Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s by DriftingOrpheus
- Chart updated: 3 days ago
- (Created: 04/02/2020 03:56).
- Chart size: 100 albums.
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The centerpiece is the 34 minute odyssey, Bring the Sun/Toussaint L'Ouverture. A track detailing a Haitian slave revolt with all the ferocity one could imagine. It carries guitar hits that resemble facial punches that only cease once the skull has caved in. Incorporating horse whinnies and tribal chanting, the track dares one to ponder the music's inspiration, or even the headspace of the men crafting it. The most "straight-forward" rocker on the album is Oxygen, a song detailing an asthma attack with inertia that never ceases until the horn-soaked climax.
Rarely has an album embodied both a densely visceral and well-realized existence. The frightening aspect behind it all is that it seems to flow through the band so effortlessly, almost as vessels for transcendent music powered by an unseen force. While it's not a record for the conventional listener, you'd be hard-pressed to find an audiophile not displaced by To Be Kind's translucent beauty, or not horrified by its unfettered explicity.
"May planets crash, may god rain ash, to sear our skin, to fold us in
Kneeling close, seeking hands, our blood is warm, but what comes next?"
-Kirsten Supine
Standout Tracks:
1. Oxygen
2. She Loves Us!
3. Bring the Sun/Toussaint L’Ouverture
100.4 [First added to this chart: 04/25/2020]
While the previous record, 2014's To Be Kind conveyed a seething, scathing critique of human indecency, The Glowing Man is a far more reflective and anguished experience, almost communicating that the emotional toll of the journey that this era of the band went through was a soul-altering odyssey. Take second track Cloud of Unknowing for instance, a 25 minute, bone-rattling lead up to a midpoint climax that I have yet to see duplicated. After the storm passes, the track slinks back into the bowels of darkness from which it was conceived, hissing chants of "Monster eater" and "Jesus feeler". The second half of the record commences with the towering Frankie M, a 20 minute pulse-pounding journey dedicated to a battle lost to drug addiction. An abridged version was featured in Swans' live sets as early as 2014 but the final form of the song serves as a moment of tempestuous strength and intense catharsis on the album. When Will I Return? details a horrifying rape-attempt that befell Michael Gira's wife Jennifer. Possibly the album's most gentile track, Jennifer claims to "Still kill him in her sleep". The penultimate track here is the title track, The Glowing Man. The most extensive cut on the album, clocking in at nearly 30 minutes, is the most chameleonic, beginning as an avalanche of bruising guitar hits. The track then simmers before swelling again into a furiously paced proclamation of bodily manifestation. Vocalist Michael Gira cries, "Joseph is moving his tongue in my neck, Joseph is riding a vein in my head, Joseph is cutting my arm on his bed, Joseph is making my body fly". After having listened to it, you'd be liable to admit to an out-of-body experience.
The Glowing Man only consists of eight tracks, eight tracks spanning nearly two hours with enough vexation, desperation and despair to rival a lifetime of alcoholic's anonymous meetings. I've stated in earlier write-ups that the band incorporates their music with a staunch focus on the dichotomy of sound decibles. The Glowing Man seems to consummate this idea with the concept of emotional contrast. Moments of exhilaration lap on the shores of severe hysteria and dejection. Additionally, It shines through in practice as well as from the listeners point of view. At times the album ceases to be organized sound, but instead formulates as a raw force of nature. Put simply, it sounds like a human soul crying out for liberation.
"I beat him on his face
And I stab with all my strength
And I scream until he goes
I scream until he's gone
Then I crawl across the road"
-When Will I Return?
