Some favourites of 2011:

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Blog-wise, and I don't tend to have much time to scout round the blogs these days, but my favourite urban music blog has to be Semtex's blog: http://DJSemtex.com. In terms of useful websites that I've come across this year, We Transfer has to take the prize here: http://WeTransfer.com. There've been many albums I've enjoyed this year, but 'Watch The Throne' from Jay-Z and Kanye West, 'Take Care' from Drake, SBTRKT's self-titled debut, 'Every Kingdom' from Ben Howard and Noel Gallgher's High Flying Birds self-titled album, are all firm favourites.

This year has seen some of the artists who I've bashed people over the head with on Twitter come to see huge success, in particular, Emeli Sande and Ed Sheeran, two amazingly talented British songwriters. I'd like to say I was championing Ben Howard also, but he appeared on my radar very late in the year, thanks to Lauren Laverne on BB 6 Music. Also through her show I was very pleased to be introduced to the work of Bon Iver, Lana Del Rey, M83 and some new Friendly Fires output that I'd have probably otherwise missed out on. 

In terms of the producers who I feel have excelled this year, it's certainly worth noting what the likes of 2 Bears, RackNRuin, Redlight and of course Noah Shebib (Drake's producer) have been doing. They've all produced some great music during 2011. Music people who have been an inspiration to watch and learn from this year most certainly include Eddy Temple-Morris (for his unique, all round manner, and great CMU columns I've previously blogged about), Nick Bright (a leading light at BBC 1Xtra, in terms of quality presenting talent) and Zed Bias (the mans work rate scares me... and we get told we're super-productive! Zed is on a whole new level of the term 'productive').

I could go on, but I want to keep this short, really. It's been a great year for British music, and a great year for us as HeavyFeet. Big up 2011!

Mike HF

Filed under  //   BBC 6 Music   BBC Radio 1Xtra   Ben Howard   Bon Iver   Dj Semtex   Drake   Ed Sheeran   Eddy Temple Morris   Emeli Sande   Friendly Fires   HeavyFeet   Jay-Z   Kanye West   Lana Del Rey   Lauren Laverne   M83   Nick Bright   Noah Shebib   Noel Gallagher   RackNRuin   Red Light   SBTRKT   The 2 Bears   We Transfer   Zed Bias  
Posted December 31, 2011 by HeavyFeet 
 

A Few More Reviews...

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Imogen Heap - Ellipse (out now on Megaphonic)

I was particularly hyped for this release, and fortunately I wasn't disappointed. After watching Heap's week by week video blogs as the album was being worked on, I felt oddly attached to the album before it had been released. Whilst this was undoubtedly a subliminal marketing strategy, the idea certainly worked and had me hooked from the fade in of the album's opening, 'Last Train Home.' Highlights for me include, 'Wait It Out', 'Swoon' and 'Tidal' (non of which are scheduled for single release). I felt there were a few dodgy lines (lyrically) here and there on some of the more experimental (for Heap) tracks, but this aside, a really great listen. 8/10

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David Guetta - One Love (out now on Virgin)

Oh dear, where to start... with the internet awash with rumours that Guetta produced little of the material on this album, I personally had little hope that this release would have any feel of what an artist album should be. My concerns were met with what appears to be a bunch of (standardly boring) electro-house tinged club instrumentals, each with their own tacked on high quality (in sound) pop vocal. The album sounds very much like the instrumentals have been knocked up and mixed, been sent off for remote (vocal) recording and then had the neccessary stereo vocal stems added and levelled on top of the instrumental mixes (I shudder at the thought). There appears to be little in the way of any album structure to this record, and whilst it will make a shedload of revenue in Europe, largely off the back of Guetta's name as a DJ, I'm not expecting 'One Love' to be an album anyone listens to past the end of the year. 3/10

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Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3 (out now on Rocnation)

After hearing reports across reputable BBC radio shows that The Blueprint 3 was not up to the usual standard we've come to expect fom Jay-Z, I was pleasantly surprised upon first listen to the album all the way through. The album itself is exactly what was needed from the Rocnation camp as far as I'm concerned, and having tracks with Jeezy, Alicia Keys and Pharell (whilst arguably not that original in selection) just add further present day credibility to this release. Listeners looking for an album more like the first Blueprint (and moaning that this is not that) and earlier albums need to wake up and smell the coffee, this is 2009 and Jay-Z has delivered an album that is very much worthy of current time respect. A few notoriously sketchy lines here and there isn't going to keep me from listening, and with tracks like 'Real As It Gets' and 'Empire State of Mind' I'm not planning on pressing stop anytime soon. Big. 7/10

Filed under  //   Album Reviews   David Guetta   Imogen Heap   Jay-Z  
Posted October 5, 2009 by HeavyFeet 
 

Run This Town

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Okay, so on one hand recently we've had D.O.A from 'The Roc', which I think there are few people that are going to argue its not a strong look, especially as an alledgedly off the cuff single...

Then we get this as a follow up, a semi-decent pop record which Rihanna turned down for her new album...

It's coming out as a collaborative effort between three of the biggest music stars on the planet, and in my opinion, with the previous being taken into consideration, really isn't helping it to become a stronger release. I'm just not really feeling it is a instrumental and the vocals don't seem to be hitting the usual standard you come to expect from the three artists on the record. There's a making of video which reveals very little of the actual 'making of...', more a very brief introduction into how Jay-Z feels about where he's at right now. I for one am hoping that this record is not going to be a reflection of what we can expect from the Blueprint 3, which is due very soon, but I'm already hearing reports not to get too excited on this one. :-/

M

Filed under  //   Blueprint 3   Death of Auto-Tune   Jay-Z   Kanye West   Rihanna   Run This Town  
Posted August 23, 2009 by HeavyFeet