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 2012 - 31. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles III

31. CRYSTAL CASTLES - CRYSTAL CASTLES III

I got into these guys only this year, which is essentially a late start, especially considering they've been knocking out albums since 2008. Nevertheless whatever CC did  before 2012 I had the utmost respect for as they are a heavyweight chiptune act that have certainly had more buzz made by the blogs than a busy little bumblebee making honey on a  honey farm. But still I needed to go a bit deeper.

Now, I like the ravey sound of Crystal Castles and they sound both dark and sweet. Some of the titles on this thing alone just stand up tall as dark and twisted and it's a pleasure and a half to see this band come into their own. In particular"Wrath of God," "Sad Eyes" and "Child I Will Hurt You" come on through as if you're just crying out for a vampire to bite into your neck. A late one this year, as only released in mid-November, but I've been all over it lately. A true contender.

BEST PLAYED: When wanting a love-bite on the dance-floor.

albums of 2012 - 39. Grimes - Grimes

39. GRIMES - GRIMES

Fashion. I usually detest the buzz, though maybe I get a kick off of it (“Off of” – Are you turning American? – Anglophile Ed) It sometimes feels good to get the blogs to discover things for you, especially if you’re the worker-man down the pit like me. Before I heard Grimes, I thought I’d hate her. She’s played on catwalks. She’s topping a lot of the end of year polls. Why do I write end of year polls? Well, it allows me a backward path for the future. I like to discover new things. I can go back and listen to a track like “Genesis” in the future and feel like it did when I heard it ; like fucking gold. I like to stay current, but I’m also afraid of a lot of new material. Especially in the current time when there could be a handful of albums every day to wade through. Fortunately though I had the time for Grimes, a lovelily produced album of electronic pop, Check her out.

BEST PLAYED: When you’re trying on some new clothes.

albums of 2012 - 41. - The Chromatics - Kill For Love

41. THE CHROMATICS – KILL FOR LOVE

“Okay here in my lecture I’m going to talk about active and passive listening with music. Active listening is when you stick on an album and are all over the songs like cream is all over blancmange. The listener actively talks about his favorite songs to others. There are peaks and troughs and a load of sauce, think Action Bronson, the chef turned rapper who you’ll see feature elsewhere on this list.

Passive listening, on the other foot, can be applied to this album by The Chromatics. They have a Drive mentality, as per the movie. Long journeys. Comfort in sound. If it was a dessert it would be a massive bottle of water. Maybe not particularly memorable, but vital to get you through the day and night. In fact it’s so coherent, a bit like this speech. Think electro and slow ballads and many orchestral moments over a 90 minute cruise down the road. Captivating. Like a semolina."

Professor Bolognese ---December 2012---

BEST PLAYED: When driving .