Traditionally I build a blank playlist at the beginning of every year, then slowly start to fill it with whatever catches my attention as the year proceeds. Normally I don’t think of a name for the list or the artwork until the year draws to a close.
This year ‘The Twatdemic Survival Kit generally summed up my mood watching civilisation, particularly the aspects of it which seem to think that science is somehow a conspiracy, helped frame the title. I used an image from science as a visual rebuttal, as it shows the splendour of a spiral galaxy.
If our world was in this image, it would be smaller than a single pixel. This is something to bear in mind as a means of relative perspective, all of our bullshit, our petty cultural and ideological squabbles, our pandemics are completely insignificant when a wider viewpoint is considered.
In a normal world, a tune generally reminds me of a time and place, which helps anchor a memory with a melodic association. The following list of music was how my year sounded, 99.9% in my cabin, aka HIAB-X HQ. It was a groundhog year, as the previous entry suggested.
The unadulterated, definitive version of this list has been compiled on Youtube as various tracks are not available to stream or purchase elsewhere. I’ll add some streaming links at the bottom of the page, those versions will undoubtably have omissions. There are times that I miss just being able to make a compilation tape, then hand it to a friend as a gift.
Let’s begin.
1. Panther Modern – The ups and downs: I discovered Panther Modern this year. This track wasn’t how the new year started for me musically, but it seemed a fitting starting point for the playlist. I loved the Blade Runner-esque vibe, the title, the modern melancholic ache of the tune.
2. Private Press -La Canopé – This was the first new thing I heard in 2021. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to buy it as it hasn’t been officially released. I absolutely adored the futurism of the track. It means business, it’s a growling, thumping ride through a futuristic city. Understandable that it would be part of the soundtrack to the game Cyberpunk 2077
3. Yellow Machines – BLE-EP_Mike Ash-Galaxy_JP – catchy title! This one arrived in my mailbox, because Meat Beat Manifesto had made a contribution to the remixing duties. Once again, like La Canopé, I loved the futurism inherent in the piece.As an aside, I find it a little amusing that my course leaders had observed that many of my project inspirations harken back to the 1990’s. On some level this is true, on others I have one foot in the late 21st century, even though it’s unlikely that I’ll ever see it.
4. Steven Richard Davis & Kings of Collapse – Run : Another tune from the game I’ve yet to play; Cyberpunk 2077. My magpie ears loved this for the futuristic and cinematic reasons already stated.
5. Wild Turkey – Tangerine. – I didn’t have a great deal of gaming time or VR time this year. It’s a little ironic when I consider what I was learning. An exception to this statement came in the first quarter, when I played a VR title called Technolust. Funnily, the game takes place in a dystopian, Blade Runner style future. This tune was part of the soundtrack.
6. Otoboke Beaver – Don’t Light My Fire: Taking a break from futurism, this blazing, thrash-punk, Japanese outfit turned up in one of my feeds. I was blown away by the energy of it all.
7. The Horrors – Sheena is a Parasite: I only discovered this track because I was idly wondering what happened to the incredibly talented and much missed video director Chris Cunningham. It turned out that his video for the Horrors was one of his last contributions to the world of music videos. I thought that it was totally terrific.
8. Consolidated – Two Minutes to Midnight: I was delighted when Consolidated started making music again, arriving just the perfect time when the world needs more Consolidated. The lyrics really chimed with where I’m at emotionally as far as the world goes, the tune just ticks all of my approval boxes as well.
9. Yellow Machines – Scan One_One Original: If you get one notification from Yellow Machines, another is likely to follow. I was digging it.
10. UNKLE – Catch Me When I Fall: Something to mellow out the futurism. I think it’s quite beautiful.
11. Club De Belugas – Hip-Hip-Chin-Chin (Yaziko Club Mix) : This randomly turned up on shuffle while I was working. The Hip-Hip-Chin-Chin sample made me laugh, so I bought it.
12. Tones on Tail – Lions: I blame the algorithm which tends to know my musical tastes for introducing me to this one. It probably thought +++h3-L1k35-B4uh45>PL4Y+T0N35>0n_T41L
13. Danny Elfman & Trent Reznor – True: This would be the closest I’d get to hearing new NIN this year, yes, Trent and Atticus worked with Halsey in 2021, but this Elfman collaboration/remix seemed to tick all my noisy/agitated/snarling boxes. I thought that the video was terrific too.
