22.

Pantha Du Prince - The Triad

[Rough Trade]

Since his first album, Henrik Weber’s work as Pantha Du Prince has always managed to evoke a glistening sheen, despite being rooted in dark techno aesthetics and traditions. His last release was a collaborative work with The Bell Laboratory, which took these shiny, physical elements of his sound to an even greater extent – but maybe too far. But nevertheless, Pantha was honing further ways to work his sound around collaborators. The Triad comes as a solely Pantha Du Prince album, but its title refers to Weber alongside musicians Bendik Kjeldsberg and Scott Mou (Queens), who appear frequently throughout the album and add particularly poignant elements. This is clear from the off, as Queens adds a delicate falsetto to Pantha’s resounding electronic drift, and an array of voices can be continually heard gliding through the intricate beats and melodies throughout the album.

Pantha’s sound has often conjured images of snowy mountains for me, something that was cemented when I had his first 2 albums This Bliss and Black Noise in continual rotation while snowboarding a few years ago. Imagine my delight when I opened the gatefold of The Triad and found a large picture of Weber working in a tiny apartment with a glorious view of a forest and mountains across the skyline. This lofty vista certainly plays into the sound of The Triad, which sounds as crisp and fresh as an Alpine morning, with sun sparkling off of every mound of snow. You’ll have your life re-affirmed by “You What? Euphoria!”; float amongst glass-blown clouds on the 10 minute “Chasing Vapour Trails”; and come home to wind down by a nice log-burning fire in the closing “Wallflower for Pale Saints.” Just like snowboarding, you’ll be utterly exhausted, but so excited to do it again.

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Below you can see my top 50 albums of the year list.

50| Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - EARS
49| Thee Oh Sees - A Weird Exits
48| Daughter - Not To Disappear
47| The Avalanches - Wildflower
46| Beyonce - Lemonade
45| Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
44| Gold Panda - Good Luck and Do Your Best
43| James Blake - The Colour In Anything
42| Lambchop - FLOTUS
41| Ty Segall - Emotional Mugger
40| Nothing - Tired Of Tomorrow
39| Camp Cope - Camp Cope
38| Cymbals Eat Guitars - Pretty Years
37| Aphex Twin - Cheetah EP
36| Mary Lattimore - At The Dam
35| Woods - City Sun Eater In The River Of Light
34| White Lung - Paradise
33| Solange - A Seat At The Table
32| Wild Beasts - Boy King
31| Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition
30| Marissa Nadler - Strangers
29| Weyes Blood - Front Row Seat To Earth
28| Kevin Morby - Singing Saw
27| Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered.
26| Whitney - Light Upon The Lake
25| Kedr Livanskiy - January Sun
24| Frankie Cosmos - Next Thing
23| Steve Gunn - Eyes On The Lines
22| Pantha du Prince - The Triad
21| Cass McCombs - Mangy Love
20| Cavern of Anti-Matter - void beats/invocation trex
19| Olga Bell - Tempo
18| Chairlift - Moth
17| Mitski - Puberty 2
16| Anderson .Paak - Malibu
15| Underworld - Barbara, Barbara we face a shining future
14| Xenia Rubinos - Black Terry Cat
13| Savages - Adore Life
12| DIIV - Is The Is Are
11| Frank Ocean - Blonde
10| Jenny Hval - Blood Bitch
09| MONEY - Suicide Songs
08| Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial
07| A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service
06| Nicolas Jaar - Sirens
05| Angel Olsen - My Woman
04| Parquet Courts - Human Performance
03| Preoccupations - Preoccupations
02| ANOHNI - Hopelessness
01| Blood Orange - Freetown Sound