Standout Tracks:
1. The Glowing Man
2. Cloud of Unknowing
3. Frankie M
97.8 [First added to this chart: 04/25/2020]
Seemingly alternating between uptempo, positively-charged romps and sentimental, breezy ballads, Modern Vampires of the City prioritizes balance far more than the band's prior work. The first landmark comes in the form of third track Step, which twinkles triumphantly leaving Rostam Batmanglij's production as the hallmark of the sweepingly gorgeous cut. The album soon receives an adrenaline shot in the form of Diane Young, a full-gear stomper which emphasizes a desire to live life at its fullest, with no regrets about being rebellious or young for that matter. One of the album's most audacious excursions comes in the form of tenth track Ya Hey. Frontman Ezra Koenig's vocal delivery is in stark contrast to the rest of the album, invoking religious fervor at a subdued pace.
As convention would have it, Modern Vampires of the City is indeed a pop record. It's one that takes risks, nudges away stereotypical classification and entrenches Vampire Weekend as a prominent force in modern music. Provocatively written, skillful executed and exquisitely produced, the album is a testament to the blossoming creativity of a young group on the rise, with much success predicted to follow. The album has a warm quality and has effectively become a comfort piece for me, calling back to better times. It's a record for those with youthful flesh and minds with temperaments far beyond their years.
"Ancestors told me that their girl was better
She's richer than Croesus, she's tougher than leather
I just ignored all the tales of a past life
Stale conversation deserves but a bread knife"
-Step
Standout Tracks:
1. Step
2. Finger Back
3. Don't Lie
96.8 [First added to this chart: 04/25/2020]
'Long Season '96' contains material from Fishmans at their peak. Recorded in the Winter of 1996, its release in 2016 came as a welcomed surprise for loyal fans who had long waited for a companion piece to the seismic '98.12.28' (1999). It's safe to say that '96' wades effervescently through the same hallowed passage of celestial bodies. The LP commences, the only way it could, with a Fishmans live staple/calling card. 'Oh Slime' starts with the shrill, unmistakable wail from Shinji Sato, a sort of auditory autograph, as the unit uncorks their customary, preliminary track. This version of 'Oh! Slime', is more barebones than the epic, arena-filling version found on '98.12.28'. What this rendition lacks in polish, it makes up for with heavy helpings of charm. Notably less formidable than its evolution, the playful keyboarding of secret weapon member, Honzi, colors the track beneath Sato's half-spoken/half-sung vocals. Before you can blink, the band slips into second track 'Go Go Round This World!', as declared by Yuzuru Kashiwabara's heartbeat, sub-aquatic bass line. This iteration of 'Go Go' vastly differs from its original life as a single from Fishmans in 1994. Where the single was direct, melodic and firmly colored in from within the lines, the live equivalent is comparative free jazz and borderline improvisational. It's an eight-minute, kaleidoscopic safari that reorients itself compulsively between canorous wobbler and prog-rock bouncer. It's one of the record's more intriguing forays, especially when holding it up to the light, parallel to the prototype. Putting new coats of paint on compositions should always be in play on stage and the band successfully touches up their prior handiwork. Third track, なんてったの, is an early career standout, as pointed out by Sato himself. The swirling track retains most of the properties of the studio cut. In other live iterations, there's a warmth present from Honzi's keys. Here, chilly tones return, leaving the warmth to Sato's vocals as Kin-ichi Motegi's drums dance around both elements. It's a track that undeniably circular, leaving the listener in dizzy, joyful bewilderment. The aura of merriment extends to fourth entry, '土曜日の夜', however, shy basslines are shown the door. Kashiwabara's buoyant work on the track provides a smooth surface for others to effectively ad-lib on top of. This bravado is most extroverted during the song's mid-section, when Honzi's cosmic flourishes play tag with the unshackled guitar of Darts Sekiguchi. '土曜日の夜' is a ringing endorsement of the sturdiness of Fishmans' sonic foundations and gives credence to the notion that any additional musical adornment would homogenize seamlessly.
