Article
2012 Top 10s & 20s

Albums
Poppy Ackroyd
Mario Basanov
Ryan Blotnick
Peter Broderick
Celer
Débruit
Vladislav Delay
Taylor Deupree
El Fog
Forma
Masayoshi Fujita
Golden Gardens
Grouper
Mano Le Tough
Lusine
Yann Novak
Paniyolo
Strategy
The Swifter
thisquietarmy
Robert Scott Thompson
Christiaan Virant

Compilations / Mixes
Cambio
Hernan Cattaneo
Change The Beat
DJ Deep
Eskimonde
Full Body Workout 10
We Love Detroit

EPs / Singles
Andrew Bayer
Birds of Passage
Brancaccio & Bishop
Maya Jane Coles
Eskmo
Ether
Gerwin, Nuage & 2 Shy
Glacis
The Green Kingdom
H. Salut / Hopeless L. M. B.
Her Name is Calla
Herrmutt Lobby
Darren McClure
Oh, Yoko
Michael Price
Danilo Rispoli
Silencio
Phil Tangent
Widesky
Windsor for the Derby

Maya Jane Coles: Easier To Hide
I Am Me Recordings

Maya Jane Coles showed herself to be a force to be reckoned with when she helmed one of the year's most satisfying mix discs, specifically her contribution to the DJ Kicks series. That the early-2012 disc was also bolstered by two of her own originals, one under her real name and the other under the Nocturnal Sunshine alias, only added to the reputation she's been building in recent days, and this latest outing, a four-track EP on her I Am Me label, will add to it even more. All four cuts were written, performed, sung, engineered, and mixed by Coles, and its title track will re-appear when her debut album is released in 2013.

Introduced by a marauding bass pulse, “Easier To Hide” kicks into gear when the sleek house groove settles into position, paving the way for a lustrous vocal that sounds fantastic both when accompanied by the song's powerful rhythms or during those moments when the drums drop out. As infectious, “Over” uses a simple guitar riff as an insistent springboard for a clubby workout heavy on groove and atmosphere, while “Run With the Wild,” shifting the focus from guitar to organ, rolls out a delectably bouncy pulse punctuated by a trippy “Take your time” vocal refrain. “Back to Square One” slows the BPM slightly for a brooding, bass-prodded outro heavy on gothic atmosphere and a slinky house feel inflected with dub and funk. Nicely rounding out the EP, the piece tips the balance back from the clubbier vibe of the middle cuts to the more song-styled character of the opener.

January 2013