So Far, So Good - 2009's Best Albums To Date (Part 4)

Our fourth top ten list of albums of 2009 so far – it’s the halfway point in the year, y’see – comes from Clash deputy editor Matthew Bennett, now just about over Glastonbury and able to string a few coherent sentences together.

His list, below, comes after similar contributions from ClashMusic.com ed Mike Diver, ClashMusic.com news ed Robin Murray, and Clash reviews ed Nick Annan (links follow this article); tomorrow, we’ll have our final ten from the editor himself, Mr Simon Harper. If he’s not smashed after getting merry to Blur tonight. (Jealous? You have no idea.)

So, why not see who’s come up with your favourite ten tomorrow, and send them a lovely present? Our address is easily found by clicking ‘Contact Us’ at the bottom of the screen, and all deliveries of cake are appreciated.

On with Matt’s list…

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Wave Machines – ‘Wave If You're Really There’ (pictured)
(Neapolitan, released May)
The musical machine of Liverpool is delightfully inconsistent – it often doesn’t know whether it needs a shit or a haircut. Yet Wave Machines surf the recent crest from Scouseland as their whimsical and sunny blend of falsetto electro-pop and quirky kaleidoscopic indie spirals has repeatedly seized back the stereo after a disastrous morning of wading through epically shite promo CDs. Their sugar-spun rock adventures make things better. Don’t just take our word for it. Go seek.

Broken Records – ‘Until the Earth Begins to Part’
(4AD, released June)
Yet more Scottish upstarts steal our wanton hearts with their thrilling indie-rock weft of Caledonian souls; and they aren’t afraid to wear the ginger round their battling necks. Some grumble their studio work has blunted their edge, yet they’ll wade back into the breach and make 2009 theirs – of that we are sure. Fiddles and cellos have attracted lazy comparisons with Arcade Fire, but there’s more bounce in their step as they feint the morose nature of their Canadian peers to bring a hearty party to remember. Epic promise.

Schlachthofbronx – ‘Schlachthofbronx’
(Disko B, released June)
Slightly off-piste, admittedly, yet thunderously effective: these strangely named Germans have sloshed parts of this debut around dance music’s darkest corners, and its already stormed its way into my favourites. The Munich lads are ripping their name a high spot right at the top of dance music’s fluttering flag, with their sound resembling a mutant and disrespectful offspring of Berlin’s increasingly jump-up bass scene. Schlachthofbronx dismember baile funk, techno, house, rap and dancehall in a no-holds-barred sonic wrestling match. Modeselektor’s crown may wobble.

The Wooden Birds – ‘Magnolia’
(Morr Music, released May)
Is Morr Music one of the best labels in the world? Yes sir, it most certainly is. Tip-toeing a line between sublime electronica, folk, post-rock and ambient, its velvet corridors have witnessed some of the most beautiful music these blessed ears have ever heard. And they have refused to stop with The Wooden Birds, a.k.a. Andrew Kenny, previously famed for his American Analogue Set contributions. Yet he’s surpassed himself with ‘Magnolia’ and its sweeping simplicity, which is a winner all the way.

Paul White – ‘The Strange Dreams of…’
(One Handed Music, released June)
Flying Lotus, Rustie, Prefuse 73, Dabrye, Hudson Mohawke, Bullion... The new wave of abstract hip-hop artists is certainly rolling with some incredible names. Welcome, then, Paul White, bizarrely incongruous through conventions of his birth certificate. His shattered grooves, sample-drenched landscapes and crushed rhythms are a brave tonic against the exhausted traditions within hip-hop, and for that we stand at the foot of his bed with our cap in our hands.

DJ Hell – ‘Teufelswerk’
(International Deejay Gigolos, released April)
Helmut Josef Geier has certainly done his fill of rave duty. At one point he was credited with starting electro-clash, but that just turned out to be a nasty rumour. In 2009 though, after having released an officially insane amount of records, he unleashed a double album which may just be best remembered. Alternate CDs bring us ‘Day’ and ‘Night’: the former is a krautrock-inspired foray into the lighter side of his life, whilst his nocturnal creation is a narcotic and slithering slice of dance culture drawing on many moments experienced in Hell’s near-eternal career. Dirty dancin’ boy, go bathe in the Styx.

Moderat – ‘Moderat’
(Bpitch Control, released May)
Much awaited by cultish dance types, Apparat’s string-laden beauty was destined to be the Yang of Modeselektor’s stomping club Yin. Their drastically contrasting trajectories have at last collided over an album, and the fallout possesses a unique tone and sweeping, if gritty vision. Distant dubstep reverberates under clouds of synths, whilst the spacious rattle of Berlin’s inner-city techno tremors are gifted unusual partners in ambient orchestration and deep, heart-splitting strings.

Anathallo – ‘Canopy Glow’
(Anticon, released May)
Some would say this is cheating. Originally released two years ago in the US, its persistent quality has now seen it crisply grace our shores. How seven musicians can sound so elegantly refined must be a monumental exercise in restraint, as Anathallo soar with their folk and softly thrummed country. This is as beautiful as it’s got in the first half of 2009, and the record rightly deserved a 9/10 in our pages.

Toddla T – ‘Skanky Skanky’
(1965 Records, released May)
Long awaited and eagerly grabbed, young Tom Bell’s Sheffield-forged sonic edifice comprises dancehall, dashes of garage, the local sounds of niche and some good old toasting. This accomplished debut shows too what a delightful young man Mr Bell is, as he hooks up with Roots Manuva, Tinchy Stryder, Artic Monkeys’ Matt Helders, Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard, infamous Rasta poet Benjamin Zephaniah Herve Herve. Bastardised and melted down, Toddla T has the future sound of dance dripping from his every jacking move.

Harmonic 313 – ‘When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence’
(Warp Records, released January)
The most underground man in electronic music returned with his 23rd recording moniker - and it may be his best. Mark Pritchard deployed crunchy J Dilla-inspired wonky hip-hop beats with seething inner-city rhythms that lurked between post-jungle, dubstep and his beloved old rave styles. This man will be designated a god in 1,289 years time by a glitchy and slightly cyborg-orientated race of digital freaks obsessed by mid 1990s hip-hop, blunts and incredibly distorted time signatures. I could go on. Just buy this.

Check out more top ten lists from our editorial team:

Mike Diver
Nick Annan
Robin Murray