Top Tracks 2014 Part X 19 - 11
19. Run The Jewels – Angel
Duster (Run The Jewels 2)
Run The Jewels know how to go out on a high note. I should have chosen the closer of the debut over the banger of the second track in 2013. El-P and Killer Mike conclude bleak and pessimistic: The world is not a nice place and we tend to forget all the forces that control us. Therefore rely on yourself and your own mind. "I kill my masters / I mentor none".
18. Rainer Veil – Three Day Jag (New Brutalism)
Rainer Veil gave the gift of another EP this year. A set of confined delayered instrumentals drawing from dark wave and drum and bass. Three Day Jag moves gravely, more as a decrease then a increase as the high tide is muffled and distant but still manages to digress from the introduced tranquility into a nerve wrenching irritation.
17. Mogwai – Remurdered / Repelish (Rave Tapes)
This is another (and last) double placement because I see no reason to distinguish. Rave Tapes by Mogwai showcases a band that never grows tired or uncreative and Remurdered just as Repelish remind me of the reason I fell in love with this band in the past. Remurdered is the tension twist, maybe Mogwai´s own way of saying "Look, we know, we´ve been there and done this times before, but bear with us" until the thumping electronics surface from short piercing synth hits and manifests that experimentation is not a necessity for making good music, but a way of varying in order to get the attention of jaded listeners. As they tell their story again and again, the reaction of exhaust is not an option. Repelish also once again uses a recorded voice narration / rant in the fashion of Punk Rock as ground for a spiritual jam by the band. Satanic message is what the speaker is concerned with and Mogwai exorcise with a linger of organ and lucid arpeggios.
16. Lands – Set Sail And Never Look Back (Misanthropy)
Lands unfortunately remain widely unheard by bigger channels of music journalism and that is sad. As they set forth a sense for the delicate and harmonious in their version of doom metal, Misanthropy saw them amping up the harsh instrumentals and leaving piano section widely out. Still, with hardcore influenced, group shouting ambiance as in Set Sail, the British rocker show that they haven´t forgotten to set them apart from every other band in their lane.
15. Drake – Days In The East
If I was a rap executive, I´d be jealous at Drake. As many artists fail to even bring out one consistent album or to stay in the news a year after their newest album release, Drake just keeps the tracks coming and not a single one of them lacks in depth and craft. Days In The East is not just an cut from Nothing Was The Same but furthers Aubrey Graham´s never ending story of self-loathing and love. The switch in the mid-section introduced by "Erkah Badu making tea" and talking about love gives the whole song a hint of finding the sublime in the trivial.
14. Ben Frost – Nolan (A U R O R A)
No idea what Frost had in mind when he titled this track Nolan, but I´m instantly reminded of Christopher Nolan and his movies. For all the uneasiness Nolan captures, there is a highly humane feeling, something organic as the shallow drumming in this track. When the dance party begins to emanate, Frost flips the cap and goes mental just as flying into a black hole.
13. Junius – Forgiving The Cleansing Meteor (Days Of The Fallen Sun)
Can you feel it? The tension of the world you´ve know falling apart and Joseph Martinez delivering the words for the unspeakable? There is no other band for defining my listening experience of complex rock music as Junius. Immerse yourself in Days Of The Fallen Sun and let the closer Forgiving The Cleansing Meteor give you the answer to what remains after catastrophe has struck.
12. Saba – Butter (Comfort Zone)
Reflecting of my top 20 tracks, you might sense some positive moments missing. Rightfully so, as music is not my place for explicit positive notions. But here we have Saba and his track Butter. This songs is like waking on a summer morning and feeling like you have the world in your hand.
11. WIFE – Heart Is A Far Light (What´s Between)
The transition from Altar Of Plagues to WIFE is a huge one not easily comprehended by fans of black metal. But James Kelly´s WIFE project outshines anything the Irishmen ever did. Heart Is A Far Light is bare bones iteration of Depeche Mode done right – I could easily imagine Martin Gore with his high pitched singing coming in on the end. But it is exactly here where the "black" is hidden, in the space and hollowness of Kelly´s voice.
