dance / electronic music EOY 2012 picks

if i could i would have put up the inertia: resisting routine mix from delsin, but apparently that was december 2011

some singles i liked

SENSATE FOCUS!!!!!

everything on bnr trax

stablo - 9995
burial - kindred
helix - drum track
paul woolford - special request 1 & 2
huxley - let it go
shed - the praetorian / rq-170
xxxy - everything
untold - change in a dynamic environment 1
martyn - bauplan (bok bok & l-vis 1990 mix)
the jam city / main attraktionz track
locussolus - berghain
joy orbison - ellipsis
pearson sound - untitled
joe - studio power on
das glow - concrete EP
bambounou - cobe
fit ft kassem mosse - enter the fog

the one thing i think i listened to more than anything else this year was elijah and skilliam's rinse mix but that was 2011 also

mp3 DJs and those playing along at home take note: sensate focus available on itunes

Scuba - The Hope
probably some stuff by Bicep and Midland
Terre Thaemlitz' Soullessness
Andres - New 4 U
Blawan - Why they hide they bodies under my garage
Huxley - Let it Go
Still Going - D117
Mr. Beatnick - Sun Goddess
Floating POints - Arp 3
Todd Terje - Inspector Norse
xxxy - I know this can't be love
Alex Anwandter - Como Puedes Vivir Contigo Mismo
Julio Bashmore - Ask Yourself (Midland Remix)
Boddika - Acid Jackson

Anything Joy O was attached to, etc. etc.

(Man, I had no idea how easy I had it, music following-wise, living in London this year).

Top 10 albums in rough order:

Dave Aju - Heirlooms
Jam City - Classical Curves
Matthew Dear - Beams
Gudrun Gut - Wildlife
Actress - R.I.P.
Mungolian Jet Set - Mungodelics
Jimmy Edgar - Majenta
Le K - Freewheel
I: Cube - "M" Megamix
Juju & Jordash - Techno Primitivism

With another dozen or so being digested. 12"s....

what was it you liked about jam city? i couldn't get into it. so spartan!

oh man how did i forget

kw griff - bring in the katz

Songs off the top of my head.

Andy Stott - Numb
Girl Unit - Club Rez
Jay Shepheard - Add Arp (Catz n Dogz remix)
Kate Simko - Go On
Nina Kravis - Aus
Oskar Offermann - Fluffer
Ornette - Crazy (Noze remix)
Pachanga Boys - Time
Ry and Frank Wiedemann - Howling (Ame remix)
Todd Terje - Inspector Norse

Don't know if all of the following count as dance/electronic but these too:

Jai Paul - Jasmine
Mister Lies - Cleam
Nicolas Jaar - With Just One Glance
Storm Queen - Let’s Make Mistakes (Club)
Traxman - Footworkin on Air

Regarding Jam City, because it is so spartan. I didn't crack it until a day/week of being assailed by mimsy and suddenly it sounded perfect. A corrective. And its contradictory Romantic Brutalism helped it dodge the tiredness that plagued the Blackest Ever Black end of industrial traditionalism. Same reason I loved B.D.I.'s Decoded Messages of Life and Love 12". If it sounds like a factory, it sounds like a factory filmed by James Bidgood - polished, spritzed with oil and lit with red, blue and pink gels.

Jam City album was pretty meh other than "How We Relate to the Body" and "The Courts". A case of well-chosen singles if there ever was one.

i didn't get the jam city album at all.

albums:

the cataracs - gordo taqueria
blondes - blondes
royal-t - rinse presents: royal-t
vatican shadow - ghosts of chechnya
andy stott - luxury problems
voices from the lake - voices from the lake
john talabot - ƒin
michael mayer - mantasy
cooly g - playin' me
lindstrøm - smalhans

singles/tracks:

