Songs of the Decade | 2010s

Below are some of the best the 2010s have had to offer for me. I've tried to incorporate a variety of what music can mean and not stick too heavily to certain areas of sound, but of course my taste is fundamental to this list, with electronic music taking focus. Have a listen along here if it suits, otherwise you can check out the top 10 I selected from the last year here. Enjoy!

#25 - Marka - Dub Phizix ft. Strategy

Starting it off with something dark and murky. 'Marka' is a half-speed classic for fans of 170bpm and over sets, and the drop in tempo makes it all the more noteworthy of a moment. Everything about it is low, gravelly and ominous. Strategy's Mancunian-Jamaican accent gives a very distinctive flow, and is matched with a heavily angular, almost threatening motif after the drop. Even the way the song opens, with only a hi-hat and the vocals processed to sound distant, before we plunge into the full force of it, makes you feel like you've fallen down into the pits of hell. The booky music video to pair with it adds to the unnerving atmosphere this track gives, but there's no denying how hard it slaps on the dance floor. 

#24 - Genesis - Grimes

There's certainly a few tracks from 'Visions' that could have taken this place, particularly 'Oblivion', but for some reason 'Genesis' really has always stuck in my mind and maintained its capability to be left on repeat. The hypnotic effect of the synth pattern, just three notes with heavy delay, places you in a dream world as soon as it starts, and gels with Boucher's silky vocals to flood your system with one gorgeous sound. The sharp clarity of the beat and piano runs underneath counteract this, and provide the rhythmic excitement needed to keep things moving. Grimes is putting out some great stuff right now, but nothing has topped the work from this album yet for me.

#23 - Work - Rihanna

To be honest, this was more of a moment in history than a song. When Rihanna's 'Work' dropped, you would hear it about three times a night in any RnB club, on the radio any time of day and in half the memes on the internet. The world was obsessed, and it managed to push through the winter months and remain totally relevant through the summer. Spearheading what I think to be her most musically complex album, it really did have all the elements a hit needs and more. The simple, understated bassline worked perfectly to drop in as a tease before the song itself, and there's always that inexplicably sick twist that Rihanna's voice brings to everything.

#22 - Cranes in the Sky - Solange

First of all, visuals. The music video that came with 'Cranes in the Sky' was one of the most aesthetically pleasing few minutes of my life. Solange has a poetic ability that delivers incredibly distinct and powerful messages in her music illustrated with matching melodies and arrangement. The drum beat could go on forever, particularly with the double hit to the kick, with the second sharing the space with an open hi-hat. The sound is ever so delicate, as Knowles' vocals rise higher into whistling wisps above the beat. Her recent album, 'When I Get Home', was one of the big ones of this year, but for a single track, 'Cranes in the Sky' takes it home.

#21 - Vyzee - SOPHIE

This choice could be 'Lemonade', 'Bipp' or 'MSMSMSM' and the point would still stand; this is just my personal favourite. The sickly sweet, maniacal and genius material SOPHIE creates entirely through electronically produced sounds are extremely impressive, using industrial beats and pop-on-speed melodies, vocals, and so on, as is standard with the PC music sound. The full album that came later in the decade was brilliantly executed, however these earlier tracks catch the essence of the madness best. They're like the tiny, cute characters in video games that are actually the most powerful that you don't wanna fuck with.


#20 - Daughter - Four Tet

My theory, in no way proven, is that the not-quite-comprehensible singing in this track comes from Kieran's own daughter, hence the title. Through this, one can perceive it as the soul of 'New Energy', its most intimate moment, and its representation of home, family and so on. This reflects well in the music, as the kick and snare rock back and forth like a hobby-horse, mirrored by the two vocal lines doing the same, as soft, warm chords soak into the gaps in between. Just as it reaches a point where your dogs might poke their heads up at the volume, we drop to nothing, followed by a carefully curated selection of final chords, and an extended section of silence. 'Daughter' leaves room for you to contemplate its beauty, like a striking piece of art.

#19 - Therapy - Moderat

The collaboration of Modeselektor and Apparat has continued to bring the world great things after the eponymous album of 2009 featuring 'A New Error'. 'Therapy' employs much of the same technique, with a stoic beat and deep, sustained and emotive chords. This time, there's a strong sense of hope, and rays of light shoot down into the shadowy, electronic depths. A late attack on the chords creates a beautiful bulging sound, and just before the three minute mark a lapse in the texture makes room for low-pitched melody before the industrial drums return again. Tiny vocal samples flit about at the top of the wall of sound as the song strides steadily on, never looking back.

