Igloo Magazine :: Best of 2023

After covering several hundred releases in 2023, many notables—including links to their respective Igloo reviews or release pages—are cataloged here. As usual, there are no winners or runners-up as the lists are alphabetized by artist and selected tracks are featured on our Soundcloud playlist.

A creative surplus of sonic activity

2023 has come and gone, yet the many uniquely crafted releases that moved us remain in constant rotation. With almost 500 articles published in 2023—the majority of which were reviews presenting a variety of experimental electronic releases—we’re excited to be inching closer to our 25th anniversary and to present our favorites from last year. We appreciate your support as we attempt to properly acknowledge numerous talented musicians and imprints working diligently to cultivate their soundscapes. 2023 proved to be a creative surplus of sonic activity, so check back often as we update and add to this piece.

We are extremely grateful to our contributors who shared their favorite releases including: Alan Lockett, Anne Jackson, Chang Terhune, Chris Amell, Cris Quizzik, Jason Martin, Philippe Blache, Pietro Da Sacco, Robbie Geoghegan, and Robin James. And for her unwavering support and continued patience; Francesca Da Sacco.

Kudos to Chang Terhune at Condition Human Imagery Division for the Best of 2023 graphics—we’re thrilled to be collaborating with this multidisciplinary audio/visual artist and showcasing his artwork.

If you would like to contribute to Igloo Magazine, please get in contact with us. We are constantly seeking new perspectives to widen our horizons and keep the momentum going.

Without further ado, here’s our Best of 2023 ::

LONG PLAYERS ::

4T Thieves :: Nomad’s Requiem (Werra Foxma)
Abu Ama + BedouinDrone :: Dawlat Lībiyyā (Mahorka)
Adapta :: Memory Program (Schematic)
ADJ :: Wormhole Device (Pyramid Transmissions)
Aelk Minsur :: Ground Redux (Self Released)
Alex Albrecht :: Violet Visionary (A Strangely Isolated Place)
Alva Noto :: HYbr:ID II (NOTON)
Alva Noto :: This Stolen Country of Mine (NOTON)
Andrey Rasputin :: Cherta-nova (Mestnost)
Arovane :: Polymer (Quiet Details)
Arovane :: Sinter (laaps)
As One :: AsOne² (De:tuned)
Ayaavaaki & Purl :: Ancient Skies (LILA लीला)
Badun :: Dreamers in the System (Leek)
Bart Hawkins :: Entering the Axis Mundi (Spotted Peccary Music)
Between :: Low Flying Owls (12k)
Blackploid :: Enter Universe (Central Processing Unit)
Bovaflux :: Strange Tales (mindcolormusic / [d]-tached)
bvdub :: Days of Gold (Quiet Details)
bvdub :: Fumika Fades (EC Underground)
Carlos Dengler :: The After (Self Released)
Carmin Villain :: Music from The Living Monument (Smalltown Supersound)
Cercle Futur :: La Guerre Comme Expérience Intérieure (Roulette Rekordz)
Chaircrusher :: Neutral Danger (Component)
Chase Dobson :: The Mechanics of Time Travel (Young Heavy Souls)
Christoph de Babalon :: Vale (VAKNAAR)
Christopher Bissonnette :: In A Second Floor Window (12k)
clocolan :: Incide (Redpan)
Cognition Delay :: Mostly Dreaming (Mahorka)
CM von Hausswolff & Chandra Shukla :: Travelogue [Bali] (Touch)
Cyd :: Haute Couture (Subsist & Faith Disciplines)
Daiki F :: A Walk in the Countryside (Rednetic)
Darqhorse :: Digital Dawn (Diffuse Reality)
Davide Tonini :: Departure (Detroit Underground)
Dead Melodies :: The Aberration of Time and Space (Cryo Chamber)
Deepriver :: Volume One (n5MD)
Defrag :: Lost Worlds (Hymen)
Depeche Mode :: Memento Mori (Columbia/Mute)
Derek Michael :: Enroute 1 (Detroit Underground)
Derrick Stembridge :: Past Present Future: Archive I (Labile)
D-Fried :: The Spirit of the Young Poets (See Blue Audio)
Dircsen :: Helical Structures (Gated)
Dissolved :: Skysleep Interference Works (Self Released)
Don Nothing :: Diminished Returns (Component)
Dorosoto & Hanut Munson :: Distant Parallels (Evel)
Dragon :: Between Here and Nowhere (Adventurous Music)
Dub Tractor :: Wait (Touched Music)
EA & Θ :: Sense Less (Adventurous Music)
Ekin Fil :: Rosewood Untitled (re:st)
Enabl.ed :: OddlyMerged (Mozyk)
Faex Optim :: Crystal Pleasures (Werra Foxma)
f5point6 :: Clinical Trials (See Blue Audio)
Field Lines Cartographer :: This Vibrating Earth (Castles in Space)
Field Lines Cartographer :: Phases of This and Other Moons (Castles in Space)
Fluffy Inside :: The Red Button (Móatún 7)
From Overseas & zakè :: Demain, dès l’aube (Past Inside the Present)
Frank Riggio :: gy (Hymen)
Frore :: Biome (Spotted Peccary Music)
FSOLdigital presents :: Mind Maps 4 (Touched Music)
Future Beat Alliance :: Lower The Anchor (FBA)
Futuregrapher :: Ýsa í raspi (Móatún 7)
Gdanian :: Mechanical Gods (Cryo Chamber)
Global Goon & Ossa :: Bruit Électrique (Waxing Crescent)
Greg Fort & Gigi Masin :: Dolphin (Greg Foat)
Gydja :: Þjóðáar Fnæstu Eitri (Winter-Light)
Headache :: The Head Hurts but The Heart Knows The Truth (PLZ Make It Ruins)
Helios :: Espera (Ghostly International)
Heogen :: Inantiphsea (Touched Music)
Hexalyne :: Exivvaves (Point Source Electronic Arts)
Hexalyne / Lain :: Evel 46 (Evel)
Hidden Orchestra :: To Dream is to Forget (Lone Figures)
Hilary Woods :: Acts of Light (Sacred Bones)
Hyperion V :: Accretion Disc (Spotted Peccary Music)
Huxion :: Huxion (ata:empire)

Ian Boddy :: Modulations III (DiN)
Illuha :: Tobira (12k)
iNFO :: Alkaline Glades (Móatún 7)
Initial Programs :: Are We Programmed? (Before & After Silence)
Inkipak :: +ve (Fourier Transform)
Inkipak :: Slip (Touched Music)
illocanblo :: Liminal Rhythms (EC Underground)
Ital Tek :: Timeproof (Planet Mu)
James Bernard & anthéne :: Soft Octaves (Past Inside the Present)
James Holden :: Imagine This Is A High Dimensional Space Of All Possibilities (Border Community)
Jay Migliori :: Equinox (Omnivore)
Jason van Wyk :: Descendants (n5MD)
J. Carter :: Vessels (A Sunken Mall)
Jeannine Schulz :: pure (Polar Seas)
Jilk :: Found Little Lost (noci miste)
Jonathan Deasy :: sketches and themes (noci miste)
Kenneth James Gibson :: Further Translations (Meadows Heavy Recorders)
Khotin :: Release Spirit (Ghostly International)
K.L.O :: Slow Mode (Colony Productions)
Lamasz and Grandbruit :: Suivant (Élan Vital)
Laurel Halo :: Atlas (Awe)
Legiac :: Banisteriopsis Caapi (Touched Music / Phainomena)
Legiac :: Vespertine (Riddim)
Life As Sleep :: Don’t Do Anything (Schematic)
Lovetrip :: Shift Patterns (Móatún 7)
Low End Resorts :: Dungeons of Miami (Megastructure)
Lowfish :: Grey With Breaks (Suction)
LPF12 :: minorThreats (Self Released)
Lusine :: Long Light (Ghostly International)
MANASYt :: The Genetic Lottery (Lunatic Rec.)
Mantle of Gets :: Lisbon D300422D5409 (Uchelfa)
Maps and Diagrams :: A Study of Ends or Purpose (Handstitched*)
Marco Simioni :: FOMO (Detroit Underground)
Mary Yalex :: Fantasy Zone (A Strangely Isolated Place)
Mathmatrix :: Fractal Harmonies (Self Released)
Memory Scale :: And All Things Begin To Drift (Audiobulb)
Metapattern :: Silicone Cell (Mord)
Mick Chillage :: A Distant Reflection (Before & After Silence)
Mick Chillage :: Inter – Dimensional Guidance (Before & After Silence)
Mick Chillage :: Orphaned Tracks Vol 6 (Self Released)
Moss Covered Technology :: A Shared Place (Polar Seas)
µ-Ziq :: 1977 (Balmat)
Myele Manzanza :: Focus (Myele Manzanza)
Myoptik :: Eat At The Dining Table of the Vibrating Sting (Ping-discs)
Nathan Fake :: Crystal Vision (Cambria Instruments)
Nathan Moody :: Super Temporal (Noise Jockey)
Neuro… No Neuro :: Positive* (Mille Plateaux)
Nonima + Dissolved :: Neurophosis (Mahorka)
Onepointwo :: Cycles (Subexotic)
Overmono :: Good Lies (XL)
Parallel Worlds :: Plector (DiN)
Paul St. Hilaire :: Tikiman Vol. 1 (Kynant)
Pentagrams Of Discordia :: Deprogrammed (Pulse State)
Philippe Blache :: Across the Silence and the Shade (Mahorka)
Plaster :: Obscura (Textvra)
Polypores :: Praedormitium (Castles in Space)
Purelink :: Signs (Peak Oil)
Qebo :: Cellular Spaces (Polyend)
ReKaB (Plus Remixers) :: Diverse Pathways (Fourier Transform)
Room of Wires :: Welcome To The End Game (Ant-Zen)
silentwave :: Mysterious Forest (Móatún 7)
Sparkle Division :: Foxy (Sparkle Division)
Skee Mask :: C (Self Released)
Stephen Hummel :: Creature of Habit (Self Released)
Surface 10 :: A Stray Ending (DiN)
Surgeon :: Crash Recoil (Tresor)
SURVEY CHANNEL :: Canvas Doubles (Werra Foxma)
Suumhow :: Years Failed Successfully (n5MD)
SVLBRD :: The Waves (Faint)
‘t Geruis :: Terre, Poussière (Quiet Details)
Tangent :: Presence Reverts to Absence (n5MD)
Tapes and Topographies :: Microtones (Simulacra)
Teslasonic :: Foundation (Minimal Rome)
The Fellow Passenger :: Book of Needlecraft (Point Source Electronic Arts)
Time Rival :: Indoors (Triplicate)
Tim Hecker :: No Highs (Kranky)
Toh Imago :: Refuge (InFiné)
Tomb Mold :: The Enduring Spirit (20 Buck Spin)
Tsrono :: Vale (3OP)
Tyresta :: Small Hours (Past Inside the Present)
Ümlaut :: Same But Different (Audiobulb)
Unterm Rad :: Unfinished Business (Point Source Electronic Arts)
Valance Drakes :: Hate Devours Its Host (Amek Collective)
Warmth :: Collider (Archives)
Warrington-Runcorn New Town Development Plan :: The Nation’s Most Central Location (Castles in Space)
Wil Bolton :: Swept (Audiobulb)
zakè · Markus Guentner · James Bernard :: Pyramiden (Zakè Drone)
zakè & City of Dawn :: Ash (Azure Vista)