ikonika - i make lists ep
huxley - let it go
julio bashmore - au seve
mr beatnick - sun goddess ep
pachanga boys - time
kolombo - don't be shy/sustain
midland - placement ep
omar-s & ob ignitt - wayne county hill cops
anna lunoe & touch sensitive - real talk
miguel migs ft. meshell ndegéocello - close your eyes (deetron remix)
fatima al qadiri - desert strike ep
jessie ware - night light (joe goddard remix)
rudimental ft. mnek & syron - spoons
todd terje - inspector norse
cat power - cherokee (nicolas jaar remix)
emeralds - does it look like i'm heer? (daphni remixes)
slackk - fat city
cottam - deep deep down
storm queen - let's make mistakes
róisín murphy - simulation
hardway brothers - mania theme (toby tobias remix)

commercial mixes:

levon vincent - fabric 63
maya jane coles - dj kicks

Albums I've enjoyed the most so far:

Silent Servant - Negative Fascination
Claro Intelecto - Reform Club
Andy Stott - Luxury Problems
Jon Convex - Idoru
Container - LP

oh yeah

alex agore - i got something
obsolete music technology - mmmmmusic
alex d££mnds - credentials

Releases I have known and loved this year, in rough order of appreciation:

Young Smoke - Space Zone
Blawan - His He She & She EP
John Talabot - Fin
DJ Rashad - Teklife Vol.1: Welcome TO The Chi
Black Dice - Mr. Impossible
Blondes - Blondes
Konx-Om-Pax - Regional Surrealism
Mosca - Eva Mendes EP
Mala - in Cuba
Ital - Dream On
DJ Spinn - Teklife Vol.2 - What You Need

My top albums:

Mala - Mala In Cuba
Nina Kraviz - s/t
Young Smoke - Space Zone
LOL Boys - Enter the Unknown
Silkie & Quest - Dubstep Allstars Vol. 9
Lone - Galaxy Garden
Terror Danjah - Dark Crawler
Fort Romeau - Kingdoms
Ikonika - I Make Lists
Addison Groove - Transistor Rhythm

Top tracks, mostly in relevant pairs, and probably a lot more representative of my tastes this year. The albums feel like a bit more of a regression to the mean. A bunch are just remixes or edits or whatever:

KW Griff f/ Porkchop - Bring in the Katz
Rihanna - Birthday Cake (Funkystepz Miami Bass Mix)/Usher - Climax (Funkystepz Loveshy Mix)
Girl Unit - Club Rez
Zebra Katz f/ Njena Reddd Foxxx - Ima Read (MikeQ & B. Ames Remix)/B. Ames - Vogue If Ya Nasty
Todd Edwards - This Generation
TNGHT - Higher Ground
Lotic - Lust (Norrit Remix)
DJ Q - JD & Coke/DJ Q - Brandy & Coke
Rizzla - Dick/Rizzla - Badmind Ha
Nadus - Green Man, Pt. 2 (this track is amazing and epic but doesn't seem to exist in full online or irl yet i somehow managed to con an mp3 of it)
Swindle - Do the Jazz/Swindle - Forest Funk
Nicki Minaj - Roman Holiday (Schwarz WorldWar6 Vogue Remix)/Schwarz f/ Kevin JZ Prodigy - Beez in the Ha
Brenmar & DJ Sliink - Bait/DJ Sliink - Vibrate
Evian Christ - Fuck It None of Y'all Don't Rap
B. Traits f/ Elizabeth Troy - Fever
Massacooramaan - Dead Long Time/Massacooramaan - Dead Long Time (Nguzunguzu Remix)
Total Freedom - U've Got the Bitch/Total Freedom - Surgeon Luv
Jam City - How We Relate to the Body/Jam City - The Courts
Ynfynyt Scroll - Butch Queen

Albums:
Session Victim - The Haunted House of House
Roberto Rodriguez - Dawn
Ricardo Villalobos - Dependent and Happy
Jon Talabot - fin
Guy Gerber - Fabric 64

