90 best electronic music albums of 2021: Mouse On Mars, Nala Sinephro, Nightmares On Wax, Perila & Rat Heart

Fat Roland's Best Electronic Music Albums of 2021 presents five more brilliant albums:

Mouse On Mars – AAI (Anarchic Artificial Intelligence) (Thrill Jockey) 

I had a fascinating chat with Mouse On Mars earlier this year about their science fiction-ish project with scholar Louis Chude-Sokei. As I wrote in a review of the album, it's "an inspired work that, thanks to the very human inspiration of Chude-Sokei’s cyborgian studies, has more interesting things to say than 'bleep bloop'." A very entertaining listen. A special mention too for Jan St. Werner's other album Imperium Droop, which was a great collaboration with improvisational drummer Kid Millions.

Nala Sinephro – Space 1.8 (Warp)

Raised in Belgium and now based in London, Sinephro is a classically-trained musician who just happens to have produced one of the nicest sounding, folksy ambient albums of the year. This is technically a jazz work, a genre for which I have very little love. However, armed with sultry piano and mad skills with a pedal harp, Sinephro strays expertly into electronics and effects to produce a woozy meditation more akin to a field recording album. 

Nightmares On Wax – Shout Out! To Freedom... (Warp)

George Evelyn's energy is incredible: a one-man consciousness guru. It's no surprise one of the track titles here is Imagineering, this album having arisen from "life-affirming realisations". Actually, it doesn't necessarily stray from the car-boot soul he's known for, but the truly smokin' delight is the input from his many collaborators: Greentea Peng's flouride warning on Wikid Satellites is superb. Head-nodding beats, smooth soul vocals, Nightmares On Wax doing Nightmares On Wax. Nice one, George.

Perila – How Much Time is it Between You and Me? (Smalltown Supersound)

I once dropped a can of WD-40 lubricant. The can burst and the resulting high-powered instant fog of oil created an all-consuming fluid miasma that coated the room I was in and the two rooms adjacent. This glassy, glacial ambient album is that miasma. Tectonic plates of delicate instrumentation float endlessly in what Perila calls a "silence prism". I'm calling it a quietness can. An all-flooding, all-fogging quietness can.

Rat Heart – Rat Heart (Shotta Tapes)

Subterranean spookiness. Aaargh! Corroded hip hop beats. Woooo! Machine-gun electronic glitches. Lawks! Manchester / Wigan DJ Tom Boogizm’s superbly lo-fi album of crushed beats sits somewhere between RP Boo snoozing under his duvet and Actress having an especially grumpy session with a steel plate folding machine. Certainly one of this year's more pleasant surprises, and the winner of the Best Sudden Scream On An Album award 2021. AAAAAAAAARGH. Love it.

This is part of a series of the Best Electronic Music Albums of 2021. Read it all here.

90 best electronic music albums of 2021: John Tejada, Loraine James, Lotic, Madlib & Meemo Comma

Fat Roland's Best Electronic Music Albums of 2021 presents five more brilliant albums:

John Tejada – Year Of The Living Dead (Kompakt) 

I've enjoyed Tejada's work with Reggie Watts: a real zippy approach to house music production. On this solo album, things are more simple. All bright and shiny. Sprightly bass drum pads skip hand-in-hand with spacey synthwork, while elsewhere the beats are slower and a little more broken, perhaps reflecting the introspective, lockdown theme of its title. In any case, it's a proper bag of loveliness, with a dubbier feel than usual. And I like it when the synths go pyow-pyow.

Loraine James – Reflection (Hyperdub)

For You and I was a cracker. I likened it to "being parachuted into a leftfield techno metropolis without a map" in my favourite albums of 2019. James's second album progresses her urban soundtrack of drill pop urbanistic futurism, or whatever it is. It's at once utterly r&b while slicing through that genre with a bass-busting chainsaw. It's complex and abstract, a gravity constantly pulling things down: Maxinquay on Xanax. Yet it's less bewildering than her previous work, now we're more attuned to its lackadaisical London vibes.

Lotic – Water (Houndstooth)

There are several things that come to mind with this second album of dreamy deconstructed electronica from this one-time Bjork producer. One: a choppy sea, sirens singing from beneath the waves. Two: ghosts singing your name from the clouds above you. Three: Kate Bush as supernova. Accompanying her gasping choral iterations are, as the title hints at, splashes of liquid synths and deep pools of electronic ambience. A deeply personal album that feels at once gentle and immensely powerful.

Madlib – Sound Ancestors (Madlib Invazion)

You know Madlib. Old Madders. L'il Lib. He's the hip hop guy turned jazzer who's been spitting soundpieces for over two decades. Sound Ancestors has all the feel of an old mixtape: the beats are smokin' and the whole thing has the warmth of well-needled vinyl records. Sorry for mixing my format metaphors there. The added element? This album was arranged by Four Tet, adding a sharpness to the blunted beats. As one review said, it's "jazzy, dirty, clean, and mean."