14. The Fat White Family – When I Leave: I stumbled upon this one as something to do with the band was being promoted in an ad. I loved the folk-horror vibe of the video and the playfully strange lyrics. Interestingly, this wouldn’t be the only musical discovery of 2021 with the title ‘When I leave’
15. Dave and Ansel Collins – Monkey Spanner: One of the things I love about Mrs.HIAB-X is that she’ll skank at the drop of a hat when the mood is right. This tune reminds me of her skankin’ in the Babylon of our kitchen.
16. Irah – Bombahole Boris : This just offered some political wasteland catharsis for the enduring grimness of being led by donkeys.
17. Playgroup – Nothingness: Oh I do love a bottom-kicking bassline. Playgroup did a superb album during 2001, I think that this was recorded around that time. I was leading through the things that I might have missed in the ensuing decades and this track just hit the spot.
18. Halsey – I am Not a Woman, I’m a God: Reznor and Ross produced the album that this came from, if you’re into their music, then the hallmarks of their production are all over it. In the same breath, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, meant that the album didn’t chime for me. This seemed to be the stand-out track, though, which is why it’s in this year’s list.
19. Biosphere – When I leave: My VR partner in crime, Tom, Introduced me to this track. I found it instantly sublime, I love the subterranean feeling of the beats and rhythms, the melodic plucks, the samples, the subtle edgyness.
20. Chøppersaurus – Motel 66: An old friend sent me an excellent playlist of tunes to listen to via Apple Music. This track popped on, but I hadn’t realised that the playlist had ended and that the algorithm had taken over curating tunes based upon my tastes. I loved the mood of the track and the abrasive riff, but was it a guitar? Those chords! I dug a little deeper and it transpired that the thing which sounds like a guitar riff is actually a piano running through a filter.
21. The Last Enemy (Green Mix) – Mark Stewart and Consolidated: This is a strange track, in places it sounds quite dated, almost 80s, yet everything about it is current. It took a couple of listens and then I fell totally in love with it. As you’d expect with a Consolidated offering, it wastes no time hitting the listener with hard bits of reality, but even if they’re hitting you with a message, they do it in such a way with the music, all I want to do is just listen and absorb.
22. R34L – Chaos Game: Mark Pistel from Consolidated has been a busy person this year, he produced the R34L E.P Phase Reset, which this track features on. I just love it, really creative electronica, great vocals, it’s a proper audio journey to listen to.
23. Panther Modern – Ready: This was the first track that I’d heard by Panther Modern, I found the accompanying visuals quite mesmerising. There’s something about the vocals which reminds me of things I’d have been bopping about to in goth clubs during the late 80s but at the same time, everything about it feels modern or futuristic. It didn’t take very long to fall in love with this either.
24. Tears For Fears – The Tipping point: I think I’ll always have a soft-spot for TFF. With Roland Orzabal now starting resemble the biblical ‘almighty one’, the sound of this track felt a lot like all the things I liked about the band back during the height of their success. A kind of musical comfort food.
25. Dead Can Dance – Mushin: Thinking about my old friend Dave led to thinking about DCD, which in turn led to a casual search of their videos on Youtube, which led to this unexpected find. Bloody Hell! They put out new material this year. The video is stunning, the track is almost instrumental, but Wow! Just wow!
26. Siné and Mark Pistel – Virtual Realitease (Mark Pistel Mix) – Yo, Pistel! Activate the playlist! I had to laugh when I heard this, having spent nearly a year immersed in all things virtual reality, here was a track which came near the end, which seemed to capture the essence of this particular orbit.
27. Taylor Momsen – Quicksand: This was on a Bowie tribute hosted by Mike Carson earlier in the year. I’d always loved the song and felt that Momsen really captured the essence of what it was about, it made my heart ache, so here it is in this year’s list.
28. Bloodrush feat Haleek Maul – I only heard this tune because I was watching The Show; a movie written by Alan Moore and directed by Mitch Jenkins. This was a track featuring in one of the scenes. Like the film, the track is eccentric, strange, rumbling…probably why I like it.
29. Orbital feat Prof Brian Cox – There Will Come a Time: I was listening to this at the beginning of the year whilst catching up with Orbital records that I’d lost track of. I’ve put it at the end of this compilation as It seems fitting as a closing track for the year, that was to me, The Twatdemic.
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