Singles/ whatever:
Reboot - Beautiful Parasite
Candi Stanton - Hallelujah Anyway (Larse Vocal)
Ray Okpara - Chi This Wonder Up (Rodriguez Jr. Remix)
Larse - Those of You
Balcazar & Sordo - Obsession
Mark E - Oranges
Kiki & Marco Resmann - Beggin for the Heat
Maceo Plex & Jon Dasilva - Love Somebody Else feat. Joi Cardwell
Finnebassen - Touching Me
Hunter/Game - Don't Feel the Presence
Todd Terje - It's the Arps
Kolombo - Feela (Demarzo Remix)
Maya Jane Coles - Watcher

good year

inspector norse is from 2011 isn't it?

pachanga boys - time
lauer - highdimes
bon/rau - morning funk
disclosure - lividup
george fitzgerald - child
wbeeza - billy green is dead
octo octa - i can feel you (dub)
jacob mikesh filiburt - phillip dolphia

i keep meaning to pick my favourite mixes too, i've listened to more this year than any other year i'd say. i'll have a think.

Inspector Norse was Jan 2012 I believe.

Mine are:

Spectr - Dance 4 Me (Scuba doing awesome Todd Edwards shit rather than fake Chemical Brothers nonsense)
Locussolus - Berghain // Telephone (dark basement techno // sparkly yacht disco)
Raiders of the Lost ARP - On & On (mysterious druggy disco)
Lauer - Trainman (mournful retro analogue house)
I:Cube - Lucifer En Discotheque (slightly camp krauty rock bosh)
Kolsch - Der Alte (end-of-set piano house)
Julio Bashmore - Au Seve (UK bass dude makes massive big-room house anthem)
Murphy Jax & Mike Dunn - Let's Get To It (Serge Santiago Mix) (sax-heavy 90s revivalism)
Hufschlag & Braun - Train To Cologne (Coma Remix) (friendly Kompakt-style house)
Pachanga Boys - Time (drippy Kompakt house)
Lucky Paul - Elephant Island (Midland Remix) (laid back 3pm beach bar house)
Bo Saris - She's On Fire (Maya Jane Coles Remix) (deep and druggy 3am beach bar house)
Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here (Daphni Remix) (mostrous Relevee redux)
Abstraxion - Moribayasa (DJ Kaos Edit) (festival techno)
Broke One - The Empire (brightly-coloured sugar house)

And Inspector Norse but everyone's saying Inspector Norse.

there was another kolsch record i liked better than der alte, can't remember it though.

also i liked, in a cheesy way, the carl craig remix of slam, never heard anyone mention it but it's incredible:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB-lwmqx_KY

The other Kolsch record I played a bit this year was Opa, almost electrohouse, massive chords, barely any space in the beat. Not sure if that's the one you mean though.

(That list is house-techno-disco only, there's loads of other UKG interzone/funky/Redlight-style chunky bangers as well but that just sits in a different compartment in my head)

had a google, this is the one i mean, love it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw0YdrGMyPU

forgot Inspector Norse came out this year. It feels like it's been around forever, like a comfortable jacket.

most of the stuff on thread leaving me a bit cold but

oh yeah

alex agore - i got something
obsolete music technology - mmmmmusic
alex d££mnds - credentials

― #YOLO ONO (lex pretend), Monday, 3 December 2012

good call on the first two here

albums/commercial mixes:

legowelt - the paranormal soul (i might be blinded by my current infatuation with this very new record, but this nonetheless seems deserving of top ten status)
nina kraviz - s/t (i can see why some might not think this is particularly novel but it doesn't matter, this is beautiful)
andy stott - luxury problems (how is this album not blowing the fuck up on every single eoy list so far?)
blondes - s/t (one of many obvious choices)
john talabot - fin (see above)
fort romeau - kingdoms (this album stuck with me wayyyy more than i could've ever anticipated)
tin man - neo neo acid (apparently 2012 was a good year for not particularly innovative yet gorgeous and atmospheric lonely late night comedown-house full lengths?)
v/a - panorama bar 04 mixed by nick hoppner (god damnit i need to go back to berlin)
lone - galaxy garden (classy stuff)
juju & jordasch - techno primitivism (this thing is all over the place but stays compelling at most every turn)

i'll post some trax picks later, it still seems a bit early to make any judgements

what has stuck with me:

shigeto, 'lineage'
ryan hemsworth, 'last words' ep
shlohmo, 'vacation' ep
dj rashad, 'teklife vol 1'
four tet, 'pink'
flying lotus, 'until the quiet comes'
jai paul, 'jasmine'
airhead, 'black ink'
fantastic mr fox, 'speak nuh'

