Just as mixes need transitions, humans need pauses. So while some of the divisions of time are arbitrary, we need moments to step back and recollect. So CDM asked a cross-selection of producers and DJs to choose music from 2016 to begin our year. Maybe now – as the vacation spirit is wearing off and task lists are looming – maybe now is the time we need those most.
This particular group of humans generally resisted the idea of making charts, as an empty exercise. But I suppose some of those individuals are the very people whose music selections I value most – because they actually reflect on this a bit and choose something meaningful. So, arm twisting where necessary, we got this. Several colleagues included moments of reflection spent over the new year’s holiday looking back across the whole year. Some even did their digging while preparing for New Year’s gigs.
Anyone who says they’ve got the “best” music of the year is probably out of touch with just how much music the planet is making. But here, we have an honest selection of music that moved people. And we get to meet some of the people making those picks. I hope you enjoy.
Alan Oldham
Alan Oldham to me is the embodiment of electronic music futurism as it has radiated from Detroit. Apart from being an exceptional DJ and producer (as DJ T-1000), he’s also a leading comic book artist and one of the most desirable people anywhere to design your record sleeve. This is someone who can illustrate electronic fantasies in sound or image. So his picks are a wonderful place to start.
From Silence – Delano Smith [Sushitech]
Vision (Marcel Dettmann Remix) – Radio Slave [Rekids]
Distorter (Housemeister Remix) – DJ T-1000 [AYCB]
The World Through My Eyes Dub Versions – Jason Fernandes [Subfigure]
Dying Planet/Container – Zzino & Guss Carver
Landing XX – Ellen Allien [BPitch Control]
Illuminati Child EP – Alan Oldham
Social Housing – Marquis Hawkes [Marquis Hawkes]
These Are The Voyages – Detroitrocketscience [Detroitrocketscience]
I Woke Up And The Storm Was Over – Tropic of Cancer [Blackest Ever Black]
Dasha Rush
Dasha needs little introduction – the Russian native, Berlin-based producer and DJ does a bit of everything, from experimental to techno. She helms the beautifully unique Fullpanda, is brilliant in live electronic performance across genre, and has made appearances on the likes of raster-noton.
And I think Dasha came up with my favorite response to these. She chose just one track – one favorite from the past two years. And she said she doesn’t like the forced exercise of selecting charts and numbering them, or DJs charting their own music – all of which I appreciate. (Though in this case I specifically said to DJs, I was happy to see their own tracks in there, too – because I chose producers I love.)
But here’s her one track – and this one selection says a lot, and is worth some time. (The label is a favorite round here at CDM, Nordanvind Records.)
Korridor – “Somnolence”
Noncompliant
Noncompliant (also known as DJ Shiva or Lisa Ess) is a powerhouse of midwest techno and a talent whose moment has come. 2016 was a prelude to what is yet to come, I think, with a Berlin debut and devastating new techno cuts. So apart from a deep insight into politics and unending oasis of empathy, Lisa is your go-to cat when you want grimy, powerful techno.
It’s also worth highlighting some of the picks here. The lose of Cherushii aka Chelsea Faith was not only personally devastating to many, but heart breaking because her music represented some of the richest possibility in the scene now. How that continues will be a topic to come.
Bas Amro – Imposter Persona [Wolfskuil]
LA4A – Dialup [Delft]
Alex Falk – Blazeit [CGI]
Adam Jay – Corpora LP [DetUnd]
Cherushii – The Industrial City [Run The Length of Your Wildness]
Tin Man, Jozef K & Winter Son – Fates Unknown (Erika Remix) [Acid Test]
Jimmy Edgar & Truncate – Submission [Ultramajic]
Fango – Vena Cava [Degustibus]
Avalon Emerson – Narcissus in Retrograde EP [Ghostly]
Zeno van den Broek
I was fortunate to get to seek out Zeno for our new Establishment imprint, because I already knew and loved his music tastes. So drawing on his own rich experimental background and creative taste, here are some more experimental selections for our list. We’ll be talking more to Zeno this week about his own work, too. But of course, I’m especially fond of the Grischa Lichtenberger music here – see our recent interview.
