Best of 2025: Cassettes

This is my favorite batch of tapes from 2025. I probably bought less tapes than in past years. It seemed like more than a few labels dropped out or scaled back. I can't say I blame them. My listening tastes were mostly tunes composed on synthesizers and a little bit of weird noise. This has not changed much, although you sometimes end up at the mercy of what is being released during the year.

I capped any label at two tapes for the sake of variety.

Alone In The Dark 3 is a fantastic collection of various artists making spooky noises and haunting darkwave. Hot Releases puts one of these out every so often at Halloween and AITD3 might be the best so far.

Leslie Keffer explored the ethereal plant realm on her Apothecary tape. Secret Places Of The Lion goes on a sprawling mystic journey with High Gardens. Pamela& Her Sons crafted some airy and spacious sounds on Waverider that are similar to old Aphex Twin. The Ohio trio that is Anteater displayed some synth wizardry reminiscent of Philadelphia's Nightcrawlers.

100% Silk celebrated 15 years with a compilation of assorted techno strains from some of their regulars. Akasha System moved from Oregon to Florida and continued discovering new natural sonic territory on Sun Archive.

Cringe Fantasy pieced together a cassette single of discordant no wave pop songs. Walnut Brain used a guitar and a single string diddley bow to make a tape that lived up to the name of Weird Wire. Liz Meredith's Forth is a blast of squelching electronics and viola.

As always any tape had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive cassette of the year, then that honor goes to the self-titled debut by Vengeance des Fleurs on Not Not Fun. Vengeance des Fleurs is the duo of Anastasia Mikhaleva and Vladimir L. They created a luminous and luxurious collection of sounds with synthesizers and flute that harkens back to the earlier days of Krautrock and electronic music.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Akasha System - Sun Archive - 100% Silk
02. v/a - Alone In The Dark 3 - Hot Releases
03. Anteater - Endangered - Unifactor
04. Cringe Fantasy - Pop Music - Decoherence
05. Secret Places Of The Lion - High Gardens - Not Not Fun
06. Leslie Keffer - Apothecary - CBC
07. Liz Meredith - Forth - Spleen Coffin
08. Pamela& Her Sons - Waverider - Crude Tapes
09. Vengeance des Fleurs - s/t - Not Not Fun
10. Walnut Brain - Weird Wire - Petty Bunco
11. v/a - Late Shift Silk - 100% Silk

Best of 2024: Albums

This is my list of favorite albums for 2024.

Is May too late to post such a list? Perhaps. Nobody reads this anyway and I hardly care myself, but it is a project that is vaguely important enough to me that I feel obligated to finish it up. I guess 2024 was fine, although it seemed oddly lacking in excitement as a whole.

Kim Gordon made a jarring and discordant noise pop album. It's fascinating to me that the only member of Sonic Youth still pushing the edges of the avant-garde is Gordon with either her solo efforts or collaborations with Bill Nace. On the opposite end of the spectrum was Crystal Dorval's White Poppy. Dorval crafted a mellow instrumental record without the the lo-fi shoegaze bluster of her earlier releases or the more developed songs of her last couple records. Somewhere between those two was FIN's experimental pop on the always great Hausu Mountain label.

Skin Graft kept on plugging along and released a couple more albums in whatever arty weirdo realm they've been operating in for the last 30+ years. Germany's Cuntroaches plumed the darkest depths to create some type of mutant no wave black metal. Japan's Hyper Gal manufactured a set of highly kinetic and noisy abstract pop songs with drums, vocals, and samplers.

White Suns were back with another record of their patented caustic, shredding noise rock. Dredging Heaven was a bit more wide open and clanging in an empty zone than previous releases. Also on Decoherence was Chaser, a somewhat new band, who built their sound on the last 25 years of no wave.

C. Lavender synthesized a mysterious sonic space in CD form that was inspired by exploring a Buddhist meditation practice involving music as a starting point. Pharmakon returned with an album of agitating and brooding industrial noise about the decay of the natural environment for profit.

Samara Lubelski and Bill Nace teamed up for two songs of sprawling electric guitar/taishogoto and violin squall. Along those same lines were the cello and synth efforts of Nora Rogers and Brian Haran.

As always any album had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive album of the year, then that honor goes to New Animals by Itsï Ramirez on No Rent. New Animals is an album of difficult, glistening laptop electronics that is echoing and haunting.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Chaser - Planned Obsolescence - Decoherence
02. C. Lavender - Rupture In The Eternal Realm - IDEAL Recordings
03. Cuntroaches - s/t - Skin Graft
04. FIN - Cleats - Hausu Mountain
05. Kim Gordon - The Collective - Matador
06. Hyper Gal - After Image - Skin Graft
07. Itsï Ramirez - New Animals - No Rent
08. Samara Lubelski & Bill Nace - 43/80 - Open Mouth Records
09. Pharmakon - Maggot Mass - Sacred Bones
10. Nora Rogers & Brian Haran - s/t - Flat Plastic
11. White Poppy - Ataraxia - Not Not Fun
12. White Suns - Dredging Heaven - Decoherence

Best of 2024: Cassettes

This is my favorite batch of tapes from 2024. I keep buying tunes in the same old fields of experimental music, noise, and synth jams. There's a little indie rock on the list, too.

I tried to cap any label at two tapes to get as much variety on the list as possible. I don't think I accomplished that as it was a mildly humdrum year.

The best overall piece of music from 2024 was Phil Geraldi's AM/FM USA. The tape recreates a long drive where radio stations fade in and out of reception as the miles click by.

Hot Releases once again came in hot with Some Pepper and Valise. Daby Byrne created a Container-esque spastic technoise release. Maralie Armstrong-Rial used noisy sounds from a piece of wire and mixed in trackside recordings from the 2023 Indianapolis 500. There was also a live compilation of assorted noise jammers recorded by Ryan Martin at shows from 2021-2023.

Yellow Swans returned with their first new music in years with a pair of tapes called Out Of Practice. I liked the second one better since it worked in snippets of 13th Floor Elevators and Suicide songs. You got to hear the band's process and having recognizable music fade in from a ten minute noise jam was really cool. It provided a strong conclusion to each side of the tape.

Amerige is a new label that is reissuing lost noise classics from the early to mid 2000s along with works by current artists. They did just that with a fresh one from Baphomet Sex and an unreleased vintage Leslie Keffer cassette. Leila Bordreuil made a tape of cello, electronics, and audio from a VHS tape of a 1991 garage fire. One Million Eyes crafted some calming and spacious synth zones. Rat Paws followed up last year's Trite You are with another successful collection of Pacific Northwest indie twee. Tegu painted a pair of luxurious sonic landscapes with Forest Hills and Owl Island.