Spectr - Dance 4 Me (Scuba doing awesome Todd Edwards shit rather than fake Chemical Brothers nonsense)

spring 2011

Curses. There are like four other records I struck for my list for similar reasons.

i'll never understand the fuss about bleeding 'inspector norse'

proper colin hunt music

"Inspector Norse" is one I didn't get until I heard it out and then it all made sense

what's not to get? who doesn't want to hear the soundtrack to a giant robot goose stomping down the street in celebration at having thwarted an insidious space attack?

as i say

Was there a weirder remix this year than Wolfgang Voigt having a go at Spector's 'Never Fade Away'?

Albums:

Luke Hess - Come On
Silent Servant - Negative Fascination
Robert Hood - Motor : Nighttime World 3
Mala - Mala In Cuba
John Talabot - fin
Four Tet - Pink
Purity Ring - Shrines (Yes, I know LOL)
Lindstrom - Smallhans
I:Cube - Megamix
Shigeto - Lineage

Tracks :

Rrose - Preretinal 12", the Bob Ostertag EP
Xhin - The Realm
Blawan - Long Distance Open Water Worker EP
Blawan - Why They Hide Their Bodies....
Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here (Daphni Remixes)
Todd Terje - Inspector Norse
I:Cube - Transpiration

And probably a lot of stuff I haven't thought of.

damn, look at you rev

Time for some serious shit:

Nick Hannam & Tom Garnett - You Want Me
Donkie Punch & Lorenzo - Snapbacks & Tattoos / Lil Method
Linkoban - Like This (Tom Shorterz Remix)
Ill Phil & MC Sim - Away We Go
Scotty Boy & Lorenzo - Coke Diet / No Diggity
Troublesome - Scott Garcia & Sticky (JekyllNHyde Remix)
Ill Phil & Lorenzo - Ride On Time
Ahanguera feat. J-Dub - Beats Are So Legit (Cause & Affect Remix)
Majestic - Let's Go Back (Cause & Affect Remix)
Double Trouble & Lorenzo - Drugs

The Other Tribe - Sing With Your Feet (Shadow Child Remix)
Eats Everything - Jagged Edge / Slink / Trubble
Hot Since 82 - Knee Deep In Louise
Jaymo & Andy George - How It Goes

The Wanted - I Found You (Bob Sinclar Club Mix)

The Wanted - I Found You (Bob Sinclar Club Mix)

Tim F possibly the only ILM poster who could type those words and be taken seriously.

Just trying to bring the realness every day of my goddamn life.

Donkie Punch & Lorenzo - Snapbacks & Tattoos / Lil Method

it's cool that you've finally come round to fidget house ;-)

a recent album i forgot

shy one - bedknobs and boomkicks

shy one is great, didn't know there was an album!

the cataracs - gordo taqueria

one of my fav releases of the year

the shy one album was released kinda low-key last week

more people needed to have picked up on the cataracs, such inventive and fun producers

word

wish more dance music in 2012 had that brash, fun vibe. found most other new stuff i heard pretty boring

I think I basically only listened to brash, fun vibe dance music (including The Cataracs) in 2012.

Posted that on the general 2012 list, I love Tim and his approach.

why does anyone prefer the mano le tough remix of simulation to the original, can anyone explain?

i mean, i generally really like mano le tough, but the remix of simulation just seems so bleh compared to the heavy, thick disco-funk of the original

neither are really as amazing as i first thought they were, but i do prefer the og

the candi staton/larse and maxxi soundsystem/herbert remixes i gleaned from this thread are just ruling my life right now

PRAISE HIM TIL YOUR SITUATION TURNS AROUND //// ALL OF YOUR WOUNDS WERE SALTED RAW

Yousef - Beg (Hot Since 82 Future Mix)

^^this is great too

There is SO MUCH great stuff on that Tim Sweeney list.

