13/22 - Consciousness Is Synchronized And Crystal-clear

Another list, yeah? I'm trying to cram in a bunch of tunes before the year is over and I'm gonna start listening to this year's best-of-lists. So here are five tunes, drawn together by tone of voice and timbre of soundscape. It's winter and everything is crisp, dark, blistering, like so:

 

Tirzah - Tectonics

Tirzah keeps doing great things in the shadows, going from strength to strength since I first came across her at LGW a few years back. Last year's album is ominous, subtle, almost evasive... but also *chef's kiss* perfectly calibrated and sensuous.

 

 

Danger Mouse & Black Thought ft. MF DOOM - Belize

A posthumous DOOM verse is a pretty sure way to end up on Top 5 (hope there are many more in the vaults) and his cadence and way with words thrills as always (Freeze! He came to seize the free cheese before he flees to Belize). But Black Thought manages to get the best line in:

Fuck a thick skin, I got me a exoskeleton

 

 

Ka - Sad To Say

Some beautifully moody, confessional rap set to another really delicate production, that I discovered through last year's best-of-lists.

 

 

The Bug ft. Nazamba - War

The Bug is another artist I discovered through a brilliant gig at LGW, and who, from what I heard, played another fantastic concert at this year's festival (big regrets for not getting a ticket to that in time). Would have loved to hear this nightmarish thrill in its full bass glory on a live sound system.

 

Kendrick Lamar - The Heart Part 5

I've listened to Kendrick's latest album a fair few times since its release now, and it's a staggering work. But even as it keeps growing and growing, by the end of every listen I arrive at the final track – the pre-album single – and it still undeniably overshadows and encapsulates all that came before it. What a goosebump-worthy track! A modern master at his very, very finest.