Top 10 Records of 2017

1. Felicia Atkinson – Hand in Hand
   
2. Esmerine – Mechanics of Dominion
   
3. Colleen – A flame my love, a frequency
   
4. Circuit Des Yeux – Reaching for Indigo
   
5. Kelly Lee Owens – s/t
   
6. Kelela – Take Me Apart
   
7. Zola Jesus - Okovi
   
8. Ibeyi - Ash
   
9. Sudan Archives – s/t
   
10. Irreversable Intanglements – s/t
    

Bonus 100 records I really enjoyed from 2017

1. Aida Victoria – Beyond the Bloodhounds
2. Áine O'Dwyer - Gegenschein
3. Akira Rabelais – Spellewauerynsherde
4. Alan Vega – IT
5. Alessandro Cortini & Merzbow – s/t
6. Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda - The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda
7. Aldous Harding - Party
8. Angel Olsen - Phases
9. Arca - Arca
10. Arve Henriksen - Towards Language
11. Avec Le Soleil Sortant De Sa Bouche  - Pas Pire pop, I love you so much
12. Ben Frost - The Centre Cannot Hold
13. Bérangère Maximin – Frozen Remains
14. Bill Brovold and Jamie Saft – Serenity Knolls
15. Bjork – Utopia
16. Broken Social Scene – Hug of Thunder
17. Brooklyn Raga Massive – Terry Riley In C
18. C. Spencer Yeh – The RCA Mark II
19. Can – Singles
20. Carmen Villain – Infinite Avenue
21. Cécile McLorin Salvant – Dreams and Daggers
22. Charlemagne Palestine - Strumming Music
23. Charlemagne Palestine and Grumbling Fur Time Machine - Omminggg And Schlomminggg
24. Charlotte Gainsbourg - Rest
25. Colin Stetson - All This I Do For Glory
26. Cosey Fanni Tutti - Time To Tell
27. Dave Douglas – Little Giant Still Life
28. Deradoorian – Eternal Recurrence
29. Dhani Harrison – IN//PARALLEL
30. Diamanda Galás - All The Way
31. Diamanda Galás - At Saint Thomas the Apostle Harlem
32. Do Make Say Think - Stubborn Persistent Illusions
33. Ellen Arkbro – For Organ and Bass
34. Elliott Sharp with Mary Halvorson and Marc Ribot – Err Guitar
35. Emika - Melanfonie
36. Ex Eye - s/t
37. Fred Frith & Hans Koch – You Are Here
38. Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins
39. Gas – Narkopop
40. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Luciferian Towers
41. Helena Hauff – Have You Been There, Have You Seen It
42. Hélène Breschand & Elliott Sharp – Chansons Du Crépuscule
43. Ian William Craig - Slow Vessels
44. James Holden & The Animal Spirits – The Animal Spirits
45. Jessica Moss - Pools of Light
46. Julie Byrne – Not Even Happiness
47. Julien Baker – Turn Out the Lights
48. Kaleema - Nomada
49. Keiji Haino - Watashi Dake?
50. Keiji Haino, Jim O’Rourke, and Oren Ambarchi – The Dazzling, Genuine “Difference” Now Where Shall it Go?
51. Konrad Sprenger – Stack Music
52. Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble - Find Me Finding You
53. Laibach - Also Sprach Zarathustra
54. Laraaji - Bring On the Sun / Sun Gong
55. Laurel Halo – Dust
56. Lee Ranaldo - Electric Trim
57. Loren Connors – Evangeline
58. Maggie Rogers – Now That the Light is Fading
59. Marissa Nadler - Leave the Light On: Bedroom Recordings
60. Marvin Pontiac – The Asylum Tapes
61. Mary Lattimore - Collected Pieces
62. Mary Ocher – The West Against the People
63. Merzbow -Pornoise 1 KG
64. Merzbow / Keiji Haino / Balázs Pándi ‎– An Untroublesome Defencelessness
65. Neil Young – Hitchhiker
66. Nimesh - Pharma
67. Ninos Du Brasil – Vida Eterna
68. Noveller - A Pink Sunset For No One
69. Oiseaux-Tempête - A L - ' A N ! الآن
70. Olga Wojciechowska – Maps and Mazes
71. Pere Ubu - 20 Years In a Montana Missile Silo
72. Phew – Light Sleep
73. Prurient – Rainbow Mirror
74. Roscoe Mitchell – Bells for the South Side
75. Royal Trux - Platinum Tips and Ice Cream
76. Ryuichi Sakamoto - async
77. Saicobab - Sab Se Purani Bab
78. Splice Girls – Spliceworld
79. St. Vincent – Masseduction
80. Stars – There Is No Love in Fluorescent Light
81. The Bug vs Earth - Concrete Desert
82. The Caretaker - Everywhere at the end of time - Stage 2
83. The Caretaker - Everywhere at the end of time - Stage 3
84. The Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir
85. The National – Sleep Well Beast
86. The Sun Ra Arkestra - Singles Volume 2: The Definitive 45s Collection 1962-1991
87. Thurston Moore - Rock’n’Roll Consciousness
88. Tiger Village - Fade
89. Tom Rogerson with Brian Eno – Finding Shore
90. Tony Conrad – Ten Years Alive on the Infinite Plain
91. Waclaw Zimpel - 2
92. Washed Out – Mister Mellow
93. William Basinski - A Shadow In Time
94. William Eggleston – Musik
95. Xordox - Neospection
96. Yves Tumor – Experiencing the Deposit of Faith
97. [V/A] - Mono No Aware
98. [V/A] – The Killing of a Sacred Deer OST
99. [V/A] - Twin Peaks Limited Event Series Soundtrack Score
100. [V/A] - Twin Peaks Music from the Limited Event Series