The LP takes its foot off the pedal with fifth track, 'バックビートにのっかって', a tranquil transcription of one of the more serene moments from 'Uchu Nippon Setagaya' (1997). Here, in its live reincarnation, the song is willing to unbutton its collar and let loose, if only marginally. The dotting of the outer edges propagates renewed vigor without parting with its aboriginal appeal. Extended drum installments and brighter keys illuminate a track that's far removed from a Monday morning shift and is comfortably enjoying Friday night cocktail hour. The airy waltz advances with 'エヴリデイ・エヴリナイト', which also isn't afraid to step out of its comfort zone. This chapter is still chiefly captained by the soothing coos of Shinji Sato, but exits stage with a Sekiguchi guitar extension that shakes your hand firmly before leaving, making sure you commit the name to memory. It's just then, when all things passive are expunged as 'Sunny Blue's' agitated riff splits the silence. The dichotomy between Sato's vocal delicacy and some of Fishmans' more combative instrumentation never ceases to marvel with its ability to harbor such consonance. Despite the truth behind the melody section hording the spotlight, Kin-ichi Motegi's dexterous drumming straightens the spine of the rebellious episode. The track, potentially more than the others, best displays a group who have fully found their technical confidence. With 'Smilin' Days, Summer Holiday', the band re-up on their opportunity to cast out any lingering kinetic energy. Another piece that has been embedded with new life on stage, 'Smilin' Days' is, at times, formless and polychromatic. However, the tune never veers into a place of ostentation and retains its sense of self. Still a down-to-earth celebration of life's little delights, this 'holiday' champions childlike innocence. Sato sings, "Like how a puppy and a child are understandably good friends; I'm sure the person with the foreign hairstyle is thinking the same thing."
As the LP approaches its coda, Fishmans graciously send off the observational, tenderhearted canticles of their formative years and invite the space rock, dream pop stylings of "すばらしくてNice Choice" in to close the loop. The track whirrs in, akin to a hovering flying saucer. The slightly shrouded perspective and auditory ambiguity point to a freshly charted course on the back half of 'Long Season '96'. This is not to dye the objectively benign lyrics as deceitful, but it does, however, cause them to land with alternate reverberations. Honzi's violin further implicates the cut as one with nebulous sensibilities, both literally and figuratively. 'Nice Choice' is one of the album's more arresting tangents, one that's markedly nihilistic as evidenced by Sato's declarations of, "Gently meet fate and laugh at it". Fishmans continue to live in the world of the incorporeal with '夜の想い', which translates to 'Thoughts of the Night'. Although the track has more swagger in its step, it still wrestles with headier themes than previous pop belters. This introspection isn't just contained to the setlist, the emotion found in this recitation is noticeably impassioned, as highlighted by the carefully weighted playing of its authors. Still, these are just precisely situated cultivations in service of the gut punch to come. The penultimate, 'ナイトクルージング', is to my ears, the finest arrangement the song has ever adopted, with its captivating allure pausing, smelling the flowers and then departing, clearing a path for the colossus. The finality of 'Long Season' never loses it's potency and while its more famous exhibition brandishes more emotion, this offering is more cavernous. The stellar percussion of Motegi and Asa-Chang at the track's axis is triumphant, eliminating any hint of a mid-point lull. This perpetual momentum steers the listener headfirst into the brunt of the song's unrivaled emotional endgame. Sato long wished for he and his cohorts to become "rock stars". Fortunately for them, the term "deities" would have to suffice.
95.7 [First added to this chart: 07/17/2022]
Kamasi Washington has spent his life honing his one-of-a-kind, God-given talent in preparation for a grand statement on the pageantry of jazz, the glory and tribulations of his ancestors and the beauty of music at large. He studied at UCLA, with the focus of his education centered around Ethnomusicology, which would play an integral role in crafting his first, proper label LP in 2015. Additionally, his experiences flanking artists such as Snoop Dogg, Nas, Run the Jewels and most notably, Kendrick Lamar, on his 2015 record 'To Pimp a Butterfly', have allowed the saxophonist to absorb a variety of styles and musical ideas while also contributing to an ocean of outstanding music without most listeners being particularly privy to his contributions. On the mammoth undertaking that is 'The Epic', Washington establishes an unmistakeable, idiosyncratic grandeur and deconstructs and subverts anyone's expectations on what a Jazz record should be. His saxophone glides over the entirety of the nearly three hour journey, shepherding its chapters through frantic bursts of brassy elation and breezy, idyllic, reflectionary traverses. Evidence of the album's supernatural power for vehemence can be found on its introduction. 'Change of the Guard' features a bevy of woodwind fury as Washington's tenor sax sets the stage for a cosmic, interstellar journey of incalculable potency. The record is also distinctive for its use of choral backing, a resource put to glorious effect during 'Askim', which pairs its angelic choir with breakneck but respectful drum passages from Ronald Bruner Jr. and Tony Austin. This is nothing less than hymnal music fit for a final performance at world's end or, perhaps more fittingly, during an ascension into the clouds.
