Chimney. Oh boy.

Echospace/Deepchord/Rod Modell (check out their whole catlaogue, lots of aliases)
STL
Atheus (as I said in the OP, 'Compile' is really god damn good if you enjoy some classic dubwaves)
Quantec
Bvdub (lots of ambient, too)
Deadbeat
Basic Channel/Chain Reaction (some of the stuff sounds outdated, some still fresh 10-15 years later)
Echocord (probably the best/biggest Dubtechno label in the last few years, pretty clubby stuff recently)
Modern Love (british dubtech label, lot's of different stuff from classic dubtech to stuff like demdike stare)
Yagya (some of the best albums in this genre)
Gas (not exactly 100% dubtechno but whatever, its Gas)
Baum/Meanwhile Sounds/Styrax Leaves/Millions Of Moments (some smaller labels with good stuff)

quote:

Originally posted by Woony ...

Thanks man, will check em out.

Hmm, I'd definitely say dubtechno has that whiff of pretension going on, which may lead people to being annoyed by it being so stuck in it's own traditions.

But the real reason is probably that while most genres at least offer some cyclical innovation. With the occasional annoying retro fad, yes, but dubtechno is the other extreme. It truly hasn't changed a bit and it's been around for decades now.

Lately I feel that dub is increasingly becoming like a gray cancerous mass in electronic music sucking all the life out of the music it comes across in favor of perpetual atmospheric numbness. ugh.

Different techno for different states of mind, I guess.

I'd say it's more a case that dub techno is an extremely minimalist style by definition, not to mention a hyper-specific one. When you've only got about five different sounds in any track there's both a real limit to what you can do creatively before repetition sets in and a real limit to how you define a style.

I'm not going to get bored of the Deepchord crowd any time soon, partly because their production quality is amazing, and their music consistently sounds far richer and more enveloping than it should do, and partly because they've been applying their techniques to a range of different atmospheres and concepts. Other dub techno sounds so two dimensional in comparison to their soundscapes, and it doesn't help the genre's credibility that 90% of the releases out there are just ripping off The Coldest Season over and over.

EDIT: I have an increasing suspicion that techno in general is defined by a fairly limited and canonised set of synth sounds, rhythmic patterns and production techniques. I find it really tough to explain why a record is techno rather than house or trance or electro, it often comes down to it simply sharing a lot of sounds with a lot of other tracks that we already call "techno". Certainly the futurist manifesto of the genre's origins has become completely obsolescent, just like "progressive" has become a self-referential simulacrum.

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J EDIT: I have an increasing suspicion that techno in general is defined by a fairly limited and canonised set of synth sounds, rhythmic patterns and production techniques. I find it really tough to explain why a record is techno rather than house or trance or electro, it often comes down to it simply sharing a lot of sounds with a lot of other tracks that we already call "techno". Certainly the futurist manifesto of the genre's origins has become completely obsolescent, just like "progressive" has become a self-referential simulacrum.

That's what I pretty much think. To me techno is like "how far can you take a loop" and it is always comprised of just a few basic elements, often twisted and turned in different directions. I think techno also, in the true sense, is quite one-directional, an has a persistent kick pattern throughout.

And, obviously, when it tries to do something different we simply don't call it techno anymore. It just gets labelled as IDM.

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J And it doesn't help the genre's credibility that 90% of the releases out there are just ripping off The Coldest Season over and over.

That's just not true. I'd like to see those ripoffs because I've never heard any. Unless you count anything with dub chords and white noise hiss as a 'Coldest Season ripoff'.

To me each of the big dubtech artists has quite a distinct sound. Of course within the genre boundaries, you're always going to have dubby bass and dubtech chords, that's just the definition of Dubtechno.

dub techno by Alan Fitzpatrick



really i just love when a non-typical dub techno producer comes up with something like this

going to see fitzpatrick spin tomorrow, do you know what he plays?

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