#18 - 212 - Azealia Banks ft. Lazy Jay

Perhaps controversial to include Azealia Banks at all considering the rampant online rages she's been on and generally negative influence she's had on society in recent years, but '212' has to be included on my list as it stands as a fundamental turning point in the merging of dance and rap music. At the time of release, the uncompromising characters of both the house beat and her style of flow weren't heard together in the mainstream, and taking influence from 80's NYC queer and Vogue sounds, the track led to two genres blending culturally in the future. The sample of Lazy Jay's 'Float My Boat' made it an enormous success and a fundamental turning point in this decade.

#17 - Glue - Bicep

There's loads of great memes about this track, and to be honest it really is the baitest seshy white boy tune of our time, but for good reason. It's something about how all the elements are just right to make it come together so successfully, and it creates this air of mystery, ironically with it being their most well known track. Seeing it live, they've done wonders to implant it permanently in everyone's minds as the iridescent lights shoot out from the stage, beaming out as the first 'when I'm in love' is released from the speakers. The harmonisation of the hook towards the end of the track is a subtle development of the idea in a way that sends it off without too much repetition. If anyone hasn't heard this yet, you need to.

#16 - Bad Girls - M.I.A. 

The kind of track you want playing when you're in 1st place in Mario Kart on some desert terrain popping green shells out real casual. It's got the air that you're just killing it in life; the Middle Eastern and Indian melodic and harmonic composition sits well to have repetitive chanting over the top - classic of M.I.A's style and 'Live fast, die young, bad girls do it well' is a strong, effective main line. It's the catchiest track she'd dropped since 'Paper Planes', garnering mainstream attention which she then shifts towards political messages addressed in other tracks such as 'Borders'. M.I.A. is one of the most important artists of this decade, and 'Bad Girls' is an absolute banger.

#15 - Maajo - Maajo

From Tempere, Finland comes a relaxing synthesis of sounds from around the world. The song was originally released as a 12'' under a one-off label 'Seagull' and uses a variety of percussion, simple guitar and bass motifs and of course, those unforgettable African vocals. I've spoken about this song before, and how effective the simple slicing of the sample is to repeat the end of the phrase and bring out the rhythm of the chant. It embodies the sun, the sky, the natural world around us basking in its own glory; it's that moment in the universe where, just for now, everything is well. 'Maajo' is important to me for being a reflection of the peace I've felt within the last ten years, and despite all the unrest there's been, calm still exists.

#14 - Nights - Frank Ocean

Both 'Channel Orange' and 'Blonde' landed in the same decade; looking back, what a blessing. Frank Ocean's discography is so consistently fantastic, from 'Pyramids' to 'Pink + White', 'Lost' to 'Chanel', and 'Nights' is him at his best. His falsetto is so smooth you could spread it on toast, and he explores word and language in a way no one else does. Reinventing RnB again and again, the use of distorted vocals at the end of this track as if it's a totally different voice is representative of the progression in the second album. The guitar riff that just precedes it, the single bar before he starts singing, the variation in drums, so many factors contribute towards this being brilliant.

#13 - Gosh - Jamie XX

As soon as that crescendoing vibration hits your ears, you're in for the ride. 'Gosh' utilises many of Jamie's classic tactics; the beat isn't too invasive and references are made to UK rave, but there's something that makes it special to this day. From about halfway through, it features one of the longest single melody lines I know of in electronic music that maintains interest throughout. It is pure euphoria, as it rises higher and higher, taking you into the vaults of heaven. Any track that can sustain one idea for so long is worthy of praise, and the rest of the production compliments it to take part in one of the sounds of the decade.

#12 - Marilyn - Mount Kimbie ft. Micachu

The opening instrumentation to this track is like ripples on the surface of a lake. The sun gazes down as you lie back on an old picnic blanket. Your friend chucks you another beer, and as you crisply snap open the can, the ash crackles in its tray and the fish dart around at the scraps of food you've scattered above them. This is the picture painted to me through the music, oddly specific, but it comes to me every time. 'Marilyn' represents a shift in sound seen in 'Love What Survives' and continued greatness from Mount Kimbie, but will always be everything that's great about relaxing in summer with friends to me. Their lazy, drifting vocals float over leisurely guitar melodies, letting you slip in and out of a happy haze.