One would be remiss without touting the contributions of bass maestro, Thundercat, whose patient diligence acts as the heartbeat for 'The Rhythm Changes', which comes equipped with a lavish lead vocal from Patrice Quinn. As the track swells her vocals begin to soothe as she states, "Daylight seems bright because of night;
It's shade we need so we can see." Kamasi's exploits return to center stage on the deliciously untamed, comparatively chaotic 'Miss Understanding', which quickly forms into a showcase for Washington's saxophone and Thundercat's bass to continuously dance circles around each other. It's another dizzying height for the 'The Epic' and leaves room for contemplation regarding its ability to exist in the first place. The next monolithic instillation comes in the shape of 'The Magnificent Seven', a stirring, towering work that's propelled like a jazz fireball and remains the most baronial entry on the LP. The track comes into focus on the horizon with Thundercat's swaggering bass tones only to proceed to sweep you into zero gravity on a rising tide of choir voices sent skyward by Washington's billowing sax. The keyboard-piano partnership between Cameron Graves and Brandon Coleman never ceases to lag behind the weighty punctuality of the rhythm section as they provide a healthy injection of sprightly luminescence amidst the quickly forming volcano of sonic aggression. 'The Magnificent 7' brandishes a western sheen (not just in name), as its driving momentum recalls horses galloping into town with riders hell bent on making their conclusive stand. These are the kind of harmonies that comprise the entirety of 'The Epic', notes that resonate far beyond the sheet music and into the collective consciousness of all who listen. Its pension for imagery is undefeated, its brush strokes unclouded and it carries an earthly, human spontaneity. Despite the record's modern sensibilities, Washington still finds time to tip his cap to the artisans of yesteryear. His cover of 'Claire de Lune', made famous by Claude Debussy, is just as romantic but seamlessly repackages the piece in a manner that's languid, yet expressive, like an autumn wind through leaves that are destined to change their shade. The labyrinthian LP ends with 'The Message', a final explosion of intention and a rallying cry which ensures that all that came prior is capped with suitable vigor. The track may represent Washington's finest saxophone exhibition as the pulses cascade over one another with considerably ferocity; a manic addendum on previous endeavors.
Whether honoring those who gave their life for equality on 'Malcolm's Theme' or turning in a jazz Rembrandt inspired by 1960's celluloid on 'The Magnificent 7', it's transpicuous to this listener that Kamasi Washington doesn't believe in presenting his illustrious art without carefully affixed ethos. This ethos stems from a decisive adoration for the beauty of jazz, the African American spirit and the inextinguishable fire that burns within each and every human being with hearts that beat with love. Though 'The Epic' is an undeniable championing of innumerable ideas, there are those who will look upon it with skewed gazes, no doubt viewing its cinematic presentation too far flung from the often purist genre sensitivities. No, this is not an attempt to make a commercial jazz record or appeal to a younger generation categorically. 'The Epic' is, however, an acknowledgment of the perseverance of mortal men and the actions, documents and legacy they leave behind. The instructions are to love all, even in the face of scrutiny and danger. Great men and women have chosen to express this universal truth through countless different vessels. Poems, stories, sacrifices and demonstrations dot the course throughout the history of human kindness. Kamasi Washington chooses to transmit this message from an entirely different cosmos, equipped with his Saxophone at the ready, sonically willing and able to provoke change from within and vibrate the very air you breathe.
