I have a habit of compiling a list of my top ten albums at the end of each year. Something fun to look forward to and always enjoyable to reflect back on past lists to see how tastes have changed.
Note these aren’t limited to (or even mostly composed of) albums released this year, but rather albums I discovered this year. There is just so much great past music that I come across every year that I wouldn’t want to limit my curation to only the tiny fraction of music only released this year.
Sibling
Ben Bondy
Ambient, Experimental
I can’t remember the vein I followed to discover Ben’s music. It lies in the camp of other indie ambient artists like Ulla, Apple Music has a habit of sending you down a path of these artists (as opposed to the usual ambient heavyweights Brian Eno, Stars of the Lid, etc) if given the right starting point and allowed to autoplay.
I love the artwork here, at first appearing like alien technology on the surface of Mars — before recognition as electrical transformer equipment sitting in some dirt.
The music itself follows a similar theme, sounding like a broadcast from an extraterrestrial planet.
Favorite Track: Eeon
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Resort
Skee Mask
Breakbeat, Techno, Ambient
Skee Mask returned with another superb LP this summer, following his double album Pool a few years prior.
I tend to be either in adoration or a lukewarm mood toward Skee’s music: he crafts some of the most atmospheric, melodic, and satisfying crunchy breakbeats, though sometimes when things tend toward drier techno and DJ material I lose interest.
This album lies in the former category, and funny enough is probably some of his most accessible material, whereas I felt Pool was Skee at his most abstract. Tracks like “Hölzl Was a Dancer” or “Vitamin 313” would easily find themselves in a dance music playlist that reaches out further than an underground electronic music fanbase.
Another unique attribute of the album is its warm tone, a far cry from the glacial tones of Compro and most of Skee’s other catalog. Appropriate for a summer release.
Favorite Track: Vitamin 313
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The Sunset Violent
Mount Kimbie
Indie rock, Post-punk
Mount Kimbie have always been apt to reinvent their sound and avoid complacency, and their latest LP sees them pursue the post-punk indie rock hinted at on their last album Love What Survives.
Favorite Track: A Figure in the Surf
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Atlas
Laurel Halo
Ambient, Classical, Avant Garde
Favorite Track: Late Night Drive
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Your Day Will Come
Chanel Beads
Indie, Experimental, Dream pop
Favorite Track: Urn
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Echo Earth
Akasha System
Electronic, Retro
Favorite Track: Echo Earth
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Three
Four Tet
Electronica, Ambient, Downtempo
Favorite track: Three Drums
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Windswept
Photay
Electronica, Ambient, IDM
Favorite track: Still Existing
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6 Feet Beneath the Moon
King Krule
Indie, Alternative
Favorite track: Border Line
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Recordings from the Åland Islands
Jeremiah Chiu and Marta Sofia Honer
Ambient, Classical, Field recording
Favorite track: On the Other Sea
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