As always any tape had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive cassette of the year, then that honor goes to Dream of Autumn Electrified Blues I & II by Marcia Bassett and Ignatz on Yew Recordings. Additionally, Bassett issued a solo tape of experimental Buchla recordings called Repeater. It strangely doesn't outwardly use repetition and drifts along in the atmosphere of the ethereal realm her music occupies. Anyway, Dream of Autumn Electrified Blues I & II is two live recordings by Bram Devens (Ignatz) on guitar and Bassett on synthesizer from 2023. It's the finest in sprawling psychedelic noise and perfectly suited for warm late fall nights.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Baphomet Sex - All Ancestors Standing Beside Your Bed - Amerige
02. Marcia Bassett - Repeater - Yew
03. Marcia Bassett & Ignatz - Dream of Autumn Electrified Blues I & II - Yew
04. Leila Bordreuil - 1991, Summer, Huntington Garage Fire - Hanson
05. Cyanide Tooth - Sixth Dimension Vacation - Flat Plastic Media
06. Farewell Phoenix - The Angels in These Fields - Ceremony Of Seasons
07. Phil Geraldi - AM/FM USA - Not Not Fun
08. Leslie Keffer - She-Wolf- Amerige
09. Alma Laprida - Pitch Dark & Trembling - Outside Time
10. Matchess - Stena - Drag City
11. One Million Eyes - Polaris - Constellation Tatsu
12. Rat Paws - Mustang Girl Unknown - self-released
13. Some Pepper - Don't Let Go - Hot Releases
14. Tegu - Forest Hills - Not Not Fun
15. Tegu - Owl Island - Not Not Fun
16. VÄGTYP - s/t - Spleen Coffin
17. Valise - On Wire - Hot Releases
18. various artists - Birds Of A Feather - Hooker Vision
19. various artists - Live '21-23 - Hot Releases
20. Yellow Swans - Out Of Practice I - Collective Jyrk
21. Yellow Swans - Out Of Practice II - Collective Jyrk

Best of 2023: Albums

This is my list of favorite albums for 2023.

2023 was a solid and respectable twelve months for music. It was a pleasant mix of new stuff and familiar faces. The year wasn't a grand extreme of the best or the worst, 2023 showed up, did its work, and everything was fine. This is in contrast to how I felt that 2022 was mostly underwhelming.

For shows, I finally made it back to Buffalo to see Wolf Eyes at the Mohawk Place. They were great and it was good to get out again. There hasn't really been much that interests me for concerts so I haven't bothered going to anything.

I dabbled with picking up a few reissues over the year. It was nice to add older material from Ash Ra Tempel, Bardo Pond, Bee Mask, Bowery Electric, Everyone Asked About You, Lush, and Wolf Eyes to the collection.

Caterina Barbieri composed an efficient classical synthesizer album. Lea Bertucci had a fascinating recording of two longform discordant drone pieces created with electronics and orchestral instruments. Marcia Bassett and Ursula Scherrer burned up a batch of CDs for the soundtrack to a live video performance in Paris that featured ethereal synths, field recordings, and manipulated voices.

BIG | BRAVE recorded another slab of their cold Montreal in winter metal. I should've gone to see them play Buffalo back in June. Blues Ambush delivered three completely zorched out instrumental guitar jams. Dana Ma's Cloning smooshed together a collection of unsettling cut-up noise. I correctly figured out what the cover is.

Collate rattled off some quick and catchy Minutemen style punk. This type of music works better when it isn't all dudes. Mutwawa successfully returned with a full length of their spooky and haunting noise. Guitarist Emily Robb released her second solo album and had a limited edition tour tape with Bill Nace pressed up into record form. Robb is one of the best six string players out there at the moment.

Terms churned out more of their wonderful abstract avant-garde noise rock. It's awesome to see the aesthetic of weirdness pioneered by Skin Graft Records is going strong in the 2020s. Wolf Eyes expounded upon the brooding minimal atmospheres of their last couple albums with Dreams In Splattered Lines, which had refined synthesizer/drum programing, Nate Young's cryptic lyrics, and John Olson's mutant reeds.

As always any album had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive album of the year, then that honor goes to On The Creekbeds On The Thrones by XV on Ginkgo. The trio of Claire Cirocco, Emily Roll, and Shelley Salant crafted an album that recalls the Galaxie 500 and probably that one band that had a banana on the cover of their first record. XV tags themselves as uncomfortable free punk from Michigan. On The Creekbeds On The Thrones has an almost lackadaisical mood to it. It's not so much lackadaisical as in laziness, but more of a relaxed step back or time out from the stress of the modern world.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Caterina Barbieri - Myuthafoo - Light Years
02. Lea Bertucci - Of Shadow and Substance - Cibachrome Editions
03. Marcia Bassett & Ursula Scherrer - A La Maison Live - Yew Recordings
04. BIG | BRAVE - Nature Morte - Thrill Jockey
05. Blues Ambush - s/t - Radical Documents
06. Cloning - Squirters - Blorpus Editions
07. Collate - Generative Systems - Domestic Departure
08. Mutwawa - Radiation Radio - Decoherence
09. Emily Robb - If I Am Misery Then Give Me Affection - Petty Bunco
10. Terms - All Becomes Indistinct - Skin Graft
11. Wolf Eyes - Dreams In Splattered Lines - Disciples
12. XV - On The Creekbeds On The Thrones - Ginkgo

Best of 2023: Cassettes

Here's the annual wrap up of my top tapes for the last twelve months. Nothing much really changes from year to year with these things. I like tapes that fall under the broad categories of experimental music, noise, and synth jams. There's probably some guitar and other instruments in the mix, too. It didn't necessarily make the list, but I was buying a lot more harsh noise for 2023. Sometimes you need to hear the gnarly stuff.

I capped any label at two tapes and tried to get as much variety on the list as possible, although I didn't buy a ton of tapes in 2023. Unifactor was surprisingly quiet with only three tapes and a Bee Mask record reissue. Constellation Tatsu had a mere six tapes on the year, which were all top notch.

2FAC's I Lobe The Secular World was one of my favorites and their sounds had heavy Metalux vibes going on. Lauren Pakradooni returned with a new Tether cassette that combined her usual tape work with occasional vocals that resembled Metalux as well. The bosses at Hausu Mountain each dropped a solo tape showcasing the unique sounds that have made their label a highlight of the experimental music world. Strategy put together a batch of cosmic dub that might be Paul Dickow's finest creation yet. Demon Life is the power trio of noise veterans Rodger Stella, Kyle Flanagan, and Tim Gick. As expected, they churned out a batch of demonic harshness. Acid Twilight wrangled together another fine collection of mysterious hypnagogic sprawl to add to their interesting discography.