"Our love, our beauty, our genius
Our work, our triumph, our glory
Won't worry what happened before me
I'm here."
- The Rhythm Changes
Standout Tracks:
1. The Magnificent 7
2. Change of the Guard
3. The Message
95.6 [First added to this chart: 11/25/2021]
The album begins with the apropos, 'Terrible Love', a document of a relationship on its way to disaster. It's a scenario that Berninger is clearly familiar with and it's a fragile union bound together by alcohol, sleeping pills and bits of string. "And I can't fall asleep without a little help; It takes a while to settle down my shivered bones until the panic's out," Berninger laments. Maybe he finds solace in carrying on, riding a freight train to anguish if only to know he's stuck it out and not thrown in the towel. It takes a special kind of pride to willingly fall on the sword and both parties are willing to do so, even if it means confronting the specter of failure once again. Sonic standouts here emanate from the progressively distorting guitar work from the Dessner brothers and the powering percussion of Bryan Devendorf. 'Terrible Love' epitomizes the championing of imperfect relationships amongst imperfect beings. Second track, 'Sorrow', occupies a far more straight-forward thematic headspace. The band played the song for six hours straight at the MoMA PS1 as part of a collaboration with Ragnar Kjartansson aptly titled, 'A Lot of Sorrow'. Berninger's poetry is in top form on the cut, with an assist from Aaron Dessner. Berninger testifies, "I live in a city sorrow built; It's in my honey, it's in my milk." Anyone can write a song about a former flame, but to describe the inner workings of one's plight with such malaise, with the presence of profound wounds paved beneath a concrete shell of numbness is certainly no easy feat. Gentle keyboard flourishes usher the song out to a chorus of angelic coos communicating the saintly nature of quiet suffering.
Fourth track, 'Little Faith', is the only track on the LP to feature a writing credit from Carin Besser, Matt's wife. With the compositional brain trust swelling to three, the prose undergoes a cinematic makeup, straying away from the hyper-introspectiveness of early tracks. "You'll find commiseration in everyone's eyes; The storm will suck the pretty girls into the sky," Berninger howls. This is the first of 'High Violet's' tracks to craft an image of a tangible, sensory experience rather than a prolonged sense of yearning. 'Little Faith' buzzes in a fashion similar to that of an AM radio coupled with sopping bass plucks that arrive in lock-step with Berninger's bellows. Strings anchor the track and prevent it from flying away with the twinkling guitar arpeggio that introduces itself during the second half. 'Little Faith remains one of the LP's unsung heroes. On the other hand, 'Afraid of Everyone' often stares down the barrel of consistent praise for its brilliance and its star-studded feature. Sufjan Stevens provides harmonium and offers backing vocals. Stevens also composed the vocal arrangements for the track, which becomes more apparent when you listen to the cascading voices falling over each other like rolling waves. 'Afraid of Everyone' is certainly one of the LP's more graceful excursions, something that could be seen as a harbinger for Stevens' 'Carrie and Lowell' in 2015. The context of the song deals with aversion to social interaction and the struggles of managing anxiety. Consequently, the narrator must navigate the rough seas to provide emotional stability to his young family as he rapidly and consciously ages. It's a banner moment for sure. However, the emotional heart and soul of all things 'High Violet' resides squarely within 'Bloodbuzz Ohio'. The record's sixth and most sensational track, is a ode to copious amounts of debt, the sentimental nature of one's hometown and a stirring promise of a comeback story yet to be written. If one examines closely between the lines, there's a sense that this comeback will never come to fruition. It's more of a portrait of a character on an endless losing streak with hope being the only thing driving him forward. He's a slave to his patterns, his habits, and his demons. His ambition has been chiseled away by disappointment, his potential, squandered by alcohol and his treasured and downtrodden home state, both a sanctuary and a prison. As Berninger puts it, "Ohio is in his blood." 'Bloodbuzz' is the most poetic statement on 'High Violet' and it's also a wolf in sheep's clothing. It harbors the album's most infectious, progressive momentum while staying unflinchingly defeatist, forever resigned to lose. The track is a proper masterpiece and one of the grandest statements of the 2010's. "I still owe money to the money to the money I owe; I never thought about love when I thought about home," Berninger admits.
