46. Julian Lynch – “Mare”
A huge collection of different - and many times opposite - music elements. Jazz , pop, drones, folk and many other species are gathered together to make some of the most beautiful tracks of the year.
43. Rangers – “Suburban Tours”
An album that has been labeled as hypnagogic, but it has greater horizons and more influences . The best dusk soundtrack.
39. Sproatly Smith – “Pixieled”
Mystic, Magic, Majestic: A very special invocation to Old England nature and customs informed by 60s folk and the modern day ghostronica.
37. Alastair Galbraith – “Mass”
Experiments that lead to nowhere. Broken melodies. Never ending tracks. Non-fitting drones. No cohesion at all. Sound awful but if it’s delivered by Galbraith is wonderful.
36. Excepter – “Presidence”
Practicing Electro improvised meditations never sounded cooler. Can’t make out a word, but I feel already teleportized…
35. The Ex – “Catch My Shoe”
Still growing at the forefront of post hardcore / free rock with at least 4 “classic” the Ex anthems included. Arnold de Boer’s accent is almost Greek, all the better for it!
34. Supersilent – “10”
The personnel change shifted the improvisation dynamics from noise / free jazz to almost reductionism, creating their most glacial soundscapes. Arve Henriksen’s restrained lyrical sax at its most touching and beautiful.
31. Suum Cuique – “Midden"
Captivating ambient sub-bass vibrations and transforming them to entropic sound phenomena, the mysterious Suum provided some of the highest quality analog drone of the year.
30. Fursaxa – “Mycorrhizae Realm"
A folk witchcraft. A mountain peak full with colours and melodies. A ethereal soundscape where you want to get lost and never be found.
27. Kim Doo Soo – “Evening River"
Best singer songwriter album for this year came from this melancholic Korean troubadour. Spent many countryside driving hours listening to this.
23. Marc Ribot – “Silent Movies"
All the different styles and forms in guitar are passing by his fingers. Abstract but strong and solid, this album has the same fogy atmosphere, the same dusty power that the silent movies have. Absolutely magnificent!
22. Ignatz – “Mort Aux Vaches"
Sensitive and melancholic. The blues from Ignatz’s electric guitar is something unique and elegant. Elliptical improvisations that sounds like the monologues inside the head of a schizophrenic.
20. Gil Scott-Heron – “I'm New Here"
He is still alive and he is still here. A nocturnal vibe is stretched above the covers that constitute the return of a contemporary myth. All tones of gray are scattered at this emotional and brilliant album.
16. Ghedalia Tazartes – “Ante Mortem"
From noise to poetry, from loops to collages, from ethic music to waltzes, from jazz to folk. This avant-garde shaman has a unique and indescribable music style that you love or hate. An original piece of art.
15. Woods – “At Echo Lake"
The most “polished” album for the lo-fi revival veterans, until now. Campfire-rock, indie-rock, weird folk, you name it, the music of these weirdos leave you with the irresistible feeling to hear it over and over again.
13. Rose Kemp – “Golden Shroud"
Folk, metal, singing-songwriting and doom are paradoxically work side by side in this hybrid music. A wonderful journey into the beauty of darkness.
12. Call Back The Giants – “s/t"
What sounds flat, plain and amateurish at the surface , can convey original quirkiness and probably hidden messages from the beyond.
10. Pocahaunted – “Make It Real"
Shaken from their hygnagogic sleep, Pocahaunted offer perfect stripped down funkiness with a good deal of psych rock. A surreal female sensual dream.
09. Trembling Bells – “Abandoned Love"
Nielson and co produced the best fevered and expansive brit folk rock since Fairport Convention. Only, they play their own songs and actually sound pretty unconventional.
08. Hype Williams – “s/t"
Smokey anti-electro and primitive sampling resulted in the most weird sounding avant beat experiment. Truly Elusive, you just can’t pin them down.
07. Burzum – “Bellus"
Genius? Is that the right word? Not exactly metal, but surely black – as the sky at a heavy thunderstorm – burzum raise his aggressive and muddy music up to perfection. So, perfection is the right word?
06. Nalle – “Wilder Shores Of Love"
The warm and dreamy melodies of this album bow gently to the weird Hanna Tuukili’s elf voice. Strange and abstract, this albums stick to you like a tender scarf in the snow.
05. Alasdair Roberts – “ Too Long In This Condition"
A few talented folks teams up to share their passion for the British traditional music. With the guidance of Alasdair Roberts they cover some of the finest – old and new – tunes of their country, with the energy, the love and the freshness of a wedding ceremony. The result is another great album for the Scottish leader in folk music.
03. Gate – “A Republic of Sadness"
A blurry mist is created by the endless repeating melodies, the atmospherically hum and haw, the layers of the popish electronica. Headphones are suggested for this introvert, warm music that has the attractive sense of the unfinished. I’ve heard it over a thousand times in this year, and still, I cannot sate my thirst for it.
02. Sun Araw – “On Patrol"
OH! Great psych-o-master of all things vast, tropic and freefloating we thank you for this hymid hazy soundream. Plus, the only music you can enjoy in Athens at burning 35 Celsius summer evenings.
01. The Dead C – “Patience"
The inglorious come back of the noise-rock magicians. Heavy guitars, feedbacks, improvisation, free form and sharp directness, at the New Zealand’s legend trio hands becomes a mothdropping electrified stardust that leaves you, at least, with a lovely headache.