As always any tape had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive cassette of the year, then that honor goes to Canicula by Ludmila Nunes on No Rent. Nunes also had a very good tape of deconstructed rock band nosies on Flat Plastic, but I felt the blasted out nether zone sounds of Canicula were a much more fully realized artistic statement.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. 2FAC - I Lobe The Secular World - Unifactor
02. Acid Twlight - Shadow Wrangler - Not Not Fun
03. Akasha System - Ancient Path Complete - 100% Silk
04. Marcia Bassett & Sergej Vutuc - Covering The Surface - Yew
05. Demon Life - s/t - Flat Plastic Home Media
06. Eternities - Realness - Harmonic Ooze
07. Andra Ljos - Megalithic Statues of Vishapakar - Not Not Fun
08. Alina Kalancea - Alchemy - Important
09. Monokle - Ultraflowers - Constellation Tatsu
10. MrDougDoug - SOS Forks AI REM II - Hausu Mountain
11. Mukqs - Stonewasher - Hausu Mountain
12. Ludmila Nunes - Canicula - No Rent
13. LeeAnn Peppers & Motion Sickness of Time Travel - split - Humanhood Recordings
14. Strategy - Graffiti In Space - Constellation Tatsu
15. Tether - Jostle Bask - Refulgent Sepulchre
16. tinnitustimulus - Icterine - No Rent

Best of 2022: Albums

This is my list of favorite albums for 2022.

2022 was one of those underwhelming years for music in a lot of ways. I'm comfortable with that. It doesn't always have to be a year where everything is the greatest thing ever.

That disclaimer out of the way, there were a bunch of records that I did really like. It's just nothing jumped out to me as having that intangible quality that makes a batch of songs feel superior to all the other batches of songs. It happens.

I actually made it to some live shows, which were a few of my friends playing the local bars. I didn't venture to anywhere new and Buffalo didn't seem to get much I was interested in. I should have made the drive to see Emily Robb and Bill Nace in Buffalo and Captured By Robots in Jamestown for old time's sake. I believe Rochester had a few gigs that would have been worth the effort to check out, but the mundane daily routine got in the way of leaving town. Between a combination of avoiding germs, not really drinking or going out any more, and no exciting bands touring or locally, it has been fairly easy to stay home.

Speaking of staying home, I purchased a new turntable from Crino's Music in Dunkirk. My old one was possibly haunted and an upgrade was long overdue. It's great having a record player that works properly again.

The reissue game wasn't as strong as the last couple of years. This is OK by me because not every record needs a 10, 15 or 20 year anniversary repressing. I have been doing a deep browsing of the Kranky Records discography and picking up vintage CDs I missed in the mid to late 1990s. They still have a bunch of old stock so this has been some fun collecting.

Marcia Bassett created a drifting album of modular synths, voice, flute, and field recordings. Kill Rock Stars dusted off their 5 Rue Christine imprint for a great long form drone record by MV Carbon of Metalux fame and artist Charlemagne Palestine. France's La Race also made a long form recording, but their album consisted of sparse no wave metal. Nail Club returned with a noisier and more abstract collection of synth pop. In a busy year, Leslie Keffer dropped two CDs worth of her signature techno. Ribbon Stage followed up their debut tape/7" with a full length of catchy and fuzzy indie rock that would fit in well with many of the underground bands of the 1990s. Michigan noise legends Wolf Eyes burned a few limited edition CD-Rs and I was happy to score a physical copy of Subs & Grinders. Lastly, as in it was the last record I bought in 2022, Ultra Violet Light label minder Jimmy Joe Roche concocted a short and fun album of modular synth explorations.

I decided my favorite release of 2022 was Sonic Youth's In/Out/In on Three Lobed Records. In/Out/In is a collection of older instrumentals and not technically a proper album, although it is sequenced as such. Two of the songs appeared on Three Lobed's 10th anniversary boxset and were the last official new material Sonic Youth released before they broke up so I've been listening to 40% of this disc for over a decade. It feels strange declaring this my album of the year, but it was the CD I listened to the most and made me the happiest. And I think that's what really should define your album of the year, even if I am a stickler for the specific minutiae regarding any release.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Marcia Bassett - Midnight Xpander - Yew
02. Horsegirl - Versions of Modern Performance - Matador
03. Leslie Keffer - Human Inosculation Part I & II- WEATNU Records
04. Nail Club - Mise en Abyme - Hot Releases
05. Charlemagne Palestine & MV Carbon - Liquiddd Changesss - 5 Rue Christine
06. Pitchwafuzz - You Find Yourself In A Place - Nonexistant Records
07. Puppet Wipes - The Stones Are Watching & They Can Be A Handful - Siltbreeze
08. La Race - Je Me Rapproche De Mon Squelette - Spleen Coffin
09. Ribbon Stage - Hit With The Most - K
10. Jimmy Joe Roche - Flicker Film in the Summer Breeze - Ultra Violet Light
11. Sonic Youth - In/Out/In - Three Lobed Records
12. Wolf Eyes - Subs & Grinders - self released

Best of 2022: Cassettes

All my favorite music was on tape for 2022. Not Not Fun churned out a ton of great stuff, even if their tapes skewed too heavy on the dudes with synthesizers side. Hot Releases quietly maybe had the best year ever. No Rent was consistently pushing the boundaries of noise and experimental music.

Constellation Tatsu and Hausu Mountain celebrated ten years in the biz with reissues of classic cassettes from their olden days. It was cool to pick up a couple releases I had missed.

I capped any label at two tapes and tried to get as much variety on the list as possible, although I bent the rule to allow three from Not Not Fun. It was once again a case of buying from the same small pool of labels I regularly buy from. I need to get back into exploring a little more for different sounds.

The best piece of music for 2022 was Moth Cock's triple cassette, Whipped Stream and Other Earthly Delights. It featured over three hours of Doug Gent and Pat Modugno's performances from livestreams on Twitch. The duo play an assortment of busted electronics and wind instruments. They truly took us to the fabled other zones with this tape set.

Argentina's Acid Twilight's fuller sounding sophomore effort expanded upon their mysterious hypnagogic sprawl. Marcia Bassett crafted more droning sonic landscapes on synths as a solo artist and on guitar with violinist Samara Lubelski. Tarotplane channeled the spirit of the now departed Manuel Göttsching for some contemporary Krautrock. I really liked the dark moods of AndLace and Broken Pillar. Chucha and DJ Chooch both made fine low tech techno tapes. Leslie Keffer and Rodger Stella, along with the White Suns, provided the much needed harsh noise for the year. Finally, Dan Friel returned with a new cassette of his signature sounds from the Yamaha toy keyboard he is famous for using.

