Love is the

Nina Kraviz - Pain In The Ass

A great deal of house music in 2009 was preoccupied with insisting that it was house music. Whether it was someone intoning 'House music' over a beat, or DJ Sprinkles commenting on what house is sold as, there was a lot of talking. Which I like. Theres this weird subgenre of house tracks that involve someone making no sense whatsoever on top of the track, the music sounds even more alien with a vocal that is not remotely musical. Nina Kraviz sounds really annoyed about something here, and the whole thing sounds so odd and trippy that I can't help but love it.

Liars - No Barrier Fun

So, Liars: first album was post-punk, 2nd was pagan shouting and organs, 3rd was all drums, 4th was the return to quasi-indie rock, and now 'Sisterworld' sounds kind of like a band who have been through all the aforementioned changes. I was a bit underwhelmed by 2007's 'Liars', but 'Sisterworld' is great stuff - less abraisive and narrow minded than their drum-obsessed period, but just as pummeling, and as tuneful as their fidgety debut. Its as good as you can hope for from an experimental-leaning guitar band, absolutely worth checking out.