The Best Records of 2016

By most accounts 2016 was a shit year. From the deaths of musicians that shaped the way we listen to music to our own personal losses and struggles, most of us are glad to put this year to rest. With all the deaths in music from David Bowie to Leonard Cohen to Pauline Oliveros, whose music deeply and profoundly changed the way I listen, there was still a lot of great music released in 2016. These lists can easily get out of hand, so I limited myself to 13 of my favourites from this year. I could have easily made this list 25, 50, or even 100 albums long, but I chose to keep it brief. These following records, for one reason or another, got me through the year. A dark list? Perhaps.

1. Colin Stetson - Sorrow
   

   
2. Maja Ratkje - Crepuscular Hour
   

   
3. Jenny Hval – Blood Bitch
   

   
4. David Bowie – Blackstar
   

   
5. Leonard Cohen – You Want it Darker
   

   
6. Klara Lewis – Too
   

   
7. Angel Olsen – My Woman
   

   
8. Sean McCann – Music for Public Ensemble
   

   
9. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree
   

   
10. Weyes Blood – Front Row Seat to Earth
    

    
11. Ian William Craig - Centres
    

    
12. Felicia Atkinson & Jefre Cantu-Ledesma – Comme Un Seul Narcisse
    

    
13. Susanna – Triangle
    

    

My Favorite Records of 2015

My Favorite Records of 2015

This year I decided to narrow down my list a bit. Below are my 33 favorite records of 2015 with #1 being my absolute favorite. All of them are exceptional and are well worth a listen. They only represent a fraction of what I purchased and listened to throughout the year but for one reason or another somehow stood out. The list represents a combination of LPs, downloads, and compact cassettes.

1. Holly Herndon – Platform
   
2. Felica Atkinson – A Readymade Ceremony
   
3. Jenny Hval – Apocalypse Girl
   
   
   
4. Mette Henriette – S/T
   
   
   
5. FKA twigs – M3LL155X
   
   
   
6. Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld – Never were the way she was
   
   
   
7. Lucrecia Dalt – Ou
   
   
   
8. Matana Roberts – Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee
   
   
   
9. Julia Holter – Have You in My Wilderness
   
   
   
10. Circuit des Yeux – In Plain Speech
    
    
    
11. Bjork – Vulnicura
    
    
    
12. D'Angelo and the Vanguard – Black Messiah
    
    
    
13. Colleen – Captain of None
    
    
    
14. Ibeyi – S/T
    
    
    
15. Laurie Anderson – Heart of a Dog
    
    
    
16. GABI – Sympathy
    
    
    
17. Carter Tutti Void – f(x)
    
    
    
18. Chrstina Vantzou – No. 3
    
    
    
19. Darius Jones Quartet featuring Emilie Lesbros - Le bébé de Brigitte (Lost in Translation)
    
    
    
20. Akira Sakata & Jim O'Rourke with Chikamorachi & Merzbow – Flying Basket
    
    
    
21. Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress
    
    
    
22. Via Tania and the Tomorrow Music Orchestra
    
    
    
23. Dave Douglas – High Risk
    
    
    
24. The Revolutionary Army Of The Infant Jesus – Beauty Will Save The World
    
    
    
25. Deradoorian – The Expanding Flower Planet
    
    
    
26. Tiger Village – In Stereo
    
    
    
27. ZS – Xe
    
    
    
28. Rrose – Having Never Written A Note for Percussion
    
    
    
29. Beach House – Thank Your Lucky Stars
    
    
    
30. Kim Kashkashian / Sarah Rothenberg / Steven Schick / Robert Simpson - Rothko Chapel: Morton Feldman, Erik Satie, John Cage
    
    
    
31. King Midas Sound & Fennesz – Edition 1
    
    
    
32. Milford Graves & Bill Laswell – The Stone
    
    
    
33. Gwenno Saunders – Y Dydd Olaf