Dance & Electronic 2011: 20 Best Albums (Page 17) • Year In Review • exclaim.ca

Features > Year In Review > Dec 2011

17. Jamie Woon Mirrorwriting (Polydor)
According to the UK press, Jamie Woon's Mirrorwriting's gestation was a long time in coming and listening to this auspicious debut does little to dissuade that notion. Woon is an obvious studio rat as the album is littered with layered and disembodied vocal effects, a penchant for found sound and two a.m. downtempo after-party beats anchored by omnipresent yet wobbly cavernous bass lines. All of this underlines his prowess as a sonic arranger and the influence of occasional collaborator dubstep purveyor Burial. But there's more to Woon than his perfectionist studio tendencies. Peel away all the production tricks, Woon is an accomplished singer/songwriter in the traditional sense of the word and pens accessible songs despite the experimentation. Despite the reams of reverb, his soulful croon unashamedly conveys Woon's own internal wracking over the minutiae of love and life on standouts like "Spiral" where his shiny taut guitar work is a compelling contrast to the all-enveloping ambience that pervades the record. While it might have been unfortunate that Woon's work eventually arrived coinciding with the fanfare being accorded to the like-minded genre-dabbling of James Blake et. al, Mirrorwriting confirms Woon's work was time well spent.
Del F. Cowie

« Page 16 | Page 18 »

GET IT!

SHARE IT!

14Comments

December 03, 2011Ranta9652

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

Start Conversation

December 03, 2011Nameless Poseur9654

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

Start Conversation

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

Start Conversation

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.

Start Conversation

December 05, 2011TheChief9680

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

Start Conversation

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).

Start Conversation

December 06, 2011Nameless Poseur9738

where's pictureplane or jessica 6 on here?

bad list, bad list....

Start Conversation

December 07, 2011Nameless Poseur9750

Rustie @ 5? wow. ballsy.

Start Conversation

December 07, 2011Nameless Poseur9756

Toddla T is so underrated! Glad to see him included

Start Conversation

December 07, 2011Nameless Poseur9759

hey where's that thing that i like?

Start Conversation

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.

Start Conversation

December 08, 2011Nameless Poseur9783

kuedo - severant

Start Conversation

December 08, 2011Nameless Poseur9785

Yay! Wallpaper Music

Start Conversation

December 09, 2011Ranta9808

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

Start Conversation