As always any tape had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive cassette of the year, then that honor goes to Laurentian Voyage by Scout Island on Not Not Fun. Scout Island's Jared Carrigan created a collection of 19 brief instrumentals about a trip down a river in Minnesota that somehow occupy a vague space resembling early Cure and solo Roy Montgomery. Each song is a very catchy melody that perhaps could be developed further, but that would take away the casual charm. Less is usually more in most cases.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Acid Twilight - Mustang Zodiac - Not Not Fun
02. AndLace - Fabrik - Unifactor
03. Todd Barton - Spectral - Ultra Violet Light
04. Marcia Bassett - Undulating Akrasboning - Artsy Records
05. Marcia Bassett & Samara Lubelski - West Coast Live - Feeding Tube
06. Broken Pillar - Red Spider Lady - No Rent
07. Chucha - What Remains - Hot Releases
08. Cloning - Wet Circuits - Humanhood Recordings
09. Comfort Link - Cement Music - Spleen Coffin
10. DJ Chooch - Moongazer - Hot Releases
11. Dan Friel - Factoryland - Thrill Jockey
12. HelioGrave - s/t - Unifactor
13. Inkarose - A Love Letter To Water - Constellation Tatsu
14. Leslie Keffer & Rodger Stella - Angel Fix - No Rent
15. Chantal Michelle - Pulse, Puls​-​ar, Procession - Dinzu Artefacts
16. Moth Cock - Whipped Stream and Other Earthly Delights - Hausu Mountain
17. Scout Island - Laurentian Voyage - Not Not Fun
18. Severed+Said - Tragic Seeker - Not Not Fun
19. Tarotplane - Aeonium - Constellation Tatsu
20. White Suns - Dead Time - Orange Milk

Best of 2021: Albums

This is my list of favorite albums for 2021.

The list is mostly experimental sounds because that's the stuff I like the best. There's various types of noise, techno, and synth pop. I dug the sprawling rustbelt soundscape of Threshing Floor and the pop of Australia's Scraps. Growing returned with a couple of longform guitar drone pieces and CMD crafted a fine batch of techno jams.

The reissue game was out of control and made up a larger portion of what I was listening to than in previous years. I really liked the Pylon, My Bloody Valentine, Stephen, Gordons, Michèle Bokanowski, and Bardo Pond reprints. The number of reissues I deemed worthy of buying cut into the budget for new music a little.

There was a lot of stuff I listened to that didn't make the final list for whatever trivial reason. It almost always comes down to what I listened to more often or preferred slightly better as the deciding factor in the final editing process. I enjoyed releases from Sally Decker, Karrot Kake, KWKA, Loscil, Mogwai, Noveller, Scott Reynolds, Devin Shaffer, and Jacob Winans.

The lack of shows continued to be disappointing. I don't feel very comfortable attending a gig with how the plague is currently raging. Nobody I like has been playing shows either so that has made it much easier to stay home. It's not only the live music I miss, but interacting with folks, especially the touring bands, and finding out about new tunes to check out.

I wasn't looking at much in the way of music journalism for 2021 and I need to change that going forward. Tiny Mix Tapes is missed. I like the assorted Bandcamp columns on experimental music, but I haphazardly follow them. It's overwhelming to have instant access to an unlimited amount of content so my mind tends to shut off and I ignore a lot. To a minor extent I think I'm stuck in a rut, but it is a good rut. I've firmly reached a point in my record collecting that I know what I'm doing and navigate by gut feeling.

As always any album had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive album of the year, then that honor goes to The Lower Way by White Suns on Decoherence. The Pittsburgh trio of Kevin Barry, Dana Ma, and Rick Visser delivered a bruising and scrapping slab of harsh noise that was perfect for the strange year that 2021 was.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Marcia Bassett & Thomas Dimuzio - Losing Circles - Yew
02. Lea Bertucci - A Visible Length Of Light - Cibachrome Editions
03. Body/Dilloway/Head - s/t - Three Lobed
04. CMD - Social Factory Reset - Fixed Rhythms
05. Container - Creamer EP - Drone
06. Damiana - Vines - Hausu Mountain
07. d'Eon - Rhododendron - Hausu Mountain
08. Grouper - Shade - Kranky
09. Growing - Diptych - Silver Current
10. Hairs Abyss - Aposematic Displays - Spleen Coffin
11. Brett Naucke, Natalie Chami, Whitney Johnson - Mirror Ensemble - American Dreams
12. Scraps - New World - Moontown
13. Threshing Floor - s/t - El Studio 444//Reboot
14. Tinnitustimulus - Leachate Phases - Hot Releases
15. White Suns - The Lower Way - Decoherence
16. W00DY - Headbanging In The Club - Orange Milk

Best of 2021: Cassettes

For 2021, I mainly listened to everything that Not Not Fun released on heavy rotation. They have become one of my favorite labels over the last decade. I like their overall aesthetic, which is usually instrumental music made with synthesizers from far away lands or what sound like far away lands. The graphic design is top notch. I'm a fan of their more techno oriented 100% Silk label, too.

I capped any label at two tapes and tried to get as much variety on the list as possible. I did not buy many tapes in 2021. I also only bought from the same handful of labels that I always grab everything from.

Constellation Tatsu, Hot Releases, and Unifactor all kept the reels spinning with new tapes.

A standout of the last twelve months was the massive double cassette by Secret Boyfriend. Entropic Report 2017-2018 and its accompanying 'zine are a great document of noise life from a few years ago. X.Y.R. created a fine longform excursion of synth waves. Andrea Pensado delivered another amazing track of her voice oriented harsh noise on the split with Jacob Winans. One of my favorites was Keychain, Wilted Woman's abstract vision of electronic music.

