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 Lists
12.19.21 luci 202112.26.20 luci 2020
02.24.20 A Lucid Decade 01.29.20 luci's decade in electronic: releases
12.21.19 luci's songs of the decade 12.11.19 luci's decade in electronic: tracks
11.14.19 luci's songs of 2019 10.08.19 p4k decade list
09.05.19 luci Q3 picks 07.16.19 luci's decade in pop
07.07.19 albums where the bookends are best 06.20.19 luci Q2 picks
05.10.19 luci Q1.5 picks03.23.19 luci Q1 picks
12.27.18 luci's decade: first draft12.12.18 2018
11.29.18 Year in Electronic 11.22.18 luci's songs of 2018
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Year in Electronic

Taking a deep dive into electronic music has been a fulfilling project this year. Instead of combining my previous lists I figured it would be more interesting to highlight what stood out in each subgenre. That also matches what I expect to stick with me beyond 2018. Hope this list is useful for anyone looking to flesh out their year-end list.
1Shinichi Atobe
Heat


-----YEAR IN HOUSE-----

It’s been a killer year for house in all its flavors. Shinichi delivered a peculiar spin on summer house, capturing the sting and humidity of the season rather than the typical sunshine. Jaar surprised with a funky house comp that mapped his signature textures to four on the floor beats. Huerco S. delivered a dusty feverish aesthetic under Loidis and AL-90 brought rousing outsider earworms. On the vocal pop side, Koze gonna Koze with his inimitable sound while Disclosure dropped a grab bag of addictive tunes. As for the nocturnal hours, drifting off to DJ Healer’s gentle pulsations was an essential activity.
2Loidis
A Parade, In The Place I Sit, The Floating World
3A.A.L. (Against All Logic)
2012-2017
4Laurence Guy
All I See Is Her
5DJ Healer
Nothing 2 Loose
6AL-90
Murmansk-60
7DJ Koze
knock knock
8map.ache
Vom Ende bis zum Anfang
9Disclosure
Moonlight
10S.A.M.
Retrospect One
11Teluric
Pulsatii Profunde
12Tell
Cool Bananas
13Secret Lover
Lost and Found
14Skee Mask
Compro


-----YEAR IN TECHNO-----

Whether you crave slamming tunes or submerged atmospheres, there’s something for everyone this year. Blawan and Unbalance brought pounding soundscapes, through industrial and minimal paths respectively. Vril’s rework of Anima Mundi elevated the release to riveting heights, while Skee Mask delivered a unique symbiosis of breakbeat and ambient. Barker dropped the kick drum in a pensive techno EP, finding a new way to suspend the listener in air. cv313 offered a counterpoint with dub techno for the ocean bed, while Varg released what I can only describe as an “existential cam girl meditation session.” Araceae found the perfect balance between ambient and dub techno, while Nathan Micay released perhaps the most uplifting tune of the year with his Whities A-side.
15Vril
Anima Mundi
16Barker
Debiasing
17Unbalance
Unbalance Ten
18cv313
Analogue Oceans
19Varg (Swe)
Nordic Flora Series Pt. 5: Crush
20Blawan
Wet Will Always Dry
21Overmono
Whities 019
22Jon Hopkins
Singularity
23Anthony Naples
Take Me With You
24Araceae
Lunae Semita
25Daniel Avery
Song for Alpha
26Pendant
Make Me Know You Sweet


-----YEAR IN AMBIENT/DRONE-----

Ambient is often a functional genre, whether you need an immersive drone as you’re staring at a Word document or calming stars for the eyelids as you drift off. I worked to the Mogard and Hotel Neon this year and slept to the Terekke, Hatakeyama and Irisarri. Pendant offered something far too disorienting for those functions, an ominous void that resists easy answers. It works well as an anxious space to contemplate where our world is headed.
27Terekke
Improvisational Loops
28Chihei Hatakeyama
Void XV
29Abul Mogard
Above All Dreams
30Rafael Anton Irisarri
Sirimiri
31Severnaya
Polar Skies
32Hotel Neon
Means of Knowing
33Eleventeen Eston
At the Water


-----YEAR IN DOWNTEMPO/CHILL OUT-----

There have been ample choices this year of the easy listening variety. Eleventeen Eston delivered an entrancing suite of soft rock, ambient and hypnagogic pop, while Yu Su swirled the listener through a downtempo haven. Albrecht La’Brooy gave us ambient house at the beach, while E Ruscha V added a playful spin to balearic soundscapes. It’s music I head to when I can’t decide what to play next, taking my mind to a peaceful place every time.
34Yu Su
Preparations for Departure
35Albrecht La'Brooy
Tidal River
36Here and Now
Aurora Baleare
37E Ruscha V
Who Are You
38Sophie
Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides


-----YEAR IN POST-CLUB-----

This was the year that deconstructed club entered the mainstream; look to its status as an official genre on RYM as an indication. Mirroring the emergence of IDM in the 90s, the scene is defined by a constellation of artists at the boundaries of leftfield sound design. Demdike Stare splintered the club with kinetic force, while Amnesia Scanner explored AI sentience with a chaotic yet playful attitude. Meanwhile Sophie broke through to a new dimension with a furious bubblegum sneer - it’s the best post-club release yet.
39Amnesia Scanner
Another Life
40Demdike Stare
Passion
41Zuli
Terminal
42Nazar
Enclave
43Objekt
Cocoon Crush
44Elysia Crampton
Elysia Crampton
45Yves Tumor
Safe in the Hands of Love


-----YEAR IN EXPERIMENTAL/OTHER-----

I’d like to spotlight a few releases I couldn’t fit in the genres above. Yves Tumor unlocked new neural pathways connecting electronic to rock, a boundary-pushing work that also made room for delectable hooks. The Caretaker brought vivid, terrifying sound design, pushing the listener off a cliff after a stable opening triad. OPN injected art pop into his progressive electronic, mapping a futuristic wasteland with diminished human agency. Deena Abdelwahed presented a riveting synthesis of Arabic rhythms with UK bass, lurching through the political with righteous anger.
46The Caretaker
Everywhere at the End of Time- Stage 4
47Oneohtrix Point Never
Age Of
48Deena Abdelwahed
Khonnar
49Various Artists (Electronic)
Air Texture Volume VI


-----YEAR IN COMPILATIONS-----

Steffi and Martyn curated an exquisite collection of airy techno; fans of DJ Tennis’ comp last year should find this to their liking. In Death’s Dream Kingdom conjured an ominous world with the help of prominent names in the leftfield scene. The latest installment of Welcome to Paradise offered yet another slice of shimmering italo house, while Studio Barnhus brought their A-game in a bright collection of house/pop slappers.
50Various Artists (Electronic)
In Death's Dream Kingdom
51Various Artists (Electronic)
Welcome To Paradise Vol. III: Italian Dream House
52Various Artists (Electronic)
Studio Barnhus Volym 1
53Eris Drew and Octo Octa
Devotion


-----TOP TRACKS OF 2018-----

My favorite electronic tracks of the year, non-vocal edition.

Octo Octa - Beam Me Up (Please Take Me Away Mix)
Overmono - Quadraluv
A.A.L. - I Never Dream
Nathan Micay - First Casualty
AL-90 - Prokhor Song
Shinichi Atobe - So Good So Right 2
Vril - In Via
Skee Mask - Calimance (Delay Mix)
DJ Healer - We Are Going Nowhere
Eleventeen Eston - Where There Is Rain
Amnesia Scanner - AS Symmetribal
Barker - When Prophecy Fails
Galcher Lustwerk - Wristbands
Tim Jackiw - Timeline
Laurence Guy - Belong
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