Pelski’s longwinded round-up of 2008 continues with the obligatory ‘top 25 of the year’ lists. Now, these may not be the most technically or timelessly brilliant albums and tracks of the year. The critics may have hated them, or even the public. They are merely Pelski’s personal favourites. The ones I most enjoyed. Sure, the likes of MGMT, Ellen Allien, Metronomy, The Bug, Lindstrom, Cut Copy, The Black Dog, M83, Benga, TV on the Radio and Hercules and The Love Affair all ought to be in there…but they aren’t.
Top 5 albums
1. The Black Ghosts – The Black Ghosts
Black Ghosts consist of Theo Keating AKA Fake Blood (an ex-Wiseguys member) and Simon Lord (an ex-Simian member). The formidable combination of Keating’s buzzy, distorted beats and Lord’s beatifully possesing voice, crooning and swooning along to intricately constructed
soundscapes, made for the most electrifying album of the year. Spooky and eerie is the theme. But uplifting and touching was the effect. Dancefloor bangers came in the form of the bouncy indie-electro of ‘Anyway You Choose To Give It’, ‘Face’ and ‘I Want Nothing’. Simon Lords’ awe-inspiring vocal efforts carry the album, but sitting alongside Lord’s alluring voice lay equally invigorating basslines and synthwork. ‘Repetition Kills You’ was a little different, but still stuck to their intricate production methods, though featured Damon Alborn of Blur/Gorillaz fame, and was a slice of perfect summer pop. Other tracks on the album were dismissed as sloppy tripe, but deserve further listening – in the likes of ‘Something New’ and ‘Someway Through This’ Lord’s voice embodies a pained cry, providing the album’s dark, yet enchanting edge.
The Black Ghosts mixtape, too, was exhilirating listening and provided our first glimpse of Fake Blood’s ‘Mars’ (hmmm…funny, that…). What with Simon Lord’s new side project Lord Skywave, Keating’s project, and the absence of boy 8-bit as guitarist, let’s hope the duo don’t abandon The Black Ghosts altogether.
2. The Cool Kids – Bake Sale
There’s little hip hop I like. There’s the jump-up-and-down fun of club orientated bmore and crunk, but when it comes to straight-up hip hop I prefer the old classics. I like the jazzy and scratchy style of A Tribe Called Quest, the soulful musings of De La Soul, the in-your-face politics of Public Enemy and the chipper, summery sounds of DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince. I like it old school. And so do the Cool Kids.
This Chicago hip-hop group is one of those rare things: a throw-back to the 80′s from a bunch barely born in the 80′s (“Come check the noise/It’s the new black version of the Beastie Boys”). These guys were wheeling around in there fisher-prices while Run DMC and EPMD were breaking boundaries with their slick lyrics, and yet they’ve pin-pointed the era and added a little of their own unique flavour. Slow rapping and simple backing beats make for an upbeat album, with lyrics often tongue-in-cheek – poking fun at hip hop cliches (instead of riding around town in pimped-out cars, they offer lifts to girls on their BMX pegs). Their hipster mentatility and that now trendy obsession with the 80′s may have them tagged as typical blog fodder, but they’re more than just smartly dressed scenesters. They can turn a catchy rap and infuse genuine charm and whit to boot. Admittedly, The Cool Kids will never make an impact anywhere near the forefathers of hip hop they’re tipping their hats to. But they can still have a hell of alot of fun trying.
3. Deadmau5 – Random Album Title
Despite the pretentious title, this album is a refreshing dance classic. A hefty, continuous 4/4 
beat runs throughout, but Deadmau5′s distinctive progressive house sound never lapses into repetition. Toronto’s DJ Joel Zimmerman has produced an album that unexpectedly displayed astounding diversity – ambient effects, chiming pianos and throbbing bass intertwine to forge a collection of tunes that wouldn’t sound out of place deafening stadium audiences. Each track is purely instrumental, seemlessly mixed into one continuous set – the album ought to be appreciated as a whole. Even the trancier elements of the album (‘Slip’) manage to retain his own unique stamp.
You may bemoan the absence of certain mau5 tracks. But it just goes to show he’s not milking old crowd-pleasers, with plenty more to come…
4. Late of the Pier – Fantasy Black Channel
The klaxons were ‘electro meets indie’ right? Nu Rave, yes? Except there was nothing remotely ravey about them. In fact there was barely anything electro about them. And Nu Rave implied we’d all forgotten how to rave and Klaxons had just re-awakened us. Rubbish. But their dancey flavour of indie was a good thing – their album was faultless… and would Late of the Pier exist without them?
Spurred on by Erol’s production duties, Fantasy Black Channl was better than NME’s usual over-hyped indie tripe. This is what indie-dance should be: brimming with excitable, jittery 80′s-infused guitar riffs, deliciously retro vocal hooks and inventive synth work. Chaotic, loud and undeniably fun. ‘Space And the Woods’ is a classic indie stomper, equipped with buzzing sythns and a round-and-round tune, while ‘Broken’s pounding beat runs symateaneoulsy to a twanging guitar riff and crying vocals. The album’s punky vocals and fun-loving lyrics (“Put your hands on your waistline and move your body to the bassline”) inject a youthful magnetism. And almost every tunes is worthy of single material. Focker, for all it’s hyperative zest, has got to be the first ever indie tune to be labelled an electro banger. And ‘The Bears Are Coming’ see them at their most strangely enchanting – weird, warbling bass and squirmy noises interweave.
