Erik's Top Tens for 2008

I decided to follow a similar format to Brian's list, so the lists aren't necessarily in order here either. The ones I uploaded are at the beginning of each...

NEW ALBUMS

Zomby – Where Were U In 92? (Werk Discs)
I'm not sure if this type of record is necessarily everyone here's bag, but then again I didn't really know it was mine until I gave it a listen. Zomby is a modern dubstep producer known for releases on Hyperdub, and he's twisting that archetypal sound up quite a bit on this release. His debut full length is something of a one-off tribute to the salad days of hardcore house music, incorporating some classic rave samples and a hell of a lot of airhorn. You can hear faint traces of the dubstep sound in many of these tracks, but it nicely avoids the stale template I've come to associate with that genre.

John Maus – Love Is Real (Upset! the Rhythm)
Toumani Diabate – The Mande Variations (World Circuit)
Syclops – I’ve Got My Eye On You (DFA)
Indian Jewelry – Free Gold! (Lovepump United)
Betty Botox – Mmm… Betty (Endless Flight)
Hercules and Love Affair – s/t (DFA)
Blank Dogs – On Two Sides (Troubleman Unlimited)
U.S. Girls – Introducing… (Siltbreeze)
The Capstan Shafts – Fixation Protocols (Rainbow Quartz)

REISSUES/COMPS

Droids – Star Peace (Repressed)
I guess this nod goes for the music alone, since the reissue really doesn't give you any information whatsoever about this release. But I hadn't heard this album until this year, so Repressed should get a mention just for the simple task of bringing this stuff to the light of day again. I do know that it's French, from 1978, and sounds like a funkier Kraftwerk or Yellow Magic Orchestra. And that there are some amazing youtube clips of these guys in robot suits performing live for French television (seriously, check it out).

The Clean – Compilation (Mississippi)
V/A: Nigeria Special Series (Soundway)
V/A: Space Oddities compiled by Alexis Le Tan & Jess (Permanent Vacation)
Dillard & Clark – The Expedition of Dillard & Clark (Water)
V/A Computer Incarnations for World Peace II compiled by Gerd Janson (Sonar Kollektiv)
La Düsseldorf - La Düsseldorf/Viva (Water/4 Men With Beards)
Martin Dupont – Lost and Late (Minimal Wave)
V/A: Originals compiled by Moonboots and Balearic Mike (Claremont 56)
Arthur Russell – Love Is Overtaking Me (Audika)

SINGLES

Ghost Note – Holy Jungle EP (Golf Channel)
This year I discovered the simple pleasures of beardo disco, nowhere better exemplified than in this 'Holy Mountain'-sampling percussive onslaught. "Pissed and Passed Out" is the first track I flipped my shit for here, with it's spooky, enveloping, jungle atmospherics cresting nicely and erupting into one of the more acid-fried guitar solos I've heard on any dance record. And it's not even an edit of anything (as most everything worth listening to in the genre tends to be); there are real musicians on these tracks, original ideas, and a nice little dub mix from house producer Mark E to boot. If you ever see anything on this label buy it immediately.

Friendly Fires – Paris (Aeroplane Remix feat. Au Revoir Simone) (XL)
Invisible Conga People – Cable Dazed b/w Weird Pains (Italians Do It Better)
Mari Boine vs. Mungolian Jetset – It Ain’t Necessarily Evil (Luna Flicks)
Omar S – Psychotic Photosynthesis (FXHE)
Maelstrom – The Duke (Maelstrom Edit) (Mindless Boogie)
Grackle – Jungle (T. Keeler and Capablanca Mix) (Discos Capablanca)
The Juan MacLean – Happy House (DFA)
Dr. Dunks – Love Savage (Whatever We Want)
Kuniyuki Takahashi – Dear African Sky (Henrik Schwarz Remix) (Mule)