Best Of 2016 [2016-12-23]2016 was another great year with many highly rewarding releases, below you’ll find lists of releases that made this year special for our writers. And in keeping with our sites remit they span a large and varied selection of different musical & sonic genres. Also on a few lists you’ll see the addition of a film list, and this is come in-line with us featuring of more film reviews on the site….and we hope this coverage will expand in 2017.Roger Batty (Site owner, Editor, reviewer & article writer)
1: Fouke/Vomir/Dead Body Collection/Sacred Climax - Monolithic Interference [Geräuschmanufaktur]
2: The HNW Quartet - Self Titled [Hallucination Tapes]
3: Various Artists - Close To The Noise Floor [Cherry Red Records]
4: Cradle Of Filth - Dusk…And Her Embrace- The Original Sin [Cacophonous]
5: Lustmord - Dark Matter [Touch ]
6: Contact- Zero Moment [Temporary Residence Limited]
7:Steeleyed Span - Ten Man Mop, or Mr. Reservoir Butler Rides Again [Talking Elephant Records]
8:Death Scenes - VHS [Unbelievable Black Magic ]
9:Small Hours - Whisper, I love You [Lurker Bias/ Neon Wall Series]
10 Morton Feldman - Patterns in a Chromatic Field [MDG Scene]
11:Celer - Akagi [Two Acorns]
12: Vomir / Pudern - Vomir / Pudern [Geräuschmanufaktur]
13: Tiny Tim - The Complete Singles Collection 1966-1970 [Now Sounds/ Cherry Red]
14:Rodolphe Alexis - The Glittering Thing On The Mountain [Gruenrekorder]
15: Chier - Cabaret Du Neant [Self Release]
16: Jethro Tull - Aqualung(40th Anniversary Adapted Edition) [Chrysalis]
17:Bryn Harrison - Receiving The Approaching Memory [Another Timbre]
18: Dosis Letalis - Mass Media [Reason Art Records]
19: Black Leather Jesus - Every Male Alphabetically By Sin [L-White]
20:Necronautical - The Endurance At Night [Cacophonous]
21:Vagrant - Canal [Moral Defeat]
22: Anita Ker, Rod McKuen & The San Sebastia - The Sea, The Sky, The Earth [El/Cherry Red]
23: The Rhein Strom - Von Der Rheinquelle Bis Hafen Karlsruhe [Gruenrekorder]
24:Black Matter Phantasm - Spiritual Retreat To The Holy Mountain [Hallucination Tapes]
25: Merzbow - Life Performance [Cold Spring]
26: Various - Wake You Up! The Rise and Fall of Nigerian Rock 1 [Now-Again Records]
27:Steve Hauschildt - Strands [Kranky]
28: Charles Bobuck - Bobuck Plays The Residents [Klanggalerie]
29: Phurpa - Chöd [Zoharum ]
30: Harry Bertoia- Complete Sonambient Collection[Important Records]
Films/ etc
1:Dangerous Men -DVD + Blu-ray[Drafthouse Films]
2:When Black Birds Fly-DVD/ Blu Ray [Bag Monster]
3:The Residents - Theory Of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents [Film Movement]
4:The Burning- DVD/ Blu ray [Arrow Video]
5:Lake Nowhere-DVD/Blu-ray- [Brink Entertaiment]
6:American Horror Project Vol 1( film boxset) [Arrow Video]
7: Sausage Party-[Columbia Pictures]
8: David Brent: Life on the Road- ( Entertainment one]
9: The Boy [STX Entertainment]
10: The Invitation [ DVD/ Blu –ray] [Drafthouse Films]
Josh Landry (review & article writer)
1. Neurosis - Fires Within Fires [Neurot Recordings]
2. Ulcerate - Shrines of Paralysis [Relapse Records]
3. Aglaia - Leaves & Thunderstorms [Hic Sunt Leones]
4. Steve Roach & Robert Logan - Biosonic [Projekt]
5. Dave Ball & Jon Savage - Photosynthesis [Cold Spring]
6. Wolfram - X [Monotype Records]
7. School of Crystal Healing - Lightworkers Delight [Troll N' Roll Records]
8. Stereofeld - Soul Mirror [Sun Station Records]
9. Sirod - Another World [Pureuphoria Records]
10. Lunecell - Cylon Lounge EP [Psyde Effect Records]
11. Shivattva - The Tales of Harvia [Treetrolla Records]
12. San and Tac - Chasing Urmahlullu EP [Sangoma Records]
13. Sionnach - Hyper Blaster EP [Ektoplazm]
