2023 is drawing to a close so best to recap it now before the New Year while we’re both still capable of processing the written word.
Nothing too elaborate on this post, just some shout outs some of my favourite releases and producers for 2023, plus my pick for label of the year.
For the past few months the emphasis has been mainly on retro reviews celebrating numerous anniversaries, mainly from 1993, alongside other classic releases from the 80s and 90s.
Covering this material is a lot of fun but can also be time consuming and I’m aware of how it can steal focus, so many of the releases I’m mentioning now are ones I was unable to review at the time.
Album Of The Year – It’s Gotta Be Garnier!
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone since I’ve already seen it top several best of the year reviews already.
Simply put, Laurent Garnier is a legend, hands down the greatest DJ alive today. A true selector with an encyclopaedic knowledge of all styles of music, who doesn’t merely blend beats as much as sculpt emotions and conjure forth moments of extreme collective euphoria.
And that’s just him behind the decks.
His latest album released on his own CodeQR label, proves once and for all, for anyone foolish to have ever doubted, that he’s also one of the best dance music producers in the world today.
I’ll admit I’m not a fan of every single track on this album but the ones I do like are nothing short of transcendent, combining inventive composition with his unparalleled dancefloor sensibilities to create some of the most evocative dance music I’ve heard in a long time.
Read In Full: 33 Tours Et Puis S’en Vont Review
Honourable Mentions
Here’s a few honourable mentions for best albums of 2023, most of which I didn’t get a chance to review on release.
Prism – The Orb
Let’s start with the only other album on here I actually did get time toreview, Prism by The Orb.
A new album from The Orb is always a big deal for me since they’re always packed with surprises. What I really love about Prism is how it continues to expand the sonic pallet, drawing from various genres and influences while also retaining all those familiar Orb hallmarks.
A delightful blend of old skool with fresh sensibilities that rewards you more with each relisten.
Read In Full: Prism by The Orb Review
Due In Colour – Andrea
Released in March on one of my favourite labels of recent times, Ilian Tape, Due In Colour is a fascinating blend of lush melodies, ambient textures and frantic breaks which has pretty much lived inside my headphones for months now.
Reclaim – Pépe
Pépe is a recent favourite of mine. I initially discovered him via some pretty unexpected breakbeat bootleg remixes (including a deliciously cheesy remix of Rene and Angela’s I’ll Be Good) plus a varyspeed breaks/jungle banger called Bridging Mechanics.
His debut album shows yet another side to the producer, one I hadn’t expected but the result is stunning, with Pépe digging deeper into the compositional side, crafting interlocking layers of exotic, minimalist melodies.
If you ever wondered what Phillip Glass would have sounded had he gone full junglist, wonder no more.
Off World Tales – Phillip D Kick
Speaking of jungle massiveness, another big one for me this year was this sci-fi inspired album by British producer Jim Coles, aka Om Unit, aka Phillip D Kick.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realise I was never as much of a fan of drum n bass as I am a true junglist at heart.
Now there’s plenty of producers out there keeping that original jungle sound alive, though much of it feels like empty nostalgia made by starry-eyed youngsters who grew up with dad’s Grooverider tapes in the back of the car.
This is lightyears apart and very special, with one foot firmly in the old skool but with a futurist agenda pushing the boundaries of what jungle is meant to sound like.
VIS334: Chronoception – Versalife
Here’s another one which blends old skool sensibilities with futurist vibes, with plenty of nods to classic Detroit and Warp records, while still sounding very much at the forefront of electro.
This one came out on 20/20 Records back in March, I got this and the Andrea album around the same time.
Actually I’m just going to fess up and admit that all of these albums are ones which have been living on my phone for months. I tend to listen to new music in multiple settings, especially when I want to review something, so although I may prefer listening to music at home, I tend to also put new albums on my phone so I can relisten on the move.
I tend to refresh the tunes on my phone with greater regularity but here we are, months later, and I’m still listening to this album, and all the others I’ve mentioned on here.
And really, there’s no better review for these albums than the fact that, despite being constantly harangued by my phone to delete files and make space, these have survived for untouched for months now.
EP Of The Year 2023
This one goes to Aphex Twin for Blackbox Life Recorder.
I’ll be the first to admit my EP reviews have been a bit scattershot this year and there’s so much stuff being released, so much shit to wade get though, so much time spent just panning for gold amidst the deluge of cynical, homogonous genre bullshit – and then you find out there’s an Aphex Twin release on the way.
A new Aphex Twin release has always been something of an event for me. Especially when I was younger because I was always guaranteed to hear something I’d never, ever heard before.
Course that doesn’t really happen anymore. Sure, they still sound weird, but Aphex Twin releases these days always sound like Aphex Twin releases.
But isn’t that exactly why we buy them?
The one thing you can say about Aphex Twin is that he continues to forge his own path, pushing beyond the boundaries of technology, melody, tone, tuning and rhythm with a level of attention to detail and courageous experimentation which no other artist can ever hope to match.
Tune Of The Year
My tune of the year for 2023 is Berlin Sunrise by Hermeth.
