Best Of 2016: Singles
The 50 Best Albums of 2016
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Other websites such as RA, Fact etc have now switched to the 'Top tracks' chart where each track counts separately – perhaps more apt in these days of streaming and MP3s – but here at Phonica, we feature Singles – 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 2016 single?
Many trends have passed through the shelves of the shop this year. The ‘lo-fi’ house aesthetic continues to remain strong, with stellar releases from DJ Seinfeld, Ross From Friends, DJ Wave and Mall Grab all featuring highly, and belying recent journalism on the ‘death of ideas’ in house music. Meanwhile, a new group of labels have emerged which are exploring 90s breakbeat and the classic ‘ambient mix’ in a new context: Fantastic Man’s mind-bending Rhythm Algorithm features highly, as does Extra-Terrestrials downtempo and break-heavy grooves on 1080p, whilst Mood Hut’s continually developing sound counts four high charting singles this year.
In the end, this year there were four records our staff pitched for the top spot, ranging from a mysterious Norwegian’s 15 minute post-rave epic, to a euphoric downtempo three-tracker, to a wonky (read: very wonky) bassline disco banger. Though there are some conventionally feel-good releases that feature highly this year (who can deny that Lapsley and Peggy Gou’s melodies don’t come from a special place), most of the singles that stood out for our staff cannot be said to have a traditional dancefloor sound or structure, they appear to be made for other spaces: the bedroom DJ, the illegal warehouse, some imagined place. We feel this is a reflection of a tumultuous year in dance music, which witnessed the rise of ‘eclecticism’ and the ‘collector’ as marketable to wider audiences, expanding the possibilities of what counts for ‘dance’ music, whilst DJs and punters alike witnessed increasing attacks of traditional club culture as a result of gentrification. These are the singles helped us deal creatively with a peculiar year…
The Red Axes again! This time, they’ve tackled the work of Greek experimentalist Lena Platonos, who received somewhat of a renaissance of interest in her 1980s work this year (see the string of LP reissues also put out on Josh Cheon’s Dark Entries imprint). This time around, Dori and Niv have given up a slice of their tropicalia in exchange for a squelchier, meandering style, allowing Platonos' haunting electronics and poetry to invade and disperse traditional structure. The result is peculiar – danceable, but refreshingly ambiguous.
The fourth release from deeper than deep Danish label Regelbau. Classy and original as always.
A fabulous exercise in viral marketing but also another virtuosic display from prankster in chief Aphex Twin.
Definitely an anthem of 2016. Floorplan (AKA Robert Hood) delivers exceptionally infectious, glorious vocal reprises with tough beats to boot.
The White Man & The Arab's sound has always been concerned with mood and tension; likely inspired by the difficult political and creative relationships alluded to in the project's title. 'Sharmootah' combines a delicious, ascending, percussive sample with hardware drum programming. However, it's 'Sword Dance' that really did it for us, and got it this high on our 2016 chart; it's where the project's visual and sonic aesthetic mesh perfectly, and you literally feel swords dancing on an East-meets-West astral plane.
The Long awaited release of My Life With The Wave Vol 2 finally came! Mike Huckaby was finally ready to take us on another journey of skillful sound programming using the legendary Waldorf Wave Synthesizer. 4 tracks of strictly deep house music made entirely using the legendary machine.
From their secretive South-London lair (otherwise known as Holdron's Arcade, Peckham), YAM Records made a first break into the record making business this year with local buddies Chaos In The CBD. It's all about 'Background Explorer' for us, a true trip to the ocean floor and a real swashbuckling shuffler!
Whilst Rye Lane shuffle is a cheekily honest homage to the energy and vibrancy of it's titular street, a la Henry Wu and his contemporaries, 'Drum Dance' is an expansive, frenetic, tumbling track. It’s hypnotic, and recalls the very best of Floating Points, Four Tet and even post-rock experimenters like Explosions in the Sky and Maserati. As can be expected, the drumming on the track is breathtaking (Boyd was MOBO’s 2014 Young Jazz Musician of the Year, and 2015’s Best Jazz Act) – it’s one for a discerning DJ in 2016’s evolving scene, more and more defined by diversity and eclecticism.
