1. Track unavailable Renata



This poll is decided by the votes of RA staff members and current contributors.

, James Holden's second album, was recorded in single takes, and written on an analogue modular system and hand-coded computer programs. Holden cited ceilidh music, pentatonic folk scales and ancient pagan rituals as reference points. He discussed the record as a "utopia for the non-competitive idea," in which the inventive spirit of the '60s and '70s had lived on. It was named after the second novel of Nobel Prize winning author William Golding, and was Holden's first substantial release in seven years. Everything above could point to an esoteric, overwrought mess. What we got instead was the most innovative and exciting record of the year.In the spirit of the experimental German outfits of '60s and '70s, the album was a rejection of something. Holden has always had an uneasy relationship with club music and its strictures, and sopresented an alternative: "What if we released ourselves from the metronomic shackles of DJ-friendly music?" he seemed to say. In Holden's version of things, synthesisers don't spew out '80s presets--they writhe with untamed energy, prickling the ears with alien timbres. His drums create moods, not signposted dance moves. Track arrangements are fluid and unpredictable, unchained from intros and outros. His use of distortion and feedback could be seen as challenging, but for every scream there was a resplendent melody--"Renata," "Delabole," Circle Of Fifths"--waiting in the wings.wasn't an alternative dance music blueprint, though. It was just an exceptional example of an artist placing creativity above all else.