This one came out the end of March and has basically been my theme tune for the past 9 months.
It’s good vibes soul-armour playing in my earphones pretty much constantly as I leave the house, walk down the street, use public transport, whatever – it’s the tune I always play when I’m on the move.
It ticks so many of my, by now all-too-obvious boxes:
- Old skool vibes ✔️
- Killer 303 line ✔️
- Speedy breakbeats ✔️
- Uplifting melodies ✔️
- Ensures I walk fast and always arrive sweaty ✔️
And a single listen is all it takes to get it stuck in your head all day.
Comeback Of The Year
Jesus, is he gonna mention Children Of The Bong again?
My comeback of the year for 2023 is Children Of The Bong.
1995’s Sirius Sounds was an underrated classic when it was released, a thick primordial soup
teeming with strange psychedelic lifeforms and shimmering, viscous pools of deep primeval dub.
After years and years of waiting, Children Of The Bong dropped two albums of unreleased material in the space of just three months. I do really hope there’s more to come.
Read In Full: Children Of The Bong Sirius Sounds Review
Label Of The Year
My label of the year for 2023 is the intensely prolific, Icelandic weirdness factory that is Móatún 7.
And when I say prolific I’m not kidding. Seriously, I’ve just received notifications of three new releases today alone, just as I’m writing this – a timely reminder which prompted me to mention the label here.
Am I a fan of everything they do? No, a lot of the stuff can be a bit too droney, or pretentiously wonky, but one thing I’ll say – it’s never samey or predictable.
This is a label that constantly strives to be different. The result is a steady output of fresh material that doesn’t really fit in anywhere else.
This label doesn’t seem to really care about styles or genres. You’ll find raw acid bangers next to lush melodic downtempo stuff, quite possibly on the same release.
Móatún 7 is also one of the few places I can find ambient music that actually engages me, which is saying something since I’m usually a high-BPM, low attention span kinda guy.
But again, it’s when the releases tick lots of different boxes, or blends styles together, that’s what always grabs my attention and it’s why I keep coming back to these guys.
Producers Of The Year
I can’t just pick one, I’m being greedy so I have to have three.
The first being the mysterious Client_03, while my second pick is German duo, Not Even Noticed.
I don’t know who the hell Client_03 is but whoever you are, you’re doing a fucking amazing job.
It’s also so refreshing to once again have an electronic music artist preferring to let the music do the talking.
In an age of attention-addict synch button pedlars flexing their tattoos throughout endless photoshoots it’s nice to be reminded of the glory days of what Mixmag once dubbed, “faceless techno bollocks.”
If this turns out to be the alias of a well known DJ I’m going to feel like a right gom, but then I’ll just go back and edit this and pretend like it never happened.
I doubt it though. There’s a very distinct and deliberate aesthetic with Client_03, everything from the name, denoting a random, anonymous node on a network, to the artwork and of course the meticulously sculpted rhythms and intricate production on each release.
Always quality, always compelling.
So much of what gets labelled “electro” can sound jaded, dated and pumped full of retro synth sounds whose only purpose is to evoke cheap nostalgia.
Client_03, on the other hand, applies that same spirit of futurism that first launched the genre and applies it to the here and now. As such it doesn’t feel like we’re going back to the 1980s, but rather we’re being neurojacked into a gritty, Gibsonian cyberspace where data exists as pure funk.
Also want to give a big shout out to Not Even Noticed, a pair of German producers with a sound I’m definitely down with.
Not to labour the point but yeah, I do love my 303s and breakbeats. And these guys deliver the goods. Sometimes dark and dirty, other times melodic and uplifting, and I find myself enjoying their releases more and more.
This year saw them drop two releases within the space of a few weeks, one on Craigie Knowes and the other on Holding Hands. Check this one from the latter for some uptempo acid sweetnes.
Rising Star For 2024
One of my earliest memories is of me lying on the floor playing with my Matchbox cars.
As these were inert toys, molded metal and plastic and completely devoid of electronics, one had to push them around the floor to provide the illusion of propulsion.
It was customary, also, to add one’s own sound effects, my favourite being the sound of a revving engine, “Vromm! Vromm!”
Fair to say it’s been a few decades since the word, “Vromm” has passed my lips, but in 2023 it’s made quite the comeback.
Vromm is a UK-based, Spanish producer who’s been busy releasing some captivating music this past year, from his remix of the 90s classic 20HZ by Capricorn, to subsequent releases on R&S.
Vromm draws influences from a broad range of electronic music and incorporates these elements into his music in fresh new ways.
Any attempts by me to even describe his music cannot be achieved without sounding like some pretentious wine tasting twat.
Yes, mmm very interesting this, there’s a lot here yes, you can hear garage, breaks and dubstep influences, I’m also getting hints of electro, traces of Maurizio – hmmm, mmm – there’s definitely some Carl Craig in too I think and just the faintest hint of CJ Bolland that just lingers on the pallet somewhat…
So yeah, 2023 Vromm is certainly a good vintage, but I’m certain whatever he’s got fermenting for 2024 is going to be even better so go check him out!