Take it there, Massive Attack & Tricky

2014 in songs

A list of the most listened to music of this year (with music and songs not necessarily from this year):

Likke Li: No rest for the wicked


John Hopkins: Field Day Mix


Massive Attack vs Portishead


I Am Dive, Wolves


T.O.L.D, In low light


Tunng, Hustle


How to dress well, You and I are the same


Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra, Polly


Sólstafir, Ótta


Perfume Genius, Queen


Daniel Lindlöf, Lower my head


Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea


Pau Vallvé, Pels dies bons

Villa Nah

It's been a while since last time I came to hear an interesting electronic project. After burning the experimental minimalism era (Pan Sonic, Fennesz, Villalobos and so on), having embraced Folktronica willingly and oblivious to all the criticisms made towards this type of music beginning with the idea that it isn't even a type of music but an invention, because the pleasure of listening to Fridge, the first Four Tet, The Notwist or Tunng is well above silly fights about labels. After having lived the originary and first excitement of The Chemical Brothers, the neverending wait for the releasing of Prodigy's The Fat of the Land, or the breathtaking power of Portishead's, Massive Attack's, the first Morcheeba's and Tricky's trip hop. After everything experienced, the interest for electronic music had diminished as this kind of music had evolved and entered realms I really don't care about, either for its darkness or its noisiness.

It was, thus, a great satisfaction last year's revival of classical electronica. An electronica that kept an eye on the 80s, the synths, the so-called electro, practised by Tarwater, Static and a good amount of present German bands that interact amongst each other creating an odd but interesting web of sounds and characters.
Within this last group, of those that we might call inheritants of Depeche Mode, of those who are looking backwards towards synthetic melodies and modified voices, I've found Villa Nah. Thanks to their recording label site, Sähkö Recordings, we can listen to excerpts from their record Origin released on March 2010.
An experience that I sincerely recommend to everybody. To those who like electronic music and to those who don't. Because good melodies depend on sounds, on the musician's will, on the listener's perception of them, and that is well above the machinery used to achieve them.