Well here we are. Thankfully 2020 is over they said, 2021 will be much better. Well we all know how that turned out. With live performances curtailed and artist incomes decimated, it was a particularly difficult year for musicians. But not for music. The one positive was the truly ridiculous amount of high quality forward thinking music that came out. It breaks our heart that we could barely scratch the surface of the bounty that came our way, but from our vantage point it was nothing short of astounding.
As usual we’d like to thank all of our writers who have volunteered their time to follow their passion down all manner of fascinating rabbit holes. We’re also incredibly grateful to those that advertised with us – which literally keeps this site running. And to you for coming back year after year to find out more about interesting music.
Most of all we want to thank the artists that we encountered this year, who sent us their incredible music, mixes, and words, who gave us a little part of themselves and helped us all get through a challenging time.
As usual we’re not telling you definitively what the best music of the year was – we’ve got no idea. This is just a sprawling list of some of the music our writers discovered for the first time this year and had their poor little minds blown. We hope this helps you find something too.
Bob Baker Fish (Features Editor)
t’Geruis – Various Thoughts and Places (Lost Tribe Sound)
Sublime control and use of repetition. This music is intoxicating. It seeps deeply into my soul. I’ve never heard anything like this before.
Megan Alice Clune – If You Do (Room40)
Really beautiful strange sound worlds that I don’t quite understand. Its ritualistic electronic weirdness that words cannot do justice. It really is something special.
Panoptique Electrical – Decades (2001-2021)
It’s astounding the body of work that Jason Sweeney has built up under this gentle ambient guise. Has it been 20 years? How old does that make me? These gentle swells and deep drones are imbued with a pathos that is absolutely compelling.
Lawrence English – A Mirror Holds The Sky (Room40)
I still haven’t been able to fully listen to this incredible album of Amazonian field recordings, it just takes me away every time. This album is medicine.
Barney McAll – Transitive Cycles (Heavy Machinery Records)
Part spiritual jazz, part fusion, part world music, part exploratory sound design, part electro acoustic experimentation, part put it in the blender and shred it all up. It was a commission to use the Federation Bells at Birrarung Marr in Melbourne and this recording was performed live at this very location. This is jaw dropping stuff.
Seb Chan (Founder)
Low’s Hey What, HTRK’s Rhinestones and The Bug’s Fire are all albums that I am sure that other Cyclic writers are sure to choose so here’s a few they may not. There’s not much dancing in this selection, because there wasnt a lot of dancing too be had in 2021 in Melbourne.
Infinity Knives – Dear, Sudan (Phantom Limb)
This was one of a few genuinely new discoveries I made this year. Gifted to me by Musicophillia, this album was one that surprised me in so many ways. Unexpected and unusual productions that are as much hip hop as they are sound collages and soundtrack interludes – Baltimore’s Infinity Knives’ entire catalogue is superb.
Ai Yamamoto – Love Me Tender (Past Inside The Present)
One of two albums Yamamoto released in 2021 and also one of the few live acts I actually got to hear play out in between lockdowns at a sublime performance at the Melbourne Recital Centre. Love Me Tender is a calming audio balm of slowly interlocking tones.
Not Waving – How To Leave Your Body (Ecstatic Recordings)
Alessio Natalizia’s Not Waving project has put out so many good records and How To Leave Your Body was also one of two 2021 albums. Working with vocalists Alessio pulls off a warm pop album of hazy moods. Angelo Cerisara’s video for the track Hold On with Marie Davidson’s voice is a total nostaligc throwback to teenage memories.
Crys Cole & Oren Ambarchi – Gallivant (The Black Dot)
Cole and Ambarchi’s live recording from moments before the pandemic struck at the White Room in Nanaimo, Canada in 2020 is a stunning and mesmerising live recording of improvised sound. This was one of the accompaniments to a lot of the writing I did this year.
Equiknoxx – Basic Tools (Equiknoxx)
Everything Equiknoxx releases continues to be gold and this surprise mixtape in the latter half of the year is really amazing, fun, weird. Eight vocals and eight instrumentals, its the full Equiknoxx crew of Bobby Blackbird, Shanique Marie, Time Cow, Gavsborg & Kemikal Splash making some of the most genre-hopping dancehall around. Storm Saulter’s video for the fantastic Urban Snare Cypher is your way into their universe.
