2019: a year in review
- Jan 2, 2020
- 3 min read
Well, there it was.
In a year when we saw so many interesting, exciting, crazy, strange, terrifying and wonderful things happening on (and to) our planet, the ever present and continuously evolving art that is music continues to bemuse, excite and delight.
Electronic music in all its forms is of course, no small exception to this.
To sum it all up in a few paragraphs will never do it any justice but I will just talk about what I enjoyed, and hope you had/have a chance to do so to.
What first struck me when thinking about this was how acts are striving ever more so to become inventive as they create in the studio and on stage. My most recent example of this was the mercurial return to form of Underworld with DRIFT Series 1, which took a multimedia approach to song craft when Karl Hyde and Rick Smith chose to compose, write, record and release a track every week for a year, complete with accompanying videos and (on completion) an 8 CD set with 90+ page booklet. AND, they've toured it. AND, they're gonna do it all again in 2020!!
The return of The Chemical Brothers had me recently enraptured and No Geography is nothing short of genius, returning them to their best form. The live show in Cardiff Motorpoint Arena was an aural and visual feast, and it proves Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons are still very much on top of their game.
I cannot talk about this year without mentioning the loss of The Prodigy's theatrical front man, Keith Flint. He was a personal hero of mine, an absolute driving force in the group and responsible for breathing new life into their live and studio performances at a time where rave was dying and the brand of techno and progressive techno, dance and punk rock they were peddling was starting to take hold in the mainstream. Firestarter is seminal work and the video (complete with Keith sporting his signature double mohawk haircut) will live long in the memory. I for one want to see The Prodigy continue, not just selfishly as No Tourists also represents some of their best work, but because I know the best tribute that Liam and Maxim can pay to Keith's memory is to get back out there and do what they do best: destroy a stage and rock a crowd to the fucking max. One other take away I have from Keith's tragic suicide is that nobody should EVER suffer in silence and mental health awareness is growing globally for the good. If you're suffering or struggling, talk about it. Just do it. And if you see friends acting out of character, just ask how they are, as it may be enough to be a catalyst to get the help they need.
On the topic of mental health, a lot of new albums seem to also be thematically driven, including the recently completed ambient series by The Caretaker, Everywhere At The End Of Time which very cleverly and painfully documents the descent into nothingness that an Alzheimer's disease sufferer experiences. It is drawn out across 6 albums over the course of a few years and is not easy listening; nevertheless it feels relevant, important and meaningful for those who have someone close to them who experiences this terrible disease, and for those who want to somehow empathize by proxy.
Out of further darkness comes some sunshine, as Cassius released their bouncy, playful and downright fun Dreems earlier this year shortly after the unexpected death of Philippe Zdar. It is fitting that this album encompasses a variety of musical styles of which Zdar was a personal fan, and is a total delight to listen to with some toe-tapping, bass driven and melodic tunes on offer. Hopefully the Paris clubs and beyond will be spinning tracks from this album for years to come.
There have been so many other highlights they're too numerous to document here, but this is just a snippet of the absolute best of the rest for me in 2019:
Ready for the next year? You bet your ass I am. I will be here, blogging, and loving it and hoping you are too.
To those who read, enjoy, get anything out of this and feel inspired to listen, write or create in any way, go do it. Be you. You are awesome. Love what you do and don't hold back. 2020 is for all of us.
Peace and love.
Badger x
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