Posted that on the general 2012 list, I love Tim and his approach.

― Heterocyclic ring ring (LocalGarda), Friday, December 28, 2012 5:47 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

reposted it right after i saw yours. thanks!

c+p'd from yours that is. should have mentioned it before, durr.

this is so gorgeous:

DJ Kaos - Kosmischer Ruckenwind (Quiet Village Remix) - Clone Loft

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS_RTQ5PzXE

I remember seeing a video of some people dancing in front of a garage on ILX and I remember loving it but nothing else about it. Can anyone help I.D. it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUSD7OGkVs8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N89gf6lBKvs

The Quietus is asking the same question on twitter today. Must be a great video.

Best DJ/live act you saw last year anyone?

Live - Shackleton, who is absolutely immense live EVERY TIME

DJ - Probably Omar-S. Carl Craig and Kode9 were also amazing

Zip, Lawrence, Marc Schneider

best djs - jubilee, carl craig, mikeq, total freedom, jacques greene, spf-666, gavin russom

I know it's an idiotic request. Nearly every trap/bass/whatever video ever is either shot just in front of a garage or in a kitchen. All I remember is that someone was wearing a gas mask. Not much to go on...

Kevin Martin live for me. The Bug at a pre-Notting Hill Carnival bass party was one of the heaviest things I've seen all year with new MC Miss Red to add to Daddy Freddy and Flowdan. And then King Midas Sound at Corsica, probably even better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08GNGj6Fwpo

ron trent's raw footage is pretty solid.

two antipodal live sets of 2012: funkystepz max firepower garage w/ mutant rihanna mash-ups+toasting and todd terje playing the likes of tommy seebach enducing supremely relaxed dancefloor benevolence

so haunting and trippy i love it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZdocbsQLK0

I remember seeing a video of some people dancing in front of a garage on ILX

i'm gonna shoot a video on ILX, good idea. nice white backdrops.

why zing 'quietus' when you can zing misplaced modifiers.

; )

just gonna camp out on this thread for the next month or so

i love chymera - trapped in amber (king britt remix) - gorgeous vocals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_wOgXCteGY

http://rapunzelsonline.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/RV%20heart.jpg

Reading the Dope Jams rundown of the year reminded me of the talk about the Andres track up thread.

http://www.dopejams.net/010113.html

they're right about most of those records but jeez dope jams schtick is irritating - those are some easy targets, everyone knows carl craig went to shit years ago, just pointless

i kinda like the joe claussell but then i got no problem with elevator music

yeah i dig me some elevator music, that rundown is positively pipecockian minus the drexciya shrug, or maybe plus the drexciya shrug, the math is a little complicated.

idg what is good techno if drexciya isn't

as far as carl craig goes, people get old i guess? the 'use me again' remix is kind of nuts imo.

i imagine the staff at dope jams is also aging.

one time when i went there the only staffperson in the place was napping on the couch, so

I was going to defend that Earth Beats remix but then I remembered it's the Magazine remix I really like.

and it's only just come out but maya jane coles' easier to hide ep might be my favourite thing she's done since "what they say"

― lex pretend, Saturday, 22 December 2012 09:29 (2 weeks ago) Bookmark

listening to this now, really nice

is this something of a change in direction or am i uninformed

Another big favourite of mine from last year that appeared nowhere in EOY lists, and, in fact, I never heard about once outside of ILM, is this piece of synthpop perfection:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWaf8Ndcr18

xp more singing, mostly

I noticed a lot of folk digging Silent Servant's Negative Fascination. One of the leanest techno albums of the year, great album.

yeah it's cool. was listening to that and Morphosis on Spotify yesterday.

earlier this week Dope Jams sent out an email announcing they are closing, btw. (they will still keep an online store going apparently but the brooklyn brick and mortar shop is closing)

I made a mix of my 2012 favorites. There are some non-dance things in there but as it is well over 50% house music I figured I'll post it here

Direct download link

Tracklist:

