Songs of the year: 55-51

55. Pantha du Prince - Satellite Snyper

Another fabulously off-kilter electro tune from Germany's PdP , once again combining his trademark bells, clicks and a gradually complexing beat, culminating it all in a rather mainstream-esque, dancey euphoria of synths. Taken from his best entire work to date, and indeed one of the best album releases of the year, 'Black Noise', the beguiling minimalist hypnotises us in this musical mosaic.

54. Archie Bronson Outfit - Hoola

Everyone loves a bit of dirty rock n roll now and then, don't they?
Indeed, Domino-signed rawkers Archie Bronson Outfit purvey all things musically raw and sordid. This hippie-tinged concoction of jangling guitars and vocal rambunctiousness is taken from their superb third effort 'Coconut'. On its release, it went criminally unnoticed by the press - and was yet another fantastic album the guys at the Mercury prize inadvertedly missed off their list.

53. Big Boi - Shutterbugg 
2010 was the year the newly found solo artist broke free from the creative limitations of his or her dayjob, and instead, this time conquered the music world alone. We had Cee-lo Green (ok... not so new, but he at last had found the popularity he had been waiting for!), and there was er... Nadine Coyle.. and we also had Big Boi - you know, the one from Outkast, but not the one in the Hey Ya video? No? Well he's the cool one in the duo, and judging from this, 'Shutterbugg', the first single from his '....Luscious Foot' album, he's a very talented songwriter too. The same can't be said for one Ms Coyle, however.

52. Beach House - Norway

This is an ethereal haze of melodious utterings, flanged guitars and gruff, yet girly vocals from leader Victoria Legrand. Its chorus of 'Norwaa-aa-aa-aay-ayy' is pretty catchy too, it strangely making my brain think of Norwegians things like fjords and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

51. James Blake - CMYK
At the moment, the name of one artist, and one artist alone, is on the tips of every journo's lips. The name concerned belongs to the rising, soul-inspired DJ/singer-songwriter, James Blake. This, his Kelis-sampling breakthrough chant is a wonderful medium by which we can see into his world - his inspirations are vivid and his astounding skill seems effortless. A former Mount Kimbie touring member, now an artist in his own right, the man looks set to own 2011 - what's more, on the recent EP 'Klavierwerke', he showcased his own unique, soul-infused melodies for the first time, proving that he isn't just a man behind a laptop, who can loop a bloody good sample.

Is the world ready for post-dubstep?

Looking back, there's no doubt that dubstep has not only been a outright success but has indeed led to a craze and a music revolution. With its trademark basslines and jerky, catchy rhythms, no one could have missed its huge effect on recent chart music. Ever since Skream's La Roux remix became a surprise viral sensation last year, hit after hit and remix after remix from newer, emerging DJs have surfaced online, ready for immediate listening by youtube-addicted pre-pubescents. Chase and Status have sold out venues across the UK and collaborated with the likes of Snoop Dogg, Plan B and Dizzee Rascal. And Benga, Skream and Artwork have formed Magnetic Man, the world's first Dubstep supergroup, who now stand poised to reach mega-stardom time upon the release of their debut album.

But there must be only so much of this we can take? Surely the same old same old duh duh da da dubudbudbubd dah dah featured in the majority of dubstep tunes will eventually seem rather boring? A large proportion of the public is in the same frame of mind as me... while MM might be faring well at the moment and Joker might stand a chance of selling a few recs over the coming year, neither is likely to sell many copies of a follow-up are they? What possibly could they do which they hadn't done already, without moving away from the dubstep genre altogether?

Our growing disappreciation for the genre is represented by compilation albums being released, already, such as "Dubstep Classics vol. 2". The best dubstep tunes have already been made (See Joker - Stuck in the System or Appleblim- Vansan). It's a true fact, I'm afraid to say.

So, what's next for Dubstep? Can this craze be developed into something more cutting-edge and modern in the future?
Well.. Yes it can... the answer, my anticipated friends, is POST-DUBSTEP. If you have not already heard en then you may be thinking "in the name of Zeus, already?! I only just purchased tickets for my friends and I to go to the Chase and Status mega-show featuring special guests at the local medium-sized music dive, but now that my favourite dubstep murderers seem to have gone out of fashion, maybe I should return them", but there is no need to worry so frantically; Post-Dubstep is still in its very early stages.
You may have read my earlier ramblings, promoting such innovative darlings as Mount Kimbie and one James Blake (who actually actually used to be a touring member with the former). What they both produce is original, technical, ambience, using samples and loops to the max. Forget pounding basslines, think laid back soundscapes that you can actually do your homework to or play in the car without running over that poor paperboy on his bicycle. Usually its female voices which are sampled and and overlayed with the oddest thumps/clunks/noises/stumblebums that you could possibly think of. It's music in a similar vein to Germany's fantastic Pantha du Prince (pictured below), who has created one of the year's greatest works by way of Black Noise. PdP hasn't be coined as Post-dubstep as such but that's probably because he's been making music since way before the preceding genre began to flourish.

Another record I loved this year is by the aforementioned Mount Kimbie, an album called Crooks & Lovers. Contained in it are 11 songs: some very short, some slightly longer. In fact, it's a rather short album altogether. But its flowing syncopation and astounding ingenuity bewilders me. This is the music that Magnetic Man would've had to have made on their second release in order to prove to me that Dubstep has a future. Dubstep does have a future. And Mount Kimbie's post-dubstep is it.

*UPDATE* listen to James Blake's fantastic new song Klavierwerke: