Albums of the Decade - 83. Bullion - You Drive Me To Plastic

83. BULLION - YOU DRIVE ME TO PLASTIC  

Jamming in at just over 20 minutes, this is technicallly an EP, but there's about two albums worth of ideas in this superlative mixtape from 2011. Starting off with a space shuttle oddyssey type jam and then getting as funky as a chicken with the sublime "Magic Was Ruler" at just three minutes in - it recalls my favorite club night ever - Beats In Abundance,at which once I cycled on a bike and powered an amp.:- https://www.beatsinabundance.com/.

Funk, soul, samples and electronica forge the ticket here, recalling The Avalanches, Hudson Mohawk and J Dilla. I am typing this in one spurt, as I get lost in the jam before heading out for a beer degustation. I would rather step out the door right now than stay home and think about Trump cancelling his meeting with The Taliban. Maybe if I hash-stamp his name, I will get more likes, either that or I buy some.

Albums Of The Decade - 89. Matthew Dear - Black City

89. MATTHEW DEAR - BLACK CITY 

Was a toss-up between 2010's Black City and 2012's Beams, but this one shades it, down to the 80's influences in the creepy, self-aware house that Dear produces. Typical Dear to serve up vocal bastardized hybrids with stellar production. From front to back, this feels like someone's smoked in some plastic and breathed out some rainbows.

Dear has got something going on with his mouth, whereby he samples sounds he makes with his jaws, teeth, anything uttered, moaned, rasped, crunched - then layered under some production with singing on top - this is well-bred, yet anxious. Fractured and gooey. And he lays it on so thickly. Take "You Put A Smell On Me" for example:

And afterwards, you can come with me
To my big black house, on the black sea
I would like, you to put on something nice, that's safe and warm
It's a little red gown, with a name on it
You can dance with me just for a bit

This is the sound of self-delusion. The character sounds like he's talking to noone. At least that's how I interpret it. Even better are on "Slowdance" where the groan sampled sounds like he's in real pain.

It's a precious head wrapped up and bound for Ghana
I can't be the one to tell you everything's wrong
It's like every bee sting, tries to make my ears ring
Let them wash your face, man
And sing you your songs

I'll just leave you with that.

Albums of the decade - 100. Adrian Younge - Something About April II

100. ADRIAN YOUNGE - SOMETHING ABOUT APRIL II

I originally thought that this was a soundtrack to a film, but instead was thankful to discover that the record was a sequel to the producers original debut in this series. The vibe here in this room, right now, is that I'm waiting on roast cauliflower, onions and garlic to come out of the oven. I also threw half a bag of peas into a carrot soup - but it's hardly as exploratory as what Younge was doing in 2016. I'm just going to go and stir the peas and then I'll write the second paragraph.

This list is intended as a diary through the last ten years, and where I'm at now. I'm not so bothered about rankings as I used to be - but still it's good to have some vertebrae, Whatever follows this album at #99 - it doesn't mean I like it more than #100 - Adrian Younge has driven my mood today and it's nice to pull this soulful treasure out of the crypts.

I think he did something else with Ghostface Killah a few years ago, so it may make sense to give that a listen, as when Tony is rapping over this wholesome kind of sampling, it sets the day alight. Without a rapper though, Younge still called in some cats like Bilal and Laetitia Sadler from Stereolab and while there are not vocals on every track - it adds some kind of glue.

One of my best friends has just MOVED the place I'm living, so after a Friday blowout - Saturday was actually a day of being in my own kind of crypt, despite spring starting afresh. After today's jog and the upcoming veg however - there couldn't be a better album to play to signal renewal, even if the second song on this is called "Winter Is Here". Oops.

Albums of 2012 - 28. Zammuto - Zammuto

28. ZAMMUTO - ZAMMUTO

Using the glee of Dan Deacon (featured elsewhere on this list) and the inevitable influences of parent band The Books, Nick Zammuto dropped a clever album of electronic sonic experiments where the music spaghetti's itself all over. Most of the vocals are through a vocoder and where The Books sampled a lot of obscure snippets, Zammuto makes them all himself.

This isn't the strangest album on this list, but it's not far-away. It's one of the most fun, but it possesses a depth that repeated listens reward. For example, the strings on "Idiom Wind" really  complement the curious vocalists musings "You're an educated man....you're an idiom babe."

No amount of listenings could dub this boring. I could see how someone could cite this as album of the year for its sheer originality, it's mentalist doodles and an exciting platform for further Zammuto outings. Also with song titles like "F U C-3PO" - you can't go wrong!

BEST PLAYED: When you want something with unexpected twists.

Records of 2010 - 29. The Books - The Way Out

Records of 2010 - 29. The Books - The Way Out

The Books are nice. They're really good. The Books make sound collages out of obscure samples and weave together their own bizarre narratives. This, their fourth album takes self-help and hypnotherapy as the chief concepts as "you feel yourself going, deeper and deeper"as per the opener "Group Autogenics I." All this splicing together of sounds makes for something highly psychedelic, especially when said track starts talking about "orange coloured liquid." The Books have made four albums so far and many regard 2003's Japanese concept album "The Lemon of Pink" as their masterpiece. I, however feel that as they get older and wiser, their quality keeps growing, their sound getting less gimmicky and a lot richer. "The Way Out" contains some of their best work. I strongly think these guys can help you.

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