Igloo Magazine :: Best of 2014

Here it is, well over 160 releases have been selected by various igloomag.com contributors highlighting some of the finest in an expansive array of music featuring ambient, dub, bass, glitch, industrial, IDM, electronica, synth, jazz, modern classical, experimental and various other sonic contortions. Links to reviews, a Soundcloud player, and a slideshow randomly displaying some of our favorite artwork in 2014, are also included below. All lists are alphabetized by artist.

Igloo Magazine :: Best of 2014
Feature image by Dreissk / AudioSurgery

Alan Lockett

Albums
Abdulla Rashim :: Unanimity (Northern Electronics)
Anjou :: Anjou (Kranky)
Chris Herbert :: Constants (Room40)
Dalhous :: Will To Be Well (Blackest Ever Black)
Donato Dozzy & Nuel :: The Aquaplano Sessions (Spectrum Spools)
Eric Helm :: Andøya (Subtext)
Janek Schaefer :: Lay-by Lullaby (12k)
Kangding Ray :: Solens Arc (Raster-Noton)
Kyle Bobby Dunn :: Kyle Bobby Dunn and the Infinite Sadness (Students of Decay)
Lawrence English :: Wilderness of Mirrors (Room40)
Loren Dent :: Anthropology Vols. 2 & 3 (Infraction)
M. Sage :: A Singular Continent (Patient Sounds)
Neel :: Phobos (Spectrum Spools)
Nicholas Szczepanik :: Not Knowing (Desire Path)
Pascal Savy :: Adrift (Eilean Rec.)
Pausal :: Along the Mantic Spring (Infraction)
Pinkcourtesyphone :: A Ravishment of Mirror (Dragon’s Eye)
Shifted :: Arrangements in Monochrome (Part 1 & 2) (Avian)
SHXCXCHCXSH :: Linear S Decoded (Avian)
Sima Kim :: Debris (Soft Corridor)
Stephan Mathieu :: Sacred Ground (Schwebung)
TCF :: 415C47197F78E811FEEB7862288306EC4137FD4EC3DED8B (Liberation Technologies)
Tegh :: Night Scenes (Inner Ocean)
Tobias Hellkvist :: Cay (Dronarivm)
Tomonari Nozaki :: The Fall of Icarus (Taalem)


Andrew Danso

Albums
AL_X :: Shunt (Fluttery)
Aphex Twin :: Syro (Warp)
Biosphere :: Patashnik 2 (Biophon)
Deadbeat and Paul St. Hillaire :: The Infinity Dub Sessions (BLKRTZ)
Leigh Toro :: L’Espirit De L’Escalier (Eilean)
Terminal 11 :: With My Mind (Schematic Music Company)
The Luminanas :: (I’ve Got) Trouble in Mind: Singles and Rare Tracks 2009 / 2014 (Trouble In Mind)
Thom Yorke :: Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes (Self-Released)

EPs
Dauwd :: Saleh (Kompakt)
Vladislav Delay :: Ripatti03 (Ripatti)


Elan Samuel

Albums
bvdub :: A History of Distance (n5MD)
Everyday Dust :: The Principality of Dustland (Sparkwood)
The Future Sound of London :: Environment 5 (FSOL Digital)
Tycho :: Awake (Ghostly International)
Infinite Scale :: Living Moments (Ecoshock)


Giancarlo Sandoval

Albums
Actress :: Ghettoville (Werk Discs / Ninja Tune)
Aphex Twin :: Syro (Warp)
Ben Frost :: Aurora (Bedroom Community)
Clark :: Clark (Warp)
Copeland :: Ixora (Tooth & Nail)
Daedelus :: The Light Brigade (Brainfeeder)
D’Angelo and The Vanguard :: Black Messiah (RCA)
Dorian Concept :: Joined Ends (Ninja Tune)
Fatima Al Qadiri :: Asiatisch (Hyperdub)
Flying Lotus :: You’re Dead! (Warp)
Freddie Gibbs and Madlib :: Piñata (Madlib Invazion)
Gates :: Bloom & Breathe (Pure Noise)
Grouper :: Ruins (Kranky)
Interpol :: El Pintor (Matador)
Madlib :: Rock Konducta Pt. 1 & 2 (Madlib Invazion)
Manchester Orchestra :: Cope (Loma Vista)
Objekt :: Flatland (Pan)
Run The Jewels :: Run The Jewels 2 (Mass Appeal)
Shabazz Palaces :: Lese Majesty (Sub Pop)
Spoon :: They Want My Soul (Lorna Vista)
The Bug :: Angels & Devils (Ninja Tune)
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra :: Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything (Constellation)
The New Pornographers :: Brill Bruisers (Matador)
United Nations :: The Next Four Years (Temporary Residence)
Vessel :: Punish, Honey (Tri Angle)

