Top 50 electronic music albums of 2022: Salamanda, Ani Klang, T Gowdy

    

Here are more of my 50 favourite electronic music albums of 2022, taking us from number 50 to number 21, although not individually ranked within that grouping. In other words, here are some boss albums in no particular order. I'm blogging a handful at a time, and here's your latest lot.

See the full countdown here.

Salamanda: ashbalkum (Human Pitch)

“Can this Seoul pair do no wrong? …At its core are gently palmed drums: meandering marimbas and toms that are an utter sunny delight. Think Facta on a deck chair, Pantha du Prince in a Hawaiian shirt, or a factor-50 slathered Ultramarine. A soft bass adds affable depth; a click snare introduces a perfect level of nod-ability. Such minimalist niceties.”

Ani Klang: Ani Klang (New Scenery)

Klang calls her sound “kickmusik”, a compound noun which makes linguistic sense considering the Berlin influences of her club noises. These energetic, uncompromising dancefloor attacks are indeed like being kicked in the shins, by industrial bass drums, metallic loops and shuddering shrapnels of sound. It’s Slam getting slammed. Kick music? Kor blimey music.

T. Gowdy: Miracles (Constellation)

This blog post’s selections have been a rhythmic affair. The Montreal sound artist opens Miracles with an excoriating burst of rising static, where the rhythm comes from colliding soundwaves. A bitey, corrugated album of throbbing techno, often beatless, always furiously beating. Originally recorded to accompany surveillance footage, which may explain the superbly sinister overtones.

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