The album recedes back into itself with 'Lemonworld', and the band evidently reembraces reservation after the emotional exertion of 'Bloodbuzz Ohio'. The seventh track concerns escape from the urban jungle of New York City and all of its obligations and burdens. The subject dreams of a lavish desertion, adorned with idyllic summer afternoons highlighted by pairs of alluring women. Eighth track, 'Runaway', elongates the solemnity of 'Lemonworld'. The track itself is a tributary branching off from the record's pension for promoting the acceptance of subpar situations. 'Conversation 16's' instrumentation swirls around Berninger's baritone serenades like a warm breeze. The drum kit finds itself ushered forward in the mix, acting as the catalyst for the track's success. Another song concerning rupturing foundations, this 'Conversation' concerns a married couple carrying on the facade of stability. The record finishes with 'Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks', a track that features backing vocals from Bon Iver's Justin Vernon. The track serves as a mournful sendoff for an LP drenched in emotional heft. It passes on a message that we are all susceptible to love's cruel nature and it's this pain that unites us, certainly a lesson the band's fanbase can revel in.
The National continued to elevate their indelible status in the coming years with critical successes at every turn, yet, none of them feel as essential or as crucial to the band's identity as 'High Violet'. It's 11 tracks of unabashed turmoil paired with the courage to parade it with unlimited vulnerability. Some would argue that the strength of music is grounded in the sense of catharsis that it can inspire, but 'High Violet' doesn't repurpose that pain, it merely acts as a conduit between beating hearts. The album classifies fallibility as a redeeming quality and helps us understand why we hurt but not necessarily how to heal. After all, to completely recover from our intangible scars would be distinctly inhuman. It's true that we find a picturesque beauty in incalculable jubilee, but sorrow is a phenomenal, soulful achievement in its own right. 'High Violet' lets us know that it's okay to cherish it.
"I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees."
-Bloodbuzz Ohio
Standout Tracks:
1. Bloodbuzz Ohio
2. Sorrow
3. Afraid of Everyone
93 [First added to this chart: 04/25/2020]
The LP begins with A Lot's Gonna Change, a track that starts with a series of fragile piano key strikes. The track quickly escalates with the introduction of Mering's stirring voice. Her voice washes over every inkling of the track like a soothing breeze, starkly opposite of bracing drumbeats. The track finishes amongst lush backing vocals that play off of Mering's sympathies, "Let me change my words, show me where it hurts." The track exemplifies the term "grand opening" and provides a blueprint for ambitious soundscapes to follow. Second track Andromeda, the first single off of the album, sports a western-tinge blended with psychedelia, embodying equal parts Dolly Parton and Iron Butterfly. If you haven't listened to the track, please take a moment to imagine that sonic cocktail in your mind. Mering laments, "Treat me right, I'm still a good man's daughter, let me in if I break, and be quiet if I shatter." The song paints a portrait of unrealistic expectation and subsequent emotional investment. Sixth track, Movies, stands as the album's artistic centerpiece. It's also the most pioneering cut from Weyes Blood so far, submerged in synthesizer arpeggios that are just as delectable as they are alien. The vocals lacerate the wall of electronics with ease as she announces, "I'm bound to that summer, big box office hit, making love to a counterfeit." The poetry points to an endless wave of typicality when it comes to romance and a distinct longing for a love-affair fit for the silver screen. The track ends with a cello barrage capping the whimsical, serene track supported by Mering's heavenly bellows. The penultimate, Picture Me Better, is a likely candidate for the most straight-forward cut of the lot. The instrumentation is heavily stripped back incorporating pacifying strings that play shyly behind Mering's vocals. Her hair-raising falsettos quickly supplant the strings and aid the notion that she could create transfixing serenades if rendered acapella. The song itself is a poignant memorial to a friend lost to suicide's destruction. "If I could have seen you just once more, tell you how much you are adored, there's no point anymore," she details. The track winds down into a final instrumental entitled Nearer to Thee, a reference to the final song played during the demise of the unsinkable ship.
