in no particular order, a list of albums that helped me get through the year :
violators of the english language – s/t
the black dog – brutal minimalism
the weeknd – dawn fm
ghost – impera
horace andy – midnight rocker/midnight scorchers
mark stewart – vs
various – adrian sherwood presents music without frontiers
various artists – pay it all back vol 8
jeb loy nichols – the united states of the broken hearted
sault – air/x
flying mojito bros – greatest hits 1970-1983
matthew mercer – attaxia
lil obeah – in dub
lil obeah + friends – dub is jazz
lil obeah + friend – everyday is halloween
pama international meets wrongtom – in dub
chase & status – what came before
working mens club – fear fear
john tejada – nocturama ep
vtss – circulus vitiosus (ep)
maurice and charles – manufactured authenticity
tsha – capricorn sun
spoon – lucifer on the sofa
spoon vs on-u sound – lucifer on the moon
daniel averey – ultra truth
as is clear, the list is mix of old faves, new faves, and a couple of swerves.
first up is the excess of brilliance from the on-u sound label.
for fans of a certain age we have got used to years of inactivity with the odd release from time to time,
so, to have several albums in one year has been a massive treat.
especially given the quality of the releases.
the brilliant double whammy of the horace andy set, (gorgeous laid back classics vs the revised soundsystem versions), the variations on the latest ‘pay it all back‘ edition, via the mellow sunday morning vibes of jeb loy nichols, to the weirdly brilliant revisions of spoons latest album of guitar pop.
and then there is the manic ‘vs‘ album by mark stewart which is impossible to describe, but easy to love.
basically, even after all these years, i am still thankful that i ‘found’ on-u sound in 1984.
as for the rest ?
well, the other label of interest was my 2021 discovery : sound of art to come.
in 2022 the main brains behind the label, lil obeah, totally fulfilled his wishes and released several conceptual albums featuring a lot of his music making heroes and so much more.
the result was some of the weirdest/most wonderful reggae infused dub experiements i have heard in a long time.
as for the rest ?
at long last pama intl and wrongtom found the tapes and released the dub album i have waited a long time for,
working mens club revived the political angry dirty noise side of electroclash in way that was addicitive,
ghost did their melodic metal excess to perfection,
the weeknd released a perfect combination of 80s electronic pop and fm radio sheen involving jim carrey,
the flying mojito brothers quietly released the best collection of low groove disco edits of the year,
chase & status cemented their status as the kings of drum-n-bass, both for fans of the original era, and new comers, with an amazing album.
oh, and a late year entry : massive thanks to andy votel and his ‘violaters of the english language‘ release.
i never ever thought i would be spun back into the hip hop groove at the age of 54, but nope, the mix of old school samples (several of which are ripped from his own finders keepers record label catalogue), raps re the life in the north and all that, had me chuckling and digging out my rawkus, backpack era hip hop cds all over again.
now, let’s see what happens in 2023.
onwards,
mark e
ireallylovemusic