#11 - Nuits Sonores - Floating Points

While 'Crush' has certainly been a landmark of this year, many of Floating Points' releases of the past rival its magic. In particular, 'Nuits Sonores' is a twelve-minute masterpiece that still sounds fresh today. I can't quite believe that Sam Shepherd claims to have produced it during a single plane journey to the Lyon festival itself, and dropped it in his set that same night. The antithesis of this seemingly slapdash approach against the length of the song and the level of refinement makes it all the more remarkable. Several different synth melodies interplay as tension builds up gradually to climactic points such as around 3:40, with note lengths varying from staccatos punctuating the texture to heavily delayed, sustained notes creating sonic clouds. One worth its length in gold.

#10 - Let Me Go - Branko (feat. Nonku Phiri & Mr. Carmack)

Featuring potentially my favourite vocals of the decade from Nonku Phiri, this track combines the Portuguese vibes of Branko with Mr. Carmack's to make something particularly unique. Its slow beat is like a deep flame, and the little, high-pitched synth motifs are like raindrops landing one by one on a smooth, stone surface. It's wonderfully seductive, and while very much human, some of the sounds used give it an outer space edge. At 0:43, the guitar is surrounded by silence for a moment, breaking up the pace and sliding smoothly into the next section. Passing back and forth between English and other languages can often seem tacky or cheesy, and often results in a decrease of quality in the lyrics of both languages, however here it's been done seamlessly, making the two tongues seem as one, as it should.

#9 - Can't Do Without You (Extended Mix) - Caribou

A recent return from Caribou reminds me of the importance of this anthem from the middle of the decade. This is how to make a song about love with just one line, expressing everything in how your loved ones make life worth living; your friends, your family, your partners. This extended version refines the build up to perfection, four continuous chords leading to a mini-drop at 2:45, progressing steadily through the alternation of two vocal lines. The icing on the cake is the three note melody centered around the tonic note, carrying so much emotion in its simplicity. The track doesn't have one huge drop, but builds momentum with each one, like waves, growing larger each time, collapsing onto the shores.

#8 - BTSTU (Edit) - Jai Paul

First appearing on MySpace before being officially released by XL, this is everything that is great about Jai Paul. Countless genres are in the cauldron here, and the track constantly tricks your expectations. With celestial solo vocals opening, a well-paced kick enters, followed by a sharp snare, before we are wrenched elsewhere by the gravelly vibrations of a bassy synth. Paul uses a counterpoint of his falsetto and a lower, slightly distorted voice for further contrast. The track has been massively influential on both the underground and the mainstream, on electronic producers to RnB vocalists, and is a prime example of what can be achieved in musical exploration.

#7 - SeeSaw (Club Version) - Jamie XX + Four Tet ft. Romy

'In Colour' was a colossal moment in music, which I've held off mentioning on 'Gosh' as I couldn't help adding in another track.  It was particularly seminal for me, being probably the first work that piqued my curiosity specifically for being electronic, and changed the course of everything I listen to now. Each song has an argument to be featured here one way or another, but for me, 'SeeSaw' is timelessly perfect. Particularly in this version, with Four Tet finalising the details to make it ready for the floor, both production and vocals are mesmerising. Romy's voice echoes around like a whisper in the dark, and on the word 'SeeSaw', the note length is extended, reflecting the movement of the object, and it's these intricacies that make it so magical for me. The breakdown in the middle of the track makes space to hear each part, before building back up the composition impeccably. Every time the drums come back in, I get goosebumps. God-tier music.

#6 - Just - Bicep

Okay, I've definitely broken the artist repeat rule by this point, but I don't really care. 'Just' is the title track of what I consider to be their greatest release, despite the brilliance of the full-length album. As the punchy synth melody pans from ear to ear and passes through a variety of automation, the listener rides along it like a wave. Underneath, the chords grow louder, denser, and the melody is slowly filtered until the drop comes. Everything bursts out into pure clarity, which gives an enormous sense of satisfaction. Using just one short sample of speech, the rest of the track is completely electronic, and in its cyclical nature you feel as if you are orbiting a planet. Oh, and that strict little snare roll never gets old.

