Top 50 electronic music albums of 2022: Rival Consoles, Pye Corner Audio, Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan

     

My top 50 favourite electronic music albums continues. Some real crackers here.

See the full countdown here.

Rival Consoles: Now Is (Erased Tapes)

Ah, that Rival Consoles shimmer. It’s his trademark, like the Nike swoosh or my sexy dance moves. The latest album from the London producer feels like Consoles in Luke Abbott mode, letting the fuzzy analogue nature of his gear seep in ever-pleasing ways. It’s certainly a slower listen, with much of his previous drama hazed into a reverby wash. Still shimmering.

Pye Corner Audio: Let’s Emerge! (Sonic Cathedral)

One of the things I’ve loved about Pye Corner Audio is the electronic drama of it all. The fiercest techno expressed as stately, beatless ambience. Including Ride’s Andy Bell on half of the tracks destroys that drama. The guitar makes it more shoegaze and meandering… but actually, I love it. It’s Pye turned hippy, albeit a hippy bathing in a bath of warm, orange gloop.

Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan: Districts, Roads, Open Space (Castles in Space)

While we’re on an ambient tip, here’s are superbly chilled meditations disguised as council blueprints. The ‘Open Space’ of the title describes things perfectly, as these inwardly-focussed reflections build into something quite gorgeous. Lazy loops, blossoming synths, even a touch of ambient acid. Way more interesting than a council planning meeting, although probably as sleep-inducing. Lovely.

This is part of a series of the Best Electronic Music Albums of 2022. Read it all here.