Top Tracks 2018 Part V 60 – 51

60. James Ginzburg – Above Water, Inside (Six Correlations)

As on half of emptyset, the modus operandi of Ginzburg on Six Correlations might sound familiar if you listened to their last album Borders in 2017. Here Ginzburg tones down the distortion and emphasis on colliding organic and synthetic for a different relation of these two parts. There is no dichotomy between them, yet Six Correlations was born as part of a performance that deals with the disappearance of an analog and natural world in favor of the digital and networked. Maybe it is the intrinsic failure of this theme that sets "Above Water, Inside" and Six Correlations in motion in the first place. Build from a simple drum pattern, clear drone, and white noise weave and breathe around to convey an effect of overtaking the organic sounds. Still, as in Borders and Ginzburg and Paurgas concept of overriding electronic sound made through acoustic means of triggering sounds, there is no part overtaking the other, just a spiky harmony of drones and electronics becoming the new natural, blending with the drum pattern and creating a certain kind of harmony and beat. Inspired by Gaelic music and psalm singing, on this track Ginzburg showcases one of the best traits that can be heard in this particular style of uncoordinated chorus singing: The parts still come together, beauty will always be made in the listeners ears and just as these voices crash against church walls for the grand natural reverb, the synths crash against natural patterns and resonate even when the drum relinquish and leave behind negative space for their electronic counterparts. 

59. Okzharp & Manthe Ribane – Why U In My Way (Closer Apart)

The hypnotic voice of Manthe Ribane is in full effect on “Why U In My Way”. The whole collaboration of producer Okzharp and the South African songstress Manthe Ribane is a forward-thinking exercise in trippy production, from ice cold to affectionately murmuring. “Why U In My Way” carries itself by its infectious drum pattern and stops and stutters in the aquatic ambient sounds throughout. Ribane gives movement and direction and sets up a journey, letting the question of “Why U In My Way” transform to a staggering attack on your sense of self.

58. Kali Malone - Cast Of Mind (Cast of Mind) 

Title tracks and root source for the variations that comprise the second LP by Kali Malone “Cast of Mind” is the aural representation of going to war in an ambient style. Buchla synth and woodwinds and brass conjure and omniscient body that feels like an army but allows for the breath of the few performers to peak through. I´m not a great fan of medieval fictions or fantasy like Lord of The Rings, and while it may seem fitting for these sounds to evoke standing at the gates with an army, the affect of deep tension and lurking peril can be translated into the notes and the interplay of instruments itself as well. The length of the track alone brings with it a kind of tedium, as if the breath is slowly fading away again, all teeth no action.

57. Migos – Top Down On The NAWF (Culture II)

Culture II was filled with too many tracks, not fillers in general, but a heavy heap of tracks that are mixtape material before they are proper album joints. This could have distracted from a few of the latter tracks on the album, like “Culture National Anthem” or the triumphant return home “Top Down on The NAWF”. Like one of my favorite Migos tracks “Came From Nothing”, “Top Down” is a reflective cut, the trio counting their blessings and remembering their home and come up from the perspective of flexing in their expensive cars and watches. Migos go as far in their building of meaning and culture, that the whole undertaking comes off as a meme of itself, but there is still a place of origin, a history they unpack and cherish and that will always outshine their connections to any allegations of dumbing down rap music and pushing it towards pop music´s hallowed state.

56. Stella Donnelly – Boys Will Be Boys (Thrush Metal)

The emotional impact of “Boys Will be Boys” cannot be lost on anyone. Donnelly pitches a wake-up call, a think piece that is as descriptive and violent as it is accusatory and vengeful. Taking the plotlines of rape and victim blaming and fashioning them into hitting lines like “would you blame your sister, if she cried for help” or the catharsis of “time to pay the fucking rent”, Donnelly manages to circumvent any notion of not addressing the issues in a proper fashion or using words that can be misunderstood. This is not a moment of “understanding” both sides, but the elegy of a voice and a guitar against a toxic culture and the correlative violence of simply staying with the norm of “boys will be boys”.

55. Skating Polly – Little Girl Blue and the Battle Envy (The Make It All Show) 

Taking over the reins and fighting for your voice to be heard. In a way, "Little Girl Blue" is at ones a pacifist statement, anti-selling out and a teen anthem of trying to be independent and free of the influences of anyone who “knows better”. The words “I forfeit” become charged with anguish, frustration and gradually fueled with anger. Kelly Mayo´s shrieks and cracking voice bring the punk full circle. A soldiers anthem, someone turning the back on all the marketing and management and stopping to give a fuck about the consequences of things. While “Queen For A Day” is another great highlight of The Make It All Show for its sheer pop-punk “shout the lyrics” handiness, “Little Girl Blue” is a small epic, six minutes in length and going through the motions of becoming fed up and pushing for release with a voice in your head still reminding you “your a loss for me / your a cost for me”.

54. Jay Rock – For What Its Worth (Redemption) 

Jay Rock works best in his jarring honesty. "For What Its Worth" is Rock rapping “Guilty Conscience” with himself. Being torn between being on the street and staying hard and keeping food on the table with music on the other side, and the other side of being lustful in engaging with gold digging women. The question of “is it worth it?” looms over Rocks verses in the voice of Ori, a ghost of the intoxication and anger turning you towards the bad, while still clearly knowledgeable of the repercussions. Going with the overall theme of Redemption, "For What Its Worth" has Rock standing at a similar point as Vince Staples over his FM! project: The inextricable thrill and the reality of one's place of origin, a love of all the vices while in full command of the realization that staying is not an option.

53. Kadhja Bonet – Mother Maybe (Childqueen)

I got stuck on "Mother Maybe" for the incredibly chill funk vibe, something that my father might have listened in his Boney M. days. Throwback might be a huge part of Kadhja Bonet´s music, but nothing here is dwelling on the past or tries to recreate older times. Bonet works within her realm, channels the greats and has a lot of her own powers to give. For I soon started to stay for the powerful last section, a freak out of Bonet repeating “Mother, Maybe” in a frantic voice, pushing her to register higher and higher and closing her pondering on the power of life and creation.

52. Recondite - Durch den Hohlweg (Dämmerlicht)

Take one of the best acid and techno producers of recent years and let him set up an album full of beat-centric, hip-hop and soundtrack inspired tracks and you´ll arrive at Dämmerlicht. This one almost feels like a different version and approaches to the 2013 album Hinterland. Recondite goes full atmospheric here and uses his skills in building tracks not just for the bpm side of things, but for the mood and the extra mile on various sounds and textures. “Durch Den Hohlweg” feels like the opening journey sequence of an excellent art house film. A track with eerie ambiance and a discernable stride forward, towards narrative and telling means, not only showing and passive experience. The strings here are everything, pizzicato like pulling, grabbing the attention and the hollow bass letting loose imagination.

51. GAS – Rausch 3 (Rausch)

While the poem by Wolfgang Voigt doesn´t reveal very much about the nature of Rausch and any concrete meaning behind it, the reference to the regression of a “Volksfest”, the excess and strange uniformity of people gathering in a national or localist setting can be detected. At least in my mind. Rausch reflects the stomping of feet, the distant sounds of people getting drunk and singing along to folk music as gruesomely as possible. "Rausch 3" is one of the best examples of the stomping bass that runs through all of Rausch undercutting every fanfare and semblance of lighter tones. All this while these layers come out on top and give an ethereal color to the track.