TranscendNoise

10. Kelman Duran – 13th Month Actually released in 2018, 13th Month saw a first vinyl release in 2019. From those producers and electronic minds working on pushing the dancefloor to resemble an art space, or rather breaking the idea of spaces of art being secluded from real experience, music, and places of dance, Kelman Duran´s second record feels like an archeologist, anthropologist and DJ engaging in research of global sounds, local sentiments and the politics of oppression at once. Initiated by a stay a the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota and a film documenting the living conditions of the Native Americans amidst social depravity and political troubles of the prominent pipeline, Duran chose his mode of beat making and clashing dembow riddims, reggeaton, dancehall, hip hop, and even some batida among other influences to a introspective collage of subversion. Powerful statements and lyrics become slowed down, stripped of their original background and music to reoc...

20. Andy Stott – It Should Be Us Eight years after blessing us with his second LP We Stay Together which established his signature sluggish broken dub music and served as the inspiration for other artists to rethink and slow it down, Andy Stott gives a tasty reminder that he is still helming the boards with muse and efficiency. We Stay Together saw a much-awaited release this year and by the start of November "It Should Be Us" seemed to relive and update the best negative bangers ever produced. With Boomkat mentioning the similarity to some of the sounds and tweaks of Stotts early work and Low´s Double Negative that broke the idea of what establishes a band and shoegaze last year, It Should Be Us returns the formula with a bigger focus on driving beats and, as described by Stott himself, tracks for the dancefloor. From the get-go, the sludge of Stott mingles with his shine and polish, the ghostly twinkle of "Promise" incentivizing to rethink dance music wh...

30. Caroline Polachek – PANG Polachek's first album under her full name and without the guise of another project or approach shares parallels with Charli XCX self-titled Charli released this year. This doesn´t only apply for both artists choosing the futuristic PC Music production team to exponentially grow the instrumental side of their music but in their attempt of going for the heart of pop experienced in their own voices. Polachek released two more experimental or left-leaning albums, notable her first 2014 album Arcadia as Ramona Lisa, trying to put her voice in all its effortless baroque abilities to the front and ultimately bordering from airy to incredibly vapid art-pop. On PANG the best elements of her vocal abilities grow together with her sensibility for sweet pop about love and heartbreak, elements that made the best Chairlift tracks lustrous or would come to the forefront when lending her voice to artists like Blood Orange. Opposite to Charli , PANG is an as...