Best Albums of 2009

Embarking on another list such as this, i'm reminded again of what i think of as "Paul Morley's Dictum"; in his superb book Words and Music he writes of the provisional nature of all "best" lists, describing how they could (& perhaps should) change, perhaps quite radically, from day to day • i think he's absolutely right, & there are many albums released in 2009 that i haven't heard, so feel free to treat the following as the gospel truth with a pinch of salt • Put it this way, it's true now, at the end of the year, & that's perhaps as good as anything else • There really has been a dazzling display of imagination & innovation this year, of which these forty are, in my view, the best •

40 | IAMX - Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction
While this album doesn't live up to the unbridled brilliance of Chris Corner's first two albums, it continues his wildly enthusiastic explorations of the darker side of humanity's psyche • The triple-metres are present & correct once again, adding to the unsettling quality of these melancholic laments • Corner's voice is as rapturously lovely as ever, able to make even the less effective songs engaging, & giving the album as a whole an aching beauty •

39 | Röyksopp - Junior
Röyksopp's newest creation is a jaunty reworking of synthpop styles & motifs from the 1980s, finished off by a collection of first-rate female vocalists • What's particularly impressive is their ability to fashion complex & interesting songs out of highly simple ideas, such as "Tricky Tricky", which works like a passacaglia, gradually accumulating layers & variations • But the most successful track is "The Girl & the Robot", a wailing complaint that pays overt homage to The Human League's "Don't You Want Me, Baby?" • Röyksopp have proved that to make good 'retro' music is to do something very much more than rely on mere pastiche •

38 | Daisy Chapman - The Green Eyed
It's been good to see Bristol-based Daisy Chapman's profile grow considerably through 2009, aided in no small part by this, her second album • i was fortunate enough to work with Daisy on The Green Eyed, transcribing the string quartet music, although i kept a certain distance so as to appreciate the songs on their own terms • Overall, the album is both an extension of her earlier work as well as something of a departure, one that was perhaps inevitable as she took over lyricist duties from her former partner • The impassioned melancholy that she embodies so readily now has a sizeable glint in its eye & a distinct decadent twist, her songs now infused with elements from cabaret • The success varies (the cover versions of "Umbrella" & "Ring of Fire" don't work particularly well) but at their best are superb, with "Just Give Up, Jessica" the standout track •

37 | Leyland Kirby - Sadly, the Future Is No Longer What It Was
Best known for his work under the pseudonyms The Caretaker & V/Vm, James Leyland Kirby has reverted to his own name for this, his most ambitious release to date • Spanning three CDs & nearly 4 hours, this is perhaps the ultimate expression of Kirby's preoccupation with wistful melancholia, the music sliding around over foundations that do not feel in the least bit secure • The highly evocative track titles ("The Beauty of the Impending Tragedy of My Existence", "A Longing to Be Absorbed for a While Into a Different and Beautiful World") flesh out the emotional detail in each of Kirby's heavily-laden soundscapes; the pain is all too apparent, but there's much beauty too •

36 | Chihei Hatakeyama - The River
2009 has been a productive year for Hatakeyama, with four releases under his belt; The River is especially notable, a triumph of modern ambient featuring some of his most mesmeric music to date • Each track is allowed space to grow & develop, adding to the hypnotic potency of this album • It's music laden with poignancy—such as the dark "A House In The Fog"— but one that frequently ascends into the light; the airy textures of "Light Drizzle" & "Twilight Gloom" (something of a misnomer) are simply gorgeous •

35 | The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble - Here Be Dragons
Following their remarkable eponymous first album & two teasers earlier this year (the Mutations EP & Tribute to Moondog single), this was, for me, one of the most highly anticipated of this year's releases • It didn't quite live up to my (probably, too high) expectations, but it finds the ensemble casting their work into forms as moody as ever • Lengthy melodies slowly unravel from dense textures, passed from instrument to instrument in a deep velvet klangfarbenmelodie, occupying structures that shift & reform around them • This is fin de siècle jazz from a club situated on the edge of the world •

34 | Oneohtrix Point Never - Rifts
On the one hand, Rifts is a demanding listen, & not simply because its 27 tracks explore a series of cool, electronic façades for over 2½ hours • Often, a track will set about establishing its identity, only then to disintegrate into something entirely different ("Learning To Control Myself" is a good example of this, as is "Emil Cioran" which effectively works in the opposite direction) • But for all its demands—&, to some extent, its inconsistency—this is a rewarding listen, each & every track a sonic sculpture fashioned with intent, plastic but solid nonetheless •

33 | Imogen Heap - Ellipse
Singers don't come much more distinctive than Imogen Heap, whose curious, quirky alto voice seems audibly to jolt whenever she leaps from low to high • Moreover, the production values of her music are very high indeed, packed with subtleties of detail that take numerous listens to take in; her last album, Speak For Yourself, exemplified this, & Ellipse takes this further • In fact, Heap's imaginative scope seems to have expanded massively, in part drawing on the soundworld from her collaboration with Guy Sigworth, Frou Frou, as well as (especially on the album's best song, "2-1") the gritty kind of beat complexes Mark Bell devised for so many of Björk's songs, & even the hectic cut-up pace of Emilie Simon; it's a wonderfully rich & eclectic selection •

32 | Carl Sagan's Ghost - Behind Clouds
Carl Sagan's Ghost is the project of one Daniel Davis, who has brought out a number of releases this year • He's capable of tapping into some really lovely textures, which he allows to develop over lengthy time-spans • Behind Clouds is, i feel, his most successful, conjuring up a vast soundworld with layers of perspective; one really can focus on different elements in the material & feel them to be at different depths or distances, which heightens the experience considerably • Clearly a talent to watch, with the surprising added bonus that all his output is available free of charge (here); his latest album, At the End of it All, is also well worth a listen •

31 | Chubby Wolf - L'Histoire
Thus far, this is the only full-length album from the late Danielle Baquet-Long's solo venture, but husband Will informs me there are numerous completed pieces approaching readiness for release, so hopefully 2010 will bring more from this much-lamented talent • The album contains a similar austerity to Meandering Pupa (one of my Best EPs of 2009), despite the generally longer track durations; if anything, there are not more ideas at play, they're simply given more time to present themselves & penetrate deeply into our consciousness • The gloriously-named "Oh, And How It Was Stunning; Writhing" is perhaps the finest example, an impeccably timed & executed exercise in transcendent stasis • A profoundly intense, meditative album, it yields much, much more on repeated listenings •

30 | Asher - Miniatures
Much of Asher's prior output has left me unengaged & disinterested, but this two-disc release is something else entirely • At a first listening, it might almost appear as though Asher's involvement is minimal, even superfluous, as one aged piano loop after another comes & goes, each ravaged by the detritus of time • But the choice of loops &, indeed, their juxtaposition reveal a deft hand, one that has positioned these pocket-sized vignettes with utmost care • This is music yellow with age, a wistful, nostalgic evocation of a time long past, present only in the briefest of fragments; in all sorts of ways, it's a beautiful album •

29 | Florence and the Machine - Lungs
For once, my taste seems to overlap with other critics; Lungs is a startlingly impressive début from Florence Welch • The first thing that strikes one about her voice is its versatility & raw power; while capable of great delicacy (she can 'float' her voice beautifully, perhaps a throwback to her choirgirl days), it's in her whoops, snarls & howls that her musical personality finds clearest definition • The songs are a diverse mixture, hard-edged but not oppressive, compulsive with a slightly languid energy—indeed, "Blinding" paints her as a latter-day counterpart to Morrissey, drawling with attitude • A superb release, of which the soaring, spine-tingling anthem "Cosmic Love" is surely its finest moment •

28 | Supersilent - 9
While it's a difficult if not impossible task to know what to expect from Supersilent releases, this ninth album is seriously surprising • A change, though, & a radical one at that, was always going to be necessary without Jarle Vespestad's wildly complex rhythmic contributions, & the remaining trio have bravely consigned themselves to Hammond organs for the duration, improvising shapes & textures that are distinctly suggestive of things otherwordly • By turns soft & shrill, deep & booming, it's a brilliantly successful experiment, with "9.3" particularly evocative •

27 | Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
While her previous album, Fur and Gold, was good, Natasha Khan's latest release outclasses it in almost every way (& without a doubt, should have won this year's Mercury Prize, particularly as the shortlist—as it usually is these days—was so mediocre) • Her singing sounds both more emphatic & more versatile, able effortlessly to coax with a whisper or howl with abandon • & the songs themselves are striking, both in the way their respective narratives unravel, as well as the timbrally imaginative wrappings within which they're contained • Khan's voice brings to mind many other singers, but somehow defies them all; she is utterly distinctive, & the pairing of the final track, "The Big Sleep", with Scott Walker is one of the most rapturous duets in recent times •

