2017's Best Tunes

I forgot to post a favourite tunes of 2017 list. This list has been sitting in my drafts since mid December but it was only a top 5 or 6 anyway. I've added a handful of other tracks since the Christmas/New Year period. I didn't listen to the radio or watch any music video channels in 2017 but I did check out probably a couple of hundred singles/tracks on youtube. Not hearing them in a radio context doesn't allow for a tune to insidiously worm its way into your brain though. I thought pop's reign had halted and r&b, rap etc. were in poor shape. I still do.

I just couldn't hear any innovations in rap at all, at least not vocally. It all just seemed to be rehashing what Gucci Mane, Future and Young Thug had pioneered years earlier. In times like these sometimes that can be ok because often newer artists consolidate on what the pioneers have already blueprinted. However it just seems like every newcomer is rather pale by comparison to their forefathers. God, Young Thug & Future even did an album together which left not a trace in my memory, that was not a good sign. Jay-Z sounded tired. Geez Tyler, The Creator was even sounding fresh with his old school Neptunes/NERD shtick, it stood out because everyone else sounded the same. Too Much (Vocal) from v1984 was classic b-boys on E stuff plus I quite liked tracks from these new feisty rappers with potential Rico Nasty and Sheff G.

The beauty of hip hop a few years ago was the fact that somehow even in this post-geographical internet age a regional flavour still came through in a lot of leading artists material. So distinctive styles were developing throughout the different neighbourhoods of America. Now you get New Yorkers sounding like wannabe southern trappers, people from LA moving to Atlanta, Rappers from Brooklyn wishing they were from Chicago etc. Where are Rae Sremmunrd from? Cardi B? Vince Staples? Is Travis Scott from Atlanta?  Who knows anymore? It's probably a cyclical thing. I mean you did have g-funk coming out of all sorts of places in the 90s, not just LA.

I didn't think I'd heard any good pop/rock songs last year, not that I tried very hard or at all. However, I actually heard the infectious Imagine Dragons tune, Whatever It Takes, in Emma's car on Boxing Day which I thought was a state of the art soft-rock anthem for the FM airwaves of 2017. No apologies hipsters.

Indie rock is just plain embarrassing now. It's the trad jazz of the 2010s.

Most R&B and their inter-zones sounded staid but there were a couple of things that grabbed my attention. The obvious standout was Kelela's two singles and LP. Apparently there's a Steve Gurley dub of her Truth Or Dare floating around the internet too. Thundercat, SZA and NERD featuring Rihanna had their retro moments.

There were one or two disparate electronic things that caught my ear but they were mainly just little 90s nostalgia trips for me like Lanark Artefacts' Touch Absence, Bicep's Glue, Loft's Funemployed and a few others that have slipped my mind. Other track-y things like Your Kiss Is Sour by Parris and Ploy's Unruly had their charms while Objekt's Theme From Q was almost something new. Oh and I've only just realised Rudeboyz came back with an EP but I missed it.

So below is my belated best tunes of 2017 list.

BEST TUNES OF 2017
Frontline - Kelela
LMK - Kelela
Slippery - Migos feat. Gucci Mane
Blue Light - Kelela
Bodak Yellow - Cardi B (Zora Jones & Sinjin Hawke Bootleg)
Magnolia - Playboi Carti
Too Much (Vocal) - v1984
Goosebumps - Travis Scott feat. Kendrick Lamar
Dark Matter - Jlin & Zora Jones
Mask Off - Future
DNA - Kendrick Lamar
Lemon - NERD feat. Rihanna

Rap Mixtapes - Influx Inertia 2

Lovin the cover! Surely he'll get sued?

