So that’s it, the first decade of the century down and what do we have to show for it? This half arsed semi-functional blog-come-website that more than a few people read, but few care about?
A sad state of affairs indeed . . . but if you’re in need of some time to kill you could do worse than to read our decade postscript of sorts below or to peruse our tunes of the decade list that has finally reached completion – just in time for you to be sick to the stomach of decade, or even year, related lists. Perfect.
Except our list hasn’t quite reached completion – and the Biz is fucked off about it. Something is still missing. As our list was constructed over the course of six months, and we are lazy, unscrupulous people, we couldn’t even be bothered to put it in any order of particular significance, so we need you to do it for us. Click here, scroll down below the final entry and cast your vote . . . all you need to do is pick the (up to) ten best tunes of the decade. Either that or you could base the votes on our attempts to justify selection. Hell, why not just do it here – no links required. Make your vote count – The Grain needs you . . .
At long last it’s happened. The clock finally struck 12 on December the 31st, 2009 (rung in, for me, by a rather abrasive antipodean woman in a pub in Oxford) to herald the dawn of a much sought new decade. The noughties seem to have taken a bit of a kicking from all quarters recently (even mild mannered Rowan Williams was having a pop). It has been painted as a decade of ‘annus horribilis’ – a ‘decade horribilis’ – and for good reason. September the 11th, George W. Bush, ‘War on Terrorism’, phoned weapons of mass destruction and illegal wars. July the 7th bombings in London, the rise and rise of reality television (to the extent that now even the news asks ‘how do you feel’ as its opening question, rather than ‘what is going on’), New labour turning really fucking sour, the financial crisis, the ‘credit crunch’ (perhaps the most odiously named ‘thing’ of all time) and, worst of all – the glacé cherry atop this steaming pile of woe – Newcastle United were relegated. Happy New Year.
But it wasn’t all bad, was it? Was it? I don’t know, was it? Surely we can’t have just endured ten years of unmitigated disaster; there must have been some sporadic rays of light? Surely!
Well, in an attempt at blind optimism, an innate desire to balance the argument and to stop from going mad with despair, I’ve tried to think of some good things that happened in the last decade (and I’ve had to think hard, dig deep and scrape the bottom of the barrel, believe me). Here are a few things, in absolutely no order of importance, which made the noughties nice. Read the rest of this entry »
There are words on the way regarding Hyperdub’s immense 5 year collection, but they’ve also been dropping a few tasty singles of recent, not least Ikonika’s latest 12” ‘Sahara Michael/ Fish’ straight off the back of last months equally opulent ‘Smuck’ (on Planet Mu). Bringing a female touch to the dubstep/funky/wonky sound going around at the moment, it’s a joyous low key 8-bit synth affair. The soundtrack to some remorseful computer mourning reminiscent of the times when the music Nintendo was cranking out on their games was better than 2D platforms they were backing; full of warm enveloping tones, a nice 2-step beat, with a little higher pitched G/P-funk synth taking the lead. B-side ‘Fish’ ups the tempo and the layers, a more percussive exploration with the necessary dash of bass, to accompany the future-retro synths and banging woodblock. All in all, sumptuous stuff, putting Ikonika and fellow Hyperdubber Darkstar, at the forefront of this funk and synth led development.
JOY ORBISON: ‘BRKLN CLLN’
It’s fair to say a lot of critics and clubbers shit their pants when the first heard Joy Orbison’s debut ‘Hyph Mngo’ drop earlier in the year – you know it’s a classic when it pinnacle is one note – but he has followed it up on his own imprint, DOLDRUMS, with ‘BRKLN CLLN’ backed with ‘J.Doe’. It essentially applies the same principles, vocal cut up sits on top of swelling bass, but with a more forceful rhythm (check the twisted processed sound sitting in the place of a straight handclap), encapsulating something morose with some skewed euphoria in there. The synth/keyboard chord may be processed to the point of an object of beauty, but this (naturally) doesn’t quite scale the heights of ‘Hyph Mngo’.
