|
2008 was an eventful year, no matter how you look at it. The temperature climbed, and the weather patterns proved to be as fragile as ever. Gas and food prices hit new highs, the airlines and auto industry found themselves in deep shit, and we almost lost Detroit again. The war in Iraq continued, but no one paid it much attention. Eyes were trained on the U.S. election, the first sporting event to ever receive 24-hour media coverage for an entire year. Our characteristic apathy gave way to frustration and outrage, which the gave way to a desperate hope for a new direction, and America at long last found a politician capable of inspiring the population and redrawing the electoral map. After years of hearing about the end of American global hegemony, things actually unraveled very quickly. In a matter of days the world’s economy went into a complete meltdown, and it became clear that the particularly American form of capitalism—and the country’s corresponding reach, influence, and line of credit—had ended.
Musically, it was as good as any year in recent memory. Despite the near complete conversion of the DJ populace to CDs or mp3 software, 2008 saw a surge in vinyl sales. The increase may be mostly due to indy rockers, but several prominent dance music labels held the line and stayed 100% vinyl—Sacred Rhythm, S Y N T H, Mahogani, KDJ, Jazzman, Perlon, Restricted Access, Especial, Crue-L, Peoples Potential Unlimited, Stillove4music, Moton, Cache, Harmonie Park, and many others. With any luck, we’ll have deleted our hard drives and be back on track in another year or two.
On the personal level it was an eventful year as well. I got my Masters Degree and relocated to Seville, Spain. For the second year in a row my collection suffered a net loss—this time not by fire, but by fire sale. Summer fuel surcharges and space limitations combined to make it necessary to purge several hundred records. My economic situation since the move has made keeping up more difficult, so I’ve missed a lot over the past six months: José James, Bronx River Parkway, Flowering Inferno, and Menahan Street Band’s debut LPs, the Carl Craig and Moritz Von Oswald “ReComposed” project, and new albums from Jazzanova, Nicola Conte, and Moodymann. I expect a lot of these releases would count among the years best, but it would be disingenuous to include them. Instead, I’ll stick to what I own and know: my personal favorites from the past year. Some are technically late 2007 releases, but all were well-played and loved in 2008. My advice for 2009: sell your car, buy vinyl, take the bus to work.
Best New Singles of 2008
1. Mike Huckaby – “My Life with the Wave” (Limited Edition Set) – S Y N T H
This is Detroit’s Mike Huckaby’s ode to the Waldorf Wave, a truly remarkable synthesizer with a sound that simply cannot be achieved any other way. The first release of “My Life with the Wave” came out in late 2007; its limited run of 500 pieces sold out immediately, and the rumor was there was no chance of a repress. Nevertheless, in early 2008 some of the better stores started stocking this hand numbered “Limited Edition Set” (which also includes a Wave sample CD) in very small numbers. It was expensive, but no one was complaining. I paid $30 or $40 for my copy (can’t remember how much exactly) at Dopejams, and never looked back. Simply put: the record is worth it. I wouldn’t let go of mine for much more than that, and lately I could really use the money. It would appear others agree with me; copies of the original (without the Wave sample CD) are now going for that much or more.
Since I haven’t really tried making music yet (perhaps 2009 will be the year I finally take that particular plunge), I can’t really comment on the CD samples. I’ve read that the CD is really well put together. The Wave, people say, is an expensive piece of equipment, and that it takes a lot of experience to get the sounds out of it that Huckaby has compiled. I’ve read people say that pretty much anyone who makes house music would find the CD useful (check Huckaby’s myspace to listen to some of the results). Since none of this is first hand, it’s probably neither here nor there.
Let me talk about what I know: the record.
The A side, Wavetable, is a dark, stormy, hypnotic techno cut. It brings a wash of vivid images to my mind: of a cavernous industrial space with sweating walls; of dark winter days in Minneapolis; of streetlights reflected in puddles; of rain; of hauling ass down an empty interstate in the middle of the night. It’s not often that I like a techno song, but I love this techno song. I love it and I want to marry it, and have all its babies.
Maternal stirrings aside, I really only have occasion to play the B side tracks of this. Both of them are nothing short of amazing. “Fantasy” is late-night sort of house track, very tranquil with latin drums and a Wave baseline that is so deep and lush its as if it has an extra harmonic dimension that no one but Huckaby has been able to locate. “Fantasy” is the perfect title; this song sounds like sex feels. Seriously. Listen to “Midnight Logic” if you really want to know. The B2 cut “Jupiter” is a resonant, otherworldly affair with a deep and solitary human warmth to it. It is beautiful and contemplative and a bit sad—but earnest, honest, and emotionally real. Huckaby has a rare ability to squeeze emotion out of electronics—or perhaps breathe it into them, and this showing is no exception. It was crafted with the same production genius and clarity as the other two songs on the EP.
