Over the past 12 months we have indulged in an infinite number of outstanding releases spanning the electronic music spectrum and we would like to thank every artist, record label and publicist that have reached out to share their art with us.
2022 has proved to be an exceptionally challenging year, but the quality of output never ceases to amaze us. As the annual tradition goes, we’ve shortlisted the albums that have helped influence and soundtrack our year, as well as concluding with a top ten list of what we perceive to be the Best Albums of 2022.
A/N – ACIE E R R
Aasthma – Arrival
Ahem – Ahem
Aleksi Perälä – PHANTASIA VIII
Alfred Czital – Reality Check
Amselysen – Organe Solaire
Andert Tysma – Children Of Trinoom
Axel Boman – LUZ / Quest for Fire
Batu – Opal
Ben Bondy – Camo
Benedikt Frey – 1987
Best Available Technology – Fixing Until Broke
Bibio – BIB10
Biosphere – Shortwave Memories
Blessed Are The Hearts That Bend – Sadness Be Damned
Bonobo – Fragments
Caldera – One Last Glimpse
Calibre – Double Bend
Carsten Jost – La Collectionneuse
Caterina Barbieri – Spirit Exit
Christopher Willets – Gravity
Cio D’Or – Polar Q
Civilistjavel – Jarnnatter
Coby Sey – Conduit
Croatian Amor – Remember Rainbow Bridge
Cru Servers – EEL
D. Tiffany & Roza Terenzi – Edge Of Innocence
Daniel Rossen – You Belong There
DJ Strawberry – Cycles
DR MYSTERY – Far From Home
Dania – Voz
Debit – The Long Count
Decius – Decius Vol. 1
Dialect – Advanced_Myth
Dopplereffekt – Neurotelepathy
Dylan Henner – You Always Will Be
Earth Trax – The Sensual World
Earthen Sea – Ghost Poems
Exael – Ice That Melts The Tips
FFT – Clear
FKA Twigs – Caprisongs
Fort Romeau – Beings of Light
Francis Harris – Thresholds
Frantzvaag – Solo Super
Galaxian – We Are Power
Gi Gi – Lamella Pressed
Gold Panda – The Work
Hatis Noit – Aura
Hoavi – Posle Vsego
Hoshina Anniversary – Hisyochi
Huerco S – Plonk
Imre Kiss – Keys to Cassiopeia
Inhmost – Space And Awareness
Jamal Moss – Thanks 4 The Tracks U Lost
JJ+JS – peeled
Jacques Bon & Drux – A Long Way
Jaydonclover – Room Service? Volume One
Jeigo – Cerulean
Jennifer Loveless – Around The World
John Roberts – Wrecked Exotic
KMRU – Temporary Stored
KMRU – epoch
Kali Malone – Living Torch
KΣITO – Jakuzure Butoh
Lawrence – Epiphany
Lawrence English – Approach
Le Petit (Donato Dozzy & Stefano Ghittoni) – Le Petit
Levon Vincent – Silent Cities
Linkwood – Stereo
Lord Of The Isles – Night Of The Endless Beyond
Lord Of The Isles – Subtle Thoughts
Lowtec – Old Economy
Lucrecia Dalt – ¡Ay!
Ludwig A.F. – Air
Luke Vibert – GRIT.
MIRA新伝統 – Noumenal Eggs
Marcel Dettmann – Fear Of Programming
Marco Zenker – Channel Balance
Mars89 – Visions
Matthis Ruffing – Skybox
Max Loderbauer – Petrichor
Maxime Denuc – Nacthorn
Mehmet Aslan – The Sun Is Parallel
Memotone – Clever Dog
Michael J. Blood – As Is
Mogwaa – A Garden Inside
Moin – Paste
Moiré – Circuits
Mount Kimbie – MK 3.5 Die Cuts City Planning
Move D & Dman – All You Can Tweak
No Arrival – Chase
Panoram – Acrobatic Thoughts
Pan•American – The Patience Fader
Paperclip Minimiser – Paperclip Minimiser
Perel – Jesus Was An Alien
picnic – creaky little branch
Portable – My Sentient Shadow
Precipitation – Glass Horizon
Prime Vertical – Escapist Eschaton
RAMZi – Hyphea
Ripatti Deluxe – Speed Demon
Roger 23 – Bounds Of A Moral Principle And Established Standard Behavior
Roméo Poirier – Living Room
S.O.N.S. – The Escape
SERWED III – SERWED III
SHXCXCHCXSH – Kongestion
SW. – okALGORYTHM
Saint Abdullah & Eomac – Patience Of A Traitor
Salamanda – ashbalkum
Sarah Davachi – Two Sisters
Seekersinternational – Dub Displacement Dynamite!