Titanic Rising's artistic vision is crystalline and unalloyed. The thematic framework is a thunderous damnation of monotony and all things ordinary relating to modern life and romance. It's a testament to the artist's admiration of true love in its purest form. Furthermore, the album is a musical mission statement pleading the listener to refuse social conventionality. As emotional as the record is, it's also a vehemently liberating experience. Much of its power is drawn from the sun-dwarfing brightness of its vocal standard-bearer. These tracks are crafted around Natalie's Mering's voice as opposed to common music-making methodology. After all, a traditional approach would just be too run-of-the-mill for Weyes Blood. We can thank her ambition, emotional insight and angelic vocal register for her ever-growing collection of winsome work.
"Lost and tangled up in you,
Everyone knows you just did what you had to,
Burning much more than ever before,
Burning down the door,
It's a wild time to be alive."
-Wild Time
Standout Tracks:
1. A Lot's Gonna Change
2. Andromeda
3. Picture Me Better
92.5 [First added to this chart: 04/25/2020]
RDJ has adopted a slew of sobriquets throughout the years, names like AFX, Polygon Window, The Tuss, GAK, Power-Pill, Caustic Window and Bradley Strider just to name a few. However, for 2014's Syro, he stuck to the namesake by which we know him best. The sixth LP under the Aphex Twin umbrella is notably warm in timbre which comes as a stark deviation from his previous effort, 2001's Drukqs, which brandished prepared piano and dissonant drill 'n' bass passages. 13 years is an extensive amount of time to go between albums but RDJ's highly discernible refocusing is evident throughout Syro's hour-long runtime. Still, it's not like the beatsmith was entirely dormant during that time. Some of the bubbly, enveloping artifacts for Syro could be found in his 2007 release Rushup Edge, flying under the The Tuss flag. It's also important to grasp that James is an artist that is constantly curating his back catalogue for release at any given time, making his creative process impossible to timestamp and endlessly fascinating. RDJ solidified Syro's arrival by commissioning a zeppelin to fill the airways over London adorned with his logo. He always had a flair for the dramatic, or should that be the surreal?
The album commences with Minipops 67 (Source Field Mix), affectionately known by supporters as the "Manchester Track" due to its inclusion in a Manchester setlist in 2007. The official title certainly is fitting, as it's named after a line of drum machines produced by Korg in 1967. The music itself is bouncy, with careful weight applied behind each beat. This is no longer the face-melting acid and tribal drill 'n' bass more akin to a previous iteration of Richard. This is RDJ poking around with a scalpel producing surgical, sonic whimsy with a "kick-your-feet-up" sense of ease. The second track is the 10 minute Xmas_Evet10 (Thanaton3 Mix). It appears like a hissing fog and then combusts with soaked, waterlogged beats that lead into a gliding groove that shapes the track. This "Xmas" is comprised of several distinct sections, à la a Paranoid Android perhaps. What results is a cavernous journey and a surefire album highlight. Sixth track and album centerpiece Circlont6A (Syrobonkus Mix) is the most frenzied outing on Syro, announcing itself with a distorted, jarring vocal sample and traveling at a breakneck pace throughout its duration. It's a skittering, anxious soundscape while never losing the ability to be infinitely danceable across its six and half minute lifespan. As a culminating, tranquil reminder of RDJ's versatility, he bestows Aisatsana on his audience as the final track of the LP. A moving, minimalist piano piece that acts as a ray of sunlight that cuts through cloudy skies after a destructive storm of IDM and techno hysteria. Many have speculated that this is a dedication to his wife as the track is her name "Anastasia" in reverse. The piano is minutely reverbed and subdued as birds chirp in the distance and one can visualize the morning dew formed on the grass at your feet. A wholeheartedly beautiful way to end a record and a concrete monument to the talent of this wonderful artisan.