“Music has so many permutations and avenues to explore that it is impossible in any single life time to see it all. So you have to go on a personal journey that takes you down paths and tracks that are unique to you.” ~ Ian Boddy

EXTENDED PLAYERS / REMIXES / SINGLES ::

^L_ feat Иuxx :: Filter Envelopes in Stereo #1 (Mind Connector)
ADJ :: Renegade Transmission (Serenity In Keos / Yoyaku)
ADJ & Adrien d’Elzius :: Split (Arkada)
Adrien d’Elzius :: Silent Revolution (Abstrakt Reflections)
Alberta Balsam :: 15_Billion Elektrovolt (Clone/Dub)
Alpha Visitor :: Ciudad Fantasma (Shipwrec)
Aphex Twin :: Blackbox Life Recorder 21f (Warp)
BLAEN :: The Decay of Beauty (Welsh Modular Alliance)
Caramel Chameleon :: Mixture of Phases (Florklang)
Cathode Ray Tube :: Cycle:55 (Condition Human)
Coma Tek :: Ritual Music (Renraku)
dgoHn & Badun :: Talk To The Planets (Love Love)
Dissolved & Nonima :: Teichopsia (Section 27)
Dr. Atmo & DF Tram :: Wish For The Sun (SEALT)
Eoism :: Infinite Balance (Inch By Inch)
Esthetic & Reac-Zo :: Torii (Onset Audio)
exm :: that little one in the corner (Waxing Crescent)
exm :: TreeThree (Self Released)
Featherstone :: Contact (Ernest’s Way)
Fleck E.S.C. :: Upgrader (Woodwork)
Fluctuosa :: Wetware (Analogical Force)
Jonny3snares :: Signal Drive (Dynamics of Acid)
Halvtrak :: Digital Dawn (Cold Blow)
Hecq :: Form (Mesh)
iNFO :: Mitochondrion (Computer Controlled)
Kokokei :: Mandarin (Mestnost)
Larvae :: All These Worlds Are Yours (Self Released)
Lowfish :: Thaw (Analogical Force)
Meat Beat Manifesto & DHS :: Man From Mantis (Love Love)
Michael Valentine West :: COMMS (Polygon Network)
Misterben :: benandi (Ping-discs)
Monolog :: Four Four Twenty Twenty (Murder Channel)
MOY :: Dark Frontier (Analogical Force)
Neuro… No Neuro :: Liminal Moments (Self Released)
Oberman Knocks :: Rhemunvhurse Optikonn (Detroit Underground)
Optometry :: Not What You Expected (Plaid Remix) (Palette)
Out of the Blue :: Early Hours (Nottetempo)
Panopticum :: Apophenia (Nenormalizm)
Pearl River Sound :: The Amen Experience (Adepta Editions)
Planet Love :: D.O.C. (return_backspace)
Pleasurefields :: Human Electricity (Pulse State)
Roger van Lunteren :: AE–O6 (Adepta Editions)
ScanOne :: AE–07 (Adepta Editions)
Serge Geyzel :: As Fallen Leaves (brokntoys)
Si Begg :: Energie Electrique (Central Processing Unit)
The Boneless One & Real Motherfuckers Don’t Talk Shit! :: The Split (Detachment)
Tomoroh Hidari :: Oblivion Engine (Schematic)
Yin Yang Audio :: Return To Baseline (Onset Audio)