26 | Tor Lundvall - Sleeping and Hiding
"Sleeping and Hiding" is an apt description for the general tone of Lundvall's work, seeming ever to lurk within shadows, introverted & solemn • He's a master of the nocturnal, & this album inhabits a decidedly vivid late-night world, with a suburban melancholy (think Burial without the shuffling beats); opening track title "City Rain" sums it up perfectly • Each successive track doesn't so much unfold as dive straight into a deep, dark pool of sound, as potent as opium smoke, underpinned—or, rather, transfixed—by slow, steady pulses & omnipresent drones • "Midnight Ride" is Lundvall at his utter best, softly evocative of Portishead, the gentle dissonances causing an exquisite shimmer at the heart of the music •

25 | Celer - Close Proximity and the Unhindered Care-all
Released in the last couple of months, Celer's latest album is rather too fresh in the mind for a fully-rounded assessment; first impressions count, though, & immediately it's a work demonstrating impressive rigorous control over its undulations • This is no surprise; Celer demonstrate time & time again their ability to allow—to some extent at least—the sounds with which they're working to guide the creative process • The three track divisions are mere markers amidst more numerous passing elements • Some contain recognisable sources in the field recordings (walking feet; a rather vocal argument; birdsong); this anecdotal aspect lends the work an interesting perspective, although what serves as foreground or background is left nicely ambiguous •

24 | Operations - You & Atomic Warfare
Chris Anderson's latest release is also his most sonically varied • Each track is named after an atomic bomb test, but the tone of the material seems more concerned with after-effects than the raging power of the detonations themselves • Draped in a sparse, even desolate landscape, melodic fragments loop & drift incongruously among the dark haze (most poignantly in "Teapot"), like a broken radio in an equally broken world • Glowering above (or is it below?) is an ominous, omnipresent ambience that proves increasingly unsettling as the album progresses, culminating in the contaminated texture of "Dominic II" • Anderson has certainly succeeded in making one of the year's most eloquent & thought-provoking releases, the glimpses of beauty powerfully transcending their harrowed context •

23 | Lustmord - [ B E Y O N D ]
The dark lord of ambient has spent much of this year revisiting his 2008 album [ O T H E R ]; two albums & two EPs have remixed & reworked that source material, with [ B E Y O N D ] containing the most consistently successful material—better, it could be argued, than the original album • Brian Lustmord's music is usually so serious, so intense, that it can be difficult to take (or, as in Lustmord Rising, become unintentionally funny), but he gets it spot on in this series of remixes; it's all as pitch black as ever, but with a gentleness that makes it less intoxicating, even rather relaxing • "Trinity", at the dark heart of the album, is one of the best tracks; the mixture of sporadic deep beats & bells (all heavily muted) above the soft, distant ambient drapery is entrancing •

22 | Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto - utp_
With Insen & Vrioon, the Noto-Sakamoto collaboration has created a sublime synthesis of piano & electronics, & it was inspired to expand the idea to larger forces, courtesy of the ever-adventurous Ensemble Modern • The result, utp_, is actually a cooler affair than either of those earlier releases; at first it seems rather stiff, but quickly loosens up into a complex intermingling of sounds that achieves that most difficult thing: blurring the distinction between electronics & live instruments • The two "Particle" tracks are a case in point, the plethora of microscopic sounds blending into a diverse but consistent granular soup • Elsewhere the division is more apparent, but things never seem forced; "Transition" is one of numerous high points, a gorgeous chorale of shifting chords •

21 | Venetian Snares - Filth
Reviewed back in March, this album has done much to restore my faith in Aaron Funk's ability to maintain a coherent & consistent approach in his work • It's not just the track titles (e.g. "Labia" & "Chainsaw Fellatio") that betray Funk's ongoing creative case of Tourette Syndrome; the music has a blissfully playful quality that knows no limits • The beloved 7/4 time signature is omnipresent, but with new blood in its veins, & whether he's tickling our ears or bludgeoning our brains, Funk is demonstrably back at the top of his game •

20 | Polly Scattergood - Polly Scattergood
In a year that saw "artists" such as Lady Gaga & La Roux pick up plaudits for noisy, noisome posturing, far more impressive for its fragile understatement was this first release from Polly Scattergood • For all her lace-like charm, Scattergood's lyrics suit her voice down to the ground, quietly bewailing & lamenting their lot, the songs of a bruised soul • As i mentioned back in April, the opening song "I Hate the Way" is the most imaginative, but the album as a whole is strikingly diverse, at times simplistic (the childlike piano stylings of "Poem Song"), at others more grittily adult (both tone & lyrics of "Bunny Club"), but always courageously & movingly honest •