#5 - On My Mind - Jorja Smith X Preditah

Oi oiiiiiiiiii let's av itttttt. This was my most listened to track of last year, and fourth this year lol. Preditah brought garage back into the mainstream at just the right moment to bring somethign nostalgic and fresh feeling all in one. The broken up sample that opens it up is so catchy despite making no sense whatever, and the belter of the chorus bangs for singalongs. In fact, when I saw Preditah at XOYO and Jorja Smith at Bestival, I was overwhelmed by the crowd response both times. The latter was particularly special, as she starts with the slower, acoustic version before dropping the beat after the first chorus. Everyone goes mental, and honestly I don't think I've ever been part of a crowd singing louder. It was such a fantastic collaboration and a nice, real UK sound.

#4 - Get Free - Major Lazer ft. Amber Koffman

Gonna take this moment to say I miss real Major Lazer. It's easy to forget how authentic and exciting of a sound they once brought to the table given the continued churning out of pure commerciality at this point. The first two albums, even the third, are filled with a diverse range of brilliant tracks that really tell stories, set moods, get the party going. 'Get Free' was the most unexpected - no drops or cliches, just emotion. The lyrics are powerful, speaking to your soul as the kick vibrates through your body. Countermelodies rise in between the breaks of Amber Coffman's singing in a delicate call and response. Andy C even released a DnB remix to prep this for raves, but nothing beats the original. Iconic, and one of my favourite pieces of music of all time.

#3 - Morning Side - Four Tet

Twenty minutes, twenty four seconds. Lata Mangeshkar's voice. Kieran Hebden's genius. 'Morning Side' takes its time to set the mood wherever it might be played, gradually building up the beat underneath the sample's cycle. The further in we get, the more electronic patterns are added to the mix, infusing the classical Indian tone with fresh hybridity. At 8:20, the vocals fade and we enter a section of sonic experimentation; sounds become more industrial, tensions rise, and chaos begins to unfold. Within a minute or so, the panic subsides and the serenity returns, like the morning sun dawning across the world. An extended outro winds us down and prepares for 'Evening Side' to enter, an equally enchanting twenty minutes. On top of this, Oneohtrix Point Never made a great remix in just three minutes, which you can hear here. 

#2 - Orissa - Wayward

Similar in sampling to the above, this time it's been taken from a traditional wedding song that the bride and groom sing to one another, very romantic and that. This track has taken that love and wrapped it in tender melancholy, with heavy reverb letting it call out into the night. The line cries out again and again, until eventually it is extended just a few bars longer. As this happens, we build up to my favourite drop of all time. It's so banging, yet feels totally sincere within the sombre tone, and as the heavy bass kicks in, the vocals echo away into the fog, as if all hope has vanished. I'd do anything to have it on vinyl, and highly recommend you take the time to really listen to it.

#1 - Pick Up - DJ Koze

And we're at number one. Choosing a definitive top of this list felt impossible, so I went with what I think I will look back on this period of my life as the perfect representation, and this is it. Through the hundreds of nights out and parties I've had with different friends, 'Pick Up' has the ability to remind me of every single one of them. It's my youth, and it felt nostalgic straight away. A fine example of DJ Koze's disco edit abilities, he's taken the often sampled 'Neither One of Us' by Gladys Knight & The Pips, blended in 'Pick Me Up, I'll Dance' by Melba Moore and constructed something brand new as a thumbnail on the front page of the last ten years. Some of my greatest memories are set to this tune, to the iconic guitar ostinato, to Gladys Knight's wistful notes, to DJ Koze. 

That just about does it, then. If you want to see the top ten songs I chose from this year, click here. If you want to listen to all of the above, the appropriate playlist can be found here. Otherwise, have a wonderful Christmas and a mad, mad new year. Here's to 2020! Love you all xxx

The Sounds That Surround Us | 19/4/19

Helloooo everyone, how are we doing? I'm currently in Singapore for work stuff, and having never left Europe before, can honestly say, humidity is mad. So is jet lag. I don't get it, really, because I swap around my sleep cycle on the weekend anyway, but this ish hits different. Anyway, none of that is relevant to my topics today, which essentially cover some thoughts I've had on a listener's relationships with sounds that surround them and how this plays into music. Might not make much sense now, but I promise I'm going somewhere with this. 

