I rarely do posts about one song, but I heard a song today so epic that is a worthy of such rare acknowledgment. It is by Ninjastep- a dubstep group out of New Zealand and it takes an amazing trombone solo and turns into an sick dubstep jam. The womp is pretty subtle and the trombone groove is consistently epic. It makes me want to pick up my old trombone from high school and attempt to learn this dankness. This song is like big band dubstepped and it is unlike anything I've ever heard. Check it out.
Here are my best albums of 2010. Later in the week, I'll release the best mixtapes and EPs. Cheers:
1. The Chemical Brothers- Further
After two relatively unsuccessful albums, The Chemical Brothers threw away the dance album formula that they had stuck to for their whole career and instead crafted an album that takes electronic music further than ever before. The music in this album always feels like its going to explode, but never quite does, and instead it takes listeners on an audible journey.
Kanye just kills it on almost every song of this album. He’s cocky, he’s pissed, he’s sad, he’s partying. The album has all the ups and downs of the superstar’s life and always finds the right words and the right beats to feat the moment. It’s everything the title says it is and more.
The best hip hop band out there delivers one of their best albums ever. It’s got soul, and dank hip hop flows about the problems with inner city life. How I Got Over never quits, just about every song is incredible and there are plenty featured artists such as John Legend and Monsters of Folk to keep the sound fresh.
With their sophomore album, Vampire Weekend developed their sound and delivered. This album was my jam last winter. I tried Horchata for the first time because of this album. Like Horchata, it is sweet with just the right amount of depth; It is pop music at its very best.
From the very beginning with Snoop Dog’s “Welcome to the world of the plastic beach,” to the end this album delivers uniquely surreal music that never sounds the same. A concept album with a thinly veiled enviromentalist message, it is The Gorrilaz’ most successful album to date.
Just when you thought pure rock n roll was dead in 2010, the Black Keys release an album of such unadulterated rock with just enough soul and dynamic riffs to keep you wanting more throughout the entire album.
From The High Road at the start and on, this album delivers amazing pop-rock music. Dangermouse and James Mercer (The Shins) seem to be an almost perfect pairing.
Deadmau5 delivers dubstep, and moar great electronic music. Raise Your Weapon is probably the song of the year. Mau5 also wins for best stage setup of the year: the anamorphic cube will live in on in dance music history for a long time.
The album is at once the battle between good and evil as it is the contrast between dance and dubstep. Skrillex’s scream-like womps may be offputting to the first time listener, but his music is brilliant.
With LP4 Ratatat explores some never before explored audio territory. Their sound varies much more in this album than it ever has before. From the bubbling of Neckbrace to the power-riffs of Drugs it is great music all around.
It may be depressing hip hop and devoid of any chart toppers, but it’s definitely honest and great music. Various features help him expand on his musical range.
It’s got the dance anthem of the year: I Need Air. It’s got dubstep of just about every variety. It’s got moments of angelic beauty and moments of devilish womps. We should all look forward to what this dubstep supergroup comes out with next.
Crystal Castles’ second title album has unlistenable moments of epilectic inducing screaming, moments of rave-climaxing beats, and moments of haunting strangeness. Part punk, mostly electro, even though the lead singer is like the girl from The Ring on crack it’s pretty much awesome.
Damian Marley and Nas are an almost dream-like pairing. You have your pissed off rapper and the chill rasta jams juxtaposed in the music. Although there are moments when Distant Relatives gets too preachy, it is a successful album.
This album is pretty much an expansion of the simple but catchy sound that brought these two fame with “Daylight,” but who said there was anything wrong with that?
It has two of the most epic dubstep anthems of the years in Raver’s Special and Woo Boost. But, as many moments of epicness it has, it has just as many moments of selloutedness which is what is preventing it from reaching higher on the list. Note to DJs: don’t do songs with Gucci Mane!
I recently downloaded the Ministry of Sound's The Sound of Dubstep album and UKF Dubstep (a dubstep mixtape). Let me tell you, these albums are chock full of wompy dankness. If you like dubstep at all- get these now. Here are some gems I discovered*:
*For full effect, these must be played on the loudest speakers you have access to.
Luvstep. Not only is it an amazing name for the romantic dubstep subgenre, it is also an awesome mixtape by Dirty South and Flufftronix out on Mad Decent (Diplo's label.) There is not much music that is more emotional than these songs as they are packed with powerful love-womps....pretty epic!
Below is just a preview but you can buy the full thing here:
