This is part of a series, currently live-blogging on 3, 4 & 5 January 2025. Read the posts so far.
I. JORDAN: I AM JORDAN (Ninja Tune)
What's your name again? Oh yeah. Jordan. Hello, Jordan. This debut album has had all sorts of accolades, and rightly so. Colossal tunes abound, BPM turned up for the heavy club bits, and moodier instrumental when he wants to go introspective. Well done, er, thingy, whatever your name is.
Iglooghost: Tidal Memory Exo (LuckyMe)
This is the fourth album, I think, from Mr Ghost. It's powerful energetic stuff, like a steam train or me doing my boxercise. There's the big beats we'd expect from a LuckyMe release, but then there's his moody vocals which equally add humanity and frighten the pants of us. It's a real mood, this one.
Jeff Mills: The Trip – Enter The Black Hole (Axis)
The Detroit techno wizard's "space opera". From my Electronic Sound review: "This is black hole noir, with clouds of ambience, a nebulae of woody xylophones, discordant free jazz, even a foxy organ here and there. If it’s not an opera, it’s a zero-gravity ballet: spaceman Jeff is clearly having fun."
Modular synth genius Fraser mines her many years of composing for this collection of tunes created using her custom-built Serge modular system. Its twinkling frequencies are hymn-like in their elegance. Another excuse to plug an Electronic Sound interview? Of course. I have to get my earthly pleasures where I can.
Jlin: Akoma (Planet Mu Records)
Bjork turns up on the opening track on the third album from queen of footwork Jlin. So I'm won over. The job is done. Pop Bjork on the first track and I'm yours. Philip Glass appears too – best dinner party ever. It has been seven years since Black Origami, and Jlin is as jittery and as restless as ever.
Jon Hopkins: Ritual (Domino Recording Co)
This was originally written for an installation on an ice rink. The music is quiet and weightless, buzzy and airy, and designed to be heard in one sitting. Unlike actual ice skating, which is ankle-hurty and has me crying on the sidelines within five minutes. Worth a listen, but only while we wearing proper normal shoes. (Artwork pictured above.)
Julia-Sophie: forgive too slow (Ba Da Bing!)
Let's get this out of the way – here's my Electronic Sound interview with Julia-Sophie. I hope they're paying me for the clicks. There was much to love about Julia-Sophie's album. Poppy and dreamy in equal parts, and disarmingly personal. The dramatic disco of Numb is one of the tunes of the year.
Justice: Hyperdrama (Ed Banger Records)
I fell out of love with Justice. They got way too prog rock. This latest offering is much more likeable, with all the right beats in all the right places. It doesn't break any new ground, but there are tunes aplenty. One reviewer on Bandcamp sums it up: "If this album was a person I wouldn't marry it, but it would be a close friend."
Kiasmos: II (Erased Tapes)
In 2014, I said Kiasmos' first album was the third best album of the year. I was wrong. It was the best. This long-awaited follow-up couldn't shine a candle to the first, but it still has all the splendour and emotion that make this Arnalds–Rasmussen collaboration so special. Oh my giddy heart, I love Kiasmos. (Artwork pictured above.)
This is part of a series, currently live-blogging on 3, 4 & 5 January 2025. Read the posts so far.
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