CD Album Recommendations Best Of 2013

Review: Last time it was only Omar S that could do it; this time he's thanking us for letting him be Omar S. That's right the FXHE boss returns with an eagerly awaited new album brandishing some 14 tracks. Omar S albums naturally tend to sell themselves but, for those still curious, Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself sounds like a perfectly executed culmination of the ideas AOS has explored on the numerous 12"s since his last album. As soon as the crunchy mechanical dramatics of opening track "I'll Bring U Ah Lil Sumpin Back" launch into action you feel like you're in for quite the journey and the subsequent swerves through Detroit flavoured electro, piano flecked house, beatdown and techno come with satisfaction guaranteed.

Review: So, after all the hype, social media arguments and YouTube parodies, here it is: the most talked about dance album of 2013. By now you should all know the story: Daft Punk do old-fashioned disco-pop with the help of a legion of high profile guests and collaborators. So is Random Access Memories any good? Certainly, it's a fine pop album; lavishly produced fare with an authentic, organic swing that benefits enormously from Chic man Nile Rodgers' distinctive guitar work. At it's best, such as on the goodtime disco rush of "Get Lucky" and "Lose Yourself to Dance" (both featuring agorgeous vocals for Pharrell Williams), or the quirky but brilliant "Girorgio by Moroder", it's impeccable.

Review: It goes without saying that Psychemagik's record collection is deeper than your average ocean. Despite the success of their productions, they've largely risen to prominence through their acclaimed compilations, and some stellar re-edits of records so obscure they barely even exist. Diabolical Synthetic Fantasia, a self-released compilation, offers another excuse to show off their crate digging skills. Almost all of the unidentified material featured on this two-disc set (one disc mixed, one unmixed) is unfeasibly brilliant. By and large, it's also rather strange, joining the dots between psyche-funk, weird-out disco, folksy oddness, acid-fried boogie and bizarre rock. It makes for a highly entertaining listen, and a one riotous party. Don't sleep.

Review: Borderland sees the illustrious Juan Atkins & Moritz von Oswald join forces for an album of meditative techno for Tresor. The partnership marks the first time Juan Atkins and Moritz von Oswald have directly collaborated in 20 years, though both have regularly assisted each other's work behind the scenes. Von Oswald played an important role in engineering much of Model 500's R&S catalogue, while Atkins supplied his mixing craft and two edits on Thomas Fehlmann & Moritz von Oswald's early '90s project 3MB. This eponymously titled album is skewed toward club-orientated electronic music blessed with a freedom for organic musical experimentation and expect to sink into a soundscape where melodic and textural motifs float in and out of focus.

Review: Rightly or wrongly, some believe that for an album to be truly great, it must take you on a journey. We're not sure yet whether Eddie C's second full-length, Country City Country, is a great album, but it's certainly something of a rollercoaster. Perhaps not a white knuckle ride, but certainly an undulating trip that bristles with vivid creativity and effortless dancefloor warmth. Given the Canadian's crate-digging sensibilities, it's no surprise to find that it's built around carefully chosen samples. Yet this is no mere cut and paste job. Beginning with a slew of lazy, slo-mo shufflers and tactile disco groovers, it sure-footedly works its way to a starlight deep house crescendo via drum machine electro, string-laden jack tracks and electric piano-laden jazz-funk jams.

Review: Given his status as one of drum and bass's true heavyweights, you'd expect this eighth Calibre full-length to be one of the most hotly anticipated jungle sets of the year. Certainly, it's a fine effort, packed with emotion-rich atmospherics, fizzing rhythms and intricate, occasional beautiful, musical touches. He seems to be at his best when concentrating on musicality, as the delightful "Close To Me', soulful "Wilderness" and summery "Do Not Turn On" prove. There are, of course, rawer moments (see the tech-tinged "Simple Things" and dubstep flex of "Start Again"), but these don't hit nearly as hard as his effortlessly soulful compositions.

Review: Kris "Karizma" Clayton doesn't do things by halves. Having not released a brand new album since his 2007 full-length debut, A Mind of His Own (2009's "V2.0" re-hash not withstanding), he's only gone and delivered a 39-track, double-CD opus of new material (and, by all accounts, there were several extra tracks that never made the cut). By its very nature, then, Wall of Sound is a bit of an unwieldy epic, and it will take you several plays to truly get your hand around its intricacies and stylistic shifts. It's safe to say, though, that it's a pretty tasty set, effortlessly flitting between soul-flecked instrumental hip-hop (see the Dilla-ish "Kan Rock"), broken beat, intense percussion workouts, slick US garage and deep house in all its forms.

Review: Given that Four Tet's recent 0181 LP was comprised of material from Kieran Hebden's archives, and last year's Pink was largely compiled of tracks from the previous 18 months of 12" releases, it seems fair to say that Beautiful Rewind is his first proper album since 2010's There Is Love In You, and as such, it arrives with some degree of expectation. The past few years have seen the producer engage increasingly with the dancefloor, and these rhythms are most definitely present across the LP, particularly in the jungle breaks of "Kool FM", pirate radio-influenced techno of "Buchla" and hesitant dubstep style rhythms of "Parallel Jalebi". For the most part however Beautiful Rewind is as varied as the likes of Rounds and There Is Love In You, with the minimalist kosmische of "Ba Teaches Yoga", analogue gurgles of "Crush" and dawn chorus sounds of closer "Your Body Feels" all as beautiful as his most enduring tracks.