Shamos – 8TRK
Shinichi Atobe – Love of Plastic
Silicon Scally – Field Lines
Slowfoam & Neilll – Kindly
Smoke Point – Smoke Point
Sofie Birch – Holotropica
Soichi Terada – Asakusa Light
Sonny Ism – Clock Without Hands
Sten – Earthshine
Strategy – Unexplained Sky Burners
Sulk Rooms – Hymns For The Bone Horse
Sunshine Life Emulator – Hatch Dream
Suso Saiz – Resonant Bodies
TIBSLC – Hypertranslucent
Taranoya – Flying
The Fear Ratio – Slinky
The Zenmenn and John Moods – Hidden Gem
Topdown Dialectic – Vol 3
U.S Useless – Trust, Loss, Forever
Ulla – Foam
Unt – Clips of Perspective
Ura – Baby With A Halo
Vādin – Black Tortoise
Vision of 1994 – Defragmented Dream
Walton – Maisie by the Sea
Whatever The Weather – Whatever The Weather
Wordcolour – The trees were buzzing, and the grass
worriedaboutsatan – Bloodsport
ZENYA – Comfortzone Dreamtape
ZG – ZG
10. Jack J
‘Opening The Door’
Mood Hut
Released in April, Jack J’s first record in seven years on Mood Hut presented an incredibly catchy album that has been on continuous rotation throughout 2022. Playful, simplistic and downright funky, ‘Opening The Door‘ will put a grin on your face and some boogie in your toes, whether you’re watering your plants, sat on a hillside looking at the sunset or shoulder to shoulder with a bunch of ill-starved ravers – Hand clap Mr Jack J.
Released: 5 April 2022
Best Track: Only You Know Why
9. Pontiac Streator
‘Sone Glo’
West Mineral Ltd.
Previously appearing on West Mineral Ltd. in 2018, Philadelphian producer Pontias Streator returned to the imprint in June with an exquisite downtempo album, submerging listeners into his far-out world of iridescent melancholia, downtempo dub and psycho-ambient. The album features track collaborations with Protozoa Project, Perila, Ben Bondy and Nikolay Kozlov.
Released: 16 June 2022
Best Track: Picture Of The Woods
8. Space Ghost
‘Private Paradise’
Pacific Rhythm
Released in March via Vancouver based imprint Pacific Rhythm, good vibes deep house man Space Ghost issued ‘Private Paradise‘ LP carrying some of the lushest transmissions of laxed-out grooves to have broadcast from the Canadian Riviera in recent years. Said to be an ode to Space Ghost’s time spent at Sea Ranch on the Northern California coast, ‘Private Paradise‘ radiates with dewy chords and fuzzy vibes.
Released: 31 March 2022
Best Track: Inner Focus
7. Carmen Villain
‘Only Love From Now On’
Smalltown Supersound
Released in February via Smalltown Supersound, Carmen Villain unleashed her fifth album ‘Only Love From Now On‘ venturing down the experimental side of pensive electronic music presenting seven tracks exploring ambient, downtempo, dub and fourth world music. Think Jan Jelinek meets clarinet.
Released: 25 February 2022
Best Track: Subtle Bodies
6. MPU101
‘MPU102’
Ilian Tape
We were big fans of last year’s inaugural release from MPU101 on Ilian Tape. Its understated release had an exuberant impact, cramming a multitude of emotions and vignettes across a single 12-inch. Released in September, ‘MPU102‘ continues where its predecessor left off. The 11 tracks play out like a time-lapse of a single day. If the opening is like moving from misty-sunrise through to fresh, clear blue skies, then the second half of the album arrives like the sharp Autumn winds that can blow through a deceptively warm and sunny afternoon.
Released: 29 September 2022
Best Track: MalfuncJuno
5. NUG
‘Napping Under God’
3XL
Released in October through Berlin-based record label 3XL, Florian T M Zeisig and PVAS’s first collaborative album as NUG delivered 6 tracks of melancholic music, exploring sub-aquatic jungle, therapeutic ambient and lysergic IDM.
Released: 20 October 2022
Best Track: LITE
4. Alienationist
‘Don’t Worry, You Can Always Be Reborn As a Screenshot’
Released in August, Berlin-based producer Alienationist self-released his debut album exploring a heady fog of refracted jungle, potent breaks, rave textures and mutated lyrics – sitting somewhere between the lines of Rezzett, Zomby, Madteo and Demdike Stare.
Released: 10 August 2022
Best Track: Das ist Doch Demokratie
3. Ben Kaczor
‘Petrovo Uho’
Dial
2022 proved to be an exceptional year for Swiss production talent Ben Kaczor, resulting in the release of not one, but two albums. Aptly positioned for the progression of Autumn into Winter, Kaczor’s second album ‘Petrovo Uho’ was issued through German label Dial and feels incredibly well placed alongside Dial mainstays Lawrence, Carsten Jost and Efdemin. Trailblazing a sound similar to the Prince of Denmark – Ben Kaczor pricked ears for his deft approach for evoking emotion from the classic deep house formula and this album will stand the test of time for years to come.
Released: 4 November 2022
Best Track: Katamaran
2. Deepchord
‘Functional Designs’
Soma
Released in September, American dub techno sound architect Rod Modell returned as Deepchord on Soma with a sublime 10 track album replete with dense nocturnal atmospheres, multi-layered sonic textures and full-spectrum dub techno. For us ‘Functional Designs’ is the very epitome of the Deepchord sound project, to the extent that it marks his best album to date.
Released: 30 September 2022
Best Track: Ebb and Flow
1. Ateq & Orion
‘Cyclorama’
Pale Product
First conceived by German musician Ateq in 2019, then further developed with Milan-based production duo Orion, Pale Product first surfaced via Instagram on 1st January 2021 as a way to publicly transmit their music with short videos. After months of teasing content, Pale Product finally released ‘Cyclorama‘ LP in June, compiling seven tracks exploring alternating shades of ambient, electronica, deep house and downtempo. With each track carefully considered we are particularly drawn in by the overall sense of nostalgia and melancholia engrained in each groove of ‘Cyclorama‘.
Released: 24 June 2022
Best Track: Ants III
+ Playlist
Best Albums of 2022
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