Daniel Jumpertz
When I consider my listening in 2021 I am overwhelmed by the quantity and sheer availability of quality listening options. The lions share of my listening mediums was split between vinyl and streaming. The streaming component was mostly Spotify, but also Bandcamp, Soundcloud and Youtube. Downloads and radio perhaps contributed 5% of my listening eartime – an ever-diminishing percentage. In-car listening is where radio really dominates usually for me, and this year I just wasn’t on the road very frequently. A huge chunk of time – at least a thousand hours – was also spent mixing and remixing, rehearsing, writing, recording and archiving original unreleased music (my own and other artists connected to the Feral Media label) in my new home studio.
The uptick in vinyl listening was due to a shift in how I wanted to listen. When the iPod launched back in 2001 it created the concept of shuffle culture – a trend which has accelerated with mixed artist playlists and default shuffle settings on Spotify. Although I still enjoy shuffle mode, I decided this year to listen differently. My aim was to untangle myself from the computer or smartphone (and their algorithms) and set up a proper home stereo. Encouraged by Melbourne’s stay-at-home-enforced lockdown, (and six years of record collecting while living in New York City) I upgraded my Hi-Fi with the help from my local retailer, and invested in an Ikea POÄNG armchair with matching footstool. With a kettle nearby and well-stocked with my favourite liquorice tea I grabbed spare half-hours here and there to tune out with sides of LP records. I’ve found it so restorative to let go and let it flow. I discovered a sense of ritual, joy and relaxation when I approached listening in this way.
Buying LPs allowed me to return to the days of music as a cultural object (the record, the artwork and packaging, the liner notes) that is listened to in a dedicated space (the lounge room or home office) on a Hi-Fi. It also gave me an opportunity to explore Melbourne record stores (alas mostly in online mode) – Greville, Heartland, Lulu’s, Licorice Pie, Happy Valley, Vicious Sloth, Readings, Goldmine, Basement etc. The vibe here reminds me of the downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn scene circa 2010 or so; a smattering of longstanding retailers anchoring the market with entrepreneurial newcomers rising and falling with the ever expanding vinyl revival. Bandcamp was the conduit that fed me access to great Australian labels and artists.
My favourite new albums for 2021 reflect the disconnectedness of this strange year. It was a year that Sydney felt as distant as Minsk, and Melbourne was deathly still – internal and anxious. Records became emissaries on behalf of stranded bands – venturing out into the world fragile but immune, floating through logistical nightmares to land on your doorstep delivered by mask-wearing posties. Occasionally packages arrived damaged. One order from Rough Trade in London arrived with all four records (Prince of Tears and Floor Show by Baxter Dury, Dry Cleaning’s New Long Leg and In Utero by Nirvana) warped due to what I assume was heat damage on the long voyage. This incident led me down a dark rabbit hole of how to de-warp records. I was pleasantly surprised when Laura from Rough Trade acknowledged my plea from the void and found replacements and re-sent all four albums which I received a month or so later. Through the music I felt a sense of cultural connectedness to the world – and in the depths of lockdown dreamt of building a sound system and listening bar. Here are my favourite albums for 2021.
Alessandro Cortini – SCURO CHIARO (Mute)
A beautifully recorded instrumental ambient album from Italian musician Alessandro Cortini that coaxes you into the speakers. A collaborator with Merzbow, Laurence English and a member of NIN, Cortini’s unhurried and quietly explosive sound gets better with each listen.
Peter Fonda – Peter Fonda (Understandation)
Recorded in Sydney at Tempe River Studios with a gritty vibe that recalls Beefheart and early Pavement, Peter Fonda’s second LP has a great push and pull band feel. The tracks feel alive and loose but are underpinned with surprising arrangements – no flab and plenty of left-turns – and great 60s inspired songwriting.
Molchat Doma – s krish nashih domov (Sacred Bones)
Molchat Doma – a Minsk, Belarus based three-piece – have created a new and authentic universe for lovers of post- punk, new-wave and synth-pop. This, their concise mission statement is the place to start.
Bacchus Harsh – Caveat Tumultum (Heavy Machinery Records)
A meticulously crafted release from Melbourne artist Christian Bishop (aka Xian) that combines the wallop of in-your-face industrial techno with what he accurately describes as “hallucinogenic cinematic atmospheres.”