As always any tape had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive cassette of the year, then that honor goes to Highway Dreamscapes by New Mexican Stargazers on Not Not Fun. They churned out a fine batch of hazy synth jams about roads and travel in the desert. I honestly knew this was going to be my favorite tape of the year before I even heard it based on the name alone. Fortunately, it didn't disappoint. As an added bonus, they even used Courier for the font on the cover.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Acid Twilight - s/t - Not Not Fun
02. Rose Bolton - The Lost Clock - Cassauna
03. Cloning - Splattertronics - Refulgent Sepulchre
04. Eat Avery's Bones - Instrument Petting Zoo - Decoherence
05. Etari - Rainbow Eucalyptus - 100% Silk
06. Glo Phase - Early Moments - 100% Silk
07. Good Willsmith - 4/25/2019 at Sleeping Village - Hausu Mountain
08. Lady Shame - Pink Noise - No Rent
09. Menophilia - Post Mortem - Laura's Girls
10. Network Glass, Heejin Jang, Philippe Vandal - s/t - UVL
11. New Mexican Stargazers - Highway Dreamscape - Not Not Fun
12. Secret Boyfriend - Entropic Report 2017-2018 - Hot Releases
13. Wilted Woman - Keychain - Unifactor
14. Jacob Winans & Andrea Pensado - Handle With Care - Refulgent Sepulchre
15. X.Y.R. - Wave Temples - Constellation Tatsu
16. Zaïmph - Underlying Structures - No Rent

Best of 2020: Albums

This is my list of favorite albums for 2020.

I was impressed with the debut LP from Mi'ens. They created a nice mix of space rock and dream pop with enough discord to give the songs the proper edge. MJ Guider and White Poppy both had albums full of great shoegaze tunes. Bill Nace released his first solo album, which is a fine slab of experimental guitar work. C. Lavender created a haunting collection of spooky drones on the Myth of Equilibrium. I enjoyed the low tech synth pop of Nail Club and the longform synth pieces by X.Y.R.

I got a bit nostalgic for printed music reviews and criticism over the year. Being safe at home with not much to do had me almost slightly missing high school. I was thinking of the days when you would hang out in your room listening to music while reading about cool bands in far away lands that you weren't even sure actually existed.

The lack of shows was a serious disappointment and I fear for the recovery of the live music industry. From growing up in tiny little Fredonia I never ever expected to see any bands I liked play, let alone getting to meet and become friends with some of my favorites. Honestly, anybody I have seen live was always regarded as a pleasant surprise.

I noticed many new releases clocked in at about 30 minutes. I have no idea if this was a real trend or a mere coincidence, but I support it. There's too much to check out these days so brevity in the execution of a well crafted idea is a good thing.

There were some worthy reissues in 2020. Yellow Swans, Dadamah, AIDS Wolf, and Caterina Barbieri had older releases repressed or recreated on different formats. I missed the last couple Yellow Swans LPs so it was cool to finally add 'em to the collection.

As always any album had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive album of the year, then that honor goes to Allegiance & Conviction by Windy & Carl on Kranky. The long standing duo of Windy Weber and Carl Hultgren delivered another stellar record of their calming and majestic sonic atmospheres.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Apologist - Anhedonia - No Rent
02. Marcia Bassett & Samara Lubelski - Morning Flare Symmetries - Feeding Tube
03. C. Lavender - Myth of Equilibrium - Editions Mego
04. Container - Scramblers - Alter
05. The Dead C - Unknowns - Ba Da Bing! Records
06. Liz Meredith - Repro - Spleen Coffin
07. Mi'ens - Future Child - Kill Rock Stars
08. MJ Guider - Sour Cherry Bell - Kranky
09. Bill Nace - Both - Drag City
10. Nail Club - Collected Methods - Hot Releases
11. Noveller - Arrow - Ba Da Bing! Records
12. Pod Blotz - Transdimensional System - Dais
13. Pulse Emitter - Swirlings - Hausu Mountain
14. Quicksails - Blue Rise - Hausu Mountain
15. STCLVR - Lovers - Noxious Upsurge/self released
16. TALSounds - Acquiesce - NNA
17. Terms - Asbestos Mouth - Skin Graft
18. White Poppy - Paradise Gardens - Not Not Fun
19. Windy & Carl - Allegiance & Conviction - Kranky
20. X.Y.R. - Pilgrimage - Not Not Fun

Best of 2020: Cassettes

Even with the world falling apart at the seams, there were still a bunch of quality tapes made in 2020. I kept up with supporting my favorite artists and labels as much as I could. The sounds I like the most have not changed much, with my long standing preferences for experimental music, noise, synth drones, and a bit of indie rock remaining intact.

I capped any label at two tapes and tried to get as much variety on the list as possible.

Hausu Mountain, Not Not Fun, 100% Silk, and Unifactor all kept plugging along with new tapes. I think No Rent continues to be the gold standard for diversity and creativity. It was tough picking out only a pair of cassettes from them.

Ultra Violet Light celebrated their five year anniversary with a collection of artists using Buchla synthesizers. The compilation features Marcia Bassett, Suzanne Ciani, Dan Deacon, and more. This tape is a good reflection of what UVL has been doing over the years. It was nice to get a new Drainolith release to end the year. Electric Hearse showcases some great deconstructed post-blues guitar playing by Alex Moskos. I really dug Ordet's Welcome To Earth. It reminded me of early U.S. Girls to an extent, except it was more jarring and abrasive. In other words, a perfect summary of 2020.

As always any tape had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive cassette of the year, then that honor goes to Secret Destroyed Instantly by Aaron Dilloway and C. Lavender on Hanson Records. The duo teamed up to create a mesmerizing blend of tape and synth drones.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Aether Jag - Curved Peacetime - No Rent
02. ArkmFoam - bloodrootspitball - Refulgent Sepulchre
03. Apologist - Dirt Road - Full Spectrum Records
04. {arsonist} - Reality Structure - Unifactor
05. Cloning - Walking In Silt - Flag Day Recordings
06. Control Point - Dreamer's Disease - Hot Releases
07. Aaron Dilloway & C. Lavender - Secret Destroyed Instantly - Hanson Records
08. Drainolith - Electric Hearse - Freedom From
09. Davey Harms - World War - Hausu Mountain
10. House Panther Diadem Ensemble - Five Questions - Unifactor
11. Long Distance Poison - Technical Mentality - Hausu Mountain
12. V. Kristoff - Sydra - Not Not Fun
13. Machine Listener - Metonym - Moon Villian
14. Ordet - Welcome To Earth - No Rent
15. José Orozco Mora - Formas Aparentes - Constellation Tatsu
16. Ribbon Stage - My Favorite Shrine - Berzerk Tapes/K
17. Spiteful Womb - Mirrorgazing - Gutter Bloat
18. Sunk Heaven - Y Serpentine - Decoherence Records
19. various artists - Buchla Now - Ultra Violet Light
20. Wipe - s/t - Adversary

Best of 2019: Albums

This is my list of favorite albums for 2019. Perennial favs Robedoor released another slab of their murky sludge. Of relatively local note, Lea Bertucci's Resonant Field was recorded in the grain silos at Silo City in Buffalo and sounds wonderful. There wasn't a new Zaïmph album, but Marcia Bassett did release a couple of things on her Yew label. There was a live recording of a trio with Margarida Garcia and Manuel Mota as well as Kyle Eyre Clyd's Eggshell CD. Both recordings are great.