This release holds special meaning for me, because its values are in the right place. In 2008, I found myself thinking more and more about music revenue and distribution models and all that we stand to lose (indeed, are already losing) as a result of Mp3s. I’m not talking just about all the usual arguments—vinyl’s superior sound quality and the aura of physical objects, or the potential of labels to stay in business and artists to make a living; I’m talking about the way we listen to and think about music, the way we value it.
This is a large and complex topic, and I have a lot to say about it; now is not the time to get into details, so in order to save time let me appeal to a fact that I think most people will understand and agree with more or less intuitively: we don’t care about music as much as we used to. It's true—think about it. I’m not talking about any person or population in particular, but society at large—we simply don’t value music as we once did. As individuals we might love music as much as we always have, but it doesn’t mean as much within our culture as it once did, and though many of us try to remain insulated from the general debasement and devaluation happening all around us, the fact remains that the rate at which and ease with which we now consume music, particularly disposable music in disposable formats, ends up cheapening it.
In my more depressive moments and negative moods I think—as the alarmists are always saying—that the end of the physical musical artifact is near, and with it we will forever lose many of the more satisfying elements of our old way of listening to and understanding music. Then along comes someone like Huckaby with a totally superior product and restores my faith in our past to save our future.
In the age of digital reproduction, it is only the unique, the finite, the physical artifact (whether mechanically produced or hand made) that can maintain the value we once bestowed upon our music. Mp3s are at best merely functional. Though they get sold “new” at prices ranging from $0.99 to $2.99, they are easily-acquirable, infinitely-reproducible, and effectively without value; that is, they are actually worthless—$0.00 being the real market price at which they most frequently circulate. Since they are functionally disposable, they are treated as such. Vinyl, on the other hand, in being a limited physical artifact, allows for not only economic but personal value: an emotional connection between not just the music and its listener but the music product and its owner—a bond evident in the fact that selling records can be a very emotional experience. No one has an interesting story to tell about how he or she came into possession of a certain music file, but such stories are ubiquitous among vinyl collectors, no less among those in possession of this particular 12".
Part of the genius of the “My Life with the Wave” is that Huckaby understands all this, and the inherent value of his creation, and acts accordingly. Instead of allowing such a major achievement to get passed around, burned and burned out, Huckaby takes measures to pretty much insure that every time “My Life with the Wave” is played it is a special occasion. These three songs will never be disposable; they will remain fresh, evocative, and powerful for many years. What’s more, he managed to monetize the project in such a way that he was able to make just as much money as he would have had he chose to put this out as an MP3 release—without devaluing his own creation. In a lot of ways this release does exactly what Kevin Kelly advocated in a thousand true fans—an essay proposing a new and hopeful (but apparently flawed) revenue model in which artists sell directly to their most hardcore fans. It is music to be fully appreciated, and shared—not in the Napster/Limewire/Divshare way, but in the way people have shared special music with one another since the very first records were pressed—truly sharing them.
I’ll stop gushing now; the shear dopeness of the record is beyond words. Get yourself a copy, at all costs.
2. Mayer Hawthorne and the County – “Just Ain’t Working Out / When I Said Goodbye” – Stones Throw
Probably the most hyped release of the year, but for good reason: the debut of new Detroit artist Mayer Hawthorne is sick, sick, sick. The sixties soul-styled vocals over a sparse hip hop beat will have you crooning in a falsetto and saying things like “don’t wanna see your tears, baby” to your girl completely out of context (like when she’s not crying, for instance). Immediately upon release this record was impossible to find. The heart-shaped, red vinyl ala Bobby Caldwell only fueled the single’s collectability—with stores like Dusty Groove and Turntable Lab selling out within a few hours of restock, and collectors listing copies on discogs in the 40-60 dollar range just weeks after its initial release. Sheeeit.
3. Ruben Blades – Plástico (Nauts Ricanstruction) – Fania/Vega
Fania killed it this year with what was easily the best label remix project since Blue Note did theirs maybe five years ago. Top remixes from top remixers like Louie Vega, DJ Format, 4 Hero, and Joe Claussell, but the single that really stood out was Bugz in the Attic’s rework of Ruben Blades’s “Plástico.” Bugz really switched up their gameplan on this one, delivering a gorgeous remix with all the musicality and polyrhythmic complexity of the original. It starts off with what has to be a live bass, string, and rhythm sections, then brings in the ill drum programming Bugz are known for and the “vocals con sabor” of one of Salsa’s finest. The end result is beautiful: somewhere between disco and latin, not merely house but not quite broken beat either. It sounds like real music, made by real musicians, who can do sick drum programming, yes, but know when and where. One of the very best records of the year, and a stark contrast to all the lousy tech house and dime-a-dozen minimal that everyone’s been making and playing. Hopefully 2009 will see more music-makers move in this direction.
