The 50 Best Albums of 2016
Background Video
HTML5 Video will be paused as soon it's scrolled out of view
This is the intro to article. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Rather than focus on particular tracks, we prefer to focus on entire singles here at Phonica, be they 7inch, 10inch or 12inch – there has to be a physical release for it to be included in our chart. It’s the hardest chart of all to compile. So, what can be said of the ‘sound’ of the 2017 single?
Many trends have passed through our racks this year. The ‘lo-fi’ house aesthetic continues to remain strong and has actually converted into genuine big-selling lo-fi anthems from the likes of DJ Seinfeld, Mall Grab and DJ Boring and reliable labels such as Lobster Theremin, E-Beamz, Shall Not Fade, Distant Hawaii and the like.
There has definitely been a resurgence of releases revisiting the rave aesthetic and the sound of the breakbeat (even drum n bass) such as the likes of Textasy ‘Welcome to the Darkroom’, Coco Bryce releases, Dj Normal 4’s huge ‘ 5 Elements EP’ or even the more melodic ‘Rave sunrise’ sound permeating tracks from Shanti Celeste or practically the entire Bicep album (but especially ‘Glue’)!
The trouble with our favourite singles chart is that a lot of these records have gone and won’t be coming back – limited presses create hype and a lot of labels are happy to see this hype build, Discogs prices rise but mostly, in the end, a repress does appear and that’s when the record gets noticed. Whities, Acting Press, Regelbau / HELP, Sued, Firecracker and World Building are all labels we struggle to get as many copies as our customers want. Conversely, there are still huge records that just continue to fly out as soon as they come back – Midland’s ‘Final Credits’ has now been Phonica’s bestseller for 2 years in a row!
The top positions were impossible to decide so see the entire top 10 as equal as many of us staff could not agree on our favourites of the year…
76
Workshop 24 came from British talent Ozel AB. The limited version came with two bonus tracks in the form of a 7”. Epic stuff from one of our favourite labels!
77
Bruce delivered the first Hemlock release of 2017 in the form of three moody and minimalist cuts.
78
Faking Love encapsulates why this new wave of atmospheric and rugged dance music, often grouped under the term 'lo-fi', has become so popular. The title track successfully balances 80s vocals, smooth sax licks and dreamy pads over a distorted 4x4 drum pattern. An undoubtedly winning formula this year.
79
Club Lonely enlisted the work of Canadian smooth operator project Pablo for a three track EP. Departing slightly from the lucid and oscillating work that we associate with Project Pablo, this EP is an exciting club orientated joint. We are big fans of the Club Lonely remix of ‘It’s Not The Dream’ on the B-Side!
80
This one was full of Jazz samples, stop and go rhythms and twists, with an experimental touch from the ever creative DJ Fett Burger on Mongo Fett. Really interesting stuff!
81
Entering 2017 with the same momentum as which he left 2016, Robert Hood’s release of Let the Church under the Floorplan moniker saw yet another quality gospel-driven tech-house EP. The A-side is composed of two hard-hitting, bassline focused and explosive set of 33’s that have become synonymous with the self-owned M-plant label. The B-side includes a re-work of the insanely popular 2014 Aretha Franklin sampled ‘Never Grow Old’. Overall, another stomping release from the Detroit original.
82
The Sex Tags boss delivered his first record of 2017 on the unusual Swedish imprint. Awesome chuggy, tropical weirdness!
83
Kaamal Williams a.k.a Henry Wu delivered a broken beat, jazz-esque six track EP on Eglo Records. From the high tempo “Century” made in collaboration with Hardhouse Banton to the immersive and twinkling ‘Reflections’, the EP is a strong reflection as to what Williams has to offer as a musician.
84
Giallo soundtracks, drag queens, psychotropic cacti, back patches, Hi-NRG, sunglasses at night, tape echo, jack o' lanterns, rave rain. What you hear here isn't quite techno, house, disco, or dub, but a syrupy melange of all of the above!
85
The debut single on the duo’s In Dust We Trust imprint is a mellow groove which meanders gleefully through jazz licks and glistening keys. The delicate sampling of Jaye P. Morgan’s ‘It’s Been So Long’ throughout gave the track another dimension which successfully matured it into a stand out release of the year.
86
The last Rimbaudian EP of the year collected together varying fragmented styles from this unusually prolific producer (aka DJ Seinfeld), from euphoric lo-fi to breakbeat rave, broken Garage and Electro. It only demonstrates what this bright new star is capable of.
87
Solitary Dancer's three-track EP on Midland's Graded imprint blended electro, ambient and acid sounds... and the outcome was epic!
88
Excellent EP from Italy's Dukwa...managing to combine the sounds of classic Roule / Bangalter with the sounds of 2017! (and what a screen-printed sleeve too!)
89
Face to Face was the first 12” released by Daphni a.k.a Caribou in almost three years, nevertheless it is still hugely popular release from the Canadian.
90
Ben Davidson (aka disco/house producer Ben Sun) joins the dots between Detroit by way of Tokyo techno on ‘Sunflower’ to Dream II Science deepness on ‘Horus Rising’ and some worldly organic rhythms for a modernist and dare we say it Utopian sound on ‘After The Rain’. The analogue sound from his London studio comes through on the gentle and harmonic B-side opener ‘Transit Pan', perhaps the start of journey beyond the dance floor for the producer.
91
Antony Naples' 'Love No Border' was a truly mesmerising journey through deep house and acid, with plenty of tropical drums uncovered along the way. You can expect to see this one appear in a few of our artists best of 2017 charts!
92
Sad City's 'Forma' EP was some of his purest and most abstract works to date. We love the cascading spoken samples and intense percussions featured over the course of the three track release.
93
The Wiggly Worm was DMX Krew's second release of the year, following on from his Strange Directions LP on Hypercolour. Fans of DMX Krew, like us, always get excited over his new works and this one didn't disappoint.
94
Regis's 'The Master Side' EP on Blackest Ever Black consisted of two bass and distortion-heavy industrial-techno jams!
95
Sweely delivered a humungous, stomping, NY-Jersey inspired EP that combines war drum level percussion with soulfully flowing vocals and luscious pads!
96
Breezy atmospheric house, stacked with floor ready tracks from LONE on the second instalment of his ‘Ambivert Tools’ series on R&S Records. Killer!
97
98
You'll see this one pop up in a few of our staff's best of 2017 charts! Burial smacked us with a surprise 10" on Hyperdub, backed with a remix from label boss Kode9. Big!
99
Nina Kraviz released her first solo EP on her own label трип. ‘Pochuvstvui’ and ‘You Are Wrong’ briefly appeared before on her stand-out ‘fabric 91’ mix, which was a shop favourite at the time!
100
Lorenzo Senni took us on an exploration through his deep-seated influences of punk hardcore straight-edge via basslines and sudden breaks on this epic 2 tracker on Warp!