This (above) is coming soon, looking froward to that. Future's just put out another mixtape. I haven't had time to check out the last one properly yet or his LP of last year. In a minute he's putting out anotherbloody one with Young Scooter. The Rap Mixtape Inertia continues. Boogie have finally been been given a listen and their Thirst 48 sounds pretty good so it's missed mixtape purgatory as has Goldlink's The God Complex. I came across RJ & Choice's Rich Off Mackin which has Mustard on the beat throughout so that could be good? Or maybe not. Chief Keef's at it again but I've barely been able been able to give the last two mixtapes a go let alone his LP. Then we've got a Rome Fortune collaboration with OC Maco Yep and yep I'll listen to it one day this year possibly. Now I feel like I need to reassess OC Maco because one of my favourite rappers, Mr Fortune, thinks he's worthwhile collaborating with! Lil Wayne makes a return with Sorry for the Wait 2 which I just read on twitter has been downloaded a quarter of million times already on Datpiff after less than a day. Cheddar Da Connect's Catchin Playz 2 is currently getting a hearing here.???. Piling up are Young Scooter, Rae Sremmurd, Lil Herb, Juicy J, Mike 'Will Made It', Young L, Drake and all the blah blah mentioned in that previous post. The Zuse mixtape Illegal Immigrant is becoming a 2015 favourite. There has been like over 30 mixtapes alone released at LiveMixtapes this week so far. Then there's a whole bunch of artists who I've never heard of and perhaps it should stay that way. Someone needs to stop the clock and let the future shock dwindle a little. Imagine being a Gucci Mane fanatic? How exhausting would that be? All I want is Club God 4! Where is it?

To Download Or Not To Download?

******* STOP THE PRESS *******

The ClubGodzilla himself informs me on twitter that Club God 4 will be issued on February the 3rd. I'm guessing as a free mixtape, probably on i-tunes as well. I dunno? Wouldn't a physical LP be cool? We'll see, I mean I saw Kool John did a cd of his classic free mixtape $hmopcity.

Where To Begin

There's been a stack of new things recently that I just haven't got around to listening to yet. There's been a batch of new releases from the west country noise farmers doing their mad cow diseased electronics and gumboot industrial ie. IX-Tab, Kemper Norton, Howlround, Ekoplekz but I think I've missed Hacker Farm's tape as it sold out before I even heard about it. Plus there's more on the way soon from their hauntological cousins The Advisory Circle and I assume the usual season's greetings from Moon Wiring Club. Some very old faves have been busy too The Church, Einsturzende Neubauten (must admit haven't listened to a new record of theirs since Ende Neu) and Scott Walker (no I haven't listened to it yet! Perhaps tonight's the night). Some slightly younger old faves Fennesz and Vladislav Delay (remember Multila?, he was also Luomo) have new records too. When the hell will I listen to all these? Mike Fresh, Vell, Future, Cheif Keef, Salva, Lil Boosie, King Louie and many others have new mixtapes over in the trap/ratchet zones. Then we've got Beatking Presents Houston Vs Everybody which is a compilation featuring Houston's finest plus Beatking's Club God 4 is on its way too! I can't wait for the new Kevin Gates album The Luca Brasi Story II which is also coming soon.

I've only just got around to listening to The Interweb Halloween bonanza of mixes. There were two from Death Waltz which I managed to download but I think you can only stream them now. They are both as you would expect excellent. Andy Votel from Finders Keepers put in a sterling effort as well with his Histoire Dhorreur Mix. I don't know if you can still download that but have a search. Then there was something a bit different over at Blog To The Old School. They usually do a darkside jungle mix at Halloween but this year they put together a compilation of recent jungle on the dark tip. Check it out if you get the chance, although they seem to be offline presently.