Baxter Dury – The Night Chancers (Pias)
During lockdown it was a pleasure to get lost in Dury’s noir-sh vignettes. Reminds me of Lou Reed’s New York street tales, but with a definite Euro-vibe. Dury’s sixth album delivers blunt back-street truths, great grooves and once again Melbourne singer Madelaine Hart adds her touchingly disinterested counterpoint.
Greg Stone
Black Country New Road – For The First Time (Ninja Tune)
A record that received a lot of well deserved hype. The initial Slint comparisons are certainly there but this does nothing to capture the rich, far-reaching musical world BCNR have created. Epic compositions, unquestionable musicianship, and a heady mix of modern day poetry and lyrical wit. The first hints of their new album (due early 2022) suggest their world is not done growing yet.
Armand Hammer – Haram (Backwoodz Studioz)
Hot on the heel of their killer 2020 album, Shrines, Armand Hammer return with Haram, a full length collaboration with producer The Alchemist. While some of the appeal of Shrines was the way the beats shifted throughout the album, having a single producer on Haram creates a tight, cohesive listen, The Alchemist’s unmistakable sample-play providing the perfect backdrop to the duo’s pristine flows. With Armamd Hammer on a flawless run and both Billy Woods’ and Elucid’s solo projects running hot, these guys are killing hip hop right now.
Lunch Money Life – Tarmac The Lake (Wolf Tone)
Pegged as part of a jazz renaissance currently happening in London, Lunch Money Life are more of a live electronic act that flirts with elements of jazz, as they do numerous other genres. Their 2020 debut full-length, Immersion Chamber was filled with dubby rhythms and soaring melodies all delivered in a frank and fresh manner. A year and a half later the 5-piece delivered Tarmac The Lake, a new EP mining similar territory to their debut but this time with bigger energy and catchier riffs, cementing their sound as a band. Definitely ones to keep a close eye on.
Krust – The Edge of Everything (Crosstown Rebels)
A big surprise for 2021 was a new LP from producer Krust, an early pioneer of drum and bass and founding member of the Full Cycle label with Roni Size. Despite his stature in the scene, the Krust discography is relatively small especially when it comes to LPs. His 1999 debut, Coded Language, was a unique and confounding entry in the dnb landscape at the time, and more than 20 years later, The Edge of Everything is just as refreshing. The trademark elements of Krust’s music are still there, but have been further developed to sound as futuristic now as they did back in the 90’s. This one will appeal not only to fans of drum and bass, but to any fans of interesting electronic music.
Springtime – Springtime (Joyful Noise)
Gareth Liddiard had a belter of a year, his band Tropical Fuck Storm delivering their mind bending third album, Deep States, followed by the debut release from a somewhat surprising new trio with heavy hitters, Jim White and Chris Abrahams. Springtime finds Liddiard in story telling mode, reminiscent of I See Seaweed-era Drones, or his solo acoustic record, Strange Tourist. But the key to what makes this album work is the interplay between the three musicians, the cascading piano, typically ramshackle drums and bent guitar. The players never vying for the spotlight, focussing instead on the subtleties of their performance, striking a fine balance between their distinctive styles.
Melonie Bayl-Smith
As if we hadn’t all had quite enough by the end of 2020, these past 12 months certainly served up voluminous lashings of lockdown – so much so that one hopes we will never, ever see the likes of it again, if only for the sake of being able to experience live music and all that it brings with it. Good thing there was some most excellent recorded music going around, saving the sanity of myself and others in my family, truth be told. Building on last year’s list, my listening (and subsequently my vinyl collection) continues to broaden and grow apace. In no particular order, the list starts now!
Little Simz – Sometimes I might be introvert (Age 101)
Brave, strong, innately musical, reflective and yet outrageous in places, Little Simz puts her money where her mouth is in gifting us with her fourth studio album, an extraordinary record in which she plumbs personal depths and places them out in the open for all to see (and hear). With delicate orchestral arrangements, spoken word interludes that make your ears prick up, and some seriously banging beats, this record had guaranteed heavy rotation that will no doubt continue well into the coming months. Here’s hoping she might even tour Australian again soon.
Floating Points, London Symphony Orchestra, and Pharoah Sanders – Promises (Luaka Bop Records)
I first discovered Floating Points – British producer Sam Shepherd – via his 2011 album ‘Shadows’, an attractive polyrhythmic jaunt across various synth / keyboard oriented genres with some nifty backbeats to boot. Over the past decade since, his musical interests have traversed various territories, landing most recently on this curious collaboration with the LSO and Pharoah Sanders. For the uninitiated, Sanders is a noted exponent of free-jazz and has played some mean saxophone with various jazz luminaries over the past fifty or so years, and the LSO is one of the most well known and respected orchestras in the world. It proves to be a magical combination of seemingly disparate part-players – the music is compelling and immersive, almost siren-like in its entrancing qualities, and is beautifully recorded and engineered so as to give a luminous electro-acoustic quality that seems increasingly rare in most music of today.
