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Allmusic 2019

Year In Review

The global reach of electronic music was felt this year, with some of the genre's best new albums coming from places like Tanzania (Duke), Germany (Ellen Allien), South Africa (Angel-Ho), Australia (HTRK), Russia (Kedr Kivanskiy), and South Korea (Peggy Gou).

Andy Stott

It Should Be Us

Andy Stott revisits his early-2010s "knackered house" sound on this lengthy EP of sluggish, sooty club tracks.

Angel-Ho

Death Becomes Her

Powerful full-length debut from the South African experimental club producer, filled with self-assured vocals and disorienting rhythms.

Anna Meredith

FIBS

Meticulously plotted rhythms carry listeners through a mix of songs and indie electronic instrumentals on the composer's vibrant sophomore album.

Barker

Utility

Berghain resident Sam Barker expands the boundaries of techno, focusing on euphoric feelings rather than beats.

Basic Rhythm

On the Threshold

Inspired by his pirate radio past, Anthoney J Hart contorts grime, jungle, and garage rhythms into abstract club tracks.

Bibio

Ribbons

Stephen Wilkinson celebrates his tenth year on Warp with a masterful mix of pastoral reveries and surprising tangents.

Caterina Barbieri

Ecstatic Computation

Revelatory, awe-inspiring fourth album from Italian composer and modular synth explorer Caterina Barbieri.

CFCF

Liquid Colours

Mike Silver explores turn-of-the-millennium corporate jungle on the spiritual sequel to 2015's The Colours of Life.

Deathprod

Occulting Disk

Deathprod's first full album in 15 years is "an anti-fascist ritual," protesting hatred through sheer, uncompromising sound.

DJ Nate

Take Off Mode

On his long-awaited second footwork album, Chicago's DJ Nate stands out just as much as he did a decade earlier.

Duke

Uingizaji Hewa

Perhaps the most exciting album to emerge from Tanzania's ultra-frenetic singeli scene.

Ellen Allien

Alientronic

Highly focused outer-limits explorations from Berlin techno queen Ellen Allien.

Eric Copeland

Trogg Modal, Vol. 2

Perhaps the most straightforward dance release from the Black Dice leader, and easily his most consistent album.

Fennesz

Agora

Recorded at home with a stripped-down set-up, Agora falls somewhere in between Fennesz's studio albums and his live improv material.

Floating Points

Crush

Sam Shepherd's engrossing second album veers from motionless ambient interludes to bracing techno tracks.

HAAi

Systems Up, Windows Down

Heavy, psychedelic techno from fast-rising producer and BBC Radio 1 resident Teneil Throssell.

Holly Herndon

PROTO

The producer and composer's third album is a fascinating, moving introduction to her AI, Spawn.

HTRK

Venus in Leo

Australian duo HTRK's excellent fourth album contains their most romantic, sensuous material yet.

J Majik

Full Circle

The drum'n'bass pioneer absolutely nails the sound and feeling of his essential early material on his second solo full-length.

Jacques Greene

Dawn Chorus

The Canadian producer's second album is a set of wistful post-rave reflections.

Jayda G

Significant Changes

House producer/DJ balances a concern for the planet with a shameless urge to have fun on her superb debut album.

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma

Tracing Back the Radiance

The ambient artist makes a sharp turn from warped shoegaze pop to minimal electro-acoustic beauty.

Kedr Livanskiy

Your Need

Russian electronic artist Kedr Livanskiy's second album is brighter and more energetic than her past work, but retains its haunting quality.

Káryyn

Quanta Series

Seven years in the making, the Syrian-Armenian-American's stunning debut album connects the personal, global, scientific, and spiritual dimensions of healing.

Lapalux

Amnioverse

Lapalux follows the excellent Ruinism with an equally ambitious, complex album about the fluid, perpetual cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

Laurel Halo

DJ-Kicks

Laurel Halo's energetic, unpredictable DJ-Kicks volume winds through styles such as Detroit electro, U.K. bass, gqom, and more.

Loraine James

For You and I

James' boundary-shattering Hyperdub debut is a powerful expression of the London-based artist's identity.

Loscil

Equivalents

Inspired by the photographs of Alfred Stieglitz, the producer/composer's beautiful 12th album is a fascinating meditation on artistic interpretation.

Matmos

Plastic Anniversary

The duo celebrates their 25th anniversary with vibrantly creative and deeply disturbing explorations of plastic's ubiquity and dangers.

Move D

Building Bridges

This collection of tunes recorded across the span of his career is a treat for die-hard Move D fans and newcomers alike.

Octo Octa

Resonant Body

Sounding more at peace with herself and her surroundings, Octo Octa's third album contains her most ecstatic work.

Peggy Gou

DJ-Kicks

Eclectic mix of personal favorites and deep-crate rarities selected by the fast-rising South Korean DJ.

Photonz

Nuit

Spiritually minded LP of shape-shifting electro and techno tracks from the Lisbon dance scene mainstay.

Plaid

Polymer

The tenth studio album from the British IDM duo is inspired by humanity's relationship with synthetic objects.

Pye Corner Audio

Hollow Earth

Martin Jenkins' third full-length for Ghost Box is a subterranean playground full of synth-laden mystique.

Rian Treanor

Ataxia

Debut full-length of angular, hyperkinetic grime and garage mutations from British artist Rian Treanor.

Rod Modell

Captagon

The Deepchord and Echospace mastermind records the most high-energy and dancefloor-focused album of his career.

RXM Reality

DEViL WORLD WiDE

Apocalyptic pile-up of industrial, IDM, techno, and footwork from Chicago-based Mike Meegan.

Scorn

Café Mor

Mick Harris' first album as Scorn in nearly a decade is another essential burst of diseased dub.

Sean Curtis Patrick / Benoît Pioulard

Avocationals

The longtime friends collaborate on a somberly beautiful set of ambient pieces inspired by 20th century shipwrecks in the Great Lakes.

Shlohmo

The End

The Los Angeles lo-fi beatmaker presents the even heavier, more apocalyptic follow-up to his brilliant Dark Red.

Steve Hauschildt

Nonlin

Developed while on tour, Hauschildt's sixth solo album contains some of his most spontaneous-sounding work.

Teebs

Anicca

Adventurous producer returns after five-year hiatus with a mature collection of ethereal beat-forward ambience.

Telefon Tel Aviv

Dreams Are Not Enough

Beautiful and devastating fourth album from Telefon Tel Aviv, combining innovative sound design with harrowing lyricism.

Tengger

Spiritual 2

On their best work to date, the experimental electronic duo offer patiently unfolding ambient sprawl and lively, Krautrock-inspired synth meditations.

Theo Bleckmann / Joseph Branciforte

LP1

A soothing, minimalist, ambient work in the vein of "lower-case" electronica labels like Line and 12k.

Turning Jewels Into Water

Map of Absences

Improvisatory electronics drawing from ancient traditions and global dance innovations.

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Telefon Tel Aviv