2008 so far.

[mmm skyscraper]

The Doubtful Guest - Acid Sauna

great acid stuff from Planet Mu

[Jafs]

In no particular order:

Bruno Pronsato - Why Can't We Be Like Us (Hello? Repeat)

organic techno in the vein of Villalobos' work, I even think I prefer this one.

Al Green - Lay it Down (Blue Note)

one of the godfather of soul is back with no special innovation but with so much class. ?uestlove at the production, with Poyser, and guests are well chosen and fit perfectly in this record.

Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part 1 (4th World War) (Universal Motown)

Kind of psychedelic soul, my first big surprise of the year.

Portishead - Third (Island)

unexpected return in unexpected form. I had so many delete-retry-repeat with this one I finally ended to like it a lot.

iTAL tEK - Cyclical (Planet µ)

Wonderful debut album of dubstep meeting IDM. A bit disappointed at first with Aerial (2562) and A Mutual Antipathy (Scuba), it's this record released on planet µ which took me by surprise, with the more "classic dubstep" album by Benga.

Flying Lotus - Los Angeles (WARP)

Jay Dee meets Amon Tobin meets some glitchy sounds. I love this record. Tracks are short and it's not a problem, excepted when those little cuts are less good than their brothers, you can feel it directly.

Lil' Wayne - Tha Carter III (Cash Money Records)

Summer is the time for guilty pleasures, and this album is mine for now. Not a great rap album, but well balanced, with a lot of highlights and a MC I initially couldn't stand who makes vocals in so many ways. I will wait for Big Boi, Clipse and maybe TI to release something I expect to be a little more solid...

The Roots Rising Down

Solid record, but I was so blowed by Game Theory that I'm not totally satisfied by this.

The Bug - London Zoo (Ninja Tune)

Pure dancehall, with more variations and details than what I've heard on Pressure.

Toby Tobias - Space Shuffle (Rekids)

deep house meets cosmic disco. One point. The Lindstrom album is good too, but I'm more obsessed with this one.

Luke Solomon - The Difference Engine (Rekids)

Another full lengh which kept my attention on rekids. Slightly mixed. More Chicago-oriented stuff, maybe one the best "techno" LP of the year. 7 Dunham Place by Loco Dice is notable too.

Minilogue - Animals (Cocoon Recordings)

Very good progression on both discs, but still maybe a little bit too long I must admit.

Barry Lynn - Balancing Lakes (Planet µ)

Early IDM works by Boxcutter. After some repeated plays I began to see this was not so Aphex Twin and Squarepusher than that, after all...

Mixes:

Fuse Presents Adam Beyer
Fabric 39: Robert Hood
Fabric 41: Luciano
Fabriclive.36: James Murphy & Pat Mahoney I know it's 2007 but it's totally apart in the series (it's disco) and I'm still addicted to it now.
No, I didn't especially liked Dubstep Allstars 6.

Reissues:

Gas - Nah und Fern
X-102 - Rediscovers the Rings of Saturn
Model 500 - Deep Space
Derrick May - Innovator

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Jafs

In no particular order:

Bruno Pronsato - Why Can't We Be Like Us (Hello? Repeat)

organic techno in the vein of Villalobos' work, I even think I prefer this one.

Al Green - Lay it Down (Blue Note)

one of the godfather of soul is back with no special innovation but with so much class. ?uestlove at the production, with Poyser, and guests are well chosen and fit perfectly in this record.

Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part 1 (4th World War) (Universal Motown)

Kind of psychedelic soul, my first big surprise of the year.

Portishead - Third (Island)

unexpected return in unexpected form. I had so many delete-retry-repeat with this one I finally ended to like it a lot.

iTAL tEK - Cyclical (Planet µ)

Wonderful debut album of dubstep meeting IDM. A bit disappointed at first with Aerial (2562) and A Mutual Antipathy (Scuba), it's this record released on planet µ which took me by surprise, with the more "classic dubstep" album by Benga.

Flying Lotus - Los Angeles (WARP)

Jay Dee meets Amon Tobin meets some glitchy sounds. I love this record. Tracks are short and it's not a problem, excepted when those little cuts are less good than their brothers, you can feel it directly.

Lil' Wayne - Tha Carter III (Cash Money Records)

Summer is the time for guilty pleasures, and this album is mine for now. Not a great rap album, but well balanced, with a lot of highlights and a MC I initially couldn't stand who makes vocals in so many ways. I will wait for Big Boi, Clipse and maybe TI to release something I expect to be a little more solid...

The Roots Rising Down

Solid record, but I was so blowed by Game Theory that I'm not totally satisfied by this.

The Bug - London Zoo (Ninja Tune)

Pure dancehall, with more variations and details than what I've heard on Pressure.

Toby Tobias - Space Shuffle (Rekids)

deep house meets cosmic disco. One point. The Lindstrom album is good too, but I'm more obsessed with this one.