First of all, there's much to be said about the relationship and inter-influences between video games and music. I read a really incredible article by Patrick Hilton which I'll link here which reaffirmed my ideas and eloquently articulates the ways in which the two are linked. Essentially, I think that the reason electronic music appeals to our generation a lot more than older ones (not to say it can't, just a comparison with numbers) relies on the sounds we hear growing up. Since we've constantly heard synthesised sounds, electronic, 8-bit melodies and effects, we're familiar with both the personal associations we make with these sounds - winning or losing certain games, happy childhood memories - and the general ones that come with the intended purpose of the sounds. We therefore have an empathetic connection with them, and a musician is then an artist in the way he can combine these in a form of both emotive and musical euphony. The article above breaks down how subconsciously interspersed this idea is with the example of the first video game, Pong. Unable to recreate the actual sound of a paddle hitting a ball, the game designers created an entirely new effect that sounds nothing like the real life version, and yet in our heads of course this is the sound it makes. It's a really interesting idea, and in the grand scheme of things you can see how these technological sounds then redefined what music could sound like to the children of that time. 

It's indicative of a constant dynamic between music and culture. What I think is really interesting with video games is how ahead of their time the music and sounds within them ended up being. Hilton explains how the constrictions of the software they had forced them to think outside the box in how they would still be enjoyable and appeal to their audience. As a result, lots of the music became iconic, and undeniably extremely influential on music being produced right up until today. I've mentioned him before for this exact topic, but Burial is a prime example of this, especially relevant considering how influential his own sound has been. He uses Metal Gear Solid effects in 'Archangel', Zelda sounds in 'Indoors' and 'Young Death', and the list goes on. There's a small sample in 'Wear Me Down' - Ross from Friends that heavily resembles the opening theme of Ocarina of Time, and Ryan Hemsworth and Kero Kero Bonito's music are examples of sounds where you can really hear the correlation. Of course, it extends beyond this into everything, really - honestly, read that article, he does a way better job at breaking this down than me.

This then got me thinking about the more general digital influences on music as we've grown up, and there's a couple of other points of interest. The PC music record label, Danny L Harle, Hannah Diamond etc., (+ SOPHIE, although I don't know if she's actually PC) provides us with this ultra-synthetic textures and sounds, heavily pitch-shifted vocals and strong distortions. It's a very tech-age gender statement, like a form of drag, and so it shows how the sounds of technology evolve to reflect this. Something else quite cool, MIA's album MAYA is innovative and before its time in terms of addressing internet privacy that is being discussed all over the place now. You really hear it in the sound of the album, with the jarring and heavily dissonant, and so it's another perspective on digitally influenced sound, this time with the rise of the internet and a paranoia of surveillance and privacy in the work.

So, as these kind of sounds make a rise in relevance as technology surrounds us more and more, what about sounds that have always been there? What about the sounds of nature? We're all a part of this planet and so we understand how it communicates and how these communications reflect emotionally within us. The calm of crashing waves, the wind rippling rustling through forest trees, these sounds are all heavily atmospheric and have their place in music. 'Monsoon' by Amber and Mia Mark is lyrically heart-wrenching as it describes the pain of the loss of their mother, and with the namesake of the song this is complimented wonderfully in the pitter-patter of the rain behind the creaking percussion and husky vocals. I watched Our Planet recently, as I'm sure everyone else has, and it really hit home that, to be quite honest, we are definitely going to kill the planet unless we do something about it now. It's just sad, it's disappointing that as a race we can't see past ourselves enough to stop it happening. From a musical perspective I think about what we'd be losing. 

Don't get me wrong, I obviously love mechanical, manufactured and synthesised sounds, but anyone who knows me will tell you that ultimately my taste comes in submerging this within traditional, analog, acoustic and natural sounds in a way that makes them sound as one. 'Dead Wind' uses the ambience of crashing waves and the rest of 'The Sailor and The Mountain' uses more natural sounds, 'In McDonalds' drives home Burial's melancholy with rainfall. Branko's 'Let Me Go', Affelaye's 'Whir' both combine traditional and electronic sounds. Ultimately, acoustic instruments rely on nature in what they inherently are. If music is influenced by the sounds that surround us, then the maintenance of natural life couldn't be more important. I'm not saying these sounds wouldn't exist, but as they are part of nature we maintain that emotional connection to the sounds while the planet lives on, we share a mutual understanding. The heartbreak of rain. The ecstasy in sun spells. The calm of night.

