TOP 11 ALBUMS THAT I LIKE, TOTALLY REALLY LIKED IN 2011
By Zofia Ciechowska
(download and streaming links are provided for all free albums)
(download and streaming links are provided for all free albums)
1. Katy B – On A Mission
On A Mission is
not only excellent because of big issues like ‘women reasserting themselves in
male-dominated dance genres' but mainly because it makes you feel
like kissing boys, grinding sweatily on the dancefloor till 5 AM at some random
house party, laughing your head off and not giving an eff. Katy has the most intense of voices
that effortlessly swings through a jungle of dubby stuttering basslines, ravey
jolts and heartbroken lyrics veering towards euphoria. This album is
deliciously danceable and I absolutely love it more than anything else in the
world.
Exmilitary is a
collection of thirteen maniac tracks that beat you unconscious with their clenched
fists of raging noise and rabid, barking vocals, Charles Manson clips included.
To be quite honest, Death Grips just plain scare the shit out of me, but in
that kind of way that makes me want to put my ear up to the speaker blasting
this album and irreparably damage my hearing. Zach Hill, Flatlander and MC Ride
have released a beast of a record into the wild which has gone on some sick
killing spree, wiping out all musical competition this year.
3. WU LYF – Go Tell Fire
To The Mountain
I will grudgingly concede that these guys are kind of living
up to the hype they made a while back. Werewolf howls, percussion gunshots and
trumpeting organs make this record tear off its sleeve with much roaring, manly
force. Frontman Ellery Roberts delivers the final punch with his frantic, raspy
vocals that string together the lone guitar twangs that litter this album. The
pheromones can be smelled from a mile away. Question is - do we buy that whole
story about them recording it in some abandoned church?
4. Flamingods – Sun
Sun is pretty much
like that big ball of fire shining through your window as you read this column
– it seems like no big deal but actually it is an exploding radioactive star
that could swallow up our whole solar system. It’s about five London boys
drinking too much tropical juice drink, getting a sugar rush and banging on weird
tribal instruments and making a lot of unclassifiable, happy racket. And
finally, it has a lovely homemade sound to it that makes you feel like you’re
watching these dudes rehearse in your living room.
5. Julianna Barwick – The Magic Place
I want to take the time to officially un-baptise Julianna Barwick as ‘the new Enya’ and all the bad
associations that may have entailed. The
Magic Place is ambient music stripped down to its most naked, unashamed and
natural state as Barwick’s voice builds a winding labyrinth of unearthly sighs
with the help of a loop station and nothing more (!). An album that is
genuinely soothing and startlingly beautiful in a way that doesn’t just annoy
you.
6. Pictureplane – Thee Physical
I like to think of Travis Egedy aka Pictureplane as Lady
Gaga’s cool little tall brother. Perhaps he doesn’t wear dresses made of
charcuterie, but he most certainly wears a post-physical dress with much pride
in Thee Physical when he chants ‘you
could be my boy and I could be your girl, trancegenderless’ with the guest
appearance of Nika Roza Danilova of Zola Jesus. It’s cool, subversive clubby
music strewn with 90s synth basslines, diva samples, lasers and piano breaks,
all with a dash of DIY queer/simulation/internet theory to top it off.
7. V/A - Music for Saharan Cellphones
Chris Kirkley of Sahel Sounds travelled around Mali and
Mauretania to discover that the main mode of listening and sharing music there
was through mobile phones and bluetooth. He recorded a collection of these
local tunes and released it in the USA, it gained a lot of hype and
subsequently got remixed by a number of unknown dudes. Music for Saharan
Cellphones is mindblowingly awesome firstly because it is the most tricked out
collection of distorted African beats to date but also because it has crossed
so many different borders on so many different levels that it makes my head
hurt when I think about it. And it’s free!
8. Clams Casino – Rainforest
You will know Mike Volpe aka Clams Casino from his
collaborations with the likes of Lil B and Soulja Boy, but those tracks turn
pale when confronted with this man’s deconstructed hip hop EP Rainforest. Amidst the tropical fauna
and flora hum and buzz comes forth a powerful blast of throbbing echo and
muffled vocals that sends shivers down your spine and hypnotizes you into
miasmic oblivion. Can you believe this guy doesn’t make this stuff for a living
and interns at a hospital instead? Not for long, I say.
9. Barn Owl – Shadowland
Recommended by my bearded drone fan flatmate, I never really
thought I’d get into this EP and yet I did which is why you should definitely
give it a go too. I don’t have a beard which might make me less credible than
my flatmate, so maybe just take his word for it. Made up of just three
insomniac tracks that meander down dusty ambient roads, Shadowland’s mantric guitar waves and synthesizers create an aching
tension that seems to repeatedly build and release itself. Best listened to
when not sober.
Miami-based 20 year old Spaceghostpurrp is a cheeky little
bastard who likes rapping about sexual intercourse and conjuring up spooky,
horrorcore-inspired beats interspersed with Mortal Kombat samples. This guy
gets a massive high five for his good sense of humour (see album title) and
general tomfoolery. To be quite honest, I mainly like this album because SGP
compares his penis to a flying broomstick from Harry Potter. No but really,
it’s damn good and if you haven’t listened to this then you’re waaaay behind.
Get on it.
Californian five-piece girl rap group Pink Dollaz released
this mixtape in 2010, but I am putting it in here because a) I just can and b)
it deserves another shot at being the hottest shit in the world. An unabashed
ghetto teen girl manifesto, Mixtape
Volume I is the audio counterpart to slashing your ex-boyfriend’s tyres and
pissing on his air conditioner. Exploding with window-shattering basslines and
rap lines that cover cunnilingus and hand me down Gucci, this record is the
best Xmas present you could give your little sister.
Throughout December the Subbacultcha! Blog will be publishing a series of Top 11 [insert-category-here] of 2011 features! Want to get involved? Please email zofia(at)subbacultcha.nl
The more, the merrier!