Luke Solomon - The Difference Engine (Rekids)

Another full lengh which kept my attention on rekids. Slightly mixed. More Chicago-oriented stuff, maybe one the best "techno" LP of the year. 7 Dunham Place by Loco Dice is notable too.

Minilogue - Animals (Cocoon Recordings)

Very good progression on both discs, but still maybe a little bit too long I must admit.

Barry Lynn - Balancing Lakes (Planet µ)

Early IDM works by Boxcutter. After some repeated plays I began to see this was not so Aphex Twin and Squarepusher than that, after all...

Mixes:

Fuse Presents Adam Beyer
Fabric 39: Robert Hood
Fabric 41: Luciano
Fabriclive.36: James Murphy & Pat Mahoney I know it's 2007 but it's totally apart in the series (it's disco) and I'm still addicted to it now.
No, I didn't especially liked Dubstep Allstars 6.

Reissues:

Gas - Nah und Fern
X-102 - Rediscovers the Rings of Saturn
Model 500 - Deep Space
Derrick May - Innovator

Interesting list I'm getting the Erykah Badu, Flying Lotus and 2562 records because the descriptions sound good.

EDIT: Damn, that Flying Lotus album is exactly the kind of music I'm looking for. I love it!

[kid cue]

nice list Jafs - going to check out Ital Tek, Pronsato, Robert Hood, some of those others....

i wasn't that into Dubstep Allstars 6 either :X

[dubman]

i cant wait to hear of what you think of the pronsato, duck

[Jafs]

I forgot to mention:

Sun Kil Moon - April (Caldo Verde)

Melancholic folk. Unique voice. Listen to "Moorestown".

Peter Broderick - Float (Type Records)

Modern classical, nice debut album too.

[Lx_Nen]

I've only got 1 recommendation for everyone from 2008 so far.

Discuss - Aeration Swells.

Treads a fine line between genius and total bollocks. Hard to describe without mentioning BoC/Schnauss, but it's not as close to a BoC clone as Tycho - Adrift from home. Don't be afraid to skip a bit (brother Maynard*), but it's definitely worth wading through a lot of self-indulgence to get to the stand out track "Puerto Rico Y La Vieja Pc".

http://www.myspace.com/discuss
http://www.myspace.com/ekofarmed (spin off project)

*obscure python reference, sorry

[mmm skyscraper]

Heartbreak - Lies

http://www.myspace.com/heartbreak1

If you like Italo, this is great stuff.

[joethelion]

In no particular order...

Sasha - Invol2ver
-> even though I suspect that the tracks this time around haven't been quite as "tweaked around with" as much as on the first one (which - to me almost felt like a 'artist album' if you know what I mean) - I still have been pleasantly pleased with this release. Definitely not as 'atmospheric' as the last one either, yet still with loads of melody and character

iTAL tEK - Cyclical
-> even though I'm really NOT a fan of the whole "IDM deal" (aka pretentiousness) ... it still has really been able to grab me.

Portishead - Third
-> I was worried that... at first, I only thought it was a great album b/c I was sooooo hyped up to finally get new material of theirs (and see them live), but it still gets pretty regular play and really didn't disappoint me. And it's definitely not just their last two albums all over again. There's a definite progression in sound, and some nice analogue-y traits that you didn't have as much as on their previous stuff.

The Black Ghosts - The Black Ghosts
-> it's funny how ..well... once Simian broke up, the members have all massively improved from when they were together. Just enough pop sprinkled over everything. You should buy the album if just for "I Want Nothing" and "Some Way Through This" ...plus there are some awesome remixes from tracks off this album


the Presets - Apocalypso
-> this album just is PACKED with really class singles, yet still has a great flow. I can't listen to this and not get hyped up. Soooooo menacing yet happy all at the same time. It's like you're at a club in purgatory, if that makes any sense

Muscles - Guns Babes and Lemonade
-> not sure if this came out this year or late last... and it's def a bit too similar to the Presets at times, and some tracks can be off putting to some people, but you seriously CAN NOT be in a bad mood when you listen to the album... seriously, it's impossible. It could be an incredibly dreary day, your girlfriend could have broken up with you... and you'll still have a HUGE smile on your face.

[matt]

Originally Posted by joethelion

the Presets - Apocalypso
-> this album just is PACKED with really class singles, yet still has a great flow. I can't listen to this and not get hyped up. Soooooo menacing yet happy all at the same time. It's like you're at a club in purgatory, if that makes any sense

if you like this album make you sure you also check out other modular acts cut copy and midnight juggernauts as both have also released great albums this year (and are not a million miles away from the presets in sound)

In fact one of my favourite iPod playlists this year has been a Modular one i put together which has these three albums plus the Muscles one

And i haven't heard it yet but the new Ladyhawke album has been getting some good reviews too