The "Electronic" selection was the hardest to build this year. There are so many new "electronic", "techno", house" or whatever, nowdays, that it's getting kinda hard to follow. One of our main sources of information was the website from Warp Records, but with nearly every "electronic" label going for some experimental pop/rock things now it's also hard to keep on getting informed.
If you got some records that could fit in there which we missed don't hesitate to leave a comment! Meanwhile, we'll do with our own selection of "electronic" producers [even though everybody records with a computer today and most of the music produced can so be qualified as "electronic" - but that's for another debate..
.]. The smash of the year is undoubtly zero dB's album, with its heavy dancefloor action of grinning electro-rock techno-latin mashing-up.
At least there's someone else than Amon Tobin trying to get things forward at Ninja Tune...
Their new signing Yppah is also in our selection, it's a Joe Corrales guy from Texas mixing all kind of influences into a solid and beautiful electronic-low-fi-hip-hop-indie whole, and it's a real discovery. We also loved Lost Idol's album, marketed as some kind of "Beck meets DJ Shadow", at the crossroads of categorizing with its electronic production and psychedelic sounds. Hard to describe, the album is at the same time cinematic and catchy, we could not classify it and could not put it out of the CD player.
It's the new thing and comes from Brighton, as most UK treats this year. Take for example Alice Russell's producer TM Juke, who released his second album this year. You can call him "Catchy" cos' the guy knows how to write a song: at least two major BOMBS are hidden on his album ("Skin" "So Good"), which should see the light as 12 inch singles with loads of remixes in 2007.
.. Yummy!
If you like your cinematic beats to go trough the roof, big beat-stylee, infused with spices of Latin, Funk, Afro, Bollywood, Reggae Soul sounds, check the new album from Thunderball, alias Steve Raskin with Sid Barcelona (from Fort Knox Five fame). For something more for the mind, Doctor L's new CD of electronic acid grooves, slams and vibes might be just what you're be looking for. It's no surprise but we still love what we call here "the masters", among which come Herbert, Squarepusher or Luke Vibert (under his Kerrier District pseudo), which all released solid albums this year, keeping on being the best at what they do.
The selection ends with some airy niceness from Swedish duo Koop and their sweet swinging Caribbiean melodies. Is it jazz??
Undoubtly, our "rock" artists of the year are keyboard player Marco Benevento and drummer Joe Russo. We found FOUR major releases for them just this year, starting with the SPLENDID album from Brian Mitchell (guitarist for The Yards, Carlos Washington's Giant People and Amayo's Fu Arkestra), an instrumental jazz guitar thing mixed with some rocking spirit of heavy psychedelic jams, to be classified as "Phish meets Blue Note" or something THAT big. The album is 100% independant, self-released, but it's easily findable on the internet.
.. and if you liked the joyful inventiveness of the Benevento/Russo duo, don't miss their jam/jazz live album featuring Mike Gordon, their rocking Instant Live release or their new album "Play Pause Stop".
Those guys are The White Stripes of the american jammy scene, soon to be as famous as Phish or John Medeski - don't say we didn't warn ya. Talking about Phish, the band doesn't exist anymore but their live recordings are still the best out there. A 1988 triple CD set has surfaced, and you just can't believe its tracklist.
Pure bliss. Their 2004 show from Brooklyn is also available, in DVD or 3xCD releases, and it's another essential buy for fans. If you're reading this site you might be one of them and will know what I'm talking about there.
.. But the jamming action didn't stop with Phish calling it quits and bands from the next generation are kicking hard, with solid releases from The Slip, The Pnuma Trio, Particle, RAQ, Tea Leaf Green or John Popper (singer for Blues Traveler) with his new project featuring DJ Logic.
The american underground "rock" scene is still bursting with sensational new talents and nearly a hundred excellent recordings each year if you include the more jazzy or funk ones (read below), but no medium is talking about them in Europe, djouls.com excepted. You'll just have to trust our selection!
Even though pop/rock is the mainstream now, and most releases tainted with major companies business direction (as opposed to "artistic direction"), we managed to fit a couple of favorites in the list, with a new album from the funniest composer alive on the planet, MISTER 'Weird Al' Yankovic, who brings the parody to another level with a DualDisc of songs and videos to laugh hysterically to (I must admit he's a genius in my France), and a nice electronic poppy one from Kings Of Convenience founder Elrlend Oye and his band The Whitest Boy Alive. We'd had loved to add more pop/rock albums here but..
. which ones? While we were still listening to Freddie Cruger's The 3 Foot People album "3 Feet High Rising", REALLY one of this year best hip hop vibes of this year, Mr Cruger released another over-the-top flawless album, this time on Tru Thoughts Recordings.
He comes from Sweden and is the hip hop artist of the year in our book. How strange is that??
Less surprising is the presence of The Coup duo here, with their "Pick A Bigger Weapon" drenched in p-funk influences. You might consider passing on the new Outkast soundtrack and get this opus instead..
. Turntablism lovers will have jumped on the new Kid Koala release - as mind-blowing as ever, don't miss the Kid if he plays in your town tonight!!
If more into lyrics, check the Braintax album, he's just one of the best British rappers out there words-wise (beats are good too - don't worry). If lyrics ain't your thing, you could put your ears on the new Madlib album/compilation of eccentric hip hop instrumentals..
. More "classic old school hip hop" can be found on The Procussions new album on Rawkus Records, or the Pigeon John one on Quannum Projects. Not new, but fresh, don't hesitate.
The mixtape from Hydroponics Sound System is more adventurous, rather dancefloor-oriented, mixing lotsa other influences in their hip hop. To conclude this selection on a lighter note, we've chosen DJ Yoda's first album. After so many funny mixtapes, he's finally released his own thing with loads of guests, and it's one winner of a groovy hip hop humor thang.
Jazz, Funk Soul were the new thing this year in music. So many good and solid records were released that we opted to select more than 20 references for the last 6 months alone! Things start kicking with our man of the year (again!
), John Medeski. We've already told ya he was "the Jimi Hendrix of keyboards", as a matter of fact we've started telling you this in 1998 in this website..
. you should start to believe. His collaboration with guitarist Eyal Maoz was released on Tzadik last year but it's still the best Medeski thing we've heard this year, that's why it tops our selection.
But the Scotty Hard album with John Medeski and Matthew Ship is a solid contender. Scotty Hard is the sound engineer/producer for Medeski Martin Wood and many others, up to the Wu-Tang Clan. His new album is as psychedelic as you'd want a Medeski Martin Wood one to sound like.
So, you know what to do: get those two albums fast!! The Medeski Martin Scofield Wood album (with John Scofield, you'd have understood) isn't as essential but quite cool nonetheless.
The band is finally free of their Blue Note/EMI contract which had them releasing copy-controlled "discs" for too many years (which I don't buy cos you'll never know where it won't play, in your new CD player, in your car...
), this is a totally independant release which implies new Medeski stuff coming our way very soon...
You'll also find this John Medeski guy featured on the DJ Logic, Baby Loves Jazz, Trey anastasio and Club d'Elf releases this year, all selected on this page. He's just the musician of the year, so please John, keep on keeping on! Scotty Hard can also be heard producing the DJ Logic album, a masterpiece of afro-funk-hip-hop-jazz.
It starts to sound as if all those incredible jazz albums of this year were all recorded by the same bunch of people. Take for example trumpetist Steven Bernstein, who masterminded the Baby Loves Jazz release (grooving for kids and adults), a new Sex Mob album and another one for his Milenial Territory Orchestra..
..
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