So much more than ‘Nu Rave’.
5. Style of Eye – Duck, Cover and Hold
Tech-house is all the rage these days. But Swedish producer Style Of Eye isn’t primarily 
tech-house. He pulls elements from techno and house, and is certainly minimal in essence, but sill retains a strange dancefloor weight, with distincitve patterns and a forceful style – big pulsing basslines collide with loud horns and chirpy sirens. Style of Eye sometimes lapses into a plodding momentum – often a touch too minimal for some perhaps, but the ominous techno of ‘Girls’ fizzes and punches its way onto any dancefloor. ‘The Prophet’, meanwhile, is a bleepy tech-house banger – a tuneful hook so catchy it’s impossible to shake out of your head. ‘Ona”s rising, screeching noise grates, but, like the rest of the album, refuses to sink into common trapfalls of sopophoric techno.
Top 25 original material
In no particular order, here are my favourite original tunes of the year (admittedly some of these are arguably not original, relying heavily on samples). No doubt there are a large number of glaring ommissions:
Top Billin – Hoes & House
Crookers – Love To Edit
ZZT – The Worm
Tiga – Mind Dimension
Martin Brothers – Dum
The black Ghosts – I Want Nothing
Fake blood – Blood Splashing (Fake Blood Theme)
Proxy – Dance In The Dark
DJ Mujava – Township Funk
Cool Kids – I Rock
Boy 8-bit – Cricket Scores
Wideboys ft Sarah Saville – What you’re thinking
Holy Ghost! – Hold On
Late Of The Pier – Focker
Style Of Eye – The Prophet
Destroy disco – Fly or bounce
The Yank – We Can’t Be Stopped
Rico Tubbs – Gangsters
Surkin – White Knight
Deadmau5 – Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff
Sukh Knight – Born Invincible
Chemical Brothers – Electronic Battle weapon 10
Miles Dyson – Live In Mexico
Santogold – L.E.S. Artistes
The Round Table Knights – Hold Me Back
Top 30 remixes
30 of the remixes I most enjoyed – nestled in this list are my fave electro, house, dubstep, techno, hip-hop and bassline beats. In no particular order:
Ghostface Killah – Charlie Brown (Yuksek Remix)
Curses! – What I Need (Dexplicit Remix)
Black Kids – I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (Twelves Remix)
Kid Cudi – Day ‘n’ Night (Crookers Remix)
Little Boots – Stuck On Repeat (Fake Blood Remix)
Dirty South – The End (Tocadisco Loves Tech Remix)
Kraak & Smaak – Squeeze Me (Trevor Loveys Remix)
Alter Ego – Fuckingham Palace (Modeselektor Remix)
Kidda – Under The Sun (Herve Remix)
Radioclit – Divine Gosa (Switch Remix)
Michael Jackson – Bad (Mowgli Remix)
ShitDisco – I Know Kung Fu (Goose Remix)
Art Of Noise – Moments In Love (Caspa Remix)
Late Of The Pier – The Bears Are Coming (Partyshank Remix)
DJ Rush – Motherfucking Bass (Popof Remix)
Marlena Shaw – California Soul (Diplo/Mad Decent Remix)
Fan Death – Veronica’s Veil (Erol Alkan’s Extended Rework)
Fake Blood – Mars (Player Player’s 95 Jump Mix)
Audio Bullies – Flickery Vision (Rusko Remix)
Justice – Genesis (Chewy chocolate cookies remix)
Si Begg – Non Stop Cut and Paste (Pirate Soundsystem Remix)
Beastie Boys – Intergalactic (Yellus Remix)
Deadmau5 vs Jelo – The Reward Is Cheese
Mystery Jets – Hideaway (Switch Remix)
The Toxic Avenger – Poker Face (Lies In Disguise Remix)
D.I.M – Is You (Brodinski Remix)
The Cool Kids – Pump Up The Volume (Flosstradamus Remix)
AC Slater – Jack Got Jacked (Jack Beats Remix)
RQM -Miss Pacman (Oliver $ Remix)
Example – So Many Roads (Herve Remix)
Top three blogs of the year
1. Electrorash
Not scared to voice a dissenting opinion, and very well written. Their Muscles-slating alone was a genius piece of ego bashing, that even saw an enraged Muscles respond beneath it. Hilarious. They often infuse their posts with genuine wit, a touch of cynicism and a fair analysis of tracks. Electrorash first won me over with this thorough, informative and frank post: Chewy Chocolate Cookies Post.
2. Curbcrawlers
Curbcrawlers is the anti-blog in a blogosphere predominatly obssessed with disco-house and noisy electro. If your searching for techy soundscapes, old-school-styled 2-step, womping, underground dubstep or just a little deep house curbcrawlers is the blog for you. Curbcrawlers is a breath of fresh air.
3. Voules Random
There is no denying there are too many blogs posting merely passable stuff; throw-away stuff; stuff lazily banged out on ableton over just couple of hours. Voules Random however is consistent. Quality control. They post frequently, with a sleek design, excellent tunes and precise write-ups. Alot of bloggers tell us little about the given artist or track – how are we supposed to know what to download and what not to download, with so muh on offer? Exceptional tunes and well written.
Happy New Year, and remember… call me Pelski. x