No matter what nom de plume, AFX or Aphex Twin, Polygon Window or Bradley Strider, there have been but a sparse few who have ever been more cutting edge and strikingly original than Richard David James. Between reinventing himself numerous times, going reclusive and plastering his grinning face throughout Chris Cunningham's nightmare fuel music videos, I'm quite secure in saying that RDJ has done it all. He's even had "Shakespeare" Kanye West try to steal his work and pass it as Yeezy's own. This is in fact the same artist who's had a single peak at number 16 on the UK Singles chart (Windowlicker) and also birthed an LP entitled Expert Knob Twiddlers. Save for maybe 1992's Selected Ambient Works 85-92, no album is more representative of the work of electronic music's most enigmatic personality than Syro. It's labyrinthian, inviting, warm, frightening and a scorching "fuck you" to those who questioned if RDJ still had it. It stands as nothing less than a modern masterpiece and a remnant of yesteryear in the exciting scope of current electronic music. "Let the old man show you how it's done," the record screams defiantly through wordless beats. It's a sound I'll never get tired of.
Richard has often shied away from interviews and recently even claimed that he will no longer partake in them at all, fueling the belief that we will never fully unravel and understand the phenom that he has been and continues to be. This addendum stands as one of my more personal verses. Richard's music has contorted my own personal definition of music and what sonic shapes it could embody. His melodic forays remain consistently alien to my ears and that's an indicator of a true innovator and pioneer. He wasn't the first to do it. He would surely credit the work of avant-garde legends like Brian Eno and John Cage as inspiration without hesitation. Still, despite subsequent imitators and spiritual legacy bearers, there's still no one who sounds quite like Aphex Twin. The man with the power to move you to tears with ambience or melt your speakers with his patented "Aphex Acid" will always be inherently special to me and my endless journey of musical exploration. Syro will forever be a key piece of that puzzle and Richard's work is an ever-evolving tapestry begging to be traversed. RDJ himself has never commanded praise of any kind. He's often self-deprecating, claiming to be "an irritating, lying ginger kid from Cornwall who should've been locked up in a juvenile detention center". A more appropriate description of the man would be a shimmering genius, musical mad-scientist the likes of which we may never see again. However, if it were up to Richard himself, he'd likely prefer an existence as a whisper that evolves into a subliminal wall of sound; An idea, in lieu of being human at all.
Standout Tracks:
1. Circlont6A (Syrobonkus Mix)
2. Xmas_Evet10 (Thanaton3 Mix)
3. Syro U473T8+E (Piezoluminescence Mix)
91.7 [First added to this chart: 04/26/2020]
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Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s composition
Year | Albums | % | |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | 15 | 15% | |
2011 | 10 | 10% | |
2012 | 9 | 9% | |
2013 | 12 | 12% | |
2014 | 7 | 7% | |
2015 | 15 | 15% | |
2016 | 12 | 12% | |
2017 | 6 | 6% | |
2018 | 6 | 6% | |
2019 | 8 | 8% |
Artist | Albums | % | |
---|---|---|---|
|
|||
Swans | 8 | 8% | |
The National | 4 | 4% | |
Deerhunter | 4 | 4% | |
Vampire Weekend | 3 | 3% | |
Tame Impala | 3 | 3% | |
Beach House | 3 | 3% | |
Death Grips | 3 | 3% | |
Show all |
Top 100 Music Albums of the 2010s chart changes
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Rating | Date updated | Member | Chart ratings | Avg. chart rating |
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10/08/2021 13:17 | tanman089 | 3 | 100/100 | |
07/20/2021 15:01 | Larcx13 | 1,092 | 86/100 | |
04/28/2021 19:06 | Rhyner | 1,382 | 99/100 | |
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