As we wrap up the year, We've spent the last couple of weeks wrangling with our favourite releases. It is based on the staff's tastes, not what's in stock, or what we need to shift, or anything cynical like that, this serves as a true reminder of what has stuck with the three of us as the year has gone on.
We've divided the hundred titles in to 'new', 'compilations' and 'reissues' for ease. Scroll down, it'll make sense. Cheers!
View the full collection here.
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Label |
New LP’s |
Title |
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Sacred Bones |
Jenny Hval |
Blood Bitch |
We had an inkling we’d like this LP a lot, last year’s Apocalypse, Girl was waaaay up on our list. Hval is pushing pop music right down the avant-rabbit hole. She’s fierce, un-comparable, gentle and engaging. Best record to come out this year. Listen/Buy |
|
Innovative Leisure |
Badbadnotgood |
IV |
Just extremely listable. Jazz, but clearly rooted in punk. It’s in the delivery, see, they walk it like a punk band. Took me a few listens, mind. |
|
Western Vinyl |
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith |
Ears |
KAS has been busy this year, but this LP was a bit of a shock for me. It passed me by initially, and it took a timely order from a tasteful customer (Thanks Paul!) to make me pay attention. Part Terry Riley, Part The Knife, this LP slithers around like a kaleidoscopic snake. Absolutely enthralling from start to finish. Listen/Buy |
|
Domino |
Blood Orange |
Freetown Sound |
Well. WELL. I was the sole fan of Cupid Deluxe at HS HQ. Sticking it on garnered tuts and huffs amongst the nay-saying miserablists I’m stood with all day. WELL. Didn’t I have the last laugh? Dev Hynes’ journey through 80’s pop and avant performance culture filtered by a Lou Reed-esque narrative is simply getting better and better. His nods are firmly looking at Arthur Russell, Michael Jackson, Prince, and let me tell you, it’s fine with me. Listen/Buy |
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Sonic Cathedral |
Xam Duo |
Xam Duo |
Expanding to a duo has only served Xam, now Xam Duo well. Tripped out, pastoral modular sermons and brass offerings that recall Eno’s early 80’s work. Brilliant, pure and simple. Listen/Buy |
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Night School |
Happy Meals |
Fruit Juice |
I’m still waiting for a full length after the incredible Apero EP, but this has served as a delicious stop-gap in the mean time. 70’s Parisian chanteuse meets New York disco thump in possibly the most beautifully packaged release this year. Night School Rules OK. Listen/Buy |
|
VHF |
Æthenor |
Hazel |
From the cover, and from the line up, I was expecting a near aesthetic follow-up to Terrestrials by Sunn0)) and Ulver. What we got was an effervescent free jazz meditation simply looking at Doom metal rather than ever actually touching it. Listen/Buy |
|
Warp |
Mark Pritchard |
Under The Sun |
This is a really accessible album, Pritchard has tastefully examined modern electronica, techno, acid-folk and pop without losing focus. In fact he’s mastered that all-too rare talent of actually pulling it all together with a convincing cohesion, leaving his contemporaries in the dust. Listen/Buy |
|
Dead Oceans |
Julianna Barwick |
Will |
The ‘white witch of ambient music’ returns with more ethereal compositions that sit somewhere between minimalism and pop form. Beautiful and haunting. Listen/Buy |
|
Leaf |
The Comet Is Coming |
Channel The Spirits |
There’s definitely a ‘slew’ of a certain type of band at the moment. Badbadnotgood, Melt Yourself Down, Guerrilla Toss etc. The Comet Is Coming are a group of humans that rock a frenetic, but true jazz. This record fizzes with tribal, afro-futurist prog sentiment that in all honesty, shouldn't work on such an energetic level, but they’re taking cues from Mahavishnu Orchestra as well as Cinematic Orchestra and well, it just works. Listen/Buy |
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Fire |
Virginia Wing |
Forward Constant Motion |
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Western Vinyl |
Botany |
Deepak Verbera |
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Brownswood |
Shabaka And The Ancestors |
Wisdom Of Elders |
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Hot Salvation / TAAE |
Za! |
Loloismo |
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Modern Love |
Andy Stott |
Too Many Voices |
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Warp |
Danny Brown |
Atrocity Exhibition |
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Ninja Tune |
Hieroglyphic Being |
The DIsco’s Of Imhotep |
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Ghost Box |
Pye Corner Audio |
Stasis |
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RVNG INTL |
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith | Suzanne Ciani |
Sunergy |
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Erased Tapes |
Rival Consoles |
Night Melody |
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Strut |
Idris Ackamor And The Pyramids |
We Be All Africans |
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DFA |