EPs
Cashmere Cat :: Wedding Bells (LuckyMe)


James Knapman

Albums
Aphex Twin :: Syro (Warp)
Aroy Dee :: Sketches (M>O>S Recordings)
Brock van Wey :: Home (Echospace [Detroit])
cv313 :: Dimensional Space (Echospace [Detroit])
Deepchord :: Lanterns (Astral Industries)
KiloWatts :: Seven Succulents (KiloWatts Music)
Locust :: After The Rain (Editions Mego)
Plaid :: Reachy Prints (Warp)
Pye Corner Audio :: Black Mill Tapes Vol. 3 & 4 (Type)
Rainer Veil :: New Brutalism (Modern Love)
Twins Natalia :: The Destiny Room (Anna Logue)
Variant :: Dreaming Thru Vector (Echospace [Detroit])
Yagya :: Sleepygirls (Delsin)

Reissues
SND :: Travelog (SND)
Underworld :: Dubnobasswithmyheadman: 20th Anniversary Remaster (Universal)


Leigh Bartlam

Albums
Arca :: Xen (Mute)
Azealia Banks :: Broke With Expensive Taste (Prospect Park)
Ben Frost :: Aurora (Bedroom Community)
Björk :: Biophilia Live (One Little Indian)
Clark :: Clark (Warp)
FKA twigs :: LP1 (Young Turks)
Reliq :: Metatropics (Noble JP)
The Soft Pink Truth :: Why Do The Heathen Rage (Thrill Jockey)

EPs
Serph :: Spring Field (Noble JP)

Reissues
Grace Jones :: Nightclubbing: Remastered Special Edition (Island)


Nocturnal Ghost

Albums
36 :: Dream Tempest (3six)
Asura :: Radio Universe (Ultimae)
Birds of Passage :: This Kindly Slumber (Denovali)
Bohren & Der Club Of Gore ‎:: Piano Nights (Play It Again Sam)
Boozoo Bajou :: 4 (Apollo)
Carlos Cipa :: All Your Life You Walk (Denovali)
Chat Noir :: Elec3Cities (RareNoise)
Christopher Willits :: OPENING (Ghostly International)
Circular :: Moon Pool (Ultimae)
Colin Edwin and Lorenzo Feliciati :: Twinscapes (RareNoise)
Dub Spencer & Trance Hill :: William S. Burroughs in Dub (Echo Beach)
Erik Truffaz & Murcof :: Being Human Being (Mundo)
Federico Albanese :: The Houseboat and the Moon (Denovali)
Franz Kirmann :: Meridians (Denovali)
Fredrik Öhr :: Under a Different Sun (Substream/Mareld)
Gala Drop :: II (Golf Channel)
GoGo Penguin :: v2.0 (Gondwana)
Invisible Allies :: Conversations with Bees (Aleph Zero)
Jon Porras :: Light Divide (Thrill Jockey)
KiloWatts :: Seven Succulents (KiloWatts Music)
Krusseldorf :: Fractal World (Self-Released)
Mammal Hands :: Animalia (Gondwana)
Matthew Halsall & The Gondwana Orchestra :: When The World Was One (Gondwana)
Meshell Ndegeocello :: Comet, Come to Me (Naïve)
Origamibiro :: Odham’s Standard (Denovali)
Otto A Totland :: Pinô (Sonic Pieces)
Poppy Ackroyd :: Feathers (Denovali)
Sebastian Mullaert & Eitan Reiter :: Reflections of Nothingness (Mule Musiq)
Slow Dancing Society :: The Cogent Sea (Hidden Shoal)
Sonar :: Static Motion (Cuneiform)
Son Kite :: Prisma (Iboga)
Stewart Walker :: Ivory Tower Broadcast (Mundo)
Tatran :: Shvat (Self-Released)
Unland :: Unland (Self-Released)
Vermont :: Vermont (Kompakt)
Wesseltoft / Schwarz / Berglund :: Trialogue (Jazzland)

EPs
AES Dana feat. Miktek :: Cut. (Ultimae)
Carlos Cipa & Sophia Jani :: Relive (Denovali)
I Awake :: Tierra (Ultimae)
John Lemke :: Walizka (Denovali)
Kryshe :: In Between (Hidden Shoal)
Slow Dancing Society :: The Dusk Recital (Hidden Shoal)

