Albums of the Decade - 75. Aphex Twin - Syro

75. APHEX TWIN - SYRO

Sputter. Whiz. Gargle. This LP came at the mid-region of the decade in about the summer of 14. Aphex Twin has had such amazing breadth of balls-busting electronica aplomb. If Selected Ambient Works or Drukqs is heralded as his finest output, then I'd slight at that and proffer Syro to be in with the broth too.

I wanted to type "sprawling 12 tracks at 1 hour and 4 minutes" - but it's hands-down the most elasticky Aphe material out there. I am grimacing, as I just left my Bluetooth speaker, basically my go-to soundsystem at my Mum's house in the UK, so as I was cooking a bolognese -  added tobasco, honey and cayenne pepper to this one - and the experiement paid off -  so I have only one supermarket speaker working and it doesn't do the material justice.

Sometimes you don't get everything you want in life,  sometimes you don't get what you think you want. I had no idea this record is what I'd add on here today, but it feels good. Experimental electronica, experimental cooking. Exceptional circumstances.

Albums of The Decade - 94. Blanck Mass - World Eater

94. BLANCK MASS - WORLD EATER 

R̶a̶r̶e̶l̶y̶,̶ ̶s̶e̶l̶d̶o̶m̶,̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶t̶e̶n̶,̶ ̶o̶c̶c̶a̶s̶i̶o̶n̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶d̶o̶ ̶I̶ ̶w̶r̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶e̶n̶t̶r̶y̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶L̶P̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶l̶i̶s̶t̶e̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶i̶t̶.̶ ̶

Well, I just broke that rule and put on the LP. I was listening to my favourite radio show - The Gilles Peterson show https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01fm4ss, whilst actually making Spaghetti Bolognese, and it was so soft compared to the intensity of this journey of a grizzle. It's the same old shizzle over here - reckoning that this should be higher up the list, but still, it's warranted. Shit, it was on Spotify shuffle. Shoulda played it through front to back.

While I lament the fact that the days of The Chemical Brothers, Underworld and The Prodigy are over - not to mention Leftfield (editor)  - 20 years on there are glimmers of hope with beats - and this is all on that. I wrote in 2017 "Relentless, unassuming, sputtering, splattering electronica that derives from Fuck Buttons." on this blog and that sums up the style and the origin of Ben Power, the solo-guy in this project. What a way to conclude this entry - let it sputter, as your heart flutters - mine certainly is. Fuck.

albums of 2012 - 40. The Electric Anthology Project - The Electric Anthology Project Of Dinosaur Jr.

40. THE ELECRTIC ANTHOLOGY PROJECT – THE ELECTRIC ANTHOLOGY PROJECT OF DINOSAUR JR.

The bassist from rock band Built to Spill takes some songs from one of the best bands of the past few decades and adds some Casio Keyboard style reworks. The grunge is lost and replaced with exactly what it says on the tin; electric stuff. Cover and opener “Sludgefeast” sounds like a Nintendo game. Luckily enough, there’s plenty going on for it not to sound like the annoying 32-bit electronic genre that I’m not really fond of. Basically this is on the right side of spazzy. The vocals of Dinosaur savior J. Mascis feature higher up in the mix all the way through to add a new dimension to this bands sound. Guitars kick in on the tremendous “In A Jar” and the moods of angst and  exaltation fizzle up to grandiose effect on “Kracked.” For me, the best is saved till last on “Feel The Pain;” again two polarized emotions intertwine lovelily. A velociraptor of an album. Oops.

BEST PLAYED: When you want happiness to override angst.