4. Kutiman – Music Is Ruling My World – Melting Pot
The multi-talented Opher Kutiel (aka Kutiman)’s 2007 album brought together deeply rooted afrobeat and funk with cosmic, soul, dub, and psychedelic elements. Melting Pot did a great thing in handing over the remix duties to California beat maestro DJ Day, who takes the album cut “Music is Ruling My Word” and turns it into the afro-funk bomb it was meant to be. He smoothes things out a bit and adds a killer break—just try not dancing, seriously—and the whole thing comes off like butter. I sometimes find myself humming this song when I’m walking around Seville, or at the grocery store or whatever. Why? The hook is a catchy little thing, and music rules my world.
5. José James – Desire & Love – Brownswood
Brownswood really came into its own this year, with a series of artist-remixer pairings that were nothing short of a mature dance music lover’s (increasingly rare) wet dream. Give one of music’s most remarkable new voices to the always-on-point Kenny Dixon Jr. and you know the result is going to be pure fire.
6. The Rongetz Foundation – East – Heavenly Sweetness
Bruno Hovart—better known under his aliases Cinnamone, Porks Watch, and Patchworks, and through his band The Dynamics—is one of the most consistent, yet versatile, producers out there. Everything he touches is great, and it was by typing his name into some online record store that I discovered this dope little four-track 10”. I won’t lie, it’s the Patchworks mix that I play; but the three, deep jazz originals are worthwhile in their own right. The remix of “East” is built on foundation of cut-up scat rhythms, then incorporates tight breaks, keys, and a melancholy melody that sounds like something snatched from a Mulatu record. Simply amazing.
7. Ben Westbeech – So Good Today (Featuring The Dap Kings) – Brownswood
The Dap-Kings join up with Ben Westbeech for this soul-steeped, funk jam with all the makings of a future classic. Thank you, Gilles, for making these encounters possible.
8. X.Panded Dimension.S – Oweyi – Sacred Rhythm
Joe Claussel’s Sacred Rhythm label was everywhere this year, with a couple big releases and a bunch of drums, sound effects, and other DJ tools released primarily on 7 inch vinyl. The Anthony Nicholson produced “Oweyi” 12” was probably the best of the more traditional releases, but a number of DJ tools found a permanent home in the 7” pocket in my UDG bag (Mental Remedy’s “The Sun - The Moon - Our Souls,” H. Garden’s “Gentle Rain,” and Bolla’s “The Trip,” and the “Oweyi” Drum Version II)—perfect taking a normal four-on-the-floor house cut deep into the jungle—or outer space.
9. Tony Allen – Losun / One Tree / Ole (Hypnotic Brass Ensemble & Salah Ragab mixes) – Honest John’s
Honest John’s “Tony Allen Rework Project” has been going on for two or three years now, but still continued to deliver the goods in 2008. These are more covers than remixes, and mysterious to boot. Salah Ragab and the Cairo Jazz Band are, apparently, the same group that recorded in Egypt in the sixties and seventies, who once met the Sun Ra Arkesta, and so forth. Here they re-imagine Allen’s afrobeat jam Ole with heavy, big-band horns and real swing. Up next is Hypnotic Brass Ensemble with their characteristic low-fi, haunting—and yes, hypnotic—rendition of “Sankofa.” Solid all around.
10. The Pimps of Joytime – Street Sound – Wonderwheel
A well-rounded EP of laid-back latin funk from The Pimps of Joytime. The sound here is warm, and there’s a distinct party vibe—as if the whole thing (remixes included) was recorded live in front of an intimate, enthusiastic crowd. Imagine a pick-up band formed from members of Hydroponic Sound System, Los Amigos Invisibles, and the Quantic Soul Orchestra and you’re not far from the mark. Good times.
11. Nostalgia 77 – Quiet Dawn – Tru Thoughts
This release is worth it just for the Povo remix of “Wildflower,” a nice slice of vocal jazz just as good as anything the duo touches, but it’s Bonobo who really steals the show here with his mix of “Quiet Dawn.” It’s not terribly complex, what he does—melancholy piano chords built over boom bap drums—but very effective. Gorgeous.
12. Cosmic Force – Ghetto Down – Truth & Soul
Sublime space funk with all the right elements: disco drums, horn blasts, porn guitar licks, gangsta whistles, and a slow-burning swing that is pretty much irresistible. Also, Kenny Dope remixes.
