thx tim!
― just sayin, Monday, 4 June 2012 10:38 (eleven years ago) link
echoing the love
― Fas Ro Duh (Gukbe), Monday, 4 June 2012 15:49 (eleven years ago) link
Also this:
The only real problem with "Snooze 4 Love" is that it reminds me of my latent desire for oxycontin, which re-emerges any time I lie on my bed, dead tired, and listen to tunes like this. Luckily then this is filled with moments - like when a resonant horn line is dispelled like mist by the reemergence of the throbbing bassline - that provide their own sense of chemical immersion.
I haven't wanted any oxycontin since I threw away the last of my post-surgery ones two years ago, but this almost makes them tempting again.
― toby, Monday, 4 June 2012 16:55 (eleven years ago) link
48. Nadia Oh - Taking Over The Dancefloor (Kate Middleton)
Probably my most hated act of the 00s was Vandalism, a local post-electro-house duo who took the affected disaffection of Who Said Funk's already-dispiriting "Shiny Disco Balls" to a grim and gruesome nadir with the bored, nasal recitations of their irritating debut "I Might Like You Better (If We Slept Together)", the painful intensification of the blueprint on follow-up "Smash Disco" and the apocalyptically awful zenith of "Creeps (Get On The Dancefloor)", the capacity of which to harangue the listener while still sounding utterly disinterested in itself making it a deserving nominee for the decade's worst tune, worse still because, by mutilating the barely-dead corpse of Steve Bug's remix of Freaks' "The Creeps", Vandalism managed to compress an entire depressing three-book tale of electro-house's decline and fall into four grisly minutes. Here we must distinguish between affected disaffection - the limited creative potential of which the past decade has thoroughly depleted - and the disaffection of the singer who doesn't realise they're meant to sound like they care. This too must be distinguished from the further avenue of affectlessness - the sheer absence of emotion one hears in some (though only some) post-autotune pop, which can seem to move beyond questions of caring or a lack thereof - leaving us with a surprisingly thin strip of pop where the singer actually sounds like they'd rather be sleeping off their comedown (even Paris Hilton mined this territory only occasionally). What makes Nadia Oh appealing to me is how effectively her nonchalance walks the tightrope between disaffection and affectlessness, her robo-frankenstein's bride chants of "we gon' take your money", "throw your wallets in the sky" and "SWAG!" suggesting she's "just like that", the kind of person who says everything in a voice implying sarcastic deadpan even when she's being totally sincere. In fact Nadia still might not be that appealing except that her persona offers the perfect foil for the euro-moombahton backing track, its efficient compression-packed travel bag of whistles and sirens and handclaps and rave synths and most of all its monolithic yet slothful beat suggesting a dance that goes through the motions in a manner that ought not be satisfying but absolutely is. And even leaving aside all of the above, "Taking Over The Dancefloor" would deserve this position due to the marvelous yet too-brief new keyboard melody that lays siege to the outro.
47. Vybz Kartel - Coloring Book
For the most part I was left a bit cold by Vybz's swing circa Pon Di Gaza towards downbeat but sweet autotuned balladry, not so much in and for itself but because over multiple tracks (and especially in the context of an entire album) I find the cumulative effect kind of oppressive (and certainly depressive), the moistly thick plod-throb of the riddims and Vybz's dreary half-sung melodies always putting me in mind of that suffocating, disoriented feeling I get after falling asleep in the afternoon. "Coloring Book" is in this vein yet not, its stuttering piano groove and eerie violin sweeps thoroughly lachrymose and yet utterly sharp and crystalline, the sadness now piercing and even chilling. It's matched well to Vybz's ambivalent ode to his tattoo obsession, which peddles a sad tale of addiction even as it implores listeners to get their own inks. "When the tattoo needle start fi bun / Mi kill off the pain with Street Vybz rum" he quasi-boasts in deadened fashion, but he also seems to need the pain: "Stylist push the needle through the epidermis / hotter than a macka hype bun you like a furnace / pretty when it finish but it hot when it a service / you only hear the needle go so "eeennn" and get nervous / from me start me cant stop, everyday me say dis a last two..." As much as anything, "Coloring Book" derives its power from Vybz's vocal range, veering from deep baritone to adenoidal tenor and back again as if to observe his fixation from every possible angle, from pride to anxiety to hardened bossman indifference. And if he wasn't truly scared of himself, why did he choose to tell this story over such a consummately melancholy riddim? Whatever his motivations, "Coloring Book" is one of very few tunes of last year that can leave me feeling sad some time after it finishes.