1. Dillon - Abrupt Clarity (Catz 'N Dogz Remix) (from 12" on BPitch)
2. Mungolian Jetset vs. Unni Wilehlmsen - Revolving Door (from "Mungodelics" CD on Smalltown Supersound)
3. Fort Romeau - Theo (from "Kingdoms" MP3 on 100% Silk) *
4. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Garden (from "Trouble" CD on Casablanca) *
5. Girl Unit - Ensemble (Club Mix) (from "Club Rez EP" 12" on Night Slugs)
6. Slagsmålsklubben - Yrsel (from "The Garage" LP on Goldenbest) *
7. Ricardo Villalobos - I'm Counting (from "Dependent And Happy - 1" 2x12" on Perlon)
8. Actress - The Lord's Graffiti (from "R.I.P" CD on Honest Jon's)
9. Silent Servant - The Strange Attractor (from "Negative Fascination" CD on Hospital Productions)
10. Andy Stott - Leaving (from "Luxury Problems" CD on Modern Love)
11. A Place To Bury Strangers - Why Can't I Cry Anymore (from "Worship" CD on Dead Oceans) *
12. Professor Genius - Time Of The Assassins (Steve Moore Remix) (from "Hassan" 2x12" on L.I.E.S.)
13. Ben Browning - Feels Like (from "Lover Motion" MP3 on Cutters)
14. The 2 Bears - Warm & Easy (Leo Zero Remix) (from "Warm & Easy" MP3 on DFA)
15. John Talabot - Last Land (from "ƒIN" CD on Permanent Vacation) *
16. Session Victim - Alpine Glow (from "The Haunted House Of House" CD on Delusions Of Grandeur) *
17. Lindstrøm - Rà-àkõ-st (from "Smalhans" CD on Smalltown Supersound) *
18. Jimmy Edgar - This One Is For The Children (from "Majenta" CD on Hotflush)
19. Benoit & Sergio - Not in Your Nature (from "New Ships EP" 12" on Visionquest)
20. Dave Aju - Away, Away (from "Heirlooms" CD on Circus Company)
21. Phil Kieran & White Noise Sound - Never Believed (from MP3 on Phil Kieran Recordings)
22. No Regular Play - Card Game (from "Endangered Species" CD on Wolf + Lamb)
23. Blondes - Business (John Robers Remix) (from "Blondes" CD on Rvng Intl.)
24. Francis Harris - Leland (from "Leland" MP3 on Scissor And Thread) *
25. Terranova - Take My Hand (feat. Khan) (from "Hotel Amour" CD on Kompakt)
26. Susumu Yokota - Animation Of The Airy (from "Dreamer" CD on Lo) *
27. Mohn - Ebertplatz 2020 (from "Mohn" CD on Kompakt) *
28. Josephine Foster - Child Of God (from "Blood Rushing" CD on Fire) *

Some of the tracks are stand-ins for albums. For example I like "Destiny" more than "Last Land" but that fit in the mix better and maybe fewer people have heard.

Francis Harris's "Leland" is probably my favorite house album after "fin" and woefully overlooked. And Susumu Yokota's album sunk without a trace. It wasn't even on Discogs.

i like the francis harris album, totally forgot about it until you just mentioned it. great morning music.

oh, i remember why i forgot about it now. vocals get too cloying.

True the vocals aren't very good. I skip those tracks. But the rest makes up for it. I'm generally finding that anything involving Greg Paulus (one half of No Regular Play) is well worth checking out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDEPE7_WL9I

GODFUCKINGDAMMIT howwww have i been missing out on this for so long

had no one else heard this either or are you all literally insane

Not heard it before, and yes, wow.

From my POV its really rare to hear such a distinctive vocal w/that track, although my lazy ears just pick up her sound not what she says.

Like how it stops with a couple of mins left too.

yeah very striking isnt it, real proper marrow made flesh in a fraidy-cat zone where it's so often measly implied

if you dare check the original it's like some truly ghastly strictly for wankers inverted-commas tina turner thunderdome thing - this genius mix rightfully coronates her to spacequeen and creates a dark palace to prowl and skulk and brood in