Friday 23 December 2022

Five Favourites From 2022


Best Albums of 2022:

(Shamelessly copied from my UKB post)

A neat 5 slices of sonic excellence for you:

Tripped - Unboxed

Prspct dropping Album Of The Year for the 3rd year in a row, but what do you expect from one of the world's premier electronic dance music labels?? Unboxed is an absolute rollercoaster of energetic techno themes from the euphoric to the relentless and back again, but what really make it stands out is how Tripped focuses on a refreshing directness of dance music - there is a bare minimum of the "endless big cheesy breakdown into a predictable drop of empty beats" cliches here. Instead it's all about driving and evolving beats that are constantly layered with atmospheric sounds - danceable and listenable at the same time.


Presha - Rats Infest 1 / 2 / 3

Samurai Records is another label that can do no wrong, and following last year's highlight of the boss's Rats EP, this is followed up with a seething swarm of remixes that over 2 EPs and a single makes for a superb album across a broad spectrum of proper modern jungle (and bonus breaks on #3). It's hard to resist the cliche of "deep, dark, and deadly", but these tracks are undeniably that, with the usual Samurai creative hallmarks.


Mares Of Thrace - The Exile

Mares are back after a long hiatus and whilst they're now one Mare and one Stallion, the musical quality of their epic, sexy, groovy, bluesy, quirky dissonant extreme metal blend is as good as it ever was. Lovely.


Samurai - Hannya II

If the Rats Infest EPs were a broad spectrum of proper modern jungle, Samurai's second Hannya compilation is the FULL spectrum. For a music genre that could seem dated after near 30 years, the future-looking freshness here is a captivating reassurance. From methodical technoid plodders from Mako, minimal tribalism from The Untouchables, serious industrial jungle presha from Presha, and proper fucking nightmare fuel from Artilect, there's a whole lot of quality to take in here.


Origin - Chaosmos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2kzewIKTKY
http://origin-chaosmos.com/ (pain in the arse but is available on digital somehow)

And Origin are back in action with an album that really caught my attention after getting a bit lost with their previous releases. This one is an absolute cracker that has all the brain-warping leadwork and frantic technicality of Origin at their best, but with a whole lot more variety and fun packed into one album, with black and hardcore influences swirling around along with some more traditional tracks. 
 
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