Meemo Comma – Neon Genesis: Soul Into Matter² (Planet Mu) 

Here's a bit of my review from Electronic Sound magazine. "A mystical mash-up of ancient Judaism and imaginary anime is the mood board for Lara Rix-Martin’s latest: Mononoke with a menorah... Grumbling incantations, hesitant slivers of rhythm and downright spooky calls to prayer. Even the fluid beats of Tif-eret is subsumed into haunting choral blessings: it’s audacious stuff. Not so much field recordings as demonic transmissions from an abandoned quarry." A deeply curious album. The Kabbalah's gonna get yah.

This is part of a series of the Best Electronic Music Albums of 2021. Read it all here.

90 best electronic music albums of 2021: Flying Lotus, Helm, Herbert, Humanoid & Jana Rush

Fat Roland's Best Electronic Music Albums of 2021 presents five more brilliant albums:

Flying Lotus – Yasuke (Warp)

It's really nice to see Mr F. Lotus get his teeth into something as chunky as soundtracking a samurai series on Netflix. The telly programme evokes 16th-century feudal Japan, but this album feels much more modern. Trop hop beats, nostalgic analogue synths and fat computerised beats nestle up against its anime inspiration with the greatest of ease: lounge bar music by way of Tokyo. There's even a track (War Lords) which is Very Pink Floyd Indeed. A very different Flying Lotus experience, and we're all the better for it.

Helm – Axis (Dais Records)

"Fractured clanging, hissing steam, granular haze," says the blurb. Wait, don't go. Luke Younger's returns to his low-fi noise roots for this debut on Dias Records. Its scratched industrialisms and pained clanking rhythms are certainly matched by its track names: Moskito, Repellent. But actually, it's surprisingly tuneful if you're okay with the whole apocalyptic building site thing: there's beautiful ambience to be found in this end-times EBM. And hey, if I'm going to have a haze, I want it to be a granular one.

Herbert – Musca (Accidental)

Here's a bit of my review for Electronic Sound magazine of this latest instalment in Herbert's ‘domestic house’ series. "Each track is ever-so-neosoul, new jazzy standards made for a Gilles Peterson playlist... This is Herbert exploring his commercial rather than experimental side, the purported – and very Herbert – grunting pig and chatty fox cub samples kept largely under the radar." Forgot about the pig bits. Anyhoo, it's all very smooth and Radio 2, but Herbert always delivers everything with a wink and I love him for that.

Humanoid – 7 Songs (De:tuned)

I admit, this was a very last-minute addition to my list. This is the act that brought us Stakker Humanoid from back in the day. I'd just assumed it was some old rerelease. How wrong I was. The chap from Future Sound of London slaps us across the chops with chunky acid madness: listen to it squeal and bleep and yelp. Absolutely gorgeous. Nothing complicated: just an old drum machine and some significantly squelchy sonics. Just listen to Pyramid 17 go. 7 very good songs.

Jana Rush – Painful Enlightenment (Planet Mu) 

This album is everywhere. It's the most hyped thing since Pogs or Betamax or that time I told Charlie Norridge I could balance a bunsen burner on my willy. For her second album, this Chicago producer moves from footwork into abstract experimentalism: chopped loops get caught in powerful cycles of shuddering bass, ecstatic vocal samples and ever-present urgent drums. Like looking at a jazz club through a kaleidoscope through insect eyes. Genuinely unique. Oh and always make sure the burner's switched off first.

This is part of a series of the Best Electronic Music Albums of 2021. Read it all here.

90 best electronic music albums of 2021: The Bug, Calibre, Clark, Fatima Al Qadiri & Floating Points

Fat Roland's Best Electronic Music Albums of 2021 presents five more brilliant albums:

The Bug – Fire (Ninja Tune) 

The Bug is back! Not an actual bug. I get loads of them all the time, trying to climb on my knees and stuff. No, Kevin Martin has returned and he's angry. "You'd better run from me," go the vocals amid teeth-gnashing bass and barometer-blowing heated atmospherics. The speaker-wobbling badboy loops brilliantly match the sheer ferocity of the ragga and dancehall vocals – take a bow, MC Irah. As good an expression of our pressure cooker society as anything else on this list, and rightly already topping other people's best-of-2021s. 

Calibre – Feeling Normal (Signature Recordings) 

Despite the chirpy dubstep and sassy half-step rhythms, this is Calibre in a mood. He's drum ‘n’ bass royalty, but this 16th album (!) is among his slowest, the BPMs reigned in to produce one his more introspective works. As I wrote in Electronic Sound magazine: "Dominick Martin delivers an umpteenth album of coffee-table drum and bass that’s a smooth as a buttered puppy.... ever-decreasing circles of frowning, thoughtful electronica." Not what I expected at all, in a good way.