Dave Holland – Another Land (Edition Records)
Without doubt my favourite jazz release of the year on independent label Edition Records who have quite the stable of innovative jazz / third wave signings. Holland, a renowned bassist with more than five decades of recordings under his belt, is simply outstanding with fellow virtuosos Kevin Eubanks and Obed Calvaire on guitar and drums respectively. This album has grooves, beats and licks that dance in and out of the realm of jazz as it is more conventionally understood, its innate musicality making it compelling listening for the jazz nerds and newcomers alike.
Richard Pike – Australian Gangster: Original Soundtrack (Salmon Universe)
Sometimes it feels like we’ll never see PVT play live in Sydney again (sigh), but until that opportunity arises again, you can comfort yourself with the deftly wrought synth lines, pulsating drums (complete with backward cymbals- hurrah) and just all out clever writing of Richard Pike’s soundtrack for Australian Gangster. Moody and evocative, I returned to this time and again as it rewards with each listen.
Cortex – Troupeau Bleu
After the passing of MF Doom there was an outpouring of grief in my household, with all the Doom faves on high rotation for many weeks. From this family-wide music binge came some serious sample checking by yours truly, who couldn’t believe I’d not ever heard this brilliant album by French funksters Cortex. Straight outta 1975, it is a gem of bouncy piano riffs, hot drumming and super-cool vocals – within a few minutes, you’ll feel transported to some breezy Euro-film with designer cars and girls on mopeds. Original pressings are impossible to find so you will have to do with the Spotify tracks or You Tube instead – and play spot the sample as you go, it’s rather a fun game.
https://open.spotify.com/album/74DOWHisu2jlFvPid9YTGB?si=AY7NyvVdSZCPuy-celwblA
Ruth Bailey
2021 was a meditation in patience and perseverance for many of us and not least me. I’m grateful for the music that was released this year and for some new discoveries from years gone by. It offered some sort of newness to a year that at times felt like we were permanently caught in a scene from Bill Murray’s GroundHog Day. These are the albums or tracks that lit a fire beneath me and gave me motivation to keep moving through the unknown and often ‘hidden from view’ experience it has turned out to be.
Big Red Machine – How long do you think it’s going to Last (Jagjaguwar)
I think the mastery of this collection of songs is that each track feels dipped in melancholy, befitting of a winter where we woke each morning less sure of what was certain in our lives than the day before.
The most unexpected wonder can occur when you force yourself to sit through the darkness. For me August 2021 typically a winter month here in Australia will be characterised by the enveloping vocals of Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and his ability to hold me through that darkness. How long do you think it’s going to Last is the second LP that Vernon has penned with his collab partner Aaron Dessner —The National.
The album is at times a gently meandering, at others a transformational journey-making trajectory of lilting indie-folk and pop ballads. A talented bunch of friends come along for the ride and elevate this album to be one of my top listens of 2021. Vernon and Dessner share the mic frequently with a formerly unknown to me songbird: Anais Mitchell; folk master Ben Howard, and distinctive songstress Sharon Van Etten. Queen of nostalgic reruns in 2021, Taylor Swift also lands a guernsey on this compilation.
In fact, it was the single Renegade (featuring Taylor Swift) that first piqued my interest. Heard once the track has that instant star quality essence to it — a bridge and chorus that lodges in your head and lingers all day. Heard repeatedly for days after Tay’s ability to connect while she sings of metaphors staring out a window choosing herself rather than succumbing to her toxic lover’s inability to commit, well, I’m sure Dessner and Swift realise they can capture a large audience base as they relate the duality of the loss and gain present in relationships.
The song I will remember most is Phoenix. Fleet Foxes and Anais Mitchell lend their vocals to this track and it’s an Easter egg of soft, surly, somber and sad. A winding crescendo of heartbreak and betrayal, if the conditions are ripe it will break you into a hundred pieces.