13. Chico Hamilton – Mysterious Maiden – Joyous Shout!
Two beautiful Joe Claussell mixes of the classic "Mysterious Maiden" by jazz drummer Chico Hamilton. One is a slow summer samba; the other a jazzy dancefloor cut reminiscent of and every bit as good as “Je Ka Jo.” Without a doubt the classiest 12” of the year, and pressed accordingly: on super-thick 180 gram vinyl.
14. Anto Vitale – Majico – Seasons Limited
I can’t even remember the last time I picked up a Seasons release, but it was long enough ago that their new direction surprised the hell out of me. This release is moody, dark, deep, and tribal as fuck, with eerie keys ominous African chanting—a really nice song for taking a set somewhere strange.
15. A Night With Dick – The Dick Dickler EP – Max Trax
Kerri Chandler’s standout release of the year. A particularly dope four-tracker in the vein of his usual stuff, but this time interpolated with hilarious answering machine messages featuring women panting things like “I miss you lots” and “Hola papi, it’s me Miranda” into the telephone. There’s also a priceless phone skit about a black market vibrator deal ("pleasurable devices for ladies, I prefer to call them") between two dudes with thick Irish accents. To top it all off, the sleeve comes packaged in a brown paper “Adult’s Only” porn-store bag. I don’t want to downplay the tracks themselves, because they’re some of Kerri’s recent best—just saying the release deserves bonus points for its sense of humor.
16. Various Artist – Magnificent Sampler – Chisol
I could pretty much do without the other three songs on the sampler, but Yaw’s “Where Would You Be” has quickly become necessary to my daily happiness and well-being. I have no idea who Yaw is, but there’s no doubt in my mind that this is one of the year’s best soul singles. It’s never far from the turntable at home, but I have yet to find the occasion to play it out. When I do, I have a feeling it will have a great effect. This is one for the lovers, for sure.
17. Sascha Dive – Deepest America – Ornaments
Another killer Moodymann remix about how the soul is gone for good; a complete contradiction of terms.
18. Blackcoffee – Even Though – Real Tone
The deeper than deep bassline and slow-mo vocals made this an instant favorite. The vinyl hardly left my record bag all year.
19. Osunlade – Mama’s Groove – Defected
This was a huge year for Osunlade, with two home-run singles that not only feature the brilliant originals from 2007’s “Elements Beyond,” but functional, more or less tasteful reworks by some of the more popular remixers of the moment.
20. The Rebirth – Love Issue – Mahasa
The Rebirth’s noteworthy return, this time on small LA startup label Mahasa music. The original is just what we’ve come to expect from The Rebirth—genius soulful R&B—but the remixes are dope as well. The one I play the most is the Domu remix, which builds around his sick, signature broken drums, then lets them slide in the sonic backdrop, pushing the vocals and instrumentation forward and maximizing the soul. J Boogie’s mix is also pretty cool, which takes a more head-nodding dubby hip hop approach over "Love Thang" precussion. Fantastic release all around.
21. The Bamboos – I Don’t Wanna Stop – Tru Thoughts
Lanu’s Bamboos were back in 2008. Marc Mac beefs up the bass and speeds up the break, but leaves the soul in tact. Nice. Also comes with an instrumental version and three different accapellas, and the band’s most recent collaboration with Alice Russell on the flip.
22. El Guincho – Palomitos Park – Young Turks
I stumbled onto this while looking at some Spanish music sites and got hooked. Not anything like what I’m usually into, but somehow this dude’s sample-heavy style really does it for me. It's sort of a hectic beach rock, pop, afro, tropicalia amalgam. Discogs has the artist classified as “art rock.” What the fuck is art rock? En fin, just get yourself a copy and have a listen.
23. Various – Universal Vibes Sampler – Universal Vibes
Surra’s “Diotima” was one of my favorite downtempo songs of 2008.
24. Diesel & Jarvis – Malinga / Mr. Wong / Black Woman – Moton
Moton returned in late 2007 after a long hiatus. “Malinga” is a nice disco meets afrobeat song. Not sure who the original artist is. Now that I think about it, this should be in the re-edit category. Oops.
25. Ino Hidefumi – Serendipity / Sentimental Promenade - Innocent
An odd little 7 inch on clear vinyl from Japan's Innocent label. A simple recipe: jazzy, feel-good Rhodes melodies over some break drums. This sounds live, not the usual repetitive MPC-based instrumental jazzy hip hop Japanese labels are always putting out. On the lounge side of things, but with enough of a kick for the hip hop heads.
Wow, this is getting long. More to come in a follow-up "part 2." |