Red Axes have been rather busy this year. They've had 8, count it, -8- releases this year, including collaborations with Moscoman and C.A.R., not to mention multiple remix credits (as we'll discover later in this list). 'Sun My Sweet Sun' might be said to epitomise the Red Axes signature sound: playful, energetic, laden with band-style song structure, yet heavily indebted to techno, house and the eastern orientated grooves. Permanent Vacation seems a suitable home for this joyful, yet deep, release.
Soundtracking our spring days and following a trip through the day-to-day... Project Pablo triumphantly returns to the Magicwire crew with his first solo material in over a year.
"What did you learn this year?" Well, we've learnt that 2016 was the year Tolouse Low Trax (and for that matter Dusseldorf's Themes For Great Cities) got the amount of attention they deserve. Detlef Weinrich's grumbling, plodding productions are wholly individual, unmistakeable, and this release, for us, epitomised his sound within the wider context of his Salon Des Amateurs peers.
Another fact we've learnt in 2016 is that Malmo's Rimbaudian is one to watch in future. Under this alias, and another (we're not telling, do your research!), Rimbaudian's sound is heavy, groovy, and as inspired by hip-hop as it is by techno and house. According to local sources, the boy has got a ton of unreleased material, so be on the look out in 2017!
Lo-Fi backlash? Schmo-fi schmaklash! Five crackin', smackin', basement botherin', tracks on this release by the cheekily named DJ Seinfeld meant this one didn't hang around in the shop for long. Luckily, Jerry's had a whip-round and a repress is on the way!
Accompanying many an evening terrace this summer, Distant Hawaii kicked off their Detroit-leaning imprint with four smooth slabs of coastal balearic-tinged house from Hidden Spheres.
We couldn't possibly say which outfit were behind this release (though a little attention to detail may reveal all). These two cosmic, percussive and enveloping edits from the anonymous Sputnik had Londoners chomping at the bit for a copy. Throughout the city, in the hands of discerning DJs, carnival was alive and well!
Another essential release by Vincent but this one does not go without controversy! A limited 12 inch features the acid-fuelled, building 'Birds’ and as the title suggests, "Tubular Bells" covering Mike Oldfield's most famous work, looping it up and tweaking it out over a typically rubbery and fuzzy 4/4 house groove.
The NYC based Levon Vincent followed up his 4-plate album with four new cuts of deep tissue-massaging techno-house pressure on the revered Novel Sound - home of his strongest material.
John Talabot returned on PV this year with a sublime new track called “Voices". For the B Side Gerd Janson created his very own beat and groove tool, the Version Conga.
Already receiving heavy rotation over the past year from the biggest ones in the Brobdingnag DJ league. This is Konstantin Sibold’s long-awaited ‘Mutter’, delivering an epic ten minute 90’s techno, progressive house monster.
The Public Possession artist Baba Stilz releases on Will Bankhead's label with their housiest offering to date. A fine, three-piece house EP with a hint of TTT's inimitable oddity.
FIT Sound, headed by Fit (Aaron) Siegel, has delivered a consistantly distinct voice from the Motor City for 6 years now, but this Todd Modes record takes the label's output to another level. A mythic trilogy of shadowy and hedonistic rhythms that will transport you to an age when gods and mortals mingled freely. Beautiful, yet dangerous tracks, the A side in particular got us groovin' in the shop.
Sofrito Super Singles' second "Percussion Series" EP takes us deep into the legendary work of Erick Cosaque a man who began as a singer but has become progressively more experimental ever since. The result is a hypnotic weave of ageless elements drawn with honesty, clarity and rhythmic allure - especially in these crystal clear remastered forms.
Alex O. Smith's other release this year, Side Trakx Vol#5, explored new boogie and pop territory with varying success. For us, it's on Desert Eagle that he hit his stride in '16. The A side works in a B12-style ambience over that classic Omar S bassline sound, uplifting and space-aged. But it's the B-Side that got us going, Alex's crunchy drums tackle a heavy motown sample to dancefloor igniting effect - Motor City soul!
After making quite a splash with the widely praised inaugural transmission of the T.O.K.Y.O series, released via his own imprint two years ago, mysterious producer S.O.N.S was a six-track double pack loaded with acidic salvos, augmented jungle moves and irruptive laser-battle gunnery.
