My Personal Top 10 Albums of 2013

Welcome to my 5th annual end-of-the-year album-list.
As always this list is based on my own personal favorite albums, and contains albums, released in 2013, that I have played the most over the last year.

It was such a good year for new albums, that I couldn't keep it to 5 albums this time, and i couldn't leave out any of the albums below.

Here they are, in random order... (kinda)

Disclosure - Settle
I believe this has been everyone's favorite over the last year, and it was definitely my most played album of the year. And the best one... I guess.
I'm a big fan of their sound, the deep house basslines, their catchy tunes and it is all so well-produced.
Respect to these 2 guys who have gotten world-famous in only 18 months.

Disclosure - Album Launch Party at Boiler Room

Elvis Costello and the Roots
One of the strangest combinations of the year... Costello's recognizable 60s voice with The Roots' 70s backup behind it. It works for me. Weird but nice...
Interesting that The Roots are in my Albumlist again... It is the 3rd time that they appear in my annual Top-5 list, out of the 5 lists i have made so far. Earlier they scored with Betty Wright and Jon Legend, I wonder what they come up with in the next years...

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
The most anticipated and most hyped album of the year did not disappoint me, although there are a few tracks on this album that i'd rather skip sometimes.
Nevertheless, the first single-releases were so great that they made up for the rest.
But what would you expect, with a line-up like that: Moroder, Todd Edwards, Nile Rodgers, Pharrell Williams and many more... It's true that the big budget helped to make this album as big as it got, but don't underestimate Daft Punk's excellent production-skillz on this one...

Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines
The first single (and video) were probably the biggest summer-hit of the year, but the full album was actually pretty nice too... Funky, soulful... just what i like.
It might be a bit too smooth for you all, but find that out for yourself.

David Bowie
Bowie's latest (24th) studio-album, long-awaited and brilliant as ever. Nuff said...

David Bowie - The Stars (Are Out Tonight)


Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience (1)
We had to wait 6½ year for a new Justin Timberlake album and this year it was finally released.
Justin's voice is still in great shape, he still has an excellent timing, and sounds soulful and funky...
I love the long versions on the album, the producers probably had a lot of fun creating these masterpieces with some very weird and unconventional tempo-changes.

The Horrorist - Fire Funmania
...it's funny when you re-discover an artist that you danced to in the 90s at rave-parties, and then finding out 20 years later that he is still making music, plus that he shares the same interests as you.
He also blogs about synthesizers (even longer then me) and i believe he is even a 'fan' of my PatchPierre blog :-)
This album has really taught me something about producing albums just for the fun of it.
Too many albums i hear lately are 'overproduced' and this one definitely not.
I like the raw, dark, bold atmosphere in some tracks, and the pure energy in others...



Janelle Monae - The Electric Lady
Not as good as her debut  'The Archandroid', but after a couple of times listening this album really grows on you. I love how versatile her voice is, and the production behind it always keeps amazing me...

Greco-Roman - We Make Colourful Music Because We Dance In The Dark
One of my favorite British dance-labels have released their first official compilation album this year, and it features almost all the masterpieces that they released so far.
It's a very dance-able album, just like their first 'un-official' first compilation 'Gods against Men' that was on this list 2 years ago...
You can listen to the tracks at the ResidentAdvisor website

Knife Party - Haunted House EP
Whoohoo!
I love the sound of Knife Party on this EP... play this loud and enjoy!
EDM Death Machine is one of my favorite tracks of the year...



More...? :
Tamar Braxton - Love and War  ...Toni's youngest sister and former member of the Braxtons delivered an excellent album that is almost as good as Toni Braxton's early albums... Another great voice but now with a more up-to-date sound
Teena Marie - Beautiful  ...Teena Marie, mainly known for her work with funk-legend Rick James, passed away late 2012, right after she (almost) finished her last album. With  a little vocal and productional help of her daughter this album got released early this year and is still pretty amazing. A worthy tribute to a true legend.
LL Cool J - Authentic ...my favorite HipHop album of 2013. Maybe just because i like oldschool HipHop and this album just sounds 'authentic'.
Atoms for Peace - Amok  ...Thom Yorke's side-project released another exciting album this year. I've always been a fan of Radiohead and Thom's solo-project and this is again very experimental and exciting with Thom's unique way of singing.
Stromae - Racine  ...hmmm... I like French songs and a few of Stromae's #overhyped singles, but this is just not my cup of tea... but you may disagree.
Charlie Wilson - Love, Charlie  ...one of the most disappointing albums of the year; I like comeback albums from soul-legends, but not if they get the autotune treatment on almost every track #fail

Also check out: 

List from 2009   List from 2010

List from 2011   List from 2012

My Personal Top 5 Albums of 2012

Yay... Better late then never...
I know i am very late this year with my Top 5 Albums list, we're already in 2013.
The largest part of this post was ready around half December last year, but i kinda forgot to finish and post my annual list.