19 | Ambrose Field - Being Dufay
My first encounter with Ambrose Field's music was back in the mid-1990s, at a conference in Birmingham where he gave an illustrated lecture about his impressive electroacoustic piece, Undercurrents • His latest work is a setting of vocal fragments by Guillaume Dufay (performed by former Hilliard Ensemble tenor, John Potter), about & under which Field weaves a gentle supportive ambient cloud • The electronics seem to both reinforce & diffuse the tonality in Dufay's beautiful melismas, embellishing them with the lightest of touches • Field's ear for striking & delightful sounds is as sure as ever, & it's heartening to hear cutting-edge electronics used in a classical context without the brash pretentiousness that seems so prevalent at the moment • A seamless synthesis of old & new, it's nothing short of a masterpiece •

18 | Tim Exile - Listening Tree
In a world that now seemingly boasts as many genres as there are composers, it's encouraging that Tim Exile staunchly avoids such bland categorisation • The man leaps between stylistic gestures with the agility of a gazelle, never resting long enough for the music to compartmentalise itself • His is a kaleidoscopic kind of electronica, nourished & perfected through improvisation, & many of the tracks on this album possess a meandering quality that pulls the listener along wherever the material wishes to go • This kind of eclecticism can prove irritating, but Exile's brilliant control of structural unfolding—even if it's being created on the fly—is unwavering, & there's logic aplenty amidst the mayhem •

17 | Celer - Compositions For Cassette
Caught as we are in the grip of such ubiquitous digitalia in the world of music (& exemplified by Tim Exile), it seems almost radical for Celer to turn their backs on it completely for this release • This music was made using analogue cassette as its means of recording at every stage; the duo proudly declares their "hope to demonstrate an admiration of experimentation through a single recording medium..." • The ghostly, quavering music is a poignant, nostalgic evocation of a time now distant, afflicted (blessed?) with hiss & other random irregularities that are an inevitable concomitant of the tape recording process • It's yet another example of the sheer imaginative breadth this pair have brought to ambient music •

16 | Anduin + Jasper TX - The Bending Of Light
The pairing of two such artists was always going to result in a highly concentrated music, & The Bending Of Light demonstrates that from the outset • The drones are delicious, drawing the listener in like a sonic black hole, while impossibly low frequencies envelop & couch the ears • Despite its relatively brief duration (a little over 34 minutes), the music is wide & expansive, ultimately sounding very much longer • It's such a fruitful partnership, one can only hope they'll collaborate again on further releases •

15 | Nynke Laverman - Nomade
Some albums you just don't see coming, & Nynke Laverman's latest release is just such an album • While her previous work explored a variety of folk & world music idioms in a fairly humdrum manner, from the outset Nomade grabs one by the scruff of the neck & enters entirely different territory • Her Fresian lyrics & accent infuse each song with a distinct, 'other' quality, enhanced by their strange, even surreal accompaniments, combining a fascinating array of instrumental & electronic textures • Standout track is the opener, "De ûntdekker", the pulse stomping & marching as Laverman soars, twitters & trills overhead •

14 | NQ - Like Styrofoam, Bleeding
It's not been the most interesting of years for netlabel Distance Recordings, but they've redeemed themselves with this, their latest release • Nils Quak's album is a riveting work of electronics, combining ambient, noise, drone & electroacoustic elements • The way one sound succeeds another, emerging into the foreground until the next replaces it, is thoroughly engaging, aided in no small part by Quak's wide sound palette • Every track is like a miniature epic, ending seemingly light years from whence it began • It's surprising that such an accomplished album should be available free, but it is, here •

13 | Alva Noto - Xerrox Vol. 2
This is one of those albums you want never to end • Few artists handle electronics as well as Alva Noto; & when he turns his gaze away from beats & pyrotechnics, he creates some of the most luscious sonic landscapes ever made • His second Xerrox outing incorporates an amazing display of styles & ideas; warm ambient drones dissolve into noise only to be reborn as slow crescendoing chords & throbbing bass pulses that glitch, quiver & bristle • Carsten Nicolai is a composer of breathtaking brilliance, & this is without doubt one his finest albums •

12 | David Sylvian - Manafon
Song has been undergoing something of an overhaul in the last few years • Joanna Newsom expanded its durational & poetic scope in 2007 (Ys), while Scott Walker did necessary but unspeakable things to it in 2008 (The Drift); this year, the most radical re-thinking of what song can be has come from David Sylvian • On the one hand, this album doesn't entirely succeed simply because of the creative division at the heart of the work; Sylvian brought in some of the most innovative improvisers in the world to create textural backdrops, but created both the lyrics & his vocal tracks totally separately, after the event • But the results overcome this issue, often brilliantly; Sylvian's postmodern crooning in front of such a complex reredos is simply stunning •