It's awesome that Constellation, Kranky, and Skin Graft are still putting out records after all these years.

I know I left off or missed a couple of albums, but that's kind of the point of making a list. I knew some stuff was going to be on here from the get go and did a little nitpicking to figure out the last couple of items. Usually what I listened to more was the deciding factor, which is why Craow made the list, but Lightning Bolt didn't, for example. As an aside, I never found a store to buy Kim Gordon's record.

As always any album had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive album of the year, then that honor goes to Honey by Lungbutter on Constellation. The Nivhek project by Liz Harris was up there for my top album, too. However, it deservedly made many a year end list already so I went with the abstract no wave power trio from Montreal as the best of 2019. Lungbutter rocks.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Caterina Barbieri - Ecstatic Computation - Editions Mego
02. Marcia Bassett, Margarida Garcia, and Manuel Mota - Here They Rest Immobile - Yew
03. Lea Bertucci - Resonant Field - NNA Tapes
04. Child Abuse - Imaginary Enemy - Skin Graft
05. Craow - Branded Influence - National Waste Products
06. The Dead C - Rare Ravers - Ba Da Bing! Records
07. Jessica Ekomane - Multivocal - Important
08. First Tone - Reactions - Spectrum Spools
09. Forest Management - Passageways - Whited Sepulchre
10. Hiro Kone - A Fossil Begins To Bray - Dais
11. Loscil - Equivalents - Kranky
12. Lungbutter - Honey - Constellation
13. Karrot Kake - Zinc Finger - Nonexistant Records
14. Kyle Eyre Clyd - Eggshell - Yew
15. Nivhek - After its own death/Walking in a spiral towards the house - Yellowelectric
16. Pedestrian Deposit - Dyers' Hands - Monorail Trespassing
17. Pharmakon - Devour - Sacred Bones Records
18. Purple Pilgrims - Perfumed Earth - Flying Nun
19. Robedoor - Negative Legacy - Deathbomb Arc
20. Shimmer - And I Revel - Decoherence Records

Best of 2019: Cassettes

I bought a lot of tapes over the last twelve months and these were the highlights. In terms of sound, I mainly prefer synths, experimental compositions, some techno, and varying degrees of noise.

It felt like I didn't check out many different or newer labels this year. For as consistent as the regulars have been, I enjoy random finds for new music. Personal favorite Not Not Fun had a quiet year with only three tapes, but after being around for so long, they can take it easy if they would like. Their partner in crime, 100% Silk, did send a few more cassettes out into the world.

I capped any label at two tapes, which made it extra tough when selecting from Hausu Mountain and No Rent. No Rent is probably the best entity releasing music these days. The diversity of the artists they work with is amazing.

I really like the title of "Rural Electronics" for the compilation tape released by Grant and Rachel Evans. The Alone In The Dark comp on Hot Releases features a slew of great bands, including Glochids, Aether Jag, Tether, Housefire, C. Lavender, Secret Boyfriend, and more. Each song fits together for an even listening, a rare feat for most compilations.

As always any tape had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive cassette of the year, then that honor goes to Death's Head Speaks by Simulation on Hausu Mountain. Simulation is the experimental synth pop duo of Laura Callier from Gel Set and Whitney Johnson from Matchess.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Akasha System - Echo Lost - 100% Silk
02. Atariame - Voiceless - Not Not Fun
03. Bonnie Baxter - Axis - Hausu Mountain
04. Lea Bertucci & Kyle Eyre Clyd - split - Ultra Violet Light
05. Emily Cook & Dana Ma - Cook/Ma - Crucible Sound
06. Marilu Donovan & Tristan Kasten-Krause - Nowhere - Unifactor
07. Dreamers Cloth - Vitrospection: 2008-2009 - Not Not Fun
08. Flesh Narc - Understanding Reality - Decoherence Records
09. Hoarding - Self Imposed - Fusty Cunt
10. Moon Ra - Musica In Different Inutili Services - Unifactor
11. Nadia & Apologist - Situational Plays - No Rent
12. Opaline - Thought Texture - Constellation Tatsu
13. Alina Petrova & Kira Weinstein - Sad Ko - Never Anything Records
14. Prayer Generator - Eleutheromania - Patient Sounds
15. Rose - Night Places - Constellation Tatsu
16. Rusalka - Flux A & B - No Rent
17. Rust Worship - Live Coaxial - Obsolete Units
18. Simulation - Death's Head Speaks - Hausu Mountain
19. various artists - Alone In The Dark - Hot Releases
20. various artists - Rural Electronics - Adversary

Best of 2018: Albums

This is my list of favorite albums for 2018. I suppose the year was similar to previous years where I found some new bands to like and old bands I liked made new music. There were also a fair amount of strong reissue compilations, even though only one made my final list. In terms of what all this sounds like, I generally prefer instrumental music in the same styles as tape list, so lots of synths, drones, noise, tape loops, new age, a little indie rock, and modern takes on Krautrock. Birds chirping are much appreciated.

As always any album had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive album of the year, then that honor goes to both SEF III with Selling Sef III and Zaïmph with Rhizomatic Gaze. It's my list and it can end in a tie if I want it to. SEF III perfectly sums up all the ideas Alex Moskos has been working with over the years. The abstract noise, story telling/books on tape, science fiction, and deconstructed post-blues are all compiled into one cohesive record with assistance from Duncan Moore and Max Eilbacher. Marcia Bassett's long standing Zaïmph project takes full advantage of the double album format for Rhizomatic Gaze and fills the four sides with the ethereal drones, haunting bits of vocals, and cutup noise that one has come to expect in her work. It's a masterpiece.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Caterina Barbieri - Born Again In The Voltage - Important Records
02. Andrew Bernstein - An Exploded View of Time - Hausu Mountain
03. Lea Bertucci - Metal Aether - NNA Tapes
04. The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer - Thrill Jockey
05. Cave - Allways - Drag City
06. Container - LP - Spectrum Spools
07. Fear Of Yellow - Fear Of Yellow - Nonexistant Records
08. Forest Management - 21st Century Man - Terrible Cloud
09. Grouper - Ruins - Kranky
10. Les Halles - Zephyr - Not Not Fun
11. Himukalt - Knife Through The Spine - Malignant Records
12. i_like_dog_face - Sleepless Illusions - Hot Releases
13. Kinski - Accustomed to Your Face - Kill Rock Stars
14. Sophia Loizou - Irregular Territories - Cosmo Rhythmatic
15. Matchess - Sacracorpa - Trouble In Mind Records
16. Pod Blotz - Light Mass Body - Difficult Interactions
17. Saloli - The Deep End - Kranky
18. SEF III - Selling SEF III - Ehse Records
19. Upper Wilds - Mars - Thrill Jockey
20. Zaïmph - Rhizomatic Gaze - Drawing Room Records

Best of 2018: Cassettes

My tape collecting of 2018 continued along the same path as 2017. This meant all sorts of sounds made with synthesizers, although the guitar popped up often in a few different sonic shapes and forms. There's also tape loops, drones, noise, techno, and even rock bands such as Complainer and Empath. A bunch of this probably falls under the modern version of new age and I'm fine with that.