Shifted – Flatlands [Hospital Productions]
Yannis Kyriakides – Gut Thoughts [Unsounds]
Lorenzo Senni – Rave Voyeur [Warp]
Grisha Lichtenberger – 003_0415_03_re_0112_re_0811_08_lv_1 [raster-noton]
Yves de Mey – Adamance [Spectrum Spools]
Codespira1 – Node #1 [Moving Furniture]
Microseq – Fragments of Here
[Epilepsy warning – but otherwise, this video is amazing]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDLPcOS7KLM
Esther Dune at Berlin’s Gegen party.
Esther Duijn
Bridging the Amsterdam and Berlin scenes and a regular ring-leader of some of the better appearances literally underground at Tresor, Esther is an unsung techno champion. And like the others here, she’s got a long battle history in labels, production, and DJing. I actually insisted that she select some of her own label and production efforts for that reason – you don’t want to miss them. And it starts with this beautiful, weird track by Jimmy Asquith, the man behind Lobster Theremin records.
You’re probably going to want a record player in order to acquire a lot of this, FYI. Esther’s meticulous personality also means she’s the only one who gave us catalog numbers.
Tom Hang – The New World EP (A1 The New World) [Where to Now? WTN49]
Plural / Hakim Murphy – Split EP (B2 Hakim Murphy – Tbanger) [Another Earth AE202]
Versalife – Selfreplication (A2 Scepsis) [Trust Trust027]
Heavenchord / Stan Soul / EA110 – Coba (A1 Heavenchord – Journey into the subconscious) [Tevol TEVOL001]
Worker Parasite – Druid (A2 Druid) [Electric Pressure ELP001V]
214 – North Cascades (A1 Miami Nights) [Frustrated Funk]
Various Artists – Real Wild Trax (B2 Vin Sol – Down for Mine) [Club Lonely CL003]
33.10.3402 – Untitled (B1 33.10.3402 – Ne Declina A (121 Roland MC 303)) [LIES LIES074]
Myles Serge / Duijn & Douglas – Split EP (A1 Myles Serge -The art of shadow thoughts) [Another Earth AE101]
John Heckle – Tribute to a Sun God (B1 Mesopotamia) [Bedouin Records BDN010]
Esther, as I lack a meticulous personality, I’m not totally certain this is the right L.I.E.S. cut, but … it’s also too nice to share if not.
Meanwhile, here’s one of hers – delicious:
And quite fond of this whole John Heckle record:
Phase Fatale
Hayden Payne, New York-to-Berlin transplant (a phrase associated with NYC now much like “world champion New York Yankees) is one of the brightest up and coming techno acts. His now-regular sets at Berghain are deliciously gothic and adventurous. And I think his taste are a beautiful hype-free window into what’s happening in the international electronic scene, what’s driving the queues at these clubs beyond just hype, and what is genuinely fresh and enjoyable and new. And sure enough, he delivered a lovely reminder of some favorites of mine, ones I’m sure will appeal here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5va4NN9T7M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhl3wOh_1aM
Sawf – “High Zone” [Kafta Kafta001]
Ascetic – “Atheism” [Manic Depression Records]
Orphx – “Zero Hour” [Sonic Groove / Hands – see our interview]
November Novelet – “Ursa Minor” [Galakthorrö]
Alvar – “Diffuse Tomorrow” [Alvaret Tape Recordings]
Sarin – “Control” [A+W IX]
Schwefelgelb – “So Heisser Es Wird” [Fleisch 001]
Pure Ground – “Before Us” [Avant! – AV!043]
Unhuman – “Unterstüzung” [Amok Tapes AMOK008]
Source Direct – “The Crane (Function/Inland Remix)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxvfdmL__1U
Kyoka
Apart from liking Grischa’s latest as much as apparently the rest of us do, Kyoka is a person whose live sets and music consistently come up when chatting with the others here. The second raster-noton inclusion on this list apart from Dasha, I added Kyoka because of her intelligence and enthusiasm. So, we’ll get some repetition, but I think well-deserved – these are tracks a lot of us couldn’t stop listening to last year, and may still look forward to savoring this year.