What Have I been listening to then you may well ask? Ariel Pink's Pom Pom is pretty hard to get off the hi-fi, i-pod etc. But when I do get it off I'm trying to figure out what the hell the attraction to Gucci Mane is. I've got a selection of like 10 of his recommended best mixtapes and I'm giving them a go. I have to say I don't think it's going well for me and Gucci so far. I can't really understand what he's saying but the beats are stellar. He only registered on my musical map after seeing Spring Breakers. Then I only listened to him this year because of his collaborations with Young Thug. These mixtapes with Mane & Thug were not a patch on Young Thug's 2013 mixtape 1017 Thug or Young Thug's brilliant 2014 collaboration with Bloody Jay Black Portland or even his more recent collaboration with Rich Homie Quan & Birdman as part of The Rich Gang whose mixtape Tha Tour I've previously posted about. I'm wondering if Gucci should stick to acting but that might be a bit hard as he's doing some time for assault and firearm charges. The only one that's stood out so far is The Movie 2: The Sequel released in 2012. This could be due to it's guests though Snoop, Trey Songs, Nicki Minaj, Waka Flacka and Shawty Lo. There are choice beats and many hooks though. We'll see, although I might retire that project for a bit to catch up on what's going on now.

"Spring Break...." Gucci Mane.

Now I have had a few listens to IX-Tab's R.O.C. (get it here) and it's sounding pretty good to these ears so far. More thoughts on this later. One track has a sample of a hypnotist/meditation guru and I swear it's put me to sleep three times, sure I've been in bed and on painkillerz but....

The only other thing I've given a quick listen to is Vell's Stay Down To Come Up. Don't know much about him except he's a young chap from Oakland and he's doin some fine ratchet. He's got Mustard on the beat on 5 trax here as well as YP Spoelestra on a handful of tunes. So he's in good hands. His rap delivery is occasionally a little too close to Jay-Z but he sings as well giving him enough originality to get by. Perhaps this is what 10 Summers should have been. YP is on an unbelievable roll at the moment. So Vell is definitely a rising star, whether he can transcend his influences or not time will tell. Stay Down To Come up will be getting more air time round here as opposed to Salva's highly rated Peacemaker which left me cold. Can't understand the fuss about that one but who cares?, I suppose.

Ratchet & Trap Explained

"Trap = derived from southern "gangsta" rap; particularly mid-2000s stuff like gucci mane, young jeezy, t.i. lots of intricate, rattling 808 percussion & snare sounds along with booming kick drums and bass. a lot of the original producers used a lot of big wall-of-sound, gothic sounding synths and there was a noticeable influence from electronic genres like trance and electro, but filtered through a rap production aesthetic. now a huge influence on rap, r&b and electronic music, and the production is often a lot sleeker and less bombastic."

 "Ratchet = term for the recent production style that draws on hyphy (e-40, keak da sneak, mistah fab etc), jerk music, crunk and g-funk. lots of simple rhythms, kicks and claps, squelchy synth bass. i think the term was originally used by lil boosie in Louisiana but now usually refers to west coast rap and r&b stuff like dj mustard, yg, ty dolla sign etc."

*This was left by an anonymous commenter. Thanks Anonymous I think you know your shit!

They've intermingled and cross-pollinated though haven't they and not just with each other but most other forms of 90s electronic music and some 90s rap ie. 666 Mafia, right?

Sex, Drugs & R&B, Ratchet, Trap etc...With Cassie, Young Thug & Gucci Mane

Wow, I haven't heard the word heroin or been around it since the 90s. That was probably the last time it was fashionable, but hello it's one of Cassie's drugs of choice along with cocaine. This tunes got a bassline straight out of a 90s Metalheadz tune don't you reckon? Or maybe a No U Turn tech-step track. Maybe heroin's makin a comeback. I mean they're all into codeine so I don't see why not.

It's pretty clear here what Young Thug wants. He'll have a spliff and two cups stuffed with Lean. He be from Atalanta. Is there something in the water down there? I mean apart from cough mixture?

Well this one's pretty self explanatory. Weed & Lean be the drugs of choice here. You can really get inside this track's luxuriant wasted vibe, even without the weed & Lean. But they would help.

Great beatz from my main man DJ Mustard. It's a shame Mane didn't write a good song on top of it. More references to lean and not being able to feel your face. They're still on about gettin some pussy even though they've had so much lean they feel like they're "from outer space". That 'Hmm' bit is so irritating it ruins one of the best beats Mustard ever put down. What a waste.