Clark – Playground In A Lake (Detusche Grammophon) 

It has been fascinating watching the career of this Warp alumnus, er, warp into something totally new, moving from his barnacled techno beats into something much more neoclassical. This is a "concept" album, whatever that means these days, and is his first appearance on classical label Deutsche Grammophon. Clark's 12th album isn't just classical, though: it's folk and weird horror, with vocals from Clark himself, Afrodeutsche and a choir boy. As atmospheric as heck and very much following on from his Daniel Isn’t Real original soundtrack.

Fatima Al Qadiri – Medieval Femme (Hyperdub)

You can always expect something special from this Californian Kuwaiti. On Medieval Femme, we find ourselves somewhere between ancient Arabian history and some far-flung future chill-out night. Sung vocals hang lazily amid heavy reverb, an elegiac organ melts against misty half-beats, harps hang in the air quivering with anticipation. The Middle Ages meets the Middle East. This is possibly Al Qadiri's most accessible album to date, so consider it an excellent starting point. 

Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra – Promises (Luaka Bop)

This is a biggie. Sweep everything else off the table, cancel the milk, hang up on grandma. Floaty, as I like to call him, has always been classical adjacent, his shuffling house beats always feeling grand. He's got his own electronic "ensemble", for goodness sake. Here, he teams up with the LSO and jazz saxophonist Sanders for what might be his grandest project to date. It's slow and bluesy and a little too jazzy for my tastes, but still, its a landmark release whatever you think of stupid saxophones.

This is part of a series of the Best Electronic Music Albums of 2021. Read it all here.

90 best electronic music albums of 2021: Aleksi Perälä, Alva Noto, Amon Tobin, Anthony Naples & Arovane

Fat Roland's Best Electronic Music Albums of 2021 presents five more brilliant albums:

Aleksi Perälä – Spectrum Analysis (Repetitive Rhythm Research) 

I want to avoid reissues and repackages in my best albums list, but this triple vinyl compilation of Perälä's Spectrum Analysis minimal techno series was too much of a treat not to include. The mathematical simplicity of his micro-house loops are made to move your feet and soothe your brain. The Finnish Rephlex veteran is so prolific, this entire list could have just been him. You're only allowed one per end-of-year list, Alekksi. Reader, do yourself a favour, and spend some time dangling in the laser web of his music. It's quite something. 

Alva Noto – HYbr:ID (NOTON)

There will be a few albums in this list that were written for choreography. You don't want me writhing in my leotard, so you'll just have to imagine the dance moves that accompany this low-key electronic scree written for ballet bloke Richard Siegal. Synths hum, static leaks, ambience drones. It's ASMR in its attention to detail, its little landscapes of electronic experimentalism building into a sonic experience that seems to occupy every inch of the room. Its inspiration is astrophysics and cinema, but it sounds like the atoms between the two. 

Amon Tobin – How Do You Live (Nomark) 

25 years after his debut, Amon is still going. It's testament to his talent that he continues to be uncategorisable. Buzzing synth cycles meet swooping strings, end-of-the-pier organ lines spiral over hippy guitar noodlings, shimmering half-grooves follow breathy folk vocals. It's scratchy and sketchy, glitchy and groovy, always with a cinematic bent. Albeit a curious indie film than a sweeping blockbuster. A vision of Sergeant Pepper appearing in a cloud of spliff smoke. 

Anthony Naples – Chameleon (ANS)

This New York label owner created his latest album by jamming out the tracks on real instruments first rather than, say, start with the software or bashing kittens with a mallet. So where I'd normally expect driving house music, instead we have something much more organic and experimental. In these late-nite ambient instrumentals, blues-style drums meet chill lounge chords and unhurried melodic loops. Its lack of urgency belies the fact this is a producer at the top of his game. A soundtrack for sleepy parties.

Arovane – Reihen (12k)

Uwe Zahn is back, and this time he joins Taylor Deupree’s 12k label for a bunch of noise wafflings produced in early 2021 using a limited range of gear. The blurb mentions pointillism and etherealism, with Zahn citing "intermodulated oscillators, amplified and distorted". This is tiny sound writ large: cascading ambient mirages reflect playfully against the resonating harmonics of fuzzy analogue synth lines and hammer-dulled piano chords. It's almost church-like in its stillness.

This is part of a series of the Best Electronic Music Albums of 2021. Read it all here.

Best electronic music albums 2021: an introduction

Welcome to my top massive brilliant albums countdown for 2021. I'm going to drizzle you with so much great electronic music, your earlobes will become towels.

I've done this end-of-year list since before Jesus was a twinkle in a donkey's eye. See all my previous best-of blogging here. 