11 | Hecq - Steeltongued
Ben Lukas Boysen's work as Hecq ranks among the most innovative & ingenious electronica by anyone • His innate understanding of pace & mood, combined with his astonishing ability to bring together the pointillism of beats & omnipresence of ambient in a seamless synthesis, make every release a joy to behold, & never better than on this album • Of Steeltongued, Hecq has said that it “feels like the whole beat-science cant go any further for me – i wanted to take a (probably final) shot at it and get as much as i can from it”; if so, it's hard to conceive of a more accomplished swansong to the world of beats than this, perhaps the most joyously brilliant work of IDM ever created •

10 | Dragonette - Fixin To Thrill
i wrote at length about this album back in October, & it just gets more & more impressive on repeat listenings • Very few bands can achieve, let alone sustain, this level of exhilaration in their work • The album captures a wide variety of moods, from the brilliant & breathless to episodes of quieter intensity • Dragonette are fortunate to have such a superb singer in Martina Sorbara, who's able to take her voice, effortlessly, in such a multitude of directions without ever sounding forced or uncomfortable • This absolutely ecstatic release is, in my view, the indisputable pop album of the year, if not the decade • It's still not yet easily available in the UK (why?!), so Amazon.ca continues to be the place to go •

9 | Richard Skelton - Landings
This is the year when Richard Skelton's music has finally registered in my consciousness, & as i've been slowly catching up with his output, i've found myself drawn ever deeper into his strange yet familiar music • Emanating from grief (the loss of his wife a few years back) & intimately interconnected with the Lancashire landscape, Skelton's work seems to sidestep the intellect & burrow deeply into one's emotions, pulling them, massaging them, aching them • Landings (recently reissued, accompanied by a book of prose & poetry) typifies his style, the incessant string gestures—despite their subsequent (but imperceptible) digital manipulations—projecting an ancient & noble demeanour •

8 | Clouwbeck - Wolfrahm
Richard Skelton almost has as many artistic guises as releases, & this is only the second time he's donned the Clouwbeck moniker • Once again, strings predominate the textures, but Skelton is prepared to take his source material into new & arresting territories • Somewhat shorter than Landings, this album comes across with more intensity & urgency, despite the prevalence of more gentle ambient episodes • There's a sense of the instruments playing as though their lives depended on it, a soft but ferocious outpouring that, undoubtedly, says more about loss than words ever could •

7 | SoiSong - xAj3z
Following last year's outstanding EP qXn948s, Peter Christopherson & Ivan Pavlov have taken their SoiSong project into more upbeat & immediate territory here • While in some ways one misses the amorphous beauty of that EP, the ingenuity of ideas is highly impressive, as is the completely unexpected unfolding of each track • The artificial voices from Christopherson's Threshold HouseBoys Choir return, but in a more engaging sonic environment, & bestowing a weirdly dated quality on this otherwise utmost modern music • Such paradoxes abound with SoiSong, strangeness & beauty evident in equal measure, the one unifying element seeming to be the audible influence of Peter Christopherson's adopted home of Thailand •

6 | Steven Wilson - Insurgentes
Technically, this album saw light of day in 2008, but it wasn't available to the world at large until this spring, & Wilson himself clearly regards it as a 2009 release; hence its inclusion here • This is, very simply, one of the finest experimental rock albums ever made, with a breadth of creative imagination & technical expertise that are simply amazing to behold, listen after listen after listen • More importantly, it goes way beyond Wilson's other work, bearing only passing resemblances to either Porcupine Tree or Bass Communion, the avant-garde textures at times redolent of Scott Walker, they're that good • A glut of redundant rock bands should take note: this is what music can be; this is how far behind you really are •

5 | Robert Henke - Indigo_Transform
While, to my mind at least, Henke's Monolake project seems to have reached a creative impasse (Silence may have amazing production values, but what exactly was the material trying to do or be?), his solo work continues to beguile & entrance like never before • Both the texture & delivery bring to mind—forgive me—Jean Michel Jarre's "Waiting for Cousteau", but Henke's treatment of stasis, punctuated with water droplets & a profoundly deep, tolling bass, is way more engaging, utterly hypnotic •