Factory Floor |
25 25 |
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Warp |
Aphex Twin |
Cheetah |
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Ninja Tune |
Space Dimension Controller |
Orange Melamine |
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Trunk |
Jonny Trunk |
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea |
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In My Room |
Trentemøller |
Fixion |
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Soul Jazz |
Africans With Mainframes |
KMT |
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Blast First Petite |
Bloodsport |
Axe Laid to The Root |
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Leaf |
Jherek Bischoff |
Cistern |
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El Paraiso |
Videodrones |
Mondo Ferox |
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Kranky |
MJ Guider |
Precious Systems |
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Polyvinyl |
Xiu Xiu |
Twin Peaks |
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Rough Trade |
Anohni |
Hopelessness |
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Blackest Ever Black |
Raime |
Tooth |
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Matador |
Savages |
Adore Life |
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Hot Salvation / TAAE |
Cowtown |
Paranormal Romance |
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Labrador |
Radio Dept |
Running Out Of Love |
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Night School |
Ela Orleans |
Circles Of Upper Hell |
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Island |
PJ Harvey |
The Hope Six Demolition Project |
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Hot Salvation |
Sans Pareil |
The Future Ooze |
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Loma Vista |
Iggy Pop |
Post Pop Depression |
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Faux Discx |
Trust Punks |
Double Blind |
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Guruguru Brain |
Minami Deutsch |
Minami Deutsch |
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Rice Is Nice |
Sarah Mary Chadwick |
Roses Always Die |
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Rocket |
Goat |
Requiem |
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130701 Records |
Ian William Craig |
Centres |
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Injazero |
C Diab |
No Perfect Wave |
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On-U Sound |
Nissenenmondai |
NA |
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Jagjaguwar |
Angel Olsen |
My Woman |
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Matador |
Steve Gunn |
Eyes On The Lines |
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Tri-Angle |
Katie Gately |
Colour |
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Planet Mu |
Ital Tek |
Hollowed |
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Jagjaguwar |
Preoccupations |
Preoccupations |
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Harvest |
Death Grips |
Bottomless Pit |
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Bad Seed LTD |
Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds |
Skeleton Tree |
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XL |
Radiohead |
A Moon Shaped Pool |
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Parlophone |
Bat For Lashes |
The Bride |
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LM Dupli-Cation |
Thor and Friends |
Thor and Friends |
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Blackest Ever Black |
Carla Dal Forno |
You Know What It’s Like |
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Thrill Jockey |
Helen Money |
Become Zero |
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Partisan |
Eagulls |
Ullages |
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La Vida Es Un Mus |
Anxiety |
Anxiety |
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Thrill Jocky |
The Body |
No One Deserves Happiness |
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Sacred Bones |
Exploded View |
Exploded View |
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Ninja Tune |
Sarathy Korwar |
Day To Day |
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Kids Of The Lughole |
Nachthexen |
Nachthexen 7” |
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El Paraiso |
Causa Sui |
Return To Sky |
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Compilations |
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On-U Sound |
Various |
Adrian Sherwood: At The Controls Vol 2 |
I’ve been addicted to the output of On-U Sound this year, from the just excellent reissues of Missing Brazilians, Singers and Players and African Headcharge, to the new collab with Nisennenmondai. This new comp collects some absolute gems of Adrian Sherwood’s production career, from the deep cuts of Lee Perry or Dub Syndicate, to the early Industrial throw of Ministry, there’s a thick, apocalyptic overtone that colours all his work. In times like these, this hasn't sounded fresher in decades. Listen/Buy |
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Trunk |