004_241 B – Grischa Lichtenberger
Bound State – Ueno Masaaki
Dark Barker – kangding ray
Twistet In the Wind – Frank Bretschneider
a1_entrance_m_v2 – Eomac
Cause to emit sound – DJ SODEYAMA
Just Face It – DJ Git Hyper
Anastasia Kristensen
From Moscow to Denmark, Anastasia has emerged as a brilliant connector – she’s someone who manages to seem to be everywhere, know everyone, but then apply that social intelligence to greater musical depth. And I asked her here because her sets and mixes are diverse and not just cookie-cutter creations. (Electric Deluxe agree – see the her cut is a favorite. See also “Spring Ballade” on Nous Disques.
yen towers – bid II, posh isolation
ctrls – the wave, token
air max’97 – thrall, decisions
dreams – headhunter, nous disques
rx 101 – 101 reasons, saction
jamaica suk – Depth Between Waves, L.A.G.
melly – skip fire, where to now?
rommek – solvent, blueprint records
ken ishii – extra (7th plain remix), a-ton
imaski – hyperloop, (Establishment)
Photo: Michael Breyer.
Electric Indigo
Susanne Kirchmyer just played a brutal set at about blank this weekend. To those in the know, she’s simply a legend – a foundation of the European scene. She’s also been active in transforming the face of the scene to come, through her work with Female Pressure.
Now, like Dasha, Susanne straddles experimental and techno, AV performance and dancefloor in her own work. Unlike Dasha, Susanne’s rebellion to “name five to ten tracks” was to go with more instead of less. But that reflects her collections, too, so let’s have at all of it!
10 chosen most significant:
Born In Flamez x Modeselektor – TBF [XLR8]
Perc – Ma [Stroboscopic Artefacts 026]
Monolake – Error (VLSI Version) [Imbalance Computer Music ML-032]
B12 – Core Meltdown [FireScope 003]
Rrose – Emboli [Khemia 002]
Adriana Lopez – En Ningun Lugar [Modularz 25]
Headless Horseman – Under The Earth [the29nov 001]
Annie Hall – Hyssop [Subspec 035]
Sky Deep – Woman & The Gun feat. Hevî [female-pressure – Music- Awareness & Solidarity w- Rojava Revolution]
Annie Hall – Herschel [CPU 00011100]
Other tracks that I wanted to be in the top 10:
Orphx – Blood in the Streets [Sonic Groove LP02]
Alhek – The Voice Of Cement Buildings [Mechanical Thoughts LP01]
Antigone & Francois X – Ready To Escape [DEMENT3D 012]
Scalameriya – Ambidextrous [Genesa 006V]
Angelina Yershova – Immersion [Twin Paradox 003]
Silent Harbour – Dock Operations [Transcendent LP001]
Shlømo – The Ritual [Wolfskuil LTD 029]
Kero / Gotshell – Samaria District [Blueprint 047]
More tracks that I really like:
Simo Cell – Away From Keyboard [Livity Sound 021]
Shifted – Clairvoyance Part II [Drifting Over 001]
Dimi Angélis – Dwarf Planets [Construct Re-Form 012]
Insolate – Renew [Out of Place 002]
Trinity – Orchard [Coincidence 074]
DJ Red – Sweet Silence [Electric Deluxe 047]
Klaudia Gawlas – Obsession [Credo 038]
Etapp Kyle – Ahora [Ostgut Unterton 08]
Actually, 2016 was a very good year listening to the music I collected ?
Ambivalent
Kevin McHugh, aka Ambivalent, but impressing lately as techno act LA4A, is our consummate tasteful last entry here. I appreciate that Kevin actually said he enjoyed picking these for this task. And he’s worth quoting here, because I feel some of his music was the most underrated of the year – even though it was also widely selected by our group of contributors as some of our favorite.
Morphology – Vector Plant – DUM
Physical Therapy – 909 Reasons Why – Delft
Amotik – Terah – Amotik
Avalon Emerson – Glider Gun – Valence
Emmanuel – Masa – Enemy
Vernon Felicity – Defender – Delft
TAFKAMP – I Laf You – Paling Trax
Ambivalent – Whyou (Michael Mayer Remix) – Kompakt
Camea – Signs (Andre Kronert) -Neverwhere
Truncate – Wave 1 – Truncate
Now, this is my kind of New Year’s Resolution. Because listening to all of this makes me want to go discover more and make more music. Unlike those forgotten new year’s gym memberships, this is fitness that is addictive.
And I hope we’ll visit these friends here more throughout the year. That’s a resolution to keep.