It wasn't as hard to pick five as last year, there were plenty of good albums this year.
These were the albums that i played the most over the last year;

Lambchop - Mr M.
This has gotta be my favorite of the year.
Not the most innovative album of the year, nor the most uplifting, but i do like the sound of Lambchop and the raspy voice of singer Kurt Wagner.
This album has partially helped me get through the most difficult part the year when my dad passed away in March this year...

Stream the whole album from HERE

The opening track of the Lambchop " Mr. M "  album

Breakbot - By Your Side
I was very happy when someone posted about the Breakbot debut-album last year.
This album is extremely well-produced by a French guy, and it may sound bit too retro for you but it is very refreshing.
Most tracks are very danceble, and the styles vary from funky electro-disco to 80s retro-pop.
Best new thing of the year!

Breakbot: Fantasy from Önaz on Vimeo.

Esperanza Spalding - Radio Music Society
Esperanza Spalding surprised me in 2011 with an album full with her chamber-music/jazz styled album, but this album is more suitable for radio.
Her brilliant voice and bass-playing fit together perfectly.
One of the nicest pop/jazz crossover albums of the last decade IMHO.

Video: Radio Music Society Trailer

Published by EsperanzaSpaldingTV

Parov Stelar - The Princess
Another fine surprise in 2012 was Parov Stelar's album.
This Austrian musician combines east-european folk-electronica with jazz, that gives him a unique sound. Very danceable, very happy-sounding, very good...

Gregory Porter - Be Good
I spotted Gregory Porter in the Dutch DWDD tv-show.
He impressed me with his dark, laidback and soulful voice and that triggered me to listen to his whole album.
His voice reminds me somewhat of Otis Redding and the orchestration of the whole album fits that same classic-soul-vibe.



plus:
Michael Kiwanuka - Home Again
Sin Cos Tan - Sin Cos Tan (a Finnish band, with very slick production by techno-producer Jori Hulkkonen)
Bobby Womack - The Bravest man in the Universe (the return of a soul-legend, produced by Gorillaz-frontman Damon Albarn)

List from 2009
List from 2010
List from 2011

My Personal Top 5 Albums of 2011

Yay... My 3rd annual personal Top-5 albums of the year list is here.
I was hoping i could make a Top-10 list this year, but it was hard enough to find 5, and even harder to put them in the right order.
It has become a very diverse list, you might not even like them all, but here they are in random order;

Betty Wright feat. The Roots - The Movie
Living soul-legend Betty Wright made a nice comeback this year with her 17th album /and her first in ten years.
Again an album produced by The Roots (and guests like Joss Stone, Snoop and Lil' Wayne) made it to my Top-5 this year, just like they did with John Legend last year... but even better this time.

Various Artists - Greco-Roman - Gods Amongst Men
Wow, a compilation album in this list?
Yep... so much crap was released this year, that i couldn't even pick out 5 artist- albums.
It's a complilation-album of the relatively new Greco-Roman label, which produces all kinds of hip electronic dance-tunes like this.
Listen to the whole album HERE (via Soundcloud)
btw, the single 'Gabriel' by Joe Goddard (of Hot Chip fame) feat. Valentina is IMHO the best  dance-track of the year... Listen for yourself;


From GrecoRomanMusic ,no copyright infringement intended


Spinvis - Tot Ziens, Justine Keller
The latest album by Dutch singer, composer and poet Spinvis was a pleasant surprise this autumn.
I am a fan since his first album and always liked the style and craftsmanship of this guy.
It is a great combination of dreamy, folky, mainly electronic sounds with somewhat weird lyrics...
Find the whole album HERE (all tracks are downloadable!)

Tinariwen - Tassili
The biggest surprise for me this year was discovering a whole new genre that i had never heard of before.
This African- or Tuareg- blues (or Assouf or Desert Guitar) sounds like the soul of the desert, and is pretty impressive.
Tinariwen is a band of Tuareg-Berber musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali and as soon as you play first track you can imagine yourself sitting on a camel...
A great album with at times a bit depressing, but also soothing and very hypnotizing music.
Watch the 'making of' video to check it out.

