Best electronic albums of 2020: please do not throw these special mentions off a cliff

Throughout this countdown, there will be many albums that didn't make the final list but still deserve to be festooned with garlands and cocaine and fresh puppies. Welcome to the first selection of 'special mentions'.

Firstly, I try not to include compilations in my Best Albums list, but I have to give a tip of the hat to the blistering Alterity from Houndstooth. In a piece of especially quality journalism, I described this album in Electronic Sound as sounding "like a bunch of synth modules being chucked off a cliff. Like, properly chucked with a run-up and everything." That was meant to be a good thing.

Another compilation worth a nod is PlanetMµ25. The sauciest thing to ever come out of Worcester, Mike Paradinas's Planet Mu celebrates its silver anniversary with some of my favourite artists, including Ital Tek, Gábor Lázár and Bogdan Raczynski. Right good treat.

Back to artist albums. Here are some dark, dubby delights that deserve a special mention despite not making my final 25. Following rereleases of his early albums, it was great to get some glorious new glitch from Pole in Fading (Mute). This was utterly hypnotic, as was Recondite's haunting Dwell (Ghostly International), an album which took one minimal monotone and turned it into something as immersive as falling into a pool of Diet Pepsi (I really like Diet Pepsi).

Let's also not forget Life Cycles (Cultivated Electronics), a lively collection of old rusted electro from the archives of Orbital’s early label-mates The Advent (1995's Elements of Life is still worth a listen). Finland's Morphology achieved a vintage feel too on the echoing electronics of Horta Proxima (FireScope Records). I'm amazed this didn't make my final 25. And finally, I loved the haze that emanated the smoked-out techno knees-up going on at the heart of Matt Karmil's ace STS371 (Smalltown Supersound).

More special mentions to come. And more countdown to come. Stay tuned.

 

 

Browse the rest of the Best Electronic Albums of 2020

House music also-rans: The Field, Gold Panda, Trus'me and other things that'll make you sweat

Here are some more also-rans. A bit more of a house music flavour amid the techno this time, so four to the floor, here goes…

Just missing out on my final list is the fifth album from The Field. The Follower (Kompakt) is a splendid assembly of spiralling techno. Gold Panda is always a nice listen, so the travel-inspired Good Luck And Do Your Best (City Slang) didn’t disappoint.

I enjoyed Juan Atkins & Moritz von Oswald / Borderland's Transport (Tresor) for two reasons: firstly, its unwavering commitment to solid house music, and secondly because I managed to shoehorn a C+C Music Factory reference into an Electronic Sound review of them earlier this year.

I enjoyed his debut Workshop 19, so it was a welcome return for abstract technoist Kassem Mosse with Disclosure (Honest Jon's Records). Meanwhile, Matt Karmil released two albums of note: the dubby IDLE033 (Idle Hands) followed by the throbbing gritty house of ++++ (PNN). I preferred the latter. The dark, spacey Planet 4 (Prime Numbers) by Manchester’s own Trus'me is worth a look in too.

House Of Dad’s House Of Dad (House Of Dad) samples a toilet flush and has a loo seat on the cover. It’s much better than it sounds, honest. Finally, there were the deep, otherworldly rhythms of Dorisburg’s Irrbloss (Hivern Discs), and, for those with a bit of time on their hands, you should check out Prince Of Denmark’s magical and engaging 23-track 8 (Forum) if you can find anywhere selling it.





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