I capped any label at two tapes, which made it tough when selecting from Constellation Tatsu, Hausu Mountain, Not Not Fun, No Rent, and Unifactor. I was happy to see that Obsolete Units was back with new cassettes after a couple of years off.

As always any tape had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive cassette of the year, then that honor goes to Big Bingo by Terlu on Not Not Fun.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Cinchel - A Sad Study In Temporal Dissonance - Patient Sounds
02. Clear Winds - Music Of The Spheres - Lighten Up Sounds
03. Complainer - Pure Vanilla - Already Dead Tapes
04. Control Point - Another Fool's Paradise - Sprawl
05. Tashi Dorji - Live At The New Vintage - Ultra Violet Light
06. Dravier - Spirit Channels - Not Not Fun
07. Empath - Liberating Guilt & Fear - Get Better Records
08. Housefire - Electrode To Joy - Hot Releases
09. Amanda R. Howland - Spider, Milk, Batshit, Silence - No Rent
10. Lady Shame - Problem Child II - No Rent Records
11. LogarDecay - FRGL - Umor Rex
12. Long Distance Poison - Knock Magh - Hausu Mountain
13. MSHR - Phased Trance Constructions - Unifactor
14. Num - Memory Machine - Dinzu Artefacts
15. OCA - Preset Music - Constellation Tatsu
16. Pleasure Model - The Executive - 100% Silk
17. Poemme - Moments In Golden Light - Constellation Tatsu
18. Potions - Ostinato - Hausu Mountain
19. Quiet Evenings - Espions - Adversary
20. Rogue Squares - s/t - Obsolete Units
21. Matthew Ryals - Machine Memory - Oxtail Recordings
22. Shells - Another Time - Unifactor
23. Slack - Crystal Spirit - Sprawl
24. Terlu - Big Bingo - Not Not Fun
25. Wilted Woman - Trapezoid Tappers - Plastic Bags

Best of 2017: Albums

Here's a bunch of round slabs of music I enjoyed very much the past twelve months. 2017 produced tunes from old favorites, a few new faces, and a couple of reissues. There's actually one or two albums that could be considered metal so that's a bit of change for me. Somehow artists keep making creative stuff in this zany world we now live in.

As always any album had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. The only exception is the Viki Victoria record that came out at the very end of 2016. I figured it deserved to be on the list for this year because it would slip though the cracks otherwise. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive album of the year, then that honor goes to Vanishing Light by C. Lavender on Hot Releases.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Ama Divers - Shadow Seeking Sun - No Rent Records/Rent Hike
02. Caterina Barbieri - Patterns of Consciousness - Important Records
03. Marcia Bassett & Samara Lubelski - Live, NYC - Feeding Tube Records
04. BIG|BRAVE - Ardor - Southern Lord
05. The Body & Full Of Hell - Ascending A Mountain Full Of Heavy Light - Thrill Jockey
06. C. Lavender - Vanishing Light - Hot Releases
07. Del Paxton - All Day, Every Day, All Night - Top Shelf Records
08. Demen - Nektyr - Kranky
09. Aaron Dilloway - The Gag File - Dais Records
10. Flying Saucer Attack - In Search Of Spaces - VHF
11. Kwka - Frontier - Nonexistant Records
12. Le Creuset - s/t - R & D
13. Martina Lussi - Selected Ambient - Hallow Ground
14. Pharmakon - Contact - Sacred Bones
15. Pod Blotz - Disappear Here Live CD - self released
16. Robedoor - New Age Sewage - Hands In The Dark
17. Pauline Anna Strom - Trans-Millenia Music - RVNG Intl.
18. TALsounds - Love Sick - Ba Da Bing
19. Tether - Mirror Finish - Hot Releases
20. Various Artists - Oz Waves compiled by Steele Bonus - Efficient Space
21. Viki Victoria - New Victorian - Midwich Productions
22. White Suns - Psychic Drift - The Flenser
23. Wolf Eyes - Undertow - Lower Floor Music
24. X.Y.R. - Labyrinth - Not Not Fun
25. Yowie - Synchromysticism - Skin Graft

Best of 2017: Cassettes

I did the math to figure out my favorite tapes of 2017. As it has been for the last few years, I listened to more cassettes than anything. There's something wonderful about having a physical object to listen to. In terms of sonics, I like music made with synthesizers, electronics, tapes, drones, and things that are either fake techno or what is probably real techno. Whatever makes up this weird little universe that is noise, I suppose.

I capped any label at two tapes, which made it tough when selecting from Constellation Tatsu, Hausu Mountain, No Rent, and Not Not Fun. I really like what Unifactor is making and I look forward to their future releases. For the tape labels that are only putting out stuff by dudes, you guys need to try harder next year to include some variety in your batches.

As always any tape had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive cassette of the year, then that honor goes to Transverse Presence by Zaïmph on No Rent Records.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Lea Bertucci - All That Is Solid Melts Into Air - NNA Tapes
02. Black Hat - Impossible World - Hausu Mountain
03. C. Lavender - Serpentine Fever Dream - Primitive Languages
04. Canada Effervescent - Ridin' America - Constellation Tatsu
05. Kate Carr - The Story Surrounds Us - Helen Scarsdale Agency
06. Filthy Huns - Forever Beast - Not Not Fun
07. Fin - Ice Pix - Hausu Mountain
08. Forest Management - The Elevated Quiet - Constellation Tatsu
09. Future DZ - Bongo Hymns - Unifactor
10. Gmackrr - La Dépendance Électrique - Spring Break Tapes!
11. Kevin Greenspon - Mood Recovery - Bridgetown Records
12. Hainbach - Violin Forms - Ultra Violet Light
13. Chris Libutti - Climbing Backward - Limited Resources
14. Missing Organs - Old Speakers - Umor Rex
15. Sylvia Monnier - Stock Shot & Addictive Sling - Sacred Phrases
16. Multa Nox - Living Pearl - NNA Tapes
17. Pool - Jim Day Upholsterer - No Rent Records
18. Radiator Greys - Life In The Blast Radius - Devine Records
19. Liz Roberts & Henry Ross - Death Knell - Unifactor
20. Jack Taylor - Somnii - Dinzu Artefacts
21. Tree Branch Twig - Beneath The - Full Spectrum Records
22. White Poppy - The Pink Haze Of Love - Lone Hand
23. Valise - Thistles & Covenants - Devine Records
24. Video Salon - s/t - Not Not Fun
25. Zaïmph - Transverse Presence - No Rent Records