Moby – In my Heart (Mute Records)
From the album: 18, this song captures for me why dancing at open air festivals is so epic. I missed festivals and indeed attending live music through 2021 but for a few weeks in the thick of lockdown I’d get up and do my daily walk while listening to this track. It elicits a desire to break into a run, ecstatic and heart opening thanks to the choir who Moby featured in the song. Remembering that this song was released in 2002, he was an early pioneer of employing left-of-centre artists to create magnificent music to move to.
Atli Örvarsson & Mount Alaska Remix – Hum (INNI)
In its original form this song restores my autonomic nervous system from a heightened state of stress to one of calm. This isn’t surprising as Atli Orvarsson finds inspiration in the serenity from his base in Reykjavik — Iceland. To learn that Mount Alaska, an Irish duo fascinated with electronica outputs, have tackled it adds an element of discovery to this already brilliant composition but they succeed in adding elements to also lift you up. It’s quite a breath. One marvellous listen is guaranteed to restore focus.
Jon Hopkins – Music for Psychedelic Therapy (Domino)
Sit Around the Fire a collab with Ram Dass and East Forest is one of the most enlightening listens of 2021. The rest of the album feels a mere warm up to this moment.
Oh Wonder – Don’t You Worry (RedBrick Music)
My heart bursts with the delicacy of this song. The British duo wrote and released an assortment of tracks in the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and called it Home Tapes. I missed its release. The person who gifted me this track did so buried amongst a longer playlist she curated for me and to be frank every song on it rates highly. Whether she realised at the time she was breathing newness into my isolated cocooned existence via its gems with an underlying message that ‘you matter’ embedded. This standout track is a perfect marriage of contrast. The freedom-seeking lyrics paired with a breathy vocal and low-fi guitar strumming, it’s easy to see how this song lands from the lyrics below:
“We walked the city streets at midnight when the world went quiet
We skipped our dancing feet along beside the taxi rides
If I’m honest, it felt like love
And all the beats fell in between the silence that we shared
And all the trees were swaying softly in the thick black air
If I’m honest, it felt like love”
An Honourable Mention
Julia Stone – I want to know what Love is (Summer Edit) (Foreigner reversion)
Wow, this snuck into my list just in time! What an absolutely heart splitting reversion of this already epic 80s ballad. The “summer edit” version in particular (although the original is haunting and emotive too) reminds me of spinning out of control in a heady daze of dance-floor-lit ecstasy. Its winding underlying bass note, Julia’s ethereal and texture-filled vocals amplify the epic ascend we’ve grown accustomed to feeling from inside the club. All you need to do is close your eyes and imagine the disco ball overhead.
Tom Hall – ‘Yesterday, Today Forever’ (Superpang)
Though ‘Failed Attempts At Silence’ shows an impressive exercise of space within music, ‘Yesterday, Today Forever’ just takes you somewhere else.
T.R.Jordan – ‘Cycle II’ [f. Rafael Anton Irisarri] (Past Inside the Present)
This collaboration between T.R. Jordan and Rafael Anton Irisarri is a beautiful tale of a haunting narrative.
Datassette – ‘Peak’ (Misc.)
Datassette goes slow and rich in depth and detail with his album Zetex.
Mark Van Hoen – ‘The Rite’ (Touch)
The whole of ‘Fidelity To Principle’ is very enjoyable, ‘The Rite’ is Mark Van Hoen’s hypnotic and ritualistic way of ending it.
Detax – ‘Coda (Viene Y Se Va)’ (Guerrilla Tunes)
And since we just had an epic ending, we might as well add another. This time is the cinematographic and oneiric ‘Coda (Viene Y Se Va)’ from the album ‘Primer Argentino En El Espacio’ by Cordoba’s wizard Detax, on the always reliable Guerrilla Tunes label.
Mount Maxwell – ‘How I Met Them’ (Hotham Sound Recordings)
The exact dose of nostalgia that’s needed.
Observatories (Ian Hawgood & Craig Tattersall) – ‘The Long Blue’ (IIKKI)
Hawgood and Tattersall generate a beautiful dialogue on their album ‘Flowers Bloom, Butterflies Come’. ‘The Long Blue’ is a soothing example of it.
Jason Heller (Associate Editor)
So, it has been another year since the last one of these things huh? Seems like no time has passed, as well as it being a hundred years ago. All over the world projects were started and ended, vinyl pressing plants were clogged up with ABBA LPs. We lived inside in lockdown for most of the year, then emerged into the world like stunned rodents. Anyway, over the year a few things caught my attention, mostly things of a mind melting nature. Looking back, it is hard to imagine some of these things came out in 2021, the year of walking in quicksand to nowhere in particular. This list is sort of in a chronological order, but I can’t be certain.