14. Liink - To the Future [O.V.N.I Records]
15. N.Gin - Hyperball EP [O.V.N.I Records]
16. Omnom - Virtual Plastic EP [Unalome Records]
17. VA [Bowlba Records] - Qube
18. VA [Drumlore] - Hive Mind Volume One
19. VA [Futterwacken Productions] - Dream Manipulation Therapy
20. VA [MoDem Records] - MoDem Festival Vol. 4
21. VA [Insectik Records] - Zima
22. VA [Omveda Records] - Horizon Shift
23. VA [Purple Hexagon Records] - Deep Purple
24. VA [Purple Hexagon Records] - GaggalacktXVibes 2
25. VA [Ruffbeatz] - Ruffbeatz: Get Mushy 2
26. VA [Sangoma Records] - GaggalacktiXVibes 1
27. VA [Sangoma Records] - Stop Wars II: The Empire Hikes Back
28. VA [Sonic Chakras Records] - Sonic Quagmire
29. VA [Triponacci Records] - Borealis
30. VA [Zenon Records] - Permutations Vol. 4
Martin P(review & article writer)
1:Autechre - Elseq 1-5 (Warp Records)
2:Bastard Noise/Sickness - Death's Door (Relapse)
3:Bee Spit - Gold Codes (Neon Wall Series/Lurker Bias)
4: Belle Confusion - Ewe (Hallucination Tapes)
5: Bertoia – Sonambient (Complete Collection) (Important Records)
6:Cannibal Meat Holocaust/Ataraxy - Split (Vomit Bucket Productions)
7: Con-Dom – How Welcome Is Death To I Who Have Nothing More To Do But Die (Tesco Organisation)
8: Convextion – 2845 (a.r.t.less)
9:Danny Brown – Atrocity Exhibition (Warp Records)
10: Dosis Feralis/Dosis Letalis - Constant Conflict (Nahàsh Atrym Productions)
11: La Monte Young/Marian Zazeela - The Theatre Of Eternal Music – Dream House 78'17" (Aguirre Records)
12: Marek Poliks - Hull Treader (Another Timbre)
13:Matmos - Ultimate Care II (Thrill Jockey)
14: Morte Cammina - Tales of the Scissor Killer (Required Rate of Return Records)
15:Oranssi Pazuzu - Värähtelijä (Svart Records)
16: Prognostic Circle - Origin/Topic of the Veil (Geräuschmanufaktur)
17: Richard Ramirez – Catullus 16 (Deadline Recordings)
18: Richard Ramirez & Julien Skrobek - Doriana Bridge (Hallucination Tapes)
19:Schammasch - Triangle (Prosthetic Records)
20: Sumbru – Afterlife Signal (Grey Matter Productions)
21: The Ebony Tower - Salamander (Lurker Bias/Neon Wall Series)
22: The Girl on the Bridge - Lilya (Palinopsia Recordings)
23: Tobias Preisig & Stefan Rusconi - Levitation (Qilin Records)
24: Total Abuse – Excluded (Deranged Records)
25: Tuning Circuits – No Compassion (Totally Freaked Out Power Electronics)
26: Urfaust - Empty Space Meditation (Ván Records)
27: Various - Epicurean Escapism III (Silken Tofu)
28: Various – Monolithic Interference (Geräuschmanufaktur) 29: Vince Staples – Prima Donna (Def Jam Recordings)
30: Wound Man - Perimeter (Painkiller Records)
Paul Casey(review & article writer)
1:Wormrot - Voices [Earache]
2:Gorguts - Pleiades' Dust [Season of Mist]
3:God's America - Merge With the Infinite [Deep Six]
4:Brujeria - Pocho Aztlan [Nuclear Blast]
5:Allseits - Chimäre [Cyclic Law]
6:Aube - Fling [Iris Light]
7:Common Eider, King Eider - Extinction [Cold Spring Records]
8:Contact - Zero Moment [Temporary Residence Limited]
9:Controlled Bleeding - Distress Signals I [Artoffact]
10:Embalmer - Emanations From the Crypt [Hells Headbangers]
11: Ghoul - Dungeon Bastards [Tankcrimes]
12: Gruesome - Dimensions of Horror [Relapse Records]
13: H.P. Lovecraft - Pickman's Model [Cadabra Records]
14: Khost [Deconstructed and Reconstructed B - Needles Into the Ground [Cold Spring Records]
15: Necro Deathmort - The Capsule [Rocket]
16:Surgikill - Sanguinary Revelation [Hells Headbangers]
17: Sutcliffe Jugend - Offal [Cold Spring Records]
18: The Wakedead Gathering - Fuscus: Strings of the Black Lyre [I, Voidhanger]
19:Troum - Acouasme [Cold Spring Records]
20: Various Artists - The Ladies of Too Slow to Disco [How Do You Are?]
