Best EP is an idea we’ve toyed with in the past, for sure. It’s an interesting form of popular music, where the conceits of defining what a collection of songs means is discarded wholly. It’s an EP: it’s stuff that’s done now, that doesn’t really have some bigger home to belong to. It wasn’t until this year that there’s been enough EPs to consider seriously enough that brought the category into existence.
So our competitors this year:
Burial’s “Kindred,” which speaks for itself.
Cerce’s self-titled, which is like watching a deeply unsettling landspeed race.
“Silent Hour/Golden Mile” by Daniel Rossen, who I want to eat so I can gain his powers.
Hodgy Beats’ untitled EP, which had everything we were hoping to see in Mellowhype’s “Numbers”
Lower’s brutal Danish Punk Fuck You attack with “Walk On Heads”
The TNGHT EP, which is great if only for putting HudMo on everyone’s map.
AND THE WINNER IS
It’s a good thing that Cerce got behind the term “Feminist Powerviolence” since it is a perfect description. The destructive muscle behind the music is perfectly developed, but the singing and lyrical content puts all that force behind a blow most won’t see coming. It drives at all of the human darkness that hardcore gets its strength from- exposing the weaknesses and insecurities so they can get targeted and destroyed. But when that darkness is institutionalized, and invoking its name brings out some truly hateful and resistant shit? Cerce paints a more precise and ugly picture of our current situation in less than 14 minutes than most artists would be able to do over an entire lifespan. Some truly uncomfortable applause is due.
Fermata over Whole Rest 