Possessor (Monster)
This was the first film I saw in a cinema this year and one of the last until recently, although I did sneak in that Sparks doco – but that film didn’t make this list. Possessor did a great job of tearing my head off and rearranging the insides into a slightly different way, probably for the worse. Brandon Cronenberg really upped his game from Antiviral and turned out one of the best films I have seen in a long time. Great stuff.
Vapour Theories – Celestial Scuzz (Fire)
Guitar wielding brothers John and Michael Gibbons from Bardo Pond dropped this early highlight of 2021, when things seemed positive. Two solid sides of dense ambient noise guitar, with an Eno tune and a tasty gold vinyl issue. I caught up with Michael to chat about this, and you should read that here. Excellent stuff.
Mushel – NOS 1998 (Self released)
Hot on the heels of Vapour Theories came this excellent EP by Joe Culver, former drumist for Bardo Pond. This EP quietly slipped into the world, and thankfully caught my ear, as it is full of outstanding oddball tunes recorded by Culver when the rest of the band was on tour in 1998. Someone really should get this pressed up on vinyl please. In other news, it seems that Joe Culver and Clint Takeda are working on a new project which will hopefully see the light of day in 2022, which is something to look forward to.
Cong Josie – Cong! (It Records)
Cong had to make this list, with his perverse reimagining of minimal electro filtered through the lens of dark and dirty alleyways lit by neon signs, Greek coffee bars and late night underground raves. Nic Oogjies took a new tact and created something that felt like a breath of fresh air in 2021, after the heat beat of NO ZU. I have to mention the passing of much loved musician Daphne Camf (NO ZU, SaD) here too. She is much missed by all who knew her. 2021 was a shit of a year.
Bitchin Bajas (Drag City)
File under really shitty band name but amazing music, I knew of this band for a bunch of years but never thought to check them out, and now I feel stupid because this form of minimal ambient psychedelia is exactly where my head is at, and I love it. At least I have a very pleasant journey of discovery in front of me as I navigate the rest of their releases. Dig it.
Lovers of the Black Bird – Ocean of No Time
Julie Montan emailed me one day to share the new clip she had made for this project that quietly passed me by in 2017 and I was immediately drawn to its immersive and explorative ambience and grandeur. The album length video is an underwater odyssey and I really love this album very much. Genius at work.
https://loversoftheblackbird.bandcamp.com/album/ocean-of-no-time
The Bug – Fire (Ninja Tune)
Kevin Martin probably released another 30 albums this year – it is hard to keep up, but he hit the stratosphere in an attempt to destroy 2021 with the aptly named Fire. After the more subdued Bug/Dis Fig release, Fire hits with full force and no remorse, doesn’t stop to ask questions, just deftly seeks to destroy you with the full force of the bottom end and sonic annihilation.
In The Earth (Universal)
During lockdown 2020, Ben Wheatley managed to craft his best work yet, the outstanding In The Earth. After setting itself up in a very familiar post-quarantine experience, Wheatley manages to create a wholly unique psychedelic mindfuck of a film that I wish I managed to see in a cinema. It was scheduled at MIFF but we all know what happened there, lockdown. Along with Possessor, this film was the new release highlight for me. Excellent.
Omar Khorshid – giant + Guitar (WeWantSounds)
This Egyptian guitarist shares his name with Australia’s current president of the Australian Medical Association, but this 1974 album is majestic, with hand percussion, psychedelic organ and of course Khorshid’s remarkable guitar. Fantastic reissue.
µ-Ziq & Mrs Jynx – Secret Garden (Planet Mu)
I became a little obsessed with this, it has a weird endearing wallpaper feel that is warm and inviting – somehow comforting. It’s a melodic overload, so clever and reassuring.
Pye Corner Audio – Entangled Routes (Ghost Box)
Possibly his best album yet, but I always say that. Beautiful retro futuristic space electronics that you sink right into.
Les Filles de Illighadad – At Pioneer Works (Sahel Sounds)
Impossibly beautiful music from one of Sahel Sounds most incredible finds. I just love these incredible vocals.
Western Edges – Dependency (Sound In Silence)
Lofi rave music from 3 blocks away. This is simply inspired electronic constructions.