21: Various Artists - Pyre [Cold Spring Records]
22: Vortex - Moloch [Cyclic Law] Duncan Simpson (review & article writer)
1:Jenny Hval - Blood Bitch (Sacred Bones)
2:Perturbator - The Uncanny Valley (Blood Music)
3:Kuedo - Slow Knife (Planet Mu)
4:Pye Corner Audio - Stasis (Ghost Box)
5:Roly Porter - Third Law (Tri Angle)
6:Kerridge - Fatal Light Attraction (Downwards)
7:Dalhous - The Composite Moods Collection Vol 1: House Number 44 (Blackest Ever Black)
8:Tongues of Light - Channelled Messages at the end of History (Pre-Cert Home Entertainment)
9:Valerio Tricoli - Clonic Earth (PAN)
10:Venetian Snares - Traditional Synthesiser Music (Timesig)
11:Yves Tumor - Serpent Music (PAN)
12: Fis - From Patterns to Details (Subtext)
13:Solar Bears - Advancement (Sunday Best)
14:Ulver - Atgclvlsscap (House of Mythology)
15:Hypnopazuzu - Creat Christ Sailor Boy (House of Mythology)
16:Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool (XL)
17:Anohni - Hopelessness (Rough Trade)
18:Katatonia - The Fall of Hearts (Peaceville)
19:Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith & Suzanne Ciani - FRKWYS Vol. 13: Sunergy (RVNG International)
20:Equiknoxx - Bird Sound Power (DDS)
21:Marisa Nadler - Strangers (Sacred Bones / Bella Union)
22:Roger Doyle - Frail Things in Eternal Places (Silverdoor)
23:Supersilent - 13 (Smalltown Supersound)
24: Burial - Nightmarket/Young Death (Hyperdub)
25:Puce Mary - The Spiral (Posh Isolation)
26:Carla dal Forno - You Know What it's Like (Blackest Ever Black)
27:Biosphere - Departed Glories (Smalltown Supersound)
28:Johann Johannsson - Orphee (Deutsche Grammophon)
29:Lustmord - Dark Matter (Touch)
30:Nils Petter Molvaer - Buoyancy (Sula Records) Darren Charles( reviewer)
1:Shirley Collins – Lodestar[Domino]
2:David Bowie – Blackstar[ISO/ RCA/ Columbia/ Sony]
3:Rusalnaia – Time Takes Away[Cambrian Records ]
4:Testament – Brotherhood of the Snake[Nuclear Blast]
5:Opeth - Sorceress[Nuclear Blast]
6:Mortlake Bookclub – Exquisite Corpse[Reverb Worship]
7:Anna Von Hausswolf – The Miraculous[City Slang/ Pomperipossa Records]
8:Kate Bush – Before the Dawn [Fish People/ Concord Records]
9:Blood Ceremony – Lord of Misrule[Rise Above Records]
10:Sunn O))) – Kannon[Southern Lord]
11:Martin Green – Flit[Reveal Records]
12:Jenny Hval – Blood Bitch[Sacred Bones Records]
13:Witchcraft – Nucleus[Nuclear Blast]
14:Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker[Columbia Records]
15:Anthrax – For All King[Nuclear Blast]
16:Stone Tapes – Avalon[Reverb Worship]
17:Kurt Stenzel – Jodorowsky’s Dune OST[Cinewax]
18:Nick Cave – Skeleton Key[Bad Seed Ltd]
19:Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein – Stranger Things OST[Lakeshore Records]
20:Swans – The Glowing Man[Mute/ Young God]
21:Death Angel – The Evil Divide[Nuclear Blast]
22:Megadeth – Dystopia[Tradecraft/Universal]
23:Cliff Martinez – Neon Demon OST[Milan]
24:John Carpenter – Lost Themes II[Sacred Bones]
25:Luciferian Light Orchestra – Black EP[Svart Records]
26:Goat – Requiem[Rocket Records]
27:Demdike Stare – Wonderland[Modern Love]
