Dance & Electronic 2011: 20 Best Albums (Page 16) • Year In Review • exclaim.ca

Features > Year In Review > Dec 2011

16. Ford & Lopatin Channel Pressure (Software)
The year began with a major hitch for Joel Ford and Daniel Lopatin, the "futuristic production team" known musically as Games. After releasing their blogger-approved That We Play EP last year, the duo were forced to change their name to avoid a lawsuit from the rapper Game's label, Interscope. Going simply with Ford & Lopatin, the two had a pretty smooth transition with the name change, which coincided with the announcement of their Software label, an imprint of Mexican Summer. Everything then fell into place for the release of Channel Pressure, their highly ambitious debut full-length. To fully express their love for '80s electronic music, the duo recorded the album at none other than the studio of a true icon from that decade: Jan Hammer. By accident, they built "an imaginary soundtrack for the adventure of Joey Rogers, a kid who gets brainwashed by a gigantic television." Sure, the concept sounds pretentious and unapproachable, but Ford & Lopatin were symmetrical with their presentation, combining the slick and savvy pop songs of yesterday with inventive arrangements from tomorrow. In many ways, the components involved shouldn't crystallize, but the fact that it all does impeccably, without ever losing the thrill, says a lot about what they can do in a studio. Few artists experienced a better year than these two, and considering that can be said without the mention of their own successful solo acts ― Ford's Airbird and Lopatin's Oneohtrix Point Never ― speaks loudly for their triumph.
Cam Lindsay

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14Comments

December 03, 2011Ranta9652

Nice to see Amon Tobin and Zomby on there. Their new albums are kindred spirits, IMO.

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December 03, 2011Nameless Poseur9654

any chance of a Spotify playlist? Rdio isn't available in my country (Spain).

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December 05, 2011Nameless Poseur9667

not the greatest list.... very safe easy choices, missed a lot of great albums like Clams Casino, Machinedrum, 2562,KODE9 & SPACEAPE, JAMIE XX & GIL SCOTT-HERON,ARAABMUZIK,Sepalcure,Martyn Ghost People, OMAR S,Motor City Drum Ensemble - DJ-Kicks to name a few... katy b sucks btw

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December 05, 2011Nameless Poseur9670

Katy B does suck... I like a lot of the list, but agree that Kode9&Spaceape, Jamie XX & Gil Scott, and Araabmuzik coulda/shoulda made the list and I know they did receive votes, just not enough. Thanks for the additional suggestions though, more music to check out is always a good thing.

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December 05, 2011TheChief9680

Jamie XX and Gil Scott-Heron are featured in the Groove (soul & world) list.

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December 05, 2011Ranta9682

Yeah, I have my doubts that anyone who openly admits to being a fan of electronic music would have voted for Katy B. She's more for pop fans who want something a little more underground than Lady GaGa but not quite as challenging as Emika (who released a significantly more interesting and beautiful dubstep-ish album on Ninja Tune this year).

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December 06, 2011Nameless Poseur9738

where's pictureplane or jessica 6 on here?

bad list, bad list....

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December 07, 2011Nameless Poseur9750

Rustie @ 5? wow. ballsy.

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December 07, 2011Nameless Poseur9756

Toddla T is so underrated! Glad to see him included

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December 07, 2011Nameless Poseur9759

hey where's that thing that i like?

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December 08, 2011Scott9775

Hmm, Ninja Tune usually means I'll give it a shot, so I'll have to check out the Emika album mentioned above. For other albums that didn't make the list, I really dug Gold Panda's Companion and Grouper's Alien Observer.

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December 08, 2011Nameless Poseur9783

kuedo - severant

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December 08, 2011Nameless Poseur9785

Yay! Wallpaper Music

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December 09, 2011Ranta9808

I can also vouch for Kuedo, a stellar record placed somewhere between the new Boxcutter and Com Truise.

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