4 | irr. app. (ext.) - Kreiselwelle
For the last eight years, Matt Waldron has been engaged in, beside other things, a large-scale triptych of works associated with Wilhelm Reich • Following Ozeanische Gefühle & Cosmic Superimposition, this is the final instalment, & while a number of sound elements betray their connection to those earlier releases, for the most part it comes across as a very different entity • Waldron's use of anecdotal sounds always lends a vividness to his sonic creations akin to Dali's realism, & the result is often no less surrealist • Kreiselwelle ('spiral wave'), though, finds Waldron in a decidedly un-absurd mood, the layers of material evolving gradually with few abrupt shifts, & the result is weighty & mesmerising •

3 | Bass Communion - Chiaroscuro
Steven Wilson's Bass Communion project has gone a long way to revivify & re-imagine the hackneyed ambient model • This is one of his most intense releases (even more so than 2008's Molotov & Haze), featuring two canvasses, one large, one small • Both are absolutely riveting, the former laden with nervous vibrato that causes the undulating texture to ripple & shimmer, the latter's delicate tracery giving way to a seething morass of spellbinding complexity • Music like this has few parallels, & it's arguably Wilson's finest creation to date • His control & technical aplomb are nothing short of astounding, highlighting his status as one of the most brilliant, genuinely talented musicians working today •

2 | Peter Wright - Snow Blind
Following his really rather average An Angel Fell Where The Kestrels Hover earlier in the year, this album is a bolt from the blue • Caught betwixt two worlds, one all curves & contours, smooth & inviting, the other coarse & abrasive, clipped & distorted, Wright's vision is shocking in its clarity & devastating in its realisation • This is an album that seems to exist in the wake of some vast deluge, crying out into the darkness, disoriented & desperate • It's deeply moving to hear music emerge—as it only can—from such a wasted context, whether it's the heroic attempt to rebuild a melody from sonic rubble ("Follow The Leader") or the stuck-in-a-rut despair that is nothing less than abject ("The Distopian National Anthem") • Ambient noise has rarely received such mature & cogent expression •



1 | Celer - A Breeze of Roses / Brittle / Engaged Touches / Fountain Glider / In Escaping Lakes / Poulaine

To say that 2009 has been Celer's year is to invite mixed feelings; after all, Will Long's wife & musical collaborator, Danielle Baquet-Long, passed away in July, bringing Celer's future activities to a close • Yet already, Will & Dani's legacy is already beginning to assume monumental proportions; a startling 16 new releases were issued this year (11 albums & five EPs), proof positive of the quantity of work the duo has created • But it's the quality of so many of these releases that is most meaningful; time after time, Celer find new ways to occupy us, never repeating themselves, inventing & re-inventing their ideas & methods in a panoply of creativity that is nothing short of breathtaking • Hence why the no. 1 spot in this year's list must go jointly to no fewer than six of their albums, each of which has played a unique part in expanding Celer's orbit & deepening the impression they make; these albums are not merely excellent, they're essential •

All six testify to the fact that Celer play at their best in long, extended durations where ideas can evolve & flourish at leisure (another 2009 release, Capri, suffers from its division into "bite-size" portions, although last year's Nacreous Clouds proves this needn't be the case) • As usual, though, these large-scale canvasses are (with the exception of Brittle) divided into distinct areas of activity, each bleeding & morphing into the next with infinite grace, even stealth • The multiplicity of sound sources, cited on each release, are fodder for Will & Dani's frenetic creativity, only on occasions—most noticeably on Fountain Glider & Engaging Touches—being heard for what they are • Both noise & rich tonalities coexist in Celer's music like nowhere else, the one complementing the other, with nothing ever sounding out of place • This is no mean feat, a marvel for the ears that, despite the slow steady motion, is no less able to surprise: the moment, around two-thirds through Breeze of Roses where the faint ringings are unveiled to be deep cathedral bells; the second part of Engaging Touches, where the initial cycling waves yield into a timbrally-lush chord that looms out of darkness; the opening of Fountain Glider, that quickly disintegrates into heavily distorted cabin noise • These are just a few meagre examples of the kind of delights that are contained in these large works, which together comprise over 300 minutes of the most intense, challenging & uplifting material released this year; Celer truly are the masters of modern ambient music •