Sooooo maybe I got too deep into that, but you get what I mean! I'm visiting Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Langkawi in the next couple of weeks so hopefully will have some cool stuff to share next time I write something. Other than that, Four Tet's Alexandra Palace gig is coming up in a couple of weeks so get ready to hear about that, I've been planning to talk about it for about six months lol. Hopefully get some good footage of the lights too, gonna be mega. Anyway, have a nice week xx

2018?? I don't know her x

Hello hello lovely people! Welcome to my last post of the year, the last ramblings that rattle through my brain before 2019 hits and we're back and ready to do it all over again (10 points if you know the meme). Ramblings is actually very accurate, as I just want to chat about bits and bobs rather than have a specific theme. Let's look back over the year and enjoy some nostalgic vibes.

I hope you all had lovely Christmases by the way. I haven't stayed at home for over a week in a long time; it was a really needed break and peng to have some proper family time, fights included. I was actually given a vinyl player, amp and speakers by my rents, something I've wanted for a couple years now and I'm majorly hyped for. I've been shopping about to start to build up a collection. Peggy Gou's 'Once' EP I felt was a good start, then I found Burial's 'Untrue' and Basement Jaxx's 'Rooty' for some throwback feels. A nice mix, but it's really made me think about the logistics of album content; there's been an ongoing discussion for a while of whether it's a dying art form, but I really don't think it's going anywhere. There's such a beauty to how you have to consider the general atmosphere an album will create if you pop a vinyl on rather than just picking the best songs to queue. It's a different experience but the outcome can be even more effective, especially when that one song does come on halfway through and everyone gets gassed together. I think albums define the direction an artist is going in when they release their latest music, and even as playlists are becoming ever more popular, I don't reckon they're going anywhere.

On that note, how do you build a playlist? I always used to just base everything off the first song I put in it and then over time it wouldn't make much sense - everything would somehow link to that first song in a way, but as a whole it wouldn't really gel. To break out of that cycle I've done two things; I've started playlists based on a few of my friends, so that way I know what I need to share with them and people with similar taste, and also I get this peng side effect where if I miss them, I can just listen to it and feel closer to them!! Awww, cringe I know, but it does work. Anyway, the other thing I've started doing is giving playlists names that in my head I really relate to a certain feeling music might give me. For example 'oi oi' for when a tune is pure YES no matter where/when it comes on, or I have one called 'boo' for those songs that are cool and interesting but always seem to be a bit spooky or west to put on in most contexts. Honestly, it genuinely seems to be forming more cohesive sets as a whole, so by all means follow my (slightly west) lead.

Spotify's 'Wrapped' playlists have been interesting too. I'm baffled by how much my music taste changes over the year - not just from beginning to end, but even each couple of months, and so the 'most listened to' playlist has been jokes. My top song is 'Let Me Go' by Branko which will come as a surprise to absolutely no one who knows me, I don't think I'm ever going to get over that banger. I've even gotten into the remixes of it again recently, and then re-listened to the original and it's like it's fresh and new again once more. Looking back over it, it's weird to see so many memories that I'd sort of forgotten because I had stopped listening to those songs after a while. In some ways, you can really define who you were at points in your life by what you were listening to, but I didn't realise the accuracy of that could come down to different sections of a year. How certain songs are perfect in just the right moment is something else that struck me scrolling through. Shy FX's 'Gold Dust' edit was the absolute faultless choice at the point it came on during Rudimental's Bestival set and I haven't been able to forget it since. 'Flowers' is always the perfect moment at a house party, no matter what, and nothing bangs better than Jamie XX's 'All Under One Roof Raving' during a long, rainy bus ride, trust me. On a similar train of thought, 'Evening Side' works best in the morning and 'Morning Side' at the end of the night, in my humble opinion.

So, there's just a quick few things I wanted to spill before the clock strikes twelve. Have fun tonight everyone! Be safe and dance well - by your own standards, not other people's. Oh, by the way, I've been listening to my Discover Weekly during this, so check out Misty Cold, Endless, Lit, Soak It Up and Induction when you get the chance. Lots of love xx