(From http://www.tinariwen.com/ ,no copyright infringement intended)

Mint Condition - 7...
Okay, i admit i have a soft spot for slick R&B, Soul and Funk so you may disagree on this one.
The 7th album from Minneapolis' band Mint Condition is really great, and a lot better than their somewhat disappointing 'E-Life' album from 2008.
The band was once discovered by producers-duo Jam & Lewis, twenty-some years ago, and the band has proved once more that they are still brilliant.
I should go and watch them play live when they are in the Netherlands next time because i have heard that their live-shows are amazing.
Check out their latest video "Walk on" HERE

A few albums that were released last month that haven't made it to the list, but are still worth mentioning;
- The new Kate Bush album '50 Words for Snow' is brilliant, but a bit moody for this list, and it feels more like a Christmas album.
- LuLu, the collaboration album by Lou Reed and Metallica wasn't that bad...
- Adele's '21' is still great, but who doesn't already know that.

List from 2009
List from 2010

My Personal Top 5 Albums of 2010

For the second year in a row i would like to present my favorite albums of the year in form of a blogpost.
You can view my favorites of 2009 HERE ( including the winner's reaction )
2010 was in my opinion a good year for music, with a few great 'comeback' albums from Morcheeba and Sade, Hot Chip's wonderfull third album and many more. My list is based on on my personal favourite albums, albums with the most tracks with 5 stars ended higher on my top-5.


1  Janelle Monae - The Archandroid - What a wonderful debut album and what a (multi)-talent. Ofcourse helped by brilliant production-work, but it's her voice that makes this diverse concept-album so great.
Best album by far this year. View her YouTube Channel HERE


2  Sade - Soldier of Love - Sade is back! ( the version of the title-track feat. Young Buck is EPIC)

3  DVAS - Society - Canadian synth-pop, a kind of 'Simian Mobile Disco meets Zoot Woman' - not a single bad track on this album

4  John Legend & The Roots - Wake Up! - Classic Soul album

5  Scissor Sisters - Night Work - Brilliant (co)-production-work by Stuart Price again ( - his remix of Invisible Light is one of my favorite party-anthems of the year )

It wasn't easy to make this list this year; albums by Gorillaz, Morcheeba, Hot Chip and Nneka's 'Concrete Jungle' also ended high in my list. I might introduce a top-ten list next year...
You should really check these albums out if you're even slightly interested. All albums are worth listening to, let me know what you think in the comments.

The Groove Express Episode 012

For those of you who missed last thursday's final episode of 'The Groove Express' on OldSchoolFM , you can find it here.

I would like to thank all our loyal listeners for their support, thanks for the feedback, on twitter or in the chat and all your re-tweets.

It was great fun producing and co-presenting this show, many thanks to JanPolet again for his trust in me and for the opportunity to broadcast this show on his OldSchoolFM

As we said in the show, this was our last weekly episode. We don't know if and in what shape or form The Groove Express will return yet, but we'll keep you updated.

Until next time, enjoy our last episode!

Update 16/04:
Bad news for the fans; The Groove Express is derailed... :(
No more episodes in the future.
Twisted Grooves will return in some way, but not very soon.

I'll keep you all updated

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My personal Top 5 albums of 2009

The year 2009 is almost over, so.... time for making lists!

As every year i made my own personal list of best albums released this year,
but this year was a difficult choice.
IMHO not one 'classic album' was made last year, unlike in 2008.
( - Last year's Last Shadow Puppets album was perhaps even the best album of the decade, and albums of The Faint and Grace Jones are still on my personal playlist )
This list is based on my personal favourite albums, albums with the most tracks with 5 stars ended higher on my top-5
It has become a strange list this year with a lot of danceable stuff in it... and i like it!

1 The Juan Maclean - The Future will Come
..as a bonus i advise you to check their website and 21+ minutes live-performance of 'Happy House" that they did earlier this year in Chicago.

2 Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

3 Muse - The Resistance

4 Moderat - Moderat

5 Calvin Harris - Ready for the Weekend

> 3 artists that almost (but didn't) made it to this list ( in random order ):
Friendly Fires / Jesse Rose / Editors ....too bad for them, but great albums anyway <

Like i said, it's not your average list, perhaps bands you have never heard of.
Check them out, and let me know what you think in the comments.

UPDATE December 11:  Here's the winners' reply:

@NetPierre Much thanks for http://tinyurl.com/yk5y6q7 It's end of the year best-of time!
— juan maclean (@juanmaclean) December 10, 2009

Breakbeat Motivator - a live recording

Just some simple loops - Second studio-test