In the wake of such glowing admiration, it may seem surprising, even churlish, to attach a caveat, & quite a severe one • i've mentioned it before & i'll do it again, more forcefully this time: i believe it militates against the quality of Celer's music to have so much of it released in such a short timespan • Few artists can ever have amassed as many as 16 releases in a single year, & with very good reason; it detracts from the significance & appreciation of individual achievements when they're being whisked off the production line as quickly as that • Theirs is music rich & complex in character, like the proverbial good wine, & such things should be savoured, not quaffed • That Celer's fans (obviously, i include myself in that group) are enthusiastic for more—particularly, no doubt, following Dani's death—is understandable, but if we have any respect for Dani & Will's work, we'll allow it to come in its own good time, giving us & the music itself some time to reflect &, indeed, some breathing space • i love Celer's music, & to say i'm looking forward to hearing more is a huge understatement—but i can & i will wait; in all truth, i want to wait • In the nicest possible sense, i hope that 2010 brings significantly less from Celer, so that we can enjoy it all the more, for many years to come • Music this good deserves nothing less than our complete attention & our utmost respect •

Best EPs of 2009

As December draws to a close, it's time once again to cast our collective eye back over the last 12 months • Before we get to the highlights, it's only fair to say that 2009 has been filled with more than its fare share of disappointments • Kraftwerk finally succeeded in releasing The Catalogue, the "re-mastered" versions of their output, although success is hardly the word for a project that managed to inflict so much bombast on the music, bludgeoning it into the 21st century; only a few of the albums came through unscathed • Dangermouse & Sparklehorse managed to distract attention away from how genuinely awful was their album Dark Night of the Soul by whipping up a frenzy about that great über-menace the Corporate Record Label; for once, a label did listeners a favour, consigning this vacuous lame duck to peer-to-peer oblivion • A-ha attempted a revivification of their image, returning to '80s synths, but in a context so compressed as to be almost impossible to listen to; Foot Of The Mountain must take the award for the most horrifically over-compressed album in recent times, although the fact it only has a single good song ("The Bandstand") lessens the blow somewhat • Muse got delusions of orchestration, turning their quirky & usually impressive ideas into something damp & actually rather camp; The Resistance was hardly the best name for such a lacklustre album • Even the powerhouse that is Lydia Lunch seems to have lost her way, Big Sexy Noise only living up to the last of those epithets, & not in a good way • & one of the best songwriters of them all, Neil Hannon, rested firmly on his laurels with The Duckworth Lewis Method, his tongue so far into his cheek that it must be causing facial damage • It's a shame that Hannon so often resorts to comedy & pastiche (forever lurking audibly in the wings of his Divine Comedy output); album highlight "The Age of Revolution" proves what the project might have been capable of, while "Jiggery Pokery" is absolutely horrific • But for me, the worst album of 2009 was a tie; Joe Goddard proved he's simply rubbish both in & out of Hot Chip, his first effort, Harvest Festival, among the most dreadful experiences i've had this year • & what exactly led Tori Amos, one of the most interesting singer-songwriters of the last decade, to release the monstrosity that is Midwinter Graces? it is, literally, shockingly bad •

But let's turn away from such infernal offerings, & move in a more paradisical direction • Thankfully, 2009 has also been filled with an abundance of excellent releases, & that's where our attention should be fixed, beginning with the best EPs of the year •

10 | Operations - Sundevil
Chris Anderson's most unexpected release to date finds him moving away from ambient textures into a cold, pointillistic electronic soundspace • Glitch is the grain of this music, sounding simultaneously artificial & organic, its component parts fretfully twitching around like a choir of Geiger counters • Anderson keeps a firm hand on proceedings, though, martialling the evolution process; each 1'50" track propels the material into new forms, culminating in a rich, surreal climax that is nothing short of triumphant •

9 | Autumn Grieve - Stray Birds
This is folk at its most delicate—which, fittingly, comes enwrapped in equally delicate, handmade packaging: behold • Autumn Richardson's beautifully soft, wispy voice is at times almost painfully insubstantial, barely resting upon the surface of the surprisingly complex textures beneath her voice • In her hands, each song becomes a beguiling gossamer miniature, tapping into both parts of her nom de plume, laden with wistful melancholy & a distinct sense of loss •

8 | Steve Peters - Musica Mundana
Steve Peters' use of field recordings is always highly imaginative & effective (his Here·ings project, reviewed here, is a landmark of the genre), & this is especially so in this release, available free from Peters' Bandcamp page • While the first track places environmental noises & fascinating animal sounds above a low drone, the latter occupies a similar place to his Filtered Light (#4 in last year's best albums list), a short but hypnotic lowercase work •