46. Groove Theory - Tell Me (George Fitzgerald Remix)
I always adored the louche grace of the original "Tell Me", which never fails to bring to mind Amel Larrieux in the video clip, bobbing her head and swinging her hands back and forth in almost absent-minded time with the beat. Aside from the fact that it's a great song, "Tell Me" doesn't necessary seem like the perfect fit for a post-dubstep syncopated house reworking (if you'd pitched it to me I would have been slightly scared), but from its first seconds - the insistent kicks, the gorgeously throbbing synth-chords, Amel's slightly pitched up vocal now signifiying impatient need as much as boundless generosity - Fitzgerald's effort is so thoroughly right-seeming that even the memory of doubts is banished alongside the doubts themselves: this was always meant to be, and always meant to be perfect. Much like the 2012 work of Disclosure, Fitzgerald's bubbly, hesitant remix offers yet another reimagination of the meaning of "garage", its trebly delicacy and pillowy atmospherics and sensuous, meticulously timed percussion (the hi-hats alone are unbelievably beautiful) simultaneously recalling Deep Dish's remix of De'Lacy's "Hideaway" and Dreem Teem's remix of Amira's "My Desire" in its evocation of an intoxicating vulnerability, a desire constantly falling forward yet deeper into itself, Amel's sighs laying her bare before you while the music promises understanding and empathy without limitation. There's nothing street about it: just desire as champagne bloodrush, ecstatic and overwhelmed and utterly impossible.
― Tim F, Monday, 18 June 2012 13:33 (eleven years ago) link
SWAG!
― karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Monday, 18 June 2012 23:41 (eleven years ago) link
only 45 left to go!
― D-40, Sunday, 25 November 2012 22:41 (eleven years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/yyFZo.jpg
― r|t|c, Sunday, 25 November 2012 22:46 (eleven years ago) link
the worst thing is that it's always tim's MOST FAVOURITE tracks that get shafted
― #YOLO ONO (lex pretend), Monday, 26 November 2012 12:50 (eleven years ago) link
heh i'm sure tim's wouldnt have been boring but generally this dreary awards season would most likely be much improved if everyone were forced to only discuss their top 20-50
― r|t|c, Monday, 26 November 2012 15:45 (eleven years ago) link
probably true of every year really
― #YOLO ONO (lex pretend), Monday, 26 November 2012 16:06 (eleven years ago) link
Let's get 2011 out of the way. This is just what the balance of my 2011 list has been since the beginning of the year, haven't really thought about its currency now but it looks pretty sympathetic to Nov 2012 me:
1. Diddy-Dirty Money - Sade / No Ordinary Love2. Beyonce - Schoolin Life / Countdown3. Fuzzy Logick ft. Myshy - Playground4. Toddla T - Take It Back (Dillon Francis Remix) / CSS - Hits Me Like A Rock (Dillon Francis Remix)5. Nicki Minaj ft. Esther Dean - Super Bass6. Gucci Mane - Brrr! (Supa Cold)7. Funkystepz - Warrior + various remixes eulogising8. Konshens - Nuh Pull It Up9. Ill Blu - Monsta10. Laza Morgan ft. Mavado - One By One11. Royal-T - Cool Down12. Desloc Piccalo ft. Adiah - Drums13. Artful - Could Just Be The Bassline (ArtOfficial Club Mix)14. Schoolboy Q ft. Jhene Aiko - Fantasy15. Britney Spears ft. Nicki Minaj & Ke$ha - Till The World Ends (Remix)16. Purpl Pop - The Way (The Living Graham Bond Dub)17. S.E.C.T. ft. Ben Westbeech - In The Park18. Kelly Rowland ft. Lil' Wayne - Motivation19. Terror Danjah ft. Ruby Lee Ryder - Full Attention20. Dead Rose Music Company - Never Gonna Stop21. Don P The Panhandle King - Gone Do22. Dawn Richard - Broken Record23. Busy Signal - Pon Dem24. Meek Mill ft. Rick Ross - Ima Boss25. Invisible Conga People - In A Hole26. Cherine Anderson - Make Up Sex27. Champion ft. Ruby Lee Ryder - Sensitivity28. Toi - You'll Be Mine29. Alexis Jordan - Good Girl30. Matthew Kyle - Off My Mind31. DJ Q ft. Louise Williams - Over Me32. Jordanne Patrice - Ready When Yuh Ready33. Benoit & Sergio - Everybody34. Pitbull ft. Ne-Yo, Nayer & Afrojack - Give Me Everything35. Natalie May - Clothes Off 36. Tanya Stephens - Shame On You37. Selena Gomez & The Scene - Love You Like A Love Song38. Jesse Boykins III - I Can't Stay39. Lloyd ft. Awesome Jones - Cupid40. S-X - Wooo! Riddim (DJ Q Refix)41. Aisha Davis - My Loving42. JoJo - Marvin's Room (Can't Do Better)43. Scottie B ft. Jae Elle - Feel Nice, Feel Right44. The Wideboys - Shopaholic (Future Garage Remix)45. Popcaan - Raving