28:Metallica – Hardwired…To Self-Destruct[Blacked Records]
29:Klaus Morlock – Bethany’s Cradle[self release]
30:Church of Misery – And then there were None[Rise Above Records] Films/ Etc
1:The Witch [A24Universal Pictures]
2:Rogue One[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures]
3:Dr Strange[Marvel]
4:High Rise [StudioCanal]
5:Evolution [Potemkine Films]
6:Jodorowsky’s Dune DVD + Blu Ray [Sony Pictures Classics]
7:The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne DVD[Arrow Video]
8:Quatermass DVD [Network]
9:Deep Red DVD + Blu Ray [Arrow Video]
10:Videodrome DVD + Blu Ray[ Arrow Video]
Adam Sykes(reviewer)
1 Padang Food Tigers & Sigbjørn Apeland - Bumblin' Creed[Northern Spy]
2 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree[Bad Seed Ltd]
3 Lustmord - Dark Matter[Touch]
4 Dave Kirby – Contrails[The White Lab]
5 CJ Mann - Alluvium
6 Tunnels Of Ah - Surgical Fires[ Cold Spring Records]
7 Controlled Bleeding - Larva Lamps & Baby Bumps[Artoffact Records]
8 Hypnopazuzu - Create Christ, Sailor Boy[House of Mythology]
9 Con-Dom - How Welcome Is Death To I Who Have Nothing More To Do But Die[Tesco Organisation]
10 Swans - The Glowing Man[Mute/ Young God]
11 Merzbow/Sun Ra - Strange City[Cold Spring Records]
12 David Bowie - Blackstar[ISO/ RCA/ Columbia/ Sony]
13 Brian Eno - The Ship[Warp Records]
14 Sutcliffe Jugend – Masks[Cold Spring Records]
15 Puce Mary - The Spiral[Posh Isolation]
16 And Also The Trees - Born Into The Waves[ self release]
17 Kristian hersh -wyatt at coyote palace[Omnibus Records]
18 Dave Ball and Jon savage "photosynthesis[Cold Spring]
19 Nurse with Wound - Dark Fat
20 Sian - Setting / Another
Hal Harmon(review & article writer)
1:Xome/Boar - Split (Breaching Static)
2:Desiccant - Self-titled (Breathmint)
3:Hiroshi Hasegawa/Dromez - Split (Slave Unit Tapes)
4:Algae Guck - Delicious Casket (PopNihil)
5:Purgist - Our Temple is on Fire (Triangle Records)
6:Newton - Who & Why (Breathmint)
7:John Carpenter - Lost Themes II (Sacred Bones)
8:Colossloth - Outstretch Your Hand For The Impress Of Truth (Cold Spring)
9:Various Artists - Luke Cage Original Soundtrack (Hollywood)
10:Human Fluid Rot - With You in Mind (Total Filth)
11:Severed+Said - Pyrrhic Fortunes (PopNihil)
12:Fail - Dated Six (Inner Demons)
13:Eucci - Land’s End (Rive/Sunhill)
14:Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks Original Soundtrack Reissue (Death Waltz)
15:Jackie Ransom - Final Exposure (PopNihil)
16:I_LIKE_DOG_FACE - Fermenting Archives (PopNihil)
17:Fishwife/I_LIKE_DOG_FACE - Heavy Water (PopNihil)
18:Pissghost - Self-titled (not on a label)
19:Glass Tongue Trio - Self-titled (not on a label)
20:Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein - Stranger Things, Vol. 1 Soundtrack (Lakeshore)
21:Juice Machine - We Couldn’t Be Better (not on a label)
22:Von Nacht - Of the Night (PopNihil)
23:Puce Mary - The Spiral (Posh Isolation)
24:Debbie Jaffe and Hal McGee - Catapulting Babies (HalTapes)
25:Sloth - 18 Yrs Since Akron (not on a label)
Various
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