Top 10 2004: Nicolas Chevreux
Dec 20, 11:27 by Stefan KoopmanschapIn alphabetical order:
-Carthage – 23:64PM (Irritant / Twin Valley Falls)
I had heard only very little of the british producer Carthage before getting this CD, but trusted Irritant to deliver the goods. A compilation of various Carthage recordings, this albums ranges from clicky experimentations to full toned, groovy massive tracks. Carthage might be quite low profile, but this album was one of the rare discs of instrumental electronic music this year that really impressed me.
-Jason Forrest / Donna Summer – The unrelenting songs of the 1979 post
disco crash (Sonig)
Jason Forrest is no newcomer to people who have checked out his stuff on Irritand and Omeko, but this new album on Sonig is the first one that opened him the door of a much wider audience. He’s still into mixing disco, cock rock and electronic wizardry, but had here a much more accessible approach, with less aggressivity and more melodies.
-Knifehandchop – How I left you (Tigerbeat6)
Knifehandchop’s quite a wonder. Managing to mix gabber roots, hip hop anthems, computer game nerdiness and come out with a quite introvert and touching album is quite a tour de force. “How I left you” might not be as tongue in cheek as his first “Bling The Noize” album, but it is also a much better produced and thought off record.
-LFO Demon – Genocide Memoria (Sprengstoff)
Granted, “Genocide Memoria” is very influenced by Mick Harris’s works with Scorn. Low tempo, massive basses, kinetic beats. But hey, Scorn didn’t have any release out this year, and LFO Demon’s 180° change from his fast breakcore to these more laid-back tracks is very welcome. Not the most original work to date, but once which is very tasty and well executed.
-Madvillain – Madvillainy (Stone throw)
I might not have expected as much as people who are deeper into hip hop than I do from this collaboration between MF Doom and Madlib, but I was floured by the coherency, solidity, and humor of this album. For once, here is an extremely well produced album from which underground producers could learn a lot.
-Shadow Huntaz – Corrupt Data (Skam)
First (and long awaited) album for this collaboration between Funckarma / Quench and the US MCs Shadow Huntaz. While I have always appreciated Funckarma, the dub elements they have included in this album makes their music take a big step forward. Moreover, Shadow Huntaz’s vocals are very good and on the spot.
-Shitmat – Full english breakfast (Planet Mu)
The whole ragga + breaks trend will meets its end pretty soon, probably, but is still a few good releases away from biting its own snail. Shitmat’s album, a good UK answer to what Bong Ra, Enduser or Kid606 released in 2003 is a monument of party tunes that prove once again that you can infuse some warmth into hard breaks and beats.
-Utabi – Manchurian Candy (Ad Aad At)
Ove Naxx didn’t have any release in 200, so I just have to include this CD by his fellow Japanese artist on this list. Utabi’s debut album is a little unexpected rocket, which wander constantly between very broken structures, weird beats, cheap 8bit sounds and nice voices. A pretty hard album to digest at first, but also a very fun, and after some time, emotional one.
-Enduser / Edgey / Subsektor – 2% volume one (Reduced Phat)
I am grateful to Reduced Phat for bringing something out by Enduser in 2004, so that I can include this artist on this list. Enduser is the perfect example of a musician coming from the hard end of things and still being able to write tunes that appeal to more than 10 hardcore geeks sitting in dim lit rooms in front of their computers. Now, pair him up with one of NYC’s most hectic producer and a rock solid d’n’b musician from Canada, and you get a very tasty (and low in fat) split CD.
-v/a – Shockout (Tigerbeat6 / Shockout)
The series of 9 records put out by Tigerbeat6’s ragga sublabel Shockout was a gift of the god, pairing more than decent MCs (Wayne Lonesome, first and foremost) with some of the most interesting electronic acts of the moment, in my opinion. One can’t really resist a ragga-infused track by Drop The Lime, Tech Level 2 or Ove Naxx, and the CD compilation crowning the first 10 releases in this series is a slap in the face to the people who still have to check out this “trend”.
All in all, 2004 was the year of the vocals. There was not ambient work that really broke any ground, and IDM has turned into a vile electronic version of emo, with all the clichés included. No ground breaking new genre seemed to appear this year, but 2002 and 2003 were also amazingly rich in this sense.
Nicolas Chevreux is the founder of the label Ad Noiseam and used to run the legendary website ‘Recycle Your Ears’.
#Corrugated Tunnel - Chainsmoking Top 10 2004: Tommy (Run_return)