Retrospective Musings on Music

So about a month ago everyone compiled their best of 2009 and best of the 'noughties' lists - and, don't worry, I'm not going to do that now - which had the effect of making me go back and listen to some of my favourite albums of the past few years, and download a few classic songs I didn't realise that I didn't have. Though in some ways it maybe started off a bit shakily, the noughties was a great decade for music: the rise and fall of 'indie' from Is This It and Up the Bracket to the teenyboppers-with-guitars that are now inflicted upon our ears; the proliferation of electronica and its many forms; the rise of dubstep; folk revival; and just some really great artists, albums and songs. But looking back, which artists will really be remembered in years to come as driving music forward, pushing the limits, innovating, being the vanguard and not the zeitgeist?

I offer three suggestions amongst many possibilities:
1. M.I.A.: If we live now in a truly post- (or post-post-) modern world, then M.I.A. is one of the first artists to truly capture it in such dazzling style: the fragments of cultures, lives, technologies, worlds, all colliding is right here in her samples, ultra-modern electronic sounds alongside ancient rhythms and sharp, witty and sometimes damning lyrics sung with the confident swagger of a decade that saw no limits, for both better and worse. 'Paper Planes' become one of the defining anthems of the decade, with its combination of a Clash sample, gunshots, and biting satirical lyrics that made you think politics whilst joyfully singing your heart out.
2. The Knife: The present and the foreseeable future are electronic, and The Knife have not just embraced this but used electronica in previously un-thought ways. Not simple dance or pop music, on Silent Shout, the swedish act found away to capture mood, atmosphere, weather, and the world in epic yet intimate, grand yet subtle ways. Just as classical symphonies and programme music used 'traditional' instruments to evoke everything from claps of thunder to hidden sorrow, so The Knife harness the possibilities of new, electronic technology to do the same thing. Hauntingly beautiful soundscapes of rain and wind, desparation, loss and sorrow stretch the boundaries of electronic music to startling effect. And it doesn't stop there: their new electronic opera recently premiered in Copenhagen, and from the youtube trailer promises to be a spectacular new take on an old form.
3. Animal Collective: Taking something from a huge range of genres and constantly evolving, this is innovation itself, and surely the sound of the future. Dispensing with traditional popular music styles, the Collective manage to create music that is catchy, listenable and of great beauty, evoking mood and emotion in an entirely new, unique and original way. Challenging on first listen, you come to realise that this is only because our ears are thus far untrained to their sounds, and on repeat listening they are an utter revelation. Not for nothing was last year's Merriweather Post Pavillion one of the most feted album releases in years.

Causers of Amazement

Download the debut album from Toro y Moi, Causers of This, now. South Carolina's Chazwick Bundick creates warped, tripped-out lo-fi psychadelic electronica to sooth every soul into a state of bliss. Like watching city lights flash by in a languorous state of half-sleep, this is a new kind of trance music: a sweet anaesthetic that gets under your skin, not a flashback to '90 Ibiza. And it's just what you need when it's below freezing outside and daylight lasts for only about seven hours.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPzWDUU9Opo

Feel the Love Evolution

In San Francisco, the spirit of the Summer of Love never truly died. This Saturday saw a series of floats thunder down Market Street to the sound of every type of music worth dancing to blaring out across downtown. The streets were full of revellers decked out in a million kinds of finery or just their own skin, brazen or foolhardy in the public and the strong winds. This was LovEvolution, a spin-off of Berlin's fabled Love Parade that was uniquely San Franciscan in its manifestation.

I doubt there is any other major US city where the grand plaza in front of City Hall would be filled with semi-naked ravers partying, revelling in flouting the law, drinking, dancing, and enjoying all kinds of sensual pleasures in full view of every visible symbol of authority in the city. And there was no violence, no attempt to repress, just a long, sunny day of freedom and joy. A fesitival of love indeed.

Even as the evening came, the winds picked up and temperatures dropped the party kept going, as some of the world's best DJs entertained crowds with electronica, funk, rock and dubstep accompanied by dancers (though it was hard to know if these were official or not) and flame-throwers, until eventually everyone dispersed into the buses, trains and coffee shops of the surrounding area, and the more hard-core waited in line for the nearby after-party.

Maybe my love for the city and my desire to enjoy myself blinded me, but I didn't see a fight, a bottle thrown or an ambulance called at any point. When the biggest problem a festival has is the wait for a portable toilet, I think they're on to a good thing. The Summer of Love might now be a day in October that costs $10, but I think everyone there would agree, it's still most definitely alive and thriving.

The lushly textured strains of Ms Heap

To tide you over, here is the ever-wonderful Ms Imogen Heap's gorgeous new album to listen to, online, for totally free. What a generous lady she is.



It does admittedly sound a lot like Speak for Yourself, but as that is one of my all-time favourite albums, I'm not complaining. Again she mines the multiple joys of electronic and every day sounds, mixed with her fragile, questioning lyrics. The closing track, 'Half Life,' is absolutely beautiful. The only tracks I'm not sure about are 'Wait it Out,' which whilst lovely does sound like an attempt to recreate 'Hide and Seek,' though without attaining that songs almost sublime heights; and 'Bad Body Double,' which just made me cringe a little. Sorry Immi, I still love you.

Genius

Passion Pit's incredible 'Sleepyhead'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bfseWNmlds

I know it's been around for a while now, but this has to be one of the best new songs out in a LONG time. I can't wait for the album. It's just such a beautiful, refreshing, euphoric track; rich with lush electronic layers that far outstrip most of the many electropop offerings of today's music scene. It feels like being sprayed with fresh, cool water on a hot summer's day. Less than three minutes, but guaranteed to lift your mood.

I'm also loving the new Jack Penate and Dizzee Rascal singles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SfrVnYsu1c
So upbeat and so carnival, just a fun song for sunny spring days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4lvdOeNUmI
I could only find a live clip, the full intense must-dance-now atmosphere doesn't come across quite as well, but you get the idea.

Polly's Scattered Goods

Polly Scattergood Polly Scattergood

Basically Little Earthquakes for the electro generation, this is one of the best albums I've heard in a while. Polly Scattergood has been given the dubious - yet prestigious - honour of being named the lovechild of Kate Bush and Bjork, but her album is much more than just a mixture of the two. Her raw, vulnerable, confessional tone and lyrics is amazing - her voice conveys emotion with a rare, touching ability - hence the Tori Amos comparison. A lot of the album is composed of mournful, relatable, insecure balladry, but it has an extra layer of electronic yumminess that lifts it above and beyond, making it both inventive and emotionally gripping. Highlights include the dramatic electro-rock out climax of the first track, 'I Hate the Way' and the upbeat electro-pop celebration of 'Bunny Club' and 'Nitrogen Pink' counterpointed by final, haunting track 'Breathe In Breathe Out.' Brilliance.