Reissues
Bersarin Quartett :: S/T (Denovali)
Grace Jones :: Nightclubbing: Remastered (Island)
Marconi Union :: Weightless (Ambient Transmissions Vol. 2) (Just Music)
Origamibiro :: Collection Box: Cracked Mirrors and Stopped Clocks, Shakkei, Shakkei Remixed (Denovali)
Underworld :: Dubnobasswithmyheadman: 20th Anniversary Remaster (Universal)


Pietro Da Sacco

Albums
Asymmetrical Head :: Proper/Random (Bewegung)
Badun :: Graffiti Cabbage (Schematic Music Company)
Christopher Willits :: OPENING (Ghostly International)
Dead Fader :: Blood Forest (Robot Elephant)
Defrag :: Drown (Hymen)
Deru :: 1979 (Friends Of Friends)
Dirk Geiger :: Connected Worlds (Tympanik Audio)
Displacer :: Electric Dreams (The Crime League)
Dissolved :: Paradox Hues (Self-Released)
Driftmachine :: Nocturnes (Umor Rex)
Dryft :: The Blur Vent (n5MD)
Echaskech :: Origin (Just Music)
Everyday Dust :: The Principality of Dustland (Sparkwood)
Fossil Aerosol Mining Project :: 17 Years in Ektachrome (Hand-Held)
The Future Sound of London :: Environment 5 (FSOL Digital)
Glanko :: Alset (Halbsicht)
Ignatius :: Noddings Uses (Buried In Time)
Jeffrey Wentworth Stevens :: JWS (Self-Released)
Jérôme Chassagnard :: Inner Dialog (Hymen)
Jvox :: Strange Universe (Component)
L own :: Hardened Soul (Mindtrick)
Moss Garden :: In the Silence of the Subconscious (Carpe Sonum)
Objekt :: Flatland (PAN)
Péninsolar :: Foreshadow Near The Mesa (Clean Error)
Plaid :: Reachy Prints (Warp)
Poordream :: Ninetynine (Tympanik Audio)
Random Value :: Chromatic Aberration (Clean Error)
Shadow Priest :: Street Theatre (Section 27)
Snowbeasts :: Ice & Shadow (Component)
Stereo Hypnosis :: Morphic Ritual (Extreme Chill)
Teebs :: E S T A R A (Brainfeeder)
TRDLX :: Dystopia (VoxxoV)
Tycho :: Awake (Ghostly International)

EPs
Ard Bit :: Ellioth (Lowriders)
BeK :: Cheikh (Kaometry)
Boards Of Canada :: Hi Scores (Reissue) (Skam)
Chase Dobson :: Parallel Lines (The Crime League)
Collage Noire :: Black Steel (Kaometry)
Defrag :: Lost Lands (The Irrational Media Society)
ENV(itre) :: Ruct (Detroit Underground)
Esem :: Aquanaut (Self-Released)
Jacob Birge :: The Fountainhead (Acre)
Logreybeam :: False Start (False Industries)
Miguel Isaza :: Levedad (Eter Lab)
Nmls :: Transmission (Component)
North Atlantic Drift / Northumbria :: Split (Polar Seas)
Room Of Wires :: Asylum Sneaker (Section 27)

V/A Compilations
Emerging Organisms Vol. 5 (Tympanik Audio)
Sectioned v4.0 (Section 27)
Touched Two (Touched Music)


Robbie Geoghegan

Albums
Francesco Clemente / Heinrich Dressel :: Il Faro (MinimalRome)
Les Invalides :: Au Revoir 1978-81 (Kernkrach)
Skanfrom :: Postcards (Suction)
Val_Ex :: Riot (Solar One)
Visonia :: Impossible Romance (Last Known Trajectory)

EPs
Aldo Bergamachine :: Astromoog (Bordello A Parigi)
Boreal & Lnrdcroy :: FP-003 (Forbidden Planet)
Carbo Flex :: Trifolium (Central Processing Unit)
Costelloe :: Solar Code (Signal Code)
D’Marc Cantu :: 1210A (One Electronica)
June :: The Human Target (June)
Mark Forshaw :: The Explorer (Computer Controlled)
Redtape :: Signals on the Double (030303)
Savage Grounds :: Over Fences (Lux Rec)
The Exaltics :: Some Other Place Vol. 3 (Clone)

V/A Compilations
5 Years of De:Tuned (De:Tuned)
Decapitated One-Liners (Contort Yourself)
Fields of Light (Photic Fields)


Soundcloud selections ::


Some of our favorite cover artwork from 2014 ::

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