Run The Jewels know how to go out on a high note. I should have chosen the closer of the debut over the banger of the second track in 2013. El-P and Killer Mike conclude bleak and pessimistic: The world is not a nice place and we tend to forget all the forces that control us. Therefore rely on yourself and your own mind. "I kill my masters / I mentor none".
18. Rainer Veil – Three Day Jag (New Brutalism)
Rainer Veil gave the gift of another EP this year. A set of confined delayered instrumentals drawing from dark wave and drum and bass. Three Day Jag moves gravely, more as a decrease then a increase as the high tide is muffled and distant but still manages to digress from the introduced tranquility into a nerve wrenching irritation.
17. Mogwai – Remurdered / Repelish (Rave Tapes)
This is another (and last) double placement because I see no reason to distinguish. Rave Tapes by Mogwai showcases a band that never grows tired or uncreative and Remurdered just as Repelish remind me of the reason I fell in love with this band in the past. Remurdered is the tension twist, maybe Mogwai´s own way of saying "Look, we know, we´ve been there and done this times before, but bear with us" until the thumping electronics surface from short piercing synth hits and manifests that experimentation is not a necessity for making good music, but a way of varying in order to get the attention of jaded listeners. As they tell their story again and again, the reaction of exhaust is not an option. Repelish also once again uses a recorded voice narration / rant in the fashion of Punk Rock as ground for a spiritual jam by the band. Satanic message is what the speaker is concerned with and Mogwai exorcise with a linger of organ and lucid arpeggios.
16. Lands – Set Sail And Never Look Back (Misanthropy)
Lands unfortunately remain widely unheard by bigger channels of music journalism and that is sad. As they set forth a sense for the delicate and harmonious in their version of doom metal, Misanthropy saw them amping up the harsh instrumentals and leaving piano section widely out. Still, with hardcore influenced, group shouting ambiance as in Set Sail, the British rocker show that they haven´t forgotten to set them apart from every other band in their lane.
15. Drake – Days In The East
If I was a rap executive, I´d be jealous at Drake. As many artists fail to even bring out one consistent album or to stay in the news a year after their newest album release, Drake just keeps the tracks coming and not a single one of them lacks in depth and craft. Days In The East is not just an cut from Nothing Was The Same but furthers Aubrey Graham´s never ending story of self-loathing and love. The switch in the mid-section introduced by "Erkah Badu making tea" and talking about love gives the whole song a hint of finding the sublime in the trivial.
14. Ben Frost – Nolan (A U R O R A)
No idea what Frost had in mind when he titled this track Nolan, but I´m instantly reminded of Christopher Nolan and his movies. For all the uneasiness Nolan captures, there is a highly humane feeling, something organic as the shallow drumming in this track. When the dance party begins to emanate, Frost flips the cap and goes mental just as flying into a black hole.
13. Junius – Forgiving The Cleansing Meteor (Days Of The Fallen Sun)
Can you feel it? The tension of the world you´ve know falling apart and Joseph Martinez delivering the words for the unspeakable? There is no other band for defining my listening experience of complex rock music as Junius. Immerse yourself in Days Of The Fallen Sun and let the closer Forgiving The Cleansing Meteor give you the answer to what remains after catastrophe has struck.
12. Saba – Butter (Comfort Zone)
Reflecting of my top 20 tracks, you might sense some positive moments missing. Rightfully so, as music is not my place for explicit positive notions. But here we have Saba and his track Butter. This songs is like waking on a summer morning and feeling like you have the world in your hand.
11. WIFE – Heart Is A Far Light (What´s Between)
The transition from Altar Of Plagues to WIFE is a huge one not easily comprehended by fans of black metal. But James Kelly´s WIFE project outshines anything the Irishmen ever did. Heart Is A Far Light is bare bones iteration of Depeche Mode done right – I could easily imagine Martin Gore with his high pitched singing coming in on the end. But it is exactly here where the "black" is hidden, in the space and hollowness of Kelly´s voice.
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