Review: Since first emerging at the tail end of the '90s, Simon Green has become downtempo music's most marketable star, appealing just as much to occasional listeners and 40-something housewives as underground heads. Throughout that time, he's carefully shifted his sound to take in current trends and musical developments, whilst retaining a certain picturesque aesthetic. This fifth full-length, his fourth for Ninja Tune, continues that trend. Amongst the usual shuffling beats and twinkling melodies you'll find garage-esque vocal cut-ups, rubbery dancefloor rhythms, Floating Points style neo-jazz, string-laden two-step and some seriously wonky soul featuring vocals from Erykah Badu.

Review: new album from Shokazulu aka Kaidi Tatham

Review: With a name like Trus' me and an album named Treat Me Right you could easily be fooled in thinking David James Wolstencroft is a needy character. Trus' us, he really isn't. With years of experience as a journeyman DJ, producer and label head honcho, he cuts some seriously confident moves. And his third album is one of his boldest to date. Ranging from pumping tech-tonked groove of "I Want You" (complete with ace use of a well known Kariya vocal) to the deeper, hypnotically penetrating groove of the Moodyman-like "Moonlight Kiss", Treat Me Right showcases some serious studio skills while representing everything that's great about house and techno.

Review: Though his career has taken many turns over the last decade, DJ Koze has remained that most illusive of creatures: a minimal-minded producer with an ear for a melody. This fourth full-length, packed to the rafters with big-name collaborations (Apparat, Caribou, Ada and Matthew Dear all feature), continues his move towards the home-listening sphere. So, while many of the heady rhythms and shuffling grooves hark back to his stripped-back past, Amygdala impresses with its woozy songs, genre-straddling fusions (see the modern soul meets deep house of "Homesick" or the steppy, tropical vibes of "Marilyn Whirlwind") and homely atmosphere.

Review: First announced over 15 months ago, Firecracker finally come through with You've Never Been To Konotop (Selected Works 2009-2012) a rather finely presented collection of tracks from the self styled 'Slavic Spiritual Warrior" Vakula. The main recording alias of Ukrainian Mikhaylo Vityk, Vakula first emerged in 2009 with a succession of singular deep house explorations for respected hubs such as Dekmantel, Ethereal Sounds, 3rd Strike and Firecracker offshoot Shevchenko an as the extended title suggests this twelve track LP focuses on unreleased material from this same period. Musically, the tone mirrors Vityk's material for Shevchenko, taking the mainframe of house and melding it with elements of "Ukrainian folk melodies, esoteric cryptic rhythm patterns, field recordings, interludes and overgrown organic effects hidden beneath acres of cosmic murk."

Review: Given his impressive track record of late, it would be fair to say that Fred P's time has come. Of course, he's been knocking around for a few years, peddling 12" after 12" of fine, ocean-deep fare. Codes & Metaphors, his third full-length, delivers more sinewy deepness, tech-tinged groovery and woozy downtempo soul. It is, of course, all impeccable, from the twinkling pianos and Balearic chords of "Science & Art", and the down-low hypnotism of Lady Blaktronika collaboration "Your Love", to the bubbling electronics of "Amazing", and the sparse space-jazz of "Melody Off Key". Recommended.

Review: This CD provides both, an ultimate guide to the sound of Basic Channel and a compilation of the more electronic or ambientish part of the works released on the vinyl 12"s so far. The collection is an outstanding release within the wide field of listening electronics. Included are three tracks which are available only on this release.

Review: James Holden's career trajectory has been odd, to say the least. Having found fame as a fresh-faced teenaged progressive house producer, he's spent the last decade distancing himself from his early work (and, arguably, doing the same with his Border Community label). The Inheritors is his first album for nearly seven years, and you can tell. Whereas his debut set, 2006's The Idiots Are Winning, was rooted in tech-house and minimal - albeit with a sprinkling of IDM tracks - The Inheritors is a wonderfully out-there, atmospheric and occasionally uncomfortable set. Rooted in IDM, drone, ambience and leftfield beats, it flits between nightmarish oddness ("Sky Burial"), wide-eyed fluidity ("Inter-City 125") and intense, lo-fi electronica ("Seven Stars").

Review: KZA's long running Let's Get Lost series continues it's relentless slalom through the edit scene, presenting a CD edition of the two vinyl double packs from famed Italian cosmic voyager Daniele Baldelli with the latter including contributoons from his prolific compatriot Marco Dionigi. Some 14 tracks deep, there's something for every self-respecting disco spinner here with highlights coming thick and fast. However, for our money it's the inclusions from recent 2x12 Let's Get Lost 23 that really stand out with the spiky disco punk "Gregory Band," full on psyche rock ("Noia Noia") and the glamorous strut of "Hello" particularly good.