2015 album of the year
1. Miaoux Miaoux - School of Velocity
One of the reasons that I love buying albums over singles is that you're never totally sure quite what you're going to get.
More often than that, your tenner or so will get you a dozen tracks with a couple of really standout songs surrounded by nice enough music that you'll probably enjoy but which won't make any lasting impression on you. That's not necessarily a bad album, but it's not something which moves you, which resonates with something deep in your subconscious and makes you want to listen over and over again to the exclusion of pretty much everything else.
School of Velocity is not one of those albums. Far from it, Julian Corrie's second record proper is a truly exceptional and beguiling forty-five minutes which, in this writer's mind, is unsurpassed as the best music of 2015 full stop.
Over the course of ten tracks Corrie in his Miaoux Miaoux guise has somehow managed to express so many themes and ideas that there can barely be any thoughts left in his head. Sci-fi sits next to love story, simple vocal melody sits next to big modern bass drops, Mega Drive era synths work side by side with piano lines, grimy cityscapes segue into pastoral mountainsides. In a less skilled pair of hands this would be a confusing mess, but here it makes sense in a beguiling and remarkably simple way. It's an electronica album with serious love for pop, a singer/songwriter who can't resist a great drum machine or two. It's an album of contrasts, which is precisely why it works so well.
Corrie's spent an age refining his production chops to be something very unique and accessible. Indeed, the news that he's producing the next Malcolm Middleton album makes that release something very anticipated indeed. But to frame School of Velocity as merely the work of a talented producer would be a tremendous disservice. Every track on the album sounds great, sure, but it's those simple all encompassing lyrics paired with a really clear voice that make the album truly amazing. Corrie has one of those voices that's sharp and clear, where his delivery makes every lyric totally audible and comprehendible no matter how much bombastic electronica is swirling in the background. Couple that with really catchy and thought-provoking lyrics and it's a totally winning combination.
School of Velocity is a masterwork and evidence of a young talent who's cracked it. It deserves a massive audience. I truly hope that Julian manages to find the wide audience he so truly deserves.
The top six albums of 2015:
- Miaoux Miaoux - School of Velocity
- Jamie xx - In Colour
- Joanna Newsom - Divers
- Public Service Broadcasting - The Race for Space
- Menace Beach - Ratworld
- Reptar - Lurid Glow