Best of 2016: Albums

If nothing else, 2016 delivered a lot of great music. A bunch of my favorite bands and musicians released new slabs of vinyl or compact discs so that made me happy. There were a few newcomers and reissues in there as well. I've kept the CD trend rolling from the last year or two. It's a more practical and affordable format in all honesty. I'm a little surprised I didn't find an indie rock band with guitars that plays short, catchy songs this year. As tired as that type of sound can be, I usually stumble on to at least one because I do like to hear melodies to balance out the other stuff. I know I left a couple of albums out, but I wanted to keep the list at a manageable size. As always any album had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive album of the year, then that honor goes to Unicorn Hard-On's Dream Machine.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. The Body - No One Deserves Happiness - Thrill Jockey
02. MV Carbon - The Sun Will Turn On You - Discombobulate Records
03. Suzanne Ciani - Buchla Concerts 1975 - Finders Keepers
04. Cellular Chaos - Diamond Teeth Clenched - Skin Graft Records
05. Cloud Becomes Your Hand - Rest In Fleas - Northern Spy
06. Sarah Davachi - Dominions - JAZ Records
07. The Dead C - Troubled - Ba Da Bing Records
08. Max Eilbacher/Alex Moskos/Duncan Moore - SEF III - Ehse Records
09. Ekin Fil - Being Near - Helen Scarsdale Agency
10. Glitterbust - s/t - Burger Records
11. Good Willsmith - Things Our Bodies Used To Have - Umor Rex
12. Horse Lords - Interventions - Northern Spy Records
13. Machine Listener - Endless Coil - Tusco/Embassy Press
14. Prostitutes - Ghost Detergent - Spectrum Spools
15. Matthew Ryals - We Could Make The Ride Better For Everyone - Behind Glass Records
16. MJ Guider - Precious Systems - Kranky
17. Secret Boyfriend - Memory Care Unit - Blackest Ever Black
18. Umberto - Alignation - Not Not Fun
19. Unicorn Hard-On - Dream Machine - Untergang-Institut
20. Venetian Snares - Traditional Synthesizer Music - Timesig
21. Zaïmph - Between The Infinite And The Finite - Yew

Best of 2016: Cassettes

There were a lot of good tapes released in 2016. It was a little difficult narrowing things down, but once I hit twenty I stopped adding to the list. I know I left a few quality releases off that maybe on a different day would have been on here. I also tried to keep it one cassette per label, although Hausu Mountain is on here twice and could have easily had more. Not Not Fun and Umor Rex are slightly underrepresented and Constellation Tatsu probably should have had at least one tape on the list. As always any tape had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive cassette of the year, then that honor goes to Denying The Other by Radiator Greys on Hausu Mountain.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Lea Bertucci - Axis/Atlas - Clandestine Compositions
02. Bodyshrine & Streetcleaver - split - Noise Dad Tapes
03. CAO - Marginal Virgin - Opal Tapes
04. Kate Carr - It Was A Time Of Laboured Metaphors - Helen Scarsdale Agency
05. Cloning - Gimerack - Refulgent Sepulchre
06. Forest Management - Acclimation - Amethyst Sunset
07. Ice - Scream Club - More Records
08. Maar - Absolute Delay - Umor Rex
09. Yves Malone - Today Is The Last Day Of The Rest Of Your Life - Field Hymns
10. Jake Meginsky - Seven Psychotropic Sinewave Palindromes - NNA Tapes
11. Sean Pierce - Transit - Motor Collective
12. Plagues - Of Ash & Relic - New Forces
13. Pod Blotz - The Voltaic Eye - Nostilevo
14. Quiet Evenings - Oak & Lead - Adversary
15. Radiator Greys - Denying The Other - Hausu Mountain
16. Scraps - T.T.N.I.K. - Not Not Fun
17. Sound Out Light - Currents - Lillerne Tapes
18. Stroker - The Bitch - No Rent Records
19. TALsounds - Lifter + Lighter - Hausu Mountain
20. Witchbeam - Accidental Sirens - Mistake By The Lake

Best of 2015: Albums

Unlike 2014, I did buy enough albums this year to pick out a decent list. 2015 felt pretty good overall with a lot of bands I like releasing strong records. It was similar to 2013 in some ways. I pretty much had my top five for the year by June, thanks to Container, Drainolith, Sightings, White Poppy, and Zaïmph. I went back to buying CDs a little more out of the convenience of the format. As always any album had to be released in the calendar year and I had to listen to it a lot. And if you are one of those types who needs a definitive album of the year, then that honor goes to Lightning Bolt's Fantasy Empire.

The list goes band/album/label for those with questions of that nature.

01. Lea Bertucci & Leila Bordreuil - L'Onde Souterraine - Telegraph Harp
02. Bitchin Bajas & Natural Information Society - Automaginary - Drag City
03. Dave Borden - Music for Amplified Keyboard Instruments - Spectrum Spools
04. Container - LP - Spectrum Spools
05. Drainolith - Hysteria - NNA
06. Flying Saucer Attack - Instrumentals 2015 - Drag City
07. Steve Hauschildt - Where All Is Fled - Kranky
08. Helen - The Original Faces - Kranky
09. Lightning Bolt - Fantasy Empire - Thrill Jockey
10. Night Court - Law & Order - Not Not Fun
11. People Of The North - Era Of Manifestations - Thrill Jockey
12. Positive No - Glossa - Little Black Cloud
13. Quarterbacks - Quarterbacks - Team Love
14. Sightings - Amusers & Puzzlers - Dais
15. Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love - Sub Pop
16. U.S. Girls - Half Free - 4AD
17. White Poppy - Natural Phenomena - Not Not Fun
18. Wolf Eyes - I Am A Problem: Mind In Pieces - Third Man
19. Yarn/Wire & Pete Swanson - Eliminated Artist - Distributed Objects
20. Zaïmph - Two Aspects Divided - Yew