Various |
Britxotica Goes East! |
Mr Trunk saw fit to build on the first surprise instant-classic Britxotica! comp with this more Persian flavoured curation. Includes the certified cheeky-banger Climb Up The Wall by Yana. Viva Britxotica! Listen/Buy |
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Analog Africa |
Various |
Space Echo (The Mystery behind the Cosmic Sound of the Cabo Verde finally revealed) |
Hand me my late-pass, Space Echo is my embarrassingly untimely introduction to Analog Africa. Don't worry, I’m up to speed now! This comp landed like a bomb on my deck, from the laid back chill of Bana’s Pontin Pontin to Mino De Mana by Quirico De Canto, my absolute favourite track in my DJ set this year, hands down. Listen/Buy |
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Efficient Space |
Various |
Sky Girl |
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Dark Entries |
Various |
Household Shocks |
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Soul Jazz |
Various |
Venezuela 70 : Cosmic Visions Of A Latin American Earth |
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Now Again |
Various |
Wake Up You! The Rise And Fall Of Nigerian Rock 1972-77 Vol 2 |
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Beating Heart |
Various |
Malawi Originals Records By Hugh Tracy |
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Soul Jazz |
Various |
PUNK 45: Chaos In The City Of Angels and Devils (Punk in LA 77-81) |
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Soul Jazz |
Various |
New York Noise (Dance Music From The New York Underground 77-82) |
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Optimo Music |
Various |
Cease and Desist |
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Soul Jazz |
Various |
Boombox (Early Independent Hip Hop, Electro and Disco Rap 1979-82) |
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Trunk |
Various |
Tropical Brixotica! |
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Reissues |
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Strut |
Sunburst |
Ave Africa |
An obscure, short lived band from Tanzania, thankfully Strut gathered their output on to this excellent double LP. Part afro-fuzz rock, influenced by Santana, part Fela Kuti soul-jazz. What is clear form this LP is the bands obvious love for western rock and Hendrix; there are way licks scattered over this polyrhythmic set liberally and masterfully. SO Brilliant! Listen/Buy |
|
Important |
Coil |
Ape Of Naples |
The post-Tom Waits industrialism of Tattooed Man, The futuristic synth pop of Heaven’s Blade, and the cinematic minimal electronica of Teenage Lightning 2005, Ape Of Naples was a latter-period masterwork from the legendary Coil, and a well overdue re-release, and merely highlighting how much we miss musicians of this calibre in 2016. Listen/Buy |
|
Now Again |
Worlds Experience Orchestra |
The Beginning Of A New Birth | As Time Flows On |
This one was a shock. I’m certainly in my ‘discovery phase’ with regards to Jazz. I’m loving works by Don Cherry, Alice Coltrane, Sun Ra, Pharaoh Sanders and so on. This LP that we were lucky to get in the store is from a little known band from Boston, Mass in 1975. Track ‘The Prayer’ will take anything from Organic Music Society on and give it a run for it’s money let me tell you. Totally blissful cosmic free jazz of the highest order. Listen/Buy |
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Palace Of Lights |
K Leimer |
Closed System Potentials |
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Modern Classics |
This Heat |
Deceit |
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Finders Keepers |
Suzanne Ciani |
Buchla Concerts 1975 |
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Light In The Attic |
Betty Davis |
The Colombia Years 1968-69 |
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Milan |
Ryuichi Sakamoto |
Mr Christmas Mr Lawrence |
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Death Waltz |
Angelo Badalamenti |
Twin Peaks |
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Temporary Residence |
William Basinski |
92982’ |
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Acute Recordings |
The Lines |
Hull Down |
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Mr Bongo |
Pedro Santos |
Krishnanda |
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Superior Viaduct |
Steve Reich |
Four Organs |
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Superior Viaduct |
Tony Conrad | Faust |
Outside The Dream Syndicate |
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Superior Viaduct |
Suicide |
Suicide |
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Metal Face |
KMD |
Bl_ck B_st_rds |
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Metal Face |
MF Doom |
Operation Doomsday |
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Knitting Factory |
Fela Kuti |
Entire reissue series. |
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Strut |
Sun Ra |
Singles |
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Finders Keepers |
Bixio, Frizzi and Tempera |
Magnetic Systems |
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