This year will be a little different. I've grown uncomfortable with the arbitrary nature of a numbered countdown. I'm not sure that format suits someone as fickle as me. I can't even decide every morning whether to brush my teeth with toothpaste or Primula. It's time for a change. I'm going to try pile cream instead.

I have 90 favourite albums to tell you about. I have collated those 90 albums into the following groups: none of these albums will have specific numbers allocated to them, other than being in their wider grouping.

Top 90 Electronic Music Albums – what would have otherwise been numbers 90 to 61

Top 60 Electronic Music Albums – what would have otherwise been numbers 60 to 31

Top 30 Electronic Music Albums – what would have otherwise been numbers 30 to 11

Top 10 Electronic Music Albums – what would have otherwise been numbers 10 to 1

In each group, instead of having the albums counted down Top of the Pops-style, they will be listed alphabetically by artist. The one exception is, I will still have a number one best album. I still like the idea of having one "winner" even though I will have changed my mind two weeks after publishing it.

I hope that makes sense. If numbers confuse you, please play Kraftwerk's Pocket Calculator until you understand.

The other thing to know is that I like every single album on this list. It's not designed to be comprehensive, and I will have missed some obvious things off, but chances are if I've appreciated an album, it will be included here. Every dang note of music I'm about to link to is worthy of your attention, whichever group it's in.

Ready? Let's go. The list will appear as hourly blog posts throughout December 30th and 31st, with several albums in each post, with the final number one bestest album revealed on the evening of the 31st. I haven't written a single word of any of this yet, so I'd better knuckle down.

Stand by...

Everyone's an artist, including Fat Roland

I will be one of many artists showing work in the 2022 Manchester Open exhibition, launching in a few weeks at HOME.

The idea of the Open is that anyone can display artworks, regardless of background or experience. Their slogan is "Everyone's An Artist". I suppose I have some experience, having illustrated Edinburgh Fringe shows and my columns for Electronic Sound magazine. But the exhibition is very much a level playing field. With painted flowers on. And little marker pen faces on every blade of grass.

The first Manchester Open in 2020 displayed over 500 artworks. If you stacked 500 Mona Lisas on top of each other, the pile would be a bit taller than the Empire State Building. That's quite the elongated edifice of enigmatic smiles.

I love the idea of my piece, which is called Daft Punk At Home With R2-D2, nestled among tonnes of other framed pictures. I hope it'll be overwhelming, like walking into the Louvre and having a hundred masterpieces pelted at your head at once. Ouch. Those frames are sharp. Stop it. OUCH.

My piece was originally produced for an Electronic Sound column about Daft Punk. It was fortuitous that (a) the illustration was produced within HOME's calendar guidelines and (b) it stood on its own as an artwork. Without the writing attached, much of the illustration won't make sense. Which is great. Look out for the little fluff of blue lint. And a Henry hoover (pictured).

I'm hoping the exhibition will catapult me into the highest echelons of artistic genius, and the name Fat Roland will be uttered in the same sentence as famous British artists like Damon Hurst, Tracy Ermine, David Hockey-Stick and the one made of bacon.

The Manchester Open will open (geddit?!) to the public on January 24th, and will keep being open to the public until it stops being open to the public on March 27th. There's an opening weekend from January 21st, but I believe this is just for artists, so if you try and get in and you're not an artist, they cattle-prod you. However, "Everyone's An Artist" so I'm hoping they cattle-prod everyone just to be on the safe side.

More about the Manchester Open here.

Further Fats: Like New Years Day to the sound of Autechre (2009)

Further Fats: Is my Boards Of Canada mash-up art? Don't answer that (2019)

Jesus and me in issue 84 of Electronic Sound magazine

In issue 84 of  Electronic Sound magazine, I talk to Jesus about how he invented big beat. 

No really. The actual Jesus. He was pretty easy to track down because he's always leaving his contact card in phone boxes. Landline number, of course. He's pretty old school.

As the first paragraph goes:

“It started shortly after the sermon on the mount. I was banging on about peacemakers and being salt of the earth, but people still were sinning and blaspheming and fornicating. Right there in front of me. In front of the mount.” Jesus Christ munches another finger of his Kit Kat. “So that’s why I invented big beat.”

As you can see from the excerpt above, I took a photograph of Jesus while being farted at by a camel. That's a sampler he's holding there. He's always holding some kind of electronic music equipment. Michelangelo was always painting them out. 

In my regular column, I also launch my new social media network Fatr. It involves a Cornish pasty and Shane MacGowan and willy pills and this:

Please identify all the spiders in this gridded photograph of the Taj Mahal. Now click the box that says ‘I am not a robot’. Exactly what a robot would click: you will now be disconnected from the internet.

This is all completely serious, by the way. Please don't be laughing at it. It's not as if Electronic Sound would print a load of hot nonsense from me every month. This is a serious publication.

You can get this edition of Electronic Sound alongside previous editions - their previous issue was made of actual gold or something - on their internet website.