7 | Tim Exile - The Finger EP
Tim Exile's adeptness at improvised electronica is unrivalled, & this 15-minute EP captures a brief glimpse of the imagination he brings to dance music • In a manner at times akin to Aaron Funk, Exile takes apart all kind of styles—drum 'n' bass, techno, as well as contemporary electronics—& fuses them together into this little series of mutated wonders • "Promo" & "Youtube Killed The Now Wave Star" are the standout tracks, but—without wishing to take anything away from this polished release—both these tracks sound even better in the slightly rough & ready live versions posted online: "Promo" can be watched here, "Youtube Killed The Now Wave Star" here; the man is clearly a genius •

6 | Christopher McFall & Ben Fleury-Steiner - The Dirty and the Clean
Another exponent of field recordings, Christopher McFall tends to enfold his sources into dark, dense slabs of sound that blur the distinction between nature & artifice • Created with Gears of Sand's Ben Fleury-Steiner, this EP (available free here) is as intense as ever, the sounds of wind bringing an unsettling portentousness to the proceedings • Fleury-Steiner speaks of a desire "to bring out the beauty in all landscapes and natural phenomenon [sic] ... however, disguised and dirtied they may be", & to that end there's no audible distinction between the "dirty" & "clean" of the title; they're mingled together (aren't they always in life?), & the result is mesmeric & often rather poignant •

5 | Chubby Wolf - Meandering Pupa
Chubby Wolf was the solo side-project of Celer's Danielle Baquet-Long, a project sadly curtailed by her untimely passing earlier this year • In some ways, her own work is more ascetic than that made with her husband Will (although Celer's Sieline is not dissimilar), & this is, if anything, enhanced by the brief durations on this EP • Although there's often quite a bit going on in them, the textures are generally simple, more concerned with a single, meditative state than flux or evolution; ebb & flow are the watchwords here, undulations upon which the listener can sit & be gently guided • As a posthumous gift from Will Long, Meandering Pupa can be downloaded free from the Chubby Wolf Bandcamp page •

4 | Celer - Mane Blooms
While Celer are at their best in longer durations, this 12-minute EP shows what they're capable of in a more concise context • "Gaited Florets" is not merely the better of the two tracks, it is nothing less than one of the duo's very finest creations, its warm, gently metallic texture being punctuated by pitch fragments that seem to be the offspring of a bell & a sine wave • More happens in its 6-minute span than seems possible, & every second of it is absolutely ravishing • While "Cantering In A Copper Dress" can't really live up to such stark glory (indeed, it seems audibly to bask in the light of its neighbour), its drone is a gorgeously warm, rich concoction •

3 | Christopher McFall - All For The Terror That Sings Sweetly To You In The Night
Even more successful than McFall's collaborative release above is this solo EP • Lasting a little over 20 minutes, its three tracks are themselves subdivided into smaller vignettes, all of which carry a singular weight that is impressive & even, at times, overwhelming • In every sense of the word, this is 'heavy' music, its low frequencies worrying the anecdotal field recordings that sit on the music's surface • Its fabric of noises lies at the threshold of recognition; sounds are suggestive, allusive, redolent, but never reveal exactly what they are, & this makes for an enthralling listen •

2 | Bass Communion - Litany
Steven Wilson's latest small-scale offering is one of his most evocatively beautiful to date • Both tracks seem alternate takes of a common idea, one that is rooted in voices; in some of Wilson's most clearly stratified music, a soprano voice waxes & wanes above a shifting choir, the combination tainted at the edges by fringes of distortion & clipping, rendering it like an old photograph • The iambic structure serves to make the latter track especially intense, the voices emerging as if from profound depths, like a 21st century cathédrale engloutie; it's Wilson at his best: sublime, captivating & very moving •



1 | Lars von Trier & Kristian Eidnes Andersen - Antichrist Soundtrack
Lars von Trier's latest film Antichrist was one of—if not the—artistic highlight of the year for me; cinema is rarely so gripping, or indeed so gruelling as von Trier's brilliant study of a couple's descent, via grief, into madness • A film such as this was always going to need an equally extreme soundtrack, & there hasn't been a more perfect marriage of avant-garde sight & sound since Tobe Hooper's Texas Chain Saw Massacre • Von Trier worked with sound editor Kristian Eidnes Andersen to create the score, which was made solely from recordings of natural sounds (stones, leaves, wood) including internal microphones recording the more intimate workings of the human body • The result is jaw-dropping, an amazing sonic adventure into a terrifyingly claustrophobic landscape; the inclusion of a Handel aria (used at the start & end of the film) only serves to underpin how far from home the rest of the music has travelled • It's an astonishing achievement, & the decision to release this soundtrack in such a short form (the entire release lasts a little under 17 minutes) is perfect, presenting the elements in the most highly concentrated way possible • Only available as a digital download (here or here), this is essential listening •