1. Burial & Four Tet – Moth

It came out of pretty much nowhere. The news of a limited release from a duo that no one expected to collaborate so quickly. Kieran Hebden and William Bevan were in fact, schoolmates; so some people would say it was bound to happen sometime. But no one expected 2009 to be shaped by a simple vinyl release that had nothing on it but two tunes from prolific composers of our time. What was achieved with the A-side,  “Moth,”  was a level of immense hypnotism that was beyond the grasp of human ears. It begins with something Burial would contribute, an intro that includes field recording, sampling and whirring of sorts. Then, the beat drops, and builds up slowly but surely. The song creates a world vast in its limits, surround by a limited rhythm, with visits of vocals and keys slowly calling in the distance. Then the bridge, a stripped-down journey of the beat and an added clap and slapstick, with vocals added and soon the entire track reforms. With the most minimal amount of beautification, “Moth” is a standard that will never be met in electronic music to this day and age. “Turn on the light,” might be a subliminal message from Hebden and Bevan, telling us to look for something within ourselves to switch on, to engage in the enormity of what’s around us. With “Moth,” whatever you hear is what you have… and while it’s not massive in its layers, it’s undoubtedly a lesson in how a song should be composed. We can only hope more of the same (if) these two ever collaborate again.

Honorable mentions:

Untold – “Gonna Work Out Fine”

James Blake – “Sparing The Horses”

Hot City – “Hot City Bass”

Cooly G – “Weekend Fly”

Omar-S – “100% House”

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