I post this despite thinking that lists by themselves are kinda boring, so if anyone actually wants a spiel for any of these in particular let me know.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 10:45 (eleven years ago) link
Nick Hannam & Tom Garenett ft Tom Zanetti - You Want MeTerri Walker - He Loves Me (Artful Mix)Pyper ft Kt Forrester - Dagger To The HeartVybz Kartel - Lip GlossTanya Stephens - Take Good Care Of My Man
yeah can you do these please :]
― r|t|c, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 11:04 (eleven years ago) link
Haha, there's a reason I'm getting 2011 out of the way.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 11:30 (eleven years ago) link
lol knew you'd bottle it
― r|t|c, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 11:34 (eleven years ago) link
http://videogum.com/img/thumbnails/photos/gossip_girl_3_5/dan.gif
that finneyana reign just wont let up
― r|t|c, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 11:38 (eleven years ago) link
Ha. Selfishly wouldn't mind a gloss on the Dillon Francis, as I didn't see many others write about moombahton (didn't catch on around here, and I think uh trap has colonised any potentially sympathetic spaces). & "One By One" for general life-affirmation.
― etc, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 01:21 (eleven years ago) link
lol xp
― flopson, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 14:59 (eleven years ago) link
Don P The Panhandle King - Gone Do
Wish I could find an MP3 of this. Great track.
― MikoMcha, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 19:35 (eleven years ago) link
shoutout to brainwasher for that 1
― D-40, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 20:43 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah Deej hipped me to that, it was the last thing I heard to make my list I think.
― Tim F, Wednesday, 28 November 2012 21:05 (eleven years ago) link
So, 2012...
― MikoMcha, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 12:15 (eleven years ago) link
Coming.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 13:23 (eleven years ago) link
looking forward to it!
― toby, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 13:45 (eleven years ago) link
you should try to get a publication to pick up on it tim - 1) it's good enough (obviously) 2) it feels weird and wrong expecting someone to be doing something this detailed unpaid 3) it would make you finish it
― lex pretend, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 13:47 (eleven years ago) link
kickstarter
― frogbs in the trap (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, May 1, 2012 5:00 PM (7 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
print & bind them & ship them by march 2013 along w/ an accompanying youtube playlist or w/e and i'm in for... $20? $30?
― frogbs in the trap (J0rdan S.), Tuesday, May 1, 2012 5:01 PM (7 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― ❏❐❑❒ (gr8080), Tuesday, 18 December 2012 18:35 (eleven years ago) link
^ cosign.
― toby, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 21:49 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, feels weird sort of harassing you for it, but it's clearly a highlight of the EOY... I would pay for the zine version.
― MikoMcha, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 23:23 (eleven years ago) link
I would pay $s for just an emailed version (with e.g. youtube links for listening). But yes, obviously this is a bit weird, apologies etc.
― toby, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 23:32 (eleven years ago) link
Basically my aversion to that kind of thing is the need to organise myself. The level of organisation required at work is already almost more than I can handle.
However I have been thinking of some sort of zine idea for a while, not for this EOY but for something next year.
― Tim F, Tuesday, 18 December 2012 23:50 (eleven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8VXQKFQQkE
man richelle are still something else... you hear album upon album less transportive than these here 5 minutes
― r|t|c, Saturday, 23 March 2013 22:59 (eleven years ago) link
Tim do you like 'Drink and Rave'?
― Matt DC, Thursday, 11 April 2013 18:02 (eleven years ago) link
Nice writeup of reggae crooner Tarrus Riley
― curmudgeon, Friday, 30 May 2014 18:52 (nine years ago) link